The royal family of Dunlap, members of the Alta council, and their attendants rode upon the Sheila’s Heart from Dunlap, directly to the castle of Meerka. Multiple nobles from each kingdom arrived at the castle for the banquet. The royal family of Merluka came with Duke Hephaestus, who teleported them to the castle gates. Leros was left with Laura and Millie back at Lady Vannil’s estate as he would have gotten fussy being at such a formal party, but Phaestus, Ruby, Dite, Athena, and White were heading to the banquet hall.

Ruby was wearing a simple sapphire blue dress with few embellishments or ribbons, but it shimmered like a gemstone. The skirt completely covered her legs while she was secretly wearing her combat leggings along with some shorts.

Dite was in a wine red dress adorned with precious gems and mithril thread designs in critical places for defense.

Athena was dressed much the same, but her’s was a stone gray with the mithril thread defenses and silver accents.

Dite and Athena were wearing their masks, one hair up in a ponytail and the other in a bun.

White was in a fancy white dress with the mithril defense thread, and she curled her hair.

The Queen of Dunlap was taught the [Resize] spell, so she attended the banquet in her non-giant form.

Near the entrance to the hall, Phaestus was stopped by a castle attendant.

“Pardon me, sir, that case there, what is it?” A servant asked.

“This is a gift for the crown prince. In celebration of his marriage to my niece, Princess Delenia.”

“Oh! I see. Please, allow me to take that for you. Gift giving is not until the midway point of the banquet, and we would not want you to have to carry it around.”

“Ah, thank you. Also, please keep it in a secure location.”

“We will milord. Hrk! This case is quite heavy, sir!” Phaestus handed the man the case.

“The case is to protect the gift within. That is why it is heavy-duty.”

Walking away, Phaestus glanced back and observed the man stopping others who were carrying gifts to store them away.

“Now entering! The Duke of Lenmos, Lord Hephaestus! His wives! Lady Aphrodite! Lady Athena! His daughter! Lady Ruby! And Sibling! Lady White!” The party went quiet. All their attention turned to the group entering.

The room was abuzz with comments into their many titles and stories of him and his family as they entered.

Yup. I don’t see that one here. Phaestus thought, not seeing the second prince.

“Lord Hephaestus!” The young king of Merluka and Lady Merluka approached him.

“Hello, your majesty. Having fun?”

“I am! Um, I wanted to ask you something.” He motioned for Phaestus to lean in and whispered to him.

“Do you know if Lady Lindi has anyone she is interested in?”

OH! HOW ADORABLE!

“I have not heard of anything. Athena?”

“I have not heard anything either.”

“There you have it, your majesty. I wish you the best of luck.”

You’ll need it with the men of her family… He thought as the young king went to try to speak to the princess.

“Hello, brother.” Queen Delvirra approached, a regretful look on her face.

“Sister.” He curtly replied.

The Queen got a bit sad, and Athena laughed.

“You deserve it, sister. You took your prank too far.”

“Yes, I did. I apologize, brother. I promise not to do anything like that again.” She lightly bowed to him.

I guess I should forgive her… Not because the king looks like he’s going to burst a blood vessel.

“Very well sister, I accept your apology and revoke your ban.”

“Thank you, brother!” She started forward to give him a boisterous hug but stopped and chose to do a light one instead.

They smiled at one another, and the king finally began to calm down.

“Lord Hephaestus! It is good to see you again! It has been so long!” An old friend approached them, Mr. Barlett.

“True, it has been a while, Mr. Barlett. It is good to see you.”

“Yes! The others could not make it, but I came so that I could convey our thanks for the steam train design you shared with us!” He shook Phaestus’ hand vigorously.

“I never thought that the prosperity of Alta could be increased so greatly!” He had tears in his eyes.

The banquet continued with many royals and influential people meeting with Phaestus. Some were hoping to get closer to the powerful man before them, while others wanted to thank him for all his work. Some groups consulted him on ideas to improve things in their domains or even bounce ideas off him. He spoke with many pleasantly but turned away any who would try to use him. Phaestus noticed a few people wearing vestments of the church. He made sure to keep track of them.

A couple of hours into the banquet, a herald called their attention to the front of the hall.

“Attention, everyone! The king will speak!” Everyone turned their attention forward.

