Ferris's ears twitched as he heard the sounds of familiar footsteps, and it was only the knowledge of how public an area this was that stopped him from heading out immediately.
“I doubt that either of them are badly wounded,” Julius said. Ferris had barely reacted at all, and yet the knight easily saw through him.
Ferris scowled at him, but the knight continued unabated.
“If either he or Crusch needed urgent medical care, His Majesty’s guards would be running, or at the very least, moving faster.”
“You're right,” Ferris admitted, ears flattening out. “And I’m glad to know that. But I’m not going to get over my anxiety just because they turned out to be safe! What if something had happened, and I was still here, too far away to help?”
“You put too much weight on your shoulders Ferris,” Julius said with a smile. “Your duty was here. You’ve already healed dozens of individuals, done the work of multiple healers by yourself. Even as the Blue, you do have limits, you know.”
“Why must I be friends with such hypocrites,” Ferris lamented, raising an arm to his forehead in mock exasperation. “If it wasn’t for me insisting you take a break, you’d have already headed back out.”
“Well… I’ve now had several hours of rest,” Julius said, trying to maintain an air of innocence. “Whereas you started your break fifteen minutes ago. In addition, with you and Kua working together, even my burns have already been taken care of. While my buds sadly have not fully recovered, I should still be able to contribute, even alone.”
“You're saying that as if you aren’t one of the most famous knights of our kingdom,” Ferris replied scathingly. “On top of all of that, you’ve attracted the interest of the bowel hunter as well, going out when you're not fully recovered would just be foolish.”
Before the two could continue the argument, the door swung open to reveal Crusch and Fourier.
“Lady Crusch, are you alright?” Ferris asked, already rushing to get a closer look at the two of them.
Both looked filthy covered in soot and ash, but they’d taken the time to at least clean their faces, which only showcased the exhaustion on Crusch’s face more.
“You shouldn’t have pushed yourself this much,” Ferris scolded half-heartedly, an orb of blue already surrounding her. “At least, Ferri should be able to help you recover in a few days.”
Crusch sat still on the edge of one of the cots, body still tense despite her exhaustion.
Ferris felt she could relax a little, but this was not the first time he had healed her. Ferris did not often have to heal his lady, but it had happened enough that they were used to the process.
“I managed to help contribute to the fire break substantively, Ferris,” Crusch said calmly. “Many of my men died to do the same. The fact that after all of this, I’ll be fully recovered in a few days, shows that if anything I may not have pushed myself enough.”
“While I agree that Ferris can go overboard at times, this is not one of them,” Fourier said, shaking his head in disbelief. “I’d say almost dying more than warrants his concern. If I’d arrived any later—”
Ferris felt the blood drain from his face and eyes widened as his heartbeat rapidly began to spike, and his eyes shot up to meet Crusch’s.
“What did Fourier just say?” he hissed, halfway between anger and terror, clutching onto Crusch’s hands with all his meagre strength.
Fourier apparently sensed the danger in the air.
“I’ll leave you two to it,” he said, taking a step past them and towards the gathering healers.
“Considering the circumstances, I’ll overlook you calling His Majesty by his name in public this time,” Crusch offered.
She didn’t look sorry in the slightest. She truly believed that risking her life the way she had was noble.
“We are going to speak more about this when we have privacy,” Ferris said, levelling the harshest gaze he had ever given his Lady.
“We’ll have plenty of time soon,” Crusch allowed. “I’ll be heading out to collect a report from Edgar soon. He requested me personally, which he’s only supposed to do if his findings are truly urgent.”
Her tone betrayed the tiredness she felt, the exhaustion in her voice obvious even without Ferris’s enhanced senses. “I’ll allow myself to rest while you work on healing me, Ferris, but I’ve already alerted a maid to come fetch me in three hours' time.”
Ferris glared at his unrepretent liege, but he knew that Crusch would be leaving at the appointed time regardless of her condition. In which case he’d simply need to push himself to ensure that she was both as recovered as possible, and to make sure she allowed him to come with her.
