Chapter 112: The Proposal
As the gates for the castle opened, I was introduced to a long hall that was decorated with furniture and art. There were doors on the left and right before the halls opened up to a throne room. It was similar to King Lucian's throne but with a much more welcoming mood to it. And what I mean by that was that it just…felt much brighter in here and the light from the windows from above shined right into the throne itself.
"Woah…It's a lot nicer than Chris's dad's throne room." I heard Lilith commenting. She gazed at the art that was plastered on the walls "Miss Elena, have you been to Prusha?"
"On the rare occasion that King Vergis decides to visit…Which is quite rare. Last time we visited was a few years into King Lucian's reign…Let's just say that King Vergis was displeased with how things went."
"Wow, That long time ago?" Lilith said with disbelief. "How…old are you?"
"Hm…" Elena thought for a moment. We stood at one of the doors, the fifth door on the left side of the hall. "…I don't really think about my age, But I'd say over 200 years. I'm still quite young for an elf."
"200 years?! Wait, does that mean you've seen a lot of experiences?"
"Before I landed here, I was journeying with my master across the continents. I know much of the battle that happened with the demons named Verith, but…I was in Ithryll when it happened. After I fully trained with my master and learned the way he used his sword, I ended up coming back to Ozoth."
"Why's that? You didn't explore anymore?"
"Hmm, It's more…Personal. You'll see." Elena then knocked on the wooden door. "Now, let's see King Vergis."
As Elena opened the door, I could hear voices coming from within. As I took a look into the room, there was a round table with Kale, Chris and three other people sitting around it. Chris and Kale sat across from the three people, who looked to be elf. As the three of us entered the room, I realized that it was one of the three mysterious people who was talking. He sat in a throne-like chair, his very formal uniform made him stand out. I could see his blue eyes staring at Kale and Chris as he held up a number of papers. The two that stood beside him looked to be guards.
"-To think that idiot would be bringing his own son to something as serious as this!"
"Hey, you said it. Not me." Kale said in a very blunt voice. "But we're here now. And we're here to solve this or else this whole situation will spread to other kingdoms."
"Like Prusha doesn't already condone such things." The blue eyed man then looked towards where we stood. Me and Lilith then walked into the room more. "And I suppose these are the two that have come with you?"
"Ah, yes." Kale looked behind himself to look at us. "These two are Kota and Lilith. My apprentice and Chris's teacher. These two helped protect Chris when he was being captured by Lady Marika."
The blue eyed man pulled his hand over his black haired hair, Examining us with Intrigue. "Is that so? I can feel a lot of Mana coming from the boy."
Huh? Can he sense my Mana? He kinda reminds me of…Lauren, One of Gerald's old friends. She was capable of reading my Mana…Can he pick up Duvul's mana?
"King Vergis, The current king to Ozoth." His eyes glazed over to Lilith. "The girl…quite strange, isn't she? She bears the eyes of a dragon. Those amber eyes…"
"She…" Kale paused for a moment, almost unsure of what he should say. "…she is half Dragon, a Hybrid dragon."
The two guards next to him immediately readied themselves, their hands quickly holding onto their sword handle. Hearing that there was a dragon must have spooked them…Which immediately reminded me of how dragons were viewed in Prusha. I thought Ozoth was alright with Dragons?
However, much to my surprise, The black haired man raised his hands and ordered the two to lower theirs. "No need for that…No need to draw weapons at someone who seems…more tamed than what they should be."
Tamed? Well, I suppose dragons were most likely ruthless…Considering one put a hole in me.
"The boy tamed her. Sorta." Kale responded to that remark. "She's not a threat of any sorts. In fact, I'm pretty sure saving Chris from Lady Marika proves that point quite well. She's just a normal girl."
"Hmph. As long as she doesn't breathe fire or cause havoc."
"Vergis." Elena moved forward into the room, she was standing behind me and Lilith. "I can also put my say to the fact that these two are of no threat to Ozoth, They are here to aid."
"Elena." Vergis looked at her. "Is that so?"
"It is. This group held our kidnappers before me and Korbyn got there. I assume you've read that report?"
"I have not, I will in time. But if you have trust in this
Group…I'll believe it." Vergis then lifted his hands and ushered us closer. "Come. Sit. Although we have started our meeting, I suppose we can get to the gist of this."
Both me and Lilith quickly took a seat. I sat by Chris while Lilith sat by Kale. Elena stood by the door, watching with intensity.
"Now…as I was saying, I find it repulsive that King Lucian decided to bring his own child to do his bidding. Especially if this child isn't even near his teen years yet." Vergis then looked at the numerous papers he had. "No visits, no messaging between us, and suddenly he decided it was time to bring his child."
"He's a busy man." Kale said.
"He is an imbecile, running a business instead of a kingdom. Running these festivals and bringing his close friends to it, having no care of the outcomes." Vergis eyed Kale. "I find it odd that you still work for the man."
