Chapter 207

Empire Engulfed (VIII)

Strange rumors began to circle the innermost borders of the Kingdom, sayings and stories about the utterly odd phenomena that had transpired during the Q’tels invasion. Down south, there was a man who turned the night into a day with his blade, felling thousands with a single, magnificent stroke; a bit further east, there was a woman who commanded a whole army of breathtaking weapons, moving them with her mind and reaping souls like wheat; a bit west from the man was another woman, clad in full plate, crimson-dyed warhammer slamming into the ground and digging graves with abandon.

Then, around the northern borders of the Kingdom, tales sprung of the bloodied shadow that moved about like the Grim Reaper itself, killing everything in its wake without ever leaving a trail. Some ways from there, there were also tales of the pair of men who worked in concert to burn a massive hole in the invading army; the two of them dug out from the center and cleaned everything else up. Then, from the far west, came the macabre tales of bones rising from underneath the ground, and the strange, eerie songs and totems appearing around them. The bones became skeletons and moved like humans, and, fearless, they’d charge into Q’tels and fight until death... before rising back up again.

And then, there was the story that came from the distant east -- only three waves ever reached the bordered walls of the Kingdom. The rest of the invading army... was disappeared by some power beyond. All the world saw were the raging fires consuming everything, the unstoppable force that destroyed all in its wake. Charred corpses decorated the desecrated battlefield, making for a sorry sight even the veterans cringed at.

The buzz was unprecedented, especially because no faction came out and claimed those men and women as ‘their own’; rather, it seemed that they were newcomers plowed into the Kingdom by the fate’s hands. As much excitement as that brought to the masses, it brought unease in those with power in equal amounts. After all, a wildcard of that scale wasn’t good at any point -- and especially during the tenuous times, not unlike the current one.

Meanwhile, the sources of all the tales were currently sitting inside a reserved room of a tavern, blissfully unaware of the commotion they had caused. Rather, smiles of joy permeated their expressions as the rewards they reaped -- namely the experience -- was quite amazing. Almost everyone had finally reached Level 50, the cap before the First Awakening, which was one of the reasons for celebratory air.

“E-excuse me,” Anna suddenly turned to Cain and asked. “Are they not wary of the newcomers?”

“No, not in the slightest,” it wasn’t Cain that replied, but rather a beautiful woman sitting next to him.

“That’s just who he is,” another woman, a much younger one, added. “He picks up people from somewhere and brings ‘em along.”

“Most of us here were practically adopted by him...”

“Knowing him, I wouldn’t be surprised if you lot were Princes and Princesses, ha ha ha ha~”

“...”

“...”

“YOU JUST HAD TO GO AND SAY IT!”

“A’ight, pipe down,” Cain warned. “She’s not a Princess. Well, not anymore, at least. Technically speaking, she ought to be dead.”

“... what... what did you get entangled with?” Emma asked with a sigh.

“I’m playing an angle.” Cain replied with a wink, taking a sip of the locally-brewed mead; it was a bit too sweet for his taste, though.

“You’re always playing an angle; question is, will it hurt you?”

“It hurts more that you have to ask.” Cain chuckled as the rest of the group silently rolled their eyes at the very familiar sight -- the ‘fighting’ couple. “Anyway, as introductions are in order: this is Anna, ex-Princess of the Kingdom exiled because another Princess yelled really bad things during a dinner or whatever and Anna helped that now-ex-princess-as-well escape before escaping herself. This is her maid, Mina, and her guard, Sebas. Anna, these are my companions who are, technically speaking, your mortal enemies since all of them have aligned themselves with one or another of the Kingdom’s major powers.”

“I just wonder,” Emma said. “How?”

“Hm?”

“We all went out,” she continued. “And we all always go out. So... why is it that only you keep picking up really fucking important people and getting yourself into really high-end situations?”

“Ah, what can I say,” everyone immediately sighed as the playful smile on Cain’s face was almost a trademark at this point, one they could easily recognize. “My handsome features alight the dark and bring out the lonely ones to me~~”

“Putting that aside,” Senna said. “Nobody’s been able to get into that weird moon cult or whatever. Apparently, they’re really guarded and wary of newcomers.”

“Well, it is a cult,” Kramer said. “A single wrong wrench can upset the whole balance.”

“Leave the cult to me,” Cain said. “You guys just focus on kissing and kicking ass.”

“Won’t it all fail to matter ‘cause I’ve a feeling you have your own story that you’re writing that has literally nothing to do with us?” Jamal asked with a frown.