----------------------------------------
Ferris watched Crusch’s sleeping form, lost in thought.
There was at least one famous assassin in the city, and possibly more, and though Ferris would give his life to defend his Lady, he knew he wasn’t going to do much directly against any force strong enough to threaten Crusch.
Thus, he was trying to think of a way to help guarantee her safety with the forces they had available.
Julius was the first name he thought of, but not only was he still recovering, his duty lay at Fourier’s side. Even with Fourier’s agreement and encouragement, Ferris doubted Julius would be comfortable going with them at a time like this.
Fourier himself was buried in meetings, and was responsible for helping organise a response to this sudden rebellion. He was already behind due to absconding for hours to aid Crusch, and Ferris knew Crusch would hate to bother him.
Before he could think more on the matter, he felt a hand gently rest on his shoulder. Spinning around in surprise, he almost lashed out at the cloaked stranger, but stopped as an abruptly familiar scent appeared for a second and then disappeared.
“Teacher?” Ferris said arm half raised towards the cloaked figure whom he failed to smell at all. Looking around he spotted Clind leaning against a wall to the side, whose smell had similarly been muted.
“I am sorry to startle you, Ferris,” Roswaal apologised quietly, as he pulled the cloak’s hood off. “I’ve taken to covering my scent when I am undercover. Considering just how far the unrest has spread, I thought it best to prepare for the eventuality that some demi-humans join the rebellion.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” Ferris allowed. “More importantly, did you just come back? Are you alright?”
“I am perfectly healthy,” Roswaal assured. “After hearing about what happened I rushed towards the palace as soon as I could, as I suspected I’d find you here. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Help?” Ferris echoed, before narrowing his eyes. “There is, actually. Lady Crusch is apparently going to collect urgent information from Lord Edgar when she wakes up in another thirty minutes. As our court magician, you're likely familiar with combat, correct?”
“I’m passingly familiar, yes,” Roswaal assured with a smile tinged with nostalgia. “Clind, my assistant, is also quite skilled at protecting others, so we will gladly accompany you, Sir Ferris.”
“Thank you,” Ferris said as he lowered his head. “Lady Crusch is the most important person in the world to me, but I can’t protect her on my own. It would mean a lot to have you back me up, Teacher.”
----------------------------------------
Crusch strode forward with a smile on her face. Waking up to find Ferris speaking with Lord Roswaal had been a surprise, but it had been a pleasant one when she had seen the joy in Ferris’s eyes.
While Ferris pretended to be very carefree, it was rare to see him genuinely open up to another person, and yet it seemed that the mysterious margrave had managed just that.
As Lugunica’s court mage, Crusch had little doubts that the man and his assistant would be an asset when it came to their investigation, and she’d even been given the added benefit of a somewhat distracted Ferris.
“Alright, unless our listeners have some sort of trick like Teacher does then we should be clear to talk,” Ferris reported. “Now. What was this about you almost dying, Lady Crusch?”
Somewhat distracted, but not quite distracted enough, she supposed.
“After I’d finished taking out the last segment of the fire break of my sector, five traitorous royal knights ambushed me,” Crusch admitted. “While I may have been able to take a few down, I would almost certainly have perished if His Majesty hadn’t arrived with reinforcements.”
“Lady Crusch,” Ferris whispered, looking horrified.
Should I even give him the full truth on how close it was?
“Even that may be putting it lightly, in truth it was close enough that if King Fourier hadn’t rushed ahead by himself and stalled four of the royal guards themselves, I would likely be dead now,” Crusch said, refusing to hide the full story from herself or Ferris. Better to get it out in the open.
“Lady Crusch, you must have known the odds when you went by yourself,” Ferris said, not bothering to keep the agony off his face that he knew she’d be able to read anyway. “Just why did you do it?”
“Because even if it had cost me my life, stopping that fire would have been worth it.” Crusch said with conviction. “It is the duty of those in power to put their subjects first.”
