Chapter 75: A Surprise

Chapter 75: A Surprise

Early Morning - Late Spring : Kingdom of Kaelallan

It wasn’t until sunrise that I finally headed back to the palace. I had spent nearly the entire night just flying around and stargazing, but also took some time to get the lay of the land. -Although there isn’t much other than forest here...-

At present, I was winding my way down a few hallways in an attempt to get to Helen’s office.

Thankfully though, it didn't take too long to find. -This should be it.-

*Click* As the door swung open, I came into a room lined with bookshelves with two couches, a coffee table, and a desk in front of a large window. -I wonder what these books are about...- "Good morning Helen."

"..good morning..." Hearing her lethargic greeting, I turned back to see Helen sitting at her desk with bags under her eyes.

"You should really get some sleep."

"I will, here shortly..." *Yawn* "So I called you this morning to inform you about some things. It should only take a second, but if you’d like to sit and have some tea, feel free."

"No thanks, I'm heading to the academy library right after this, so..."

"Alright. In that case, I’ll be quick. First things first, the librarian at the academy is a top rank information broker. If you need any information about this half of the continent, he can get it for you. Just be aware that, on top of the information being absurdly expensive, he only answers the bare minimum, so be very careful what you ask."

-I knew something about him felt off...- "Alright, good to know."

"Second, please keep your eye out while you are at the academy. If you see anything suspicious, please at least report it." Her lethargy vanished as she spoke. "Since the attempted assassination of my husband, we have found several spies among knights and nobles. I feel bad to ask more from you but-"

"No, it's alright. It's not like it's anything major."

"Phew... Thank you..."

"Haha, no worries."Fiind updated novels at novelhall.com

We continued talking for another moment after that before Helen’s sleepiness eventually caught up with her.

*Tap* As she laid her head down on the desk like she was going to take a nap when we finished the important stuff.

"Want me to call in a maid to get you a pillow?"

"No, it's alright..."

"Haha, alright then... Well, have a good nap."

"Mmm.." She let out a lethargic groan as I walked out of her office. *Click*

I made my way out into the courtyard after that to wait for the carriage to the academy but ended up casually playing with Ilios to pass the time.

Playing made time pass quicker than I expected though. "Good morning!"

-Hm?- Stopping just short of Ilios, I turned to see Lucy and Viviana walking out of the palace with beaming smiles. "You guys must've had a good night."

"Well of course!" Lucy seemed to be in an especially good mood.

-Seems like Viviana got used to everything after all.- It took her a while to warm up, but things eventually worked out.

After that, we quickly boarded the carriage and made our way to the academy.

The ride was filled with Lucy and Viviana’s gossip about class and classmates, but I simply muffled their voices with magic until we finally arrived and I could head to the library.

"Do you plan to be in the library all day again?" Lucy stopped to look at me as I reached for the handle to the library door.

"Yeah, at least that’s the plan." She gave me a disappointed look before I finally opened up the door. *Click* -No one’s here again?-

"Ah... Let me check." He immediately went rummaging through his drawer again before pulling out a fairly thick stack of papers. *flip-flip-flip-flip* "Uh.. 4 mages, 3 archers, and 5 melee fighters."

-Damn...- They had a good layout on top of the fact that, even without counting their teamwork, I would need to actually be somewhat careful. -Even for me, 12 Nation ranks at once is too much...- "Alright, that’s all I need to know for now. Thanks for the information."

Although I wanted to continue looking through the library after that, the information I got was a bit too urgent. -I need to talk to Oliver ASAP...-

Immediately leaving the library and dashing across rooftops to get back to the palace as quickly as possible, the scenario finally started to weigh on me. -I'm sure I could take care of them quite comfortably in my dragon form, but it’ll be troublesome for my humanoid one...-

The only thing I could think of was the consequences of letting Kaelallan get destroyed. -I think Mother and Father would actually disown me...-

Finally making it to Oliver’s office, I watched as a maid opened up the door with a carefree expression, reminding me of the librarian. -Wait.. Wasn’t he a bit too carefree even after knowing that information?-

But before I could think much about it, the door swung open. *Click*

"Oh, you're still here?" Oliver likely thought it was odd seeing me enter his office just a couple hours after leaving for the academy.

But now wasn’t the time for small talk. "We need to talk, now."

His face immediately turned serious as he set aside everything on his desk.

"I'm going to need the payment for the contract early, or else Kaelallan will be in one hell of a predicament." In all honesty, my confidence against all of those Nation ranks wasn’t low, but it wasn’t high enough either.

Oliver furrowed his brow seeing that I wasn’t joking. "Those are some alarming words. Where are you getting the information to make that conclusion?"

"From an information broker Helen recommended me." -The more I think about him, the more suspicious he is, but I don't think spies are what I should be worrying about right now.-

"Oh, him..." Oliver cringed slightly. "You can take whatever you’d like when you feel like you need it, but I need you to explain just how Kaelallan will fall without it. We aren't weak enough to fall so easily." He seemed quite unhappy that I implied Kaelallan would fall without me.

So I quickly gave him a quick overview of the information, but he immediately got nervous.

"T..twelve? How did I not hear about any of that?"

"I don't know if my father will make it back in time, but I don’t want him fighting alone anyway. I plan to go out tonight and either catch them off guard or intercept them so we can fight without eyes around."

"In that case, I will get the academy grandmaster and Lawton to go with you-"

"No, they can't come."

Oliver paused for a moment. "And why is that?"

"If things go south.. I don't want any allies in the area."

Likely assuming what I meant, he finally agreed. "Please take anything you may need from the vault.."

"Thanks. I'll be sure to stop them, so don't worry." I gave him a confident smile as I turned to the door and left.

*Click*

- Oliver ~

*Click*

As Vasilias left the room, I turned and looked out the window. "How could I possibly agree to let you go alone."

I knew deep down that Vasilias wanted to be alone so he could simply wipe them out in his dragon form, but.. -12 Nation Ranks is simply too much...- Finally working up some determination, I called in an older butler.

"Greetings to your highness." He gave a deep bow as he walked in.

"Summon Lawton Keen and the Grandmaster please." -Two people knowing you’re a dragon is just a cost that must be paid to save your life, Vasilias.-