Elves and Pixies

"Your task is to protect the king," Prince Herlock advised Will.

"Understood," he nodded.

Will and Prince Herlock came to a stop at a large keep, as if a miniature version of the grand castle. Surrounding the keep was a large canal with gushing water flowing through. Will wondered how the trench was built, what was the secret behind the turbulent force of the water? It definitely wasn't as simple as simply letting a sky stream pass through a ditch.

Orange lights lit up the bare stone open windows, with knights and guard on the lookout from above the tower.

The drawbridge had been lowered. The space beyond the arched entrance had an unusually bright interior, unbefitting of a prison. This had to be because of the king. No prison would have such lavish lighting installed.

Just as Will's mind drifted off elsewhere, he noticed the king, accompanied by a knight— royal knight Aldrich. If Will remembered correctly, Ellis talking about this person taking drastic measure to find Curtis. And from Louise, Aldrich was a viscount who for whatever reason, preferred his title as the king's royal knight.

"Sir Will Everrett was it?" King Sartus took up the chance to greet him. The king invited a handshake.

"Yes your highness, pleased to meet you." Will lowered his head to look at the king.

Unsurprisingly, the king was shorter than him. This made Will wonder if it was appropriate, to look down at the king— should he bend his knees a little to lower his height? No, that would be too obvious.

Will gladly accepted the handshake.

Height aside, Will thought the king's face didn't look familiar at all. Which he could further infer that they did not encounter each other during the Jester incident 10 years ago. Will breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

Aldrich who stood beside the king gave a slight nod.

Will took the initiative and shook hands with Aldrich also. At the same time, the king shook hands with Prince Herlock.

'Your task will be to protect the king.'

This was the role he would play, assigned by Prince Herlock.

'Please protect him this time.'

This was the hope given by Queen Celestia.

"Let's go."

Will walked behind the king as he made his way into the prison. Aldrich at the forefront while Prince Herlock walked beside Will.

They made their way into the keep. Will saw the guards moving in an orderly manner, when they passed by, the guards would greet them with a salute.

Will had been given a quick briefing about the situation. Apparently, unorthodox mages were being kept inside the prison. After discussing with Prince Herlock, the king decided to grant the mages amnesty. Of course, this would weigh heavily on how they would react. The biggest worry didn't lie in the terms that would come about with their freedom, but their general preconceptions of the kingdom that would greatly affect the outcome of success.

Will didn't think that it would go all that well, considering how the three unorthodox mages had been locked up behind bars for almost a month now.

At the same time, Will was curious about who those unorthodox mages were. They could be like Curtis, who had just arrived at this world or— it could be his former Jester party members.

Though, Will's instincts told him the chances were likely the former. If it were the Jesters, Will believed that they would have already left the prison long ago. So the only possibility would be newcomers.

If that was the case, the prison would've served as a hideout as they slowly acquire more information about this world. At the same time, one would question their sanity— a prison cell as their central base.

Will felt queasy when he thought about it.

A glass panel split the room into two, holes bored into the panes. The half-room they entered from had been furnished with a proper L-shaped couch, potted plants, glass tables and even tableware. The exquisite red rug covered the floor.

It resembled a first-class interrogation room. Behind the glass, similar furniture had been prepared.

"Sire, I will go first."

"Please do, and take caution."

At this moment, Will evoked his concealment spell. He leaned against the wall, watching as Aldrich left with another knight. His name was Keaton, personnel in charge of keeping the prison in order.

"Your highness."

"Ah, young prince, how can you.." the king was shocked that Prince Herlock had offered him a cup of Earl grey tea. Since there was tea but no maids around, Prince Herlock thought to do some service. King Sartus relented. "Then I will humbly accept. Let me help pour you a cup to even the debt."

"There's no need Your highness."

"Please accept this much at least."

Will felt an urge to yawn, seeing the prince and king— flirting. He was the third wheel.

'No, that's wrong.'

Will shook his head violently to rid of that thought.

"May I inquiry about Sir Will's ability? If I were to guess, he should still present in this room is he not?", beckoning Prince Herlock, the king sat on the couch.

"You are right, Will is still in this room. In fact, he is.."

Will walked away from the wall.

King Sartus was led by Herlock's finger, staring at the empty wall.

"Wait, Will, did you move?"

Will leaned against another wall, "Yes my lord," at the same time, he thought using the pronoun 'lord' to address Prince Herlock felt odd. Normally, Will would just refer to him as Prince Herlock. But for the sake of formality, and since he was in front of another nation's king, Will thought to conform to the chivalry for once.

King Saturs let out a hearty laugh. "Sir Will, your abilities are worthy of praise. May I ask you to reveal yourself?"

Prince Herlock sprawled onto the couch a little embarrassment. If Will hadn't moved from his spot, he was sure Will would have been there...

"If you say so your highness," Will erased the concealment spell.

King Sartus instantly swivelled his head to look at him. His abilities were as good as mentioned by Prince Herlock. Satisfied, the king smiled, "My safety is in your hands."

"Rest assured your highness, I will be present by your side until this is all over."

"Will, would you like some tea too?" when Prince Herlock said that, a cup had already been raised to him.

"Sure..." he was the third wheel.

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"Ren! Welcome back!" Her messy fire-red hair tied with an ivy scrunchy, eyes sparkling in a deep crimson, a beautiful smile hung on her face. She looked like a person who had just reached young adulthood, having a sensual despite small looking body.

