POV: Bobby
We arrived at the capital, In front of me was a big city surrounded by huge walls, it wasn't just one there were 3 walls in total each bigger than the last one, and in the middle of all this, there was a unique-looking castle.
It did have towers like the ones from home, but instead of brick stone or other gray blocks, they were made with a pale yellow stone and curved roof like an apple.
We arrived at the first gate, there were about 10 people in the group, besides me and the princess everyone else was a guard, and since we are a nation that trades in raw resources, every one of them is covered in diamond armor.
The guards at the gate didn't even want to check us, we looked too intimidating for what they were paid.
The princess or the guards didn't seem surprised, so we continued walking on the busy street.
People were shouting their wears or trading offers, and while the street was full of movement nobody dared to approach our horses, they just looked at us from a distance and pointed at us from time to time.
Suddenly the sound of a horn was Loud in the air, everyone looked confused and got back into their houses, with some braver ones continuing their day.
A few minutes later we arrived at the second gate, this time the guards did stop us, at at least a guard did, the others were looking in panic towards the castle. They wanted to go and look for something, but they couldn't leave their post, not when this was the gate to the Nobel's territory.
"Who are you, and what's the occasion of the visit?"
"We are the convoy from the Stone Kingdom, and we came for the Sultan's party."
"You may pass, but be careful, there's a rough Enderman that just went by a few minutes ago."
A rogue Enderman? Why would such an intelligent monster go in a populated area, yes they like to play pranks on us, but don't like to risk their life for them.
It was a weird thing to happen, but it was also unusual how easily they let us pass through.
I mean, isn't this an emergency?
"They know they can't stop us even if they wanted to."
I looked confused at the princess.
"From your expression, I could guess your confusion about why we passed through so easily."
I nodded my head in approval.
"While there's a unique thing to happen that a monster managed to get this far into the city, their job is to keep the common people out of the noble area, and we look nothing like common people. They would've probably tried to hold us with the excuse for protection, but we're better equipped than them, so they could only let us through."
I nodded my head at the new insight, and we kept walking at a slow pace towards an inn.
Guards were running through the streets from time to time but nobody bothered to check on us.
Finally, we arrived at a big building with greenery at the front and wooden blocks mixed with brickstone as the walls.
With how fancy it looked, I wouldn't even dare to look at it for too long, for fear of getting into trouble.
We entered the lobby, where one of the guards talked with the receptionist. They spoke too low for me to hear how much it costs, but it's better this way, I want to sleep comfortably at night without the worry of accidentally breaking something expensive.
We got 6 rooms, one for me, one for the princess, and the rest for the guards split into two.
My room was small but good-looking, I had a golden bed, a cauldron filled with water to wash my hands, a double chest to store my items, a one-block tall painting on the wall, and even a view of the palace.
It was a long week, and I was tired from sleeping out in the open not knowing when I'd be attacked by monsters. So I sat on the comfortable bed and fell asleep.
*knock knock
"Wha-what? Who is it?"
"Sir you've slept for 3 hours it's time to leave for the party."
3 hours!
I quickly got into my clothes and went outside where everyone was ready and good to go.
"Now that everyone is here let's get going."
We went on foot from here, it wasn't too far but we still got stopped by the guards.
This time they had diamond armor on them, and didn't look intimidated by our group.
The princess gave a book to one of the guards, and after a quick check, we were good to go.
The road was beautifully done, right beside it there were huge statues of horses and their riders, and beyond the statues, there were fountains of life and greenery.
We didn't stop to appreciate the view, instead, we entered the huge gate and a man beside it started to shout all of a sudden.
"FROM THE STONE KINGDOM, PRINCESS ELIZABETH MENDING AND HER COURT!"
Everyone looked at us, which made me nervous.
"Don't worry Bobby, you practiced for this and you've survived through the academy, this party is nothing for you."
She was right, I was just intimidated by the fact that those nobles actually had the power to act on what they said, not like the students at the academy.
But I have to remember, I'm not just a commoner anymore, I represent the princess of my kingdom so I have to act like one.
With a new fund strength, I straightened my back and went to talk with some nobels.
They weren't that different from the ones at home, so I could keep up with them with no problem until suddenly someone pressed his hands on my shoulders.
I tried to look back to see who it was, but whoever did this didn't want to be seen.
He then said something that made my stomach drop.
"I have a message from your friend. He greets you from the afterlife, and tells you to live your life in peace."
I forcefully turned around to give a piece of my mind to this rude man until I saw his face and I froze.
A tall man with brown hair and eyes, no nose, and a green expensive suit looked at me with a cheeky smile.
It was Trader, the man that I thought dead in another dimension, he was here in front of me as healthy as he could be.
I felt a rush of emotions going through me, I wanted to ask him if he was ok, how he was still alive, and why did he do that.
So I punched him in the stomach.
I was surprised by my choice, maybe unconsciously I wanted to punch him for worrying me so much, and since my brain was too preoccupied with how to respond, my body took over.
He was fine at the end, we talked about how I got here, and he talked about how he fought a sentient monster, managed to trick him, and befriended a which only heard in legends.
But that wasn't the most shocking thing, he somehow knew the cure for an infected person, one of the two most dangerous diseases in the world, and just did it for the price of one mount, I don't know if I should strangle him for giving it for such a low price or thank him for actually giving it and not keeping it to himself.
That got the attention of the Sultan, and they became 'guests of honor' or more exactly the witch became someone important, he was just there to ride along and keep Froggy in line.
Unsurprisingly they wanted to escape, surprisingly they managed to keep Trader in here for so long. I've seen what he was capable of doing, hundreds of blocks in tunnels just in a few days.
But everything made sense when he told me that we were in an obsidian box only decorated nicely. And they want to escape tonight when everyone will be too busy with a mess that is about to happen.
