The flight went at a slower pace than our trip there, and was relatively unhindered, save for a situation where both Reya and Akahime had to use the bathroom at the same time, and Lilian was occupying the men’s room.
Despite that, and a quick game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who would use it, we arrived back at Redleaf Palace in peace. Upon landing, I exited the vehicle first, and was greeted by the royal guard.
“Halt! In the name of King and Queen Metron, state your business!” A loud, rotund man with a visor over his eyes called out to me.
I raised my brow, realizing that the man didn’t recognize me. To be fair, I was still wearing my mask, but I would have assumed that the King and Queen would have notified them about our impending return.
“I’m here to report back to King and Queen Metron about the state of affairs with the Luong Empire. They should be expecting us.”
I made to walk through them, but electric-tipped spears blocked my way, their crackling current making my hairs stand on end. “They are doing no such thing. You shall be detained for illegal entry and trespassing on restricted grounds.”
More spears lowered, and I got ready for battle. X, on my signal. “Anytime, Master.” However, before anything could break out, Reya stepped out from the plane behind me.
“What is the meaning of this!?” She shouted, and the guard’s attention turned from me to her. “Explain yourselves, and kneel before your crowned princess!”
They made no such move to do so, however, and the rotund man cackled. “Crowned Princess? Ha! You sit upon a paper thin throne, Reya Metron. The true ruler of our country will not be you. Now, command your knight to relent, or we shall have to use force.”
Reya looked at them, clear disdain in her eyes. “Joshua, leave the fat one alive. The rest you can do away with.”
I didn’t like appearing as though Reya was commanding me, because it would just fuel the embers of the rumors that I was in her back pocket, but in this case I would make an exception.
I’m too exhausted to deal with this shit. I just wanted to spend a few days in my own bed before we head out to the Primal Kingdom. Is that too much to ask?
“Master, you should know by now that the Metronian Kingdom political landscape is a toxic environment that cares not for the whims of man. On standby, and awaiting signal.”
I snapped my fingers, and all twenty men around me dropped their weapons and knelt in Reya’s direction. “The crown princess tells you to kneel, and you instead disobey and mock her?”
X, can I indict them on any charges, or will it just be old-fashioned murder? The A.I. appeared next to me, and leaned her floating form on my shoulder. “You could possibly find ways to send them to the dungeon to be investigated, but none of the charges would have murder be the appropriate punishment.”
Damn… Oh well. Maybe I’ll kill half of them for effect, and leave the other half for state authorities. I took the sonic blade from my belt, and drew it closer to the nearest soldier’s face.
She screamed as the whirring blade entered her vision, and I was about to move it forward when a man’s voice stopped me. “What are you all doing!?”
A familiar man in a grey cloak stepped forward from the Palace’s elevator. He walked up to the rotund, visored man and knelt next to him.
“Please, forgive my subordinate’s actions. As a commander, this is my blunder to correct. I humbly ask for both your, and the princess’ forgiveness, Paladin Cole.”
As hard as I tried to remember, I couldn’t quite place where I had seen the man before. Surely, with his grey hair, piercing blue eyes, and handsome features, I would have remembered him…
“Raiden! What are you doing here?” Reya smiled and practically bounded out of the airplane to stand in front of Raiden.
“Hi, little sister.” Recognition instantly filled me, and I stared down the former crowned prince of the Metron Kingdom. He had tried to stop me from leaving the castle after Gazix’s fight, but it didn’t seem like he held a grudge for me disarming him in public. I didn’t realize that he had such a close relationship with Reya.
I gave him a very pointed stare, but he didn’t seem to mind however, and allowed Reya to hug him unabated.
“How was your trip to the Luong Empire?” Raiden playfully tussled the princess’s hair, and stood up.
“As much as I would love to see you both get friendly with each other,” I interrupted, “We have some luggage to bring inside, and a situational report to make to the king and queen. Not to mention…”
I looked over the twenty or so people that were still kneeling around us, and said, “We need to figure out why your men tried to accost us. I want them all coming with us to the throne room, so they can explain themselves in front of the king and queen.”
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Yes, Raiden. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind that, would you?” Lucina stepped out from the plane with a displeased look on her face.
The men paled, but Raiden smiled and nodded. “Of course not, Lucy. Come on you sorry lot! Get down there, now!” He shouted, but none of them made a move.
“Oops, my bad.” I released the order placed on them, and they all stood up on shaky legs, save for the one person I threatened with a knife.
“Huh. Is something wrong with that one?” Lilian appeared from behind me, and knelt down in front of the kneeling soldier.
He waved his hand in front of her face and sighed. “Uhh, can you call a medic? She passed out kneeling.”
---
By the time we put our luggage away, had something to eat, and were all in the throne room, it was well past noon. Akahime had been told to remain in her quarters until we figured out what to do with her.
When we entered the room, all the soldiers who had tried to detain us on the landing pad were kneeling in front of the empty thrones of the King and Queen.
