Ramon Thunderblade’s paranoia felt… perhaps excessive these days, as if it was a device overworked by whip. He knew the princess couldn’t follow or track him thanks to his multitude of protective spells, but every time he looked behind the wagon, his brain imagined her running wildly after them, sword in hand, perhaps even laughing. Really a silly, stupid thought, since the princess could simply fly.
The trip itself began with just the lightning horses, which moved several times faster than the princess’s flight ability. Later, he pulled a large wagon from his storage ring, which served as lodging for this extended trip.
Even with the wagon, the special horses easily zipped them across the kingdom incredibly fast in just days, but wandering aimlessly wasn’t Ramon’s style. They needed somewhere to settle down, to hide, make their temporary headquarters until a plan was devised.
Ramon glanced at his party consisting of three women and two men, each among the most powerful people in the kingdom. Perhaps even the world. They weren’t just local kingdom heroes, after all. In the pursuit of the peoples’ interest and global safety, Ramon gave it his all to banish the Midnight Dragon. He and his party defeated other major, though smaller, threats. Ares the Peace Spawner might be the kingdom’s problem now, but it wouldn’t surprise Ramon if he decided on world domination.
Could Ramon’s party survive long enough to seal him when the time came? Each of them earned their titles. Kelvin the Blizzard Sword, Iris the Heavenly Bow, Nuwa the Goddess Healer, Maxus the Darkness, and Ronica the Phoenix Magician.
“Did you know there’s a town in the far east?” Ronica asked as she glanced up from the map. She was probably still annoyed about being the navigator for the night, but that duty rotated to even Ramon and everyone had to suffer equally.
“How far are we talking?” Ramon asked.
“It’s roughly four days from a small city ruled by House Wingston,” Ronica cheerily explained. “Small city or big town… I guess.” She yawned. “It’s the perfect place to make our headquarters until we can come up with a plan to do something about the Peace Spawner.”
“Why not just the city of Wingston itself?” Ramon asked, though he already knew the answer.
“House Wingston may be a smaller noble family, but they’re still rapidly making connections,” Ronica explained, the cheerfulness still potent. “Also, the recent rumor of one of their daughters being… arranged to marry someone from a force like House Astral isn’t good for us.”
“That poor girl,” Nuwa the healer said.
“Poor girl indeed,” Kelvin said from the driver’s seat. “It was only a few years ago that I dodged that same bullet. The Lord Ruler’s still an ass for that.”
“Ah, come on, at least he arranged you to be with a beauty,” Ramon quipped.
The dark man snorted. “Only the inner beauty counts as true beauty, that is my philosophy. My wife may not be glittery with jewelry, but when I met her on that farm, she sure seemed like she did. Like the brightest star in that town.”
Ramon sighed. “This is what happens to a man that gets married. But hey, maybe your son will learn to appreciate the shallowness of noble women.”
“So about the town,” Ronica said, forcing the subject back on track. There was a tiny edge of annoyance to her voice that no one wanted to challenge, not even Ramon. They liked her cheeriness.
“We’ll make it our headquarters for now,” Ramon said.
“A backwater town,” Maxus said, his voice displeased. “Certainly we can do better than this.”
“Hey, at least you’ll be able to send letters to your wife again, without worry of the Lord Ruler’s servants invading your privacy,” Ramon said.
“That was an annoying security measure, more paranoid than you, Ramon,” Maxus said. “How many times have we dealt with the Lord Ruler requesting us to prove our loyalty to him?”
“Too many times,” Iris said, crossing her legs. The elf woman with white hair drank from her water flask, though Ramon doubted there was actually water in it. “It was kind of surprising that you finally grew tired of endlessly sleeping with maids and noble’s daughters and got us out of there.”
“Was it because of the princess?” Maxus asked, grinning. “One of the most sought-after beauties of the kingdom, and you shudder internally at the sight of her. Is it because she wanted to marry and have as many children as possible?”
Ramon frowned at all of the quips, though he deserved them. Somewhat. Maybe.
“What must you expect from me when I have all the time in the world,” Ramon said. “Aside from endless training. I started picturing myself trapped in a training montage like the heroes in the tales.”
Ronica snickered, which burst into nearly uncontrollable laughter. The others joined in shortly.
Ramon sighed. “Oh, you want to laugh. Well, guess what we’re doing when we get to the town?”
“Is it trying to get into the bed of the mayor’s daughter,” Maxus asked.
Ramon glared at him. “Endless training to fight the Peace Spawner. You will each meditate, break past your walls, you know, the ones you’ve sat on for months now.”
The wagon grew silent. No one trained as much as Ramon, though in their defense, Ramon was less human than them, except for Iris, literally. And potentially Kelvin. “The Lord Ruler may send some academy or some sect specialists to retrieve us. We can’t stay untrackable forever.”
“Unless he consults a witch, we’ll be fine,” Nuwa said. “Then I’d have to condemn him.”
Witches were… special types of magicians that thankfully lived outside of human society, that much Ramon knew. The Lord Ruler could attempt to bully a witch of the dark path to track him, but even he wouldn’t be able to avoid paying the price for disturbing her.
The man may be paranoid of conspiracy against him, but he was not stupid. He’d ruled for centuries, and expanded his reach, even to the edges of smaller kingdoms. He even avoided antagonizing the Astral Empire, allowed one of the empire’s men, a relative of the emperor himself, to start a family right in the capital.
If it weren’t for Ramon and his party, the empire would have no reason to hesitate and just take over everything. Then again, even the emperor feared Ares the Peace Spawner and dared not to waste resources.
The Lord Ruler was a force of nature, but so was the Astral emperor. A battle from them would easily eradicate anything caught in the middle of it. Cities, vast landmasses, and even politically neutral sects.
“You’re really good at killing the fun out of everything,” Kelvin quipped with a chuckle. “Especially as someone with the lucky ability to have a companion every night.”
Ramon waved off his comment. “Me being a free spirit aside, we may have to pose as workers in this new town. That or start shops.”
“You’re asking us to get jobs? Boo,” Iris said.
“Why not? It’d be fun,” Ramon said with a laugh.
“Fine, but you’re not allowed to work under a woman,” Ronica said.
“And don’t bother with anyone’s wives or the mayor’s daughter,” Kelvin said.
“I’m not making any promises,” Ramon muttered as he turned. “But seriously, if anyone comes up with a better plan for ridding the world of the Peace Spawner, let me know. And if we can do it remotely so that I never have to see that smug smile again, then more power to you.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. Ares only smiled once, at them, as he vanished. But the smugness, the confidence, within that smile only proved that they were but children hitting at a bear with sticks.
