War Caravan

After saying his goodbyes to Albedo, the caravan left.

He had grown used to travelling in a carriage for an extended period of time. Much like before, Zelphyr and his War Caravan used 'Gate' to transfer over to their closest Outpost near the Dragon Kingdom. From there, they had started to travel across the lands, with each carriage being pulled by three Sleipnirs.

From what he remembered, Sleipnirs were a sign of great wealth in the New World, thus Zelphyr felt no issue showcasing the vast assets of Nazarick.

Whilst in the carriage, sat opposite Narberal, Zelphyr initiated his call with Cinder.

The other side picked up without a moments delay.

"Lord Zelphyr, how can I assist?"

The familiar gravelly voice spoke out.

"Cinder, have you completed the task I set for you?"

Zelphyr spoke without any pleasantries. The task in question was not difficult and was seemingly completed easily, however it was essential as it served as a backup, in the event of a variety of scenarios.

"Yes Lord Zelphyr, everything is in place. From what I can see, the Demi-Humans have yet to set up any camps on the arranged grounds, however a few tribes have sent scouts to the area."

Zelphyr nodded as he processed the information. It was as he had expected so far.

"I see, they are likely struggling to decide the best response to the Dragon Kingdoms challenge."

Cinder grunted in agreement before Zelphyr ended the call, telling him to report if anything changes.

Turning towards Narberal, Zelphyr passed on the current situation status. Narberals serious expression persisted as she nodded to Zelphyrs every word.

"Narberal, from the Dragon Kingdom, we will likely make an immediate departure to the battlefield. I will have you guard myself and Dragon Queen Draudillon. We have taken every countermeasure possible, but staying alert is our greatest ability in war."

Narberal straightened her back and spoke her acknowledgement.

'I have to protect that thing too? That half reptiles taking away my focus on Lord Zelphyr...'

Narberal begrudged internally. She accepted it as her duty since her Supreme Ruler stated so, however, it certainly didn't feel good.

Half a day later, the caravan arrived at the walls of the Dragon Kingdom. The gates were busy, filled with carriages and horsemen in armour dashing in and out of the city.

Zelphyr judged it a pain to try and barge through, thus he ordered his entourage to pull alongside the rest of the wagons.

Stepping outside the caravan, Zelphyr gestured towards the nearest soldier, pulling them over.

"Inform the Dragon Queen that Lord Zelphyr has arrived as agreed."

With that sentence, Zelphyr left the soldier before he could argue or inquire further. 

With a bitter face, the soldier watched as Zelphyr stretched in the distance whilst a fierce faced lady glared at the soldier.

The soldier soon dashed off, informing his superior officer.

"As expected of Master Blacksmith, the quality of his creations truly is of a different quality to those of the New Worlds."

Zelphyr appraised proudly as he looked at the carriages flying the Dragon Kingdoms crest.

"Of course Lord Zelphyr, nothing can compare to the creations of Nazarick and the Supreme Beings."

Narberal puffed her chest out with pride as she agreed.

A soft smile grew upon his lips as he nodded. It was a belief he held too. His friends of the guild and the NPCs had worked tirelessly to bring Nazarick to its perfection.

'Well, with the amount of money I sunk into that game, it would be embarrassing if it wasn't the greatest in the world...'

As his reminiscing came to an end, Zelphyr heard the clinking of metal. A lot of it.

He smirked as he immediately guessed the source.

Zelphyr slowly turned around with his smirk growing.

"Lord Zelphyr, thank you for coming!"

As expected, the Dragon Queen Draudillon addressed Zelphyr with hurried steps. Following close behind, Zelphyr counted 10 knights, all adorning Mithril blades.

'I suppose they are probably the Queens guards. If I had to estimate, probably around level 7 or 8?'

As he suspected, a single Shadow Demon would give them a rough time.

'Then again, its not the Dragon Kingdoms military that makes them worthwhile, its their Queen'

His eyes were like that of a predator as he smiled at the approaching Dragon Queen.

