Chapter 364: Surprises for Surprises
Chapter 364: Surprises for Surprises
I woke up to see myself in Bernard's mansion in Arturo. Seems like after falling asleep, no one wakes me up as they are still having a discussion.
I go to where everyone is to see if they made some plans for the cult or not.
"So, what will you do now?" I asked.
"We'll return to our own kingdom for now. As for you, the only thing we ask you for is to get stronger," Old man Henry said.
"And as our transport method. We need you to bring us back home," Lynn said.
Well, that's what I do most of the time. Though I stopped training as much as before because I have to teach now.
"Don't worry, Roy. I heard from Dean that you should have cover the lesson that can be taught. As for the rest, he said to not worry about teaching them at the moment. You don't need to teach anymore, and Sara can cover for you. You will be able to train hard again," Albert said.
"That's good. I want to at least be able to get my third contracted monster before the tournament. And if possible, I want to increase my air element level as well. Maybe I should practice in Monsters World then," I said.
"I Understand. As for the lineup for the tournament, you won't be in it anymore. But you will be busier because you need to travel more, and to have you find and kill or capture any cult members. We suspected that the cult will take action to all countries during the next tournament. And we will also add some more rules for the tournament, like more members as substitutions. So, we will delay the tournament as much as possible. Try to get much stronger during that period," Albert said.
So, the tournament will be delayed. That's nice. I still don't know how I can get stronger. I have only fought against weaker opponents now, and the only injury I received are just because I let down my guard, or some that I intentionally take because I was in a hurry.
If I enter Monsters World, I will be able to find stronger monsters to train with. And while I'm at it, it might be a good idea to scout the next monster I want to get as my third summon.
Once I become and advanced level summoner, I'll eat another Pear-y Fruit. I hope I can still become expert level, or even Master level in the future.
And once my summoning level improved, I can make more portal as well. That is also important.
Hmm… I guess I should make some excuses to Daniel why I'm leaving him again.
Sigh… if only the cult would just destroy itself.
"Wait, someone is coming. It's one of the maids here," I said.
I can see a woman in maid uniform is approaching us and stopped before the door to this room. She knocked on the door lightly.
"What is it?" Bernard asked.
"Prince Bernard, there's someone here to see you. He said he's a messenger from the king himself and has an important message to deliver to you. He's staying at the inn before going to meet you later in the evening."
Messenger from the king while the king himself is here? All of us looked at the king who is confused himself and shakes his head in denial.
"No, it wasn't me. It must be from the fake king," Harold said.
"It's from the fake king, but you still can't reject the messenger. Meet him here somewhere I can listen," Albert said. He's thinking of listening to detect if the messenger will speak lies or not.
"Wait! He's not alone. Two guards, no explosive devices. We don't know if any one of them, or even the messenger himself is a member of the cult. Maybe all of them, including the messenger, are expert level mages from the cult," I said as I looked at the closest inn where I found the messenger.
"You can see them?" Lynn asked.
"They stayed in the closest inn here. And they are checking this mansion. Albert, if you want to hide, I don't think you can if any one of them is expert level mage. How about you pretend to be a butler? Carmen and I will pretend to be Bernard's guards," I suggested.
"Alright. As for the others… you can go home now. As for Harold, Fabio, and Luna—"
"I'll stay. I won't listen in the same room, but I'll pretend that I'm a servant here as well," Fabio interrupted.
"Hal and Luna will go with me to Varadis. I think my place is safe now after that time with Roy there," Old man Henry suggested.
After making sure that the messenger of the king and his guards are too far to detect my magic, I send old man and the others back to their own kingdom, with Harold and Luna following old man Henry.
Harold can now walk with the help of a walking cane. His muscles have recovered slightly, but he still has difficulty walking, so he still spends most of the time in a wheelchair.
We prepared ourselves before the messenger arrive. And just in case, I told Sonia to ask Toni if he knows anything.
"Toni said that he doesn't know it. He never heard of this from the fake king himself," Sonia said.
