24 - The king of the Engir kingdom

"My name is Gregory"

Merlin felt his danger sense ringing like he was being stared down by a dragon once again, he could feel his heart beating faster and faster as he got more and more scared he yelled

"Why are you here Gregory? Who sent you!?"

Gregory narrowed his eyes slightly, he could see that Merlin was starting to panic, clearly, his senses were too sharp for his own good, Gregory sighed before he called out

"I am going to send the others away, is that okay?"

Merlin's back was filled with cold sweat at this point, though he quickly nodded, then Gergory made a few hand singles before Merlin could feel the danger they were in lessen slightly, still, he kept alert spoke

"You still haven't said who sent you?"

Gregory noticed that the situation was cooling down somewhat and spoke

"I've been sent by my captain, we work directly under the king"

"The king?"

"Yes, he should be making his way here to meet you"

Merlin nodded, then his head worked out various scenarios, most of them didn't end so well for him, so he decided to take all the precautions he could and yelled

"Have the people open up a path Gregory, that or they'll get run over!"

Then he yelled to Jane and Geo

"Jane, Geo Get inside now!"

Jane nodded, so did Geo before he quickly climbed into the M4A2, Jane joined Merlin in one of the King tiger's, then the hatches closed, and the engine let out roars as the tanks began traversing to the side before they began driving around in circles after each other while the turrets pointed outwards from the circle as Merlin observed the surroundings from inside the tanks Jane spoke to him as she patted him on the back

"Easy Merlin… I know those people are something else, but you have to keep calm…"

Merlin nodded before he took a few deep breaths and calmed down somewhat, it also helped on his nerves that Gregory got the people to open up a path, thus the stalemate continued for a tense 5 minutes before a carriage with the royal emblem on the side drove out from the gates, there was quite a commotion as the carriage stopped next to the crowd of people that surrounded the tanks, the people quickly kneeled down on the ground as a person stepped out from the carriage, he had short black hair and sky blue eyes, as he stepped out the crowd became silent at once, then 4 people appeared next to him and silently guarded him as the crowd opened up a path for him, soon he stood next to Gregory, there he stated calmly

"My name is Edwin Theodor Engir, I am the king of the Engir kingdom and I am here to humbly invite you to my castle, wanderer"

The tanks gradually came to a halt before Merlin stuck his head up from the hatch of the King tiger and gazed at the king for a bit before he asked Jane

"What's the name of the king again?"

"Erm… Edwin Theodor Engir?"

"Does he happen to have black hair and blue eyes?"

"Yeah, or at least he did in the paintings I've seen of him"

"Well, I'll be… Shit… Fuck… Shitfuck..."

Merlin cursed under his breath before he sighed, then he climbed out of the top of the tank and looked down and examined the king, then he stepped out over the edge of the turret and landed on the ground below before he walked closer to the king, the tank commander's jacket oozed coldness as he walked past the guards that were eyeing him carefully, then Merlin slowly raised his right hand to waist height as he looked straight into the eyes of the king of the Engir kingdom and spoke

"Merlin Walker, I am pleased to meet you, Edwin Theodor Engir"

The king showed a slight smile as he shook hands with Merlin, then he gestured towards the carriage he had arrived in and asked

"Would you care to join me?"

Merlin showed a smile as he refused the king and gestured back towards the King tiger

"Thanks, but I'll ride my own carriage… Perhaps you would like to join me instead? It is after all, not named the King tiger for nothing"

One of the guards was about to say somethíng when the king raised his hand and showed a smile before his eyes glinted and he surprisingly agreed

"Sure"

Merlin's smile widened before he bowed slightly and gestured towards the King tiger and spoke with courtesy

"Then please come right this way your highness"

The king nodded and under the silent protest of his guards he walked over towards the King tiger, Merlin jumped once and landed on the top of the King tiger's turret, the king followed suit and jumped up and landed beside him, then Merlin spoke

"Then we'll start moving your highness, please be careful not to fall"

The engine of the King tiger gave a roar as it began moving, Merlin and the king stood shoulder to shoulder as the King tiger passed the gate and drove into the city the M4A2 with Geo inside followed behind, Merlin looked back before he bent down and helped Jane up on the turret too, it was a little tight with 3 people standing on top of it and Jane soon brushed shoulders with the king which made her hurriedly apologize

"Please forgive me for my rudeness your majesty"

The king showed a smile and spoke

"It's fine… It sure is a nice view from here, you said this carriage is named the King tiger?"

"It is the common name of the model, officially it was named Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B, but that's a mouthful so they called it King tiger instead from its German name Königstiger which roughly translates to royal tiger"

The king laughed out loud before he commented

"You sure know a whole lot about this metal carriage"

Merlin nodded before he spoke

"Yeah, though where I come from we call them tanks"

The king nodded before he looked ahead and waved at the citizens that were kneeled down on the edges of the street for a bit before he pointed ahead

"That's the castle"

Merlin looked ahead and saw what could be described as Midevil castle, only this towered above tall above the rest of the city, Merlin guessed that the outer walls were about 15 meters tall, he nodded and spoke

"A splendid castle, though that might sound hollow as I know as little about castles as you do about tanks your highness"

The king laughed again before he looked at Mercury and spoke

"It might be a little forward of me, but I feel that we'll get along just fine Merlin Walker"

Merlin nodded and spoke

"That's funny, I had the same feeling"

Soon the King tiger arrived at an inner courtyard of the castle where the king turned his head towards Merlin and spoke with a serious expression

"I'll be honest with you Merlin Walker, my kingdom faces many problems, I believe your presence can solve a number of those problems, of course, I will personally compensate you for your deeds and contribution towards my kingdom's further"

Merlin thought for a bit before he showed a smile and asked with a slightly teasing smile on his face 

"Isn't this a conversation better had over tea?"

The king looked blankly at Merlin for a moment before he laughed and nodded

"Indeed, I was perhaps a little impatient, sorry about that"

Then he directly jumped down from the turret and landed in the courtyard where he turned to Merlin and asked

"Would you and your companions join me for a discussion over some tea?"

Merlin looked over at Jane that nodded, then he looked back at Geo that was sitting in the commanders' cupola, he also nodded, then finally Merlin spoke

"Sure"

Merlin jumped down from the turret and landed in the courtyard, the next moment Jane landed beside him before Geo also walked up next to Merlin and muttered

"From a border city guard captain to having tea with the king in less than a month…"

Merlin laughed before he patted Geo on the shoulder as he asked

"Think your heart can handle it, old man?"

Geo showed a toothy grin before he nodded

"I'll have to, so I can earn my payment and the children of the orphanage will be able to live in comfort"

Jane nodded before she gazed at the back of the king and spoke to Merlin

"We've sure come a long way, Merlin…"

Merlin showed a grin and asked her

"Do you miss being just the two of us surrounded by bloodthirsty magic beasts miles away from human lands?"

Jane thought for a bit before she nodded

"Sometimes I do, though having a wool blanket to sleep on sure is nice"

Merlin and Geo nodded before the two of them spoke

""Yeah, that sure is nice""