As they enter, Velajul is confused at his presence here. He's smart, sure, but not quite on their level of intelligence. He figured that he would just sit and watch this conversation play out.
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"So, who are your new friends? Outside of Rose, I don't think you wrote about the other four."
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"They are as follows Elajuel, Velajul, and Vuella, who are siblings and assassins. The newest one however, is Sera, whom you fought earlier. She's an ex-pirate."
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"Excuse me, Lord Tyrol, but how did you know there were four others?" Velajul inquires.
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"Good question, but it's simple really. I fought most of that fight with my ether sense on. I could see you around the corner, the teleporter hiding in the corner of the ceiling, one on the roof, and of course, the one I fought directly with."
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"That makes sense, but how did you do it? For most people, using ether sense in combat puts a strain on the user, especially while using an ability."
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"Yet another logical conclusion, however, you missed one crucial detail: I'm not most people. I don't say it to brag, but when you’re dealing with kings and other people like us, you have to remember that we are extraordinary people that are capable of doing extraordinary things."
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"Yes sir, I'll consider it a lesson learned."
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"On the topic of ether sense, have you looked at Rose with it?"
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"No, but I assume there's a reason if you're bringing it up.” Hiro says with a hint of sass in his voice.
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Faust scoffs at him saying, "You could've just asked me why I said it. Anyways, I bring it up because it appears that she doesn't have an ether signature, or at least not one that's visible."
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"Interesting… Have either of you encountered something like this before?"
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Both of them shake their heads "No".
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"To add to this, Sera's signature appears to be the same way."
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"Even better." Hiro says sarcastically.
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"Excuse me again, but on the topic of Sera, how was your first impression of her? We were all initially suspicious of her, but general opinion of her has gone up quite a bit since then. I just can't shake the feeling that she’s up to something." Velajul asks.
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"Hmmm… Tell me everything you all know about her, and I'll see if I can come up with a hypothesis. Be warned, Hiro is just as intelligent as I am, so if he didn't figure it out I likely won't either."
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They agree and tell him everything from when Rose found her, up to today.
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"The only thing that strikes me as odd is that she knew about you and your siblings, but not Rose."
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"And why is that odd?"
"Even as a neighboring nation I was able to see the events of Rose's capture from my palace."
"Maybe she was just in another country when it happened."
"But even in that case, she was still a pirate, so she probably would have heard a rumor about the event." Hiro chimes in.
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"So the problem is that she knew about us, and not Rose. The next question should be, how did this discrepancy happen?"
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After a moment of silence, Hiro speaks up, saying, "With three of the most intelligent men on the planet in one room, we can't figure out the identity of a potential threat. I won't dismiss the possibility of Sera being suspicious, but if we can't give concrete evidence to support it, I won't act on it.".
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"Three? I could understand you saying that about yourself and Lord Tyrol, but me? I don't believe I'm on the same level as you two." Velajul says.
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"Not yet, but you're fairly close. If anything were to happen to me, I would want you to be the new tactician. While I consider you to be of help in the current situation, I actually brought you with us so you could study how we handle problems, and learn from it."
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Velajul could feel himself almost blushing from the amount of respect Hiro had shown with that one statement. For the rest of their conversation, he would put his all into observing their approach to this problem, applying it to himself, and reconstructing his thought process. They continue talking for the next few hours without making any meaningful headway before leaving each other for the night.
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Hiro awakens to a frantic knocking on his bedroom door. He jolts awake, and notices it's still dark outside.
"I'm awake, what is it?"
"You must get ready quickly, my Lord! Your guests have arrived!" Says a maid from the other side of the door.
"Tell Lord Tyrol to entertain them for a few minutes. I'll be there shortly. Wake Rose as well and send her to the meeting room." Hiro says as he fumbles out of bed and gets dressed.
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After about ten minutes, Hiro steps out into the foyer to see Faust laughing with three of the other kings.
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"Look who's finally awake!" One man from the group shouts at Hiro, walking over to him. He was tall, lanky, light-skinned older gentlemen, with an intricately designed and decorated long sword and scabbard on his hip.
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"My apologies for the late arrival, I didn't expect you all until tomorrow evening."
"No problem, your Highness."
"We are all kings, so no need to call me by a title we all share. Just Hiro will do."
"Well then, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Hiro. I am Relve Tulvick, King of Sepp, but feel free to call me Relve."
The two shake hands and walk back to the others.
"And the man of the hour arrives, fashionably late, but arrives nonetheless." Says a plain looking middle aged man.
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"You must be one of those runts Vanessa raised." Says an extraordinarily large, older, muscular man dressed in an embellished armor, with a comparatively small shortsword on his hip and a large, circular golden shield on his back.
"Apologies for my tardiness, but it was you all who arrived a day early at six o'clock in the morning. Respectfully, you all are the ones at fault."
"I refuse to believe Vanessa raised you to talk back to your elders."
"You speak as though you know her well. However, if you did, you'd know that I get my mouth from h-" Before Hiro can finish his retort, the man picks him up by his neck. Almost immediately, Hiro taps the man on his shoulder, summoning fog in the process. He then disappears and reappears sitting atop one of his shoulders.
