Early Morning - Late Spring : Kingdom of Kaelallan

It wasn’t until sunrise that I finally headed back to the palace. I had spent nearly the entire night just flying around and stargazing, but also took some time to get the lay of the land. -Although there isn’t much other than forest here…-

At present, I was winding my way down a few hallways in an attempt to get to Helen’s office.

Thankfully though, it didn't take too long to find. -This should be it.-

*Click* As the door swung open, I came into a room lined with bookshelves with two couches, a coffee table, and a desk in front of a large window. -I wonder what these books are about…- "Good morning Helen."

"..good morning…" Hearing her lethargic greeting, I turned back to see Helen sitting at her desk with bags under her eyes.

"You should really get some sleep."

"I will, here shortly…" *Yawn* "So I called you this morning to inform you about some things. It should only take a second, but if you’d like to sit and have some tea, feel free."

"No thanks, I'm heading to the academy library right after this, so…"

"Alright. In that case, I’ll be quick. First things first, the librarian at the academy is a top rank information broker. If you need any information about this half of the continent, he can get it for you. Just be aware that, on top of the information being absurdly expensive, he only answers the bare minimum, so be very careful what you ask."

-I knew something about him felt off…- "Alright, good to know."

"Second, please keep your eye out while you are at the academy. If you see anything suspicious, please at least report it." Her lethargy vanished as she spoke. "Since the attempted assassination of my husband, we have found several spies among knights and nobles. I feel bad to ask more from you but-"

"No, it's alright. It's not like it's anything major."

"Phew... Thank you…"

"Haha, no worries."

We continued talking for another moment after that before Helen’s sleepiness eventually caught up with her.

*Tap* As she laid her head down on the desk like she was going to take a nap when we finished the important stuff.

"Want me to call in a maid to get you a pillow?"

"No, it's alright…"

"Haha, alright then... Well, have a good nap."

"Mmm.." She let out a lethargic groan as I walked out of her office. *Click*

I made my way out into the courtyard after that to wait for the carriage to the academy but ended up casually playing with Ilios to pass the time.

Playing made time pass quicker than I expected though. "Good morning!"

-Hm?- Stopping just short of Ilios, I turned to see Lucy and Viviana walking out of the palace with beaming smiles. "You guys must've had a good night."

"Well of course!" Lucy seemed to be in an especially good mood.

-Seems like Viviana got used to everything after all.- It took her a while to warm up, but things eventually worked out.

After that, we quickly boarded the carriage and made our way to the academy.

The ride was filled with Lucy and Viviana’s gossip about class and classmates, but I simply muffled their voices with magic until we finally arrived and I could head to the library.

"Do you plan to be in the library all day again?" Lucy stopped to look at me as I reached for the handle to the library door.

"Yeah, at least that’s the plan." She gave me a disappointed look before I finally opened up the door. *Click* -No one’s here again?-

Although I found it odd, I didn’t really question it. -It's not like it matters to me anyways.-

Quickly making my way up to the librarian's desk, I gave a short greeting and leaned over the desk. "Good morning."

"G..good morning… Is it necessary to lean over the desk like that?"

"Do you happen to have any information on the Tower's movement?"

The man immediately clammed up. "H..ow do you know about that?"

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"Wow, asking questions about the client already? How unprofessional. So what cost are we looking at for that information?"

"That request is too general." He was clearly awkward about the information but was trying to hide that fact.

-Let’s see how long you can keep acting then.- "Then how about what the tower is planning to do with their new alliance."

"More than you have, even the royal family can't afford that kind of information."

-So the alliance really was the Towers doing.- "How about I trade information for it?"

"What kind of information?"

"How about the fate of the tower?"

"Alright, you've got my ears." This time he used a silencing artifact. Even though no one was in the library, he didn't want to chance someone walking in on it.

"Within the next week, the tower will cease to exist."

He was looking at me like I was some crazy kid. "And how could you possibly know that?"

The instant he finished talking, I looked him in the eyes and let my aura loose, only keeping it from escaping the room. "Because if it comes to it, I will destroy it myself." -If Father can’t get Bahamut’s support, I'll just find the city their executives are in and level it.-

The man's face paled as he realized it wasn’t an empty threat.

"How about now? You willing to trade me that information?"

"O..f course.." He shakily reached into a drawer and pulled out several papers.

Quickly retracting my aura into a layer, I gave him a moment to catch his breath.

