220 The Meeting

1 day later, at the private royal garden…

A very interesting meeting was going on, as its participating members was me, the Brigade Head, the Emperor, the blonde paladin whose name turned out to be Jean, and finally a white bearded man with a grandpa-like figure wearing a plain white robe…

While only the last member seemed to stand out as the most non-outstanding member in the whole meeting, he in fact had a very outstanding position… or so did his small, also white, badge portray.

"Ahem, the atmosphere looks a bit tense, so I will do the honours of starting this meeting by asking…'What is this meeting about?!'"

Uncle blue, also known as the Emperor was still in the dark about the objective of this meeting, and so was the Head, in fact I only knew the outlines as well as starting this meeting was the request of Jean who begged me to make it happen and listen first…

"I know that there is a lot that needs to be explained, but as the Light Association Branch Head let me start by apologizing first."

"The relation between both Empires surely hadn't been the best, but that doesn't seem to be enough for you to come and apologize to me…"

Uncle blue was still confused as he obviously wouldn't think the accident that happened a week ago could be related to the Light Association.

"No no, what I apologize for is the destruction that befell the Lightning Capital yesterday, unlike the traitors who initiated this unfortunate disaster, I'm here not only to apologize, but to seek your assistance as well."

"Ha? You are the ones behind that?! We have been collecting information without rest for the whole last week to find out how the 'Demons' managed to infiltrate our domain and attack the capital, and you say the preparator was your association all along?!"

Uncle blue was starting to get agitated, after all, the Lightning Capital was almost turned into a ghost capital last week, knowing that the reason for that was sitting in front of him would obviously provoke such a reaction…

"I beseech you to calm down and listen first… after that, you are free to punish me for the faults of the association's traitors or help me with my cause."

Looking at me and seeing how I didn't react to anything till now, uncle blue finally calmed down as he relaxed his back on the chair and letting out a sigh…

"Alright, I will hear you out first."

"I thank you deeply for the chance… let's start first with the misconception we all had, the origin of 'Dark Caves'."

"Oh, you mean 'Demon Caves'?"

The Brigade head who suddenly seemed to turn active, unlike his usual carefree nature, as if trying to provoke the old man…

'Does he hold a grudge of some sort…?'

"Yes, since the emergence of those 'Caves' years ago, we all believed that these were 'Dark Caves', which were time bombs set by the Dark Domain who always had plans of conquering all domains…"

On the other hand the old branch head seemed to be in a calm state, explaining without paying any head to the provocation, which caused the expression of the Brigade head to turn less playful.

"We all thought that demons were merely legends that were spread in the past so that was the only conclusion for the research to understand the truth of these 'Caves', but this time, with the face to face battles Jean and your Lightning Brigade members had with the demons, there is no reason to deny actual facts…"

"What's new with that, thanks to the help of one of my Brigade's members we already know that they are not qualified to be called as 'Dark Caves'."

The Brigade head interrupted again, seemingly still not willing to let go…

"Jean told me about that already, but the fact that clues about that were already there doesn't make sense, but after the escape of the Branch's grand elder a day before the dragon's attack, we managed to unveil some of the demons secret plots."

The old branch head paused for a moment to catch his breath before he continued.

"It appeared that the demon's pawns were already there since long ago, suppressing any chance to unearth the truth of the 'Caves', the only reason that they started acting so carelessly and thus revealing a part of their plans was only because the time for them to act is close and the fact this capital should have been destroyed alongside any details…"

"I had been at odds with the branch's grand elder since a long time ago, but due to me fearing for the organization's stability, I always acted neutrally, but due to my timid behaviour, I caused Jean to fall into their hands and be used as a tool to fulfill the demons evil plans, if not for the help of the young hero of the capital, he might have been reduced to a state similar to the dragon's…"

"However, I was still unable to save the rest, all the members of my branch had already fallen victim to the grand elder's method, currently, I'm but a lonely old man who has lost everything… so once again, I humbly beg your majesty, the Emperor of the Lightning Empire to support me on my march to cleanse the Light Association and the Light Empire which has probably fallen into the hands of traitors as well!"

The old branch head left his chair as he knelt for the emperor, seemingly very sincere in his wish...

"I see… although I don't wish to get involved with the Light Empire's affairs, what you just said leaves me no choice but to verify the truth of it, shall we find otherwise…"

"I understand, your majesty! That's my only wish!"

"Verywell, Klay, prepare a selection of your men and send a letter for the Light Empire, we will be dispatching an imperial envoy in 2 days."

"Understood."

Finally hearing the Brigade Head's name for the very first time, I pondered as to how this last confrontation with the demons will play...