Draudillon felt his intense gaze as she stepped closer, causing her body to freeze slightly.

Unfortunately, she had to uphold the image of a domineering Queen in front of her subjects, so she powered through.

"Queen Draudillon, I have arrived. Would you like to have your men inspect the supplies?"

Zelphyr spoke like the two were old friends.

"Thank you for the offer Lord Zelphyr, I will have my men check shortly and do a final supply count before we depart."

A drop of sweat ran along her cheek as she replied. Normally, it was bad etiquette to send soldiers to stock count an allies supplies, however, the Dragon Kingdoms fate lied in the hands of their so-called allies, Nazarick and its Lord.

"Very meticulous. I applaud your work ethic, Dragon Queen. While your men do that, would you like to go have a cup of tea?"

His words were completely out of place as Draudillon looked around and noticed the fear and apprehension on the working soldiers faces.

Biting her lip, Draudillon agreed to his offer.

'This fiend! To propose this when my men are slaving away, preparing to walk to their death!'

As if seeing through her thoughts, Zelphyr chuckled before instructing Narberal to set up a table and chairs.

With practised movements, Narberal lifted out a small table with two chairs from one of the carriages, placing them perfectly aligned with each other.

Zelphyr pulled out one of the chairs and gestured for Draudillon to sit down.

Noticing this, Narberals eyes widened briefly before a small glare bore into the soul of the Dragon Queen.

This glare went unnoticed by Draudillon as she confusedly accepted the gesture and sat down, her large bust shaking slightly as she sat.

On the other hand, Zelphyr noticed the pointed glare of Narberal and looked at her with a soft smile.

Seeing his smile, Narberals gaze softened before she quickly went to work and pulled his chair out, helping her Lord sit.

As he passed Narberal turning to sit, Zelphyr whispered quietly, so only she could hear.

"As I thought, you are a beautiful maid Narberal Gamma."

She froze.

Narberal Gamma of the Pleiades froze as her Lords words replayed in her mind, causing the red hue on her face to deepen each time.

Zelphyr proceeded as though nothing had happened, leaving Narberal to blush like a maiden.

Draudillon finally noticed the situation and gave a confused look, causing Zelphyr to speak.

"Narberal, could you please bring the tea? British that is. Oh right, Dragon Queen Draudillon, do you have sugar with yours?"

Draudillon had no idea what that sentence meant. Of course she was familiar with sugar, however, her mind was lost at the word 'British'.

"I don't know what you mean, but I do quite like sweet things."

Zelphyr nodded before instructing Narberal to prepare two cups with two sugars each.

The two waited in silence as Narberal prepared the tea inside the carriage.

Draudillons stomach churned slightly the entire time as she watched Zelphyrs smile sit upon his face.

"Perfect Narberal! This looks divine!"

Zelphyr spoke with glee, breaking Draudillon out of her focus.

Narberal carefully placed the two cups onto the saucers placed on the table.

Contrary to Zelphyrs evident happiness, Draudillon stared at the unfamiliar liquid before her.

'He called it tea, but it doesn't seem to be anything I'm familiar with...'

Her eyes turned from the drink before her, to Zelphyr.

"Dragon Queen, I invite you to drink, this is a delicacy of Nazarick."

Zelphyr spoke as he picked up the cup and drink it with a blissful expression.

The Queen followed suit, very soon sporting the same blissful face.

The two continued with their tea party before eventually discussing the plans for the travel ahead.

From what they planned, their forces would complete the whole travel in a single day, to minimize the risk of ambushes.

"Once we get to the designated battlefield, we can set up a base of operations. I must admit, those Demi-humans are as barbaric as expected, sending their reply attached to the head of a slain soldier."

Zelphyr spoke with an exasperated sigh as Draudillon grimaced across from him.

"That's the vulgarity we have come to expect."

With tea time out of the way, the two leaders returned to their forces, before a man in shining mithril plate armour approached them.

