Decision
"Alfonso, are you sure about this?" asked Artemis.
"….To be honest, I am not," said Alfonso from behind.
Alfonso and Artemis were sitting on a horse together, the reason being, well, it was really simple.
"I don't know to ride a horse," thought Alfonso while looking at Artemis. He felt slightly awkward right now, not because he, as a monarch and a warrior, had to be with someone on a horse, but rather that...
"Because I don't have anywhere to hold on," thought Alfonso.
Of course, at first, he tried to hold on Artemis's waist, however….
"...."
Every time he did it, Artemis would become silent all of the sudden and her wings would flutter like crazy. Alfonso couldn't help it, but if someone looked at Artemis, one could notice that her cheeks were slightly red. However, the main factor of Alfonso's awkwardness was something else, or to be precise, someone else.
"Look at you little Al~. Dominating the wild horse~ . Woo~ woo~ . Come on, what are you waiting for~? Hug her~ hug her~. Artemis, why aren't you saying anything~? Your shining prince is trying to grab your waist…. Oh? Oh!? That is it! That's the expression! Hahahaha!" said a jovial voice beside the two of them.
Of course, the owner of this (annoying) voice was no one other than Demeter, who had a smirk on the face since the beginning of the journey.
Currently, the three of them, plus the ten of Okeanos's daughters, were travelling together alongside the army of Tulip at all speeds towards Tulip.
"This happened too soon," thought Alfonso while recalling the day before.
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"THAT FUCKING TITIO! IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO MY SUSANA , I WILL MAKE HIM BEG ME FOR DEATH!!" The Lord of Tulip, Felio, didn't have his natural calmness. Instead, he was so infuriated that his veins where showing.
After finding that his daughter had been kidnap, he immediately knew the culprit.
"Calm down, it is of no use even if we panic. First of all, why do they kidnap the princess? Why now and not before, and most importantly, what do they gain from doing all of this?" asked Alfonso.
Felio looked at Alfonso fiercely. However, after looking at his calm face, his emotions calmed a little. He took a deep breath and sat down.
"They must know that I came here, to Wasteland Valley, to fight against the horde, so they want to invade Tulip right now. The most reasonable reason is that they wanted to know information about our forces and have a trap card against me. That's why they kidnapped Susana," said Felio while looking at Alfonso.
"...." Alfonso stayed quiet. He didn't answer.
"Alfonso, this isn't what we agreed, however, now that we are allies, I express a formal request to Wasteland Valley: Come with me and help me get back my daughter. If you do this, I will be eternally grateful," said Felio while bowing.
"Your Majesty!" Leonardo shouted. However, after seeing the look on Felio's face, he looked at Alfonso and bowed as well. He didn't like Alfonso- in fact, he hated him- however, they were their only hoped to repel Arcadia and bring back the princess.
Alfonso looked at both of them and made a small sigh. "In reality, I shouldn't accept. You know this after seeing the state of my army. We can't defend ourselves. Moreover, in a front war, we couldn't last five minutes against your army. To win, we needed several factors, but the most important one was, that we fought in our terrain. Wasteland Valley is a natural fortress that brings out the best of our capabilities," said Alfonso while looking at Felio.
Felio made a complicated face. He knew that Alfonso would say something like this. Truthfully, if he was in Alfonso's shoes, he would have done exactly the same. It was a lose-lose situation for him. However, he still needed to ask- after all, right now, he had almost 70% chance of losing against the army of Arcadia- and that is including him and Leonardo in the equation.
"However…." said Alfonso.
Felio's eyes lit up.
"However, I can go with some of my best archers there. Of course, I will leave the Spartans in Wasteland Valley, after all, they will be no factor in the war and I can't afford to lose them, not now…. So, I will go with Artemis, Demeter, and the girls, to provide help. This is the best I can do."
Felio's eyes were complicated. Although he appreciated Alfonso for the gesture, he wasn't sending his principal army. On one hand, while he was being strict, the other was sending a warrior, a crippled man, an old woman and 10 little kids to a war. Felio didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Well, at least it is something. That Artemis dude may be on par with me and Alfonso with his invincibility and can fight someone at the level of Leonardo. The little girls seem to be hunters so let's just put them in the back. However…why is he sending an old woman?" thought Felio.
"I appreciate the help, thank you. I, Felio Gremo, owe you a big one this time."
"Oh~ that's good to know," said Alfonso while making a happy smile.
This smile sent chills to Felio's back.
"What…what is it?"
"Hehe, nothing. However, I will let you know something," said Alfonso while the smile on his face grew wider and wider.
"What…?"
Alfonso put his hand on Felio's shoulder. "Nobody. Has Ever. Escaped. From owing me. Something." Alfonso made a smile never before seen.
Artemis, who was behind Alfonso observing all of this, broke out into cold sweat. She has never seen Alfonso like this.
"Is…is he a gangster or something" thought Artemis.
She wasn't the only though. Everyone in the hall was surprised by Alfonso's "friendly" remainder.
However, the most affected one was Felio, who, for the first time, felt intimidated by Alfonso.
"Did…did I just made a huge mistake?"
Felio couldn't help but think that he maybe has…and he screwed it up really badly this time.
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[Back to the present]
"Demeter," called Alfonso while looking at the goddess.
"Mmm. What is it~?" asked Demeter.
Alfonso suddenly stood up on the horse and made a small jump.
Demeter and Artemis were stunned, but before they could react, Alfonso landed perfectly on the back of Demeter's horse.
"Wha…wha-aaaaaa!" Demeter who was looking behind almost lost control of the horse.
"Hey! Alfonso what is the meaning of this?" demanded Artemis who didn't know why Alfonso did that.
"Artemis."
"Yes?"
"Your wings hurt," confessed Alfonso while looking at Artemis wings.
"Wha-!" Artemis was speechless.
"Even if it's like that, you shouldn't just jump on someone else horse!" said Demeter.
Alfonso looked at Demeter and suddenly hugged her from the waist.
"Yes, that's much better," said Alfonso.
Demeter, who was so abruptly hugged, was redder than a tomato.
"What- what do you think you are doing!?" stuttered Demeter and Artemis at the same time.
"If I don't do this I will fall."
Demeter and Artemis wanted to rebuke but didn't know what to say. By the way, Demeter was quiet all the way after that. However, her face remained as red as a tomato until they arrived at Tulip.