Rebirth of the Phoenix God

Chapter 161: Theatrical play

"If it's about those attacks by the vile nobles, then we already learned about it. But please, it would be unbecoming of our crown to just let envoy stand in half-bowed position in the middle of the corridor, would it be. Please, take a seat"

It was striking how the young ruler was using "we" and "our" to refer to himself. This way of referring initially sprouted strictly among the rulers alone and was supposed to add the splendour to even something as little as the way they were speaking. And just like anyone sane could expect, it didn't take long before this kind of custom spread to the great nobles, then common nobles all the way to the point where anyone still using this would only make a fool out of himself.

After all, if one had to signify their authority with even something as silly as the way of referring to oneself, then they most likely lacked any authority on its own.

"Thank you for your grace and wholeheartedness, your majesty."

Following the direction pointed out by the monarch, Fen and two of his men quickly approached the prepared seats and rested their bottoms on it.

"As we said…"

Only when the group of mercenaries finally sat down did the Monarch continue, just as if seeing them take the seats gave him some kind of confidence and courage.

"We are extremely gratuitous for your valiant efforts at repelling those vile nobles and sustaining the passability of the main artery of this kingdom. Even if it means cutting off the entire provinces out of our control, we do understand that wartimes sometimes require… some special measures."

With each of the King's words, Fen could feel how the cold sweat trickled down his spine. Form one side, one could think that the king would speak like that only if he was perfectly aware of the truth about who they actually were and what they did. On the other hand, if such a thing were the case, this moment of talk wouldn't have happened in the first place. After all, what kind of monarch would bother to deal with some lovely mercenaries that actually dared to raise their hand at his majesty even if it was done in the most indirect way possible?

It was something that puzzled Fen to no end, making him raise his guard even more instead of relaxing properly like he was supposed to according to the initial plan. If this young king knew who they actually were, then there was no way they would come out of this place alive. The affront of challenging the monarch's rule was simply too great for any king to stomach. Not because of their personal feelings about someone daring to raise the hand against their authority, but because not reacting to such affront would eradicate all the remaining authority that they had over the part of the country that somehow remained loyal to the crown so far!

"Your words are flattering us, your grace, but we didn't come here to have our pride reinforced. We came here because, despite our greatest efforts, the thing escalated beyond the scale that a simple mercenary group like the one we are operating with can manage. In other words, the safety net that our actions provided for the road is now broken, and we lack the strength to mend it ourselves."

While it was quite dangerous to put the monarch in a foul mood, it was the very foundation of the entire strategy. Unless Fen could manage to rile the monarch to the point where he could only think about punishing the people apparently responsible for the troubles that were now plaguing his head, it could prove to be extremely challenging to force his hand into action otherwise.

"So that's the case…"

Instead of instantly replying to the information that Fen claimed to be true, the monarch took his time to think the situation over instead. This alone was quite unsettling for the trio of schemers, as it meant that this young man, regardless of what they heard about him, wasn't as easy to manipulate. 

"Okay, gentlemen. I quite understand that you must be tired after the long road that you had to take in order to reach this place. While we do acknowledge how dire the situation might be, our forces are simply spread out too thin for any…"

Speaking up, the monarch was about to come up with a nice way of wrapping the entire meeting up without actually setting any decisions in stone. Thankfully, before this damned crowned man could finish his words, a commotion suddenly appeared in a corridor leading to the room, instantly putting everyone in the room on guard.

And this time, the guards that they raised wasn't about being more vigilant about their surroundings, but it was enacted with the swords of the royal guards instantly leaving their scabbards as those clearly seasoned warriors prepared themselves to die for their king and take anyone risking his safety with them.

"Sir! I have dire news! Please, let me have the word with my commander!"

Before the commotion had a chance to turn into bloodshed, the next part of the theatrical play begun. Reacting to the new voice by twisting his face into a grimace of surprise turning into shock, Fen sprung up from his chair, instantly turning his face towards the doors. 

With how overexaggerated his actions were, it went without saying that it didn't escape the attention of the king, nor the many of his guards that now pointed their unsheathed swords at the young arcanist.

"Valkland? What the… Oh, my apologies, your majesty."

Keeping the expression of the utter surprise mixed with confusion and something that could only be named as a bad premonition outlining all the other feelings on his face, Fen quickly directed his head back to the monarch before lowering it in a simple bow.

"It seems that this unsightly situation was caused by one of my subordinates. While they should be perfectly aware of how… unwelcomed their actions would be, seeing them coming here in such fashion anyway… If I may ask for your permission, I would like to have a quick word with my soldier."

