Chapter 93: Anticipation and Dread

"You know, I was more than a little conflicted about the offer that the Commander of the Knights gave us, I felt like I just couldn't make up my mind about how to respond to it...but now, I think I'm leaning towards a favorable response, given what's occurred over the last few days," Remarked Aster thoughtfully.

"Yeah, same here. Especially the whole thing yesterday, that was pretty crazy," Nodded Raven in response.

It had been five days since Jules approached The Irregulars, and in the days since then, a lot of changes had occurred in the nation.

Under the command of the Pope, and with the support of the new Queen, about a third of the remaining members of the church had been apprehended and imprisoned, including a number of the leaders of individual branches of the church.

With the King no longer around to restrict the authority of the Pope and the Inquisitors, they'd gathered plenty of evidence of corrupt activity by members of the church, and convicted them accordingly.

A number of those who'd been arrested were scheduled for execution, due to the extent and severity of their crimes, the rest being sentenced to imprisonment.

But it didn't end there. The following day, the Queen held a meeting with the heads of all the most influential Noble houses, many of whom immediately questioned and voiced their opposition to her supporting the elimination of corruption in their church.

She then proceeded to have the Knights take several of those Nobles into custody, and informing them that the Inquisitors had gathered proof of a number of crimes they'd committed, and several other Nobles were also being investigated.

And then, the next day, those Noble heads were publicly executed, with the Queen issuing a speech that the Inquisitors would be continuing to investigate the Nobility to identify any others who've engaged in criminal behavior, and that they would be punished accordingly.

Several Nobles vanished and went into hiding following that speech, during which numerous changes to the laws and regulations of the Kingdom of Persona were also announced and enacted.

Most notably, that those with Irregular Magic would no longer be criminalized and executed, and that Irregular Magic would be renamed back to Arcane Magic, as it was known in the Age of Ancient Magic.

The Queen also promised to pay out reparations to all the affected families who'd lost loved ones because of that law, and further reparations were also promised to those who had suffered at the hands of the Nobility and church.

Additionally, she had vowed to lower taxes and costs of goods, along with enforcing strict regulations on market prices to ensure that the cost of living would be stabilized made more affordable for Commoners.

The cost of living in the Capital would also be reduced, and Commoners would both be allowed to, and be able to afford to, live there.

The nation was in a state of uproar thanks to all these sudden, drastic changes, many Commoners had been celebrating, with a brighter future now promised to them, though there were plenty who were still skeptical and paranoid about it, having gotten so accustomed to being treated unfairly and as inferior for so long.

The Irregulars had snuck into the Capital the previous day, after it was announced two days ago, that the Queen would be issuing an important speech, so they saw for themselves the execution of the corrupt Noble heads.

Their suspicions and concerns over Jules's offer being a trap had all but been alleviated now, they hadn't completely dismissed that possibility yet, but they had at least surmised that it was slim at best.

"It does seem the new Queen really is making changes for the better now...and with nearly all the corruption in the church having been eliminated, I can't really think of a justifiable reason to keep attacking the church anymore," Mused Celia, resting her head against Raven's shoulder.

"Yeah...I did want to wipe out the entire church from the face of the map, but there's no point in attacking it anymore if we end up killing innocent people who had nothing to do with suffering we endured," Sighed Ravella in response.

"True, and if we accept the offer and join the Knights, we'll be able to keep an eye on the church and make sure no corruption creeps in again. We won't be able to that so easily if we continue doing our own thing," Pointed out Lexia objectively.

"It is kinda wild how they managed to root out most, if not all, the corruption in the church in a single day though, considering how long it took us to take down just a handful of the corrupt members of the church. Maybe this was their way of showing us that we could accomplish a lot more a lot faster if we join the Knights," Suggested Colt in response.

"Well, that's a pretty effective way of getting their point across...they've probably accomplished more in the last few days than we've accomplished over the last few years," Nodded Aster with a wry smile.

"Well, there is the possibility that this all just a big, elaborate ruse to get us to lower our guards and walk right into a trap," Chimed in Tacitus dryly.

"I'd say the chances of that is about one in a million," Responded Aster with a slight laugh.

"Yeah, I highly doubt they'd execute all those Nobles and church members just to trick us," Raven nodded in agreement.

"As minute as the possibility is, we should still prepare for the worst case scenario, just to be safe. We have two days to respond to the offer they gave us...we should take some Teleport Spells with us as a precaution, one each so that we can make an immediate getaway if it comes to it," Lexia suggested after mulling it over for a moment.

"We only have four Teleport Spells left, so we're three short...," Muttered Tacitus, before a look of dread appeared on his face as he slowly glanced at Aster.

"Well, there's only one solution to that...you're just going to have to make three more by the day after tomorrow. You've gotten faster at making them now that you've made so many, so you should be able to pull it off," Responded Aster as he patted Tacitus's shoulder.

"Shit. Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. But fine, I suppose I have no choice. Three long-range Teleport Spells in less than two days is going to be tough though, this is gonna be a real pain," He sighed wearily.

"So, then, is it decided? We're going to the Capital the day after tomorrow?" Inquired Colt.

"Yeah, I'd say so, unless anyone's got any objections?" Replied Aster, as he looked around at the others.

"All good here."

"Yeah, given the circumstances, it'd be foolish to refuse."

"And like we discussed before, it'll be nice to no longer be criminals."

"We should use this remaining time to think of exactly what we want out of this, and then set those conditions to the Queen and Knights before we accept their offer. Based on everything they've done over the last few days though, I think there's a good chance they'll accept, provided we don't ask for anything too unreasonable," Mused Aster thoughtfully.

"Sounds good, we should make sure that we won't be restricted in any way after we join," Replied Raven with a nod.

"I have to say, this is quite the insane turn of events. Not even a week ago we never would've even considered the idea of joining the Knights. And yet, here we are...everything's about to change now, we're just going to have to hope that it's a change for the better," Added Lexia cautiously...

...

...

Two days later...

"Alright, here we are. Let's do this," Declared Aster, as The Irregulars teleported to the outskirts of the Capital, the front gates in sight up ahead.

"This feels weird, just walking right up to the front entrance like this, instead of sneaking in like we usually do," Remarked Colt wryly.

"I was thinking the same thing, it's got me feeling kinda nervous," Nodded Ravella in agreement.

"Seems they've rolled out the welcome mat," Muttered Tacitus, as they spotted Jules standing by the gateway.

She stepped forward as they approached her, before greeting them with a smile...

"Welcome, I'm glad to see you've come. I did have some doubts about whether you would show up at all, so I'm glad those doubts were unfounded."

"Yeah, well, we haven't made a final decision about whether we'll accept your offer or not. That'll have to wait till we see how this goes," Aster informed her.

"Yes, I thought as much. All things considered, that's understandable...but that said, I'm quite confident that you'll come to the conclusion that accepting our offer is the right move. Now, then, follow me," She replied, before turning around and heading into the city.

The Irregulars briefly exchanged glanced with each other, before steeling themselves and following after her, with a mix of both anticipation and dread...