Chapter 23 - Spy by day, failure by night

After the guard's announcement, every noble in the room felt a bit of tension. With the current threat of the Ushain kingdom, they were all on edge. If this person was strong enough to intrude into the king's castle without being defeated by the guards. Then they were already a threat to everyone here.

It could be an assassin trying to complete a contract or mission. The Ushain king was known for having a great pool of information, but this must've been something planned from long ago. Shivers ran down their spines as they felt a ferocious gaze fall over them.

In reality there was an assassin. It was just Luna staring down at everyone from above the throne room.

The king dismissed the meeting and tried to contain everyone within the throne room. "Everyone stay within the throne room! My guards won't rest until the intruder is caught!"

Jessica was feeling nervous. She regretted not bringing Luna along with her. It was a mental battle for her earlier on whether or not she would bring Luna.

What her grandfather said was important to remember, but she couldn't just interrupt Luna's pleasant looking sleep. From what she's learned, Luna has been having trouble with sleeping lately. Only just recently, thanks to newfound power as the DreamWalker was she able to get some well earned sleep.

Now her decision to leave her behind left her at risk of being attacked. There was a high possibility that the intruder was after her.

The real intruder was truly watching over Jessica. Just not with any negative intentions of taking her life.

-

But it wasn't only Jessica that was nervous. There was one other person that felt some pressure about the people around him. It was a player by the name of Crucible. He was a member of the Ushain kingdom and currently working under the noble family Vinac as a hired bodyguard.

His goal was to infiltrate the Cosal kingdom's capital before the competition started and kill a noble family by the name of Braggart. He was worried that his current disguise as a hired mercenary was discovered.

Which it kind of was. Luna stared downwards, above one of the bodyguard's head was a diamond-like shape. 'Hey Noll, I think that guard down there is a user.'

'He's got the symbol of a user floating above his head.'

'Yeah, he must be guarding one of the nobles down there.'

'What do you mean?'

Luna looked over at the boy in the corner of the room. She couldn't see or sense any mana coming from the boy, but he definitely looked strong. Unlike her, Noll had a high sensitivity to mana sources. He was the one that previously noticed the curse that was attached to the scepter.

The boy was accompanying a blonde haired noble.

'Wait.... what? Why would he even have him as a bodyguard then?'

'Okay!'

-

Time kept passing as Trevor Montfort sat quietly in the corner. His challenger was patiently waiting next to him. It was annoying that the king requested that every noble, even if they were from outside the capital, join the meeting. He planned it so when the competition started, nobles that were attending the capital were forced to come along to the meeting.

Trevor didn't mind the formalities. The competition wasn't for another two days so he was fine with waiting. Even the intruder wasn't that much of a problem for him.

But this kid was pissing him off. He couldn't keep a cool head and was leaking mana everywhere. His face was starting to look like a rabid dog. It was annoying for Trevor because everyone in the room kept giving him looks.

"Can't you control yourself?"

Trevor looked up. Two nobles were facing each other towards the center of the hall. Both were young women. Normally a conversation like this would be trivial as competition between nobles was quite common behind closed doors.

"Are you referring to me?"

But this conversation was a bit more interesting in Trevor's eyes.

"Ugh, Yes I am. Now why would you say something so absurd in front of his majesty?" A red headed girl spoke. Her tone of voice was rude and she spoke informally. By her appearance you could tell she was young.

It was clear that she was from the Jistvin household. Her red hair and distaste towards the Braggart family were clear signs. They were well known as the snakes of the Cosal capital.

"I'm not sure I understand? His majesty only deserves the truth, correct?" The other girl had light silver hair that went down to her waist. She spoke formally to the red haired girl. She was the reason every noble was gathered in the capital today.

"Not if that truth is an assumption based on bias! You should be ashamed for trying to spew out lies about your fellow noblemen."

"The Braggart family is built upon trust implanted by our founding family members. If you believe that this kingdom is not currently in need of reform. Then I can assure you, you are sourly wrong!"

The two's argument started to stir quite a bit of commotion in the throne room. Every noble including the king had a growing curiosity about this argument. The room was almost silent except for those two.

"A true warrior of truth. It's annoying when you really think about it." The red haired girl stamped her foot down. A dim red magic circle appeared on the floor. It was directly below the feet of Jessica, who stood fearlessly.

It was a standoff between two houses. The Jistvin girl clearly had a short temper and was ready to eradicate Jessica. It was forbidden to fight other noble houses, but it had been happening behind closed doors for over 20 years.

