Days later. The Empire of the Moon. Throne’s City.
After the sudden and unexpected death of the Emperor, the city fell into a short period of disarray. Crooks and criminals took the moment of weakness from the Empire as an opportunity to do whatever they wanted without being punished. Those with both ambition and power set their eyes on the throne. Sellswords and assassins assembled in the city.
However, when Jean, Blink, and Demon arrived, they found the city to be quite the opposite of chaotic. Men in blue armor patrolled the walls and the streets in an organized fashion. Guards at the city gates questioned the visitors in detail and frequently searched them. Jean saw one of the visitors trying to get past the searching by bribing the guard captain, only to be arrested and had his belongings confiscated.
“Look.” Blink gestured for the top of the wall. Jean looked and saw three long pikes sticking into the air. Three severed heads were attached to them.
“All of them used to be high ranking officials in the Empire.” One of the people beside the three Voyagers was a merchant. He knew more about the city than the Voyagers did for the moment. “One of them was the Minister of Defense.”
“What happened?” Jean put on a mask of curiosity. She might be the best actress among the trio. The rest could put up an act, but they wouldn’t be too happy to do so for a random local.
The merchant was more than happy to enlighten a young, good looking woman.
“They conspired to take the throne. Emperor Benedictine had them, their families, and all of their supporters beheaded.” He glanced at Blink and Demon. “You and your friends aren’t from around here, are you?”
“No.” It took the Voyagers a couple of days to go from the Emerald City from the Empire’s border to Throne’s City at the Empire’s heart. Perhaps they had teleportation devices or other tools that could make their voyage much faster, but those means weren’t really used for travel. It seemed like a lot has happened in those few days.
“Well, after the Emperor was killed by those Sun bastards, his uncle took the throne.” The merchant glanced at the surrounding and made sure no one heard him except for his intended audience. “I’ve got to say, Emperor Benedictine is not someone you want to mess with. Do you know what was the first thing he did after he took the throne?”
“What?”
“He had hundreds of families arrested in the name of treason. It was over two thousand people. There was no proof that any of them was really guilty, but Empire Benedictine said so, and anyone that questioned him, well, they are now traitors as well. And then, he publicly tortured them for the name of their accomplices. Those who refused to talk were burnt alive. Oh the smell...”
“How come no one has revolted yet?” Demon frowned. A tyrant like this shouldn’t be able to last too long without being killed in his sleep.
The merchant gulped. He really shouldn’t be saying this, but the look of curiosity and slight admiration on the blonde girl’s face made him want to show off his knowledge. He quickly succumbed to his feelings. After all, he was just a native.
“The generals in the military must have been bought over or something, because they did everything the Emperor wanted.” He saw a slight dissatisfaction on Jean and did his best to look for new information that might satisfy her. “By the way, there has been a story…”
“What is it?”
“Well, the story goes that the Emperor has an army of assassins under his command. These assassins are in charge of exterminating anyone that poses a threat to him. That’s how the Emperor knew who was a traitor.” He looked around again, suddenly realizing he has said too much. “Please don’t tell anyone I told you this.”
At this point, the three Voyagers were already at the city’s gate. The merchant said goodbye to the three before heading for the guards. As he left, Jean nodded and Demon, who shot a small ball of green energy into the merchant.
“He’ll be dead in an hour. Cause of death will be unknown.” Demon said. He knew what Jean meant. The merchant has seen all three of them. He could be a loose end.
“Good.” Jean nodded. The curious look was nowhere to be seen.
When it was their turn, the three Voyagers made their way into the city without many obstacles. There was a lot of security, but the Defensive Matrix wasn’t on. Getting past the guards was just a matter of disguise and small lies. Finally inside the city, they found a tavern to sit in. Jean ordered three bottles of liquor for them, but none of them drank. Instead, they were communicating with their watches. Talking was just too risky.
“This is not the plan.” Blink started.
The Voyagers’ plan was to return to Throne’s City, and use the chaos caused by the death of the Emperor to raise a new puppet leader for the Emperor. This would give them the time and resource need to build up enough forces to combat Adam and the Empire of the Sun.
The presence of new Emperor Benedictine was a surprise, and it wasn’t a good one. Judging from what they heard, he was a decisive and ruthless leader. In other words, he couldn’t be easily controlled or manipulated by the Voyagers.
“We need to deal with this Emperor.”
“How? There are just three of us. The other Voyagers have gone on their ways.” Blink wondered. “Even after the battle, there must still be tens of thousands of Moon soldiers stationed in the city. If we try to break through by force, we will be defeated.”
“There are roughly 20,000 Moon soldiers in the city. Blink’s right. We can’t take them by force.”
Blink and Demon turned to Jean, who was receiving the information from her spies in the sky. As she herself moved into Throne’s City, she released a handful of observers so high even the Voyagers had trouble discovering them. The observers easily scanned through the unprotected city and got all the information Jean wanted.
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The other two Voyagers knew Jean had a reliable source of information, but they didn't know what it was. This only made them more willing to follow Jean’s command.
“Then we don’t try to break through by force.” Blink quickly added as she glanced at a squad of Moon soldiers walking across the tavern in tight formation. “We should go to meet the Emperor. Gain his trust. Once that happens, it won’t be too difficult for us to control him. His methods are brutal.” She smirked. “But we’re not soft either.”
She was confident, and she had the reason to be so. She has traveled through three worlds, and she has seen a lot of things that would make the less experienced throw up in disgust. Obviously, she has survived through all of them.
Jean nodded. Whether it was peace or war, they should meet the Emperor first before deciding.
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“You are sentenced to die in the name of treason.”
