As the reinforcements and relief squad from the Raven Viscountcy ,other noble territories ,and their neighbour countries arrived and integrated with the destroyed capital zone , excluding people from other countries,their respective leaders began to have a big meeting, Stephen was also involved in it as it would decide the fate of the kingdom's future
Held in a big seperate tent guarded by their seperate knights,the meeting started from 12:00pm to 3:00pm ,what was decided was that the Raven Viscountcy would be completely handed authority over the Kingdom's commerce,and the Duchy of the North would send soldiers and mages along with the Duchy of the south to protect the royalties while reconstruction was going on , and the Marches of Marquis Uvora and Marquis Jewel would Harbor some refugees ,the other counts and marquis would send oout people to look for the demon worshippers with authorization to kill on sight, there was also the deal with Prometheus dungeon so everyone in the country would be busy, with the plan decided and in motion the respective lords who arrived there would head back three days later
Stephen :"(supporting his aching head with his arm ) That's about the gist of it "
In his tent Stephen explained to the people he trusted the most right now, Shizela , Me, Carmen and his sister Vilier
Vilier : " We can recover from this "
Shizela :" I'm sure as well ,with the surviving nobles of the capital and the nobles from the country side after 4 years or so ,the country should regain balance."
{ That's wrong }
I grimly thought
{ The neighbouring countries will not sit still at all especially the hostile ones, a kingdom with a destroyed capital is nothing short of a human without a heart, with the flow of economy and military power disturbed ,this kingdom will have to struggle with all it's power just to protect themselves, poverty will be on a rampage and national unity might collapse as well, and worst of all }
' You and those hostages will all die anyway after the new god of Prometheus awakens '
' Prometheus dungeon, one week from now it will op- '
{ If those vermins get something like a god on their side I can't even think of what they would do }(grinds his teeth)
Shizela :" ..So what do you think we should do right now Stephen? ".
"..."
Carmen who also looked rugged called out to Stephen who was in deep thinking: " Master "
" Demon worshippers "
That certainly got the attention of every one in the room
" this attack on the capital,I think it's their plan to divert our attention and keep us and the other kingdoms away from their trail towards the dungeon Chhan mentioned, we , atleast some of us have to chase and find them "
Shizela :" And what? "
We all looked at her
" we can't exactly stop them without most of our kingdom's top fighters like your father ,the Dukes and the Head knights who survived but if they leave ,who will protect what's left of the capital, Stephen I think we should focus on recovery instead "
She had a point, Stephen also couldn't refute that ,indeed leaving this central spot of the whole kingdom where the capital used to be unguarded wasn't an option ,especially with all the refugees here, other territories also couldn't recklessly deploy their forces at such a time, and it would still take a month tops to relocate everyone out of the area ,they were stuck here unless they are prepared to lose their ground
Vilier :" { Those damn demonic bastards(gripped her fist in anger and frustration)} "
Stephen :...." you are right, (stood
up) as Shizela said ,we can't afford to go on a suicide mission at such a -"
" I'm going "
Carmen :" You? "
Shizela sigh and face palmed
Vilier :{ This guy again! }(Baffled)
Stephen :"...You will go ? "
Chhan : (also stood up) " Bye "
With that Chhan left the tent and-
" Wait you dumbass!! "
- Shizela followed suit but he had already disappeared
" Grrg {Accursed Fool!!! } "
" Master!! "
" Huh? "
Turning around back at the tent Shizela also found that Stephen had disappeared as well, Carmen who lost sight of Stephen there panicked and hurriedly spreaded her senses around along Vilier
" Stephen!! "(Vilier)
Shizela :{Did..did he follow him}
***
Under the two moons I moved through the jungle and headed east
{ The dark forest, near the center huh, I'll try and track the guy from there, and the monsters, they should give me a good amount of xp for growth }" In a way it'll be a win win situation even if I can't find the bastard "
Stomp
BHOBOOOMM!!!!
with a powerful aura step on a thick branch, I accelerated and destroyed said branch and blitzed ahead breaking the sound barrier
And in the sky a red light unbeknownst to Chhan followed him ,Stephen kept track of his movements and followed him from a higher altitude,but even with that
{ I'm also a 7th class warrior }" So why am I so much slower than him ?"
