TENSIONS

"The Champion has arrived." The guard at the gate announced.

"Let him in," King Gorges ordered.

The doors to the throne room then opened, and Kojo walked in towards the King. He ignored the displeased and angered looks on the Nobles.

The kingdom, though divided among the direct offspring of the former king, was still too broad to be governed by such a small group of people. So their territories were further subdivided into smaller territories that were overseen by nobles related to the Listowell family. They answered to the dukes who ruled over the various provinces, and they, in turn, answered to the king. It was only the province of Opal that wasn't subdivided, as none of the nobles wanted to go there due to the false impression they had of Philip and the number of beasts that inhabited the land. Then there's the war with the goblin nation of Gwaltch to the north. It was a whole lot.

On this occasion, the majority of the nobles under the dukes had decided to go to the Capitol to protest. The dukes themselves had seen Kojo in action and knew his personality. They knew that it was pointless to go against someone who could be likened to a loose cannon, but the nobles wouldn't listen, so they allowed them to do as they pleased, opting to stay and govern their lands.

"Your Majesty," Kojo bowed.

"I welcome you on your return, Kojo," the King said. "Though it seems some misfits took advantage of your absence to cause trouble."

"I apologize for that. Got held up—"

"You have the gall to say all this when you were nowhere to be seen during the incident!" One Noble interrupted.

"And you call yourself our kingdom's Champion!?" Another added.

"What do you expect from a mongrel?!"

"Such impudence!!"

"He should be dismissed and punished for his transgressions!!"

Other noblemen began voicing complaints, and for a few seconds, the throne room was in an uproar. King Gorges opened his mouth to silence them, but then the room became quiet.

Fear.

By using that skill as well as releasing a subtle amount of his aura, he could broadcast the feeling of fear and terror to a person or group of people. He'd yet to test the full potential of the ability. He directed it at the nobles, though the king, queen, Prince, and princess still felt a bit uncomfortable due to the change in atmosphere. He noticed that some of the nobles appeared unaffected. He glanced at Cabolt.

"You guys are overreacting. It's not like there weren't people present to protect the city," he said.

"But that just further proves your incompetence. You should have been there yourself," one noble said.

"We made you the champion, not them," another added. "If we wanted, we'd recruit champions the same way we do with soldiers. You need to take responsibility for your absence."

"I'm beginning to doubt the merits of having you here. This is why I proposed an investigation into the outcome of the tournament. It's possible that those women had a hand in your victory," the noble said.

"Surely you jest. Though I wasn't present, I'm sure that Kojo has proven himself worthy of the title, has he not?" Klara questioned.

"We're not doubting his capabilities as a fighter. The thing is, we're doubting how a coward like him could defeat Lady Sasha."

"You're one to talk. After you holed yourselves up in your various estates and had the soldiers protect you while the people remained helpless," Kojo responded.

"Oh, please, do not lecture us."

"You're right, it's pointless to correct the foolish," Kojo retorted.

"What did you say to me?"

"Oh? Are you deaf too?"

"You little—" the noble said, getting up.

"Both of you calm yourselves. We are in the presence of the king," Cabolt said.

Kojo apologized to the king.

"I admit my absence was unwarranted, but could you set aside your stupid noble pride and shut your damn trap for one moment and listen? The kingdom has nobles like you; it's no wonder Archadia's been stagnant for almost two centuries."

The hall was silent.

"Now, I apologize that I wasn't present to help during the attack, but it's been dealt with with minimal casualties to life and property, so there's no point yapping about it. Now, I don't need to tell you where I was because you all heard the bells that signaled the clearing of the tower."

"And how is that relevant in this conversation?" a noble asked.

"Efficiency."

"Huh?"

"My conquest of the tower is more efficient and beneficial to the Kingdom," Kojo said as two portals opened on either side of him, and gold articles poured out, forming two mounds of gold with him in between. The nobles were instantly captivated, and even Billiam, who was dozing off, indifferent to the conversation, became alert.

