KINGLY RING

**

Wind howled ceaselessly through the narrow ravine, causing hanging trees to sway in the rhythm. The ravine, although narrow, was quite deep and had many hidden caves throughout. Covered up by rock formations running throughout, these caves often served as secret meeting places – for something as sweet as forbidden lovemaking to something as dreadful as relentless tortures. The ravine had naturally isolation, making it appear almost like a different dimension as it laid just below the Kingly Ring. Due to the cascading nature of the three rings of Edgemaw, Kingly Ring appeared to be built atop a mountain, and just after it’s edge, one could see a few hundred meters long fall and small valley which directly led to the ravine. If one were to die within the ravine, no one outside of it would ever hear anything.

In one of the caves, two shadows suddenly appeared from thin air, causing ripples to shiver through the space around. Moments later, one of them flicked their fingers, upon which a small flame burst out, illuminating the spacious cave. Both figures were cloaked completely in black, without any recognizable features.

“We can’t do it yet,” one of the figures said calmly. “Palace is too chaotic.”

“Master is impatient,” the other figure replied in a similar tone. “I don’t think he can hold off for much longer.”

“Everyone in the Palace is already being eyed by the King and his men. Even if we breathe wrongly we might end up in the dungeons.”

“Sigh… his paranoia is truly annoying. What do you propose?”

“During the next council meeting, have one of your men release some sensitive information and form some false allegations. We need to give him target if we’re to be able to enter the backroom.”

“Alright...” the figure spoke, shaking their head slightly. “Hopefully we can complete this before Master wakes others up. After all, sharing the reward is just a waste.”

“Indeed. So let’s not waste the opportunity. If we complete this, I doubt that the Master won’t reward us extremely handsomely.”

“Hm.”

Two shadows suddenly vanished into thin air, just like they appeared, as if they were never there. The flame was extinguished, leaving behind nothing but silence. No traces or marks could be found that anyone was having a conversation right there just a few seconds ago.

**

As Lynne cast a glance at the tall wall guarding the entrance to the Kingly Ring, he nearly vomited a mouthful of blood. Besides being over fifteen meters tall and built out of the sturdiest stone excavated from the heart of the nearby volcano and then refined by the Highlind’s greatest mason, and besides endless amount of sentry towers with two guards stationed at practically every corner, the wall was also decorated with various statues, mosaics and carvings. It appeared more like a piece for a museum than a fortified wall, yet if any fool were to underestimate its sturdiest, there surely wouldn’t be a place for them in this world.

The gate was arched, built out of reinforced steel thigh-thick, and required at least six bulky men to open. After standing still for about half an hour, waiting in queue, the carriage finally proceeded onwards and through the gates.

Unlike the bottom two rings, the Kingly Ring was built atop a completely flat surface, covering a circumference of about seven kilometers. Lush homes erupted at every corner, fancy workshops were everywhere, beautiful gardens and flowers, stone-paved roads… compared to this ring, even Upper Ring appeared like a bottom hole of poorness. Even if he was shocked, Lynne could have still kept a calm face, but as it was his plan to appear like a complete idiot, he gawked at practically everything they passed by – from lanterns on the sidewalks to five stories buildings. Ella could only shake her head; even if he was young and inexperienced, she thought, this was simply too much. Even other four youths had begun looking at Lynne as if he was irreparable moron.

Naturally, Lynne paid little heed to their gazes. He simply salivated, but he wasn’t faking it this time around. Gold!! STATUE OF FREAKING GOLD!!! WHAT A WASTE!!! Oh sweet God that’s a vase of gold!! These people are shameless! Complete dirt! I spit on the freaking King if he’s gonna waste gold like this!!! Everywhere Lynne looked at, through whatever window, he’d always see something made out of gold. Although his thoughts would lead one to believe he was simply a man cautious with gold, in reality he was green with envy and jealousy. Forget freaking Magus, I’ll become a damn King!!

The carriage had finally stopped after about fifteen minutes of leisurely ride, and four youths immediately leapt out of the carriage as they didn’t wish to be seen with the drooling moron. On the other hand, Princess Ella sighed and took pity on him.

“Come on, we’ve arrived,” she spoke as she jumped out of the carriage. “Since it’s your first time here, I’ll show you around. Otherwise I feel like you’ll get yourself killed before even entering the Palace.” Lynne merely replied with an innocent and ignorant smile, but insides of his brain were burning with self-satisfaction.

However, whatever feelings of self-importance he had, the moment he laid his eyes upon the ‘Palace’, it was all shattered. To say this was merely a ‘Palace’ would probably force other Kings to faint. The building spanned for almost five hundred meters in length and width, and good fifty meters in height. It was absolutely enormous, and even the main stairway leading to the entrance was obscurely wide. The Palace was flat roofed, built out of smoothed limestone, separated into six floors, each divided by a huge horizontal, spiraling stone pole. It had massive amount of arched and flat windows, and the further up the Palace went, the narrower it got. Pushed out up front, it was held up by massive columns, each in a shape of a different beast, with two central ones right next to the entrance being two massive, coiling Dragons. At some spots, limestone shimmered brightly almost as if laced by gold. Lynne had no doubt that it was actual gold.

