Chapter 271: 271:

"How much do you trust me?" Cain asks King James, who immediately looks dubious. In his experience that phrase very rarely leads to anything positive. 

"A little. What did you have in mind?"

"I would like to reveal to the people in this room who you are and make some arrangements for after your return to the Capital," Cain suggests, and James nods.

"That shouldn't be an issue; the rest of your inner circle already knows."

Cain has Nemu transform the King back into his own young teenage human appearance, complete with the Red and gold fancy outfit they found him in and Damien gasps in shock, recognizing his liege. On the other side of the transformed King, Svetlana is just waiting on the big reveal, as she doesn't know who he is. 

"Gerald was indeed King James. We brought him on a little adventure to get some levels and meet the common people. He has to return tonight for court tomorrow, so I need to leave with him, but I would like to send a clone of Gwen with him. Both as a bodyguard and a trusted companion." Cain tells the shocked administrator. 

"I'm desperately short on people I can trust in the castle. My family is all dead and the staff was almost entirely replaced with those loyal to various oligarchs. Most of my advisors are actively working to make things worse and encouraging attacks throughout the country in an attempt to incite a popular rebellion to have me overthrown and let one of them ascend to the throne. Even if it's just one pie loving Kitsune, it's an improvement." King James explains as if he didn't have the authority to command Gwen to be sent with him. Cain was sure he wouldn't, or he would have kept his idea to himself. 

"Is this because of what you did for us? Because of the Magna Carta?" Damien asks, almost too shocked to speak at all. 

"No, it started before that. It didn't help, I'm certain, but the goal for many oligarchs during the succession struggle was to replace the Royal line with a new one completely. We had hoped that the Royal Uncle Archduke Ferdinand might be able to counterstrike and bring things back under control, but a little over a month passed while we waited, and then we received his head by messenger. He was one of the staunchest supporters for reform despite running his own territory in a rather old fashioned manner."

"He was a good neighbor." Damien agrees. 

"So, what's the plan? If you fly back with the King, the other Dukes will lose their minds." Svetlana points out. 

"The palace is protected against teleportation-type abilities, and disguise abilities don't work in the Royal Quarters." King James adds. That definitely adds a layer of difficulty to the whole endeavor. 

"How about we fly in on a Dark Phoenix? I will drop you and shift back into the void, then Gwen can use an illusion to get you close to your rooms? I'll fly back here and return the conventional way with the others later?"

"That's acceptable to us. It seems We shall be in your debt Duke Cain. Both for the insight into our country and for a loyal protector."

"Don't worry, your Highness. Once we get you home, I'll weed out all the treacherous servants. Hiding emotions and intentions from a Kitsune is nearly impossible. They might be reporting to the Dukes, but they won't all be traitors." Gwen actually seems eager to take in the task, despite the impression of being an irresponsible and fun loving furball she gave when she first arrived. 

They're running low on time; just before dark, the castle staff will be expecting King James to come out and get the briefing for the next day's petitions. The day starts with six hours of the King listening to the Nobles, followed by a luncheon, then commoner petitions for four hours after lunch. 

The mornings are often ultra-wealthy men talking to hear their voice, not suggesting anything productive. The afternoon is the opposite, hectic and rushed. So many commoners line up to be heard that each only gets a single minute to make their case. If they do, they're referred to a bureaucrat who will get the details.

King James didn't particularly enjoy either portion of the day, but until he managed to sneak out and meet Cain and his Companions, it was his only contact with the ordinary people. 

Cain calls the Dark Phoenix to take them to the capital, and one copy of Gwen transforms into her bright white fox form. Like this, she will pass as a pet until someone thinks to scan her while she's somewhere that she can't hide her status with an illusion. 

King James looks a little extra pale at the sensation of flying through the void, so Cain provides a distraction, telling the King to think about what skills he wants to learn to influence his class selection.

He randomly rolled as a child when his system activated to get the Paladin Class, but there are several directions he could go from here since he has so many skill points and should be able to gain access to a variety of skill books. 

The Skyview Royal Family has an extensive skill library and an inscriptionist on staff, so whatever he needs, he can get made for him in short order. 

"I think I want to be a Crusader. So if I choose the offensive skills and have them make me some healing and combat skills, it should become available, right?" James asks. 

"I'm not an expert, but that sounds right. Maybe get them to make you a couple of debuff style skills as well, to be safe." If nothing else, the variety of non damaging skills should keep him from getting stuck with a selection of warrior type classes instead of a Paladin successor. 