“Thank you, everyone, for coming on this day! In not long, my son, the crown prince of Meerka, will be wed to the lovely first princess of Dunlap. We come together for this joyous occasion! I also understand that many of you brought gifts in celebration. We will now begin bringing out the gifts! As your name is called, please come forward to present it!” The king finished his address, and the gifts began rolling out.

They first began with gifts from fellow royals and rulers. Then they got to the next rank and the one many desired to see.

“Duke Hephaestus of Dunlap!” Phaestus stepped forward along with his party.

The case was rolled out by a servant who looked unwell.

“Crown prince, I-.” Phaestus grabbed the arm of the servant before he could walk away.

“This case was tampered with. I was told it would be put someplace safe.”

“I-I know nothing!” The servant tried to escape, but Dite, Athena, and Ruby stepped around him.

Phaestus used a trap detection spell on the case and found nothing. Then did a curse detection, finding nothing.

“Stop causing trouble, heretic!” One of the priests stepped forward.

Phaestus ignored him and opened the case, showing that the blade he placed within was replaced with a cheap iron sword.

“Hah! Here you were supposed to be a master craftsmen, and yet you present the crown prince a plain iron sword?” The priest continued.

“Your majesty, it seems someone had taken the blade from the case and replaced it with this. I apologize for the inconvenience. Please accept this royal gold coin as my deposit until I can retrieve it. I will take this servant if that is okay?”

“There is no need to check! You are a damn-.”

“That is enough out of you. Any further protest, and I will obliterate you.” A crimson-haired man with a finely maintained beard stepped forward, clad in all black. A wicked smile on his face, his presence drained the blood from the looks of many in the room.

“It’s Lord Tulsen!”

The priest shrunk away from the man who had a dangerous look in the eyes of his smiling face.

“Lord Hephaestus, please proceed with your investigation. You have until the end of the party to find the missing blade.” Phaestus bowed to the King of Meerka in thanks. Moving the cart with the case off to the side, they took the servant into a side room.

“Now then. What happened?” Phaestus asked.

“I’m sorry, milord. I cannot say.” The man turned his face away.

“Where is your family?” Dite asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“You cannot help me.”

“This is Duke Hephaestus, the man who has done things thought impossible many times over. I am sure you heard the rumors. You saw how the many people and nobles responded to him.” Athena added.

“I, I’m sorry. They have my daughter. She is all I have left after her mother died.”

“What is her name? What does she look like?” Phaestus asked.

“She’s... Hina, her name is Hina. She is ten years old, a cat beast-kin like her mother with calico fur.” The servant responded, slipping into depression.

“Find the one or object I seek [Scry].”

After a moment of using the spell, he found her. The girl was hidden in the basement of a building inside the noble district.

“Found her. Does she have emerald green eyes?”

“What? Yes! Please! Please save her!”

“This will be my first time trying this, but here goes. Bring forth the one I desire [Temporal Summon].” A magic circle appeared before them.

“Come on, accept.” He said.

Before long, a little cat beast-kin girl stood before them, confused.

“Hina!” The servant ducked down and hugged the little girl, who hugged him back, crying.

“Thank you, thank my lord. Right, the one who stole the blade was-.”

“The second prince?”

“Um, yes.” The servant blinked in surprise.

A wicked smile came across Phaestus’ face.

“Papa, you’re making a villain face again.”

“But I like that face. It gets me excited.”

“Me too.”

The three girls made their comments.

“You two are weird. So what’s the plan, Phaestus?” White asked.

“Simple. Let it play out.”

They stepped back out into the hall after teleporting the servant and his daughter to Lenmos.

“Welcome back. You are just in time for the show.” Lord Tulsen welcomed them from his seat by the room they came from.

“Oh, it has begun.”

The second prince marched upfront while a baron was presenting their gift.

“Prince Fenton, what is the meaning of this?” The king asked.

“I do not believe my brother is worthy of the throne and demand a duel for the position of the crown prince!”

There were many shocked reactions from the crowd.

“Seriously, brother? Father?”

“I am sorry, Prince Alan, this is an ancient right for royals.” The king sadly replied.

“Very well, brother. I accept.”

The area in front was cleared of people and tables for their duel. The Dunlap royal family was informed ahead of time by Phaestus, so their group was excitedly awaiting to see the surprise.

