Point Of View: Lorian Vellorn
The girl was eating the cookies, staring at me with a completely sulky look. What did I do wrong? Does she not care about all the cruelty in this kingdom? I looked out the window and saw the forest stretching ahead. The sun was already setting. It was the first day of the journey, and there wasn’t much to do. I put a calming smile on my face, which only made Tanaka’s expression worsen.
“Is something bothering you, Miss Tanaka?” I went straight to the point, without beating around the bush. I was more bored than curious.
“Why am I here?” The blonde-haired girl was also direct. I was pleased. Dealing with all those nobles who thought carefully about every word wasn’t my strong suit.
“You’re escorting me. I didn’t understand your question.” I saw her brow furrow. My answer wasn’t satisfying. I had nine days to try to bring this girl to my side, but I couldn’t tell her that.
She took a deep breath as she finished chewing another cookie. Where should I start? What should I say? I pondered. There were certainly risks if I didn’t choose my words carefully. She had a close relationship with Gregor and Abimael, who were extremely loyal to the king.
“Miss Kaori Tanaka, I’d like to reinforce that if you need anything, I am at your complete disposal.” Offering a hand before taking an arm seemed like a good strategy.
“What do you mean by that?” She stopped eating. I rested a hand on my chin and leaned my elbow on the window, diverting my gaze. Now what? What was the best possible response?
“You still don’t understand your position in this kingdom. You’re important, girl. A single decision of yours can cause a war.” I sighed. I hoped I had been vague enough not to cause trouble. “I’m putting myself at your disposal. I’m not strong, but I have relevant wealth.”
“You can stop right there. I don’t plan to build any kind of relationship with you. You can’t trust someone who sneaks around like a rat all the time.” The girl left me completely irritated.
“A rat? Please, don’t be so disrespectful, girl. I’m one of the few nobles who truly cares about this damned kingdom.” My blood was boiling.
“Seems like just a facade to hide your true desires.” She leaned towards me with a smile. “Let me guess: you believe that if you had the crown, things would be better, right? Unfortunately for you, I don’t want to get involved in wars. I’m tired of it.”
Wars? Is that what this was about? I understood. She thought I was planning a small rebellion. But she hadn’t sabotaged me in any way. This could only mean she wasn’t on any side.
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“I don’t want the crown…” The carriage slowed down. Someone knocked on the door. I looked at Kaori and took a deep breath. We’d have time to talk during the journey.
“You may enter,” I ordered. Captain Gregor Olindar was on the other side. He looked at me and then at Kaori. He seemed worried.
“We’re going to camp. The horses need to rest. Miss Kaori, the soldiers are planning to hunt. I want you to join them.” His gaze was fixed on Kaori, who looked at me. She stood up without hesitation. The door closed, leaving me alone in the carriage. Inside, there was enough space to sleep. I grabbed the remaining cookies and started eating, thinking about the conversation we had. A coup d’état? It seemed like a fun idea…
A buzzing sound echoed through the carriage. I looked at the small luggage compartment that served as part of the bench and lifted it. A small mirror was buzzing. Framed in Arcane Gold with runes on its sides, it was a communication device I had purchased. It had five minutes of charge per day, and there were only two of these in Calyndor. I activated the device, embedding my mana.
Stella was the other person who had the device… My heart was racing. This device was used only in emergencies. For her to be calling me, something had gone wrong.
“Hey, hey, hey! Are you sure this is how this thing works?” The image of a girl became clear. She had round ears, typical of a dwarf. Black, short, and spiky hair on her head. Her eyes were light brown. She looked young. A dwarf?
“Look, there’s someone on the other side. It worked!” She spoke to someone who didn’t appear in the small mirror.
“Who the hell are you? Where’s Stella?” I asked, worried, my heart about to leap out of my chest.
“Oh, that’s the name of that woman. Look, we found out her name,” the dwarf was speaking to someone in the room. “I’m Durmila Ironcall.” She looked at me with curious eyes. I took a deep breath.
“Durmila, huh? Where did you get this mirror?” She didn’t seem like a dangerous person, so I needed to find out what happened to Stella and Seven.
“It was with the unconscious woman. Let me show you.” She started moving quickly. I watched the image carefully. It looked like a cabin. A window allowed me to see a hill in the distance. Then, we were facing a bed.
Stella, what happened to you? My best agent was covered in bloody bandages. Her face was pale, and I could see beads of sweat dripping down her forehead. Her chest rose and fell as if a large rock was pressing on it.
“She’s fine now. This wonderful dwarf right here took care of her.” The mirror discharged, and the image disappeared. My heart started racing again.
“No, no, no, Stella!” I imbued the artifact with my mana, but it was useless. This was bad, the worst possible situation. Lack of knowledge in my area of operation meant failure.
“Calm down, Lorian. Tomorrow you can try calling again,” I repeated to myself, hoping to calm down. If that wasn’t enough, I would search every city, village, and camp in this kingdom.
The best thing now was to summarize what I already knew: Seven and Stella were attacked. My agent was injured but stable. Where was Seven? Stella was in a cabin, surrounded by hills. This meant she was in the territory just before the Forbidden Forest, after Drakenville’s territory. That is, if she was still in Calyndor. The search area was too large.
A dwarf and another person who didn’t appear in the image. There weren’t many dwarves to search for. After all, we were in a human kingdom. I had her characteristics. Maybe my people could find them. But if they were in a very remote area, it would be complicated. My thoughts were interrupted by the smell of stew coming from outside my carriage.