Oscar showed himself to the council of nobles in the presence of the king once more.
This time, lined up next to the king were three males. The one on the left was a prettyboy- long blonde hair and a calm and collected attitude. He radiated an aura of sophistication. He wore a decorated outfit which made him look only second to the king in style.
The second was a large, buff figure- and he was wearing armor from head to toe aside from the helmet which he had taken off to reveal his short brown hair and determined eyes.
The third had short blonde hair and wore elegant robes, indicating that he was likely a young scholar.
"Indeterminant. We have been awaiting your arrival. As instructed, I have gathered my sons here today so that you may find which one of them is the hero of this country. Forgive me for asking, but let me confirm once more before we begin. Are you absolutely certain that one of my sons is the hero of this country?"
The king seemed to be sweating slightly when he asked that question, and his voice was filled with tension and nervousness. Was he worried about his sons?
"I am certain that the hero carries your blood in them. I was informed this by- by that which governs the very laws of this world."
"I... I see. Then, please do as you need to in order to find who the hero from our country is."
Oscar strolled down the aisle and took a good long look at the first son.
"This is my first son, Reginald Ruthobold. He is a leader- raised from birth to be the heir to the throne. If there is anyone worthy of being one to lead humanity to glory as a hero, it would be him. He is diligent in his studies, and skilled in his swordsmanship. He has mastered music and the arts, as well as politics, literature, history, and mathematics. He is my pride and joy, and if any of my sons were to be the great hero, it would without a doubt be him."
"Reginald Ruthobold, eh?", Oscar stated while seeming to ponder something.
[\Promote Reginald Ruthobold to Hero]
[Error. This person is not the hero. Hint: The hero is one who carries the blood of King Ruthobold XVI]
"I am afraid that he is not the hero, my king." Oscar said with a bow. Reginald looked somewhat disappointed and yet relieved at the same time. The king continued to sweat nervously as Oscar said this.
"Is... is that so... well then, I suppose you should move onto the next one. The one standing next to Reginald is Sylvester Ruthobold, He is a warrior squad leader in the military, despite his young age, and he has already been on multiple campaigns! Aside from the highest ranked Generals, he is one of the strongest warriors in the country! Not only this, but he has much experience in leading troops into battle. It is more than likely that he will be the one who is selected as the hero!"
"Sylvester Ruthobold..."
[\Promote Sylvester Ruthobold to Hero]
[Error. Sylvester Ruthobold is not the Hero.]
"Forgive me once more, your highness. This person too does not appear to be the hero."
Oscar's motions were becoming more and more elaborate.
"Is... haha... is that so? That's... strange..."
The king was very visibly nervous at this point and was darting his eyes back and forth to the nobles.
Oscar- as someone who knew how to easily manipulate people- could tell that something was up.
This king was not simply nervous because he was concerned for his sons. He was hiding something, and running the risk of being exposed. Oscar knew this all too well as someone who had much experience with hiding things and preventing them from being exposed.
"Well then... my next son... gulp... is Arctus Ruthobold. He is a scholar at the college in the capital, researching magical spells and equipment. He has made a number of breakthroughs in his field, and is even considered to be a genius! He has already written a thesis, and is currently working towards becoming a professor at the college. If he were to become the hero, I am certain he would lead our country down a path of knowledge and discovery!"
"Arctus Ruthobold... Lets see here..."
[\Promote Arctus Ruthobold to Hero]
[Error. Arctus Ruthobold is not the hero. Hint: The hero carries the blood of the king Ruthobold XVI]
"I am terribly sorry, your highness- but it appears that this one as well is not the chosen one. Could it be that you have any daughters?"
The king- who was sweating profusely at this point- lit up with hope as Oscar made this suggestion.
"AH! Forgive me for not considering this possibility, Indeterminant! You! Go fetch my daughter immediately so that we may determine if she is the hero."
The guard saluted to the king before running off.
"I beg your forgiveness, Indeterminant. Why don't you take your spot among the nobles where Lancelot Harxeau used to sit. We shall for the moment resume the session to speak of other matters."
"I understand, your highness."
And with another genuflect, Oscar returned to the stand.
What then followed was a furious debate among the nobles about the current state of the country, and the policies that should or should not be adapted. The king and his sons mostly kept quiet mediating the discussion, only speaking up when things got a little too rowdy.