"As I was saying, I get my mouth from her."
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Enraged, the man flings Hiro off of him and rushes towards him, however he is stopped by the plain looking man. He holds his sword out between the two of them and says, "Therius, that's enough. Lord Azor, I apologize on his behalf." The sword itself was emanating an aura of power.
"Hey, Arthur, when are you going to let me get a look at that sword?"
"Never, and the answer won't change." He says as the sword vanishes into thin air.
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"It seems I've already managed to upset you all. Let's start over, shall we?" Hiro says while straightening his coat.
"I was hoping you'd say that. Seeing as you haven't met any of the kings before today, I'll introduce you to them. Firstly, the man you were arguing with is Lord Alexander Therius, the King of Raske." Says Faust, attempting to diffuse some of the tension in air.
"You may call me Therius, as do the other kings." He says after his introduction.
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"Next is the man who stopped you two, Lord Arthur Cromwell, King of Rahvas."
Arthur shakes Hiro's hand, while Therius glares at Hiro.
"Now that we're all appropriately acquainted with each other, what about the King of Madu? Did he not travel with you three?"
"He did, however he said he needed to go to the washroom after such a long ride." Says Relve.
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"No matter. I'll send someone to go get him and bring him to the meeting room. Shall we get moving?" Hiro says as he walks off towards the room in question.
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Rose wakes up to a similarly frantic knocking on her door. The maid relays Hiro's message to her before running off to attend to her normal duties. After she leaves, Rose gets dressed and teleports to the meeting room.
After she appears, she hears a shout from behind her.
"Oh my! You scared me!" Says an older woman dressed in an attire similar to Faust's, with the same coat embellished with the crest of Kennis on the sleeves and and corners.
"Oh, I'm sorry ma'am! I didn't mean to startle you! I j-just didn't think anyone would be here. Who exactly are you, though?" Rose asks.
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"My name is Laura, and I'm here with Lord Tyrol as his observer."
"Observer? What's that?
“Did Lord Azor not tell you? Lord Tyrol told me to look for you, as you were Lord Azor’s observer. All we do is stand in the room with our respective kings to be a witness to the meeting.”
“I feel like I’m always playing catchup with information around here. More importantly, why are we being a witness to a meeting like this? Are we expecting something to happen?”
“Not that I know of, but it’s been a standard practice for the last 45 years or so.
“45 years ago… I remember hearing Vanessa’s reign started around that time. Did something happen back then?”
“I’ve heard a few historians say that there was an ambush set up on a king around the same time that led to the death of another king that was present. Shortly after that incident, each nation started implementing observers to watch over meetings between kings.”
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As they finish up their conversation, they see the kings approaching and stop to greet them. Once they do, they spot Sera walking briskly towards them, with a young man not much older than Rose following her. He was a few inches shorter than Hiro with short black hair and bright green eyes.
“Ah, I’m so very sorry for my tardiness. I went to find the washroom and got lost along the way. By the time I found someone to guide me there and back to the foyer, you all were gone already.” Says the man.
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“Lord Azor, you may not know him, but this is Lord Zero Varasta, the King of Madu.” Sera says as bows her head to them.
“Ah yes, Lord Varasta, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Lord Hiro Azor, but you can call me Hiro.”
“Same to you, Hiro. If we are all informal here, you all may call me Zero.”
“Excellent. Now then if you would all gather your observers, we can walk in and commence the first day of the meeting.”
After a brief moment, three hooded individuals teleport into the room behind Arthur, Therius, and Relve, bearing the crest of their respective nations on their cloaks. They introduce themselves and bow to the group of kings. Hiro shakes all of their hands, but he notices that there’s one missing.
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“Zero, do you not have an observer for this meeting?”
“No sir, I actually couldn’t find anyone suitable to accompany me. Due to my ascension, things are on the tenser side when it comes to Madu’s royalty at the moment, and I’d rather not cause any more trouble by singling anyone out. Would you be so kind as to lend one of your palace workers to be my observer?”
“I don’t mind, as long as you’re comfortable with that. Would Sera be alright with you?
“I was thinking the same thing. Would you accompany me in this meeting, Sera?” He asks, turning to her, extending his hand.
“Of course, your highness.” She says as she takes his hand and walks into the meeting room.
“Psssst.. Mr. Hiro?” Is there anything you need me to do during the meeting?” Rose whispers to Hiro.
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“Stay alert. Nothing should happen today, but be prepared just in case. Also, no matter what they say about me, do not act out, as it is tantamount to treason.” He whispers back as they walk in and take their seats. All of the kings sit while their observers stand beside their chairs. The room itself was quite barren, with the exception of the table, chairs, and lit chandelier hanging above them.
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“You have us here, so let’s hear what you have to say.” Says Therius upon taking his seat.
Hiro starts by telling the kings about the Mana Beast and the recurring waves of mana washing over Rahu in the last month and a half. This goes mostly uninterrupted, aside from a few remarks about Hiro’s poor leadership and lack of strength from Therius. After he finishes explaining, he asks them what they think about the situation.
