The Intel from the prince said the Princess would only be coming to Rix to check for a possible lead on the spies from the Dreyer kingdom that were suspected to have crossed the Hendrix kingdom's side of the barrier, nobody said anything about Reniella turning the whole city upside down looking for a demon.
It was unfortunate for him that the knights of any city were required to obey the words of the royal family regardless of who they had their allegiances to, If they refused, that would be treason.
"What do we do? sir"
"What can we do, Apphia?! We can only warn Berret about the situation and make sure we don't get caught up in this whole ordeal, and it doesn't go back to the prince"
He spoke in a hurried and panicked voice. There was nothing he could do to stop the princess, so he could only let her do as she pleased and hoped nothing came back to bite him.
He quickly turned on his heel before walking away at a brisk and fast pace, letting Apphia follow behind him.
It did not take long for the Baron to be able to make it to Barrett's home, bursting through the doors like he owned the place.
"Did you do what was needed?"
He asked but received no answer.
The man was sitting on a two person couch beside him with a woman that clung to his body and on the other couch which was a three person couch was another, he was handsome, one would think they were noble.
"This is my house, old man. You don't get to just barge in here"
The former bandit stated as he took a puff off his cigar. Despite the situation outside, he was calm as a cucumber.
"Answer my question!!"
Philmon demanded, unwilling to dance around the issue or play games with him.
"Don't worry, after your little outburst two days ago, I didn't want to be replaced so I made sure everything was hidden, so the little princess may find some weapons and drugs but they won't be linked to us or the prince"
He explained before copping a feel of the woman's breasts. They were particularly large and felt quite great on the hand. The Baron couldn't help but roll his eyes seeing such a blatant act of perversion.
"Good, good. Business will stop for a while but better than having the whole operation shut down permanently"
He expressed and heaved a sigh. His worry was a bit relieved, and Apphia patted him on the back to comfort him.
"Although, I didn't expect the princess to be able to block both gates with her magic"
Barret stated. He was quite impressed that the princess was able to accomplish something most mages her age could not, or rather, she was skilled for her age.
He had expected a brat that's just arrogant with nothing to back it up, but it looks like he might actually have to be careful around her.
"Indeed, she's quite impressive, she was able to wield magic at birth, she is a water mage and was able to achieve her elemental transformation at the age of 12, that usually takes most mages a lifetime she's a once in a generation talent"
The baron explained, Princess Reniella was a gifted individual far gifted than most people in the kingdom and being a princess she had the best education the kingdom could offer, it wouldn't be a stretch to say she would be the strongest within the kingdom by the time she reaches her late 30s.
"Sounds like she's quite skilled, but I doubt she could best me in a duel"
The handsome man in the three person couch spoke, a smile plastered across his face as he allowed the entirety of his full weight to rest on the couch. The arrogance of his words was not lost on the people in the room.
"Oh please, neither of you combined could handle my slave here, Apphia, the princess is beyond your capabilities"
"Want to wager on that?"
"No, just do as you were told and stay low till she leaves. Even if you could beat her, you'll lose this comfortable life you have right now"
Philemon finished before turning around to leave and leaving the two men to their business, as long as nothing goes wrong, all is well, and the prince's plan should continue without issue.
"Uptight old geezer"
"He's right Al, I know you like to play by your own rules but keep your antics in moderation, I don't like it and we'll kill that old man but be patient our day will come"
"Oh, please spare me that bullshit, I don't know what happened to you. You used to be so badass"
Al responded as he stood up from his seat and looked at his boss with more than a little contempt.
They used to be bandits who did whatever they liked whenever they liked, but now they're on a schedule, following orders of some old man and some stuck-up royalty that never shows himself to them.
He didn't like it. It was pathetic, and it gave Barret the illusion that he was something other than a pawn in the scheme of someone else.
Al was keenly aware that once the prince gets what he wants, they'll be discarded like trash on the side of the road.
"Things changed, we play things different now, we can't always do what we want, you gotta plan things out"
"Oh you could quit the nonsense and just say you don't want to lose the comfort of this place, that geezer domesticated you, you aren't the unruly Barret I used to know."
Al finished before he began walking towards the door, regardless of what orders he was given. He wasn't about to start following them just because some princess decided that she wanted to investigate. He lived by his own rules and by no one else's.
Barret watched him exit and decided not to stop him, Al was right about everything he said however one thing was for certain Barret was not going back to merely pillaging villages for food, only for that food to be scraps that were barely worth pillaging for.
He didn't have to go through great lengths to traffic people he captured and only receive a single gold coin and then spend that single coin on booze in order to keep his crew happy.
He was a boss now, more than a bandit leader, he ran different operations that gave him a steady surplus of money, he was rich and he will never go back to that type of bandit behaviours when he can be the boss of an illegal organisation so it was fine for now, he'll take orders and get rid of Philemon when everything is in his hands.
"let's go to the bedroom"
He said to the woman on his side before standing up and picking her off the couch, not even waiting for her to respond and made his way to the bedroom.
...
A/N: Hope you enjoyed, please comment or drop a powerstone.