"Do you know why we summoned you here?" asked an old man wearing a grey robe with purple designs.
"Does it have anything to do with the letter I just received from Tob?" asked Pectus Volo.
"Indeed. Now, you know what this letter means, do you not?" asked another old man.
"Of course, it's a challenge to the Alliance! What I do not understand is why we are talking about it!"
There was a weird silence, brought about by the fact that whatever was about to be said next was going to be very uncomfortable for both parties.
"We have come to a decision, and we know that you're not going to like this decision. Effective immediately, we are going to remove you as king of the Three Kingdoms Alliance. You will be replaced by Calluric Cromwell. From now on, you will be required to leave the palace, and hand over the signature ring!", spoke another old man.
Instead of the expected response, Pectus smiled and said, "Anything else?"
The old men looked at each other in amazement. One of them asked, "You know what this means, do you not?"
"Of course, it means I'm free to do what I really wanted. Remember my warning the last time you summoned me here?" as Pectus asked, he was smiling.
"Ha! What can you do?" asked one of the old men, standing up.
"You'll see, if you try to stop me from now onwards. As for Calluric, I'm sure you'll regret making him king. Well, I wish you all the best", as he said this, he was leaving, with a smile on his face.
After leaving the hall, Pectus Volo frowned, before sighing. He returned to the throne room, and the old man was still there.
"Will you be coming with me, or will you remain in the capital?" he asked the old man, as he took off the crown he was wearing.
"Your maj--"
"I'm no longer the king, so you can call me Pectus", he interrupted the old man.
"Master Pectus, I have always served you. I will always serve you, whether you're the king or not", replied the old man, with a bow.
"Good. Now, let us prepare. We're going to Tob", said Pectus.
"Does this mean Pride has won?"
Pectus chuckled, before replying, "No. It means he has fallen for the trap. Anyway, from now onwards, my main priority is looking for the foundation stones. How is the Shadow Guard's training?"
"Well … they have managed to learn some of the spells, but they are far from reaching the S-rank level."
"Is that so? It doesn't matter. What about the crypt?"
"I have managed to find some information about it. It--"
"No! Don't tell me about it right now. We have to leave the palace first."
"B-but M-master Pectus, Tob is--"
"Don't worry about it", Pectus interrupted the old man, with a smile. He continued, "There are seven foundation stones. I have two, the unknown entity who hired Red Crow has one, there's rumor of the Void stone in the crypt. This means that overall, there's four known stones. The person who once told me that there was a stone in Alvarlon lives in Tob."
"So, we're going after him?"
"Her… We're going after her! This is an opportunity for the Shadow Guard. Now that I'm no longer restricted by the crown, we can do whatever we want now."
"Are you sure about this, Master Pectus? And what of Vitalis?" asked the old man.
"Of course, I'm sure. Well, as for Vitalis, I trained him myself. He's as crafty as they come. I'm confident in him surviving against whatever Pride is cooking", replied Pectus.
Time.
It is a very weird concept, which humans have struggled to understand, from the beginning. Various geniuses in Reeve's world came up with all sorts of theories about it, but not one could say they understood it clearly. However, one thing was undisputable. Time always flows, regardless of people's intentions.
No human can stop the flow of time, and none can reverse it. Thus, despite people's interests, time always flows. One day can pass, or a hundred, and there is nothing people can do to stop that from happening.
Others would say time moved in the blink of an eye, but to Reeve and friends, time appeared to be moving very slow. However, the days did go by, and the time they were waiting for finally arrived. It was finally the time for Artemine to open its doors to new students.
During these days, the only interesting thing that had happened in the capital was the change in management, as Reeve would put it. There was a new king, whose name escaped Reeve's mind every time he was asked about it. His crowning was done with pompous fanfare, and it was a day to remember for most people, except Reeve who didn't really care.
He spent his time training Soren and Riza martial arts. They were staying at Alvis's apartment, and the two seemed to enjoy the group's company. Reeve and Soren would help around with whatever Alvis required, while Eskaria helped Miranda in preparing food. Eskaria seemed to be really good at cooking, even Miranda praised her.
Reeve and Soren once went looking for the acquaintance of Soren's father, who lived in the capital. However, when they got to the mansion, they were told that the master of the house was not around. After digging around, metaphorically of course, they found out that he had disappeared after leaving Sky City. How did they come across this information? Apparently, they acquired this information from a kid named Merezeka, whom they had met some time before.
Now, the disappearance of the uncle was something Reeve added to his list of mysteries to be solved. On top of the list, was the foundation stones. He had visited the library again multiple times, and he couldn't find a single book explaining what they were. So, this meant he was looking for something he didn't know much about.
At the bottom of the list, was the issue of the gods. Since Alvis had warned him, he had taken this warning seriously. This is why he had avoided going to the temple of Malum to look for that girl, whose name had escaped his memory again.