Breaking his sentences and his voice alike, Fen made sure to pay the reasonable amount of respect to make himself look like he was torn between the wish to hear the report and act with the dignity required by the presence of the head of the entire country. 

"So that's the case…"

While it was only a fleeting feeling, Fen could swear that the king said those words with a huge dose of relief in his voice. And while this was nothing more but a slight clue, if Fen's automatic guess that appeared in his head and attempted to make sense of this situation, then their position might not be as bad as the young arcanist started to fear it was.

"Men, let that man pass through. I think we all might be interested in what he has to say."

Smiling gently as if he was some kind of benevolent monarch, the Kinzarian ruler gave his true feelings away. With how his voice was slightly shaking, Fen was now sure that despite the facade that he put on his face, this damned young ruler was actually beyond being terrified!

"Sir, the situation… the situation is dire…"

After being allowed through, the same man that Fen requested to rent from Orsha's group nodded his head to show the respect to the commander before looking around the place he was in as if attempting to showcase that he wasn't sure whether he actually should speak out about those delicate matters in front of an entire crowd of people.

"Speak freely. Those matters do not concern our company alone anymore."

As if not knowing the reason behind the mercenary's faked uncertainty, Fen played along with his brother-in arm, graciously allowing him to speak in the open. After all, what would be the point of this entire commotion if Fen would be the only one to learn about the things that he planned and pushed into execution himself?

"Your orders, sir!"

Slamming his right first against the left side of his chest, the mercenary saluted to confirm that he heard the orders, alerting all the guards in the room for a brief moment.

"Our defences at point Katera has been broken. We have no news about the fate of the forces garrisoned in Ofmase. According to the latest field reports, the city might be lost, turning all our hard efforts to keep the road intact into nothing. Those fuc… those damned rebels cut us in a point we didn't expect them to attack."josei

Stopping himself form calling the imaginary forces of the rebellious nobles with a slur, the mercenary pretended to bit his tongue before moving on with the rest of the report.

"Oh, gods…"

Backing out a few steps and covering his mouth with his hand, Fen stood like that for a few moments before suddenly turning back towards his two 'officers'.

"You go and rally my personal unit. You go and write the orders as follows."

Not even bothering to use the names in a situation of such rush, Fen simply pointed at his people with chin before starting to walk in circles.

"Take the fourth detachment of the second group and push it to Tlinra. I'm not going to risk it by basing ourselves directly at the frontline, so let's just ignore Astyrran for now and hope it will hold with its own forces. The rest of our forces are to raise from their camps and converge on the point… on the point eleventh."

Taking a moment to bring up an imaginary map with a completely random set of names and locations, Fen added some real places and cities to his frantically spelt out orders to make the story more believable.

"Your majesty… I'm sorry but I do not think we have any time to debacle any more. I can't just sit down here and exchange pleasantries. If the rebels manage to reinforce their position at Ofmase… Only the Phoenixian lords would be capable of repelling them."

Slamming his chest with his first in a simple salute to the monarch, Fen nodded to his people before moving towards the doors. 

And just like he hoped for it to happen, before they managed to cross by the doors, a voice from behind their backs stopped the four men in their tracks.

"I understand the situation."

Fen didn't miss the fact that the young monarch stopped using that old-fashioned way of referring to himself as if he was a group of people.

"We can't expect for some foreign mercenaries to clean up our mess forever. While I would love to depart right away to punish those dire homewreckers, it will take us at least a few days, maybe even a few weeks before we will gather a force capable of dealing with that threat."

Standing up from his throne and walking a bit closer to the group of mercenaries, the king himself actually lowered his head before speaking to Fen!

"Until the relief force arrives, I hope you will somehow manage to hold off the advance of those rebels. I know I shouldn't count on your sacrifices any more, but it will take time for us to push the local differences aside and form up a force capable of smashing that problematic group of people from the face of this country."

A few steps more and the King was now basically standing face to face with the young mercenary arcanist.

"Tell me, young warrior. Can I count on you and your people to stall the situation before my forces will arrive to solve this mess that my father created and left for me to handle?"

For the first and only the slightest time, Fen could see a real worry in the eyes of the king. Not the worry for his own personal safety, but for the wellbeing of this man's kingdom at large. 

Sadly, no matter how great the patriotic feelings of this king were, by allowing this theatrical play to convince himself that the story that Fen made up was true, he basically ceased to be the king. It was just that he has yet to realise this notion yet.

"We will do our best."

Who could've known that replying like that with a straight and serious face would be the greatest challenge that Fen would face in the entire meeting?