“You are going to like this, Lord Tulsen. I am quite proud of this idea of mine.”

“Truly? Ah, I heard about what you did in Merluka a year ago, very clever.”

Prince Alan pulled out an adorned magic steel long sword while his brother smugly pulled out a golden blade that glowed with power.

“What a magnificent blade!” One of the nobles shouted.

“Is that not the sword you forged?” “It is.” Phaestus replied to Lord Tulsen.

The two princes dashed forward, and the magic steel blade in Prince Alan’s hand shattered.

“First round to Prince Fenton!” The priest cried out.

Phaestus could see from Lord Tulsen’s expression that he was contemplating killing the priest out of annoyance.

Before Prince Alan could get a new blade, Princess Delenia asked him to wait. Approaching the case that held the iron sword, she removed it and tossed it aside like trash. A compartment opened up after pressing a couple of points inside the case, revealing a beautiful mithril longsword.

“Clever, very clever.” Lord Tulsen commented with a chuckle.

Princess Delenia presented the stunned Prince Alan the blade.

“Here you go, Alan. With all my love.” Her comment made him blush, the King of Dunlap turned red, and many noblewomen squealed.

“W-What? What is that? That wasn’t in the box.”

“And how would you know what was in the box, Prince Fenton?” Phaestus called out, drawing many eyes to the paling prince.

“Now then, brother, shall we?” Prince Alan swept his blade against his brother’s. At first, it seemed he missed, but the moment the second prince tried to move the blade, it split in two where it was cut.

“N-no. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

“Pick your blade, brother.” Prince Alan commanded.

Prince Fenton was at a loss of what to do.

“Here, your majesty! This is a holy blade wielded by the first hero of the God of Light!” The priest from earlier pulled a blade from his spatial storage and handed it to Prince Fenton.

Hope returned to the second prince’s face as he drew the sword.

“What a piece of junk.” “Agreed.” Lord Tulsen and Phaestus commented loud enough for the priest to hear, who looked at them scornfully.

The two princes continued their duel, but the holy blade cracked and broke on the sixth after five exchanges.

“That is my second win, brother. I expect you to honor the agreement. You will permanently renounce your claim on the throne.”

“A cursed blade! That...” The many nobles looked disdainfully at the priest.

“Someone remove that fool and his constituents from the castle.” The king ordered, not noticing that Lord Tulsen was preparing to erase the man, but the black-clad master of magic decided to let the king’s men handle him.

A few knights dragged the priest from the hall, and the king turned to the second prince, who fell to his knees.

“Prince Fenton. You attempted to steal a blade that was meant for the crown prince and attempted a coup. Such disgusting acts cannot be tolerated. First, I now revoke the right of challenge! No matter how much of a tradition it may be, it will lead to actions like this. Is there anyone who would object?”

Not a single voice sounded in protest.

“Then it is done. Second, the second prince, Prince Fenton, has renounced his right to the throne for himself, his children, and their descendants per the results of the right of challenge. Third, for his crimes of harassing and threatening a foreign noble, he will be stripped of his rank.”

“F-father?!” The dumbfounded prince uttered in surprise.

“Fourth! Stealing the property of another person! Albert, please appraise the item that was stolen.”

The butler picked up the hilt of the broken golden blade. After appraising it, he broke out into a cold sweat.

“Um, your majesty, this blade would be worth… one hundred and twenty.” The butler barely got out.

“Gold coins?! Impossible! That sword broke so easily!” Fenton cried.

“Royal…” The butler finished.

“What?” Blood drained from the ex-prince’s face.

“One hundred and twenty royal gold coins!” Albert called out.

“THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE! YOU ARE SETTING ME UP, FATHER!” Fenton accused.

“Allow me, Prince Fenton.” One of his supporters approached and used appraisal on the blade remains and paled immediately.

“Such a blade. Destroyed…” The noble fell to his knees.

“What is it worth!?”

The noble looked to Fenton. “You fool. That blade had a potent healing magic to it. One of a kind... That blade could bring people from the brink of death, regrow limbs, and it was an alloy of gold, mithril, and a small amount of orichalcum. Its coin value would be around one hundred and twenty royal, but with those abilities, it was priceless.”

