Chapter 200: Welcome to the Kingdom: Meeting

Chapter 200: Welcome to the Kingdom: Meeting

Jon Mourn sat at a desk in a calm, quiet room.

That peace was immediately interrupted when the door opened and one of his currently least favorite people walked through.

“Hello, miss Asmo,” Jon said as the woman walked in, back straight and silver-blonde hair falling down her spine.

“Greetings, Jon,” Asmo said. She stopped walking in the center of the room, facing him. The room was small and quaint, the office that was given to him within the royal castle. It was far out of the way and there was seldom any sort of commotion around this area, just how he liked it. Or, rather, there wasn’t any commotion until this woman appeared.

“Did you just say ‘greeting?’ Like a Demon?”

“No, I said ‘greetings.’”

Jon stared at her for a moment, then continued. “Do you mind telling me what you’re here for? I’m busy writing a response to a trainee’s request for a leave of absence. His sister is late in pregnancy, and the family needs to be there for her during childbirth.”

“You will be denying this request, correct?”

“No, I was thinking of accepting it. We do not currently require maximum manpower, after all, so—”

“Deny it.”

Jon pursed his lips. “Do you mind telling me why?”

“He’ll be put on the front lines of our new mission.”

“What new mission? And why him? You don’t even know which of my men I was talking about.”

“I want him because men like that are disposable, so the front lines will suit him well. And the new mission is what I came here to talk to you about.”

Jon placed his pen down on the table, fighting off a scowl. He understood the concept of the greater good—he’d predicated his entire life off of that, after all—but when he had to make a sacrifice for such a thing, he did so somberly. Asmo was clearly eager to let others die for her cause. And he suspected she would do the same even if her cause didn’t align with what was right. But for now, he would have to work with her if he wanted to save lives.

“Anyway. Because of that Faerie thing that’s been bothering us, our superior Demon is asking me to send out forces to kill the fugitive now, rather than continuing with our original plan of regrouping and amassing power. As much as I disagree with that order, I have no choice but to at least make an attempt, and as such I will be sending out a company of soldiers to attempt to hunt down the fugitive.”

“So you want me to give you a list of names, then? I can send out a few soldiers to get this done. Really, I feel that it might be a good thing for a fire to be lit under our seats. The number of casualties caused by these Demons grows by the day, so getting this done sooner rather than later would be preferable.”

Asmo rolled her eyes. “This will not work. I have no confidence in the operation. A good plan is laid out weeks in advance, pondered upon for countless hours by countless people, with every eventuality considered. This is hasty, emotional, rushed decision-making that will not stand the test of implementation. And it only interferes with our true goals as Humans to gain an upper hand over these Demons, anyway. What a waste.”

“Perhaps you could do well to learn some flexibility, miss Asmo. Not everything can be done only after having weeks to prepare. Some issues require immediate attention. If Arlan dies, it could be a massive success for the kingdom.”

Asmo stared at Jon for some time, then eventually huffed out a breath of air and spoke. “Well. Anyway, it will not only be nameless soldiers going on this mission. Some important people will be going as well. Relevant to this conversation: you.”The initial posting of this chapter occurred via Ñøv€l-B!n.

“I did not. I would not be sending such valuable, trustworthy troops with you if I thought that.”

Jon frowned. “You want me to do something else while I’m there.”

Asmo took a breath, standing in the quiet room. She turned to look around, glancing over the simple wooden furniture and the plain red carpet below her. Eventually, she settled on staring out the window on the right wall. The sun shone through, but avoided her face. She opened her mouth, still staring out the window. “If you find a woman named Ripley Tenet...bring her to me. Or...tell her, ‘Asmo would like to see you.’”

“Ripley Tenet? I know that name. Wasn’t she on the VIP team as well? I don’t believe I ever formally met her before she disappeared. Is that why you want a larger force? To find her?”

“Yes. In fact, make it your main objective.”

Jon stared at her incredulously. “Finding this woman is more important than killing Arlan? I’m sorry, I might need some justification for that. Why do you want this woman so much?”

Jon saw Asmo’s face shift in a strange way at his question. For the first time since he’d met her, he thought he might have just seen her smile. It was miniscule, for a fraction of a second, but unquestioningly did happen. For what reason, he had no idea. But the moment passed just as it began, and Asmo said in her typical, plain tone, “She will help.”

“But how could she add more to our efforts than the accomplishing of our main goal could?”

Asmo turned to look Jon in the eyes. “She will. Not everything is about the fugitive. That is important for now, yes. But killing him is a means to an end. You wish to help as many people as possible, yes? Then help me amass power and I will give you what you need to do so.”

Jon sighed. What a difficult woman. “Okay. What does she look like? I doubt we’ll be able to find anyone with just a name.”

“She is a tall woman,” Asmo said. “Short hair, strong build, attractive features.”

“Attractive? What do you mean? That’s very subjective.”

“She will most likely seek you out when she learns that you have entered the empire. You will not have to look for long.”

Jon nodded slowly. “...Right. Should I write this down so I can tell it to the people I bring along?”

“Feel free.”

“Great.” He bent down to grab some parchment from a drawer. “Oh, by the way, what should I do if we find Arlan in a populated location?”

“I don’t understand the question.”

“If he’s around other people, do you not anticipate complications coming about from public combat?”

He could visibly see the frustration flicker across her face. “If you care about the greater good, then you should be comfortable with a few innocent deaths. Cause as much destruction as is necessary to accomplish the tasks I have given you.”

As much as Jon hated this woman, he at least agreed with her there. If he needed to murder some people to get to Arlan, he would do it. He wouldn’t like it, but he would do it. Anything to end this hell-on-earth.