Yggdrasil Year 1641, Day 10, Month 7
Inside the guild, a receptionist saw a Guild Staff comes in, wobbling as she struggled to walk.
"What happened? Someone get a healer, fast!"
"C…. Call the Lexington…. Family…. Now…."
"Hey! Hey!"
One of the adventurers notices the emblem of Magician's Journey on the left shoulder of the wounded Guild Staff.
"Hey! She's from the Master Sorcerer's party!"
"What!? Let me see… Ah! Someone get the Lexington Family immediately!"
One of the Guild Staff goes straight to Lexington's Manor. The guards stop the Guild Staff from entering. At that time, Reynes was about to load some of his creations to the Valkyrie disguised as a merchant.
"Halt! Halt!! No one is allowed to come in without an appointment!"
"Let me through! I have urgent news for the Lexington Family!"
"What's going on?"
"Y-Young Master Lexington! One of the Guild Staff working for Magician's Journey has urgent news!"
"I'll be there right away."
Kurt, Yuki, and Reynes rush to the Guild as soon as they hear that one of Klendiana's Guild Staff has made it back to Shills. After receiving treatment, she brings grave news.
"Madam Klendiana Lexington has gone missing inside the Einhalzen Kingdom. I have a recording…."
The Orb of Recording is one of Klendiana's inventions to convey accurate messages. Only a registered person has eligibility to open the recordings, which in this case, the Lexington Family can open.
"Let's open the recording…."
As Kurt pours his magic power into the Orb of Recording, it projects a visual of her legion, Tome of Journey, inside a dungeon. The situation is chaos, as Klendiana has to lead her party, Magician's Journey, to hold unknown units off from the attack.
"Nina! Nina! Talk to me!"
The wounded Guild Staff, named Nina, woke up from an attack.
"Yes, Chief. I'm fine…."
"Are you hurt? We need to get out from here."
"But, through where? They have already sealed the exit."
"We've got another exit." Klendiana points to the Orb of Recording, which currently records the event. "You will deliver this to my family back in Shills. I will do whatever I can to blend into this place. Tell my family that there were a lot of souls trapped here, and we can't get out since I can't decipher the spell that bound our soul here."
"But, the party and legion would be defunct if you stay here, Chief!"
"It won't, and I have a plan for that. You're the only one that wasn't affected by this spell. I've already prepared the countermeasure for this."
Klendiana summons the exact body double using the entire amount of Sage Ore. There were fifty members inside her legion, except for Nina. She chanted another spell once the body doubles were ready.
"[Soul Transfer!!]"
As the original body collapsed and went unconscious, the double body started to wake up. Klendiana looks at Nina as she casts two more spells to preserve their bodies.
"Guide my contact in escorting our original bodies out. I've already cast [Time Stasis] and [Perseverance] on the original body. Please. Head back to Shills and inform my family that this dungeon is highly dangerous. Tell my brother to do thorough research before entering this dungeon when he's on the journey."
"But, Chief. We can't leave you here."
"My soul was trapped here, my spirits were locked out, and I can't go anywhere. Go. You're my only hope to have my family hear this message. They have to know about what happened here. Tell them to strengthen the defenses as soon as possible!"
As the crystal ball stops recording it, Kurt begins to think of suspicious activity at the Einhalzen Kingdom.
"Reynes. Inform Knight Commander about this. In the meantime, I'll try to volunteer to become an Instructor to train Arminia Knights."
"I'll inform Frabela-Senpai right away."
"I'll come with you, Reynes."
"Let's head to the Royal Capital, then. Teleportation."
Reynes, Aurelia, and her guard teleports to the Arminia Royal Palace.
Arminia Royal Palace
The Royal Guards were standing guard near the entrance of the palace. All of a sudden, Reynes, Aurelia and four other knights appeared from teleportation. They raise their weapon and point their spear at them.
"Halt! Who goes there?"
"Lower your weapons!"
"P-Princess!?"
The guards were surprised when they saw Aurelia.
"Where's my brother. Is he inside the Audience Hall?"
"Errr…. His Majesty is currently holding a War Council with the Knight Commanders."
Seeing this as an opportunity, Aurelia nods to Reynes, and they head into the palace.
"W-Wait! You can't go there, Princess!"
War Council
"I've heard he's gathering the outlaws to do his bidding."
"Just what Prince Eliot is thinking? Not to mention he failed on his campaign to the Kingdom of Midgard not long ago!"
As Striden, Frabela, and other Knight Commanders were on discussion, Aurelia and Reynes barge into the meeting, surprising them. The guards inside raise their swords.
"Hey! What are you doing here!? You're not allowed to come to this place."
