"Trissdean, I hope you know what you've been called here for."
"Not in the slightest, Abrian."
The man sitting in front of Trissdean, Abrian, sighed heavily. In this dark meeting room, obscured from even the minds of the common citizen, met two of Andestine's sitting council members. Abrian was the oldest council member, and it showed, for his stooped posture and graying hair expressed his seniority; though it didn't detract from his wise aura. Among the councilmen, he was the second most renown, right before the head councilman. Many times had Abrian been a voice of reason in their debating chamber, checking the maniacal plans and morals posed by the head councilman, and for that, he was like the rest of the council's father figure.
"That's always bad news, whenever that hot-headed Weis calls a limited meeting like this without anyone knowing." Remarked Abrian.
Pyotr Pierrevitch Weis, was the name of the head councilman, and whenever Trissdean heard that name, she couldn't help but get goosebumps. Weis didn't like people knowing his full name, that much was common knowledge; for he was born in a northern country from his overly lascivious Andestine noble father, which was why the name was so out of place in Andestine.
"The last time I was invited to a meeting like this with Weis, it was after his father had gone missing, and I'd been recalled from Irine from my ambassador duty. He was uptight about the smallest things, he was nervous then compared to how sly he is now."
Trissdean said, biting her lip suspiciously. She too was nervous like how Weis had been, this call, this meeting, she knew Weis's true nature; she could very well die this day.
"Ah yes, I think I was there for that, he just kept telling everyone to keep their mouths shut about the disappearance of his father. That was right after he'd shown up at Andestine, his father had said that Weis had died in Tarakia a decade before that, so none of it made sense why a nobleman's forgotten son suddenly showed up at the homeland.”
Trissdean felt uncomfortable discussing those events, for she always had the thought of Weis looming over her shoulder, listening in on everything she said. She had a pretty good guess as to what really happened, though she never spoke of it. Weis was a black prince of sorts.
He was left as a bastard child there, in Tarakia. How Weis then rose up the ranks to the leader of the most powerful country was shrouded in smoke and mirrors. If anybody talked about it, they usually went missing the next day. His father was long dead, and by Trissdean's guess, Weis had probably been the one to kill him. Just like that, Weis inherited all his father’s power. Once he was elected into the general Andestine assembly, a much larger body of legislation makers than the council, he renounced his noble claim and heritage, to Trissdean’s confusion. Trissdean was not involved in politics when Weis had risen to power, she was simply an ambassador stationed in Penthreigin, the capital of Irine, so she herself had no real knowledge of the happenings of the Weis firsthand. What she knew purely consisted of what General Silverstream, perhaps her one true friend in the council, had told her.
Beside Trissdean at the table, were her two Diamond Knights, which had been survivors of the attack on the Sidonian insurgents that occurred a few weeks back. Trissdean herself was not a publicity magnet, she was not a powerful member of the country on paper, but being in charge of black operations had its perks in the form of these personally loyal bodyguards.
The door suddenly swung open, and both her and Abrian jumped in surprise. Filling the doorway, was what clearly registered a knight…though a few things were deeply wrong about their appearance. Their armor was black, and dirty, it was scarred and had numerous dents. A black ripped heavy fabric cloak veiled their body, and hooded their helmet, which had a large crack in its visor. The knight had no perceivable skin, anywhere, it was all covered up by armor and the black, all of it looking charred and ripped. Abrian stood in a panic, being right near the intruder.
“W-what’s the meaning of this!?”
He shouted. The knight moved, or at least, Trissdean inferred so, she didn’t see him move, rather she only saw a blade rise and fall across Abrian’s chest with explosive speed. Abrian fell limp over the table, blood poured from a wound on his chest. Trissdean’s Diamond Ranks tensed, preparing their weapons. The black assassin, this knight intruder, didn’t attack after that however, they sheathed their sword and stepped to the side. It became clear that he was making room for the other people entering the room through the small doorway. From the brighter lit outside of the room, stepped in a face that made Trissdean instinctually start sweating, it was Weis himself, the head councilman.
The second person who entered the room was also a familiar face, but a far more comforting one, it was Silverstream. Weis smiled for a moment at Trissdean, half standing out of her chair, and her two Diamond Knights who were ready to turn the area into a battlefield on account of the mysterious black knight.
“Greetings Trissdean, glad you could come on such short notice.”
