Late Morning - Mid Spring : Kingdom of Kaelallan

- Oliver Kaelallan ~

"Haah.." Leaning back in my chair, I looked out the window and took a breather.

I had been working all night trying to figure out how to handle the whole situation around the tower but was yet to come up with anything concrete. -It's been 2 days and I haven't made an announcement.. people are going to want an explanation for the border and security control changes too..-

After spending the last few days dealing with some intrusive nobles, I needed to come to a decision, and fast.

-Since I can't declare war on the tower since they aren't a country, should I declare hostility? Hopefully, I can get the backing of those in the Bay Alliance..- [1]

I had already discussed the situation with Helen and had even gotten another Tower Assassin through an extremely stingy slave trader, but there were still too many gray areas.

The assassin Vasilias ‘subdued’ in the prison had ended up being one of the higher-ups of the tower, but somehow he still didn't know all of the details about the plan. -At least he knew more than the regular assassins though..-

According to him, should his information be accurate, nearly all of the smaller nations near Kaelallan that were in neutral standing with us had been taken.

Finally deciding it would be best to just declare hostility through a simple public speech, I did my best to shake off my nervousness.

That nervousness still lingered though. -I made a deal with Vasilias, but he's been sleeping for a few days now... I know Osto said it was normal but I'm nervous something might happen while he’s asleep..-

According to Osto, I couldn't wake up Vasilias under any circumstances and that, should something major happen, he would personally give some assistance. -It's nice to have some reassurance but…-

“Haah..” With a deep sigh to shake off the remaining uneasiness, I reluctantly pulled out a piece of paper to start thinking of what to say during the speech. -It's gonna be a long day...-

- Maria ~

“Haah..” -What an annoying trip...- At long last, I had made it to the Capital of Kaelallan.

As I finally made it to the gate, I was met with an extremely unhappy guard. "ID please."

-Such a rude guard...- I was still quite annoyed from the trip but didn't want to make a scene and just showed him my ID.

‘Name: Maria

Age: 24

Height: 162.5 cm

Hair Color: Silver

Eye Color: Silver

National Residence: Kaelallan

Adventurer Rank: S'

As he looked me up and down, the man's whole demeanor changed. "Oh, I'm very sorry Ma'am, please enter."

Seeing nothing went wrong, I let out a light breath before walking into the city and making my way towards the slum market.

As I walked, I could overhear various conversations but most of them revolved around the same topic. -The king is going to give a speech? I wonder what it's about…-

I didn't dwell on that curiosity for too long though since I quickly arrived at a specific rundown bar.

The familiar man behind the bar was as tall and muscular as ever. "I'm trying to get to the market."

The man didn't even look up at me though.

-This bast*rd…- "Do you really not recognize me?!" With an attitude, I walked up and shoved my ID in his face.

"No, and I don't care to know, you can't enter." The bartender firmly stood his ground which only made me more annoyed.

"I need to get in to see some old friends, their names are Udall and Mollie. They told me to use their names to get in."

The bartender finally set down the glass he was cleaning, but as I hoped to get in, he just picked up another one. "Go to a different entrance girlie. Everyone here knows those names."

Pinching another nerve, I wanted to just kill the man but held myself back. -Ugh.. I can't cause trouble here…- Reluctantly reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a gold coin and tossed it into the cup he was cleaning. “How about that..”

With a smile quickly coming to his face, he finally set down the glass and looked at me. "Right away Milady."

His sarcasm just pushed all the wrong buttons, but I finally got what I needed as he took me into the back and opened a trapdoor.

Before totally disappearing under the floorboards, I glanced back and gave him the stink eye. "I'll remember you, ya bast*rd."

His smile didn't break though. "Sure you will." *Slam* The instant I got below the boards, he slammed the door shut.

-What an asshole.. I should kill him later..-

Hoping to be able to finally shake off some steam, I picked up the pace until she got to the market plaza.

"Missy, this isn't a place for people like you." A muscular dark-skinned man called out after looking me up and down.

"I'm here to see Udall, do you know where he is?" I held my head high, not feeling intimidated in the slightest.

"Everything here has a price miss, I'm just curious how you're going to pay it." His look quickly turned lustful.

-How blatant…- Reaching into my pocket I pulled out another gold coin and tossed it to him.

A smile instantly appeared on the man's face. "Perfect! Udall is in that building down there."

Without even bothering to say thank you, I quickly turned and walked away. -At least they'll do anything for money down here...-

Thankfully, it didn't take much longer for me to arrive at the smithy which doubled as Udall and Mollies second home.

*Clang* *Clang* *Clang*

-What a nostalgic sound..- *Ding* *Ding*

Hearing the light ring of the bell, a muscular elven man with a youthful smile walked out through the cloth doorway. "It's been a while, Maria."

Even his voice was refreshing to finally hear. "Likewise, how have you been?"

"I’ve been alright. There has been a bunch of chaos recently with some things that happened relating to Michael though."

"What? What happened to him?"

"He was involved with an assassination attempt on the king."

-Oh sh*t..- "Is he alright?"

"He's fine, he got away without much of a punishment thankfully. He actually should be coming back sometime soon."

"Oh, good. it'd be nice to see him again." -I wonder if he’s changed…-

As we walked inside, we made our way over to the table and sat down.

"Would you like a drink?" Udall casually continued talking as he started cleaning off the table.

"Sure, what are my choices?"

Seeing him casually point to the side of the room, I looked over and noticed the shelves lined with alcohol and even a few juices.

-Oh they have fresh juice?- Feeling a bit excited to try it fresh, I reached for the bottle of grape juice. "I guess I'll have one of these."

Udall just gave a warm yet conflicted look as he looked me up and down.

“Mmm..” -That's some really good stuff…- After cooling the juice with some magic and taking a sip, I walked back to the table and sat down. "So where's Mollie?"

"She had to run some errands. We got a seriously important commission and were running low on materials."

There was a short yet awkward silence as I didn't know how to respond. "So how's the shop been?"

Seemingly too busy to sit and relax, he moved back over to the furnaces and started prepping one. "Oh, it's been quite good. We've gotten pretty famous in recent years too, even the royal family just gave us a commission."

"That's good to hear... So have you and Mollie had a kid yet?"

Udall froze and didn't seem to know what to say.

As the silence filled the room, it was broken by a voice coming through the doorway. "No, it's hard to have a child with how good smithing is right now."

It was a voice I instantly recognized. "Hey, Mollie!" I immediately sprang up from my seat to give her a hug.

"Oouuhh… You’ve gotten stronger again and you somehow look younger!" Mollie groaned from my bear hug.

"Well of course I got stronger! I can't fall behind you guys!" I held up and flexed my arm which lacked toned muscle.

"Haha, Michael is the strongest in the group now actually."

"What rank is he?"

"Well he is still technically S rank but he is just waiting for some formalities for his Nation rank promotion."

"Oh, that's awesome! I knew he had that potential!"

"Haha, yeah, he should be back soon, I saw him at the tavern getting a bite to eat.” Seemingly distracted, she quickly turned to Udall. “Actually, honey, the king is going to be giving a speech tonight and I think it's best if we attend this one."

"Right, it can't hurt to go. Plus there might be something important mentioned with all the chaos happening recently."

I just sat and sipped my juice as I saw Mollie and Udall hug and give each other a little kiss.

It made me feel like quite the third wheel. -Maybe I should look for a guy…-