Chapter 979: Chapter 979: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow
"We’ll talk about what just happened later Frost." Just as he was about to prepare himself for his meeting with the leaders of Sedrick’s forces Frost heard a chilling voice within his head.
"Ahhh! Maya you, no, what happened... I was just.... Ugh, I’m fucked." There was no response, but Frost could feel her cold judging glare through the ethos. His little flirtation with Anya had been seen by his significant other, she heard her warning and saw him plainly taking the ordeal a little too far so of course there’d be hell to pay.
His love life was sure to be a bumpy road for the next few days, and he had no one to blame but himself, a miracle he hadn’t been caught before this given how easily rumours spread amongst his subordinates.
Baron Glorfile returned a couple minutes later alongside the A-rank adventurer who had been keeping her identity a secret, both kitted out in their battle gear, weapons at the ready, a reassuring sign.
General Anya appeared a minute later, her level of disguise taken to the next level. Even with close scrutiny, familiarity and the use of mana and aura sense it was impossible to identify her as General Anya.
Her body was covered in multiple layers of speciality masking cloth, padding was spread throughout so her shape was closer to that of a male, a heavy, dark coloured sabre hung by her waist and a thick jade like mask obscured her face. General Anya was completely unrecognisable.
"Ready?" She asked in a gruff and slightly hoarse voice, clearly using a different tone and pitch to further disguise herself.
Frost blinked his eyes several times as he attempted to associate who stood next time now with the woman who leaned against his chest and whispered seductively into his ear earlier.
"Y...yeah....that’s pretty good for a five minute job." The change was too substantial making him think she really did have the skills but chose not to use them.
"Agreed, I doubt even your parents or closest friends would be capable of recognising you now." Baron Glorfile nodded his head in agreement, equally blown away by the change.
"Great because that’s exactly what I was going for....by the way refer to me as Diamond during the meeting."
"Diamond? Why Diamond?"
"If Prince Sedrick’s forces want to use stupid codenames then why can’t I?"
"....Fair enough." The chosen names of the four A-ranks among their impromptu allies were simply Red, Blue, Green and Yellow....as basic as you could possibly get.
"I’ll have my subordinates summon them now, but I doubt our little rendezvous has escaped their senses."
With everyone prepared Frost ordered a pair of ronsos to meet up with the guards situated outside Red, Blue, Green and Yellow’s quarters.
Knock knock.
"Yes." Avarice answered the door with a polite smile on his lips.
"Lord Frost is asking for an urgent meeting with Sir Red, Sir Blue, Lady Green and lady Yellow." The ronso officer responded curtly but with a certain level of respect, the named individuals were at the A-rank after all.
"An urgent meeting?....give me a moment." Avarice acted surprised but internally he was suspicious, his watchers already bringing him news of Baron Glorfile and a second individual entering the Lord’s manor earlier. Clearly something was happening but for all his intelligence he couldn’t fathom what. Their departure was supposed to take place in a matter of hours, a logistical nightmare that required those in charge making note of every little thing in these final hours.
Avarice may not be the strongest combatant among the forces sent by Prince Sedrick and the old noble families, but his authority wasn’t any less than Red, Blue, Green and Yellow in fact when it came to overall hierarchy he actually held greater commanding authority.
"My Lords and Ladies, Lord Frost is asking for an urgent meeting with all four of you, Baron Glorfile and another suspected A-rank from the neutral nobles has already entered the premises and met with him." The only way to find out what’s up was to go to the meeting so Avarice wasted no time in informing his A-rank colleagues of the situation.
"Baron Glorfile’s already there?" Queried Blue.
"Yes, for at least ten minutes."
The four A-ranks glanced at one another, frowning and feeling confused by the suddenness of the summoning.
"Something must have happened; Avarice ensure that our preparations aren’t stalled by this and do your best to gather as much intel as you can. Find out what’s happening." Red gave the order after briefly discussing with his colleagues through telepathy, an easy feat for those in the A-rank
"Yes Sir." Someone needed to maintain control during their absence and Avarice was the ideal man for the job.
