The King was flustered for a moment but quickly regained his composure. As a King he must always maintain an appearance of power and majesty in front of his subjects. He then maintained an expressionless face while talking to the Prime Minister

“I see. It is indeed a considerable achievement. Even in Lancia an attack from three Manticores would prove to be quite a problem.” The King spoke in a dignified manner

“But still, didn’t Larien have a newly built adventurer’s guild there? The Adventurers probably helped them defeat the three beasts” The King said as if trying to reassure the Knights and the Servants present in the dining hall

“Well your Majesty, the news about them defeating the Manticores is not the shocking part; it’s how they dealt with it” The Prime Minister spoke nervously

“Oh do tell” The King now showing a bit of curiosity.

“The Adventurers didn’t help them, in fact the fight didn’t even last long. They had a metal bird that shot metal spears and bursts of fire that completely annihilated the Beasts.”

The Knights and servants began murmuring amongst themselves. The King however maintained his emotionless expression and did his best to hide his growing anxiety.

“But that’s not the end of it. The Metal bird also had a strange weapon that shot some sort of invisible projectile”

By this time the entire room went silent.

“According to the reports the metal bird also another strange frightening weapon, an Invisible projectile that tore a hole through the length of one of the Manticores. The witnesses say that the last Manticore tried to flee yet the metal Bird trailed it for a short while and then the Manticore just fell down from the sky.” The Prime Minister continued

“And when the people went to loot the Manticore carcass for parts they discovered the massive hole I mentioned earlier”

The King at this point was starting to lose his composure as beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. Luckily for him it is still summer time and the fact that he was wearing thick kingly clothes hid the fact that it was cold sweat. If these reports were true then Aleria’s esteemed Sky Knights would be nothing but fodder to this metal bird. He had a faint hope that this was just an exaggeration brought about by unreliable word of mouth.

“Are you sure these reports are factual and just some gibberish spouted by frightened peasants?” The King asked maintaining an air of dignity

“I am sure of the authenticity of the reports since it came from both the Adventurer’s guild and the Merchant network. Both reports said the same thing and there was no conflicting information.” The Prime Minister replied.

The King was in a state of panic and his façade of strength is in danger of crumbling any moment. His mind was now drowning in a sea of unorganized thoughts that ranged from the destruction of his Kingdom to figuring out a way to try and steer the incoming negotiations to his favour. He was only taken out of his trance when the Prime Minister spoke again

“Your Majesty what should we do?”

But the King just stared at him silently

“Should we gather the high nobles and ask for their opinions?”

At first the King wanted to agree, but then he realized that it would be a bad idea.

The only reason he was able to keep the Nobility in line was because of his image of invulnerability. To the Nobles he had to appear as a very powerful and wise man ever more so than the citizens. He knew that if he met with the Nobles a moment of weakness was bound to appear and even if it’s just a single moment, it will be enough to give these people ideas. He feared, no, he knew that anyone of the nobles would gladly turn their back on him on the prospect of gaining more power. And the Outsiders are exactly that.

“No need, I can deal with this myself” The King said defiantly. But he knew that the Prime Minister could see through his façade, and in his eyes he could see concern. At times like these he was grateful to have loyal friend like him.

“I-I see” Said the Prime Minister

“Well, I will be taking my leave then, your Majesty.” The Prime Minister said as he started to walk out of the dining hall but then stopped when he was at the door

“Oh and by the way my dear King, no, old friend. Please do take care of yourself more. We are both getting old after all” The Prime Minister said with a dry laugh

“Ha ha, you should be more concerned about yourself old friend, you have been putting on quite a bit of weight. Haven’t you noticed your face getting rounder?” The King replied in a playful tone.

“And here you go again nit-picking on my appearance. I guess some things just don’t change, you’ve been like this since we were boys” the prime minster then laughed as he left the dining hall

For a moment the tension dissipated thanks the Prime minister’s remarks. The brief exchange brought the King back to a time when he had fewer responsibilities and was carefree, a time he deeply missed. Now that he was king everyone’s eyes were on him and a mistake could mean the end of his throne or his Kingdom. He had to shoulder this burden and carry on but there are times where he just wished he could disappear.

The King then went to the gardens to relax. Whenever he felt lost or tired he would always find himself in this beautiful garden inside the castle. This place was very special to him after all, for it was the garden his late wife, the queen, tended to herself. Every time he went here, he would always feel the presence of his wife through the garden, and in that moment he could feel the burden of the throne lessen a little bit.

“My dear Maria, please watch over me from above” said the King as if talking to the garden itself.