"I'm back, how's everyone?" Wu RenLu appeared from within a dark fissure that seemed to melt back into the wall the moment he stepped into the prison cell. He brought food together with him.

|Ho! What did you get this time!| a pixie brutishly exclaimed as he zipped around Wu RenLu. Hovering close to the food, he took in the mouth-watering scent of rice. The pixie looked no different from any normal person, just that he was extra tiny with wings protruding from his back.

He wore gaudy clothing that had its loose robe extending past his feet. Plant-like features embellishing the garment. An ivy cord hung around his shoulders attached to a miniature duffle bag. His inner shirt was plain white to contrast the complex robe.

A pair of wings stretched out from his shoulders blades. Most importantly, his entire figure was glowing in a light blue.

|Rice and other side dishes. I was surprised that they sell similar food like this. Where's Fenrir?| Wu RenLu asked in Uir language.

|He's out on watch duty,| A high pitched squeak came from outside the prison bars, it was another pixie. Her appearance was that of a tiny girl. The curves on her body smoothen out by clothes that seemingly fuse with the light shinning around her. Similarly to the male pixie, she wore a robe that trailed behind her.

|Brother, I think we should go replace Uncle Fenrir, we'll take our meal after that. It's almost time for our shift,| the female pixie named Wu NiNa recommended.

|Gu.. your right. Suffer first enjoy later,| the male pixie, Wu DoQian muttered.

|Thank you,| Wu NiNa flew over and gave her brother a pat on his head. NiNa was the elder one among the two. |I'll go inform Uncle Fenrir.|

|Wait up!|

Two prison cells, originally separated became one. The walls were torn down and the cell was— lightly refurbished. Since the guards did not really roam the lower floors of the prison, they could very easily deceive them. Fenrir, Wu RenLu and XiaXin each had a cell, and they were located adjacent to each other. The two cells that had been converted into a single room were XiaXin and Wu RenLu's cell. Fenrir's cell closer to the centre of the keep acted as the guardhouse.

Luminous stones and magic lamps were lighting the place. It wasn't too dark but it couldn't be said as bright either.

Fenrir was sitting crossed legged outside his prison cell. He looked like he was meditating, which was partially correct— more accurately, he was sleeping.

|Uncle Fenrir, we'll take over!| NiNa yelled, sounding like a petty squeak. It was to no avail.

|Sister, let me try,| DoQian took a stance in the air. Charging forward like a bullet, he was ready to ram himself right into Fenrir's face.

Fenrir tilted his neck to the side.

DoQian's head dug itself into the stone wall.

Well, too bad Fenrir had {Zephyr Sensing} perpetually active despite sleeping. His automatic response kicked in just in time. He pulled DoQian out of the wall, "You better not do that next time, you'll hurt yourself."

|

|

"Nom, Ren, this is amazing," XiaXin said as she ate rice as if having been starved for a few days now. "Oh right, Thank you for the food!"

And blue glitter came from the air.

"I should buy more of these next time. Thank you for the food." Ren said. He had a hair of dark green hair, neatly combed. A black spectacle frame supported by his nose sat between his eyes. Rather than a bookworm, the glasses coupled with his excellent lean body made him look more like a veteran combatant with years of experience.

"Next time, catch some shrimp. I'll cook it like last time, I think it would taste amazing nn," XiaXin fantasized. Fire-charred shrimp with rice would be nice.

Fenrir sat on the make-shift bench, a wooden frame held by a chain to the side of the wall. He didn't really feel that hungry, so he gave a portion of his meal to Ren.

Fenrir looked like an old sage. One would feel a powerful weight upon should they gaze into his eyes. He had the aura to ground people in place with his gentle smile. His body build was large, similar to Sid Raymond. He had a head of grey hair mixed in with barely noticeable black strands.

The common characteristic all five of them had (including the pixies) was the swirl of hair above their heads.

"Fenrir, I have something to report," putting the packet food to the side, "I have discovered two people that…"

Looking at XiaXin' curious gaze, Ren suddenly thought maybe it wasn't a good idea to talk about it in front of her. XiaXin held a grudge against Curtis, and it was relatable to her circumstances.

"I found two suspicious people, please leave it to me," Ren glossed it over. He knew that he would have to reach out to the two girls if he wanted to acquire more information. "Since we have a bottom line now, things should be easier from here.."

"What, it's those bitches again.." XiaXin's words echoed in the silence.

"Maybe?" Ren knew she would never guess it right. Her mind was al Darwin after all.

|Ren! Someone's coming!| a small ball of light came flying in. |Good work Nina. I'll return first,| Fenrir stood up and the brick wall that separated their cells tore open, before passing through the temporary entrance Fenrir called out, "XiaXin."

"I know, I know," she said with food still in her mouth. Leaving the food in Ren's care, she left for her own cell. A wall appeared out of nowhere. With this, the two rooms were now back to 3 separate cells. In the next moment, all the magic lamps extinguished themselves.

Ren utilized wind magic to negate the sound that would have been caused by the crunching of interlaying walls, and also to remove the pleasant smell of food. He couldn't let the guards notice.

DoXian flew into Ren's cell, |2 guards, both of them having a sword sheathed at their waist, they don't look like normal guards,| he saluted.

|I don't think the weapon report is necessary,| Ren sighed. The two pixies were tasked to be on a lookout, thus there he couldn't come up with any excuses for them not to act like an army scout.

"Hm?" Ren sensed that the guards didn't pass through but had instead stopped outside Fenrir's cell. The metallic sound of the door being unlocked and opened reverberated through the corridor.

"Sir Fenrir, the king wants to meet you."