“You're wrong,” Ferris said quietly. “That fire would have claimed a great many lives, but Lady Crusch will surely save even more if she lives a long life, with how much strength and influence you have.”
“If we assume no-one rises above their station perhaps,” Crusch allowed before adopting a more severe tone. “However, it is impossible to know just what potential resides in those people. Great innovators, diplomats and more often come from such backgrounds, and it is equally possible that they would far outstrip the amount of good I could do myself.”
Ferris broke the gaze, staring at the ground without another word, even as the wind around him continued to rage chaotically.
“I value your opinion, Ferris, and I’m grateful you shared it, even if I disagree.” Crusch said gently, before turning to look at Lord Roswaal who had remained quiet. “Lord Roswaal, if you don’t mind, may I ask your opinion on the matter?”
“I believe you are underestimating your importance to His Majesty, Lady Crusch, as well as how truly important those who make history are,” Roswaal said, closing an eye and letting his yellow eye focus on her. “You are correct that there are many important individuals who arise from squalor, but I believe such talented individuals are far more rare than you might imagine.”
“Even if they were far rarer than I believed, is it not possible that there were some of them, waiting to be saved?” Crusch asked.
“It’s theoretically possible, but I also believe that many such people would also have their own methods of escaping such a fire,” Roswall said with amusement. “Their methods may range from convincing others to help them escape such as Hoshin, to simply being powerful enough to walk out on their own such as Reid.”
Roswaal’s gaze shifted to Clind as he spoke. “Clind, I asked you to look into what news we had about survivors from the fire.”
“Several sections survived due to local leadership in Astra street. Miraculous,” Clind responded, retrieving a sheaf of papers from under his jacket.
Roswaal took it, and glanced over the first page.
“Astra street was a section close to some of the worst heat, and yet its casualties were relatively light,” he read off the document, swinging his hand through the air in the dramatic way he tended to prefer, which Crusch had to admit fit exactly with what Ferris had said of the man.
“It was entirely due to the leadership of a local living there, by the name of Alf. Due to his actions, he and many others who otherwise would have perished in the fire were saved. So I do not believe it was up to you alone to save our citizens. Many are great enough to save themselves.”
Roswaal's smile deepened and he rested a hand on Ferris’s shoulder, the wind shifting to show affection.
“Of course, such nobility is a key aspect of your character and one of the reasons you will provide such aid to his majesty over his reign,” Roswaal said, opening both his eyes. “Is that not right, Ferris?”
“I don’t want Lady Crusch to change,” Ferris admitted. “But I do wish that you’d be willing to give her life the same value I do.”
“I do not believe I could be happy if I held my own life that highly Ferris,” Crusch said, giving a melancholic smile. “You already hold my life far too highly if you believe it is above thousands of others, and I can only be thankful to know that His Majesty will always be ready to help you, should I perish.”
“Lady Crusch you can’t speak like that!” Ferris said, wringing his hands together. “I don’t ever want to think about the idea of you dying, or moving on past it.”
Crusch watched as the margrave squeezed Ferris’s shoulder in support, and how it helped calm Ferris down from the upsetting topic.
That was good. Ferris had never been very good at opening up to people, but now it seemed that he had someone else who could drag a smile out of him even when he was in one of his moods.
That thought brought a smile to her own lips.
----------------------------------------
“Lady Crusch, thank you for coming personally,” Edgar said, his face perfectly composed. But his appearance was belied by the wind swirling chaotically around him.
“The information I want to provide you is quite sensitive and I believe that our mutual enemy might have noticed if I had gone through the normal channels. It’s about the insects you asked me to look into before.”
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Pausing the elderly men, bent over and pulled open a container pulling out an insect body that she recognized, yet had somehow become frozen in place.
