Chapter 452: Heh

Ruka POV

"As you've noticed, you're surrounded," Lloyd said and then went on this long speech that I couldn't care less to comprehend.

I was hoping that I was luring out the scum of the black market, the poachers, the slave traders...etc. Instead, I find myself confronted by Lloyd...I can't believe this. 

It's frustrating, beyond frustrating. I've been careful, meticulous even, with my appearance, and my speech, all to fit in with these lowlifes. And what do I get for my efforts? Surrounded by the wrong guy.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Instead, I keep up the act, maintaining the façade of cluelessness. Inside, though, I'm seething. This isn't the plan. This isn't what I signed up for. This was supposed to be quick.

"By the way, are you always this righteous sounding?"

"And are you people always this rude?" he countered

"Rude? I'm surrounded by unknown assailants, why wouldn't I be rude?"

"Well, sorry, because I just found out that the love of my life turned out to be a guy whom I somewhat despise."

"Oh, Persia or whatever that was? How the hell did you not connect the dots? They were basically twins...White hair, brown skin...yada yada...Persia was just more beautiful and bearable looking."

"Are you not his lover?"

"Not yet, and don't phrase it as if I'm in the palm of his hands, if anything, it's the opposite, he can't resist my charms."

He has resisted my charms many times, but if any of you blabbermouth leak that out, you're dead.

"Why are you here, Lloyd?"

"To investigate Perseus' mysterious connection to the black market, he's quite a suspicious man." he replied

"His connection to here isn't that unknown, your kingdom does it too, and it led us both to the village of the golden sand, the ones who are now siding with you and recently cut off all connection with us."

"That doesn't really matter, because right now, you are my enemy, and it's my duty to capture you."

"Capture? That's funny, what makes you think that I'd lose, even if you stop me from using magic, that's not my specialty, my other powers can very well still overwhelm you."

"You misunderstand. I'm a royal, I know how to pick my fights and I'm not here to engage in a fair fight with you. I'm here to send a message."

"You see after your village got isolated due to the lack of trades, other than the black market, your little village relies on that one source of food, that precious crop you've been safeguarding so dearly. It'd be a shame if something were to happen to it. A shame indeed."

"Would it?" I shrugged, feigning disinterest. "Things change, crops grow back. Not the end of the world, really."

"Even if you don't need to eat, your village will...and since we've deactivated all your communication crystals...you can't call back either, you can't teleport...and well...if you fight with us, whoever you're trying to pursue will run away."

Hmm...he's right, so I decided to weigh my options and got an idea. Going for our crops? They're making the worst mistake of their lives, those scarecrows may not be the strongest...but they sure are the creepiest.

You know what?" I said, "Fine, you win. I'll come with you... for now."

"Oh? A wise choice, milady," he responded, his tone betraying a hint of curiosity, "Why would a person like you, who is known for her pride, surrender so easily?

"Ah, but you see," I chuckled, "Even the proudest of individuals must sometimes play the part of the pawn to outsmart royalty.

 "Playing the part of the pawn, are we?" he repeated

"Absolutely," I shrugged, "Appearances can be deceiving, wouldn't you agree? Sometimes, yielding momentarily leads to the grandest victories."

*****

And here I thought that I'd be treated like a VIP prisoner, they placed me in some stupid wet and damp cell. I'm the blue rose and they thought that this kind of cage befits me?

Sure enough, the crops were fireproof and the scene was nothing but a massacre. The knights and mages lost...badly. The knights and mages, driven by their arrogance, faced a humiliating defeat. Their strategies became futile as the scene turned from their expected triumph into a catastrophic failure.

I watched with quiet satisfaction from the confines of my damp cell. Well, it's time to leave now, this was fun...after all, I do sense someone following us on the way back, and it wasn't a knight or a mage of the Tartians...a familiar, yet unfamiliar presence...I'll find them easily once I'm in their vicinity.

*****

Perseus POV

"Alright, so you're tracking them down, right now?"

"Yep." Ruka replied on the other end of the call, "It should take me about 4 more hours at most to find them, and probably another hour to capture them alive. better give me something as a reward when I get back, cuz I even agreed to go to a dirty cell for you."

"I don't know, a date?"

"You haven't even gone on a proper date with Maple."

"Oh, she already planned one, a nice picnic on a cliff somewhere, she's keeping most of the details hidden."

"Whatever, prepare something."

I ended the call and went to Dawn, she warned me that it was about time to get the 11th star, Lucifer and Satan aren't going to be contained for that much longer, so I better get going, and with Buddy coming along, I am in the safest of hands.

I ran to the lab and could feel Jerah's presence nearby, the guy must have come back after meeting all of his children, I saw his face, and his expression wasn't good, either the reunion didn't go so good or he highly disapprove of what we're doing.

"Yo."

"You meet the god and your greeting is 'yo'?" he scorned

"Would you prefer wassup?"

"No."

"Then you got a yo."

"Seriously, what do you see in him?" Jerah turned to Dawn, "Of all the men you could have picked, you went for him? All he got is his looks."

"For the record, he's really kind and we have the same ideologies, we get along great."

"Bah, whatever, I'm here for a different matter." he sighs and then put on a serious look, "Would you do me a favor and help my son, Tanner the orange rose, with his rebellion? I just want you to ensure his lord lives as they are going to lose soon enough."

"Heh."