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“In Sepp, we’ve felt very faint tremors, but we didn’t think anything of it.” Says Relve.
Arthur and Therius agree, saying the same for their respective nations.
“Well, I have some research data to share with you all regarding these waves.” Says Faust.
“It appears that each of these waves are composed of mana, and more importantly, originate from Northeast of Rahu. In other words, the Savage Country.”
There is an air of unease in the room after those words left Faust’s lips. There is a brief pause as they take in the information. Eventually, someone stands to speak.
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“If I may add to Faust’s findings. My research team looked into the waves as well and found that, while they originate from the Savage Country, they contain trace amounts of ether that has been increasing after every wave.” Says Zero.
“How does it have ether as well? Humans are the only beings that carry it, so where, or rather who would it be coming from?” Says Hiro.
“That is the most disturbing part of my findings. The person we traced this back to is… Xander Reeda.”
“Who?” Rose says before immediately covering her mouth. There were already multiple things she wanted to ask about, but she figured it was a bad time. This time, her curiosity was starting to poke at her a bit more than usual.”
“Who gave this child permission to speak?” Therius says towards Rose and Hiro.
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“No, no, I think her question is fine, as this man has been presumed dead for about 45 years. If I recall correctly, no one in this room was even alive to see the man in the flesh.” Says Zero while shooting a look at Therius.
“As a refresher, Xander Reeba was the King of Rahu before Vanessa. He had a good heart, but had a reputation of being quite violent towards his enemies, oftentimes going to war with opposing nations’ entire armies by himself. However, after winning one of said wars, he killed the King of Madu of the time during peace talks, leading to Vanessa spearheading a rebellion against him. After a long battle, he was defeated and exiled to the Savage Country as punishment.”
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"If I may ask one more question, why was he presumed dead if he was simply exiled?" Rose asks.
"He was presumed dead because the Savage Country is home to deadly monsters called mana beasts. The one you all encountered a month ago was likely from there. We assume that anyone sent there was killed by those creatures." Faust responds.
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"So what you're saying is Xander managed to survive?" Relve says.
"If that's the case, how are we feeling his ether on the mainland, and why is it being mixed with mana?" Hiro asks.
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"That's the part that I can't quite figure out. The only answer would be that he's alive and he's sending his ether he-"
"But that's impossible. There's no feasible way that he would've been able to survive there for 45 years. You say he was strong, but strong enough to defeat those beasts for that long without breaks nor assistance? You runts wouldn't know a real threat if it were right in front of you." Interjects Therius.
"Therius, I agree that it's a bit farfetched to assume he managed to live that long over there, but-"
"But what? You can't be siding with this hogwash too Arthur?" Says Therius, cutting Arthur off.
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"Why are you being so aggressive towards the idea? We've all acknowledged how improbable this situation is, but the stakes are too high to dismiss it." Says Hiro
"And what are these stakes you speak of? What disastrous outcome do you think this hypothetical situation has for us?" Therius asks, now glaring at Hiro.
"Therius, who do you think is the strongest person in the room right now?"
"Why does that matter right now?"
"Just answer the question."
"Fine, if I had to choose it would be me."
"As expected. Do you believe that as you are right now, you are an equal in power to Vanessa in her prime?"
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"No, of course not."
"Say Xander was alive, and he had malicious intent towards us. Who do we have to stop him? How are you, who is weaker than the person who struggled to beat him previously, with five other people who are even weaker than you are, supposed to win that battle? And this is assuming that he hasn’t gotten any stronger since he was king. The monsters he’s been fighting for the last 45 years are as strong as Rex and myself combined. I’ll put it bluntly for you: We cannot beat that monster.” Hiro says, showing a few bits of annoyance seep through his level-headed approach.
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“Therius, before you respond, how about we call it a day? We’ve been in this room for several hours now and some of us are starting to get… heated.” Faust says, sensing the tension increasing over the course of the last few hours.
“Fantastic idea Faust. Sera, go make sure everyone’s rooms are ready for them. We should all get some rest and sleep on the things we discussed. This meeting is adjourned.” Hiro says, letting out a deep breath while getting up from the table. None of the kings said anything to each other as they got up and left the room. Each of them were escorted to their respective rooms by a maid except for Faust and Hiro. They both walk around for a few minutes, before making their way to Hiro’s study.
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“What are your thoughts on Zero?” Faust asks as he shuts the door.
“I was just about to ask you the same thing. Something about him seems off. I never gave the topic of the meeting out to anyone, yet it seemed like he was almost prepared to speak about this.”
“Yes, I agree. That, in addition to his confidence, is striking. He moves as if he is in complete control of the situation and knows what everyone is going to say before they say it.”
“Maybe he’s more cunning than he lets on. He could be leading everyone on into believing this situation he’s presented to us. He does have a family riddled with plots and schemes, so it may just run in his blood.”
“If he were doing that, he’d be doing an immaculate job seeing as you and Therius are butting heads so intensely. If you weren’t on guard before, tomorrow is most definitely the day to be so.”
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