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Return of the Fallen Vol1 Ch12

Author: Blue_Rat

ch12

It had only been two days since the heroes were summoned and the incident occurred, so it was easy to reason why a mix of grumbles and curses slipped from an irritated Garn as he marched toward the throne room.

He had been called upon by the King right after the incident had happened but since things were fresh Garn couldn’t really give an explanation as to why the summoning spell had such a mishap. That day, with over 60 years of service to this kingdom with never one mishap prior to this incident, his king had admonished him for a lack of foresight. A day and a half later he was supposed to give his actual first lesson to the young heroes but again he was called forth by his king.

Coming upon 2 large golden doors, Garn stood outside of them and waited with a bit of impatience.

(Damn, what is it now? The heroes have already been here for two days already, yet I haven’t even given them their first lesson and just before I go to teach them I’m summoned once again by his majesty.)

Garn waited and waited and waited. 10 minutes 20, 30 minutes go by and Garn was still waiting and unbeknownst to him his foot had been tapping long ago.

“Bah, what the hell is taking so long?”

The few guards that stood in front of the golden doors protecting the area, opened their eyes wide in astonishment. Only someone of Garn’s status could actually curse outside of the throne room and get away with it.

The guards, although surprised by Master Garn’s outburst, completely understood why he was so upset. The king had never made Master Garn wait for anything but now after the incident, it seemed like the king was actively trying to push the blame onto him.

Finally, the large golden doors emitted a soft glow before they slowly opened. The guards stood out of the way and Garn walked in, his face slightly bitter.

A large long table, made from a solid piece of granite sat in the middle of the room. Around this table were many important figures of the kingdom such as officials or generals and even a few nobles. At the head of the table was a grand and luxurious throne. Red fabric covered the lining while the frame was entirely made of gold. Garn was a little stunned when he first arrived, not only did the king have him wait but even his usual chair which always sat next to the king’s throne had been moved to the opposite end of the table nearly 20 feet away.

The King was a man of age. Not nearly as old as Garn but not far from it. His hair was mostly white with only a few layers of black peppered atop his head, maybe he had more but due to the majestic crown resting upon it, it was difficult to tell. With thick brows and sharp brown eyes, the king gave off no warmth or welcome to his oldest and most trusted retainer. The King peered coldly at Garn before he spoke commandingly.

“Sit.”

The surprise that was on these important figures faces was hard to describe. They never thought the day would come when King David would show so little respect to his most trusted advisor and teacher. The air was chill with tension and no one wished to speak first in such an atmosphere. Garn as well was confused. Had he really done something so wrong as to be treated this way? Still, Garn did as he was told and sat down. To his left sat someone he was quite familiar with and he quietly whispered to him.

“Rust, what’s with this mood? It’s as though a boulder sits atop everyone’s shoulders.”

Rust leaned in with a bit of bitterness in his voice.

“It seems we really did have a leak somewhere. The kingdom of both Jin and Maoudou has already gotten word of you summoning the heroes and they’ve already demanded a meeting with our King. That’s why we’re all here and that’s why the air is so heavy.”

Everything finally clicked for Garn.

(Damn, so our plan has failed.)

“With our summoning of the heroes being discovered that takes away any momentum we would have gained otherwise. Tell me, Rust, have you found the rat yet?”

Rust shook his head.

“No, but we’ve reinforced our guards and tightened security. No one will take advantage of us again.”

King David raised the scepter in his hand and stamped it loudly on the ground.

*Bang*

Everyone’s eyes all focused on him and he began.

“As you all know, our summoning of all 24 heroes was discovered and reported to our closest allies. Because of this, a meeting will soon take place between our three countries. I don’t know how we were discovered but whoever the rat is, mark my words, you will be caught and you will be tortured for the rest of your days. Not only that, I will personally see to it that your life is extended for as long as possible and you will suffer and suffer and suffer.”

Everyone began to quietly murmur, a few of the naïve amongst them couldn’t possibly understand why the King had made that threat here but the ones who weren’t idiots knew exactly why it was said in their presence. He believes that a person or persons that are present here and now are the culprit. Before the group could continue their meaningless talk the king once more stamped his scepter on the floor.

*Bang*

The King quickly shouted at his followers.

“Shut it, it’s time.”

With those words, everyone in the room grew quiet and waited impatiently.

The granite table began to shine brightly before two small holes opened in its center. Two crystal balls rose from that place and gently floated up into the air. As faint blue energy exuded from the two crystal balls, the two small crystals emitted a holographic video of two other throne rooms. Sitting in thrones similar to David were two more men. One of these kings was old, similar to King David, while another was young, very young. This young king couldn’t be any older than 20.

The other two kings shared looks of venom with King David but as of this moment, nothing was said.

The images reflected were all live and happening in real-time. A moment later, one more small crystal-covered entirely in a white light floated next to the other two crystals and a tendril of energy connected all three. Suddenly sound could be heard coming through the holographic images and the first to speak was King David.