“Capturing one alive was quite difficult, and even casting the necessary spells to preserve it took much more effort then it should have, but once I started examining it many things clicked into place. These things are so substantially different from the ordinary insects they most resemble, to the point where they are practically a new type of classification. Their group behaviour has radically changed, as they’ve gained both the ability to work together and with distinct leaders, their bodies have started to recognize foreign mana and attack it, and even their stingers have grown tremendously!”
Edgar said, face breaking into a wide smile as he thrust the insect closer for them to look at.
“That’s disgusting.” Ferris hissed, taking a step back and raising a sleeve to hide his face.
“Disgusting?” Edgar repeated a baffled tone taking his place for a second, before realisation took his place. “Ah, I wouldn’t have thought someone as accomplished as the Blue would struggle to see the magnificent in these insects, simply due to something as shallow as appearances.”
“It’s identical,” Crusch said furrowing her brows as she ignored the bickering and compared the insect's form to the one that had been spying on them.
“You’ve encountered them before in their current form?” Edgar asked, finally looking away from Ferris to refocus on her.
“I have,” Crusch confirmed before hesitating.
Any information Edgar provides will be useful, but will I taint the information if I tell him my suspicions?
“I will elaborate on where and how, after you tell me the rest of your conclusions,” Crusch said after a few seconds of deliberation.
“Very well,” Edgar said reluctantly. “I mentioned that their new coordination is astounding, correct? To expand on that it appears the primary cause is their gates having an artificial connection to each other. At a guess, it’s wide enough for them to share information such as their senses, and perhaps even motor functions. At the same time though, this does provide a potential solution for them. For as long as we have one alive, we can potentially use their link to others to track them down.”
Automatically, Crusch found her eyes drifting to the cloaked figure on her right, although she closed them before she was subjected to the disorienting field hiding Roswaal’s identity.
“I’ll examine them myself once we finish collecting the information,” Roswaal said, tone wry.
“Seeking an independent examination?” Edgar said neutrally, even as the wind surprised her by showing the information delighted the man rather than infuriate him, even before he saw who she’d requested.
Reaching up the margrave lowered his hood, to reveal himself with a flourish. “Roswaal K Mathers at your service.”
Edgar blinked, then a wide grin broke out on his face.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lord Roswaal,” Edgar said enthusiastically. “It is good to see such a well qualified individual working on such a pressing matter.”
“You flatter me, Lord Edgar” Roswaal said easily, his eyes flicking back to her own, wind shifting to show his trepidation, as he pulled the hood back up once more, hiding his identity from the world.
“We have been given ample proof that the swarm of insects is currently being controlled by a human’s intelligence.” Crusch said with a hint of annoyance. “Evidence suggests real time manipulation and information gathering so far. Could a gate connection have allowed this?”
“A gate connection could theoretically manage it, but I’m not sure if it’s the most likely possibility,” Edgar said, tilting his head in thought. “There would be multiple issues though. Connections to animals for use in spying has been studied and documented in the past, but these insect gates being interconnected would multiply the difficulty by an order of magnitude. The chances of alien thoughts leaking through and contaminating humans would become far greater, as would interpreting a mix of multiple senses.”
“Assuming this was the method used, and you connected to one,” Crusch said. “Would the death of the insect impact you, and could you easily connect to another?”
“No, assuming you could manage to make it past the various difficulties forging a bond would pose, the things that once hindered you would become advantages. In many ways rather than an individual insect, this is closer to a hive mind. Should one perish, moving to another would be easy, and barely impact the controller at all. The only way to truly cause them harm through the insects would be eradicating them entirely.” Edgar said, frown deepening before colour rapidly drained from his face.
“I can only hope it was an undocumented divine blessing then, as the alternative is nearly too horrible to say.” Edgar concluded.
“Alternative?” Crusch asked, raising an eyebrow.
For several long seconds there was silence before Edgar’s eyes darted to Ferris of all people before he finally decided to answer, even as the wind around him blew in a chaotic storm.
“Let us just say that children are far better at adapting than adults to such experimentation,” Edgar said darkly. “For something so delicate, there would also have been numerous failures as well.”
