After uncovering such shocking revelations, Mikael and Deon decided to stay and observe the ants' behavior.
They made sure to get every bit of information that they could get from their little excursion.
By the time they returned to the Midden, the group had already rescued the last person.
Finn gathered them for one last meeting.
"Right now, we have one hundred and seventy-five people in our group. But most of them are heavily injured. On the other hand, the killer ants have thousands of monsters on their side. With such a huge size difference, how could we possibly win this, Sir Finn? Wouldn't it be more realistic to give up and ask the kingdom to send an army to take care of this?" one of the rescued people asked.
Deon felt everyone glance at him, hoping to get the cowardly prince to agree.
They were certain that the Royal family would be searching for the third prince, anyway. So, all they wanted to do was sit tight and wait for the prince's rescue team to arrive so they could finally leave this hell hole.
But to their disappointment, Deon showed no reaction.
"We can't do this on our own!" unhappy with the direction of the discussion, one man stood up and turned his head side to side as if to get their votes.
"Well… if you don't want to fight, we won't force you. You're all free to go." Finn nonchalantly said.
The man's eyebrows twitched in irritation.
They all knew what would happen if they left the group. They'll be forced to wander the colony in search of the exit. Alone. And being alone in the colony meant dying in a confrontation with killer ants.
Several members glared at Finn, resenting him for pushing them toward a cliff.
But they remained silent.
They all knew Finn was stubborn and selfish, but they also acknowledge that they were safest with him.
Confirming that no one wanted to leave, Finn continued the meeting.
"Our dear prince has just returned from scouting the enemy lair." Finn paused as if to grate the words into the shameless people's skin.
Mikael smiled, realizing Finn's intention.
He was essentially telling them that the cowardly prince that they always bad-mouthed had returned from a dangerous place with useful information while they sat around the Midden, whining like children and waiting for a non-existent rescue.
Understanding this, the members blushed in embarrassment; their eyes glued to the ground.
'Ahh… Finn's gotten protective of Deon as well… it's really nice to have a friend like him.' Mikael appreciated as he listened to their conversation.
"There is a reason why cannot wait for the kingdom's forces to come." Finn then gestured to Deon.
Deon's eyes widened in surprise, then he pointed a questioning finger to himself, 'Me? You want me to talk?' his look seemed to say.
When Finn curtly nodded, Deon was left with no choice but to comply.
The young prince's heart pounded against his ribs.
It was his first time addressing the people.
Usually, he stood at the back of his father and brothers.
Usually, he made himself appear small to avoid drawing attention to himself for fear of ruining his father's reputation.
Usually, people looked to his eldest brother for answers.
Usually.
But not now.
Deon stood in the middle of the crowd, visualizing a spotlight shining on him and blinding him to the point that he couldn't see anything…his surroundings... the audience's penetrating eyes... their dissatisfied look...
"Hey kid, relax. I'm here with you... so, don't worry about anything and just tell them what you want." Mikael gently whispered.
Finally, Deon took a deep breath and recounted their excursion to the queen's chamber.
He told them about the dragon's corpse and its effect on the ants. He described the drowning pressure and the freezing temperature of the dragon's mana.
Every word that came out of the Prince's mouth sounded like lies… like exaggerated tales…
But the prince has no reason to make up an easily confirmed lie, right?
In the end, they were forced to accept the truth no matter how outrageous it was.
"If we don't stop them now, the entirety of Wesnar will become an ant colony and it will only be a matter of time before they attack human settlements!" Deon exclaims.
"I know this might be too much to ask given the horrible experience that you had in this place, but I implore you…" He looked at each of the member's faces with a pleading expression, "Please help me protect the Heinken Kingdom."
Deon's determination surprised the members.
They never heard of any noble ask lowly commoners with such sincerity.
It wasn't even for himself but the citizens!
'Was the third prince always this kind and charismatic?'
'They said he's dumb and useless.'
'That thing about the monsters might be true, but I'm a mercenary. I can just go to another place if monsters ravage this one.'
'I don't even live here…Why should I risk my life for their citizens?'
'Is he truly kind?'
'Or does he only want to use us to gain popularity among the masses?'
'Right… this must be a ploy to snatch the crown prince position from his brother.'
'Aristocrats were always like that. Using people as they liked while masquerading it as noblesse oblige.'
But his request was too difficult to sway their hearts.
The participants exchanged looks, trying to assess each other's thoughts, but all they saw were serious faces and knitted eyebrows.
Finally, Dame Nora broke the silence.
"You must be scared." The Dame scoffed at the people, "Grown men, muscular and strong, are scared of measly insects, but they have the audacity to call a young boy a coward? Hah! If you have a fiber of shame left in you, you will remember that this boy rescued you from repletes when he could have just left you alone and saved himself."
The dame's thorny words struck the people's sore egos.
"All this time you've seen him do his absolute best to save all you ungrateful bastards and yet you can't correct your twisted misconceptions about royalty?"
Dame Nora was mad.
Deon reminded her of her younger brother... Her sweet, and kind younger brother who was always the subject of bullying because they were homeless orphans.
Now that he was gone, Nora swore never to let anyone suffer the same fate as him.
And she projected that protective instinct to Deon.
As to why she said infuriating things to the people? That was because she grew up surrounded by them.
In order to help the young prince, Nora figured that she had to intervene.
She knew that sweet words would never get through such grouchy men, instead they rise to challenges when they're insulted and riled up.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
"YOU B*TCH!"
"Who said we're scared, HUH?!"
"I'm not scared of ants! You'll see! I'll slaughter a hell lot more than you!"
The enraged members heckled and cursed Nora but to Deon, their words sounded like confirmation to join the fight.
Astonished by the weird development, Deon looked at the Dame who gave him a knowing smirk in return.
--Chapter end--