"Brother! I have urgent news!"
"Is it about my little brother's movement?"
"No. It's about Klendiana."
Striden paused for a while before he allowed her to speak and hand wave his knights to lay down their weapon. "Make it quick." Aurelia looks at Reynes as he nods.
"Your Highness. My sister has reported missing in action in the Kingdom of Einhalzen. Last information indicates that she found something dreadful."
Striden looks at Reynes in disbelief when hearing the news, "Madam Klendiana can't get out from the dungeon? That's quite unusual for her."
"It's best for Your Highness to see it by yourself."
Reynes takes the Orb of Recording and reveals the content. The Orb projects her situation in the dungeon before the Guild Staff escapes. After looking at the recording, Striden and Frabela were affected the most by Klendiana's decision to remain at Einhalzen.
Striden went silent for a while before looking at Reynes.
"Reynes. You're Klendiana's brother. How do you see the odds of her surviving?"
"Very likely survive. She is not the type that doesn't have any backup plan."
"Reynes. Losing her means we've become more vulnerable to attack."
"What do you mean, Frabela-Senpai?"
Reynes tilts his head to the side, curious about her word. Frabela explains the title.
"The Trio Meteor Child is not a simple title. The title also serves as a deterrence to those that dare to raise their arms against us. Losing Klendiana means the Draconia Empire could conspire with others to take this Kingdom. The last time I heard the news about her rank, she was one more step to the SSS Rank. If she's on that rank, that would mean this Kingdom would obtain one of the strongest assets in history."
"I thought that title was only effective when we were children."
"After scoring so many feats for us? They call us Trio Meteor of Arminia, an adult version of Trio Meteor Child."
"Can you look for her, Reynes?"
Hearing the weight of the words from Striden, Reynes nodded.
"But, it will take a while. My journey could be different than my sister's."
"Fair enough. Anything else?"
"My father wants to volunteer as Knight Instructor."
Every ear of the Knight Commanders, except Frabela, twitches when hearing that. If Kurt becomes an Instructor of the Knights, surely there were more than their training regiment.
"My father would be here to discuss terms and conditions later."
"Alright. I appreciate that. Also, thank you for rescuing my sister."
"No problem."
Scharlwarltz Kingdom, Royal Palace
"It is getting suspicious as you say, Randgris."
Randgris Flauvel, the Honor Guardsman Commander, nods as she delivers the report regarding Klendiana's disappearance to Luciana.
"It's good that she already anticipates that matter beforehand."
"What I'm worried more than Klendiana's matter is that Einhalzen is somehow on cahoots with Draconia, not to mention they already send the elites, known as the Twelve Stars of Dragons. Another is that the Kingdom of Aldenbourne is currently in the rebuilding process after a coup d'etat."
"Who instigates it?"
"You don't want to know about it. Nonetheless, we need to find a good place to set my daughter down when she starts her journey."
"I'll do what I can, Your Majesty."
The Lexington Manor, Two Days Before Departure
"Alright. Time to pack things up."
Reynes checks every item, equipment, and supply for the journey. He also has a copy of Kurt's journal, as it serves as a guide throughout his journey.
"Come to think about it. I remember that every book about the Lexington Family is related."
Each book written by a Lexington family member has references from other Lexington family members. Each story was related, as it also tells the tale of when the time changed. Politics, Economy, Business, History, and many more were written to explain the history during their visit to such place.
The story about Aldenbourne, for example, may be limited if Reynes comes to visit. But, if he makes contact with Sera Hereford, everything would be connected as she also records her life at Aldenbourne from her perspective.
As he was packing up, he looked at his light armor, which would be his signature armor during his journey. A green-white armor, with the staff wrapped with a cloth, a symbol of the Lexington Family, installed at both pauldrons, hung at the wall. He creates it with combinations of High-Quality materials, Elemental Gemstones, and Sage Ore.
Every piece of equipment he made used Sage Ore as the main component. One of the revolutionary breakthroughs is space distortion magic, where Reynes can establish a small tent that features a concealment effect to prevent it from standing out. The tent's interior is as large as two ensuite bedrooms, fitted with a kitchen and dining room.
As Reynes continues to pack his belongings, he looks at his money sack.
"How am I going to do with this money….?"
Reynes has money worth fifteen Yggdrasil Crystal Coins or fifteen hundred Platinum Coins. All of it comes from the commission, and recently, Shina paid him two Yggdrasil Crystal Coins to construct a carriage with multiple features, including magic recognition.
"I already store some of it. But, it's still too much for me…."
Reynes didn't know what to do with his money, so he decided to store it for the time being. His departure day draws near, as tomorrow would be his last birthday before his departure.