“BAH.. And that’s all that happened throughout the past few days” Allen finished telling gulping down what looked like his 5th cup of beer at that point “Gotta say, This inn knows how to make some beer”
Lumi and Charlotte were listening carefully. Charlotte knew he wasn’t lying since she heard the adventurers’ guild’s announcement that day.
“Mr. Allen, Do you-” Charlotte said only getting interrupted by Allen
“Just call me Allen”
“Alright. Allen, Do you have an idea of who might have sent the dragons?”
“These looked too intelligent to be just some random dragons. I think i know who is behind them but I’m unsure”
Kazuma and Yuuji remained silent. Lumi and Amilia jumped in “Who is it”
But before Allen could continue talking a guard entered the inn “Is there a guy here called ‘Chaos’ ?”
Allen stood up “Yes that would be me”
When Allen was submitting the report to the guild he used a nickname instead of his real name to hide his identity and lay low “Chaos” was the only name he thought off tho it’s fitting for him
“I’ve got a letter for Chaos’s party. You’re to comply within 2 days.”
Allen took the letter and opened it up and it read as follows “Mr. Chaos, You’re required to go to the royal palace within 2 days joined by your party. We hope you comply with us. Signed by, The queen”
Everyone looked shocked. They didn’t know how to meet up with the queen yet here it was, The queen herself invited them for a meeting! Everyone was ecstatic except for Kazuma. Kazuma felt like something didn't add up. He glanced over at Allen indicating that he wanted to talk about something in private. Allen gave a slight nod back.
“A meeting with our shogun! What a great honor” Charlotte looked at the crew in astonishment “You need to rest and then go for the meeting tomorrow. It’s not good keeping the shogun waiting”
‘So they refer to the queen as “Shogun” here..’ Yuuji Thought to himself “Yes, Charlotte is right we shouldn’t keep the queen waiting”
Everyone nodded back in agreement.
They saw Lumi and Charlotte off as our crew went back to their rooms.
This inn had only 2 bedrooms that had 2 beds each meaning they had to split up into 2 groups. Allen and Kazuma in one room while Yuuji and Amilia in the other.
“Something doesn’t feel right with that letter.” Kazuma didn’t even wait for Allen to sit down on the bed to start talking
“You definitely do have an eye for danger huh.” Allen replied with a smirk on his face
“You submitted the adventurer’s id and it didn’t have a party name. For all we know we’re supposed to be randoms who met at the battlefield. How did they know you had a party?” Kazuma said as he scratched his chin in the process. “Something doesn’t add up indeed. We’ll go tomorrow but we’ll keep an eye out for any danger.”
“Leave it to me!” Allen looked at Kazuma with another confident smirk.
“Oh? What brings you here today ? “ Gojo’s voice echoed inside a white misty room
“I need your help again” Yuuji replied
“Boy, you’re treatin’ me like i’m some all-knowin’, Future seein’ spirit here” Gojo looked at Yuuji with a sigh “What do you need little boy?”
“That letter we got seems suspicious.” Yuuji looked at Gojo with a serious face
“Well, you got that part right. I can’t answer questions for 2 more days so that’s as good as you’ll get from me” Gojo said as he waved his hand in disappointment
“Thank you, Gojo.” Yuuji woke up immediately after saying that
‘Just what exactly does the queen want us for?’
It was the next morning already and everyone was ready to set out for the palace. Everyone had their serious face on. They were all suspicious of the letter by that point.
It wasn’t a long journey passing through the noble district walking 5 minutes straight then 10 minutes to the right they were immediately met with a bunch of guards. It was definitely here.
They entered the palace. It was wooden with some nice decorations and felt down to earth which gave a sense of momentary relief through everyone though they couldn’t feel too relieved yet.
As they entered the grand room, A woman wearing a blue dress with yellow strokes welcomed them/ “Welcome, Esteemed guests. Please, take a seat.”
Everyone took their seat which was placed around a round table.
“You’re probably wondering why I brought you here. Do not fret, You’re not in trouble. I want to give you a reward for your hard work on saving many many lives.” The queen had a calm expression on her face
Everyone started feeling less tense as they saw the queen’s way of talking but they still haven’t let their guard down
“Please, you can make any wish you want.”
“We want to be the protectors to the key” Yuuji jumped in immediately
“The key? What a weird and rude request!” A male voice suddenly entered the room “How ignorant are you? Do you have the slightest idea of how important that key is?”
“That’s exactly why we–” Yuuji tried to speak up but got interrupted by the man
The man appeared in front of them, A hooded figure that you couldn’t make out his facial expressions
“Great Shogun, To protect this nation please don’t listen to these ignorant insects!” The man looked at the queen while pointing at the party
The queen’s expression was that of a stressed unsure person. She looked like she was confused and pressured. “B-But maybe they’re not bad. They saved this place after all!”
The man put his hand on his face and sighed “Oh my dear shogun, It must be a play to trick you. You’re so amazing and pure that you believe strangers like them.”
The queen looked more stressed and more confused “Y-you, get out of the palace! I’ll act like I never met you. That’s our meeting done.”
Everyone looked shocked yet, It felt expected that this would end badly. As they were leaving Yuuji looked back and this time he could make out the expression of the hooded figure. He was smirking at them as if he won an unspoken battle.
Written by: shehablasheen
Published at: 03-10-2023
