Although the explosion wouldn't have harmed Nicola's angelic body even without the light element shield, the clothes she was wearing weren't explosion-proof! If she ended up naked in front of this creepy old king, it would be so embarrassing.
"What is this Parristol thing the guy mentioned?"
Cyra asked, puzzled.
"That's a border city in the eastern part of the Astralrealm Kingdom. Recently, some stubborn dissidents have been causing trouble there, trying to gain independence, and taking advantage of the demon invasion. That assassin must be a member of the 'Parristol Liberation Front'!"
Galahad angrily explained, then pointed at the soldiers investigating the scene and started scolding loudly.
"This is the top level of the royal castle. How did those useless Gryphon Knights let the assassin get in here!"
Intimidated by his authority, the soldiers could only bow their heads and keep quiet.
"If it wasn't for the angel's presence here, I probably would've been assassinated on the spot today! Can you useless men take responsibility for that?"
This king was unbelievable. Despite being so fat, he had the energy to angrily scold people for a good few minutes. It made me frown to hear it.
"Nicola shouldn't have saved him either. Wouldn't it have been better if he got blown up?"
Cyra couldn't take it anymore and whispered to me. Galahad was spewing all kinds of vulgar curses, with no consideration for us bystanders at all.
"There's no other way. Edenmere needs to increase the number of angels active in the outside world, and human help is indispensable. If he died, Nicola might have to explain everything again to the new king, and the kingdom would have a bunch of other troubles to deal with before we could move forward. It could be a long wait."
I whispered back in the same volume.
"Your Majesty, according to the perimeter guards' reports, the assassin climbed up the outer castle wall!"
After waiting a while, the castle steward finally entered with another group of soldiers.
"Did you catch him then?"
Galahad hurriedly asked.
"The assassin jumped into the lake and disappeared without resurfacing..."
The steward hesitated for a moment but answered truthfully.
"Useless! You're all useless!"
Galahad immediately jumped up in anger, but there was nothing he could do. He forced a smile towards Nicola to thank her.
"My deepest gratitude to the angel for saving my life. It seems negotiations can't continue for now with things as they are. I have some matters to deal with. Shall we postpone this to another day? I assure you I will provide a satisfactory answer then."
"No problem!"
Nicola agreed without hesitation. She clearly couldn't stand this guy either and just wanted to leave quickly.
"You still haven't prepared the best guest rooms for the angels!"
"We'll find our place to stay."
I quickly declined his offer. I wanted to go home and see how my rented apartment was doing. I hadn't been home in months already.
"That's right, we have some things to do in the downtown next, so no need to trouble yourself."
Nicola chimed in agreement.
"Then allow me to arrange for the angels to tour the city..."
King Galahad was taken aback but didn't say anything further. He nodded and had the steward lead us out first.
As for Eleanora, she had to stay behind and wait for the king to summon her again.
"It would draw too much attention if you angels flew directly from the castle roof into the city. I suggest I lead you out the main gate instead."
As expected of the royal castle's steward. His consideration was thorough.
Next came the "ride the elevator". Like the collapsed Tivi Palace lift towers, the royal castle's high-rise structure also had magic-powered elevators, though the speed was a bit slower.
"Do you know why the city of Parristol wants independence?"
Bored in the elevator, I casually asked the steward beside me.
"Parristol huh..."
The steward knew about the assassination attempt's connection to Parristol. Hearing my question, his expression seemed somewhat sentimental.
"Not long ago, that place was still an independent little country. Due to its location at the intersection of several great nations, it had struggled to survive in the cracks between them for thousands of years."
"However, the city center houses an iconic ancient structure - the Chromos Tower, making it one of the rare tourist attractions on the continent. Supposedly the High Tower Sages' League founding site was also located there."
"Unfortunately, the Ruaun family that had ruled this little country declined over the past century, and 4 years ago, King Galahad seized the opportunity to annex them first. So ever since then, there have been quite a few resistance groups secretly active in this border city, some allegedly involving other nations' covert participation..."
"What a complicated situation!"
Hearing this, I finally understood that this was a messy political problem! Not something I should be worrying about right now. So I shook my head and decided not to think about it further.
After all, these resistance groups weren't targeting us. Let this fat tyrant handle his headache!
"The Sage League's founding site huh..."
Nicola seemed quite interested and asked another question.
"So is this High Tower Sages' League an organization or a country?"
"In its early days, it was just a fellowship formed by a few like-minded mages. Its structure was similar to an association. Due to their principles and goals - seeking the world's truths - it gained a response from many mages across the continent. Later it rapidly expanded in influence and gained importance. So these mages started calling themselves 'sages' and established their base in the southern part of the Cresthaven Papal Dominion - the city of Mooncrescent."
The steward effortlessly answered these common knowledge questions. After all, to be employed in the royal castle, he had to be somewhat learned.
"What is this Cresthaven Papal Dominion?"
Cyra suddenly asked, as if she had thought of something.
"It's the True Church's headquarters, where the Holy Capital is located..."
"The True Church here has even established its own country already? It expanded that quickly?"
Cyra turned to me in surprise.
"How would I know..."
What was she asking me for? I normally don't bother paying attention to stuff like this since I'm not a follower anyway. And a church setting up its own country isn't that bizarre, right? The True Church on Earth has its tiny independent state too.