"Enough about roasting King Lucian." Kale said in a somewhat annoyed tone. " Let's cut to the chase and to why we are here."
"Ah…I see you still defend the man in some way." Vergis leaned back in his chair. "Now…About these kidnappings. In recent times, there has been an increase in these kidnappings. Too many in such a short span of time, and by one person."
"Mandy…" I heard Elena say.
"Indeed, That person had shown up some time ago. Targeting people in Ozoth and seemingly disappearing without a trace, we could never get our hands on them. Which…I suppose that brings me to the group that King Lucian has brought to me."
"Yeah, we're here to help with this. Prusha just had an attempt on two Ozoth girls. Luckily we brought them back, but King Lucian wanted to have us assist in this issue before it spreads."
"Really? The man really wants to help us? Or does he want to look nice for his reputation?"
"Either way, you get help with your kidnapping issue. I don't see you losing in this."
"I see myself needing the aid from a man who doesn't care. So much so that he brings his child to do his bidding."
"H-hey!" Chris stood up in his chair. "I can help! Father told me to come so that I could learn!"
"And as eager as you are, I cannot trust you." Vergis looked at the young boy. "Your father's lack of respect and communication makes me wary of how you'll even act."
"Hey, I've been quite nice since I've been here!"
Vergis gave Chris a look before grabbing one piece of paper. "Hmm, That's debatable. You act loudly like him, boost your own ego in front of others. And I could tell immediately once you came into this room that you were his son."
Chris gave Vergis an irritated look, he slammed his hands onto the table. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm not fit to be a king?!"
Vergis took a gander at the paper once more, looking at it with keen eyes before whisking his eyes back to Chris. "Never said you couldn't. In fact…" He lifted the papers into his hands. "You have something that your father doesn't. Something far more useful for a kingdom." He then placed the papers neatly onto the table. "His ability to learn. Understand."
"Huh?" Kale let out an audible confused sound. "Are you implying king Lucian doesn't know jack shit?"
"No, but I'm implying that he hasn't even tried to do anything to make his kingdom better…But Chris can." Vergis said. "He's young and youthful, full of creativity and energy. He has many years to learn and grow into someone better than his own father." He paused for a moment. "Tell me, Chris…Do you intend to follow your Father's path?"
Chris looked down at the table, thinking. I guess this is where all those diplomatic study sessions came into play for him. What's he going to say?
"I…" Chris started, His gaze lifting from the table. But rather than look at Vergis, he looked at Kale and the rest of us. "I intend to follow my own path. I want to help people, Be it by coming down to other kingdoms and aiding them or using my writing as a way to help those learning. I don't want to rule the way my father does…" Chris then gazed at me. "Seeing Lilith and Kota insist on helping their friends get back home made me realize that. I want to help others."
Huh? I didn't expect him to say that. How long has he been hiding the fact that he actually wants to be a good person? Better yet, how does he sound like that when he wants to be serious? He sounds like a real noble prince when he says that.
"Oh? Interesting development there…" Vergis looked a bit more surprised. "I didn't expect to hear that from Lucian's family." He paused for a moment, pondering his thoughts and thinking of what to do.
At that moment, Lilith leaned next to me. "What's he talking about? Does he see us as inspirations?"
"Well…We did save him from being captured."
Actually, thinking about it…Chris probably does see both me and Lilith in a shiny light due to just that incident. I think we might've quite frankly changed his entire perspective when we entered his life.
"I see…" Vergis finally spoke. "Maybe I did underestimate you, Chris. You aren't fully like your father. But I cannot trust you with this sort of issue in our kingdom."
"B-but!" Chris tried to speak up, But Vergis held his hand up.
"I'm not entrusting you with helping this. But rather…" He looked in our direction. Both me and Lilith raised a brow as he centered his gaze on us. "I'll be asking the assistance of those two. Alongside Kale."
"That sounds about right. Getting back on topic." Kale smiled. "And what about Chris? What'll he do? If you aren't allowing him to be a part of this, what do you want him to do?"
"Hmph." Vergis let out a small smile. "He wants to learn, So I'll give him that." He looked at Chris. "If he is willing to."
"Ah!" Chris had a surprised look on his face. It was quickly replaced with a much more excited look. "Yes! I want to know more!"
Vergis smiled even more at the response. "Excellent. Now, onto the main issue again…The Kidnapper known as Mandy. As we've talked of before, they've recently been roaming our kingdom and snatching anyone."
"When we fought against him, He had another person alongside him. A big guy with a metallic arm." Kale added. "Know anything about them?"
"To a degree." Vergis admitted. "The man with the metallic arm…it looks to be made by someone here. The metallic arm he has was made with metal that is produced here, though I'm unsure of who would even be able to construct such…thing."
"So I guess we should find this person? Can't be that hard."
"Believe me, it is. I've had my men scour these districts like hounds and come up with nothing. It's a loose trail. However…if you think you can bide more well, be my guest."
