Chapter 68.

Adrian felt a sense of triumph at the reversal from the day of his summoning. Back then he had been forced to submit. It was strange to use the lessons he had learned from a man he had just killed.

It took less than a minute for them to be left inside alone with him, no guards or protective tools. He savoured the atmosphere feeling a strange cocktail of satisfaction and fear. He was planning to deal with experienced politicians. He needed to do it on his terms.

Agatha shattered the ambience with a cackle.

"Great entrance," she said, "9 out of 10 for drama and scaring the soul out of these bastards."

He smiled.

Adrian could see that she was nervous. Her mana was flaring but her expression was carefully controlled. Adrian was tempted to see if he could scare her as the other nine but decided against it.

She had fought the monsters and was the leader of the restoration efforts. He could respect that. Even if he was certain that she was his most formidable enemy here.

"Thank you," he said, "but why did I miss that last point?"

She smirked, "No explosions." she said, "An epic entrance always need explosions."

He shook his head, his smile widening reluctantly, she had destroyed his first move, "I'll do better next time," he said, before his voice turned cold, "We have much to discuss." He glared at the nobles one at a time using his perception enhancement to take his time analyzing them.

Most flinched. One showed genuine anger. Agatha stayed calm.

Adrian's smile vanished and anger was warped into fear. He cursed internally as Agatha's amusement only grew. She was a problem.

"Do any of you have experience in dealing with the aftermath of a Wave?" he asked, his tone light. He kept his senses blazing and his swords floated around him. Ready to kill if they chose to protest him taking charge violently. He didn't think they'd be eager to give up their authority.

Aultcray had used decades to build up his reputation. Adrian hadn't done anything in comparison to that. A show of direct power was needed. Adrian was no expert in politics or people but he understood fear.

There was a pause but one of the women gathered her courage and spoke.

"I believe that Lord Alamos was involved in managing the refugees from the previous Wave," she said while looking at an older man with white hair and incredibly ornate clothing. A multitude of gemstones, all of them enchanted, studded his form and he looked to be at least level 50.

The man probably considered himself strong. He glared at the lady but fear returned and he turned to Adrian slowly. Alamo's heart rate spiked and he began to shake a little.

"I did play a part, Sir Hero," he said, before pointing out two of the people standing, "As did Lady Katrina and Lord Nimlok. However, it was His Majesty and the Church that contributed the greatest fraction of aid."

"I see," he said, feeling a sudden burst of fury as the man confirmed his suspicions. Most of them had slaves. He could see the mana of the slave seal on them. Alamos, in particular, had a great many slaves bound to him.

Adrian's blindsight let him track down the slaves who had a seal that shared Alamos' mana signature. It wasn't far from the Castle and was nestled in the high-class district. The Waves had damaged the house that Alamos probably lived in but not as much as Adrian would have expected. A direct consequence of the reasonable defences around the house and the many skilled soldiers patrolling the location even now.

But none of this kept Adrian's attention. Instead, he could see the young lady with wolf ears cleaning the rubble from a wall that had been taken down, the children even younger than her who were milling around performing manual labour with the many servants populating the area.

They looked decently looked after, for slaves, but the sight of them was still infuriating. The thought of Raphtalia or Rifana or Isis being in their position was sickening.

"Sir Hero?" asked a voice. Adrian snapped out of his observations and glanced at the youngest member who was looking terrified.

Adrian ignored the teenager and looked at Alamos, "Then you played a part in the murder and enslavement of the people of Seaetto," he said, leaning back against the rather comfortable throne and tilting his head, "I killed Aultcray because of that. Do you have a reason for me not to kill you?"

Alamos' eyes widened and his fellows swallowed heavily but before they could say or do anything a loud cackle interrupted them.

Agatha had looked stunned, then a vicious grin had split her face, her cackling had soon followed, "These three weren't the only ones in charge. There are many others," she said, amusement giving way to bitter fury, "most of them aren't here but this bastard played a pretty big role. He was the main commander." Her finger was pointed at Alamos, "the other two were just in it for the fun and the chance to gain Aultcray's favour."

"That's not true!" said Alamos, panicking completely he turned to Adrian, "The King ordered us to do as he commanded. We would have never done anything like this without his commands…"

The man continued to rant and his two comrades joined in. Adrian had to admit that they were quite creative in their begging. But by this point, he had tracked down the many slaves that these three had. The others had them as well.