Crusch's frown deepened at the revelation of their enemies' depravities, but she was relieved to see that Ferris’s wind hadn’t lost its tight control.
“Then we’ll simply have to make tracking down the controller one of our top priorities.” Crusch said decisively. “Lord Roswaal, can you give me an estimate on how long it would take you to track it down?”
“It depends on how they formed the connection I suppose, but it won’t take more than a few days even assuming that they took all possible precautions,” Roswaal drawled, reaching out to grasp the insect from Edgar.
Edgar let the man take it, then leaned in closer to Crusch to mutter under his breath, “There is one more thing. I have been continuing to keep track of the regular insects, and their behaviour has changed in worrying ways.”
Crusch turned to him, and responded, her voice similarly quiet, “How so? Have the attacks picked back up?”
Edgar shook his head. “No, but there have been more sightings. One in particular is a concern. A group of beetles was found covering the entire wall of a little-travelled alley..”
“How many died?”
“None. The bugs apparently did not notice the witnesses, and they were able to escape before that changed.”
Crusch’s brows creased. That was unusual… but didn’t appear to be all that important. “Then, is there a particular point you wanted to bring up about this? I know we’ve had sightings of swarms before. What makes this one different?”
“They were too exposed,” Edgar explained. “We’ve never had an eyewitness report of a resting swarm, and the behaviour that the eyewitness described was quite unusual for beetles. Their carapaces opened and closed like they were breathing, many appeared to be fighting each other, and they were packed tightly together.”
He paused. “I can’t say for certain, since I didn’t see them, but I believe they may be about to swarm.”
Crusch tilted her head. “Haven’t they already done so? Many swarms have already attacked the citizenry.”
“Ah,” Edgar said. “Forgive me, I forgot that this is a technical distinction.”
He paused, gathering his thoughts, then began, “The word ‘swarm’ refers to any grouping of insects, but for us who study the smaller creatures of the world, it refers specifically to any who have undergone a specific physiological change. After the environment changes in a way that puts stress on the group, they rapidly grow in numbers, grow more passive to conserve energy, and when enough of them have built up, they explode out with great aggression.”
Crusch frowned, working through the implications of that knowledge.
“Do you mean to say that the attacks will get worse?” she asked.
Edgar nodded. “Much, much worse. We don’t have a good estimate of their numbers, but in the worst case they could very well black out the sky. Luckily, the swarming insects will not live long, no more than a few days.”
Crusch nodded slowly.
“So they’re planning to make a major move… how long before they begin?”
Edgar shrugged. “I did not observe them personally, so I can’t really give an accurate timeline. It could be weeks. It could be hours.”
“Hours?” Crusch asked, and Edgar nodded.
“In that case, we need to inform His Majesty immediately,” Crusch decided. She looked back to the others, and said, “We’ll be returning to the palace at once.”
Ferris shot her a worried look, but Roswaal placed a hand on his shoulder, seeming to calm him.
“Tha~t is acceptable. It would be easier to properly study this specimen there,” the court mage drawled, reaching out to return the paralysed insect to Edgar.
But as he did so…
“Ah~? What’s all this? Playing with dear sister’s toys, hmm~?”
But right before Edgar could grasp it, a voice rang out, causing Crusch to spin around in surprise.
In the middle of the street stood a young boy, with long straight hair and wearing fine clothes.
How did he sneak up on us?
“We see that you’ve arranged for a feast, it was painful to wait with such an empty stomach, but now we’ll finally get to eat and indulge ourselves, the first bite is sure to be delicious when you're this hungry.”
The wind that spiralled around the boy seemed almost venomous to her eyes, polluting all it touched and making the boy’s eyes stand out all the more.
Those eyes didn’t belong to anything that could still be called a human being, and were magnitudes worse than even the insane eyes of Biehn Argyle, someone twisted enough to experiment on human corpses.
