-What can I do for you?- King Bruce said as he looked at us with a weak smile
I bowed out of respect as did Alek.
-Good morning Your Majesty, as you may have noticed, we have come on behalf of Orsted Corp due to political matters involving the Asura Kingdom- I explained.
The king's advisor's expression immediately tensed while Bruce only raised an eyebrow in confusion.
-Hmm? I see, and what does this humble nation have to offer the great Kingdom of Asura? - Bruce asked.
-Well I don't want to be rude about it but his majesty King Timothi Anemoy Asura I recently reported to the Orsted Corp about a Miko who has the ability to summon very powerful magical beasts which wreaked havoc in southern Asura-I explained
I noticed how the counselor's expression became more gloomy and he began to sweat, I looked at Alek and he nodded, letting me know that he also realized this.
-You're wondering where I'm going, right? - I asked and the king nodded.
-When we went to look for that Miko we were surprised to find that she had been kidnapped... kidnapped by soldiers of her nation, Your Majesty- I said to Bruce while looking him in the eyes.
Bruce raised an eyebrow in confusion and looked at his advisor who was visibly sweating.
-I'm sorry sir but I was not aware of this...- the king murmured and then glanced at his advisor.
The counselor approached Bruce and whispered something in his ear, Bruce listened attentively and nodded twice.
-I'm very sorry sir, but unfortunately I never gave such an order as my soldiers infiltrating Asura to kidnap a Miko, but if you have any doubts you can check the entire castle- King Bruce said with a kind smile
I looked at Alek and he winked and nodded.
I almost forgot, they want to distract us with this tactic but Alek had already discovered a secret room, maybe the Miko is in one of those
We accepted the king's proposal and the counselor and other guards guided us through the entire "castle" that actually looked like a very neglected mansion.
Also, to make things clearer, they took us to the cells, which, as expected, were dirty, unkempt, and to make matters worse, were flooded.
I was able to count at least 3 people imprisoned in deplorable conditions.
It wasn't my responsibility to get them out but it wouldn't hurt to find out why they were there.
-those prisoners- I muttered
-Why are you here?- I asked looking at a guard
The guard looked at me sideways and made a TCH sound with his tongue but answered me
He raises his hand and points his gun at one of the prisoners.
-That's Thadeus, imprisoned for killing two merchants and stealing their goods, that's Suleiman over there, he tried to steal from a local noble but was caught red-handed, And that's Dinkler, he thinks he's the messiah, that bastard, and we arrested him for being a jerk - the guard explained, pointing at all the guards.
-Does he think he's the Messiah? What did he say? - I asked the guard.
-jeh, the bastard was talking nonsense like an envoy of the God of vegetables! Hahaha - the guard laughed
Hah...how disappointing, I guess he's not an apostle...
Upon leaving the dungeons we met the king again and apologized for coming to bother him.
The guy seemed genuinely nice but his advisor was looking at me suspiciously but I could see that he relaxed a little when he saw us leave.
Finally we left the castle and stopped at one of the few restaurants in this capital.
-Well? What's next, sir? - Alek told me as we sat at a table
I approached Alek even though there weren't many people in the place, it was better to be cautious.
-We will wait here until nightfall, then you will guide me to where you found that secret chamber with the incomplete summoning circle- I told him.
Alek nodded in response.
We had no plans to eat here but it was already a little after noon and we had to keep up appearances.
The menu of this country or this restaurant is....DEPLORABLE
Roasted wild boar meat with bread and water....
Salad made with a fruit that I didn't know you could eat...
I ended up choosing the least bad, which was the roasted wild boar meat, and I made the water myself with magic.
These places are certainly inhospitable...
After a deplorable lunch we went to look for a magicians guild which, to my surprise, did exist but it was too small compared to those I have seen around the world.
With that we were able to find an S-rank inn that was only an 8-story building, it turned out that each floor was assigned to each rank with the S being the second floor and the most "luxurious" one.
