When the guards learned that I had requested an audience with their king, they looked at each other briefly. And, I don’t know why... but for the first ti, I felt that they were a ’person’.
Until now, they had always felt like robots, obeying every order without question, no matter what. So... it was strange, a bit.
Anyway. They told that my request would be forwarded to the king and that I should continue to wait in my room. And so I did, I lay down on the big sofa in the living room and started to check things out, just in case, as I always do.
But... it wasn’t a quiet process like most of the ti.
"Hey, Aiden."
I answered while keeping my eyes on the screens in front of .
"Yes, Julian?"
"Things are happening that you’re not telling us about."
"Yeah, I’m also a little confused myself."
He waited a mont before continuing.
"Whatever’s going on, I’m sure there’s a reason behind it that you’re not telling us."
He paused again, this ti sighing slightly.
"Still... it worries us that we were trying so hard to make everything perfect before and now we’re just standing here like this. Is sothing wrong? Are we in a situation we don’t want to be in? Is there... anything we can do?"
I squinted, staring at the screen in front of for a while without saying anything. Then I slowly sat up on the couch I was lying on, not caring that my face passed through the screens in front of . They closed the mont I did anyway. Then, I turned toward Julian.
"This part of the plan... was one that I thought would be resolved relatively easily. It’s also a part I can’t tell you about for now. Because it deals with a personal problem of the king. So far... I wouldn’t say there’s an extre problem, it’s just that there’s a detail that’s stuck in my mind that’s causing a bit of confusion, and I’m dealing with it."
Julian didn’t change his expression, didn’t react in any extre way. He just...
"A personal matter of the king, huh... I see."
And I tried to get back into a reclining position, thinking that he wouldn’t question much after that, but before I could...
"Isn’t our goal here to bring Adrian to the spotlight and use him to create a connection between Cevilian and Eshaware?"
I straightened up again, turned back to him.
"Yes."
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"Solving a personal matter for the king... wouldn’t put you in the spotlight rather than Adrian?"
"The matters I would have Adrian resolve concern all elves and all of this kingdom, and the matter I would resolve concerns only the royal family. So... no. It will help build a better relationship between and the royal family, yes, but I have no plans to make myself a hero, as I did with the Holar. It’s... unlikely, but it might even put in a position where the royal family doesn’t particularly like ."
This ti, I didn’t lie down again but stood still, and Julian... suddenly tensed.
"D- don’t misunderstand please. It’s not that I don’t trust you, I’m just... trying to understand why you are doing things I don’t understand."
Well, I can very well understand him.
So I told him it was fine, without being too pushy, and I moved to lie down again.
But... I paused as a sudden thought ca to .
Really, now that I think about it...
"Julian, what is your general level now?"
Julian was surprised for a mont by the sudden question. Yet he did not refuse to answer.
"It beca D two weeks ago, why do you ask?"
It beca D two weeks ago...
He has almost the sa rate of developnt as in the ga. By the standards of this world, he’s really way ahead of his peers, but...
Not good enough.
Adrian is C , I am C, and Lucia is probably C-.
I paused for a mont, leaning back slightly.
"It’s... nothing, I just had a little thing on my mind."
Julian gave a strange, blank look. And then... he must have really run out of questions, because he went back to his work.
And ... I couldn’t stop thinking.
It’s quite normal for Adrian and Lucia to show an extre, monstrous speed of growth compared to the others, given their importance and position in this world. And now, they’re getting stronger even faster than in the ga. Adrian at this point should have barely reached C grade and Lucia should have been stuck at D .
That ans they’re going in a pretty good direction. The stronger they are compared to the ga, the easier they can respond to the challenges they face in the ga or more.
But Julian, Celine, and others... their growth rate has stayed the sa. Celine is even behind where she should be.
I’m in a Lunerra that’s been largely distracted from the ga’s story due to my presence. Things happen earlier than they should, more powerful people appear... In short, the ’difficulty’ has increased.
And despite this, what happens if others remain the sa as in the ga?
I squinted my eyes, my mind suddenly filled with unpleasant thoughts.
Nothing nice, that’s for sure.
I need to do sothing about it. I need to make them stronger so that even if they can’t help , they can at least protect themselves.
I’m in a reality where I can’t go back to the previous save like in the ga, where I can’t start from scratch whenever I want. I can’t let a single one of them die...
I can’t repeat the sa thing.
~knock! ~knock!
A sudden knock on the door snapped out of my thoughts.
"Enter."
And... it was the guards looking in my direction.
"His Royal Highness has approved your request for an audience. Please follow us."
Oh...
I... had forgotten about this.
*****
I was a little calr as I made my way through the corridors again with guards on each side of .
Even if my dark thoughts about the future of my friends occupied my mind a little, I quickly focused on the matter in front of , because while I was in Eshaware, I had to take care of Eshaware. I would deal with other matters when I had finished my work here.
So, it was not long before I entered the room where I was to et with King Faelan.
It was almost identical to the small living room-like room we had t in before going to Alith’s room, so I couldn’t help feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. Nevertheless, without saying anything, I sat down in the armchair opposite the king and the door to the room closed.
