“What?” Hazeel’s annoyed reaction wasn’t completely unexpected to me, but it must have been outside of what Regin had expected, as she was clearly taken aback.

“Huh? Why do you sound so annoyed? It’s the entire army you know! Shouldn’t you be more like, ‘Please Miss Xandra, help us,’ or that sort of thing?” Regin got herself in close proximity to Hazeel and started massaging her shoulders.

“Come on, I can grant you immunity… for a small price.” Hazeel, who had been smiling at the massage, immediately soured and turned to face the high elf.

“So let me get this right. You lure us in here with a threat, the soldiers conveniently come in that time span and surround the guild in order to capture us? And we’re supposed to rely on your help to leave? Not a snowball’s chance in hell. Come Leo, Bella. Let’s leave, there’s clearly nothing to do here anymore.” Hazeel started to walk towards the door of the room, with Bella right on her heels.

I looked back at Regin, who had a look of disdain and mild sadness etched onto her face. Her lip was quivering as she watched Hazeel’s back get farther and farther from her. I sighed and said, “Wait.” Hazeel and Bella stopped at my words, and turned to face me.

“What is it Leo?” Hazeel frowned at me. “We could surely just mow them down on the way out. We don’t need to rely on this girl’s help.” Regin breathed in deeply, but said nothing. Instead, she left me to cover for her.

“I don’t believe she’d lead us into a trap… at least not willingly. She likes you too much Hazeel.” The wood elf’s blush made Bella giggle and made Regin herself blush. “Plus, like she said, brute forcing our way through things wouldn’t solve our underlying problem: We need to enter the Gold Continent legally in order for anyone to help us restore Dantae.”

Hazeel made a pouting face and breathed out slowly. “Listen Leo… we don’t usually say things that bluntly around here unless it’s a last resort, but I can see how you’d be driven to such measures.”

Hazeel walked back up to Regin’s desk and sat down, ushering for me to sit next to her. “Come now, Regin. Don’t keep us waiting.”

The high elf wiped at her eyes and sat down across from Hazeel. She shot me a smile before starting, “Here’s what we’ll do…”

---

Brago stared down the doors of the guild, and drummed his fingers on the sword hanging at his left hip. It had been an hour since they had sent a messenger inside to tell Leon to surrender, and he, or the criminal in question, had yet to show.

It was making his other soldiers feel uneasy, and although Brago hated to admit it, he was feeling nervous as well. Brago had gone so far as to use the castle’s magic detector, a system which the king had forbidden to ever be turned to the city, to find Leon.

Should the council find out, Brago would no doubt be stripped of his rank… but he needed to snuff out the danger that Leon posed to him and the entire country. If word ever got out that he had poisoned the king…

Brago physically shuddered while thinking of the repercussions and shame of such a discovery. “Lord Brago, are you alright?”

A soldier asked out of concern, but Brago shook his head. “I’m fine, please do not worry about me.” Brago flashed the soldier a reaffirming smile, but inwardly he was cursing his fate.

What kind of soldiers show this much loyalty? He had merely borrowed the power of former First Coat of Arms, Conrad Morrow and told them that his orders were to be obeyed like Conrad’s own…

With a sigh, Brago once more stared at the door. Hazeel herself might have been dangerous, but once they had taken Leon hostage, she would have no choice but to obey their orders to stand down.

Leon had defeated that goblin champion back when they had first met Hazeel, but Brago believed that the champion was weaker than what his body language said. Without warning, the door to the guild slammed open, revealing Hazeel, Leon, and Bella Clairborne. Standing behind them was a figure Brago recognized well: the high elf, Regin Xandra.

He heard murmuring around him from the veteran soldiers, while the younger ones listened to their senior’s outbursts.

“That’s Commander Hazeel! She’s returned to us!”

“The Commander is back!? The Gods have blessed the Azure Kingdom!”

“Miss Hazeel is back, what wonderful news!”

Brago’s lip twitched as he tried to keep himself from scowling at the soldiers around him. Instead, he pointed to Leon. “Listen soldiers! That boy right there is the traitor of Humanity! He sides with the demi-humans, and wishes to bring unneeded and corrupt change to our kingdom!”