Trevor considered it almost trivial. He could wipe out the two of them in an instant. He considered himself above others in terms of strength. But when it came to authority, both of their houses held more than his own. It was just a matter of their family names being engraved in the kingdom's history and his title being earned through a large sum of cash.

The silver haired girl was about to be burnt to a crisp, but had no desire to change her words. Even if they might've been true, the Cosal king should at least try and recognize what's going on here, but his bottom was still planted on his chair.

No moves were made. But a small bit of pressure was resonating in the room. Trevor ignored it as it's presence seemed so weak. There was no mana or aura behind it, just like the multitude of lazy and weak nobles that were attending this meeting.

'Why isn't that old fool making a move?' The king sat without making any moves.

"I won't back down because you refuse to accept the truth." Jessica's words made the noble grind her teeth.

"Fine then... So be it!" She snapped her fingers to activate the spell.

….But nothing happened. No flames appeared and Jessica was left standing there unharmed.

That wasn't the case for the Jistvin girl though. Her hand was left a bloody mess. Three of her fingers were sliced off by seemingly nothing, but the air itself.

Trevor was left confused. 'Did someone else intervene?'

He looked over at the king. There weren't any traces of magic being used. 'So who was it then?'

The other nobles looked just as surprised as the Jistvin girl. Her bodyguard ran over and quickly called for the priest to heal her. As she was about to receive treatment from Damien, the female noble yelled out in anger.

"You dare attack another noble?! I'll have your head!"

"No you won't." A young girl's voice could be heard. "Inception!"

A loud cracking sound was heard. The glass above the throne room shattered. The red haired girl's body fell over with a thud. A hole was carved straight through her skull and into the floor below.

Somebody slowly dropped in from above. Her mana levels were almost non-existent, but something felt off about her. When Trevor looked over at the king, there was no hint of anger or sadness in his expression. It was almost like he didn't care in the first place that the Jistvin family's representative just died.

His attention was completely on the young girl.

"L-Luna?!" A surprised shout came from Jessica's mouth.

"Yep, it's me..."

"H-how are you here?! I thought you would be fast asleep?!"

"I woke up a little bit after you left. I didn't have any documents representing me as your bodyguard, so I kind of had to get a little creative."

"Luna... you aren't the intruder the guards were talking about? Right?"

"Well...."

"We have to get you out of here right away! Follow me quickly!"

"Wait!" A shout came from the other side of the room. For the first time, the king stood up from his chair. He walked down the hall, exuding an aura of royalty. It was almost like the crowd opened a path just for him to walk.

The nearby nobles bowed as he walked past them. The closer he got, the more Trevor felt inclined to bow in his presence. Slowly he went down onto his knees.

Everyone in the room seemed to be affected by this feeling to lower themselves. There were only two that were unaffected by King Eldon's aura. Luna, who looked more scared at the king's presence than impressed. And Trevor's challenger that stood with his arms crossed. He was more interested in Luna than he was the king.

King Eldon's arm extended for a handshake. He smile widened as he said:

"It's good to see you, old friend."

"Huh?"

-

"Guild master Apollo, I believe the plan is ready to be carried out." The vice guild leader of the moonlight blade guild was sitting alongside Apollo at a large campsite.

"What about the Crucible? How is the plan to assassinate Jessica Braggart going?"

"We haven't gotten any word back from Crucible about the mission."

"I see... how about our current numbers?"

"We have thirteen hundred members ready and on standby. If they are inside the Cosal kingdom's capital, then they will definitely be found."

"Good. We'll reach the capital within 2 days. Be prepared in case anything goes wrong."

Apollo opened up the menu system and messaged Iris.

[Apollo: Iris, I have something I need you to do.]

[Iris: Can't you tell me directly instead of messaging me?]

[Apollo: No, I need to keep this hidden from the rest of the guild.]

[Iris: Ooh is it some secret task? What do you need me to do?]

[Apollo: Everyone in our guild is going to be spread out around the capital. I need you specifically to look for Crucible. We're going to keep messaging him over the course of the next two days. If he doesn't get back to us by the time we're at the capital, then I need you to retrieve the item I lent to him.]

[Iris: Aye aye sir!]

Apollo looked down at the blades in his hands. It was a crystalline, transparent shortsword and rough, pitch black knife. They glistened against the light of the campfire. The longer Apollo held them, the less they felt like blades and more like his own limbs.

"I wonder if the system will condone my actions this time...."