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The Dark Phoenix signals that they're at the castle and ready to transfer, so Cain warns the others. "You'll be dropped as close as possible to your rooms. Then, I'll have to run. See you in the morning, Your Majesty. Keep him safe, Gwen."

The Phoenix doesn't even fully enter reality, only flicking Gwen and James off its back and onto a balcony outside the Royal Quarters. The workers feel a hint of the Dark Phoenix's aura of dark magic in the levels below for a split second, but discount it as one of the castle'smany magical classes at work.

They arrived within the spells, out in the open for anyone watching the palace from that side to see, and James panicked about causing a wave of rumors. That's the last thing he needs, rumors run wild within the nobility, and can be incredibly damaging when manipulated. Fortunately, Gwen has used an illusion to hide them from sight, it's simply not visible from the inside, so King James couldn't tell.

To those watching the King's quarters from afar, it only looks like the wind blew the curtains of the open patio door apart as the two enter the palace, bringing them safely inside the Royal Quarters, where none without Royal blood can enter without permission. At least in theory, the servants seem to find a great many tasks necessary to complete within the Royal Quarters. Far too many in James's opinion. 

Gwen transforms from a Fox back into her humanoid form once they're out of sight, using a flick of magic to close the doors. 

"You should order the skill books now to use them after the evening meetings. If they don't give you the class you want, your can order more to use in the morning. What's for our midnight snack?"

James smiles at the Kitsune and sends a message to the kitchen, asking for a special treat before stroking the tails of his new friend. "I've got the ultimate midnight snack coming. Twenty different kinds of pie and dessert squares. A sample of every flavor the kitchen has in stock."

James orders the skill books he needs, startling the inscription team, who hasn't seen a Royal Procurement in months now and settles in with Gwen and the snacks to mentally prepare for the evening briefing. 

Meanwhile, Cain had safely made it back to Long Fang City on the Dark Phoenix. The next order of business is to find a welcoming gift. Preferably an item made by the Guild that is Suitable for a Crusader Class King. It at least something that might be useful to the young regent.

They don't have much on hand, focusing on random things and skill gains lately, but Dimnys assures him that she can have something ready for the morning to give to the King whenever Cain gets the chance. 

The next item on the to do list is to modify the transport circle in the outer gardens of the Manor. As the cornerstone building of a noble territory, Cain can't assign it to the Guild, but it has a link to the capital in the yard. It takes a few minutes to understand the system menu for the territory, but after that, it's a simple process to add more locations to the spell.

The only Guild location in a range that he has a link to is the Keep in the Demon Capital, but that's enough to connect the Long Fang Valley to the rest of the Guild Properties. 

That circle is also in the yard and locked to Guild Members only, a setting that Cain adds to the one here at the Manor so there are no worries of unwanted visitors at either end, but now they can freely walk between countries. 

The news from the east side of the continent is getting worse and worse, with even more cities falling, but they finally learned what the King of Behar wanted with that special silk. He's made himself a [Cloak of Monstrous Control], an item that targets one specific species for mind control to follow the wearer's commands. 

Only, he wasn't satisfied with just any monster; he managed to modify the recipe to target humans. All human visitors and hostile forces entering Behar have been enslaved or massacred by the King and his forces. An incredible bit of evil genius. 

Assah has been doing well, still maintaining its open port status, essentially a Pirate Port now, and business is booming. 

There have been a lot of new arrivals at the castle, two dozen of Lancelot's Knights and a few of Princess Gurda's warriors. They haven't been advertising their location, but when a familiar face shows up, they have the castle defenders bring them into hiding and swear them to secrecy.

Other than those deliberately looking for Blood Sands Castle, as everyone now knows it, they don't get many visitors. The brutal reputation of the Darklight Host and remote location is enough to discourage any of the forces active in the war from attempting to conquer the fortress.

There have still been a few small-scale attacks, but nothing that Maggie and Sora couldn't turn away quickly. Unlike Companions, Lieutenants' summons aren't restricted to one category, so far they've managed to stage a very effective defense against anything that came at them without involving the rest of the Guild. 

They're also exceedingly happy with the recent level-up. Being even a handful of levels higher gives them a comfortable advantage against enemies in the region.

Last on the list for the night is for Cain to finish out his skills and see what might be available for advanced classes. A moment he's been dreading all day.

"What if they're no good? What direction should I even be trying to go? Should I pick a Summoning class again?" Misha listens to Cain ramble for a few minutes before dragging him to bed and thoroughly taking his mind off system related issues. 

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