Resistance

[Katze plains]

The Emperor found himself in a dilemma, one he could not think of a way to properly get out of it and didn't help that he had so little time to think and prepare.

"What are you thinking, Jirciniv?"

Fluder Paradyne spoke, his tone devoid of emotion and Jirciniv could not help but be suspicious, the fact that Fluder chose not to attack his target right after it used that devastating attack was proof to the emperor that the old man had his own thoughts on what to do with Arthur Pendragon.

Fluder was already interested in that golden light that appeared in the Re-estize kingdom months ago, and Arthur confirmed it was his doing with that attack, it was obvious that Fluder will see Arthur as someone who is valuable.

"Nothing that concerns you, old man"

He answered as he placed his hand on his chin and began to think, the envoy from the other side was already within sight, meaning they'll be here in a few minutes and Jirciniv needed to come up with a negotiation strategy that won't harm his empire.

The problem lay with the fact that on the enemy's side was a man who could wipe out an entire army by himself and he, the emperor of the losing side had nothing to negotiate against, they could demand whatever they want and he would have no choice but to accept their demands

While he did know that by now the prince would have taken the capital, meaning that Baharuth has forces in the Re-estize kingdom and he can use that to his advantage, it's also true that he can't issue orders from here and revealing any information regarding that may cause him to lose an advantage.

He needs to wait and see how things play out if Barbro is successful in taking the whole kingdom…

'No wait'

A realisation struck, there is a literal man who can wipe out an army with a single attack. Babro, taking the throne, will be short-lived, and he, as the emperor, will lose the advantage anyway.

'Damn it!!'

He thought inwardly as he began to bite his thumb nail. He made the mistake of entering this war without full knowledge of everything. No, he made the mistake of thinking he had full knowledge of everything. He knew Arthur was a powerful knight on par and maybe greater than Gazeff. However, he didn't know he could take a whole army by himself.

'Can I convince him to join the empire?..No..No'

His facial expression changed as he thought to himself.

It began to look like he had to just let the enemy demand whatever they wanted, sure he can try to negotiate so that they don't demand something unreasonable however Baharuth was the aggressor in these wars so demanding leniency would be hypocritical.

There is also the fact that when a man who can destroy an army without breaking a sweat wants something, there is not much he can do to stop him from taking whatever said man wants, and by his suspicions Fluder will be no help.

'Should I have accepted the marriage proposal from the kingdom all those years ago?'

He asked himself, but the answer to that was obvious. Marrying Princess Renner was a no. It didn't matter what the situation was.

Letting out a sigh to calm himself, his facial expression returned to its neutral state as he decided to accept the situation. He'll do his best to ensure the empire doesn't get the worst end of the stick, but it looks like he'll have to accept whatever outcome it gets.

"Greetings, Emperor Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix"

Arthur was the first to speak as they arrived before the emperor, and Jirciniv showed a wide smile before returning the greeting, although he did wonder why Arthur was the one offering greetings instead of the prince.

"Welcome, I do hope your short journey here was pleasant"

Jirciniv said with a bright smile on his face, doing his best to be welcoming despite knowing their arrival meant something negative for the empire.

"Truly magnificent!! How can such a human body wield such copious amounts of magic!!"

Fluder Paradyne exploded with excitement as his eyes glowed and witnessed the ocean of mana that Arthur held within him. The old man had suddenly rushed to the Baron's side and held onto his shoulders.

"Please tell me!!!"

Arthur couldn't help but feel slightly weirded out by the old man's enthusiasm but at the same time found it incredibly disrespectful to just shove an elderly man to the side like a nuisance

"I'm afraid i don't know what you're talking about, Fluder Paradyne"

"I nee–"

"Old man! we have more important things to discuss, you can drool over magic later"

The emperor commanded, and Fluder quickly straightened himself out as he realised his mistake.

"Apologies, I got a bit too excited. Please forgive me"

"think nothing of it, Lord Paradyne, I understand completely"

Arthur dismissed and allowed the old man to stand straight from his bowed position.

"Now emperor, Jirciniv, shall we get to business, I'd rather we not stay here till late at night"

...

[Dusk]

The sun had begun to set, dying the sky a beautiful orange hue as it slowly settled over the horizon. Unfortunately, the beautiful sky could not be observed as down below a battle had begun.