The whole room went into an uproar. Even Lord Tulsen was surprised.

“You let such an item be destroyed like that?”

“No one threatens my family.” Phaestus replied.

Lord Tulsen looked at him, shocked, “Heh. Haha, Hahaha. HAHAHA!” Lord Tulsen broke out into laughter, silencing the room and drawing their attention.

“All this because some fool threatened your family and home. You truly are merciless, Lord Hephaestus.” He said it loud enough for others to hear.

Lord Tulsen is a mystery, but that should keep troublesome people from approaching us from now on.

“It has been confirmed, for the stolen object. Lord Hephaestus shall be compensated with a total of one hundred and twenty royal gold coins. If he does not have the coin, his assets will be liquidated, and if he still does not, he will be turned into a debt slave who will labor to pay the said debt back!” With a heavy heart, the king commanded, knowing full well he would not have even a tenth of that amount.

“Hold your majesty before you finalize. I would like to request that Fenton be put to work aboard the Sheila’s Heart. The pay is good, and the work is constant. I trust that he will do well under the watch of Captain Milana Reed. I believe that if he could be redeemed, the crew of Sheila’s Heart could do it.” Phaestus chose to offer the position for the sake of the Meerka King and Queen, who were kind people.

“Very well. I will agree with your request. Take him away.” Some knights came and took the stunned silent ex-prince away.

It took some time, but the banquet returned to a happy mood when Phaestus presented a mithril dirk to Prince Luke and a runic mithril dagger to the king. The various nobles swarmed the royals to see the weapons up close.

“Haah, that was a bit tiring.” Phaestus commented.

“Well done, Lord Hephaestus.” Lord Tulsen welcomed him to the table he was sitting at.

“I have to ask Lord Tulsen, are you from another world?” He asked, sitting down.

“Haha, maybe I am, maybe I am not. Just know that I am a traveler. I have a question of my own though, was it really worth it? Losing that tool and employing the one who threatened your family?” Lord Tulsen asked.

“The tool is fine. It may be a pain to make, but I got the materials back so I could remake it if necessary.”

“Truly?”

“As to taking in the ex-prince, I would rather have him under the watch of people I trust. Not to mention, every person on that ship hates the church and has many stories of their atrocities. I hope that they may be able to save the fool boy for the Meerka royal family’s sake.”

“Seems I may need to retract my earlier comment of you being merciless. Well done.”

The young king of Merluka approached, “U-um, Lord Tulsen?” His voice was shaky.

“Yes?” Lord Tulsen, though in his usual smug expression, he sounded kind.

“Um, please teach me magic!?” The young king bowed his head as he made his request.

“Hahaha, I am sorry young king, but the magic I use is far too advanced for anyone in the world to learn. But, you can have these.” Lord Tulsen summoned a stack of books.

“These books come in numbered volumes. Start at one. When you master the contents of that book, move onto volume two and repeat the process. Do not skip forward, or else you will stunt your progress. When you master all the volumes, you will more than likely be nearly as powerful as Lord Hephaestus here.”

The young king became highly excited and was joined by Princess Lindi in looking into the first volume as his butler stored the rest of them away.

“Would that make him that powerful?” Phaestus asked after the two young royals left.

“Not quite. Magic-wise, you are equivalent to eight master-level casters here. With those books, I would say he would be equivalent to four master-level casters. Skill-wise, he may become better than you, but because of your language ability, you have far more versatility.”

They continued their conversation into magic and technology, leaving anyone around them in awe as the two most powerful men in the room casually spoke with one another.

A woman with dark tanned skin and an extravagant headdress with six red gems like eyes approached, her dark hair dancing about as she approached. Her beauty drew nearly all the eyes to her, her deep purple dress lovingly hugging her curves.

“Husband, have you finished your conversation?” She asked Lord Tulsen.

“I have. My apologies Lord Hephaestus, but it seems I must be on my way. A happy wife leads to a happy life. Oh, here, a few of trinkets for your children.” He handed Phaestus four small medallions.

“Four?”

Lord Tulsen merely smiled in response to his question before joining his wife. Then with a snap of his fingers, the mysterious couple vanished. Confused, Phaestus looked over to Ruby but then looked over to Athena.

“Twins?”