His voice was elegant and refined, but it carried a hint of slyness. Weis motioned to Abrian’s corpse laying over the table, and the black knight quickly pulled Abrian off of the table and onto the floor. His seat being cleared, Weis cleared his throat, and sat down, apparently completely ignorant of the blood covering the table. Silverstream looked around for a moment, frowning, before sitting down at the small table for himself as well. Even though Silverstream was humongous in the face of Weis with his bulging muscle and tall stature, Weis was still infinitely more imposing to Trissdean.
“N-not at all Head Councilman. I will always come when you call.”
She cursed herself for stumbling on her words, and she dare not question the black knight or of what he’d done. For the time being, it looked like he was with Weis.
“Oh my oh my, it seems that old Abrian is late, I suppose we’ll just have to begin without him then.”
Weis was a handsome young man with his pale hair, bright eyes and a shapely strong jaw, but Trissdean couldn’t feel anything but fear from him. For all she knew, he was just letting her on before he disposed of her like he’d just done to Abrian.
“Now then, I love meeting with you two because you, Chief of Military Affairs, and you, Chief of Special Affairs, have both pleased me with your understanding – I feel we can talk at a much more, accelerated, pace compared to the rest of our council’s members.”
The words that came out of Weis’s mouth lifted a veil from over Trissdean’s head, with how Weis was talking, it sounded like he considered her and Silverstream useful. That was far better than being a hinderance, Trissdean thought as she eyed the corpse of councilman Abrian. His death would inevitably bring uproar, he was the Chief of Public Affairs, and was quite popular with the rank and file citizen for his openness and honesty. Trissdean knew very well however, that nobody outside the room would know of how he truly died. The Diamond Ranks standing at Trissdean’s backs were lucky to say the least that they’d been promoted up to a rank that was entrusted to keep their mouths shut; for they’d probably be killed along with Abrian if they were still Platinum Ranks.
“The main topic I wanted to address was our foreign policy, namely with the you-know-what Empire. Trissdean, I’m very proud of your performance handling Them at the Eyeva Complex. It’s saddening to hear that the artifact was compromised, but we still have other such facilities being brought online soon enough, so it’s not too big a loss. General, how exactly are our armies faring?”
General Silverstream crossed his arms, sitting up in his chair slightly.
“The Andestinian 1st Army and preceding battlegroups are about halfway done with their preparation, I apologize head councilman, but logistics is not something you want to rush.”
Weis locked his fingers together upon the table with a smile.
“I completely understand general. Take as much time as you need. In the meantime, I believe the Caliphate and Principality are engaging in due time?”
Silverstream nodded.
“Due time indeed. They’re slow, but both the old man and prince-charming are doing as we expected. Caliphate armies are estimated to come in contact with Sidonian forces within a month or so, from there, the fighting will only escalate as more reinforcements pour down from the north. On the Sidonian western front, the same is starting to happen, that long lasting battle will probably come to a close in a month or so, and the Principality will be able to advance freely into Sidonian territory. That combined with the Principality also rerouting forces from the north to the south, it’s hard to think the Sidonians will be able to withstand all that might for too long.”
Silverstream said.
“Yes, yes, as much as I’d like to leave it up to our human brethren on the mainland, they simply aren’t committed enough, none of them know the true risk Sidonia and her little nation pose to humanity. Without us, trust me when I say that they would lose, they aren’t a match for that devilish little queen. Once our armies are ready, and I mean completely ready – make sure of that Silverstream – That is when I’ll give the executive order to declare war on Sidonia. We’ll continue with our tactical plans from there that we’ve already established; I’d like the both of you to brush up specifically on plan’s 5-31 and 4-89, we’ll have more manpower with our allies in the fight, so I think those plans would be possible,”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Weis paused for a moment, eyeing Silverstream as to receive his advice. Silverstream nodded, and Weis continued,
“Regarding our admiralty, I’m currently drawing up a plan for a tight blockade of the Sidonian peninsula. We all know that Sidonia is very keen to keep us out of southern waters, there’s something there that they’re trying to hide from us. If I were to guess, it’d be some sort of island or, maybe an entire other continent, Sidonia can’t be getting all its resources from their tiny peninsula after all.”
The theory was longstanding among the world’s leaders, that Sidonia had some sort of lands other than their peninsula. Trissdean personally agreed, for why was the Sidonian navy always on blockade duty, making sure not a single ship trespassed into their waters? It sounded an awful lot like Sidonia was hiding something.