He was having great difficulty keeping up with Chhan even though he was using to run on the air up above
{Is he running towards the dark forest? }
ALERT!
Feeling goosebumps ,an instinctual warning screamed , alerted ,I spreaded my senses out and then turned right, left ,back and then up
" Stephen? {Did he follow me? } "
Leaps
Noticing the red flashes at about 180 meters above me , Stephen, I leaped forward and poured a great amount of aura in my legs
BOOOM!!
I jumped in the air with explosive power and grabbed Stephen who wasn't ready or expecting such a thing at all on his leg and caused us both to fall
Stephen :(Shocked, widened his eyes only, the rest of his expression didn't change much) {How the hell?}
He was clearly surprised, the height he was runn on wasn't supposed to be closed in an instant by a jump with the force a 7th class being should have
Chhan :" Stephen !!!"
Stephen :!!!!
Chhan :"Stop being shocked and stop our fall "
Stephen :" Ah! "
Snapping back to reality, Stephen spread his palm and spreaded a red platform a few distance below them
THUDDED
" Arrg!! "
And both of them fell on said solid plat form, Chhan crashed on it ,being on the lower side he didn't have time to stabilize his landing
Tud
While Stephen landed with grace
I looked at his ever cold face while brushing myself clean , landing on my back with a sword on it wasn't exactly ideal ofcourse
" Are you worried ? Why'd you follow me? "
Stephen walked to me and then replied
" Because you just left like that ".
" Well I figured you guys would try to stop me "
Stephen scratched his head
" Well you aren't wrong ,we would've, you should know why right? "
" I know ,but man ,I'm going"
" Is this about your friends? "
"{He's so blunt as always} yes, and also because I can't let those guys get to the dungeon and get it's reward or whatever's in it ".
Stephen's gaze changed a bit, from monotous to a gaze filled with curiosity
Tsssh tsssshh
Both of us turned around
Stephen :" Ah it seems like we're being followed".
Chhan :" That girl is good tracker as always "
Stephen :"....."
Chhan :"....."
Stephen :" Tell me this Chhan , wether I'll let you go or not will be based on your answer "
Chhan :" Hurry up " (could hear the sound of people with mana getting closer)
Stephen :" If you somehow succeed in stopping those guys what will you do with what you might get in the dungeon ".
"....."
{Does...does he actually think that I'll succeed? }
" You....do you actually believe in me that much ?"
" Just answe my question,what will you do with what you might get in the dungeon? "
"(Face palmed ) Ahahaha!{ He's insane, but.... I don't dislike that, a man of our age should be a little insane }aha ahaha...(looked in hisl light green eyes} If I succeed Stephen, the reward, if I get it then , I'll do whatever I want with it "
Stephen :"...."
Keeping silence he simply stared at me with his hands on his swords hilt, if he tried to stop me right now ...
Stephen :" Go "
Chhan "...."
" Huh? Just like that? "
Stephen then took off a silver ring from his right hand and tossed it to me, I grabbed it
" Take that ,it contain supplies and some useful things, good luck Chhan "
" I....Isaid I'd do whatever I want with the reward though , Stephen.."
" I like your honesty "
....
" I would've stopped you had you told me something unbelievable like ' I'd gladly contribute it to you guys ' ,your answer, I think it's an answer I can put my faith in "
.....
It was...it really was surprising,I was speechless at his naivety, ' Put my faith in?? '
" You...are you Crazy?? "
" No I'm perfectly sane Chhan, (walked backwards) whatever you want can't be that bad and it's not you'll succeed anyway ,right ?"
With that he dives back down towards the ground and ran on the air ,back towards the people who chased them
The platform also disappeared and I landed on the ground with the ring I held,I looked at it for a moment and out it on and continued towards the path I ran on previously
{ I HATE THAT HE'S RIGHT }
It's not like I'm gonna succeed anyway and even if I did and got godlike powers all i would do with it is at most ,find a way to go back home with said power ,if not then maybe get myself a nobility title
" (Sighs) First let's find that silver haired fucker "
BHOBHOOMMMM!!
END OF CHAPTER