“Eddie, it’s time to go home,” the boy sang even as he steadily approached the five of them, not a trace of fear in his eyes.
“Eddie?” Edgard mused an uncomfortable look crossing his face as he took a step back, allowing Crusch to step forward with her sword drawn.
“I do not know who you are, but I’ll give you this one opportunity to back down.” Crusch declared, already allowing her wind to cover her blade in preparation.
“Lady Crusch as well?” the boy mused, intonation seeming to rapidly shift. “We’ll welcome you to take part in our feast, and join the dinner table.”
“If you know Lady Crusch's name, won’t you tell us yours?” Ferris said carefully, taking a step back to join Edgar’s slow retreat.
“Argyle always was a coward who let his lady do his fighting for him.” the boy mused, smile widening at seeing Ferris’s slowly growing panic. “Do not worry, we are not so impolite as to not share our name. We are the Witch Cult’s Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, Roy Alphard.”
For a second Crusch’s blade wavered at the knowledge of just who they were facing, an opportunity Roy did not waste for a second as he launched himself forward towards them with a shriek of laughter, only to be met halfway by a figure that he hadn’t accounted for.
The elderly mage slammed into the youthful looking archbishop in a storm of fists and kicks, each blow a masterstroke that would have destroyed any normal individual in a single strike. Yet the youth’s expression remained relaxed even as he parried every attack, even as he was forced to give ground.
“Do not use our real names. Gluttony can use it against you,” Roswaal declared, eyes not leaving the archbishop for an instant.
“We are curious who you are, to know that, but I suppose we’ll know soon enough.” The boy mused with a twisted smile, as he went on the attack for the first time. Heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, and spleen each attack was aimed at one of the five vital organs, as the archbishop’s fists which had destroyed thousands lashed out.
It’s bloody history enough that even despite his greater speed and strength, it was the elderly mage that soon started giving ground.
If Roswaal’s strikes were that of a master martial artist with each lightning quick and precise blow perfectly calculated, then Roy’s were those of a beast. Each and every strike was aimed for possible weak spots with no delays due to calculations, as the youth surrendered himself entirely to instinct alone, as his eyes stared in delight at the unexpected encounter.
“Butler, get those three out of here now!” Roswaal shouted, as despite conventional wisdom the older man was pushed back, as he was forced to devote the majority of his attention simply to guarding against his opponents counter attacks, which had no pattern to discern.
“Understood,” Clind nodded easily as he pulled a startled Ferris and Edgar under each arm. “Come, I will back up Master soon.”
Crusch grit her teeth, and swung to release her famous blade of wind, using a moment where it wouldn’t impact Roswaal as well. Such timing in a duel as ferocious as theirs should have been impossible, but Crusch proved that wrong in an instant as her invisible blade swung to cut the sin archbishop in two. Yet defying all logic, Roy spun and dodged the invisible blade without even breaking the flow of his attacks.
Crusch couldn’t quite understand how simply knowing their names allowed the menace to so easily read them, but after seeing proof she would be foolish to stay and force Roswaal to protect her.
“Teacher, you’d better stay alive,” Ferris called out from the retreating form of Clind, a maelstrom of his emotions leaking into the wind.
I’ll place my trust in you, but for Ferris’s sake, please stay alive, Roswaal.
But as if Crusch’s decision was a signal, the archbishop tore towards her in an instant, his speed seeming to multiply. But as Crusch raised her blade to intercept the human missile, she saw the ground liquify causing the archbishop to lose his footing even before the palm strike from Roswaal sent him skidding backwards once more.
“Go!” Roswaal shouted, and the uncharacteristic volume from the generally calm man, and knowledge that the mage had her back, allowed Crusch to turn her back to them and run.
“I know you're hungry, but that’s no excuse to claim the whole buffet for yourself,” Roy said, pulling two daggers out of his ratty clothes. “We don’t know how you're hiding yourself, but if you are, that must mean you fear being found out if you're exposed.”