Most of those slaves were in horrible conditions.

It galvanized Adrian's decision.

Nine blades manifested. Three flew forward and stopped a couple of centimetres away from Alamos and his dear allies. Screams rang out and people flinched. Their eyes followed the swords that he had just created. No doubt realizing what the number implied.

"Silence," he said, smiled at the immediate obedience and turned his attention to Alamos, "cut yourself using that sword and keep your hand on the blade."

The three nobles hesitated. Agatha was smiling widely. Enjoying the show. He reassessed his opinion of her. She hated these people.

"Do as I ordered or I shall simply assume your guilt and act accordingly," he said, this time they did as commanded and Adrian triggered the Curse Seal formation. The three of them gritted their teeth as the pain started but horror settled in on the faces of everyone there only after they realized what he was doing to them.

"No!" said Alamos trying to back away, "You can't-"

Adrian had the sword stab Alamos in the shoulder while the wooden floor flared up and bound him with wines. The seal was soon applied.

He smiled at them once they were all bound by the seal. Released Alamos from his plant prison. Reduced the pain to the medium and restricted their behaviour quite thoroughly.

"Tell me the full truth regarding the events that occurred in the Seaetto Region," he commanded.

Alamos swallowed. He looked at the others who had been bound alongside him and then turned to the others in the room. Only Agatha met his eyes. Her mocking grin had Alamos turning to look at the ground.

He knelt.

"Please forgive me," he said, his head on the ground, his voice muffled, tears running down his face, "I'll repent I promise-"

Adrian felt his annoyance rise.

"Don't beg. Don't ask for mercy and don't waste my time," he said, "tell me everything."

Hope shone on the old man's face. He got up from the ground and said, "Yes! Of course Sir Hero. I…I played a role in planning the raids. His Majesty and His Holiness asked it of me and offered me the chance to gain the Lands belonging to Seaetto…"

Alamos hid nothing. Oh, he tried to but a jolt of pain and a floating sword was often enough to motivate the man.

To Adrian's surprise while some of the nobles were scared...a lot of them were shocked or disgusted by his confession of how he had killed Lord Seaetto, enslaved the people he was supposed to kill to make a greater profit and had not fully removed the monsters because he wanted the monsters to clear the area of all life.

Adrian flared his mana once Alamos was done speaking and the wooden floor consumed him. He didn't even get a chance to scream as he was drawn underground. Poisoned and paralyzed he was no longer a concern.

The other warily watched the room around them. Perhaps realizing that they were in his domain. He didn't need his swords to deal with them. The room they were in was enough.

Adrian found their composure to be rather impressive considering that they were one step away from the same fate as Alamos. Agatha had reason to be confident. The magic he had seen her using was powerful and she was at least a level 90.

The others were not even a minor threat. He had to wonder at their confidence.

"Anything to say?" he asked the two noblemen who Alamos had named as his allies.

One of them nodded, "We can only beg mercy for our families Sword Hero," he said, kneeling but looking Adrian straight in the eye, "Neither of us desired to take part in such an activity but our loyalty to our liege lord demanded it."

Truth. The seal told him that much. But it didn't excuse anything.

He had seen the horrific devastation. Tens of thousands had died in Seaetto. It infuriated him that they asked for mercy for their families and that the others in the room seemed to agree with them when thousands of families, children had been killed on their orders.

Adrian dragged them underground to join Alamos before he lost control and killed them. A breath let him relax and loosen the hold on the hilt of his sword.

The room was tense. Each one wondering who would be next. Adrian wanted to scoff. These fools wouldn't be dealt with for now. He had probably ensured their obedience and that was more valuable to the people down in the city than their corpses.

"Tell me about your plans to help the city recover," he said, "What have you done until now and what do you plan to do?"

"We've got order established," said Agatha after silence lingered for a moment at the sudden topic change, "your attack and the barrier you set up helped with that but we've got a lot of injured. Food and Water could also be a problem but not a very big one. In the long run, though we're in trouble. A lot of houses were wrecked."

Adrian glanced at the city, "Order?" he asked, "there's a fair amount of looting going on even now and you're guards are fucking stupid. They're trying to discipline the people rather than calming them down."