I tried to offer him some help of my own, I'm sure the princess will be more than happy to take the only Master brewer from this country to ourselves. Recently they tried to test our borders and people, there's a high chance a war will come soon if nothing changes.
Unfortunately, they had to do it tonight because somehow unsurprisingly he was involved with the mess, and the prince would blame it on him. I wanted to ask more be he said he couldn't tell too much, so I didn't ask bet kept an eye for the prince that hasn't arrived yet.
We talked some more until the Royal children came and made an announcement. Trader left to prepare, and I went back to talking with the nobles.
A few minutes later I was tapped on my shoulder, and when I turned to see who wanted my attention I understood that the plan was in action.
"Excuse me, is there a place more private around here? My social battery has run out and I want to rest somewhere."
I talked with the guard who had a view of the garden where Trader went.
He was polite enough to point me to a more isolated room and I stayed there for a few minutes, trying to process everything that I've been through today.
I didn't stay too long and went back to the party, and it was at the right time when the music stopped, a few of the lanterns were broken leaving light only at the podium where everyone was looking.
Slowly, step by step the Sultan climbed onto the podium, he wore all white with different precious stones to give some color, even his cape was not simple, it had the symbol of the Sultan imbedded in golden strings.
"My people and guests of honor! I want to thank you again for coming tonight, I want to announce with this occasion that we, the Sandstone Kingdom will help the upcoming hero, we will defeat the evil!"
He raised his hands and out of nowhere, a golden armor appeared on him, it wasn't one made by the system, it had diamonds and emeralds on it which made me wonder how he equipped it so fast.
Suddenly out of nowhere, 6 arrows were shoot at him, the Sultan didn't even flinch but somehow he still died.
Or so I thought, a tower of light rose from him in the form of a person with wings. I heard something breaking and the light returned to his eyes.
But why didn't he move? He was just attacked and he was still with his hands up.
Probably the assassins got spoked by their failure to kill him even with the surprise element.
But once again I was taken by surprise when black potions were thrown at the standing Sultan.
I felt great danger coming from them, even if I was so many blocks away, I don't want to know how they felt once they splashed on you.
One potion, two potions, three potions, each as powerful as the last one. But surprisingly the Sultan kept regenerating and slowly started to move.
Like a signal, the assassins threw more potions at him, and nobody saw who threw them, the guards started to panic looking for the source, but the criminals were most likely invisible so they wouldn't be found out anytime soon.
After a few potions, the regeneration couldn't keep up with the acidic potion, and the skin started to melt until the Almighty Sultan died a second time and the last time.
We all were in shock, even I who knew something would happen did not expect this. At the drop of a bucket everyone started to panic, the guards were still looking for the assassins but with how everyone was running towards the exit they had no chance.
Horns were blown making a loud noise.
"EVERYONE SHUT UP!"
The prince shouted and everyone stopped with all eyes on him.
"The killers are still with us, so nobody dare leave this place. Guards, block the doors!"
Everyone started to move like a well-working piston, some tried to sneak past them, but they were thrown right back into the room, without caring about their status.
I didn't want to be involved in this so I went towards my princess who was Surrounded by the guards looking intensely at everyone.
"Bobby! Come here quickly who knows what's about to happen."
I didn't object and went in the well-protected circle.
" You don't seem too surprised by what happened."
The princess commented after one look at me.
"My friend told me, that the Prince had plans to capture someone tonight. But I didn't expect the Sultan to be the one."
I Wisheperd to her, and her eyes went wide, and looked at the Prince with suspicion.
The two Royal siblings were examining the body, or what was left of it, the potions had an acidic effect on the body, so there wasn't a lot to work with.
One of the men took the armor from the Sultan and his eyes went wide and told something to the Prince.
Afterward, he went in a hurry somewhere else.
"Everyone listen! We found out the armor of the Sultan was cursed! We will find the one who enchanted this and bring him to justice."
Maybe this is the way Trader expected to be betrayed. Good thing he left a while ago, and won't be able to catch him.
With that, he took out an enchanted compass and placed it on the golden armor. Soon a light came from the compass and a floating sign appeared.
The Prince looked suprised but didn't say anything, he just made a sign to one of the servants who quickly moved.
After a few minutes the man that first saw the armor arrived with a thick book in his hands.
Quickly they went through every page and looked at the floating sign from time to time only to shake their heads.
"There's nobody in our library with that signature."
Murmures started to wash all over the crowd. Is this the end? will they all be interrogated one by one now?
While everyone was preoccupied with the new information, a servant went to the Prince and passed him an enchanted book.
The Prince took the compass from the armor and put it on the book, making appear the same signature as the armor.
"It's as I feared, this enchantment was done by Trader, I did wonder why he wanted to level up as soon as possible on his Enchantment skill."
The crowd once again started to murmur. Who was this Trader guy, why did the Prince help him, where is he?
"Trader, get out here and face the consequences!"
Everyone looked around to see the man who connected all of this, but of course, nobody came.
"Search for every room in the palace, don't let anyone leave this place!"
The guards did as they were told, and searched every room in this place, but the place was huge and nobody found him even after two hours of searching. It got so bad that frustrated the Prince went on a search as well.
With no results, we could only assume that he escaped. The Prince got back but in his hands, there was a pillow with an ender pearl on it.
What was his plan?
"Since that killer is not here, I will bring him here by force. This is the Ender pearl we made an oath on. I promised to teach him Enchantments as long as he worked with justice. But since he broke the oath, he shall be summed."
With that said, the Prince took out his diamond sword and sliced the Perl.
And to my horror, Trader appeared out of nowhere, confused and in pain in front of all of us.
Things are about to get more complicated.