*Prince Treslux*

The Hero was nothing like Treslux imagined he would be, though upon reflection he was not sure why he was so surprised. The Heroine Valencia in legends was also dismissive of propriety and etiquette, but it was different to see it up close. The man, who introduced himself as Lucas, had not bothered to rise in his greeting and had just waved for Treslux to take a seat. The woman who was with him, one of the strikingly beautiful Almistraus princesses Treslux noted, smiled apologetically but in a resigned way. This was apparently just the Hero’s nature, well, he could work with that.

“Lord Hero,” Treslux gave his best court smile. “It is an honor to make your acquaintance, though I wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Yes, it would be nice if you were not trying to ruin my work for political gain,” the Hero, Lucas, said affably- even if his tone and words did not match in the slightest. “You do know that you could have tried talking before gathering an army right?”

“With respect,” Treslux actually didn’t give a damn, but he had to keep up his own appearances. Honestly, he thought the ‘Heroes’ to be a waste of time and resources, but he could not simply say that. “You are new to this world, and especially new to the politics of this kingdom. Heidall Are’s actions must be answered- that is simply the way of things. Similarly, I am here to take you to the capital, and away from the manipulations of petty lords.”

“Because the manipulations of important lords is so much better,” Treslux blinked at the intense sarcasm that met him- he rather wished that refreshments had been offered so that he could hide his reaction, but meetings like this would never have such things. Too much opportunity to poison someone.

“Look, I will be blunt, because I have no talent for politics whatsoever,” Lucas continued. “While Heidall was not originally the person I planned to take the throne, and it is possible that I was manipulated into it for reasons that I was not aware of, he serves my purposes. I am busy, and this bullshit has made me have to look away from my important work and build weapons to ensure what I do have isn’t lost.”

“Then it was you who built that weapon?” Baron Antoine spoke suddenly from behind the prince, and before he could be reprimanded…

“And fired it, yes.”

*Lucas Jaeger*

“You killed my son, you bastard!” Lucas had not expected the man accompanying the prince to try and leap over the table at him- but considering his words it was understandable. It was not, however, acceptable- and killing him would likely not be acceptable as well, even if Lucas could in an open space like this.

Luckily, for Lucas and the yelling man, the experience of firing the explosive barrels had given Lucas some ideas into nonlethal suppression. Which was a pretty way of saying Lucas fucked with the man’s inner ear and he fell to the ground, unable to stand up, and vomited. Unfortunately, the man had gotten closer than Lucas would have liked, and that vomit was on his shoes- but biologists didn’t get to where they were by being squeamish, even if Lucas was more squeamish than most…

Lucas wiped his shoes off on the man’s coat, somewhat annoyed considering that his shoes were from his own world and far better than anything available to him now. Again, his own dependence on the comforts of his old life came back to bite him, this world was a pain in the ass sometimes.

“And this man is..?” Lucas asked as he finished, then picked his chair up and sat down again, leaving the groaning man where he lay.

“Baron Jean deVon Antoine,” the prince, who was the spitting image of the blonde haired prince charming that was stereotypically imagined by little girls, said with a raised eyebrow to the scene he had just witnessed. “I was going to demand, on his behalf, the shooter be remanded to our custody- but that seems to be impossible now.”

“Why on earth would anyone have done it to begin with?” If it had not been Lucas, and simply some random mage guarding the wall, to have fired that shot- they would have only been doing their job, as they were ordered to do it. For that matter, how would they have known that the random person they were shooting at was a noble? And why should they care?

Lucas looked down at the man, who was trying to get to his feet, but failing horribly and said, “If you didn’t want your son to die, you probably should not have sent him into a warzone. It isn’t my fault you lack common sense, or any sense for that matter.”

“I will avenge my son one day, mark my words!” The Baron managed to cough out the statement between retches, and Lucas just sighed- and kicked the man in the throat.

“What the hell are you doing!” The prince stood up in a flash, but was shocked when Lucas simply chuckled.