With how grand the Palace was, it wasn’t odd that its courtyard was practically the same. As Lynne glanced beyond stone fence rising up in the air, he saw great spans of empty space, massive, flourishing gardens, even a mini-lake which actually forced him to spit out a mouthful of blood. And all of this was just a frontal view. As the Palace was at the very edge of the Kingly Ring, beyond it was a massive fall which led to a short valley and a ravine. Beyond the ravine, one would find endless mountain ranges all the way until the Grand Ocean.

“….” Ella actually got a little bit of satisfaction while observing Lynne’s reaction, having even chuckled a few times as she saw the wide range of expressions this young man can show her.

“What? Let’s go.” she eventually couldn’t take it anymore and took pity on the young lad, pulling him by the sleeve of his shirt as the two walked through the gates, entering the courtyard of the Palace. She immediately led him towards the stairs; as this wasn’t the first time someone from the ‘Skyfire Academy’ showed up, she knew the process very well, and decided to take him to the ‘Guard’s Quarters’.

“You people are shameless!!” Lynne suddenly exclaimed in vicious voice, his eyes strikingly red. “Such a waste!! Just how much gold was put into this crap?! Do you know how many barrels of wine I could have drank? How many mature ladies I could have fondled? This is shameless!!”

“You are the shameless one!!” the Princess replied in kind, slapping him on the back. “How can you talk about such shameless acts in front of a Maiden?”

“You’re more of a barbaric bea—AAAGH forgive me Fairest Maiden!!” the moment Lynne started his rebuke, Ella grabbed his shoulder and pulled his arm backwards, threatening to break it.

“That’s more like it,” she said with a snort. “If you behave like that in the Palace, you’ll die immediately!” although she cursed, she was actually extremely happy. After all, her father sent her to examine the newcomers from the Academy; other four were merely thirteen-fourteen years old, and they didn’t pose much threat. As Lynne looked to be much older, she was slightly frightened and wondered what kind of a character this lad had. Seeing that he was just a country bumpkin as the report stated, she was rather happy; with the current status of Palace, they couldn’t afford another mysterious entanglement.

“… even dying is better than staying with you.” Lynne said, faking a sob. In reality, if he wanted to, he could have killed the Princess easily, as she didn’t pursue the art of Magic. However, teasing Princess and killing her were two completely different things. He was certain he had done enough to portray himself as a country bumpkin. As he’ll be serving directly under the King, he didn’t want King to be wary of him and guarded. Complete fools were natural enemies of guarded people. “Headmaster didn’t even tell me anything before shipping me off to here,” even with that, though, he still didn’t walk in completely blind. As Ella seemed to have completely dropped her guard, he figured he’d poke around a little bit. “What am I even supposed to do? Just stay behind King’s butt at all times?” Ella suddenly tripped over one of the stairs and stayed there for a few moments. She nearly burst out in laughter, and if anyone knew why, she could never show her face in public.

“Khm, yeah, something like that… ha...”

“You’re not helpful at all!!” Lynne exclaimed with depressed expression.

“Fine, fine,” Ella sighed; subconsciously, she had truly dropped her guard in front of this foolish lad. “You’ll accompany my dad around during the meetings and stay in front of his chambers. You’ll also be required to report immediately when you’re summoned. However, as you’re just a pretend-guard, you don’t really have to do anything normal guards do. As the matter of fact, it’s better if you just stick to my father while you’re in there.” she added with a bit of a more solemn tone towards the end.

“Eh? Why? The King has that nice of a butt?” Lynne asked with a completely ignorant expression. Although she anticipated it, Ella nearly burst out in laughter yet again.

“Khm, n-no, I mean ye-- what the hell are you making me say? Humph!” she kneed him slightly while Lynne pretended to get hurt. “Palace is… uhm, a bit unsteady now. Eh, just stick to my father and you’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

Two proceeded onwards, and while Lynne kept up his idiotic expression, his mind was in quite a turmoil. Of course it’s unsteady you idiot, you just forcefully stole a throne!! You basically just recapped what happened! You suck as an informant! However, considering her tone, it doesn’t look like it has much to do with the usurping of the throne… maybe even King figured out there was something off? Hm, this is troublesome. As she explicitly told me to stick to the King at all times, it can only mean that she doesn’t actually trust anyone else wholeheartedly. If that’s the case, it’s probably the same with the King himself. In addition, if he can’t trust anyone completely just after coming to throne, it must be weighing on him heavily. Perfect!! I’ll become the crying shoulder! Damn, sometimes I even amaze myself with my brilliance!

Lynne proceeded onwards with glistening grin occupying his face.