Forces from the capital laid siege to a singular in, one that he held the princess.

Gagaran swung her war hammer at full force and in a great display of strength and she blew through the row of knights that had rushed to attack, however despite her amazing display of strength, the knights still kept coming.

"How long do we have to hold them off!!"

She asked the unlikely comrades that she was fighting besides, both Pershurian and Malmvist used their skills to hold back the army of knights that tried to forcefully take the Inn that held the princess.

Malvimist used his superior fencing techniques to accurately pierce through the neck of the armoured knights, and with each strike from his rapier, a knight dropped to the ground.

Pershurian on the other hand, was doing his part and fort defensively, using brute strength in his sword swings to push back the knight, he was unused to using a normal sword, one that didn't bend and twist like a rope.

Unlike a rapier that Malmvist used, his specific sword was very rare, so he had to settle for a normal blade.

"What? getting tired already? That's not what I expected from a member of blue rose"

Malmvist mocked, causing Gagaran to frown just slightly as she continued to attack the knights that wished to go through her.

Obviously, she wasn't getting tired, but it was getting tedious having to defend against the continuous attack from the knights.

"hah! As if I'd let scum like you outdo me"

When the Inn they were in was being raided, it was Renner's idea to fight back rather than retreat.

The idea was that this would force Barbro to use more forces than necessary, and when the kingdom's army arrives, it will have an easier time establishing order.

Gagaran understood all that, but it didn't help make things any less boring and tedious. She expected something more epic and not a bunch of bodies to be just pushed back each time they moved forward.

Meanwhile, within the inn, inside the owner's office, Renner sat on a chair behind a desk, with Lakyus next to the window looking over and observing, the twins were nowhere to be found.

"Shouldn't I go there? My presence alone could stop could stop this easily"

The blonde-haired adventurer informed as her foot continuously tapped on the floor boards impatiently.

"You want to participate in the battle"

The princess accurately guessed, causing Lakyus to pause and turn her head and quickly denied.

"No, I do not! I just think this is just a pointless scuffle"

She defended herself.

"I'm sure you definitely think that, but you also want to participate in said scuffle. Two things can be true at the same time"

Lakyus wanted to disagree but could find no words to do so, so she stayed silent.

Renner's words were true, while she may be morally upstanding as a person, she also had been an adventurer for some time now and once you've been an adventurer long enough, the thrill of battle becomes a part of your life.

"besides, I don't want to stop this, most of the knights fighting are probably from Baharuth so no need to feel bad for them, plus we need to cull their numbers fast, you can join in once the twins return from delivering the message to adventurers guild"

Renner explained, and Lakyus couldn't help but nod at her words.

"Wait, how did you know they're from Baharuth? Isn't Baharuth in a war right now?"

"I know because the emperor is the only one who probably would want to use Barbro as a pawn, plus because the empire is the only country that Barbro or rather Marquis Bulloupe is most likely to ask for aid from"

"that makes sense"

Lakyus nodded, among the four kingdoms near the Re-estize kingdom only the Empire has expressed clear intent to invade, The theocracy was dealing with the elf kingdom and considered the kingdom heretics for refusing to adopt the six great God's faith.

The Argland council state had no reason to want to invade, not to mention they had demi humans in their army and the Holy Roble kingdom was dealing with the demi human tribes so they had no army to spare.

"wow, It would have taken me a little more time to figure all that out. You're so smart Renner"

Lakyus praised.

"Heh! Hardly, that was all just obvious. Pointing out the obvious is not what I'd call smart, but thank you, I appreciate your adventurer expertise as well"

The princess returned the praise with a slight smile on her face, although she did her best not to show it, and Lakyus did not try to hide her own grin.

The adventurer had forgotten that she held a secret that could possibly destroy the friendship she had with the princess.

"Evil boss, we're back"

Their moment of sincerity was interrupted as the twins suddenly appeared into the room.

"Mission complete, we sent the message to the adventurers"

"Excellent, now we just wait. The ones who want to help will show up, and those who don't will leave the capital"

It seems that things were going quite well, although she believes this would have been resolved faster if Arthur was here.

Although this was quite the ideal scenario. Organising forces to resist Barbro was a good move on her part, as it will aid in her acquiring the throne, as the accomplishment will be hers only.

…

A/N: Sorry for the late chapter,