บท 50: Arrival of Jack, Bob and Steve
Amadeus looked at the leaving scientist with a sharp look. His eyes of truth involuntarily activated during the meeting and despite the man's good intentions a hint off black would flicker by. Amadeus realised that throughout the meeting the man never looked at him in the eyes. With his suspicions increasing, he tapped his middle finger on the throne in which his ring and the throne's arm rest made a clear clank. The shadows behind the throne warped and Velia appeared, bowing next to Amadeus.
"Place a watch on him."
"Yes, your majesty."
Velia acknowledged the order and disappeared into the shadows while an unknown look plastered his face.
"How long before the three arrive?"
Eras spoke up,
"Even if we hasten their speed, it will take a few days at least for them to reach the capital."
Amadeus nodded at that before leaning back on his throne as he remembered back to the issue with the barrier. What irked him the most was the unknown. He didn't know when the barrier would collapse, he didn't know his enemy's strengths, numbers, nothing. All he could do was prepare.
While Amadeus drowned in his thoughts, the doors opened, and an imperial guard walked in. Hearing what he had to say, Amadeus' raised his eyebrow and got up.
"I guess I can take a little break. Get the normal carriage ready and the teleportation circle."
Stretching his body, Amadeus started walking towards one of the Palace towers. Erika and his maids caught up to him while Irene and Eras flanked them. Getting there, Amadeus stepped into what seemed a very ordinary carriage, however, upon entering it felt like he had entered a completely new world.
Although there was room for all of them, Eras disguised himself as an ordinary carriage driver while the rest sat inside. It wasn't spacious but it also wasn't crowded. The whole interior screamed comfort as special illusionary spells were placed along the outside of the whole carriage. The window especially looked as if it was covered by a curtain, but Amadeus could see everything outside. Not to lie, but Amadeus did feel a bit more nervous as it was the first time, he had entered the capital ever since the coronation.
As the teleportation circle flashed beneath the carriage, the carriage arrived in a vacant back alley and soon joined the carriages littering the road. Everywhere Amadeus looked, he was happy to see that the citizens were also happy. He could tell their smiles were genuine and that took off a slight weight from his shoulders. The carriage was like any other when travelling the streets of the city as it made its way to its destination.
The carriage then parked up onto the side and Amadeus' attention was grabbed by two figures constantly looking at a stable. The two looked like they were whispering to each other and pointing at the stable. They were naturally Arius and Rex who had left the palace. The Imperial guard notified him that the two had secretly left the Palace making Amadeus interested in why. Amadeus watched the two enter as he used 'Nepuko's Illusions' and materialised a crow in front of him. Letting it loose, he watched the bird take flight as he shared its visions.
There he saw Arius look at various horses and take a couple for a few rides before shaking his head. He went through a couple more stables before rejecting them as well. When he was leaving, he saw a carriage parked off to the side and just glanced over it. He then went on to a few more stables before giving up but this time he saw the same carriage parked to the side. The carriage driver gave him a familiar feeling, but when the latter turned to him, a surprised expression masked his face. Running to the carriage, Rex followed, confused as to where he was going.
The carriage door opened, and Arius looked in,
"Elder brother!"
A smile found Amadeus' lips as he looked at Arius get in. Seeing Rex behind him, a teasing smile found his lips and the doors closed. Rex was still running towards the carriage when the doors closed, and he ran head-first, straight into the door. With a loud thud, the people inside saw the door slowly open and their vision attracted by Rex lying on his back while rubbing his forehead. Turning to Arius, Amadeus opened his mouth.
"What is it Arius?"
"I need a horse."
"A horse?"
"Yes, a horse."
"Aren't the ones in the palace acceptable?"
"I want a horse like the one brother has. A partner not a steed."
Amadeus got to thinking as he leaned his cheek on his arm. Rex had slowly got up and entered the carriage stumbling slightly. He very respectfully sat down and looked at his shoes, they seemed slightly more interesting to him. This was the second time he had properly met Amadeus and the two times he had met him; he had suffered in some kind of way. He didn't know why the emperor was always teasing him, but he couldn't just go and reprimand him.
"So, you basically want a mount?"
Arius nodded while Amadeus continued,
"Does it have to be a horse?"
"Eh?"
Arius was raised an eyebrow as he held his chin and got to thinking.
"Thank you, brother."
Arius' face lit up as he jumped and hugged Amadeus. Ruffling his brother's hair, he realised that the addition of the two boys, the carriage had gotten slightly crowded. With another use of his illusionary powers, the crow in the sky dispersed and he changed his looks. Now he just looked like an ordinary commoner wearing tattered clothes. He got out of the carriage despite everyone's surprise and jumped onto the driver's seat with Eras.
Eras was surprised and was about to attack the boy due to his sudden appearance when Amadeus looked at him and flickered the illusion in his eyes, allowing Eras to see the special eyes only he was known to possess. Calming down, the carriage started moving as Amadeus leaned back, taking in the sights of the capital.
A few days later, a group of figures appeared at the gates of the capital city. They were all wearing robes and with the one in the lead showing the gatekeeper a medallion, they were easily able to enter. It was Tora along with Jack, Helena and a couple more people.
As soon as they entered, they got into a carriage already prepared for them. There were three of them in total and the other two seemed to already have occupants in them. Getting into the carriage, Helena asked Tora who was sitting in front of him,
"Where are we going?"