“Are you sure a blockade is justified? We have the numerical advantage to smash right through the Sidonian navy, from there, we could navally invade the peninsula from every angle and resupply our armies easier.”
Silverstream rebutted. Trissdean only sat with a gut wrenched stomach, she was in awe of how Silverstream could so openly disagree with Weis.
“Mm. I understand that. I don’t want to play our ace right away, because Sidonia definitely knows very well that we have the advantage, She’ll definitely be preparing something, I want to see what that something is before we commit. You know Her, General, she’s extremely conservative and defensive with war, we can’t just charge in like the Caliphate and Principality do, they get beaten all the way back to their borders for a reason.”
Silverstream nodded.
“I see your point. I really did take for granted the good old days, the northern nations were far easier to fight…”
Silverstream sighed.
“Yes but just as much were they a waste of time. That brings me to my next topic, our allies are chiefly the Jedathari Caliphate, and Irine Principality. Trissdean, you’ve done good work in getting the Caliph around our thumb and so I commend you, for your efforts, we’ve been able to instigate them to attack Sidonia in the first place. The Prince is a smart lad, though it seems he’s more in the war just to get rid of a thorn in his side, I’m quite sure he doesn’t see the full threat Sidonia represents.”
How Weis could interpret the minds of other people despite only meeting in refined political settings, where everyone wore facades, baffled Trissdean. Weis was certainly on another level of thought than her, and she was a little glad that he rarely showed himself as such; but at the same time, it was scary how he was aware of his superiority.
“We can safely ignore Halaruth, if the acting government presiding over that child-king know what’s good for them, they won’t want a part in our war. The rest of the nation’s aren’t worth mentioning, it doesn’t matter what they do, none of them can stand toe to toe with either the Caliphate or Principality; we won’t have to lift a finger if they do enter. Remember, we’re only in this war for the Sidonians, the rest of the subhumans can be dealt with later. Now then, I think we all agree on these basic geopolitical antics?”
Weis eyed Silverstream and Trissdean, and the two of them hurried to nod.
“Well, there’s one more thing I’ve been tracking for a while now. That devil-queen Sidonia has sent something to the north, something important.”
Silverstream’s brow piqued.
“What, just another infiltrator? We’re not Aleeze’s janitor, head councilman.”
Weis shook his head.
“No, this is no infiltrator matter. Trissdean, I believe you’re aware of a certain chain of events taking place in the lower Ipithid-Lagrath region of Aleeze?”
Trissdean stared, wide eyed, at Weis. She had no idea what he was getting at, and that terrified her.
“N-no…I haven’t heard of anything.”
Weis hummed, shaking his head slowly.
“No no my good Trissdean, you have heard of what I’m talking about, but you must look deeper at things that may appear to be normalcies. You’re all familiar with Foksly, yes?”
Silverstream and her nodded.
“Well, there was a precarious murder that took place there, some sort of butcher and his daughter went missing. They were not Sidonian’s in hiding, that’s the key point. The inquisitor in charge of Foksly, one St. Yulick, informed me of some particularly eye raising details. In the butchery’s basement, there were slight traces of blood, magic analysis has yielded, human, goblin, and Nekomata blood. Something clearly took place the night of the Sidonian’s withdrawal from the city. A few weeks back the remains of the butcher and his daughter turned up, along with a swath of goblin corpses, they were found hastily buried about a klick from the city limits.”
“It sounds like the Sidonians tried to hide something, sir.”
Silverstream said, Weis nodded in response.
“Yes, I believe so as well. A similar case has also taken place in Curlessi - that river trading town on Lagrath north of Foksly. A boy was found a way’s down the river, killed. He belonged to some sort of gang, which collapsed a few weeks ago as well. Magic analysis from the town’s inquisition yielded a large amount of the boy’s blood found in an alleyway, there was also another kind of blood found there, though in smaller quantity; Nekomata.”
“So what? It sounds like a couple Sidonian infiltrators got in a tussle and had to hide themselves, what’s the big deal?”
Trissdean stared dubiously at Weis, agreeing with Silverstream on the inside. Weis rose a finger and wagged it back and forth, clicking his tongue.
