…
"Say… what were you really doing here, Queaz?" Marco asked curiously.
The explorer's question entrenched in the mind of the mysterious Queaz. He reeled his eyes into him while facing sideways. He has no importance of telling whatsoever. But judging by the situation around him, he realized that if he didn't tell anything about his presence here, it will be troublesome.
With a heavy heart he discloses, "…To kill the prince."
Marco and Scias were stunned upon hearing him. He had the same intention of assassinating the Prince of Alidia like the true suspect. Marco wanted to say that an attempt to the prince's life will surely affect the morale of the people, but in the other side, Marco also wanted to know why, why would Queaz do it.
"Why kill the prince?" Marco asked carefully.
"Because his presence… is somewhat troublesome, and his actions potentially hamper our movements." Queaz replied while looking away.
"You know… I've never met the prince or knew his attitude. What made you think that he deserves to die?" Marco asked again.
"He is a massive thorn in 'our' plan. That's why he must be removed." Queaz stated.
"I agree. That prince might potentially be dangerous to us." Scias commented. "Marco, have you forgotten? He's the one putting the blame on Pio."
"Well, yeah, I know. But there has to be some reason behind it, right? Like overstressed or something…"
"Was too stressed out, huh?" Scias retorted. "A man in distress should n-not be capable of casting magic. Their mana circuit is disturbed by their emotions. Yet, how w-would an 'ancient magic' be successfully casted, Marco?" Scias explained his thoughts.
"Hold." Queaz spoke, stopping the two boys from debating. "Did you just say 'ancient magic'?" Queaz asked.
"Uh." Scias nodded short while looking at the masked man.
Queaz stared the floor of the bridge briefly. By adding the possibility that the prince was capable of ancient magic, it increases the necessity for him to be dead.
"Then, there's no reason for me to not kill him. Judging on what you folks might be doing here… You folks were falsely accused, too, correct?" Queaz asked. "Kinda like that…" Marco replied.
"Hoh, then why bother saving him?" Queaz questioned Marco's actions that makes little to no sense in protecting the prince.
"I want to see how he actually is, to be honest." Marco explained.
"You folks don't have to see him personally. He is a monster, and that's all you folks need to know." Queaz replied harshly.
The hatted man stared quietly at Marco for long. The quietness made the wind blow sounded clear and obvious to the ears.
"…To be honest… we're not here to protect the prince's life." Marco declared confidently. Scias eyes widened slightly. He poked Marco's back and whispered, "You're truly doing this, Marco?"
"Hm. Leave it to me, bro." Marco commented.
"What are these folks whispering about, how suspicious… well I suppose I'll hear what they had to say" thought Queaz while looking at the two. He then asks, "Hoh… then why are you folks even here, just to suffer?"
Marco fixes his sitting position. "Well, if you ask us a reason why we're here… it's…"
"You."
The situation drops into a numb silence. Queaz then retorts, "Me?"
"Yes."
The breeze air flows above their skins. "You folks are here because of me?" Queaz reassured.
"Aw, come on, man. Don't make us repeat it many times." Marco retorted back. "We're worried about you."
Queaz giggles shortly, he feels weird because in his lifetime, there is not a single human that is willingly to concern about him. "Heheh… heheheheh… you folks are really weird."
"W-What's so funny, dude? We're being honest of worrying your life here."
"U-Uh." Scias nodded slightly.
"Naw, naw… it's just that—eheheheheh… it's tickling that the likes of you will concern me. Is it really concern if one of you wanted to kill me?"
"Aily mistook my words, Queaz. It's my fault to let her go on her own." Marco explained with a guilt voice. "I fully realize it, man. That's why I think there's a big misunderstanding among us. Please, forgive her."
"…Hoh… misunderstanding, eh?" Queaz muttered. "If what you've just said is true, then I owe you an apology."
Queaz's cautiousness soon drops to zero. He no longer views Marco's party as a threat. Marco and Scias then explain what drives them to come into the palace.