----------------------------------------
Fourier rubbed his exhausted eyes with his free hand, wishing not for the first time that he could at least temporarily let go of the Sceptre occupying his other. Changing clothes had been an ordeal, even with one of their servants, helping him through it. He supposed it made his skipped bath a mixed blessing, as it was one area he refused to let another help him now that he wasn’t an invalid.
More than anything though he wanted to just drop and go to sleep, preferably on his bed, but he’d take the floor if it meant ending this day.
Closing his eyes, he mentally pulled on the Sceptre’s mana causing the burning sensation to intensify as the flow of mana increased, even as he used the excess mana to once more temporarily stave off the feeling of exhaustion.
“Sire, are you sure that you shouldn't rest?” asked one of the officials assigned to work with him. “It isn’t healthy to be circulating your mana that frequently.”
“I’ll go to sleep when this is all dealt with,” Fourier answered, perhaps a bit too loudly, attracting the attention of many of the workers.
I can see many of them smiling, and even working harder. It falls to the leader to serve as a role model and inspiration for everyone.
“You’ll burn yourself out at this rate,” the official scolded. But Fourier noticed that even he was smiling softly as he turned his focus back to his work.
Fourier found himself smiling back as he gazed at the hard work of his citizens at preserving their kingdom. With them at his back, did his body really think he’d yield to something as transient as pain?
“Urgent report!” a messenger shouted as he rushed into their workforce, pale faced and panicked as he skidded to a halt in front of Fourier.
“Your Majesty,” the man forced himself to say, not even pausing to catch his breath. “Pardon my rudeness but you must see this.”
Two knights stepped forward to intercept him in case he bore anything dangerous, but Fourier waved them off.
There were assassins in the country, so he had to be careful, but his gut was telling him he needed to listen to the man. He was pale faced and shaking, a look of primal terror in his eyes.
“Pass it over,” Fourier ordered.
The man handed him a barely sealed envelope, his hand shaking. Once Fourier took it, whatever had been animating the man gave out, and he collapsed to his knees.
Fourier sliced the envelope open, pulled out a single sheaf of paper, and then, with only the slightest apprehensive hesitation, started scanning the report.
Not a moment later, he froze in disbelief.
That’s… that’s impossible!
A cold sweat ran down his back, and he brought the paper a little closer to him, his eyes shifting to make sure no one else could see it.
Is this why I couldn’t call Volcanica?!
“How much confirmation do we have that this report is accurate?!” Fourier asked, his tone uncharacteristically harsh, as he allowed himself to lean his weight onto the Sceptre.
“Where is the mirror located nearest to the far Lifaus Plains! I must see this for myself, with my own eyes.” Fourier shouted, bright blue light emanating from his entire body, before freezing as he noticed the many eyes upon him.
I have to be careful or I’ll start a full blown panic. Od, I’m almost panicking.
“How many people have seen this report?” Fourier asked, watching the surroundings from the corner of his eyes. He saw just how many of the officials in the room inched closer, curious to see what could have upset their liege this much.
“Not many, your majesty,” the messenger said, looking up at Fourier. “I flagged this as a confidential report, and rushed straight here, so not many would have gotten the opportunity.”
This could change everything. With this information, I could either stop the rebellion, or cause it to spark to a far higher fever.
“I’m ordering a full council attendance on my authority as King, to be held in one hour from now,” Fourier declared, already starting to walk away, before pausing.
“My citizens, I know many of you are curious as to what information could be so urgent, but all I can tell you right now is that our brightest minds will be pouring over it soon. If I could share more without putting you all in great danger, I swear that you would be the first to know. Please continue your hard work on your current tasks, even if I sadly will no longer be able to join you,” Fourier said, as he swept his vision across the room, taking the time to meet the eyes of each of the local leaders during his impromptu speech.
Carefully he solemnly walked out of the room, and then when he was far enough away that he wouldn’t be heard, he shifted into a run, sprinting as fast as he could towards the palace communication room.
I swear I’ll find out the truth!