“Everything’s connected,” Cain said. “Especially in a place like this. There are no stories existing inside a vacuum. Everything matters.”

“--did you just string three fortune-cookie-sayings into a single lesson while trying to sound deep?” contrary to Anna, Mina, and Sebas, who all felt what Cain said was rather profound, his companions looked at him with a strange sense of loathing. However, even strangely for the three, the loathing wasn’t caused by hostility or even negativity -- but rather the closeness between them.

“Tsk,” Cain clicked his tongue in reply. “You fucks are becoming too clever. Who did that? Emma?! Did you start educating them?! Tsk, I thought you loved me.”

“... so, anyway, I got a fairly decent ring as a reward,” Sigmund said; by now, everyone had learned there was a ‘cutoff point’ with Cain -- a certain point in a conversation when it was just best to pretend he wasn’t even there. “The quest was really easy, though.”

“How about you, Yuki? Was it hard with Taima and Lek?” Emma asked.

“... kinda piss-easy,” Yuki replied with a sheepish grin. “I mean, Lek just summoned a bunch of skeletons... and... and, well, we stayed behind and ate some snacks while chatting.”

“Ah, that sounds blissful as fuck,” Jamal sighed. “Next time, I’m taking Lek with me.”

“Aah, hear that? That’s a warning side, kids!” Senna suddenly warned. “When an old uncle says he wants to take you somewhere, scream ‘help’ immediately!”

“Oi, Senna, don’t tarnish my pure name!! What about Cain? Rail on him instead!”

“Tsk, that sod shows literally nothing to nobody except Emma,” Senna scoffed. “It’s too infuriating how devoted he is. It’s partway between cute and outright creepy.”

“So, what did you learn?” the place went strangely quiet as soon as Cain spoke out, startling the newcomers. The playful atmosphere vanished in a second, replaced by a rather heavy and respectful one.

“Artisans are rooting themselves with the masses,” Jamal said. “At least on the surface of things. They’ve lowered prices to the point that a lot of the products aren’t even making a profit, earning them quite a lot of praise -- especially among the pseudo middle class.”

“We weren’t able to find anything about the high nobility,” Emma said. “Rather, our standing didn’t even improve, if I’m being honest. At best, we’re like second-hand lackeys at the moment.”

“Should we fully disclose our identities?” Kramer quizzed, implying that they should say they are the rumored lot that swept through the battlefields.

“No,” Cain shook his head. “Right now, we’re helping squeeze the Kingdom’s nerves even further. In reality, the whole place is one major accident away from snapping like a madman. And... well, nobody wants that. Essentially, at the moment, we’re controlling the Kingdom’s fuse. We can set it alight any time we want. If you disclose your identities, you’re giving away that power to whoever you’re under. It’s too dangerous.”

“... will it even be beneficial to snap the Kingdom?” Daniel asked with a frown. “We’re newcomers here, in the end, with basically no power. I can’t imagine we stand any chance even in the resulting chaos.”

“We just need to follow the story,” Cain said with a casual smile, taking a sip of the beer. “Third Prince invited us here -- undoubtedly, he’ll also be the signal for when it all begins.”

“You sure were quick to betray him, though,” Senna said, glancing at shocked Anna.

“Betray him?” Cain tilted his head. “Oi, oi, ease with the implications. You’re scaring such a lovely girl. Bad Senna.”

“Bite me.”

“Ha ha ha, alright -- we’ll just stay silent, for now,” Cain said. “Try to dig deeper into your sides without rising any suspicions. We’ll limit contact with each other from now on; if you need me, just trigger my Mana mark on you. Otherwise, until we all see the signal, just try to level up all by yourselves. I’ll steal Senna, though.”

“H-huh?!!”

“In reality, you’re my favorite -- not Em’,” Cain teased with a playful smile. “I can’t have anything happening to you. My poor heart wouldn’t be able to take it...”

“O-oh, you... you hear that, Emma? Aren’t... aren’t you angry?”

“I agree with him,” Emma smiled as well as Senna’s cheeks flushed further. “Good choice. If he didn’t recommend it, I’d have done it myself.”

“Heh, she’s quite cute.” Sebas mumbled subconsciously as he noted Senna’s fervently red cheeks. However, the atmosphere suddenly cooled as though he was tossed into the lake of ice; every pair of eyes in the room turned toward him, killing intent surging like a slumbering beast finally awoken. On that day he learned that... however tossed their sights at that young girl... would meet a death so painful even the devils would feel sympathy for them.