"I'll take it." Kale nodded. "And Those kidnapped, there any sort of patterns with them?"
"Patterns?" Vergis asked."
"Yes, is there a specific person they pick? The two Ozoth girls we took home were both blue haired girls. Is there a chance you've had other blue haired girls taken?"
"Hm…No. but now that you say that, The reports of missing people do have the majority of them having something in common."
"And that is?"
"Mana. Above average mana, specifically mages or those who yield such a high amount. I'm guessing those two girls had above average mana?"
Kale looked at me and Lilith. "Do Amelia and Claire have large mana pools?"
I shook my head. "If I recall, Claire doesn't use mana. And Amelia…I would say she has just average mana."
"Are you sure?" I looked at Vergis when he said that. "Could be possible that the two have something important that'll make them a target."
Hmm…He's right about that. Why would Mandy just grab them? I mean…In the first place, it was because Claire was being sold off to the Demont family. But…Mandy said that wasn't even his real Client, the Demont family was being used as a decoy in case something happened. But who would set up the Demont family?
"When Mandy attacked us on our way here…He said that the Demont family wasn't his real Client."
"Did he?" Kale rubbed his chin as he said that. He looked to be in deep thought. "Hmm…If it wasn't the Demont who didn't give the contract, who did?"
"Someone from here." Vergis inputted. "To have someone go out to Prusha to kidnap someone tells me that a high price was made to have them taken…It could be someone they know. Maybe someone in the trading business?"
"Could be plausible…"
Vergis looked at me and Lilith. "What do you two think?"
"Uh…" I stuttered. "I wouldn't really have much of a clu-."
"Their dad." Lilith's voice cut right through my sentence. When she said that, Kale and Chris turned in their chairs to look at her. "He's a real suspicious person."
"How so?" Kale asked her. Lilith thought for a moment. "That's a pretty big claim, I thought he wanted the two girls back home with him?"
"Well, that's what I thought." Lilith slowly said. "But when we actually met him, I got a suspicious feeling with how he acted towards Amelia and Claire."
"So you think he's got other plans for them?"
"Maybe…He's getting old and looks like he has some sort of illness. It's just a hunch, but I can just tell he's thinking of something bad."
Lilith has a bad feeling for Adam…I'd also say I have that same feeling. Seeing the whole conversation with the Mallory family made me quite uneasy, I could tell that Claire and Amelia had some sort of resentment towards him. But he wouldn't go out and try to kill the two, right? Maybe, but I'm going to trust Lilith on her judgment. I trust her on her instinct.
Vergis then pulled himself out of his chair, his hands planted onto the table as he looked at us. "Whatever is necessary to rid Mandy from our kingdom, make haste with doing it." Vergis said with a deathly tone. "Whether it'd be that pink haired freak is alive or dead. Understood?"
As all of us in the room nodded, Vergis smiled. "Good. It's been quite a journey for you all, I suggest you get a long deserved sleep before you decide your next move."
"Thank you, King Vergis." Kale bowed in his chair.
"Hmph, There's no need for that. You can just say Vergis." Vergis said as he got himself out of his chair. "Now, I'll need to read those Reports my sister has given to me. If any of you need more information or assistance, Please ask her or Korbyn."
"Wait, who's your sister?" Lilith asked.
As Vergis walked his way towards the door, he pointed at someone behind us and spoke. "Hm? She didn't tell you guys already? Quite a bit embarrassed, isn't she?"
Close to the door, Elena looked at Vergis. Both of them made eye contact, Vergis holding a smile to her as she had her same stoic expression.
"Isn't it, sis?"
That phrase from him broke Elena's expression, she gave him an annoyed look as she opened the door for him. "Tsk, Just go do what you need to do."
He chuckled. "Heh, please keep yourself out of trouble. Lil sis."
"Idiot." She then closed the door as Vergis and the guards left. Leaving the rest of us in the room.
There was an awkward silence that filled the room as Elena turned around and looked at us all.
Finally, Kale gave her an amused look. "So…Do still we call you Elena? Or like prince-."
"Another word, and I will show you the meaning of hell and your grave."
"Ok…Noted."
"Can we get something to eat here before we go?" Lilith spoke, she put a hand on her stomach. "I don't think we've eaten all day."
"The castle kitchen will provide you with food before you head out. You all are guests now…" Elena said. "As my brother said, I will be assisting you alongside Korbyn with this Mission…Consider this whole operation as a one in a lifetime Bounty from the Bounty Hall."
"…Do you guys have cheese?" Lilith asked once more.
"Indeed."
"…A wheel of cheese…?"
"Stop, don't give her cheese." I butted in. "Well take whatever you can offer before we head out."
"Then we'll head to Amelia's and Claire's secondary house…Did they ever give direction to it?" Kale asked.
"Their servant Roul gave us the directions. So we should find it."
"Great…Ok, let's eat and then head out then."