Chapter 13

“Lady Frianne, we’ve already done everything we can.”

“Are you sure, Lord Anoch? We barely have any information – how is that possible? And how do people just pop up like this?”

“When the Sorcerer King himself can ‘pop up’ for a match in the Arena without any forewarning whatsoever, what do you expect?”

Frianne Wyliea Van Gushmond bit her lip as she rubbed what she thought was a spot on her counterpart’s armour. It wasn’t a very productive exercise, but she felt that she had to do something in the absence of anything to do.

“Lady Frianne, any more and you’re going to wear a hole in my breastplate.”

After she fussed with his adamantite cuirass for several more moments, Lord Anoch – that was, Count Palatine Nimble Arc Dale Anoch, the ‘Fierce Gale’ of the Great Imperial Knights of the Baharuth Empire – finally raised a gauntleted hand to still hers. Frianne furrowed her brow before releasing a resigned sigh.

“Where’s Lord Vermillion? Isn’t he the one that’s best equipped to receive dignitaries from the Sorcerous Kingdom?”

“Lord Vermillion is in the Wyvernmark observing the delivery of forces from the Sorcerous Kingdom,” Lord Anoch told her. “Which was scheduled months in advance, might I add. Maybe this was taking advantage of that. It would be foolish for me to tell you to relax when dealing with anyone from the Sorcerous Kingdom, but, at the same time, you’re one of the most talented members of the palace staff.”

“And so the fate of the Empire rests on the shoulders of someone who graduated from the Academy this summer,” Frianne muttered. “We’re doomed. This is not what I joined the Imperial Administration for.”

“I think every member of the Court Council eventually says that,” Lord Anoch offered her an apologetic look. “So I guess that means you’re fitting right in. At least things aren’t as bad as before: every new set of graduates from the Academy fill some of the holes left behind.”

Frianne decided to leave Lord Anoch’s deflection as it was. They both knew the reason behind her selection to receive these particular visitors.

Generally speaking, no one volunteered to deal with anyone from the Sorcerous Kingdom. In fact, they avoided it when they could. Otherwise reliable members of the Court Council became mysteriously ill or found themselves busy seeing to some pressing matter of state far away enough to not be called upon. Be they a prideful member of the old nobility, an ambitious member of the new nobility, or even a General of the Imperial Army, they all shrivelled up like torn wineskins at the mere mention of meeting one of the monsters next door.

As a junior member of the Imperial Administration’s palace staff – an aide to the Court Council – Frianne’s life was already hectic enough as it was. A not insignificant number of the Nobles who once served as members of the council had been implicated for various offences or dishonourably discharged after being found inadequate for their positions. As such, the heart of the Imperial Administration was woefully short-staffed, much to her esteemed cousin’s belated regret.

Her first day on the job two months ago was akin to being faced by a pack of ravenous Sabrewolves, desperate for talent and manpower.

“You should know from your father just how crazy things were before,” Lord Anoch said. “Duke Gushmond is a true pillar of the Empire.”

“Maybe we should find that pillar and stand him up in front of these dignitaries instead.”

“Ahaha…let’s not – he’s not a pillar that His Imperial Majesty can afford to see collapse. That old firebrand can handle any Human opponents, but not a cadre of monsters.”

And just who is, exactly? Maybe we should have hired Adventurers, instead.

No one in the Imperial Palace knew what to expect. Though various members of the palace staff had interacted with agents from the Sorcerous Kingdom before, they travelled to attend an official audience somewhere in the neighbouring nation. Even the Emperor was no exception: as a client state, they went to them and not the other way around.

Curious members of the Court Council who wanted to know what the audiences were like were answered with ‘it’s a nice place’ or ‘the drinks are great’ or some other suspiciously generic positive comment. Those who went tried to avoid it whenever possible, making the Sorcerous Kingdom seem all the more unfathomably terrifying.

Now, for some reason, the Sorcerous Kingdom was coming to them. Even worse was the fact that it was an ‘unofficial’ visit and the appointment at the palace was merely some sort of courtesy call. There was nothing that hinted at what they should prepare for; the notice so abrupt that any fresh information that they tried to collect would come in too late.