It looked like the room I had in Neris City back in my days with Counter Arrow
There we waited until it started to get dark while I lay in bed looking at Aqua Hertia
To make myself clear, I was simply lying in bed looking for some interesting detail in my stick.
Alek on the other hand was looking out the window with one leg bouncing on the floor slowly a sign of his nervousness or impatience
Because this Kingdom was in a more northern area of the world, its sunset was later around 7 at night.
It was barely 6:40 and the sky was already a dark reddish shade.
I decided to take a quick one hour nap
Alek woke me up when it was already completely dark so it was time to act
Following Alek we stealthily circled around the castle until we were at the back.
To my surprise there was a small hole in the protective fence.
Alek argued that this was already there before his arrival.
Alek entered quickly and I entered with difficulty.
I use wind magic to muffle the sound of our footsteps
We walked for about 3 minutes until Alek stopped at the armory area
I followed him inside and as if it were a movie Alek pressed a stone on the wall and a secret entrance was revealed.
-What a cliché, don't you think?..-
I couldn't help but mutter that out loud to which Alek gave me a raised eyebrow in response.
The secret entrance led to a small hallway in which, to my surprise, there was a teleportation circle.
According to Alek, this circle leads to a building in the northernmost area of Gardenia, a few hours from the capital.
We weren't sure if there were people on the other side so we were on guard before going up to the circle.
We stood in the circle at the same time and I felt the pleasant sensation of being teleported.
I opened my eyes and found myself in a dark room lit only by the blue light of the circle
I let Alek lead the way
I was surprised to see the size of this building and according to Alek it is a couple of meters underground which makes it more surprising.
After sneaking around for about 10 minutes in the labyrinth of rooms in this place we discovered a firmly sealed door
-This is the place where the magic circle is- Alek murmured
-I see, but our priority is to find the Miko- I said.
He nodded and we continued investigating.
At this point we had no idea where the girl could be so it took us quite a while to find any clues.
But after a while I came across a room with no wall facing the hallway and it was illuminated by a green light.
It was advanced rank barrier magic...
I looked inside the room and there was a girl of about 6 years old with rags as clothes, a blank look and shackles on her hands and feet.
-We found her!- I told Alek but at that moment 5 guards entered the room on the opposite side of the corridor
-Let's see what they plan with her and if it's something serious we'll intervene- Alek whispered to me and I nodded at this.
-Did you hear that the morons from Orsted Corp are already looking for this bitch?- one of the guards said as he deactivated the barrier.
-Huh? So fast? Well, I wanted to have more fun with her hehe! - one of the guards answered and the others laughed.
I couldn't help but frown at this but I forced myself to keep listening.
-It's a shame, she presses perfectly in the right areas-
-Well, not anymore, because you used it so much, you bastard!-
A guard said and another answered him by gently tapping him on the shoulder.
By this point I knew what they were referring to and I couldn't help but feel disgust.
-Hey, hey, stop playing, Mr. Andrus wants us to move forward with the Circle as soon as possible- another guard muttered and so they took the girl from the place.
I was surprised to see that the girl did not defend herself or react to the guards.
The poor girl must be completely traumatized by now...
We followed the guards closely and with gravity magic I made us levitate so there were no footprints
We arrived at the room that Alek mentioned and one of the guards seems to have activated a mechanism since the door opened or rather disappeared.
It seems to have to do with some protection spell like that of the Dragon God Xillad and the teleportation ruins.
We stayed in a corner without entering the room and inside was an incomplete teleportation circle
-Come on, do your thing, bitch!- a guard yelled at the girl as he threw her to the floor and gave her a pen and ink.
The girl did not react and began to draw on the floor
To my surprise the circle was now almost complete.
Which completely surprised Alek.
-With this bitch as help, the summoning will be faster than the 10 years we anticipated- one of the guards laughed
At that moment the counselor entered the place with a gloomy aura
Let's see what this bastard has to say...
=====
...It seems that luck is not on my side, eh? It seemed that we were on a good run but the views have plummeted abruptly to their lowest point
The truth is I make this fan fic for fun but it is quite discouraging to see this
You know what you can do to help me...