Narrowing his eyes, Kebrilio raised his right hand and began to chant. He and the twelve red-robed and gold-belted magi ascended to the sky. There was a loud explosion as the gates were blasted open. A small portion of the fort’s walls even crumbled and collapsed to the ground below.

Soldiers began to appear all over the fort in large numbers. Hundreds of archers adorned the top of the walls with their bows drawn and ready to let loose. Multiple magi appeared alongside the archers, but they all came to an immediate stop upon seeing the flying Kebrilio and his twelve magi. Recognizing the thirteen, the magi immediately halted the spells they were preparing. One magus turned to head into the fort and report to the captain, another began to nonchalantly step away from the group. Inching closer and closer to the other side, he then took to the skies and was immediately struck by a thunderbolt to the back and rendered into a fireball.

Every guard within the fort watched the sight with gaped jaws. The commander of the fort had only just hurried out from the interior when it happened and grew pale in the face. Sweat pooled around his forehead and face while the magus next to him anxiously pushed the commander in front of him. Neither of the two were ready to face Kebrilio right now.

But Kebrilio paid little attention to the commander. Back on his horse, he led the paladins and the Sovereignian group past the open gates, leaving the pale-faced commander and magus to be engulfed by the dust trails.

The princess and Charle were right behind Kebrilio as they traveled along the fort walls.

Far away, they could see a group of knights surrounded by an even larger group of bandits. The encirclement was getting smaller and smaller, but not due to the latter attacking the former. For some reason, the bandits had yet to attack the knights.

“It is a curious matter that these guards would cause so much trouble over these few knights.” Kebrilio admitted to the princess.

“What are they even scared of? There’s more of them than there are knights.” Charle grunted. His sharp eyes could see what the bandits were doing and it didn’t really make sense to him. The bandits were cautiously advancing toward a particular point in the center of the knights; an action that only made sense if there was a particularly powerful foe there.

“Your Highness, is there any person of importance amongst those knights?” Kebrilio asked. Like Charle, Kebrilio realized something had to have the bandit’s collective interest if they were willing to travel this closely to Melkruth for it.

“I would say no? They are but knights and a single apprentice.” As talented as Elric was in the princess’ eyes, he was not ‘indispensable’ and certainly not someone she’d consider to be worth this much effort for. Sovereign had many magi, considering how treasured maguscraft were there, but Journeymen like Elric were but a drop in the ocean (relatively speaking). By extension, someone like Elric wasn’t prominent enough for the princess to attempt to save at all costs.

Her words failed to convince Kebrilio. He was perplexed by the situation in front of him, wondering how it had even come to this. This was a surprisingly big show of force from his political opponents for reasons beyond him. Of course, he wouldn’t ever assume that the Sovereignian princess was trying to mislead him or wasn’t knowledgeable enough about the implications of this. She was just as mystified as he was about this. The commander next to her looked just as confused as she was, cementing the fact that the envoys weren’t trying to pretend they were caught plotting a conspiracy of some kind. One certainly wouldn’t go through all that effort to bypass Valkner’s Mountain only to have a small diversionary troop like this give them away.

As perplexed he was about the cause of this battle, Kebrilio was actually very sure of what he was going to do. The worries he had prior to arriving at Melkruth seemed so simple now! A group of infamous bandits and multiple magi belonging to his political opponents? What a jackpot!

“Honored guests,” He turned to Charle and the princess, “please see yourself to safety. This will take only a moment.”

Confused, the princess was about to ask him for clarification when Charle took her by the shoulder. “O’ Mighty Archmagister, do you plan to kill those criminals with magic all at once?”

An eye of Kebrilio wandered back over to Charle. Trying as hard as he might, he couldn’t detect a single emotion from the man’s face. It appeared their information on this man was incomplete. This commander was most definitely a man that warranted extra attention.

“Your Highness,” He nodded, “a proposal, if I may. While unfortunate, the sacrifice of those brave knights will do greatly to pave the roads of peace and prosperity between our two great nations.”

According to what Karth knew, the Sovereignian princess was one who put the prosperity of her nation first. She was even willing to put her life on the line for the sake of this mission, a sign of leadership that Kebrilio found hard not to respect.

As for Charle, Kberilio only knew that the man was some high-ranking aristocrat and someone close to the current Sovereignian king before becoming a mercenary, for whatever reasons. For mercenaries who valued life over objective, the magus was worried that convincing him to sacrifice those knights would be more difficult than expected.

It was a difficult decision to make, regardless of it being the princess or Charle to make it. As princess of a nation, it only made sense that she was responsible for the wellbeing of the people, moreso for the knights who had pledged their fealty to her. Nonetheless, her greater responsibility was to her nation. As the heiress to the throne, the weight of her nation’s prosperity was heavier than the lives of those knights and Elric.

And now as that heiress, she was being asked to publicly state those priorities.

“Yes. For the prosperity of our two nations.” She exhaled, the words sounding far more choked than normal. Then she turned to walk down from the walls.

Abruptly, a hand shot forth and grabbed hold of the cloth around her neck. It was Charle. Pulling the cloth, Charle turned her around so they could face Kebrilio together.

“Sir Magus, if it pleases you, would the two of us be able to bear witness to your spectacular prowess.”

“I, I don’t wish to watch.” The princess hissed to him.

“Your Highness, by birthright, it is your right to sacrifice the life of any of your denizens. But should this be your decision, it is your duty to observe these denizens. Engrave in your heart their contributions. I do not dare to challenge your right, but I dare not hope to see you fail to uphold your duty. Come, and bear witness the final battle of our brave knights.”

He placed her in front of him, both hands pressed firmly on her neck. With both shoulders locked in place, she was forced to look ahead. In her eyes, the reflection of the distant battlefield could be seen. In her eyes, the glimmer of a teardrop began to show.

Beside the two, a silent Kebrilio turned to look forward with a solemn expression. His impression of Charle had grown once more. This commander was the pillar of the envoys, he saw. A watershed moment had transformed into a teaching lesson for the princess. Kebrilio was certain that the words ‘surrender’ and ‘sacrifice’ would be sharply defined in the princess’ mind forever. He was also certain that should the same decision befall her in the future, an answer would be made with maturity and certainty of the consequences. It was by little wonder this Charle is a descendant of one of the Twelve.