"You wanted to see ."
King Faelan was... serious. Very, very serious. His pale yellow eyes were on with great attention.
"That’s right, because there are important things on my mind that I need to ask you."
"I’m listening."
He seed to realize, for better or worse, that my presence gave him important information. Because he seed to want to get to the point quickly.
Not that I was going to refuse.
Just like him, I leaned back slightly before starting to talk.
"First... we found out that the prince was turned into a wiera when he was eleven, at least that’s what he said. Do you rember anything strange happening around this ti?"
He probably already knew that it was going to be about his son, yet he couldn’t help frowning, as if uncomfortable. Nevertheless, he answered.
"Yes. In fact, I’m looking into it right now."
"May I know what it is?"
King Faelan looked at in silence. His unresponsive quietness actually worried a little, even though I didn’t let it show, that he might say he didn’t want to talk to , and then he’d take out of the room.
But, thankfully, that didn’t happen.
"He was missing for a short ti, about five hours. When he was found, he was curled up in a storage room four floors below ground. There was blood all around, two dead bodies leaning against the walls. How they had died could not be identified, it was as if their hearts had suddenly stopped beating and they had just died. When we analyzed the blood around Alith and on his clothes, we found out that it was his, but we couldn’t understand what had happened because he had no wounds."
So, he was transford by those two dead people in those five hours... but after the transformation, he probably lost his mind briefly and killed them with caora, as happened with mine.
Unfortunately, unlike mine, there was no Calvin nearby to stop him.
"When we asked him what happened, he frightenedly said he didn’t rember, and we attributed it to the fact that he was a small child, we didn’t want to press him. His behavior changed gradually after that. Again, we didn’t question him too much because we thought he was traumatized by the incident, but whereas before he was a calm and quiet child, he beca more... aggressive, angry, annoying to those around him afterward."
His eyes narrowed and I saw him clench his right hand into a fist.
"Looking back now... I should have realized sothing was wrong. It was... my fault. I caused the death of my son when he was a child as I failed to protect him."
Yes, he had pulled himself together as a king, as much as he could, and was trying to be calm and make good decisions.
But... the father in him was eating him up all the ti on the inside.
"What do you have in mind to do with him?"
"I... I don’t know. I want to kill him, but he looks at with my son’s eyes; he talks. I also don’t want to kill him. I just want to keep him captive. I think we can use him and learn sothing important from him, but... that’s a different choice to make too. So... I’m not sure. I don’t even know how my wife will react yet."
Hmm...
"Then... I have one last favor to ask of you."
He took a deep breath, cald himself down again, and fixed his eyes on .
"What is it?"
"I want to speak to Alith."
King Faelan rolled his eyes.
"Go, talk to him about whatever you want to talk to him about."
"No, I want a one-on-one conversation, one the guards can’t listen in on."
King Faelan paused, his eyes twitching, his expression sour.
"Why?"
"Because I feel sothing is wrong and there are things I need to verify. The Prince... at least the wiera in his place... is too comfortable, don’t you think? Saligia must have big plans for him if they turned him into a wiera, but he doesn’t give off that vibe.
He acts like... like he’s not in danger, like Saligia is coming to save him. And I don’t like that."
"You think the guards might be on his side?"
"Yes, it’s a possibility that is not impossible, no matter how unlikely. That’s why I don’t want them to hear what we’re going to talk about. I’ll let you know everything in full at the end of our eting with him."
King Faelan waited for a long ti without saying anything, lost in thought.
At the end, though.
"Okay, fine. But you don’t have to write a full report. I’ll co with you."
...
Well... here cos the tricky part
"No, Your Royal Highness."
Actually... I was a little bit hesitant, in case he might respond overly negative.
And King Faelan looked at with such eyes that I felt as if what I thought would happen.
But, far from that...
"Why?"
He remained very calm.
He wanted a logical answer.
Thank you, I guess?
"Because... as a wiera, I plan to approach him as if I am an ally."
His left eyebrow slowly raised as he heard what I said.
"Go on."
"First, I will interrogate him, as if I am testing him. I’ll look for answers in secret. Then, as if I were on Saligia’s side, deceiving everyone, I’ll offer him help and gauge his reaction. Interrogate him, in a way. Your presence with would completely throw my plan out of whack."
"Alith, even as a wiera, even as a violent and angry person, is no fool. Even if he believes you are on Saligia’s side because you’re a wiera yourself, he will question why you exposed him. He won’t trust you."
"I know. And I have a plan for that."
Alith is not a fool, yes.
But neither am I.
"I will simply fabricate a scenario that my revealing his existence is a planned blow to the royal family, that he must return to Saligia. I will do my best to make it as believable as possible. If I fail, we have nothing to lose. But if I succeed, we have sothing important to gain."
King Faelan looked in the eye throughout this entire explanation. He didn’t take his eyes off for a second.
And... he didn’t seem to look negatively on the plan I had in mind.
I think I managed to convince h-
"And... how can I be sure that’s not really your plan?"
...
What?
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