Cretho’s capital, Nefra. In the great chambers of the Auriga Palace.

A young woman stood near a window at the back end of the room, peering out at the scenery in quiet rumination. With her arms crossed at her chest, she stroked at her long and dark navy-blue hair in a consistently slow motion. Suddenly, her head shifted to the side as a short knock came from the door behind her a mere second later. It was followed by another woman’s voice.

“Your Majesty, Lord Vostoun has arrived.”

“Finally. Send him in, please.”

The door crept open slowly as a scruffy, grey-haired man walked through. He was adorned in a dulled silver armor that held scars and scattered abrasion. The woman by the window squinted at his appearance as her eyes then turned toward the court lady who had guided the man in. Without a word, the court lady bowed and shut the door behind the man, leaving the two in privacy. The armored man, Vostoun, then knelt before the woman.

“Queen Leonora. I’ve come to deliver my report from the northern border.”

“A part of me was wondering why you decided to send a letter in advance and report to me directly this time around, but...”

Glancing over his appearance once more, her brows furrowed in worry and disappointment as she cut her words short. Arms still crossed at her chest, she slightly gripped at her sides now. Breathing in deeply, she continued.

“Has it truly...become so parlous that you’ve deemed emerging before me—in a desecrated treasure—defensible just for the sake of that evidence, Vostoun?”

“Unfortunately, it has become just that, Your Majesty. With the inclusion of the Disian troops, we now have become beleaguered by their exemplary use of guerilla tactics and nether mystics. What was once minor and invariant scuffles with the Islunans, has slowly begun to shift in a way where we’re starting to get pushed back toward Laeves Castle.”

He lifted his line of sight from the ground, meeting her gaze with a solemn expression.

“I believe they’ll be able to whittle down our control of the area and establish the grounds for a siege. With Ospus at their side now, they aren’t holding back anymore.”

“...And how dire would the consequences be for losing that castle if they were to successfully overtake it?”

“Laeves currently resides at the central northern area of the border, and remains one of our largest strongholds there. If the Islunans capture that territory, they will be able to provide a line of supplies with ease and uncontested against if—no, when—they decide to consider pushing through the Upper Region.”

“That’s...”

There was an unsettled tone, a crack in her voice, for but a short moment before she attempted to recompose herself.

“...But now that you’ve arrived here, who is currently in charge at the northern border...?”

“Duke and General, Asulon Caelios. I wouldn’t have separated from my position otherwise, Your Majesty.”

Leonora turned back toward the window, biting the nail of her thumb in deep contemplation once more. Vostoun remained silently kneeling, his own gaze returned to the ground as he patiently awaited her response. Several minutes later, she finally broke that silence.

“...We don’t have the flexibility to reposition our border’s forces toward further guarding that central area, correct?”

“We do not. That would allow for them to potentially encircle us from both sides instead. Currently our active forces are stretched across the borders evenly—outside of that central area. The Islunan army is focusing on pushing through the middle with the assistance from the Disian support, yet, they’re not neglecting the attacks on other crucial fronts either. They’re making sure to keep us occupied throughout.”

“What a predicament...”

Her hand was now over her mouth, her eyes closed, once more in deep thought. Then suddenly, she had remembered something as she turned toward Vostoun.

“What about that sickness you mentioned in your letter, what did you mean by that?”

“...A plague is spreading over onto our lands, Your Majesty. One that seems to have originated from over the border.”

“A plague?!”

“Our loose intelligence from their capital, Alnia, have yet to figure out where it’s originating from exactly, but they have an unproven theory based on gossip and observations. They’re saying it’s due to an Effigy’s ability. For now, we’ve quelled the progress from reaching beyond the front-lines, but we have no idea how long we’ll be able to continue doing so. It completely shuts down the motor controls of the human body—destroying one from the inside out. Slowly, but effectively.”

Leonora stood, in stunned disbelief as Vostoun’s eyes now met hers with solemnity once more. Her line of sight then drifted away from his, her focus now directed toward the ground in thought. She then muttered a question just loud enough for Vostoun to hear as she gripped at her sides.

“...It isn’t any of the three that I summoned, right...?”

“We aren’t able to completely confirm it yet, but I don’t believe that it is. Despite all three of them leaving Cretho, two were last seen boarding a ship to Espen several months ago.”

“And no signs of them either at the eastern port...?”

“None whatsoever, Your Majesty. But the one that defected to Isluna was also seen recently traveling out of Ruoul and heading south. Unfortunately, we lost surveillance of him shortly after.”

Her expression shifted to one in anger in reaction to his words.

“Not only more unknowns to be vigilant toward, but now that bastard is prowling around Cretho too?!”

“Your Majesty, more unknowns?”

“Yes. Before you arrived, I received separate reports from the western and eastern gates. From the west, there has been sightings of a female Disian inquiring around. Whereas, we’ve also had two individuals recently enter through the east. Roulant has stated that they’re both Effigies, but they haven’t done anything as of yet... A frail-looking man and young girl.”

In a bout of thought, Vostoun then responded.

