Chapter 24: Prologue(Volume 2) – Bad Omen

In a room of the Royal Palace were two men sitting at a table eating, both had steaks with lentils and drinking wine.

The man on the right was stocky and tall, his hair was red with black roots, his eyes were the same color. His face had a large diagonal scar running down his nose to his cheek, giving the impression of being angry with a touch of rudeness. His name was Sven van Arses, a general, Earl of Altfode Kingdom and he was known as the God of War.

In contrast, the man at the other end was taller, with handsome features and a mature expression, his beard was short but very thin. His hair and eyes were lime green and extended down his back to his waist. He was Heinkel van Nightray, a general and Margrave of the same kingdom, he was nicknamed the Noble Strategist for his great deeds.

Both were legends in the country, they were of unequal personalities which always led to quarrels between them, but still they were close friends as they were both patriots who loved and fought for the good of their country.

Their dinner was something special as they were discussing about a trivial matter.

"How is your son?" asked Sven with his mouth full spitting out scraps of meat.

Heinkel, after covering his face with a napkin, answered politely, but with a very annoyed tone.

"That's fine thank you. I punished him after his defeat, but only for getting overconfident, I told him many times that the battlefield no matter how safe it is will always have risks."

Having finished speaking, he proceeded to eat while his companion after a long sip of wine replied.

"My boy is an idiot, I always told him that, if you are not stronger than your enemy, you will end up dead, and you see what happened. I didn't punish him, I just beat him badly... losing to a peasant, how humiliating."

Sven, looked at his plate after thinking of his son's humiliating defeat, shouted to one of the servants for more wine.

The servant rushed over and apologized for the delay, Sven told him to go away using his hand. Heinkel looked at him with a face that said it was embarrassing to be with him.

Before putting a vegetable in his mouth, he spoke.

"Speaking of that camp-country baron. Did you hear that His Majesty the King, pardoned him for beating the crown prince? Not only that, he also rewarded him by giving him a knighthood!"

Sven swallowed his food before answering him.

"I know. I'm upset about that, that boy should have been sent to the gallows for beating up the crown prince... no, the prince, now he's no more."

There was an awkward silence after that, the servants in the room were troubled by the sudden silence.

Sven resumed the conversation.

"Moving on to something truly important, how's that spy business you found going?"

Heinkel wiped his mouth before answering him.

"He committed suicide."

"T-that's a joke isn't it?"

"I'm afraid not, since he swallowed a pill he had hidden under his tongue. The bastard didn't even say one respect to his country so as to avoid trouble."

Sven, after finishing his meal wiped his mouth with several napkins and then a servant came by to pick up his plate. He replied in a more serious tone to his companion.

"Nothing can be done, for my part I discovered a strange burned document in a camp on an island of commoners."

"Hmph, very interesting, what did it contain?"

"It was... how did you explain it? It was oddly shaped."

"Odd you say?"

"Yes. It was long, very long in fact, bigger than a canoe. It had a plank at each end of half its body and..."

"And?" -Heinkel said with an expression of utmost curiosity.

Sven had a complicated look on his face as he answered him.

"Well, it was shaped like a ship's propeller... but it wasn't made of wood, it was made of steel."

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"Steel, you say!!!? Something like that should be impossible to use since the spinning will slow down the takeoff a lot."

"I know, but the weirdness doesn't end there."

"There's more?"

"Let me finish... where do you think I found that clue?"

"You said it was an island of commoners, right? What do you mean now?"

Sven gave a nasty grin after that.

"It was near the border of the Duchy Kingsfort."

Heinkel quickly got up from his chair making it fall.

"The Duchy Kingsfort you say!!!"

"Calm down." -Sven told him so he wouldn't get worked up.

"As you hear, but it is very quick to come to a conclusion. It is true that for years the Kingsfort family has had numerous and mysterious cases of corruption and that they all justly ended in lies."

"But this is serious business, they are our only defense against the Talis Commonwealth and one of the largest mithril mines is located there, so the palace has little authority."

Sven put his furry hand to his chin.

"I don't know what's been going on recently, but the duke has been holed up in his territory lately without coming out."

Heinkel had listened to him for a while after rising from his chair, his turn to speak came at last, but his words made the entire room swallow saliva in unison.

"Months ago I was hunting the mercenary group, the [Black Ouroboros], their whereabouts are currently without a trace thanks to the Kingsfort Duchy."

The people around him could not believe it.

"Hey, you're serious!!!! No matter what bastards they are, no. No matter what human scum you are, making a deal with those guys is an international crime. The empire itself even supports by hunting them down attached between different organizations in order to eliminate them!!!"

"Has the duke lost his mind? Because they wouldn't let you in!"

Heinkel looked at him without blinking.

"I told them the same thing, but they said they would take care of it. What would be a means to a pardon... according to that, the duke doesn't leave his territory, they're trying to say that too."

Sven looked with an annoyed face at his calm companion.

"Those wretches what are they thinking of. don't they understand that that man is possibly in our country! Fear and chaos will spread if they know this."

After saying that aloud, Sven looked at the servants fiercely. Heinkel reassured him.

"Calm down, the servants are part of the palace, if they did something foolish, they would go after their families and then after them."

The servants swallowed saliva, then saying they wouldn't. Heinkel smiled slightly at that.

He watched his companion spouting insults at the servants.

His thoughts were solely on that person.

(Infiltrating a country that wants to cut your head off is a very stupid decision... or, maybe there's someone helping him?)

His gaze drifted to his wine which was turning dark.

(Damn you. Bloody knight)