"Now, even if I was present, there's still the possibility that the city would suffer some damage. We still haven't recovered from the previous dragon attack. The Academy where your children school has been damaged. The most recent Goblin raid has also affected the city's infrastructure, not to mention the cost of treatment of the guards and people who were wounded in both incidents. Now the question is, where are we going to get funding to deal with all these? Remember that the treasury has been used due to the rising cases of Maajin attacks. Then there's the need to get food or grains for the people, costs associated with trade, soldiers and other workers need to be paid, even the various perks that the nobles here enjoy, among other outstanding debts."

"We all know the state of the economy; just get to the point."

"And you also know that the 100th floor of the tower has treasures that date back to who knows when."

That noble wanted to talk but then realized what Kojo was trying to say, and his eyes widened with the realization.

"So what you're saying is you went to conquer the tower in order to find the revenue required to solve these problems?" Queen Morgaine questioned.

"Yes, Your Highness."

"I see. But I hear that gold and silver aren't the only things that are on the top floor," the queen asked.

"Yes, aside from treasures, there are treasures that date back to the dark ages. I will not hand those over to the Kingdom, however, as I have inherited the will of the first hero," Kojo added the last part, sensing the evil intentions the nobles had.

"What right do you have to say that?" One noble said.

"That's the same as treason," another said.

Kojo raised his left hand. The runes around his wrist glowed before dimming.

"I am the current administrator of the tower. I have other plans, but seeing the opposition, I'd like to have a private audience with the king."

"YOU—"

Kojo gave a sharp look to the noble who was about to speak, and he fell silent.

"Your Majesty," Kojo greeted.

"Sure, we'll talk later," the King said with a sigh.

The moment the doors closed, the nobles felt a strong sense of relief.

Kojo walked out of the palace. He noticed an envoy turning up. They, too, appeared to be people of importance, but the knights guarding them wore a different type of armor than those of the kingdom, wearing black instead of the silver ones worn by the kingdom's knights. Also, the flags they used were different. The flag of Archadia was a golden Celtic shield over a red background, a circular shield with two semi-circular dents at either side and a dent at the bottom. The shield had an eight-pointed star in the middle, with the bottommost point reaching to touch the small dent at the bottom of the shield. It had six pairs of wings. The edges of the shield had a design like chains being interlocked, and the area around the shield was designed like scales. The shield had three pairs of outstretched wings and golden lines extending from the shield, diverging, giving the appearance of light being radiated.

The flag of Adonis, however, was a large black gear in a green background with segments that made it look like a five-pointed star was cut out of it. Bordering the inner circle was what looked like the helmet of a knight with a sword and a rifle crossed over each other at the bottom of the shield.

One of the men turned and looked at him. Their eyes met for a brief instant before Kojo walked away. The man stared after him for a few moments before walking to join his comrades and enter the palace.

"Who are those guys?"

(They are an envoy from the kingdom of Adonis.)

"Adonis, huh?" Kojo said as he walked out of the castle and into the city.

"What are they like?"

Sysia displayed a 3D image of the planet in his mind.

(There are six continents on this planet. Before anything, let's put it all into perspective. By my calculations and the information I accessed from the archive, this world, Gaia, is slightly bigger than Earth.) she said, displaying Earth beside Gaia.

(The continents are: Ezkanur in the north, Apollonia at the equator, Heliopolis in the east, the Savage Lands in the West, and Ryukai. Ryukai, the floating continent, was at present floating over a storm over the continent of Saifelle, the mythical land of spirits. This is a projection of the continents of our old world in relation to this one.)

Based on Sysia's projection, Kojo found out that Apollonia would have encompassed Europe and Africa. Ezkanur would be at the North Pole, Heliopolis would be where China should be, with its smaller islands going all the way to what should be Australia. The Savage Lands would be all of North America and part of South America, and the continent of Saifelle would lie between the Pacific Ocean and the South Pole. The dragon continent of Ryukai had just floated over Saifelle and was moving toward Heliopolis.

