I stared at Zeshion, who was frowning deeply.
After all, in this whole fiasco, he's definitely the one who got the short end of the stick. Well, other than the dead ones, of course.
"I'm worried about Zeta, but there's Alpha and Eta there. She should be fine."
Zeshion finally let out a sigh, as if chasing away his worries.
"Before that, I think we need to ramp up our schedule, Will."
"You mean..."
The spies had already found my location, and they were even bold enough to launch an attack directly. Given that they had such numbers, they must've anticipated Zeshion's presence too. However, they definitely misjudged my power.
Given these circumstances, "ramping up the schedule" would only mean one thing.
"You want me to go to the other country now?"
As they say, strike while the iron's hot. However, is it still too hot for me? I turned to the girls, and they all had worried expressions. Well, other than Fang, who seemed to be having a determined expression, like a soldier about to head toward the battlefield.
"Leader, please take me with you."
And as I guessed, she really did ask to accompany me.
Among them, Fang was the only one who could come with me stealthily. After all, she can just stay inside my shadow. It may be tiring for her, as it consumes her stamina while inside the shadow. But, with how much she had improved, she could probably stay hidden for a week straight if needed.
"Master, I second Fang's idea."
Unexpected support even came from Ember, who was showing a deep frown.
"Although I want to come myself, I guess I'd just be a burden. But Fang should be able to handle herself well and be able to support Master in your endeavor."
"..."
I guess they're really worried about me.
Well, given Fang's stealth training, she should be able to slip past detection. I turned to her and asked with the most serious tone I could muster.
"Fang, are you sure you want to come? We'd basically be heading to the enemy's center."
It would be an understatement to say that we'll be surrounded by enemies. It's better to say that going there is like playing tag with Death himself. Wait, isn't that what I'm always doing?
"I'm sure, leader! I'd definitely make sure to protect you from the bad guys!"
Fang asserted herself, her tail wagging excitedly as her ears perked up. Almost as if drawn in, my hand moved to the top of her head and patted her ears gently. I just smiled at her, who was acting even more excited.
"I think you should take her along too, Will. After all, having more hands would make things easier for you later."
Even Zeshion supported Fang's idea, making it hard for me to say no anymore.
"Alright, Fang will come with me. Ember, Igni, Fina, Judy, and Yorm would stay with Goddess Blanc."
Although they were supposed to stay on the Seimei grounds, looking at how the Spies had the guts to attack a God tamer, it wouldn't be surprising if they sieged an ancient clan.
With that risk, I can't let the girls stay anywhere without someone capable of protecting them. Thus, I need them to stay with a god-tamer at the very least.
I took out a piece of paper and wrote something down. Then, I folded it and passed it to Ember for safekeeping.
"Show that to her when you visit her place. I'm sure she'll accommodate you all."
Although confused, Ember nodded her head firmly.
I turned to Zeshion once more, this time with my expression at peace. "So, how should we go there?"
It's still another kingdom, after all. It's not a distance that I could cover by just running around. Zeshion turned around and waved his hand, opening a portal leading to a familiar forest.
"Here, follow me."
Zeshion entered without waiting for our reply. As we weren't sure how long the portal would stay open, we rushed across together with everyone. Looking again, it was definitely the forest between the Royal Castle and the tall cliff where the teleportation array leading to the Capital was!
"Are we going to use their kingdom's teleportation array?"
I remember seeing a few outside the gates. I guess it must be one of those. As if to confirm my doubts, Zeshion nodded his head.
"The space between our and their kingdoms has a pretty bad case of spatial storms, after all. Other than static teleportation like these, it's next to impossible to visit the other side through skills."
Zeta, the Goddess of Space, should be able to overcome such a difficulty, but she's incapacitated right now. Zeshion was able to use the skill, but his accuracy can't even compare to that of the real Goddess of Space.
With Zeshion in the lead, the guards almost immediately opened the gates. Unlike when Yu Na led us, the gates opened fully, with a few soldiers even lining up on both sides of them, welcoming us with a salute.
"... Why are we entering?"
I whispered to Zeshion, as I couldn't guess the reason we'd need to go towards the Castle at this juncture. The teleportation arrays were just behind us!
"What are you saying? We need the King's permission to use that, so we need to greet him at least."
Zeshion smiled wryly, as if not expecting me to not realize such a small detail. Thinking normally, it was pretty obvious, I suppose.
'But there's that one guy here...'
I can't help but shudder at the thought of seeing that idiotic prince again. Gods, please make it so that I don't cross paths with him! Though God is technically bringing me toward that idiot's place...
Zeshion didn't hesitate at all and walked with dignity. The maids along the way smiled at him before bowing their heads, completely different from when they met me, where they just left one maid for us.
Soon, our group entered a long hallway. Both sides were decorated with suits of golden armor, while the floor was covered in an expensive-looking red carpet. At the far end, I could see a large door with a dragon engraved on it, its hands holding the two knockers for the large door.
As we approached, the two guards at the sides of the door crossed their long halberds over the door, blocking our path.
"Blue Zeshion, I'm here to discuss an important and urgent matter with the King."
As if he were accustomed to it already, he announced it without so much as a pause. After a short wait, the two guards removed their halberds and returned to standing in attention. The door opened by itself, revealing a wide hall that was overflowing with wealth and beauty.
At the farthest end of the room was a tall throne, about three meters high, upon which King Leonard sat, one hand against his cheeks as if looking ahead in boredom.
"Zeshion? What's wrong?"
As soon as we entered and reached talking distance, King Leonard asked. Unlike when he went to talk to me, this is an official space. I quickly paid attention to my manner and copied Zeshion, who bowed his head ever so slightly.
The girls behind me went ahead and knelt on one knee respectfully, making me doubt if my manner of copying Zeshion was the correct choice. Well, what's done is done.
"My King, we want to send Will and his tamed beasts to the Cleaver Kingdom."
"Hmm? You know that we can't accede to their demands, Zeshion. Why the change of heart?"
"We're not sending him as an offering... But as a spy."
After that, Zeshion turned to look around, scanning the faces of everyone before returning to gaze upon King Leonard.
"I guess I can speak of it here, but do you want to move to somewhere more private, perhaps?"
It wasn't obvious, but I feel like he was insinuating that there might be spies among the ministers and administrators that were staying inside the throne room. I could see their faces turn to frowns after hearing Zeshions accuse, but before they could raise their voices in displeasure, King Leonard's laugh echoed loudly in the room.
"Well, I guess we can. Follow me."
We didn't need to walk too far, as just behind the throne room was another pathway with rooms lined up. We entered the first one and sat down. Zeshion and I were on one side of the sofa, and King Leonard was on the other. The girls stood in attention behind me, near the walls.
"So, what's the topic?"
After we entered a more private scene, King Leonard started acting much more informally. It was the same when he met me in an audience before; he was so casual that you wouldn't think he was a king.
"Actually..."
Zeshion explained the details of the plan. As he did, King Leonard nodded his head several times. In the end, a vicious grin was pasted on his face, a definite source of nightmares for children if one saw it.
"Great idea! I approve!"
And without much fanfare, my and Fang's trip to the Cleaver Kingdom was sealed.
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