Phase 4…
Princess Ling flew as fast as she could toward Wingston, silently reprimanding herself for not giving the small city a closer examination. Perhaps she should have stuck around to see if the hero’s party would emerge from their hiding holes. She, of course, realized the dangers of going back after killing off an empire scum, even if he was better off dead, but she simply didn’t care.
Raider could be the hero or that mysterious saint that disappeared, but she really hoped it was an improved Ramon. Once she captured him, she’d first get rid of his terrible reputation. Have him publicly apologize to every slut he’d ever slept with and, of course, announcing them as such.
Princess Ling, of course, didn’t care if he never approached her. She was royalty, after all. He knew his place. But the density really wore the woman down. How could he not see the signs, the invitations? The time she even crawled into his bed, he did nothing, just slept.
Princess Ling… didn’t know how to… start, so she just laid there for hours, embarrassed and clueless, before disappearing out of his room. She’d worn such a gorgeous sleeping gown too.
But now that she watched him with her spy maid, learning everything without having to cave to her mother.
Thinking about her mother brought back old fear, but the young woman quickly shook that away. She hadn’t spoken to her for years, and would never do so again.
Feeling fatigued, she stopped at a village, checking into its inn without hiding her royalty.
“I feel parched,” she said. “Here, here, serving boy, fetch me Fairy Wing scout wine, mix in level four blue peppers, sprinkle just a touch of salt on the glass, add in a touch of hard stuff, and finish it off with a stir of sweet lemon drink. If you mess it up… Well, don’t mess it up.”
“Hig-highness, we don’t have any of that,” the teen boy said. He was plain and boring, but because of the averageness, Ling found him pleasant enough to the eyes. He’d make a great snack for her new pet.
“Move out the way, idiot boy,” another voice said. “Be more honest and tell her you don’t know what any of that is.”
An older man appeared, dressed like a butler. His eyes were sharp and clear, despite his advanced age. Ling instantly felt respect for him. Even more so when he took out the ingredients from his storage ring, mixed it up for her, but before he added the finishing mini-ice crystal, the man paused.
Ling knew it was either pay or get poisoned. She took out a small bag of gold and platinum coins and dumped them into the spot next to him. “Keep all of it. You have no idea how bad I need this drink.”
The man erupted into laughter, set the ice crystal into the glass, and then made Ling a second drink free of charge.
“I’ve always wanted to serve royalty. Well, really anyone that can afford a beauty like that,” the older man said.
Ling smiled. The fact that he stuck around indicated one thing. He was waiting to see if she’d like information. Since she paid extra, platinum coins in the mix, he assumed she had questions for him.
After the first delightful few swallows, she forced herself not to finish off the blue drink too fast and addressed the waiting butler.
“Tell me, what do you know about this so-called Raider?” Ling asked. “Is he of the hero’s party? Is he the missing hero?”
“The hero’s missing?” the butler asked, eyes wide.
“Wanda dammit, my slipup,” Ling said, knowing damned well she said that on purpose. Sometimes she felt a little too giddy for her own good. “Don’t mind that. Tell me about Raider.”
The butler narrowed his eyes a bit but relented with a sign. The money was quite heavy in his storage ring, after all.
“I was there when the Black Cross attacked the city,” he began, and Ling’s world nearly turned upside down.
“What in Wanda’s shaking bottom do you mean they attacked the city?” she snapped. “I gave no such orders. They’re professionals. They know better than to hurt my people.”
“I hate to break it to you this way, your Highness, but I doubt the truth will ever get to the capital, not when your father’s clearly covering this up,” the butler said. He matched Ling’s death glare. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this, your Highness. You’re not some child who should get the watered-down version due to some fragile heart. I feel your terrifying strength.”
Staring intensely at the butler for a few moments longer, Ling relented. “Very well, keep going. Hey, serving boy, come massage my feet.”
Sensing the rage within the boy’s veins, Ling placed a well-manicured foot onto the table, wiggling her toes for effect. “You were staring quite hard at my chest, Sir No-Manners. Now massage my feet or die. And try not to get too excited. I’m sure not even the butler wants to see the outline of Little Pee-Wee.”
The killing intent briefly manifested from the humiliated boy, but to his credit, he took a deep breath and wrestled it back in and followed the orders at the strict look of the older man. Ling gave him a disappointing frown at the lack of excitement, but the murderous glare entertained her enough.
“Go on, butler, tell me what you know about this Raider. And is he the hero?”
“He’s not the hero,” the butler said. “But… he was with others, and they called themselves the Cheat Force. There just happened to be enough of them to cover the entirety of the hero’s party. As for Raider himself, I do not know of his identity. I suspect the Red Star does, but she’s always busy. He saved the city, fought and defeated the Black Knight.”
Ling’s eyes widened. “That’s impossible. No one way out here should be able to match the Black Knight’s power without us… the capital noticing. He’d have to be a monster in strength.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Wait! No… it couldn’t be an Astral elite. They’d rather eat sand than save one of our cities. I just find it hard to believe my Black Cross would ever do such a thing.”
The old butler looked like he wanted to say something, likely call Ling out on her naivety, but the thinking princess didn’t notice. After a few moments, she spoke.