Marco had signalized his party to change course beforehand but somehow Aily didn't really listen. Marco explained that the prince's life is not a matter for him or his party. He's here because he worried that Queaz might get killed because of false accusations. Marco knew Queaz wasn't the killer, so did Scias, and Nina. But it was quite the shock for Marco that Queaz is actually intending to kill the prince.
After several minutes of talking things out, Queaz finally understands. But Queaz still don't get why would Aily appear alone, when Marco had stated that she was with another person. Marco was told about it. Marco felt perplexed when hearing the truth. What actually happened within Aily and Pio, he wondered. He then remembered that Aily did show a nerve of dislike and hatred towards Pio.
"Envy, huh…?" Marco mumbled. "Well, we will talk to her about that later." Marco stated.
"H-Hey, Queaz…" Scias called out calmly. "Whut…?" Queaz responded funnily.
"You still haven't told us one thing. What is your true reason to kill the prince?" he asked boldly. Hearing the literal same question irritated him a bit. He paused briefly to take a breather and spouts out.
"Reason… reason… reason… I doubt you folks would understand." Queaz stated. "I DID say I am on the hunt for the prince's head. But that's no longer achievable." He added shockingly.
"What?" Scias said in disbelieving retort. Marco has the same expression as the tall guy. "You're not going to kill the prince?"
"To be honest with you folks… I WAS planning to kill either the king or the prince. But I changed my mind. After some consideration, I realized that the king was too impactful to the citizens of this kingdom. Killing him would only cause an unnecessary war by his son." Queaz explained wholly.
He took a short breath before continuing, "But… killing the prince will cause a deadly blow to the king's psyche and rendering him helpless from doing any more things from now on. The prince is his greatest pride. If he's gone, then so does the king's resolve. That way, war shall not happen, and Alidia will no longer in our scope of threats.
…But the situation has changed for the most unfortunate," Queaz said in a disheartened voice. "The king's dead. If we kill the prince, too, then it will surely emit fire of war because the soldiers will take over the throne."
"I don't know who this smart guy was, to have the cleverest way of thinking that 'OH RIGHT, killing the king IS THE BEST CHOICE! KILL THEIR LEADER!
But in contrast… killing the king is just letting his son to take power and lead the army into war against the faction where the killer possibly came from. I can't kill the prince. If he dies, the army will take power and will probably make a greater mess for us."
Scias then says his thoughts audibly, "If the army takes over… then there will be riot everywhere. They will think that the military had done the attempt on the prince themselves."
"Interestingly true, but sadly, however, if the army dies, then another will take power, either from the nobles or commoners. It's an endless cycle of leadership." Queaz replied. "That's why I thought it would be the best to leave this forsaken kingdom."
Queaz stood up and turned at the central palace. He was focusing onto something until Scias questioned him something.
"Say… You've b-been saying words that imply that you are not alone. Who are you working for?" Scias asked with scrunched eyes.
Queaz flinched slightly at Scias. He didn't really expect anyone would ask for whom he's working. "It's none of your business." He answered calmly. "Well, if you folks wanted to know, then find out about it. I've no urgency to tell you folks about it."
Queaz eyebrows suddenly rises a bit, "Hate to say to you folks, but this is the end of our conversation."
"Eh? Why, all of sudden?" Marco asked unknowingly. "Don't be a fool. We're inside the enemy's territory."
"Wait, could it be?!" Scias realized something. In his mind, he thinks, "The soldiers of this kingdom have little to zero control over mana energy, which means that if they approach this tower, they will not be detected by our mana senses. We can only rely on our vision and hearing to detect their presence. But we relied too much on mana senses, until the point we forget to use human senses."
"Marco, can you hear me?" a woman's voice called Marco's name telepathically. It is Nina's voice. She quickly tells Marco without waiting a second further and it is enough to explain what happened currently.
"We're completely surrounded!"