Yet, for all of their short notice, their visitors decided to come by coach, which gave the palace staff just enough time to impotently stew in their worries without being able to do much else. Whoever was coming knew exactly what they were doing. The Empire had been caught off-guard and unprepared. So many cracks had appeared that Frianne could only wonder how they would slip through to do whatever they had come to do.

As the designated time drew close, Frianne and Lord Anoch left the administrative wing of the Imperial Palace, making their way through its marble corridors towards the main atrium. She flipped through the few bits of information that they actually had.

“Were you able to find out anything new about today’s arrivals?” Lord Anoch asked.

“Nothing beyond what we already knew,” Frianne replied. “Three of these ‘nobles’ have a merchant presence in the Empire. The names are not new, either – they’re all some form of the titles that existed in the Duchy of E-Rantel before its annexation by the Sorcerous Kingdom.”

This was another reason why she had been chosen: not due to her ability or education, but for her lineage. The Nobles of Re-Estize – if these people were still the same Nobles – could be just as pretentious as members of the imperial aristocracy. Though this visit was an unofficial one, the proper forms needed to be observed just in case.

The visiting party was listed as two countesses and two baronesses. Lord Anoch was a Count Palatine, a Great Imperial Knight, and a member of the Empire’s ‘old blood’. Frianne was a duke’s daughter and thus a member of the imperial dynasty. This combination provided a rough balance that would be acceptable should their visitors have an inclination for such observances.

“The question remains as to who these titles now belong to,” Lord Anoch seemed to shudder. “If a Dragon walks through the entrance, the Royal Earth Guard is going to have a relapse.”

That was indeed the question. To the befuddlement of everyone, the Sorcerer King had decided to adopt the laws of Re-Estize, meaning that the systems of their former neighbour – including those of the nobility and the judiciary – supposedly still existed. This didn’t mean that the titles within the duchy remained in Human hands, however. Given the apparent excellence of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s administration and the reported ineptitude of Re-Estize’s nobility, one could only assume that the Human Nobles in the territory had been replaced.

Since Elder Liches were known to work in the administration of their suzerain, Frianne could only imagine four Elder Liches walking into the Imperial Palace. Her imagination was not fertile enough to come up with what a cabal of Elder Liches might want to make a ‘personal visit’ to the Empire for…or maybe it shut down entirely out of a desire for self-preservation.

Frianne and Lord Anoch came out into the brightly-lit main atrium of the Imperial Palace, where many bureaucratic functionaries were either on their way out for the evening or gathered in small groups discussing one thing or the other. At the appearance of Lord Anoch, however, the groups rapidly broke up and everyone hastened to make their way out.

“So this is what it must feel like to have your allies abandon you on the eve of battle.”

“At least the guards didn’t run,” Lord Anoch said.

A member of the Royal Earth Guard – each an elite of the First Legion as strong as a Gold-ranked Adventurer – stood at each column lining the walls of the atrium, resplendent in their enchanted arms and armour. Given that they were supposedly receiving dignitaries and not expecting to fight a battle, the benefit that they provided was dubious compared to the experienced palace staff that had just fled. Visitors from other nations may have been impressed by the ranks of the Royal Earth Guard, but they were probably no more significant than common labourers in the eyes of these dignitaries from the Sorcerous Kingdom.

Despite receiving their visitors in the heart of imperial power, it felt like there was nothing they could do to gain the Empire an advantage for this meeting. Frianne idly wondered if this was how her cousin felt for the past six months. Hopefully, she wouldn’t start losing hair like he was.

“Do you think they will expect to see His Imperial Majesty?” She asked. “I know what it says on the notice, but…”

“All we can do is pray that they don’t,” Lord Anoch answered. “He’s already receiving an important guest.”

Frianne suppressed a shudder at the thought of the ‘important guest’. She had seen him once before, while he was being taken on a tour of the palace. Though she constantly reminded herself that he was the sovereign of another nation, she could not help but see him as a giant rodent. Today marked his third visit in as many months, and she could not fathom why he kept coming. There was certainly no paperwork of diplomatic or economic significance related to the visits.

A shadow in the door caught her attention. Every eye in the atrium followed the First Legion knight as he made his way in on hurried steps. The man offered a salute as he approached.