“I guess I’d better go pay the Red Star a condolences package,” she said. “I don’t know what the Black Knight was planning, but I suppose I should’ve seen such backstabbing coming.” She smiled. “My… I mean my father’s methods and training of the Black Cross are the harshest across the lands. One should especially never join if you have family. Of course, if they’d actually read the signup forms, they’d know.”
She shrugged. “Ah well. The punishment for attacking a civilian is execution, so maybe the person that carried it out works for my father.”
“I… don’t think so,” the butler said. “Raider seems like a vigilante. A rogue hero. Add in the Cheat Force ordeal, and I’d say he’s got to be working with the hero’s party. You’re looking for them, right?”
“How did Raider actually defeat the Black Knight? The Black Knight has a D-ranked spell book,” Ling said, mostly to herself. She sighed, knowing that answers wouldn’t come without actually investigating the small city. “Rogue hero that fights the capital. I’d better remind him who’s in charge. Perhaps he’ll be cooperative, tell me what I need to know.” She chuckled, though her voice carried little mirth. “The position of Black Knight is open, after all.”
The Lord Ruler raised a hand into the air, palm open, then he pointed left with his thumb. The signal repeated until the last man riding his lightning horse saw. He led them to an open clearing and dismounted his horse.
“Take a break. Execution squad, on me.”
Five men dressed in seemingly dull metal armor instead of the red kingdom standard separated from the fifty-man mini army and lined up in front of Maximus. They saluted, fist to chest, then bowed.
The leader of the execution squad, a gruff man of forty years, spoke. “At your service, Lord Ruler.”
“At ease,” the Lord Ruler said. The execution squad took a parade rest stance. “We are only a day or two away from Wingston. I’ve been made aware through the whispering winds that Titus, the headmaster of the Academy of Ascension, had placed his second in command in charge and set off to Wingston ahead of us. He’s unsurprisingly trying to recruit Raider, which is his job. Get us strong people. We’ll either send him home or bring him back with us on the return trip. But…” Maximus’s eyes hardened. “He and the Red Star were participants of the fire dwarf war years ago. She certainly told him everything. He’ll attempt to plea her case. You know why we’re here, right?”
The executioners nodded, saluting once more.
“Make sure the students he brought with him are secured as well,” the Lord Ruler said. “Of course, if Gwendolyn did flee, one of you will take charge of the city until I either send a mayor or you find someone suitable for the job. The faster we get this done, the faster we return to the capital and our families, or for some of you, the tavern.”
The executioners laughed.
“If you see Ling, tell her to report to me,” Maximus continued. “I know why she probably killed the Astral, but they had my permission to live there. Her reckless behavior is costing lives of our kingdom and even the Red Star, someone who earned that title.” He shook his head.
“Sir, what should we do if Raider truly exists? What if he’s the hero?” the executioner lead asked.
“Ah, the hero’s party, I’d almost forgotten about them,” Maximus said. “Another component to causing this mess. Capture them at all costs. If Raider is among them, then Titus hadn’t met with him. In that case, give him a chance to stand down and walk away. Kingdom business isn’t his job, after all. I don’t care if someone wants to run around in a cloak to fight. But if he doesn’t back down, kill him. Kill anyone else with him too, or do whatever. There’s too much on my plate already.”
“He killed the Black Cross, lord,” the executioner leader said. “At least according to the rumors. You know how there’s always a tiny grain of truth in them.”
Maximus waved off his comment. “Rumors of the Black Cross attacking the city are rampant, coming from the citizens of Wingston. There have been letters demanding justice. The penalty for attacking civilians as one of my elites is death. Raider saved me some time, which is why I’m giving him one shot to walk away. He has nothing to gain from crossing me or the capital. Unless he’s having relations with the Red Star behind her husband’s back.” He grinned. “No matter what you say, I just don’t see that happening.”
“You are right, sir,” the executioner said. “Only a masochist would willingly subjugate themselves to that woman.”
Maximus chuckled. “Indeed. Now, rest up. It’s either going to be a depressing day of executions and wasted time, or an easy day of putting one of you on temporary mayor duty. Do try to represent the capital in a bright manner. The mortals are already annoying enough with their letters of complaints.”
“Yes, Lord Ruler,” the executioners said.
“Dismissed.”
Maximus found a tree separate from the army, sat in a lotus position, and closed his eyes, instantly whisked away into meditation. He silently vowed again that he would not let the Peace Spawner catch him off guard. He needed to remind the world that he’d earned the title of Lord Ruler for a reason. This wasn’t just some hereditary transfer of power, but a crown of blood and brutality.
What worried Maximus was Elric’s weird insistence on adding this Raider to the running of the crown. Why? What kind of a game was he playing? The obviousness of this Raider being a pawn was one thing, but the dangers, the security risk of someone unknown would be another.
Maximus shook his head, wondering for the umpteenth time where he went wrong with raising his children. What happened to the sweet little girl that was his daughter, or the sons that believed their father to be a real hero?
Maximus pulled out a mana cultivating pill, took it, and began to meditate, pulling his main mana specialty into himself, as well as a secondary one. He also switched to meditating on his Dao.
