Trelis Aldon [2]

"Greetings, King of Aldon, father of the princess Adriana. I am James Jackson, former classmate of your daughter and the one that the nation of Mensch has unjustifiably deemed as a supporter of the demons. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Somehow, Trelis looked confused at my sudden politeness and confidence, most likely expecting me to be shaking in my boots as I had gotten found spying on him. Fortunately for me, my main body was currently meditating in a tree while sub-me was meeting the king.

Quickly regaining his composure, the king opened his mouth, "So that's how it is... Tell me, what possible reason could you give me that would deter me from capturing you right now and handing you over to Mensch?"

'What a boring man...'

It seemed like Trelis was an insanely steadfast man, inflexible about his principles. To me, that just meant that this conversation wouldn't be as enjoyable as it could have been.

Straightening my back, I met the hardened gaze of the man head-on, seeing the same icy eyes his daughter had inherited. Although I hadn't prepared anything for this meeting beforehand, as I didn't think I would have it, I had to play it by ear a bit.

"A reason as to why you shouldn't capture me? Hmm... Well, I could name a few if you truly want me to. However, do you really think I would be here if I think you could capture me?"

This was the only way I had to open up the conversation, to make him understand that bringing me to Mensch wasn't a viable option in the first place. Realizing what my words entailed, the king's shoulders relaxed a bit, "I see... It does make sense that you wouldn't be here unless you had a plan to get out even if you got caught."

"Then let's talk about..."

"But that doesn't mean I shouldn't try!"

*Don!*

Another huge wave of pressure was released as he took a step forward, clearly not rushing in case of a trap.

"Gh!"

'What an unreasonable man...!'

It appeared that Adriana's stubbornness had quite the clear origin, an origin who was now preparing himself to catch the bug caught in his web. However, I wasn't all too surprised by it. After all, he had shown just how ignorant he was by refusing the principal's proposal.

Before he managed to make his way to me, I threw out the only possible thing I could to make him stop, "Are you sure you want to do this? After all, who knows what might happen to your beloved daughter if you do?"

And like I thought, he stopped in his tracks, his mouth opening at what he interpreted as an insane threat. It took a couple of seconds before he came to his senses again, now reducing the intensity of the pressure he was emitting.

"How disgusting... To blackmail me by using your own classmate as a hostage..."

'It can't be helped, can it... I just need a chance to talk with him...'

Of course, I had no thoughts of hurting his daughter, she was a valuable piece on the side of the humans after all. Though it had to be stated that my words carried some truth. Because of my actions, no one knew what the future would look like, therefore there was the possibility of his daughter dying in the war.

Knowing that this wasn't the best basis to start a discussion on, I tried to lighten his mood a bit, "I promise you that I just want to talk, nothing else. If you do give me this chance, nothing will happen to your daughter."

'Not that something would happen even if you didn't talk to me...'

Finally, he stopped emitting the suffocating aura altogether and sat down on his throne again, now emulating what could only be called an audience with the king. "Fine, speak."

Feeling relieved that I could breathe normally again, I quickly collected my thoughts in order to see what I could obtain from this encounter. In my head, I already had two goals in coming here to Aldon, but talking to the king hadn't been either one of them.

Raising my arm, I put up two fingers, one for every point of discussion that I had. "I have two things I want to talk with you about, but you don't have to feel forced to answer. However, if you do not answer you can assume that I will act accordingly."

Trelis' forehead wrinkled, unamused that I took liberties in his domain, "Tch! Get on with it!"

Once again, I made an exaggerated bow, "Thank you, your majesty."

****

[Trelis' Pov]

"Thank you, your majesty."

It was all so bizarre, how the supposed demon James Jackson had suddenly appeared in front of me, even going as far as to try and spy on me, and now acting like it was a normal audience, showing respect by bowing down.

Still, I had no choice but to listen to the young man as I had no way to confirm or deny his earlier threats. As he straightened his back and fixed his gray suit, I got even more confused by the first question he had.

"Firstly, I want to ask you about the meeting that you just had. What kind of relationship do you have with the principal of Ainu?"

I had no idea why he wanted to know how I was related to the principal, but I had no intention to reveal that we had been comrades who fought against the demons two hundred years ago. Mostly because I had no idea what that crazy old man would do if he found out that I exposed his secret.

The biggest issue with this was that I had found the spy too late, having been distracted by the crazy proposal that the principal had brought. This meant that he had already heard enough to deduce that we did, indeed, have some kind of interaction in the past.

So there was a need to give him enough information to satisfy his curiosity while at the same time keeping quiet about the past history. However, looking at the white mask I suddenly got a feeling that he was looking straight through me as if the black sockets were currently peering into my very being.

'Why am I feeling pressured by someone who isn't even [A]-rank...? And how can he act so aloof?'

The way he stood proudly, completely ignoring the fact that he stood in front of the king of Aldon, someone who was on the verge of breaking through to [S+] rank, was enough to make shivers go down my back.

"Hmm? No answer? Then I assume that it is fine for me to spread the information about the meeting that you just had to the rest of the world?" In the end, he was the one who urged me to answer his question, forcing me to respond.

"How impudent... But I will tell you. Me and the principal used to have quite a close partnership in the past. And about the meeting that just went down, you can try to give that information to whoever you want, but do know that I will make sure that not a single person with a relevant standing will listen to you."

A moment of silence befell us while the young man was seemingly collecting his thoughts, his hand touching his chin while he was pondering.

Then he spoke, somehow understanding a lot more than I wanted him to.

"So you were in the same party at one point... But that must've been before you became king... Then how is the principal still alive?"

Before I even had the chance to try and lead his thoughts astray, he led the conversation forward, successfully showing me what our roles currently were.

An orb of misty energy emerged from his body and before I knew it, he was sitting leisurely in a chair in front of me, one leg over the other.

"Anyway, for something more interesting. I have a couple of things I need, and I want you to be the one to get me them."

'This little...!'

What a preposterous being he was, boldly thinking that I would become some sort of supplier to him just because he wanted me to.

"You do realize just how insane you must be to think that I would help you for no reason?!"

Yet, he didn't even flinch at my words, most likely having anticipated the response. "Yes, it would indeed be crazy if you helped me for no reason. But what if I told you that there was a reason? And a very good one at that?"

I couldn't stop my brows from rising when he spoke, thinking that he should have realized that I wouldn't let myself get extorted.

"What kind of reason would that be?"

For some reason, I felt like I could sense a smile behind the mask, as if I just let myself walk I to a web that I wouldn't be able to escape.

"I know where the Elven Tear is."