The soldiers around Brago frowned. Suddenly, two members stepped out from amongst the veterans. On the left, a woman covered from the neck down in bulky armor with blue highlights made her way in front of Brago. Her short, black hair sat on her head, and windswept bangs curved to her right. To her left, a slender man wearing minimal armor walked beside her. His blonde hair was tied into a tight ponytail, and a scowl was present on his otherwise beautiful visage.

“Mister Brago, I do not pretend to know of your strife with demi-humans, but Commander Morrow has trained us not to discriminate just because of race. In order to act, a direct order from Commander Morrow is necessary. We cannot and will not move to engage Hazeel the Conqueror on your orders alone.”

Brago started to grit his teeth when he heard a shout from the direction of the guild. “Jeannis? Flora? Wow I haven’t seen the two of you since you pulled me out of the Imperial shipwreck 15 years ago! You look like you've both been advancing well on the military career path!” Hazeel’s smile was a sharp contrast to Brago’s own expression, one which gained more hatred in it after Jeannis and Flora smiled back at their former commander.

“On the authority of the King, and former First Coat of Arms Conrad Morrow, I will have you executed after a dishonorable discharge if you fail to act!” The soldiers glowered at Brago, but raised their weapons nonetheless. It was just on Conrad’s authority, that would be one thing. However, there was no member that didn’t know how close to the king Brago Shields was. As such, they had little choice in obeying his order.

“Hey… hey Hazeel?” Bella grabbed Hazeel’s attention with a confused look on the demoness’ face. “He said Conrad was also a former First Coat of Arms… was he lying?” A deafening silence overcame the soldiers, as several cocked their heads in wonder as well.

Hazeel sighed and patted Bella on the head. “You always ask the complicated questions, don’t you?” Noticing her larger audience, Hazeel turned and addressed the crowd of soldiers.

“Conrad was the first ever Coat of Arms member, as Jane had created the organization with him in mind. However, when we decided to rank ourselves by power, Conrad came in second only to me. Thus, I became the First Coat, the strongest and final hope of the kingdom. Conrad was the First Coat in the sense that he was the original. Do you all understand?”

The soldiers all nodded in consent, causing Brago to go nuclear. “Are you idiots done!? Seize them you incompetent excuse for soldiers!” The soldiers looked visibly upset at the insults hurled their way, but reluctantly moved closer to us, weapons at the ready.

“Stand down!” A shout came from behind the soldiers back line, causing hundreds of heads to turn in unison at the dissenter.

“Who dares-!?” Brago started his sentence, only to pale as he noticed who stood in the middle of the soldiers, who had parted like the sea at this man’s arrival.

“C-commander Morrow!?”

---

I looked in awe at Brago, who had seemed as if he was undergoing several nervous breakdowns within the span of a handful of seconds. Finally, his face became tranquil as he must have made up his mind about something. “That has to be an illusion! Break through it by enhancing your weapons.”

Conrad shook his head and I sighed. It would appear that Brago didn’t think my black holes could be used for long distance transport, as I hadn’t come directly to the capital, and instead opted to ride a horse all the way to Songrande. I looked at the wretch in disgust before shaking my head. We could have been allies, but he was afraid of taking responsibility for his actions.

Conrad had summoned his electrum armor, as had started to inch closer to Brago when a person dressed in fancy azure robes came from behind conrad and shouted at the top of his lungs, “The king is dead! I repeat, King Pola has been found dead in his bedchamber!”

Almost everyone in the vicinity froze in place, save for Bella who had a mild look of boredom on her face, and myself, who tapped my foot impatiently. Finally, I couldn’t take the silence anymore and shouted, “Don’t just stand there, go to the goddamned castle already!”

As if by the push of a button, the soldiers, Conrad included, marched directly to the Castle. Leaving only myself, Hazeel, Bella, Regin, and Brago. Brago, raised his sword at me, but I ignored him and started walking towards the castle as well. “Put down your weapon you stupid, self-absorbed bastard.”