Tora just replied,
"To the Emerald Palace, to meet the Emperor. His orders were to see you as soon as possible."
Helena didn't have a chance to talk as the carriage started moving.
"Like this? But we have just arrived, I need to freshen up."
"Don't worry about it, all of it will be taken care of at the palace."
The three carriages made their way into a secret alley where they were teleported into a small building, just behind the palace walls. As Helena appeared there, she realised that her powers had slightly increased and it was growing, albeit slowly and only a miniscule amount. There was no news indicating their arrival and they were secretly transported into the palace. These figures were the ones that Amadeus had specially called into the capital.
As soon as they entered, they were immediately assigned a room where they would freshen up and get ready. While Helena dressed up properly, Jack just wore his suit of armour. He kept his blades and left the room, only to see a properly dressed Helena in front of him. Her loose robe was unable to hide her breasts as she crossed her arms beneath them.
"Mooh, Jack, why aren't you wearing any proper clothes?"
Before Jack could reply, a maid appeared telling them that it was time. A group coagulated outside the throne room and Helena got to see everyone waiting there. There were two other men that somehow reminded her off Jack in a way and their companions behind them. One of the men talked to them,
"Aren't they going to take away our weapons?"
An imperial guard guarding the door heard this and looked at the man who spoke,
"Even if we did, how will that change anything?"
Everyone looked at the imperial guard only to see him ignoring them. As one of them were about question him, the doors in front slowly creaked open. All their attention was attracted by the door opening as they quickly got into a neat line. The same Imperial guard moved forward and turned towards them,
"The priestess will enter first with the rest of you following. Behind her will be Jack the Killer of Goblins, Bob the Orc Slayer and Steve the Ogre Ripper, the three will then enter behind her and the rest of the companions will be at the back. Keep a slight distance between the three groups and don't look at the His Highness unless been given permission. That is all."
Everyone nodded as they walked in with the order given. They had already been given the details in how to act while Helena had gone through this training before. Amadeus watched as a rather young girl with conspicuous large assets walk in with three males following behind her. One was fully armoured, and Amadeus knew that it was the killer of goblins due to been given his details beforehand. In the middle was a masked figure that wore tight, black leather clothing. He had two daggers placed on both sides of his waist, and while his bald head had some light reflecting off it. He had his eyes closed but walked with steady and silent steps. He was Bob, the Orc Slayer. The last figure on the right was a humungous man that had a carcass draped over his back. It was of a three eyed wolf as its head was laying over the man's head, covering the man's hair and eyes. His light brown yet muscled torso was littered with scars while he wore shorts and shoes made of animal skin. He was also the one that revealed most of his body as he walked in with heavy steps. On both of his sides were two rather large weapons, one was an axe and the other was a mace. Across his shoulders was a bow with his quiver lying horizontally on the back of his waist. It was slightly angled to make it easier to reach and to prevent the arrows from falling out. He was Steve, the Ogre Ripper.
There was nobody behind Bob, making Amadeus attribute it to him being an assassin while Steve had one companion behind him. It was a female and she was also of an exotic light brown skin. With an unknown material covering her important and vital areas, the rest of her body was out in the open. She also carried a bow and arrow in a similar fashion, but she also had a sword and dagger on each side of her waist. She had black hair tied into a ponytail and tribal writing across her bare arms. She was Steve's sister, Joanna.
Jack was the only that had bought quite a few people, what surprised him was that apart from their being one old man, the rest were all girls.
There was a total of four girls behind him. One was professionally dressed with the symbol of the adventurer's guild and her brown hair fashioned into a braid cascading down her back. Her name was Jill and she was a receptionist from the guild branch back in Fearwood village. The second girl was dressed in a pretty yet decent dress, she had short light brown hair and her eyes kept flashing around, looking at everyone with curiosity. She was a merchant and a childhood friend of Jack; her name was Lisa. The third girl was rather tall for a woman, but she carried a heroic bearing while her fiery red hair was let loose behind her. She donned a knight's armour with the Templar insignia printed on. She shared a few similar features to Lionel as she shared his brown eyes. With her name being Sela Braxton, this piqued his interest slightly while the last girl brought back a few unpleasant memories. She reminded Amadeus of Arrow, but this girl was petite compared to her. She wasn't tall at all and if it wasn't due to him reading through her information and the way she was dressed; he would have thought that it was a guy. The last girl was an elf as her green hood barely covered her lustrous blonde hair and pointy ears. Her name was Thalia Aeynore.
The last old man had a rather long beard and a bit of a hunched back. His hair had whitened and wore grey robes.
Each of them felt pressure as they walked into the throne room. A solemn atmosphere covered them as they walked in. Everything they saw was just right, not too extravagant. Two lines of red armoured guards spread out on either side of them and their eyes were like daggers digging into them. They now understood why the guardsmen said that it didn't matter if they had weapons or not, just one of the red armoured guards was enough to take all of them down. This caused them to act a bit more reserved as each step reverberated in their hearts and the pressure increased. Reaching a short distance, they all didn't dare look up and just looked at either the steps or the ground.
Helena was the first to stop, as she kneeled on the ground,
"Trainee priestess, Helena greets His majesty the Emperor."
Reverence was laced in those words that Helena spoke out. It was natural, Amadeus was the descendant of the god she followed. The others also kneeled and introduced themselves, following proper courtesy. Amadeus remained quite as he finished evaluating the lot.
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