She shrugged, "It's not great," she admitted, "but with the time we had and with the chaos thanks to the Wave and the Castle's destruction it's' the best we can do."

Adrian felt like the second point was a jab at him but said nothing about it. It was probably true.

He sighed, feeling a headache startup, "Leave food, water and shelter to me." he said, planning out how to alter the pillars he had used to support the dome so that it became more useful, "I'll need your support to maintain order, manage the logistics of getting the resources to the right place and deal with search and rescue. Any other concerns?"

The nobles looked stunned at his sudden reversal but a glance at them was enough to remove their surprised expressions.

"We must consider the nearby regions Sword Hero," said one of the women.

Adrian waved it off, "I've dealt with them already. It would be wise to send a party to confirm it but the nearby villages are safe and the monsters were killed for the most part."

Another wave of surprise passed through and even Agatha looked a little off balance.

"You dealt with the entire Wave," she said. It was a statement but her flat tone sounded rather disbelieving.

"It is my job," he said, "it would be rather pathetic if I couldn't."

She snorted at that, "Absurd. You've got a lot stronger Sword Hero."

Laughter bubbled up against his will, "Not calling me a brat?" he asked.

"You've graduated past that," she said with a smile, before speaking more seriously, "Do you know why the Wave happened so early?"

"Nothing certain," he admitted truthfully, even if he was not being fully honest, "I have some sources to contact and I'll check on the Hourglass to figure out what I can but…"

He trailed off and she seemed to understand. Adrian was stunned. Agatha seemed to treat him with casual respect even though he had killed Aultcray and abandoned Melormarc.

Was defeating this Wave that important to her?

"Mind giving me an update once you get some news?" she asked.

"Of course," he said, with a nod, "Keep in mind that the next Wave is coming early as well. It will hit Melromarc in fifteen days."

That had been an unpleasant surprise. Malty's impact was long-running and he would likely be facing Glass more than a month in advance. He needed to get ready for that as well.

It was part of the reason he had decided to take over Melromarc and why he would be teleporting the slaves from here to his base.

Two independent power bases. One which he would have total control over but was weak and a second more established one that would be harder and riskier to control.

"Got it," she said, "any idea where it'll hit exactly?"

He shook his head, "No," he said, "but I'll be expecting Melromarc to have an army ready to join my Battle Formation during the Wave. That way you'll have people on site. I won't expect much support in the way of fighting the Wave but rescue and evacuation will be on you."

Plus, if Glass showed up he'd need something to keep the Wave at bay while he was busy with her...and if he died then at least the Wave wouldn't be allowed to spread for a long time.

"I'm not the person you should talk to for that," she said.

"Who is the right person then?" he asked.

"Well...you killed the last one," she said, smiling to take the edge off, "so Mirellia is your best bet."

"You mean the wife of the man who I just killed." he said, tone hard, "and the woman who had all four Heroes summoned into her nation."

"Nope," she said, ignoring his annoyance, "I mean the woman who is the actual ruler. Who was blindsided by her idiot husband and who needs your help if this country is to exist past the month."

He considered that for a couple of seconds, "Has some declared war on Melromarc?" he asked, wondering if that was what could make Mirellia desperate enough to ask for his help.

"Someone," scoffed Agatha, "try asking who hasn't decided to go to war. The conference broke down after the Shield Hero was killed by those fuckers who run the Church. Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden are already getting ready to invade and I'm sure that we have others who are going to follow."

War.

The thought was worrying. He could imagine just how horrific war with magic could be. Adrian wondered just why he hadn't considered the possibility before shaking the thought off.

The Wave was the concern for now. He'd worry about warfare later.

"Irrelevant," he said, "Mirellia isn't here."

"She will be within a couple of hours," said Agatha, he caught one of the noblewoman nodding. Adrian marked her as a potential Mirellia supporter.

"Fine." he said, already planning how to get some leverage on her and wondering how to isolate her for an honest conversation...and possibly simply leaving, he wasn't sure how to face a woman he had just widowed, "but let's get on with our immediate concerns."

He received a nod and the meeting quickly shifted into a planning session for dealing with the aftermath of the Wave. It was quite interesting how useful the nobles were when fear was driving them.

A dozen floating swords were quite useful as a very blunt threat.

It hardly took ten minutes for a decent plan to be hashed out.

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