"My Queen, our forces are ready to depart."

Draudillon nodded before thanking the man.

"Thank you Duke Armatt, it is reassuring that you're here with me"

Zelphyr appraised the man in Mithril armour.

'A loyal subject even now? I suppose Gazef Stronoff isn't the only loyal soul in the New World'

It was then that Zelphyr noticed something, he was completely out of place. He and Narberal were the only ones who were currently not wearing armour.

 'I suppose I can change in the carriage, though I don't need to worry about the hassle of putting it on. Struggling to get my trousers on before war would be something else...'

"Lord Zelphyr, are you ready to depart?"

Draudillon addressed Zelphyr as she looked at his line of impressive carriages.

Though the carriages were impressive, one thing stuck out to her, though she chose it to be best not to mention it.

'Lord Zelphyr has only brought along the maid Narberal and what seem to be coachmen'

One of the agreed forms of support was military assistance on the battlefield, however, the Dragon Queen knew better than to provoke a dangerous beast.

'No matter, Duke Armatt has already confirmed that Lord Zelphyr has brought along a large amount of war supplies, that alone is enough...'

Her resigned thoughts were interrupted by Zelphyr as he confirmed his readiness.

With everyone ready, the group dispersed, heading towards their respective carriages.

Once he and Narberal were inside their sound proofed carriage, Zelphyr spoke.

"Narberal, as expected, we are currently being watched. Make sure you watch everything you say and do."

Narberals nodded with a serious expression.

"I assume the Theocracy has noticed our movements, it was only a matter of time since we disposed of their little magic group..."

As he spoke, Zelphyr reached into the bottomless void known as his inventory, before bringing out two luxurious looking scrolls.

Narberal watched with intense curiosity.

'Just to be safe, I better Style Change'

Switching his Style to focus on his magical abilities, Zelphyr gripped the first scroll before infusing magic power into it, thus activating it.

The scroll glowed a radiant purple before burning in his hand.

"Scroll of Phantom Eye"

Grabbing the second scroll, Zelphyr infused his magic power into it once more. This time, it glowed a neon blue before burning up.

"Scroll of Detection Trace"

Zelphyrs vision suddenly adjusted without delay, showing a dimly lit room with what seemed to be a human in some form of school uniform.

'As expected, its the 7th Seat of the Black Scripture if my memory serves me right... It doesn't seem like she has strong deterrents against being observed, it seems they're slacking due to their strength...'

Cutting off the magical connection, Zelphyr found his vision returning back to the familiar carriage.

"Narberal, when we arrive at the battlefield, I intend to equip a Divine Class Item that blocks all observations whilst equipped. As I do, I want you to begin unloading the cargo. Our guests should be arriving on the battlefield half a day after us, according to Cinders calculations."

Narberal nodded.

"Of course, Lord Zelphyr!"

Zelphyr couldn't help but smile softly at her ready response.

Hours later, the military force arrived at the predetermined battlefield.

The Dragon Queen Draudillon Oriculus dismounted from the carriage and gave a suspicious look towards the horizon.

"The forest? Was it always this vast?"

Though the Dragon Queen did not make it a habit to stroll along the plains of her kingdom, she had spent hours staring at the most up to date maps of the soon to be battlefield.

With this suspicion in her mind, she cast her gaze from the environment around to the carriage containing her supposed ally in this war.

Contrary to her expectation, only the maid Narberal Gamma had left the carriage, instructing the coachmen as to their next jobs.

'Surely he isn't sleeping right? He is strong, unbelievably, but there's no way he could sleep on a battlefield right?'

Deciding it was best to go and check, the Dragon Queen stormed towards the carriage, earning a sharp glare from the working Narberal.

Draudillon soon arrived outside the carriage door, ready to knock on it with a tense face.

It was then that the door gently opened, with the owner of the carriage standing ready to dismount.

"L-Lord Zelphyr? Is that you?"

Draudillon questioned, with her mouth agape.