Chapter 123 – Updated Meeting

Third person POV

A few hours after lunch, at the guesthouse, Robert wrote a few pages in his personal leather journal with his quill pen and inkbottle while sitting at his desk. At the same time, Sol returned Emi's weapons to her, and she went back to the hideout of Old Faction to spy on them.

As he taps the cotton paper with his quill pen, he began to wonder about the possibilities of the future, thinking, "I wonder what future holds for me."

He then began to daydream about other things he could do in the future, including joining an adventure's guild for fun and meet up with other adventurers.

As Robert kept on daydreaming scenarios like that, Blaise came to their room and said to him, "Robert-kun, we have a meeting with the king this 3 in the afternoon. Let's go."

This causes Robert to snap back to reality, and he turned around and responded, "Yes?"

"Dress up," Blaise replied back. "We have a meeting with the king this 3 o'clock."

"Oh, okay, coming."

He then put back the quill pen back in the inkbottle and stretched at bit on his chair, before closing his journal and stand up.

As Blaise close the door, Robert went on to change his clothes into something modest, but a bit formal, before wearing his signature cloak that bears the emblem of his clan.

After that, while Blaise was waiting outside of his room, Robert grabbed his leather messenger bag, opened the door, and left the room, closing the door.

"I'm ready, big sis," he said to Blaise.

Upon hearing him, Blaise turned to her right, and replied, "Oh, okay. Let's go."

And so, both siblings left their room and went downstairs, where their friends are waiting for them. They, including Tanaka, then all walked together towards the palace.

Not long after, they are now in the huge meeting room with Alexander, his family and some spies, Dan, Emi, and Luke and his two fellow Senior Royal Guards. But Alexander's wife is not with them; she's busy doing her royal duties.

They, except for Alexander, Luke, Emi, the two other Senior Royal Guards and the spies, then sat down, in the same arrangement of chairs but with some extra ones for Tanaka and the spies.

"Alright, everyone," Alexander began the meeting, "we have some updates from our spies."

Robert and the others then pay attention to what he was going to say.

"This morning," Alexander said to them as he placed his hands on the table near some papers, "my spies reported to me that the Old Faction had brainwashed three of our finest and skillful legionnaires in the military, convincing them to join them in this planned coup."

Robert, Tanka, and their group were shocked to hear that.

"What? The legionnaires?"

"Not them!"

"Why?"

"No way!"

"Yes, and they promised better pay and living conditions if they successfully overthrow me," Alexander continued on while lifting his hands off the table. "But, that was false. I already provided what they needed. That's an act of trickery."

"But, how many legionnaires left, Your Highness?" Robert raised a question.

Then, Stephen responded, "We have 10 legionnaires in total, so that means we still have 7 left, albeit more in number and less skillful than the other 3."

"Okay, so that means our plan of defense is a dud?" Emma asked in response.

"Not completely," Luke replied back. "We can modify it."

The rest then agreed with him, and they began to think and modify their plan of defense.

"How about we add more troops to the defense?" William suggested.

"I'll volunteer!" Tanaka responded in positive volunteering.

Tanaka already knew the planned coup from Dan when he and Tadashi have lunch at the main house.

"How about we put the palace guards in the front, the troops at the middle, and me and my friends in the back?" Robert made a suggestion.

But then, Alexander objected to Robert's suggestion, saying, "That would be a bad idea, Mr. Lightningheart. I mean, that would expose our finest palace guards to the enemies, and they had a good chance to be killed. Remember, most of the Old Faction are high-skilled."

Robert then get what the kind said to him, and apologized in response.

After that, Sol made a suggestion, "Okay, how about this? I'll be in the frontline. I can handle most of them."

This shocks Robert and the others.

"What? Are you sure about that?"

"Are you insane?"

"That's because…," Sol replied back, "…I am the head commander of the Saverfort army."

Again, this shocks them, except for Alexander and Luke, who already knew that for quite some time now.

"The head commander?"

"I didn't know that!"

"You mean the highest position in the army?"

"Yes, I hold that position for a long time," Sol responded back, "but my job as the headmaster is more of full-time."

Robert, Blaise, Jeremiah, and their friends then get what he had said.

After that, Emi suggested to them, "I'll be in the frontline, too. I can handle most of them."

But then, the rest doubted her ability and skills as an assassin.

"No, I had been training for a long time," Emi insisted back, "so I can handle it."

Eventually, Alexander agreed to their suggestions to their plan, but, with a condition: They must not hurt the soldiers of Saheda, even those who were controlled by the Old Faction.

Then, to that Sol made a suggestion to use chemical flash bombs to temporarily disorient the Old Faction members and their allied soldiers, before adding that if the brainwashed troops had no choice but to attack without a will, the palace guards and their allied troops had to attack them in retaliation.

But then, Dan objected, "But that would be a waste of good troops. They had been deceived by the Old Faction."

Realizing his error in his suggestion, Sol regretted the last part, and went back to the chemical flash bomb plan instead.

After that, Alexander said his part that the planned coup will be 2 days away, telling them to be prepared and train more in their abilities, before concluding that they should meet again tomorrow for new updates.

The rest then agreed, and all of them finished their meeting and left the room, including the Luke and his two fellow Senior Royal Guards and the king's spies.

Along the way to the stairs, Robert began to ponder and think about how to handle the combined forces of the Old Faction and three brainwashed legionnaires of the Saheda army.

"That sounds hard," he thought in his mind while thinking. "I mean, they are that many. I don't think my katana skills are skillful enough."

He then stopped walking and thought in determination, "But I'll train more and be stronger."

His older sister and cousin then noticed his thinking, and Jeremiah asked him, "What are you doing, cous?"

Hearing that, Robert looked at them and snapped out. "Oh, nothing at all, Jeremiah-kun."

He then catch up with them, and after parted ways with Alexander and his family, they left the palace together.