"Please forgive me, my collection of information regarding the tower is rather limited, but I have made some recent connections regarding the movement of wealth between nations allied with them."

"That's good enough for now."

The next hour passed in a flash as he explained innumerable political concepts and told me everything he knew of the Tower’s recent movements, but it all led up to a single theory. "The tower is going to attack the Bay alliance without declaring war, and Kaelallan is the first target."

All of the countries near the Bay Alliance had been gathering their troops and building armies with the help of the alliance over the past few days, and even received several Nation Rank mercenaries in the process.

The most blatant case of this was the Kingdom of Zan, now being home to more than 12 foreign Nation rank adventurers. This was far more than enough to completely destroy Kaelallan before the news could even reach the rest of the Bay Alliance.

-To think they’re already planning to attack...- "So do you know how long it will be until they move those Nation Ranks?"

"My best guess is tomorrow night or the day after."

-Damn, that quickly?- But even though it was a bit shocking to actually hear, it made sense. -They’ve had this planned for a while…- "Alright one last thing."

He let out a deep breath, likely happy that I was going to leave him alone.

"What does the composition of the 12 nation ranks look like?"

"Ah… Let me check." He immediately went rummaging through his drawer again before pulling out a fairly thick stack of papers. *flip-flip-flip-flip* "Uh.. 4 mages, 3 archers, and 5 melee fighters."

-Damn...- They had a good layout on top of the fact that, even without counting their teamwork, I would need to actually be somewhat careful. -Even for me, 12 Nation ranks at once is too much...- "Alright, that’s all I need to know for now. Thanks for the information."

Although I wanted to continue looking through the library after that, the information I got was a bit too urgent. -I need to talk to Oliver ASAP…-

Immediately leaving the library and dashing across rooftops to get back to the palace as quickly as possible, the scenario finally started to weigh on me. -I'm sure I could take care of them quite comfortably in my dragon form, but it’ll be troublesome for my humanoid one…-

The only thing I could think of was the consequences of letting Kaelallan get destroyed. -I think Mother and Father would actually disown me…-

Finally making it to Oliver’s office, I watched as a maid opened up the door with a carefree expression, reminding me of the librarian. -Wait.. Wasn’t he a bit too carefree even after knowing that information?-

But before I could think much about it, the door swung open. *Click*

"Oh, you're still here?" Oliver likely thought it was odd seeing me enter his office just a couple hours after leaving for the academy.

But now wasn’t the time for small talk. "We need to talk, now."

His face immediately turned serious as he set aside everything on his desk.

"I'm going to need the payment for the contract early, or else Kaelallan will be in one hell of a predicament." In all honesty, my confidence against all of those Nation ranks wasn’t low, but it wasn’t high enough either.

Oliver furrowed his brow seeing that I wasn’t joking. "Those are some alarming words. Where are you getting the information to make that conclusion?"

"From an information broker Helen recommended me." -The more I think about him, the more suspicious he is, but I don't think spies are what I should be worrying about right now.-

"Oh, him…" Oliver cringed slightly. "You can take whatever you’d like when you feel like you need it, but I need you to explain just how Kaelallan will fall without it. We aren't weak enough to fall so easily." He seemed quite unhappy that I implied Kaelallan would fall without me.

So I quickly gave him a quick overview of the information, but he immediately got nervous.

"T..twelve? How did I not hear about any of that?"

"I don't know if my father will make it back in time, but I don’t want him fighting alone anyway. I plan to go out tonight and either catch them off guard or intercept them so we can fight without eyes around."

"In that case, I will get the academy grandmaster and Lawton to go with you-"

"No, they can't come."

Oliver paused for a moment. "And why is that?"

"If things go south.. I don't want any allies in the area."

Likely assuming what I meant, he finally agreed. "Please take anything you may need from the vault.."

"Thanks. I'll be sure to stop them, so don't worry." I gave him a confident smile as I turned to the door and left.

*Click*

- Oliver ~

*Click*

As Vasilias left the room, I turned and looked out the window. "How could I possibly agree to let you go alone."

I knew deep down that Vasilias wanted to be alone so he could simply wipe them out in his dragon form, but.. -12 Nation Ranks is simply too much...- Finally working up some determination, I called in an older butler.

"Greetings to your highness." He gave a deep bow as he walked in.

"Summon Lawton Keen and the Grandmaster please." -Two people knowing you’re a dragon is just a cost that must be paid to save your life, Vasilias.-