“King Tobern, King Brian, welcome to..”

“NOOOOOO.”

King Tobern barked over King David, interrupting him.

“No welcomes, no bullshit. As your allies, I and King Brian have already discussed this and we demand to know why your kingdom of Treia has dared to summon all 24 heroes to your kingdom alone. Why have you betrayed us? If your answer is not satisfactory then fuck the war between humans and Azirians. I and Brian will march over there ourselves and your head will be the first on the chopping block.”

KIng Tobern was fuming, while the young King Brian simply narrowed his eyes, waiting for an explanation.

David felt a bit of anger being interrupted as well as threatened, but still, he had to give an explanation or the consequences could be disastrous. It’s a good thing he already had something prepared long ago.

Smiling back at the enraged King, David shook his head.

“No no no no, I never once betrayed either of you. As a matter of fact, I have done this for you two.”

Old Tobern’s expression twisted as he roared back.

“What! You dare say you did this for us. How does your summoning the 24 and raising them under your roof help me or my kingdom? I see it all now. You wish to monopolize every single hero and leave me and King Brian to rot out under the sun. What were you planning to do had we not found out, huh? I’m certain you would have told us immediately. Oh, wait, but you didn’t tell us did you, we had to find out the hard way.”

Once Tobern said those last few words he realized his own slip-up and shut his mouth but David had already caught on. Narrowing his eyes he spoke with contempt.

“Oh, you found out the hard way did you and dare I ask what the hard way was. Could it be, have you snuck a few rats into my pantry? I thought you said we were allies, tell me, do allies spy on one another?… No, I didn’t think so.”

Tobern squeezed his fist so hard that his nails dug into the meat of his palm causing a line of blood to run down his hand. Lowering his hand out of frame so as to not show such an embarrassing sight. Tobern was just about to rebut David when the young King Brian finally spoke.

“David, Whether he has spies in your kingdom or not doesn’t matter at this point. The fact is, you can’t prove one way or another that there really are spies but the opposite, Tobern and I have actual proof and evidence of your summoning of the 24 heroes. For instance.”

Brian picked up a small sheet of paper and unrolled it a bit before reading it out to everyone present.

“16 shipments of 9 1/2 tons of irradiated mana crystal; I have the purchase orders made out to dozens of shell merchant corps and companies, each one linked back to the Kingdom of Treia in one way or another. Plus I have evidence of each shipment being received in hidden passageways which lead into your kingdom and also evidence of you bringing said shipments into your personal purifying center. Not only that I have found an increase in the production of magic gold which has two main uses, one of which is used for creating inscriptions for magic tools and the other for specialized summoning. Not only that 88 of your top Mages all disappeared at around the exact same time and all 88 reappeared similarly at the exact same time. Judging by the number of healers that suddenly had to drop what they were doing and headed for an undisclosed location, I have also surmised that an emergency had occurred. Tell me what problem occurred during the summoning? Actually, whether you speak or don’t, I already know.”

King David’s expression warped into one of true humiliation and fear.

(This kid has eyes everywhere, how?)

The surrounding important figures also took on sour expressions. They had been completely seen through. The same thought began to run through each of Treia’s top leaders.

(King Brian really does have eyes everywhere.)

A sudden shudder ran through a few of these officials as they looked back on some of the ill deeds they had committed and wondered if King Brian knows already. The possibility was there.

The look in King Brian’s eyes sharpened as he continued.

“David, why are you so quiet, I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet. Ladies and gentlemen, all I have said so far could be counted as mere speculation up to this point, but if you’ll have a look at this”

King Brian then tapped a ring on his finger changing the hologram of him into several different images for the people in the throne room of Treia and the people in the throne room of Jin to see. The following images were of all the shipments being delivered to several different points in Treia. The mages disappearing and reappearing and even the mass amount of healers suddenly dropping what they were doing and seemingly vanishing for a while as well.

Everything Brian had said was now being shown for all to see, further humiliating the leadership of Treia. The evidence was so overwhelming, that a few people wondered if David would take their heads afterwards. Sure, they were following his orders but at the same time, they were caught in the act and were now the cause of severe humiliation for their king. Their fate’s awaiting them, they could only pray for forgiveness and mercy.

Once Tobern saw this, a large smile broke out across his face, he had a severe lack of awareness or fear for the young King Brian who somehow procured and revealed all of this evidence. Instead, he simply felt triumphant and barked.

“So, who is in the wrong and who is in the right? Do you dare deny what you’ve done now?”

King David, as well as everyone in the throne room in Treia, grit their teeth in humiliation.

(How can this be, how could they have gotten all of that evidence?)

Finally, David conceded and his face relaxed slightly.

“What, what do you want?”

For the first time since this whole conversation started Brian showed a bit of emotion and released a small smile before replying.

“Everything.”