19 One Man Army
Nefion was part of the royal family. Arthur expected a luxurious room, but what he saw was worse than most inns.
“What is this place? Did you see that? It’s a rat, a rat,” Arthur pointed to a rat who ran after seeing them.
“Kid, I hadn’t been in here in years. Did you think this would be clean? It wasn’t clean when I lived here, HAHAHA!”
The room had only the basics. It did not have a bathroom, but Nefion assured him he never pooped inside his room. But the place was dirty and dusty. It was a secret room, so there were no windows, and no one knew about it.
It was all dark, so Nefion waved his hand and created a ball of light. It was a basic spell from the light element.
“Wow. You sure know a lot of spells, grandpa. And you hate mages. Imagine if it was the contrary.”
“Shut up, brat. Perhaps you want this place dark so the rats can crawl on us?”
“You know what? Congratulations on creating that ball of light. You’re awesome,” Arthur clapped.
They sat on two dusty wooden chairs, facing each other. They had three days to figure out who killed Jonan so Arthur wouldn’t take the blame. And they also had to uncover what the hell was happening with the king. It was no easy task, so losing time was out of the question.
“Okay, first of all. Jonan’s killer lives inside the palace or is someone who can get in without asking permission,”
“I’m assuming this is the first case. As you said, you are the only one that came recently to the palace. It has to be someone who lives here, but who?”
The worst part was that both of them did not know anyone. Arthur recently showed up, so he only knew a few people from the kitchen. And Nefion, well, he was locked for many years.
“Maybe we can bring someone to help us?”
“Are you sure, brat? Who in their sane mind would believe in us?”
~~~~
“I believe in you, Arthur. I knew you wouldn’t do that. They blamed you because you recently came to this place. But don’t worry, we will find the culprit.”
Hily was the person they went for help. Arthur trusted her after everything that happened.
“I told you she would believe in us. Now, what treasure will you give me?”
Nefion pretended he would give something to him and said, “I’m saving your ass. Doesn’t that count?”
“And I’m trying to save your granddaughter. Doesn’t that count?”
“Damn, brat. You’re clever for your age. Fine, after all this mess is over, I’ll give you something. Not because I like you, but because you look like a beggar.”
“YOU! For a moment, I thought you’re getting better, but you’re still a madman, a MADMAN.”
Hily stood there, watching everything, and could only think of one thing.
“Ah, they look like family.”
After the argument was over, it was time to think about possible suspects. It was not an easy task. Jonan was the prince, so he had many servants that did most of his daily things. He also interacted with people, and anyone could try to harm him.
Hily tried her best to come up with a list of suspects, but she wasn’t someone who interacted a lot with Jonan, so it was hard to know everything.
“What about the other prince?”
“What about him?” Hily couldn’t see how the other prince would try to harm his brother.
“If I’m not mistaken, the king is getting older and will soon give the throne to his son. Jonan was the oldest, but in the case of his death, the other prince would take over.”
Arthur and Hily listened to Nefion’s words and went into deep thought. Arthur could see that happening, as it was not uncommon in these royal families. Hily also thought it made sense, but the other prince always treated other people nicely.
“But what if the other prince is not the prince anymore?” Arthur said.
Hily frowned her eyebrows, without knowing what it meant, but Nefion understood.
“You’re smart, kid. But doesn’t this mean that the creature is ruining the family?”
Barion was a lost cause. Jonan died, and perhaps the other prince was also corrupted by the demon. It was a blow the royal family wouldn’t recover.
“Hily, is the prince inside the palace?”
“Hily?”
“Hily!”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Everything here is so crazy that I was away for a second. What did you say?”
“Is the prince inside the palace?”
“No. I heard he’s doing some business in the city and will be back by tomorrow.”
“Okay, this will give us time to prepare.”
~~~~
Arthur headed back to his room to grab his things. Guards were no longer inside, so he got everything with ease. Of course, it was only due to the shadow technique Nefion taught him.
Speaking of Nefion, he was on his task of finding where Jane was locked.
“Arthur, you understand that we need to kill the king and the prince if he’s working with a demon.”
“I do.”
“But you know that we might be able to clear your name and find whoever killed Jonan, but you’ll still be a wanted man after killing the king. We will not be able to live in this kingdom anymore.”
“I know.”
“You know, and yet you’ll participate in this?”
“Yes.”
“Good, good.”
Nefion was pleased after hearing that. But Arthur had a different reason for helping. First, he would need to flee this kingdom in about two months, so what did it change to do it before? Even if he only rescued Jane, and not killed the king, he would still be a wanted man for ‘kidnapping the princess.’
So, why not help Nefion kill the king, who was a demon that could ruin the entire kingdom? No one would recognize their deeds, but that did not matter. They would be long gone anyway.
“But Nefion. Our initial plan was to flee with Jane during the feast the royal family will host in about a month. Wisa, who is a teacher back in our academy, would show up and help me.”
“Huh, can you explain to me where this academy is? I’ll go there and talk with the president to explain everything.”
“What? It took us days using a carriage to get here. How would you arrive there in a day?”
“Huh? In a day? Kid, I’ll be back in three hours, or less. Three days, damn. Are people so weak nowadays?”
What Nefion said was crazy, but somehow Arthur believed in him. He told Nefion how to get to the academy, and also told him some secrets that only Marget would know to make sure they trusted Nefion. With that, Nefion left in a hurry.
Before leaving, he asked Arthur to stay inside their hidden room and practice the new skills he taught him. These would be crucial after the plan when they had to flee.
Arthur practiced the same thing, over and over again. Meanwhile, a madman was running towards Frostpeak Magic Academy.
Nefion was so fast that no one could even see him. In one hour and a half, he was in front of the academy. The place had many layers of protection, including magic arrays that even Marget would not be able to pass through.
“The brat told me they had magic arrays. What is this shit?” Nefion passed through it as if it was paper.
Inside Marget’s office, someone rushed in, screaming.
“President, president. We have a problem. All of the magic arrays are broken. It has to be an army trying to destroy us.”
“What?”
Marget got up from her chair, preparing herself to battle against an army of people. But then, an old man showed up in front of her office.
“Hello, Marget. We need to talk. It is urgent.”
The person who came to warn Marget about the invasion was scared but couldn’t let someone hurt the president.
“Who do you think you are to show up here?”
“Oh, I’m sorry young lady. But I need to talk with Marget alone. Could you leave, please? And don’t forget to lock the doors.”
“How dare you?”
The woman grabbed her magic book and started to draw magic symbols mid-air. Wind gathered above the magic symbols, creating a small hurricane. Nefion watched all of that, and he was not impressed at all.
“Kids these days…”
Nefion vanished and appeared behind the woman who was casting the spell. He slapped her neck with his right hand, and the woman was knocked out in a second.
Marget watched everything unfold, and she was scared. She could not follow the movements of that old man. He was way stronger than anyone she had ever seen.
“Now, please. Arthur sent me, and we have a lot to discuss. Things got complicated, and he may have to kill the king and flee the kingdom tomorrow.”
Marget was silent for a moment, and then she screamed.
“WHAT?”