I undid the dome with magic distortion and all the bandits were left in shock from fear
-a-ah!, h-how is it possible?!!- the bandit leader screamed in fear
With earth magic I enclosed his entire body, leaving only his head free, while with stone bullets I dispatched the other bandits.
The bandits he couldn't catch up with were dispatched by Alek and his overwhelming speed.
In less than a minute we finished off all the bandits until only the leader remained.
I approached him and removed his hood.
Before my eyes was a man with a thick beard of about 30 years old, he had a large scar on his cheek and was scared to death.
-p-please..don't kill me!!, I-I'll tell you whatever but don't kill me!!- the man begged
-What is your name?- I asked him.
-Tony...- the man murmured
-Okay, Tony, tell us everything you know about the man who hired you to keep me captive, I said in a serious tone.
-Y-yes! The guy's name was Nolan! He contacted me and my gang 4 days ago... He said we should hold you until you starved to death!!- Tony explained desperately.
-Hmm, I see, and for what reason?- I asked him.
-...he said he was a messenger from the human God...I took him as a madman but the pay was good....in his ambition he confessed to me that he had kidnapped a Miko...- Tony murmured
So if Nolan was to blame for all this...what a headache...
-Is that all you know?- I asked him.
-Y-yes! I don't know anything else, I swear!!- Tony shouted
-Very well...- I said and shot a stone bullet at his head killing him instantly.
Alek gathered the bodies of the bandits and I cremated them.
I'm actually surprised by how much Nolan accomplished in the week he was away...
But unfortunately for him he was very careless and self-confident.
Which he paid for with his life but it is not something i regret
-Mr. Rudeus- Alek called me and so we continued the journey
This ambush was a simple minor issue, a stone in our shoe which did not affect us too much.
We continued walking through the forest for a while, it was morning here so it was quite cold.
The snow on the ground slightly hindered our path but I moved it out of the way with combined water and fire magic.
A couple of hours we divide the capital of the Kingdom
The Kingdom of Gardenia was a relatively new small nation with only about 50 years since its founding.
It was formed after 3 micronations from the conflict zone joined together and formed this nation.
Its political power is almost zero and global importance is zero.
To give you an idea, The capital of this Kingdom is only slightly larger than the city of Roa before the Mana disaster.
And remember that I could walk around all of Roa in just an hour and a half.
From a distance, the castle in the middle of the city didn't seem to stand out too much, and I could easily compare it to the old mansion where I taught Eris in my childhood.
This is how irrelevant this country is from a global point of view
No wonder they are eager to get a Miko with great power or trying to summon a person from another world in order to gain some ground in world politics
Like any normal person we entered the city through the entrance that everyone uses, something that surprised me is that this capital city is not protected by giant stone walls which leaves it vulnerable to any invasion
Alek and I covered our equipment with blankets so as not to attract too much attention.
As I walked around the city I could see that there were not a lot of people
The houses were made of wood and there was no gas lamp lighting
In addition, this city does not have drainage systems, so the smell of human waste is present throughout the city.
People had desperate expressions
According to Alek, this country is behind in terms of technological advances.
Our objective is obviously to negotiate with this kingdom to give us the Miko and if they become hostile we will simply take her by force.
Obviously I asked Orsted how important this country was in world history but he told me that now with Lara as a heroine of humanity this Kingdom had no reason to exist.
This indirectly gave me the green light to destroy this entire country if I wanted to but I obviously wouldn't do something like that..
This is one of the few kingdoms that lasts more than a year in the conflict zone so I want to avoid any violent confrontation if necessary.
Me and Alek walked into the city center the "castle" was easily visible from here as it was about 3 blocks away from us
Obviously this is where most people gathered.
There were several market stalls here but I felt sorry to see how few products they had.
A poor nation in winter in one of the most infertile areas of the central continent...
The vendors looked desperate to sell something to put something in their mouths, but it was a war of all against all.
And I also noticed that there weren't too many people in the center.
For a capital, even if it is from a poor nation, the number of people here is not too many.
I could easily count about 150 people...
I asked Alek and he told me that the capital only has a population of 2,000 people which blew my mind.
This kingdom is really small, huh?..
We walked towards the castle entrances and were stopped by two guards dressed in normal armor, with no shield of their nation or anything.
-What do you want here?- one of the guards said
The guard was a young man of at least 20 years old, but he looked quite thin and had large dark circles under his eyes.
-We are employees of the Orsted Corp, we have come to speak with His Majesty the King about matters of political relevance- i declared.
The soldiers tensed slightly at my statement.
It took me a long time but I learned that Orsted Corp was now the most powerful and influential organization in the world.
For which reason even here it would be known
The guards didn't say anything else, they bowed and they let us pass
We walked through the castle gardens which was saying a lot since they were just grassy areas.
The castle was too small, in one corner there were about 4 soldiers sparring with spadesand I was able to count just 3 others making surveillance rounds
I guess these guys remember Alek because when they saw him and me these guys immediately lost interest.
We asked a guard about the king and he guided us after telling him that we were from Orsted Corp.
The interior of the castle was too poor
There were just stone walls, a few windows, and a worn red carpet on the floor.
We didn't walk more than a minute until we reached a dead-end corridor that led to some wooden doors.
There was only one guard guarding this door, who looked like the least qualified to do so.
The guard who accompanied us knocked on the door and announced our arrival.
-Let them pass- the voice of an old man was heard from the other side of the door
This must be King Bruce, an 80 year old man who has been the first and only king of this nation, he has 3 sons and obviously the eldest will take over when this guy dies.
The door opened from inside revealing a single throne... totally pitiful...
The room was 4 meters wide by 4 meters long, the throne was a wooden chair with red mattresses and gold paint.
The king was sitting on his "throne" and next to him was a man of about 60 years old, this must be his advisor?..
When the counselor saw us he instantly frowned as he looked at us With obvious hostility
-Wow... Orsted Corp again... tell me what can I do for you?- The king said with a weak smile and I could see the advisor clenching his fists in anger.
This will be interesting...
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I know I sound like a broken record but I'm ensuring my survival
I invite you to give me some power stones, leave a review of this fan fic and comment what you thought of the chapter, my friend, you would help me a lot!!