"Hmm," Kojo said as Apollonia was highlighted.

(There are five nations on this continent: Adonis, Archadia, Gwaltch, Tessaloni, Granola, Quava, and the Necrolionic Federation. Adonis is at the North Eastern part of the continent and shares a border with Archadia at the provinces of Carnelia and Opal. The border between Carnelia and Opal, however, is a large lake that's saturated with arcana due to mystium deposits in the water and so have spawned a large number of beasts, making Opal the only border town.)

"Okay. But being a border town, you'd expect to see them more often, but that's not so."

(Adonis is an empire that wears a mask of progress and reason, but beneath lies a complex web of suspicion and hostility. Their disdain for magic is palpable, and they view those who wield it as a threat to their way of life.)

"Huh?"

(They hold the belief that Humans are the strongest race, with all others being despised as inferior. What truly sets them apart is their disdain for magic. This all dates back to 600 years or so with the appearance of the Enclave during their renaissance. The Enclave's leader, Voltaire Clave, preached his ideals about how magic is a curse from the devil and as humans, we should break free of its shackles. He gained quite a following and was recognized by the emperor, who, though skeptical, kept him due to his vast knowledge and wisdom. He later on assassinated the monarch and placed his son as King, with himself as second. With his newfound influence, he erased the use of magic and rather opted for the use of machines and gadgets. He's been trying to propagate his agenda to other countries since then.)

"Wait, you mean he's been alive for 600 years? That's insane."

(You're in a world of mythical creatures and the arcane. I'm pretty sure insane is normal around here.)

"True that. So he's the one who's been backing up the empire all this time."

(Yes, but only in terms of scientific advancement and military development. The country is still in the control of the royal bloodline.)

"Yes, but he did assassinate the king and place a more, easier target on the throne. But it's still confusing. The average lifespan here is slightly longer and can be stretched a bit to a little over 200 years, but 6 centuries is insane and all without the use of magic. Is the empire's technology that advanced? And their being here. It's probably to conduct some kind of peace talks."

(The empire is a communist state that, after several confrontations with neighboring nations, signed a non-aggression pact, bringing temporary peace to the continent.)

"Yeah, because even if they are an advanced society, they can't go on without resources from other nations. There's probably some kind of non-aggression pact between the nations."

(They still use mystium as a power source.)

"Meaning the mystic-rich province of Opal is their target. They probably haven't done so because they don't want to provoke the Goblin nation of Gwaltch, which is right after the lake separating them from Carnelia. That said, it's only a matter of time before they do something drastic."

"When was this treaty signed?"

(It was signed 74 years ago, but tensions between the two nations are on the rise as there are rumors that the empire has plans to invade.)

Kojo thought for a while, then groaned, running his hands through his hair.

"Aw man. I just wanted to live a decent second life; now I have to deal with a war between cosmic forces and look over my shoulder because of a country of self-righteous jackasses," Kojo said. He nearly bumped into an old lady who was carrying a heavy load.

"Sorry," Kojo said.

Due to the skill Accelerant, which allowed him to think within fractions of a second being passive, it seemed no time had passed, though he had an entire conversation with Sysia.

"It's nothing," the old woman said.

"Please, let me help you," Kojo said with a smile, taking the load off her head and following her to her home. As thanks for his help, the old woman gave him some bread and waved as he left.

"I know I said I'd meet up with Sharone and the others, but I think I'll pass by the academy for a detour. Plus, I heard the headmistress is Estelle's descendant. Let's see what she knows," Kojo said to himself, taking a bite of a loaf of bread and walking toward the academy.

The old woman closed the door, and Nefaria walked out of her body and smiled.

"I have you now," she said with a smile before disappearing. Unknown to Kojo, the leaves of bread had runes carved into them. Kojo ate the last loaf and disposed of the bag before walking through the gates of Jewel Academy.