“You cannot form an opinion of art if you have only part of the picture, let me finish. This is where I myself started to get suspicions, and when I took a personal interest in this little mystery; An adventurer team based out of Kretengar was on a hunting mission to Menton, that forest near Edringrad, a few days ago, word reached me that they were down a member, and that the suspected killers were a pair of young druids. It’s the appearance of one that explains it all; Yellow hair, yellow eyes, orange hairclip, effeminate appearance and skilled swordsman…”
“The Fairy of the Battlefield…”
Trissdean muttered. Out of all councilmembers, she was the one most responsible for gathering intelligence on HVT’s,(1) that description matched one of the top ten fighters in Sidonia, one that until now had been at the back of her mind.
“Yes, I forgot to mention,”
He doesn’t forget…
“That exact Sidonian was in Foksly the day of the Sidonian withdrawal, our two newest summoner pairs were engaged and beaten by him in fact. Is it starting to make sense now?”
“Ior’s sake! You could’ve just opened with that!”
Weis raised his finger once more.
“General, the point is not the individual. The alarm is that Sidonia has sent the Fairy up north. I have reason to believe the Fairy is responsible for the murder of both those two people in Foksly and of that street rat in Curlessi. There was also Edringrad, it was destroyed, most likely by a goblin raiding party, but the problem is, there are no goblins left in the area. Something obliterated the goblin presence with fire and brimstone. There were no military units or adventurer teams in the area, so that leaves only the Fairy as a possible culprit, and it matches with the timeline. Because of all this, it seems that the Fairy is traveling up north; that is the question, the big alarm: Why exactly would Sidonia send a valued doll of her’s to the north? There’s nothing there that would be of interest to Sidonia; At least, according to what we know.”
“So?” Silverstream crossed his arms, sitting up straighter. “What do you want to do about it? If it’s really the Fairy, I say we take the opportunity to assassinate him, and find out what he’s doing all the way in the north while we’re at it.”
Silverstream’s words sounded like they were going to anger Weis, but rather, they brought a smile to the head councilman’s face. Trissdean could only stare at Weis, at the way his mind must have been built to take notice of and piece together so many tiny incidents. She was glad that he knew Trissdean and Silverstream were not of his intelligence, so he had laid it out for them to understand easier.
“Ah…Great mind’s think alike. You see, I was going to deal with this little matter one way or another, I just wanted to inform the both of you of it. Whatever it is the Fairy has been sent to accomplish could turn out to be a strategic threat, or perhaps a strategic asset that we may need to secure in the future, so please, heed my words and do not be surprised if something comes up like this.”
If he trusted them enough to feel the need to spread information to them, Trissdean felt much better about her safety.
“You…you knew about this already…The 153rd? I’m guessing that’s the reason you requisitioned an entire platoon of Platinums?”
Weis’s smiled deepened.
“Sharp mind general. Yes, I formed the 153rd for the express purpose of investigating this matter. Regarding the Fairy’s current location, the last traces I can find of them are from those adventurers, and of some monks at a local monastery who reported similar appearances. That news is all a few weeks old, nothing more has been heard of them so far. That makes perfect sense, for they're now most likely crossing the Ipithid Plain, it makes sense why nobody would come in contact with the Fairy.”
Silverstream smirked at Weis.
“So then it’s all already settled then.” Weis nodded with a small smile at Silverstream.
“Yes. At the Fairy’s current pace, he’d be reaching Daigoro within the next two weeks. But, these are the Sidonians we're dealing with here. They always overperform our estimates, so I've taken to artificially inflating our guesses to better cope with their effciency. So, I think it’s reasonable to work under the assumption that the Fairy will be around Evering’s State or Salva’kar. I’ll be dispatching the 153rd from Nerenton in the coming day, they will track down the Fairy from there.”
Weis said, interlocking his fingers once more, and glancing at all of those in the room, except the black knight that was still standing silently in the corner. Weis then stood up out of his chair, adjusting his sleeves.
“Alright then, I’m happy with how this little convention turned out. Now, do remember to be on your guard, my fellow councilmembers. We are at war. It’s especially that Sidonian assassin you need to be wary of, we never know when Serendipity could strike. Do ensure you have an adequate guard.”
Weis said, eyeing Silverstream, who almost never travelled with any guards. Silverstream looked up gruffly at Weis.
“I can handle some flimsy assassin, head councilman. I’ll be just fine” Weis smiled in response to this, and turned to the door.
“Ha….” He chuckled briefly.
“No.” His face softened, and then he frowned. “You will not be fine, if she is the one that comes for you.”
***
1. High Value Target. Used in a military sense, it is an acronym to signify objects or people of importance, that either need to be protected, or taken out. VIP is more used for a protective sense however.