Well, this has become more confusing.
"Tell him that it's better to not ask the fake king about this just in case," Albert said. And Sonia disappears again.
Later that evening, the messenger finally arrives soon after with his two guards.
Albert who is pretending as a butler, opened the door and lead the three to the meeting room where Carmen and I have waited. Other than Bernard, the four of us including Fabio who is in the next room, are wearing disguises using Blobbies just in case.
Now that I get a closer look, I can see that the three are also wearing disguises like fake beard or wig. I informed Bernard and Carmen about this while Albert is bringing them here.
It's a brave move from Albert to confront the three alone. Does he have faith in his strength? Or is it because he knew I'm watching?
"Welcome. Now, what message do you bring from the (fake) king?" Bernard said.
There's a pause between his word. He couldn't say that the king now is a fake, so he whispered it in low volume so no one could hear it. But I did.
"Before that, this is not a place for strangers to hear it. I don't want your guards or your servant to hear about the message," the messenger said.
"I refuse. These people here are those I trust the most. If they can't hear it, I won't hear it either," Bernard said.
"…even if those people can betray you in the future?" the messenger asked.
"They will not. Even if they did, it will only because of my fault," Bernard said.
"…fine. But what you hear can't be leaked outside no matter what."
"That depend on the content of the message."
No further conversation was made. Bernard refused to let us leave, but the messenger insists on making us leave.
Then, one of the guards patted the messenger on the shoulder.
"It's okay. We are risking our lives just by being here. If we die, there's nothing we can do," the guard said.
I think I got the gist of it. They are really not a messenger from the fake king. There's no way someone as important as a messenger would let a guard touches his shoulder like that.
"Sigh… okay. We are actually not messengers from the king," the fake messenger said.
Nailed it!
And as I'm acting as Bernard's guard, I stepped forward in between Bernard and the fake messenger to protect Bernard.
"We're not here to cause trouble. Actually… sigh… whatever. I'll just take off this disguise," the guard who patted the messenger then removed his disguise.
I don't know the guy, but it seems that it's a face that Bernard knows.
"Francesco!?" Bernard was shocked to see the face of someone he knows here.
"And me as well," the other guard also removed his disguise.
"Dominic!?"
"I guess it's my turn now," this time, it's the messenger.
"Roberto!? Why are you here!?" Bernard asked.
"You know them?" I asked Bernard.
"They are my brothers!"
The three are Bernard's and Fabio's brothers?
"We are here because—"
"Wait! Your turn is over. It's now our turn," I interrupted the fake guard's sentence. The one who removed his disguise first, Francesco.
"You sure like weird things, huh?"
As expected, Albert who understands me removes his disguise first.
"""King Albert!?"""
"It's good that you know me. Next is someone more important than me to you," Albert said.
This time, Carmen stepped forward and removes her disguise.
"I missed you three," Carmen said.
"""Queen Carmen!?"""
Haha! They have the same reactions as Bernard!
"Lastly, it's me!" I removed my disguise as well.
"""…who?"""
"That's the expected reaction! Well, let's get the others here as well. FABIO, COME HERE!"
I called Fabio's name loudly. He's in the next room, but I shouted so loud because this is just so interesting.
"Huh? Fabio?" the fake messenger is confused.
And then, after hearing my shout, Fabio hurriedly entered the room and surprised to see his three brothers.
"Francesco? Dominic? Roberto?"
"""You're alive!?"""
"That's not all. I'll get the others."
I opened a portal toward the Blobby in old man Henry's possession, and a portal opened right in front of him.
"Get the man in wheelchair and his daughter here," I said.
"""King Henry!?"""
Of course the three know who old man is. They looked at the portal curiously and see someone they know on the other side.
Seeing the three, old man realized what happened, and a few seconds later, Luna appears while pushing his father's wheelchair.
"Father! And Luna as well!?"
"What the hell is going on here!?"
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Obviously, surprises for surprises.