"We should cut the amount of labor assigned to the farmland in order to increase our luxury good production!"
"The peasants will starve if we cut the food production any further! You cannot make that decision on your own!"
"Who cares about the peasants!? They are simply living off our generosity, no?!"
"What if you induce revolts with those words!?!"
Some nobles seemed to be very far on one side of the spectrum, while others were on the opposite end. The debate raged on and Oscar sat patiently- not taking part in it. After all, he could care less about the petty squabbles between the peasantry and noble houses. He had much more interesting things to look into. Like which woman he was going to meet up with later tonight.
Soon enough, the daughter of the king was brought in. She had long braided black hard and wore a slim yet fashionable blue dress. She walked slowly down the aisle, and upon her arrival the squabbling nobles were silenced.
She slowly walked down the aisle, and not a single breath was taken during this walk.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Her beauty was enough to captivate the entire court, and she bowed to the king.
"You have summoned me, father?"
The king smiled at her with kindness, before motioning to Oscar to come forward.
'Ah... maybe that one... that might prove to be a challenge... though, if they are hard to get it becomes all the more rewarding once you've obtained it...'
Oscar came forward and stood by the princess.
"This is my beloved daughter, Reagan Ruthobold. She works by the side of my wife the queen performing social work for the bettering of the country. She is educated in both politics and diplomacy, and is well mannered. If she were to become the hero, then I could not be more proud of her as a father."
Reagan bowed her head at her fathers introduction of her towards Oscar.
'Whew... this is one fine woman. It would be nice if she were the hero, because that would make things a whole lot easier... but...'
Oscars thoughts were interrupted by doubt.
Something was off.
The king was hiding something. He could tell that it was not the case that he was worried for his daughters sake. So why was he so nervous when the heroes were being selected?
[\Promote Reagan Ruthobold to Hero]
[Error. Reagan Ruthobold is not the Hero]
"Forgive me, your majesty. It appears that this one too is not the hero. Are there any more children of yours that could be the hero?"
The king had lost color in his face at this point, and considered speaking however shut his mouth before thinking.
"Indeterminant. I will ask once more. Are you absolutely certain that one of my blood is the hero?"
"Without a doubt. The child of your majesty, King Ruthobold XVI is the hero."
-----
A commotion of whispers burst out among the nobles.
"Could the indeterminant have been wrong?"
"Those are all of the relatives of the king, right?"
"What could this mean?"
"Perhaps he is not the true indeterminant after all?"
"How could you say that after witnessing his power!? Do you have a deathwish!? Of course, he is a kind person. He would never use his power to harm others... but still! How could you doubt him after seeing the last spectacle?!"
"Yes that's right. I believe that the indeterminant is telling the truth."
"Then that would mean..."
"The king is lying?!"
"There are no more children of the royal family! Could it be..."
"An illegitimate child!?"
"How filthy!"
"Disgusting!"
"If that is the case..."
"Ho ho ho... this is getting juicy... I need to look into this."
The king noticed the whispering around him and slammed his royal staff to the ground.
"SILENCE!"
The whispers were quieted at this.
"Indeterminant. I have no more children. Please leave for today. For all we know, the hero may not have even been born yet..."
"Could that really be it?"
"Would the indeterminant arrive 20 years before the hero is able to properly fight!?"
"It could be the case..."
At that, Oscar was relieved from his duty and went to take his place once more in the stands.
The daughter filed out gracefully and as the door shut the king looked to the crowd, sweat once more beading from his face.
"Now then... where were we... something about the consideration of the reduction of food production...", the king prompted.
As such, the debate was resumed, and the matter was temporarily forgotten.
However, Oscar did not forget.
Oscar realized now that without a doubt, his intuition had been right.
The king had been hiding something.
And that something was an illegitimate child.
"It seems that I will have to do some work on my own... this king is useless if he cannot even control the rumors about him and keep the dirt on the downlow."
----
Authors note:
Many of you may not recognize anything out of the ordinary, but one of the things I really love about this chapter is that every single character introduced (Aka all the children of the king, Reginald, Sylvester, Arctus, and Reagan), are actually the names of some of my characters from my previous series, mercenary. Basically, they are references. It's really cool to be able to reference your own work.