"Lead the way." Red instructed the six ronsos currently standing outside their door, a rather intimidating sight for your average joe but with his level of strength they appeared like cute kittens, their claws barely able to mar his skin.
"Welcome Red, Blue, Green and Yellow was it?" As the four were guided into the Manor’s main meeting room and sat down at the lefthand side of the table Frost warmly greeted them.
"That’s correct, can I ask for what reason you’ve invited not only the four of us here but also Baron Glorfile and his two associates." Red spoke on behalf of his associates, taking on the role of leader.
When they first entered the room they clocked Ovaria immediately but quickly disregarded her. Now that she was out in the open it was clear that she carried the bearing of an adventurer, a mere hired help but General Anya or Diamond they couldn’t help but sense a dangerous vibe, their identity, affiliation and true strength a complete mystery thus they were very on edge. Normally it was their opponents being caught by surprise not the other way around.
"Certainly," Frost smiled amiably, his expression calm and at ease as he leaned his elbows on the table and addressed Red and his fellow A-rank colleagues. "Less than an hour ago I came across a situation and worried about this situation I called upon Baron Glorfile to hopefully clear things up but unfortunately he was unable to do so."
"And you believe we can?" Frost’s words only added to the mystery, opening up more questions than answers.
"It’s possible and if that’s the case we likely have nothing to worry about but if you can’t or if you for whatever reason choose not divulge your information it’s another thing entirely." I.e. don’t pull our chains with this, answer honestly and truthfully and we can maintain this fragile alliance.
Red wasn’t a fool; he picked up on Frost’s underlying intentions.
"Ask away Lord Frost, if I can clear up any confusion you or the Baron may have I’ll gladly do so." This statement was genuine, to antagonise their allies here and now would offer no benefits for their side, best to keep the peace even if it internally infuriated them.
"Perfect, then I’ll get right to it, are you expecting another caravan or have you positioned a hidden force in the rear?" The smile remained on Frost’s lips as he spoke but there was a distinct chill in his tone, a seriousness and almost innate accusation that send shivers down their spines.
"...." Red and his colleagues were silent in response, their eyes stretched open as far as they could as their minds literally blanked and then desperately tried to process what they just heard.
As far as they were aware their entire retinue had already arrived here in Niflheim, the only reason they hadn’t left for Icethorne was because the neutral nobles had managed to scrounge up an additional group of reinforcements but at the same time they knew that perhaps they simply hadn’t been told. Compartmentalisation of duties, a great way to keep the enemy in the dark if soldiers were ever captured.
"Why are you asking us that?" Red needed to understand what Frost knew and his reasoning for this line of questioning. The force he was curious about could very well be a red herring trying to siphon information from their side or mar their reputation for some kind of gain, a tactic they themselves often used.
"A bit of a defensive reaction, answering a question with a question but I get it." Frost shook his head, unbothered by Red’s behaviour, his heart not jumping to conclusions because of it.
"Just like with Baron Glorfile I’m asking you this because an armed force heralded by someone with at least early stage A-rank strength is currently camped roughly 1.2 kilometres from Niflheim’s southern wall."
"..." The four colour codenamed A-ranks were once again silent in their response, their minds once again significantly disturbed by the information passing beyond Frost’s lips.
"Baron Glorfile has already denied involvement with this group so now I’m asking you, do you have any relationship with this armed force and if you do that’s fine, we’ll know they’re serving the intentions of the 2nd Prince but if that’s not the case then we have a real problem, a problem that will need to be excised before you leave my city." Frost refused to allow an armed force with that level of strength remain safely within his borders. A clear and direct threat towards the safety and security of his city.
To lend support to Frost’s stance and the seriousness of the situation Baron Glorfile, Ovaria and General Anya/Diamond all released a bit of their auras to ensure solidarity.
Comments