“You know, I am not a nice person- but I never was cruel or sociopathic,” Lucas commented as he made sure the baron was suffocating due to vomit and his collapsed windpipe. “Rather, I care far more about what is the ‘correct’ response to the situation as viewed from a mindset that many would call utilitarian- that is, the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. It is deeply unfortunate that in this world that seems to overlap heavily with cruel and sociopathic, ah but my thoughts are wondering- allow me to digress.”

“The man threatened my life, and I am the man who killed his son.” Lucas was actually surprised this needed explaining, if he was honest. “If I let him go, he would strike at me later, and I am not naive enough to let go a powerful man who wants me dead when I could eliminate him now.”

“This is a negotiation, how dare you do something like this?” The prince shouted, and Lucas sighed. The man had attacked him because Lucas had killed is son in what amounted to self defense and then proceeded to threaten him with death at some point in the future- is there even a proper moral response to this situation, and he wasn’t negotiating with this ‘Jean’ anyway.

“No, I understand.” The prince calmed down quickly, almost too quickly, but Lucas had no idea why. “It is my own fault for not anticipating this possibility, but in the end, nothing has changed.”

“Correct,” Lucas was actually quite pleased with this change of heart. Perhaps Prince Treslux would actually be reasonable if he didn’t fly off the handle during that event, and that would mean Lucas might be able to end this charade peacefully. “Allow me to explain what I am doing here, and how that will benefit humanity as a whole.”

Perhaps an hour later, Treslux had a thoughtful expression on his face- likely considering the information Lucas had dumped on his head with aplomb. Then, he sighed.

“Much as I wish otherwise- because I agree with your reasoning- backing off is impossible.” Treslux said in an almost sad voice, “There is more to this than you realize- conflict between the Royal Family, the Dukes, and the Church. Retreating puts the Royal faction in a difficult spot, the Ducal faction as well, but mostly the Royals. Regardless of how you see it, as the Hero you represent the Church and Heidall was, and likely is, part of the Church to some degree. The balance of power is quite clearly broken, and it will not settle naturally.”

Lucas could somewhat see what the man was saying, but his talent with politics was nonexistent and turned to Terrasin for help.

“Although I had not initially considered it, given the chaos that has been going on, the Prince is correct.” She confirmed, speaking slowly as she mulled over the situation and compared it to her own knowledge. “Pulling back here could end up resulting in the Church seizing power in Francinea- no, it would result in that, and likely from the Royal family.”

“Explain,” Lucas frowned, this could complicate things. “Please.”

“Regardless of your personal thoughts, you are essentially affiliated with the Church,” Terrasin explained. “However, traditionally Heroes have broad secular powers as well. Many would argue that people, regardless of rank, have a duty to obey you to some extent- not because of your Church affiliation, but because of what you are summoned to do and the efficacy of the past Heroes.”

“In theory, many would argue that you have the right to overturn a Duchy and put a new leader on the throne- enough people to actually give you a legitimate case outside of the theoretical rights you may or may not have. In itself, this is not as much of an issue as it may initially seem, but you put a noble who had joined the Church on the throne. Heidall is more tied to the Church than to his family, not just in terms of how he feels, but legally. Your action could pave the way for many nobles in the Church to inherit, or to contest people currently in power with the argument that they should have inherited.”

“And overall, that would lead to…” Terrasin’s eyes seemed to widen with a sudden realization, “That would lead to, because these claims would require backing,- the backing of the Church to succeed- nobility and titles being something that is essentially granted from the Church, and not from the Crown and the Royal’s would no longer truly rule Francinea!”

God, or perhaps Gods, damn it! He might have no talent for this kind of shit, but Lucas could understand it when it was laid out before him, this was an extremely bad situation for him to be in… A peaceful resolution might be absolutely impossible, and if he was honest with himself, it was his own fault.

Lucas’s rush to push everyone and everything around him to go faster had led to the people he chose to advise him being unable to keep up. And even if they had, Lucas had to admit he did not listen well, there is a strong chance he would have shrugged their advise off and gone forward regardless.

So how the hell would he fix this?