“A female Disian, huh? If she’s this far into Cretho, there’s a high possibility that she could be the Ruler of Ospus’ Hound.”

“Indeed. I thought the same thing when I first heard the report. I had hoped that it would simply be a wrongful suspicion though...”

“As for the other two, they may have arrived due to the tournament we’ve decided to hold soon, couldn’t they, Your Majesty?”

“If only that would be the case...”

Walking over to a large desk at the center of the room, she sat down and rested her chin atop her connected hands. Her eyes glanced over the several reports that laid scattered in front of her.

“We decided on this tournament to keep everyone from worrying about the situation at the north, but now... Does it even serve a purpose anymore when we need the exact opposite?”

“Your Majesty, that’s actually one of the main reasons why I decided to return, just in time for the tournament.”

With a lift in her brow, she held a questioning look as a slight smile formed on Vostoun’s face.

“What do you mean by that...?”

“This tournament could be an efficient way to scout out and select a small, talented group to cross over the border in secret. Currently, we only have a few personnel over there from long before the situation deteriorated to this state. Most of all, this was the last message that was sent to us.”

Leonora nodded to Vostoun’s gaze, as he then stood to his feet and walked over to her desk. Placing a slip of paper on her desk, he created distance with a few steps back. She eyed the slip for several seconds before moving her hand over and unfolding it. Reading it to herself, her eyes widened.

“...Is what I’m reading here the truth, Vostoun...?”

“We’re unable to confirm it completely as of right now, but I believe this is our best chance at overturning the situation at the north, Your Majesty. for this, we would be in dire need of a small group to be able to secretly make it to Alnia—by themselves—and return back."

Her eyes continued to scan the slip as she smiled for the first time during their conversation.

“If my most trusted aide is saying this, I have no other choice, do I? Then we’ll proceed with the tournament. Asulon should be able to hold strong until then. And now that you’re back, Vostoun, take charge of the capital’s troops and increase the security at the points of interests you deem a high risk.”

Pausing for a moment, she lingered on an idea as she then continued.

“We don’t normally intermingle with the Old Palisade, but I’ll allow it this one time if you see it necessary to make use of their numbers.”

“Understood, Your Majesty!”

“We‘ll have to keep eyes on both that Disian and those two Effigies as well...”

With her eyes at a downcast, a particular document caught her eyes. Pulling it out, she began to quickly read over it. Without her eyes moving from the report, she prompted a question at Vostoun.

“That’s right. Have you been briefed on the Haethes’ territory situation yet?”

“I cannot say that I have. Their territory is near the Outer Region, isn’t it? Has something occurred down there?”

“Yes, two separate incidents were apparently documented. The first one refers to the frenzy of a Giant that almost destroyed the southern settlements near the Enheim Forest area.”

“A frenzied Giant?! It’s been decades since something like that has happened.”

As she placed the document back on the desk, she began tapping at it in a seemingly irritated manner.

“But the report seems to lack details on the why... It only states that the Giant was somehow pacified and then it returned back to its tribe.”

“Your Majesty, pacified...? If I were to be honest, that’s quite unbelievable.”

“I agree with you, and yet, that isn’t the only unbelievable bit of information we’ve recently received from down there. The second incident, according to one of Roulant’s men stationed in that area, sensed something in the mountains. He described it as a phenomenon he had never experienced before.”

The tapping of her finger came to a halt as she then slid the sheet toward Vostoun’s direction. In seeing this, he immediately proceeded forward and lifted the report. Looking over it, he shortly came to a realization.

“I can’t say for certain, but...”

“It has the work of an Effigy written all over it, doesn’t it?”

“It does, yet we haven’t received any intelligence regarding any summoned Effigies to the far south though, Your Majesty. Unless, whomever it is, they must have come from the Outer Region.”

In an affirmative nod to Vostoun, Leonora was satisfied with his way of thinking.

“That was my exact guess as well. It’s hard to have eyes that far south, and he doesn’t allow anyone nearby without an almost immediate retaliatory action either.”

“That means that the final one has arrived...”

Vostoun remained quietly looking toward Leonora now as she stood from her chair, proceeding toward the window once more. Her view was filled with overlooking the city of Nefra and its people that roamed the streets. As she closed her eyes, she spoke in a disquieting tone.

“...It‘s going to be a rather stressful week, isn’t it? We’ll need to figure out and plan for everything to come by the end of it. At least, I’m glad you came back just in time, Vostoun.”

“I, Vostoun Caelios, live and serve to protect the royal family, Your Majesty. It’s dire times like these where my sword finds its true value and purpose—at your side. And for the sake of Cretho and its people, we shall come out victorious!”

Leonora looked toward the kneeling Vostoun, smiling slightly as she returned her eyes to the gorgeous scenery she frequently loved to admire. A scenery that helped pull her into a state of serenity, from all the worries she continuously held. She took in a deep breath once more, nodding to herself as she spoke loudly.

“All right! Now, shall we get started on going over all of the preparations, Vostoun?”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”