The heros party all gathers in the main throne room, all of us are groggy with dark circles under our eyes. We pay the king his proper respects before we stand before him in a line. Near his throne is a rather shaken-looking man wearing some clothing I have never seen before. I would almost call it rainbow in color as every article of clothing is a different color. The king then addresses us,

"Welcome. Before me today is a foreign diplomat from the Kingdom of Lusthardia (Loost-Are-Dee-Uh). He is seeking asylum for himself and some other nobility from their kingdom. He seeks our help after some issues taking place in his homeland... and despite our country's lack of a shared border, he feels as if the Kingdom of Alrius is the only place he can be safe."

I rack my brain for my limited knowledge of the geography of the world around me. Lusthardia is quite distant from the lands of the Frontiersmen. If I remember correctly their entire country is like a small archipelago of those floating islands this world contains. Aside from that, I remember they are considered a fairly strong military power, mostly due to their magical airships of whatever. Due to this, both their geographic advantage and military might make it unlikely any external threat is making the nobles flee, and if it purely is nobles, what happened is most definitely a coup.

The king then motions to the diplomat and tells him,

"Please, tell the party your situation count Hargilson."

The man nods after wiping sweat off of his brow. He steps forward and begins,

"Thank you King Alrius, and thank you Heros party..."

His accent is thick in this language. It sounds like one of those stereotypical German accents. He continues,

"A few months ago our church announced that we had received a hero sent by our God. We were overjoyed of course, as you all must've been....

Please forgive my... apparent heresy hero, but I am not done yet.

We found our hero most definitely was a false one. They, alongside their brother, killed our divinely appointed king and began a purge of the nobility! This is why we seek asylum. All I ask is that we may find a place within your kingdom... we can offer money as well as our services as powerful mages due to our noble blood."

I look at the others, who all look at the man with sympathy, and hell Godiva has slightly watery eyes at this plea for help. All I hear is,

"Someone who was given bullshit powers didn't like to be told what to do."

This and with how Blake sees himself, it's not hard to imagine with a more confident personality he would easily become a dangerous tyrant. Overall, this is out of my hands. From the posture of the king and how he has been acting, our involvement here is purely for show. The king has already made his decision it seems. I don't know who this show is for though. The room is nearly empty aside from guards, two advisors, and us.

The others all begin stepping forward with their support, exclaiming how they feel for them. Well, Blake clearly had a similar mindset to me, looking at the diplomat with confusion, that is until Godiva vows her support, and he folds immediately declaring while drawing his sword of light,

"I, as the true hero, vow to not only support you all, but I also vow to destroy the false hero and usurper!"

I don't say anything, I just nod and lock eyes with the king. He gives me a knowing smile before announcing,

"You heard it... We of the Kingdom of Alrius accept you all into our country."

The diplomat nearly collapses from this while saying something to himself under his breath. I guess he really needed this break. I have to avoid chuckling at this as we are dismissed as the king tells an advisor to set things up for the soon-arriving foreign nobles. I go to leave and find something either productive to do or to continue sleeping off my hangover when the king stops me. I turn on my heel and face him. He inches his finger at me and I approach the throne.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

A servant grabs a chair and sets it behind me. I am told to sit and do so. The king motions for everyone to leave and for all doors to be closed. I am about to be part of some bullshit conspiracy, aren't I?

With the room closed off the king starts,

"Well... Isa... let me not waste your time. Simply put, I am not only impressed with your actions against the dragon but am impressed with your little... army.

Of course during the initial hunts for supporters of the Demon King, your men and women proved themselves incredibly useful, able to perform the tasks of even our best royal knights even without magic. Not only this, but I have heard from multiple sources that your Frontiersmen managed to actually hurt the dragon while our knights died rather quickly... this has intrigued me.

Your people are very skilled warriors, craftsmen, and are very adaptive. These are things I wish to obtain within my own military."

I nod and without an expression ask,

"Now... what is it you want from me?"

The king gives me a thin smile and then explains,

"I want you, and your people to develop my kingdom's military might. Through weapons, tools, and tactics. If it wouldn't piss off all of my nobles, I would make our main military force nothing but you Frontiersmen, of course with mages in the backlines, but instead I'll leave them in your employ."

I give the king a wide smile and ask,

"Now... m'lord, what you ask of me is quite possible, and I am happy to hear you respect us that much, but this process will be expensive... also it is such a hassle for someone of my and my people's talents. While we will fulfill this request based on our loyalty, it might not be as good as you may want... unless we are... well how do we say... are compensated."

The king returns my wide smile and I see a shine in his eyes. He leans forward with that smile and he tells me,

"Now that's what I like to hear. Since this is my project I will have all costs bankrolled. You have a great treasury team and all records are kept well, so simply record all costs and have them sent to the royal treasury where they will be reimbursed. The amount you will be compensated will be in direct proportion to how well you do."

I nod and then reply,

"That's good and all... but I would also like something additional. Perhaps, there are some royal grounds that have some value... such as mines that my little company can acquire? That might be really helpful!"

The king roars with laughter and then tells me,

"Of course! I love just how greedy you are Isa, it will be done, and the lands will be transferred to you... do as you wish."

I nod and ask,

"What else is it you need of me?"

The king then tells me,

"No, but some important information for the future. The academy will be reopening soon, and I hope to host the foreign noble children there. On the academy island, I have had a large, covered flying ship port. That location will be put under your authority. I recommend using it as a good place to have supplies brought in. I also recommend having some form of shop set up there.

That is all. You may leave."

I stand up with a giddy smile. My hangover is now forgotten as I have lots of work to do before the academy begins classes again. I wonder what the foreign nobles are like.

Before I can even begin making preparations in my room Princess Godiva is knocking on my door. I answer and she excitedly tells me,

"Isa! The foreigners are here. Their ship is going to dock soon!"

I myself, a little excited quickly follow after her through the halls where we collect Blake and Karl. Thankfully the paladin bitch is elsewhere so I won't have that headache for now. We leave the palace and head to the flying ship dockyard. I make sure I look alright so I can make a good first impression. While I don't care much for the politics of the situation, I would much rather have friends or at least the respect of these foreigners.

I watch the ship dock with a dull crash as it connects rather violently with the stone airship dock. Crew and dockworkers begin tossing and tying down lines and soon a door in the side of the ship opens and a long ramp is pushed out where it slams against the stone floor. A set of crew quickly works to make the long wooden object safer to walk across, putting up handrails and a carpet. After this long process is done the exiled nobles exit the large wooden craft and make their way toward us.

I give them my best winning smile as the get closer before suddenly I have a bag forcibly shoved into my arms by one of the nobles. They say nothing to me as they begin talking to Godiva and the others and as soon as I open my mouth to ask I feel the sharp pain of a slap across my cheek.

There is a round of gasps as the noble who both forced me to take the bag and also slapped me shouts indignantly,

"You better not speak slave!"