In the throne room, a tall man with grey hair stated coldly. In front of him was a short, fat man in rich clothing. As soon as the order was given, two men in blue armor walked up, grabbed onto the man, and started dragging him away.
“Please! Benedictine! Sire! I’m your brother!”
The guards subconsciously slowed down and turned to the man with grey hair, checking as if he has changed his mind.
“You are no longer my brother the moment you decided to usurp the throne.” Benedictine’s expression didn't change. “Guards, what are you waiting for?” He stared dangerously at the guards.
The guards felt chills run down their spines. They have seen all too well what Benedictine does to those that disobey him, and they had no intention of going through the treatment themselves. They brought the screaming victim away quickly.
Benedictine was about to sit down when another guard came in.
“Sir, there are three people at the door. They claim to be mercenaries hired by the former Emperor. Now, they have returned to serve.”
Benedictine frowned. If it was soldiers of the Empire of the Moon that retreated to the capital after the defeat at the hand of the Border Army, he would gladly reward them and accept their return. The fact that they were willing to come all the way back alone proved their loyalty. That was mainly how he massed the 20,000 men in the capital city.
But mercenaries? They are either here to demand payment or for some other wicked purpose. That was when he remembered something…
“Send them in.”
“Yes sir.”
Jean, Blink, and Demon walked into the throne. They saluted.
“Your grace. We are...” Jean started.
“I know who you are. My nephew hired you to win a battle. Now the battle is lost, my nephew is dead, and here you are.” Emperor Benedictine tilted his head. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t execute you all as an example?”
Blink and Demon rested their hands on their watch. One wrong word and blood will be spilled.
Jean looked up with a mixture of surprise and anger.
“Your grace! I have heard you were a just emperor, punishing the usurpers with death and rewarding the loyal with gold! This is such a disappointment!”
“How dare you!” One of the guards saw this as an opportunity to impress his new master, but the person he sought to impress cut him off.
“Let her go on.”
“Your grace,” Jean has entered full actress mode. “my comrades and I were hired by the Emperor before the battle against those Sun bastards. We were among the vanguards. We fought throughout the entire battle from the beginning to the end. I don’t know about the others but I have slew at least two dozen foes. That is well worth what I was paid. I can assure you, your grace, that my comrades and I hardly deserve death! We have came back because we respect the deal we made with the late Emperor, and this is how we are treated?”
Benedictine suddenly gave out a small smile.
“You make some sense, mercenary, but I will send my own men to investigate. If you are telling the truth, then I will be more than happy to meet whatever demand you hold. If you are lying...I will see to it that you die screaming. I have beheaded people and I have burned people alive, but I have never skinned anyone alive.”
Benedictine looked into Jean’s eyes, searching for any sign of fear or hesitance. If the girl flinched, he would have the trio arrested and executed immediately. But all he could see from Jean was a sign of relief. She obviously didn't think Benedictine’s men would find something that would contradict with what she said. Finally, he nodded in satisfaction.
“In the meantime, don’t leave the capital.”
“As you wish, your grace.”
The trio backed out of the throne room. As they left, Benedictine paused for a moment before clapping his hands.
Suddenly, two figures in pure black armors appeared. The guards gulped. They had no idea where the figures came from, but they didn't draw their weapons. These men in black were friends. Well, not exactly friends, but allies.
“Find out all there is about those three people and report back to me.”
Everything about Jean felt right. It was as if she really was just an ordinary, loyal mercenary. But Benedictine felt something fishy. He didn't know what it was, but the last time he felt this, he was about to drink a cup of wine filled with enough poison to bring down an elephant. His instincts were never wrong.
“As you wish.” The two men in black saluted before suddenly leaping into the air. They never landed.
Benedictine sat back down. He should feel relieved. The entire Empire knew him as the uncle to the Emperor, but only a few knew he was actually the Master of Intelligence. These men in black were his agents. They were taken from orphans and were trained to become the best spies and assassins in the Empire. Now, in this moment of chaos, they have become his sharpest blades.
A few weeks ago, Benedictine noticed something was wrong with the Empire. First of all, the Crown Prince was assassinated by “an agent of the Empire of the Sun”, but he didn't hear a word related to that, and he had a full intelligence network across both empires. Things went worse when the former Emperor was hell bent on leading all the forces of the Empire of the Moon on a full scale, all out assault on the alleged killer of the Crown Prince. The once peace-seeking leader acted as if he was a different person. Some of his most trusted advisors spoke up, only to be executed.
Benedictine knew things weren’t as simple as they seemed. Plus, even if the Emperor won, it would be a costly victory. But his words were ignored. He and the former Emperor worked side by side for decades. The former Emperor always took his advice into careful consideration. What just happened was unprecedented.
Not to mention Benedictine had a feeling that if he pushed on, he would end up like the Emperor’s peace seeking advisors as well. He made the smart decision and shut up.
As the Emperor left, Benedictine commanded the rest of the Empire from the shadows, only to receive the news that the Emperor was killed in the front line. Ok. Something is definitely wrong. The chances that the Emperor would not only fight in the front, but also get killed despite his forces being at an advantage and having an entire army of elite bodyguards, was too low to actually happen.
Benedictine didn't have any real evidence, but he could feel a web of conspiracy wrapping around the Empire of the Moon. Through decades of war and conflict, the Master of Intelligence has never faced a threat as severe and mysterious as this one. This was why he gained power with any mean necessary and did his best to regroup the Empire’s forces. Anyone that even thought of dividing the Empire was immediately put down with lightning efficiency. Benedictine wanted the Empire to be as ready for this threat as possible, and to do so, the Empire’s forces couldn’t be wasted on civil war.
The man was smart, careful, and decisive, probably one of the best leaders in this world, but he had no idea he just encountered three important members of the web of conspiracy he was so concerned about.