27 Epilogue

A golden embroidered carpet split the throne room in equal half. From each side, a formation of knights stood at attention. Uniformly fitted. Sitting on top of the big throne. In the center of all attention, a timid man sat on top of the throne. The throne had been too tall for his feet to reach the floor. The head of the kingdom was stereotypical imagined to be fat but this man was the opposite. His features weak along with his presence. To compensate, his clothing was lavish and full of glimmering materials especially his oversize crown.

With one fist in front of his mouth, he began coughing to get rid of his mucus stuck in his throat.

"N-news"

"Yes, your majesty."

The voice belonged to his right hand man standing next to him. A well groomed man dressed in darker colors. The right hand of the king, his presence was more noticeable than his king.

"Listen knights of Azel. A company of foot soldiers came across a village. What's so important about this village you might wonder? We've found multiple of men belonging to our army, dead. This village was the cause of many of our patrols disappearing. No reporting of it were filed with the adventurers department nor other kingdoms. With an investigation, we have confirmed it was the work of one lone individual. With this we must question our ability to fight evil beings. An oracle has prophesies that the demon king will rise soon. Mathelios is mobilizing about half of their entire force and asking other Kingdoms to send support to dwindle the numbers before the resurrection of the Demon King. Thus we will use this opportunity to gain experience by working in a joint mission with the Mathelios kingdom to suppress the demons. The Lionsgale kingdom will participate as well."

The looks of the soldiers faces widened. They were veterans who battled the Lionsgale kingdom since their oath to their kingdom and had established extreme prejudice against them. To fight alongside their foes brought unease in their hearts. Fighting against demons on top of having to trust they wouldn't be back stabbed in a crucial moment, their military bearing was collapsing. Their eyes shifted left and right, trying to catch a glimpse of what the man next to him was.

"Don't worry, we'll send adventurers as well."

Their looks did not improve, this was what the man had exactly anticipated. He smirked.

"We've signed a non aggression pact, Their warrior Gwen will be going but- our Ozan will be participating as well."

With the mention of Ozan, the ranks calmed down and reformed their poker faces. Ozan was an outstanding warrior among the army and even prevented multiple occasions in battle from being utterly annihilated against rival kingdoms.

"Now we need a leader in charge our faction in this expedition, which one of you will take charge?"

One lone knight, shorter than the others stepped forward. His short curly dirty blonde hair barely visible to the right handed man as the man in front of him towered over him. His boyish face housed attractive azure eyes. He wasn't as decorated as his peers and fell short on experience.

"If you will, I sir Haise volunteer to take charge of this joint task."

The right hand man leaned into the kings ear to whisper. The king nodded and hopped off his chair. Extending his arms out, he had intended to look cool but his body was shaking rapidly.

"As-as of today, I place Sir Haise as co-commander of the Azel's joint task force company. Sir Haise, you are to report to O-Ozan immediately after this. You may all leave."

His voice had fluctuated but they paid no heed to it. The Knights simultaneously turned inboard and marched out. It was a death sentence to make fun or slander the king, no person in the room was willing to throw away their entire life to make a joke in front of his face.

After the knights left, only the king and the right hand man remained in the room. Immediately the king slumped in his chair.

"Was this really the right thing to do?"

"Yes your majesty."

The man smiled crookedly.

"Only a fool would march into the demons domain. Once the expedition is killed, It'll give us a casus belli towards Mathelios for sending our army to imminent death. Especially with the loss of Ozan, the populace will rage with anger that their hero was killed due to Mathelios' poor leadership. We'll have full support from our people. With a weakened Mathelios, we'll crush them and their resources. We can then destroy Lionsgale once the non aggression pact ends. Everything will be ours."

The man chuckled at his own ploy.