Raiden spotted us and walked over, a friendly smile on his face. “I hope you all relaxed a little. They’ve been made to kneel here since this morning, when you all arrived. I hope that appeases a bit of your worries.”
I shrugged, but Lucina stepped right up to her oldest brother and bared her teeth. “I really hate the way you do things, Raiden.”
The prince shrugged and said, “Two sides of the same coin, sister. We all do what we feel is necessary. This is just me doing my part.”
“Children, please. Not in front of non-royalty.” Queen Cindy Metron stepped out first, and gestured to her right, where King Claude Metron was walking towards his own throne.
They both took a seat at the same time, and a hush fell over the room as they assessed the people kneeling before them. Of course, being in a position equal to them, I didn’t kneel.
Unfortunately, Lilian took after my stance and stood as well. Queen Metron gave me the stink eye, so I slapped Lilian on the back of his head. “Kneel, idiot!” I whispered, and the maid had no choice but to follow my command before the two diplomats in front of us.
The queen gave me an approving nod before turning her gaze towards Raiden, Lucina, and Reya. “Welcome home, children. We have much to discuss about the negotiations. I am very proud of you, Reya. And Lucina, thank you for looking after your sister.”
Reya had an ecstatic blush and a goofy grin on her face, while Lucina merely nodded courteously at the praise. You can really tell who had more attention during their childhoods, huh?
“But first,” Queen Metron continued, “Raiden, what are all these people doing in my court?” The queen raised an eyebrow, causing several of the soldiers to flinch. Raiden got off of his knee, and stepped before his mother and father to explain himself.
“Apologies, my queen, but these people intercepted Paladin Cole and his ship upon their return, and tried to detain him in our dungeon. Should your majesty will it, I will take responsibility for this matter, and punish them as I see fit.”
The queen rested her head in her hands, and turned her head to her husband, who looked as though he was staving off sleep with every fiber of his being. “Honey, what do you think?”
Claude Metron jumped in his seat, and his eyes started to regain their focus. “Deliver their Judgment here and now, Raiden.”
Raiden bowed to his father, and turned to face the kneeling guards. “Fifteenth Battalion, why did you do this?”
“Captain Rixon, requesting permission to speak, sir?” The large man with a visor asked, and the prince nodded. The man stood up, and gave Raiden a stiff salute.
“We believe that the throne rightfully belongs to that of Raiden, the Undefeated. As such, we wanted to learn what method of hacking that this ‘Paladin,’ employed on the two princesses to sway them to his side.”
Lucina frowned, and looked as though she wanted to say something, but Raiden beat her to it. “Such insolence!” His voice boomed through the room, sending Rixon back onto his large behind. Raiden stepped forward and continued, “How dare you question the authority of those chosen by the system itself!?”
Rixon, on the other hand, was at a loss for words. “Who put you up to this!?” Raiden was seething mad, and lifted the large man up by his collar.
“N-no one, sir. It was the collective idea of the battalion.” Raiden threw him to the ground in disgust, and straightened out before taking a ceremonial sword out from his sheath.
He held Rixon at swordpoint, and said, “I hereby abolish the Fifteenth Battalion! From now on, you shall relinquish your uniforms, and find jobs elsewhere within the city. You are hereby dismissed!”
Some tried to disobey, but they were immediately neutralized and knocked unconscious by weapons used by the king and queen’s personal guards. Upon seeing the futility of protesting, the rest of the people filed out of the room in a dejected parade.
“I really do despise you.” Lucina walked up to Raiden and poked a finger into his chest. “You put those people up to that just to rid yourself of the soldiers who bought their way into their military position.”
Raiden shrugged. “I do what I feel is necessary. They were a cancer upon the military. You don’t have to like it.”
“Kids, stop.” Claude Metron said in a tired voice. “Reya, welcome back. Please debrief us on your trip over dinner. I’m starving.”
They started to leave their seats, but before they could, I spoke up. “Queen Metron, King Metron, it is nice to see you both again.”
Cindy Metron sighed and reluctantly sat back down on her throne. “Yes, I would say the same of you, if you hadn’t nearly killed my boy.”
“Please, I saved him from a far worse fate by eradicating whatever clutches Tengu had on him back then. Besides, we did crush the whole organization, so that should earn me some bonus points.”
Cindy’s eyes narrowed. “What do you want? You’re awful at pandering, so just out with it.”
“Two things. First, I want resources to go and stay in the Primal Kingdom for a month.” Cindy’s brows raised, and she opened her mouth to answer, when the King spoke up instead.
“Sure. Raiden is going down there to participate in the war games next month. You can accompany him down there. Your lodgings will be paid for as well.”
“Claude-!”
“Get over it, Cindy. It’s been a month and Brice is well behaved now. He did do us a favor. Look at it objectively.”
The king turned to me with that same tired look in his eyes. “What is your second request, Paladin Cole?”
“Well… how would you feel about adding a princess to your servant staff?”