Interlude: Consultation
In the Proxia Empire’s capital of Nidgard, in a particular room of the imperial castle...
Having lost the battle at the kingdom border and narrowly escaping from the spirit folk girls with their lives, Arein, Lucci, and Ven were visiting a certain man to give their report.
However, the difference in the man compared to the last time they saw him was so dramatic, Arein and the others could only gulp nervously at the atmosphere in the room. The man spoke to them in an awfully displeased voice, asking what they wanted.
The air in the room made it hard to admit that they had the tables turned on them by some brats, but they had no choice but to report the truth. Then, once they came to the topic of Rio—
“What did you just say...?” Anger overflowed from the man.
“Eek...” The three men were paralyzed with heart-stopping fear.
“Hey. Where’s that bastard, Reiss, right now?” the man asked.
“Mister Reiss went to see the emperor...” Arein answered with bated breath.
The man immediately stood up. “That bastard is my prey. Dammit, Reiss,” he cursed under his breath as he left the room, leaving Arein, Lucci, and Ven behind.
Honestly, it was hard to tell if they were even still alive. They had felt greater fear for their lives just now than during the earlier battle with Rio and the others. It was their first time seeing that man so furious before.
The room was silent for a long time. Eventually, they exchanged looks and calmed down enough to speak again.
“Well, shit. What happened to the commander in the time we didn’t see him?” Lucci muttered with a grimace.
Meanwhile, on an upper floor balcony of the main castle building...
“I was surprised you showed your face again, but to think you had more to discuss... You’re like a phantom, coming and going as you please. Or perhaps I should say like a demon instead?” Emperor Nidoll Proxia said to Reiss, who was standing nearby.
“Good grief. It’s all because you can’t move around freely that I have to devote myself to working behind the scenes. Although my name has started to spread recently, thanks to a certain boy... How troublesome it is. Truly,” Reiss lamented with a sigh.
“I see. So your discussion has to do with that boy?”
“Indeed. However, let’s wait for him to join us first. I sent Arein and the others to give him their report, so he should arrive soon—oh, speak of the devil.”
Nidoll and Reiss’ gazes were drawn to the corner of the balcony.
“Hey, Reiss.” Lucius had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, arriving on the balcony.
“Why, long time no see, Sir Lucius. We were waiting for you. I’m glad to see you’re in good health.”
“Don’t call me by that insincere title—it’s not like you feel any respect towards me. How sickening. Whenever you call me that, it’s normally to force some horrible situation on me,” Lucius said bluntly, shooting a fed up look at Reiss’ overly friendly greeting.
“But I’ve been trying to keep up the title while addressing you before the other squad members... Oh well. Have you heard the story from Arein and the others yet?”
“You told me not interfering would be for the best, then you made a move on the bastard yourself.” Lucius glared at Reiss with daggers in his eyes.
“I had no other choice, though. He kept appearing at the worst possible timing to hinder our plans. It’s happened so often, it almost feels like we’re connected by fate.” Reiss gave an exaggerated shrug of his shoulders.
“The bastard’s my prey. Don’t do anything unnecessary...”
“Don’t glare at me so much. At any rate, you need to recuperate until you grow accustomed to the new parts of your body. During that time, I need to keep moving to execute the plan—it’s thanks to this that I was able to locate him, you know?”
“Where is that bastard now? Rodania? Or Amande?”
“I cannot tell you that yet. If I did, you’d go running to him right away, no?”
“You say that, but you just want to get the jump on me.”
“Nonsense. If anything, I’m trying to prepare an opportunity for you to reunite with him. If you follow my instructions, that is.”
“...I can’t trust you.” Lucius looked at Reiss with suspicion.
“We shouldn’t interact with him. I did indeed think this way, but after comparing the demerits of interfering with him versus the demerits of leaving him alone, the risks for the latter just happened to come out on top. That’s why I worried myself sick over what to do, and ultimately decided to deal with him. If he ends up on the battlefield of the final stage of our plan, I fear there would be no recovering from the situation.”
Nidoll expressed his interest for the first time at those words. “Is the boy that strong?”
Reiss placed a hand against his mouth and hummed in thought before giving his evaluation of Rio’s abilities. “Well, yes... I first thought he was of the same class as the heroes that fought during the Divine War era, but after witnessing him fight, I realized I underestimated him. He’s either at an awakened hero class, or—impossible as it may be—something close to the transcendent ones of old.”
“Interesting...” Nidoll’s mouth twisted upwards in a grin.
“The bastard is my prey,” Lucius warned Nidoll with a frown.
“Heh. You’ve already had a crushing defeat once, no? Where you lost your left eye and arm,” Nidoll looked between Lucius’ face and left arm and sneered. There was an eyepatch over his left eye. His left arm had been burned into ashes by Rio, but was still there somehow.
“As compensation for the eye and arm, how about I end you first?” Lucius raised his left arm threateningly.
“Oh?” Nidoll smiled challengingly, sparking the air between them.
“Stop it, you two. Now is not the time for infighting.”
“I don’t recall ever joining this guy’s circle,” Lucius snapped at Reiss’ mediation.
“Good grief... Didn’t you want to fight him?”
“I will. But he’s my prey. I won’t let anyone else get in the way.”
“In your current state, you’d only be at a great hero class of the Divine War. You still lack the power to fight him head-on.”
“I wonder about that.” Lucius glared at Reiss, refusing to back down in the slightest.
Dear me. He’s more twisted than I expected. That being said, we’ll need his strength in order to defeat that boy. Hmm... What to do... Reiss thought, then shook his head grandly.
“I understand. For now, you should come with me to Rubia Kingdom. I have business to take care of there first. If you give me your assistance, I shall prepare a stage for you two to fight without interference. I will explain my plan for this after my other matter has been settled,” he offered to Lucius as compromise.
Lucius glared at Reiss silently for a moment, but eventually nodded his head. “Fine.”
“Splendid. We’ll be bringing Arein, Ven, and Lucci, so tell them to prepare for the journey. I’ll be coming to get them soon.”
“Hmph.” Lucius snorted, then turned and jumped from the balcony without another word.
“So that’s the story, but could I ask you for a favor too, Nidoll?” Reiss turned back to Nidoll and said cheerfully.
“What a wicked face. I’ve been growing bored of life in the castle. This suggestion better provide some form of entertainment, I hope?” Nidoll asked in annoyance.
“Of course. There’s an extremely high chance that the aforementioned boy will break into this castle. However, it would be bad for him to hold too much interest in the Proxia Empire. That is where I’d like to ask you to pass on a message to him.”
“Oh? Fine. Let’s hear it.” Nidoll’s mood was suddenly lifted.
Meanwhile, Lucius returned to the room where Arein and the others were.
“C-Commander!” The three of them promptly stood up at his appearance.
“Hey, Lucci. Gather as many disposable teleportation crystals as you can—immediately. And keep it a secret from Reiss.”
“Huh...?” Lucci was bewildered by the sudden order from Lucius.
“What are you doing? We’re leaving right away. Make it quick. Reiss will be here soon.”
“R-Right!” Scolded by Lucius, Lucci quickly ran out of the room.
I have no intention of being your pawn, Reiss, Lucius thought with a livid face, throwing himself down on the sofa roughly.
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