“Report,” Lord Anoch said as the man approached.

“They’ve entered the district,” the knight said. “If they don’t stop anywhere, they’ll be here in a few minutes.”

“Do they have a knight escort?”

“Yes, Lord Anoch. We met them with a dozen men. Also…the idiots are gathering.”

Great. Just what we need…

“Is causing problems the only thing they’re good at?” Lord Anoch gripped the hilt of his sword, “How much money did they spend to get their information?”

“Is this going to be a problem?” Frianne asked.

“I think so,” the knight answered. “The curtains of the carriage weren’t drawn. We saw four young women inside.”

Lord Anoch’s gauntleted hand came up to rest on his forehead. A finger tapped rhythmically as he sighed.

“So you’ve gone from an honour guard to an actual escort,” he said.

“Such as it is,” the knight replied. “At least the men have a familiar task to focus on.”

“Right. Was there anything else of note?”

“Nothing that stood out to us, my lord,” the knight said. “Well, it was a nice carriage, I guess.”

Lowering his hand, Lord Anoch dismissed the knight. To Frianne’s surprise, the news only seemed to trouble him further.

“At least they weren’t Undead,” she said lightly.

“That’s…you don’t get it yet, Lady Frianne.”

“Does this have something to do with all of the ‘nice’ and ‘good’ that people who have dealt with the Sorcerous Kingdom always reply with when you ask about it?”

“Maybe that’s a part of it,” Lord Anoch replied. “A nation of monsters: that’s how people refer to the Sorcerous Kingdom. But it’s misleading. When people think of monsters, they think of something strong and savage. Mindless or arrogant beasts that can have their ignorance or hubris turned against them. Something that can be defeated through ingenuity and heroic effort. Only after dealing with the Sorcerous Kingdom do you understand what a true monster is.”

A line of silhouettes appeared in the golden light of the evening outside. As the four figures entered the far end of the grand atrium, Lord Anoch shook his head slowly.

“Power. Wealth. Intellect. Beauty. Awe in every sense of the word. That is what the Sorcerer King surrounds himself with; what follows in his wake. The wise will stay out of the way, and the fools who think to gain some advantage over them will be consumed like insects in a blaze.”

Frianne folded her hands in front of her lap, gathering all of the poise she could muster. As the four women made their way towards them, she examined their features.

“Maybe I should let your sisters know about them.”

“Let’s not. My desk drawer is already about to rupture.”

“For the Empire?”

“Spare me, please, my lady.”

She managed a smile after hearing the discomfort in Lord Anoch’s usually unshakeable voice. The smile slipped away, however, when the sound of rapid steps echoed from one of the columns near their guests.

Frianne cast a spell on Lord Anoch.

“「See Invisibility」!”

“That idiot!” Lord Anoch dashed forward.

Frianne cast the spell again on herself, and a translucent man appeared in her augmented vision. Though the nearest knights were also aware of the intruder, they misjudged where the man was and failed to intercept him. They gave chase after the sound of his footsteps, but the distance to the invisible man’s targets was mere metres away.

The man was too close. The guards were out of position. Lord Anoch was only halfway across the atrium. Frianne was out of spell range. Their ‘guests’ had only just arrived and the world was already set to shatter.

As the man closed within three metres of the four women, the tallest of them stepped out and placed a silk-clad hand on his shoulder. He abruptly stopped and reversed direction as he was pushed back towards the pursuing knights. The action seemed so effortless that one might have thought that, rather than a fully-grown man, the tall woman had caught and returned a doll filled with straw.

The man stumbled backwards and the knights found his arms. They started to drag him back towards the entrance.

“Wait!” He cried as his magic was dispelled, “I’m ywqeh–”

A gauntleted hand clamped over his mouth. Petals scattered over the floor as the man dropped his bouquet and attempted to wrench his makeshift muzzle loose. He struggled the entire way back out, eventually disappearing into the sunset.

Frianne caught up to Lord Anoch, wrinkling her nose at the pungent odour of too much cologne. Lord Anoch flicked the flowers away with the toe of his boot. Never mind gaining any advantages on their own territory, they hadn’t even managed to maintain the Empire’s dignity.