41 Relationship Problem
"I understand what you are trying to do, but I disagree with your last approach with my cousin. You killed him twice for the kingdom's sake. What would you have done if he didn't come back from death itself? Did you take a chance with his life?" The Duchess of Agrus ask William as both of them took a little walk away from the main camp to have a private conversation.
William understands why Rana is distraught after witnessing the Crown Prince's trial. After all, Rana has a close relationship with her cousin as both of them had the same teacher and mentor, Sir Dolven. Also, there is the fact that Prince Benton is the next future king of her county, and William did kill him more than once.
"You are right, I did take my chance with his training from the beginning, and the result was what I had hope for. Of course, I didn't do all this without taking extra measures to make sure Prince Benton survives each training. But at the end of all this, Prince Benton persevered every obstacle and proven his might not just to me but everyone else, including my brothers." William explained his reasoning and the chance he took to ensure Crown Prince's survival. After all, William was preparing the Crown Prince for potential Chaos invasion in case William fails.
"I know this isn't just proving his worth to you and your men. You have an ulterior motive for a while, and I waited enough. I want answers, NOW!" Rana, who now ran out of her patience, demands an answer and wants to hear an answer from the man she started to trust. Without any doubt, this time, Rana will get straight answers from William without his puzzling answer of 'It is Emperor's will.'
Ever since joining the vampire campaign and meeting William, she experienced new things and supernatural events past month than her entire life. Especially when they were attacked by barbarians led by an armored man who has similar weapons and armor just like William.
William takes the helmet off and holds it to his side. She directly looks at Rana as she glared back at him without any hint of backing out.
William's mind ran light-years as he asks himself multiple questions. Should he explain to her what is to come? The invasion that is beyond any mortal's imagination and terror. William, a mear mortal from the 'real world', is doing his best to prepare for an invasion that no one knows. These questions weigh him heavily more than his power armor.
"There are forces, supernatural entities that are trying to come to this world. I can't tell you their true names as they will have an anchor to this world but what I can tell you is that they are the eternal enemy of God-Emperor and the Imperium of Mankind." William did his best to explain what kind of force he and his army is facing. No names, no true nature of their existence, and any information that could give them the opportunity to grow roots like a weed.
To minimize the influence on this world is, to say the least, an amount of information to natives. But William also knows this is how Emperor did to his sons by hiding the truth, which backfired, literally in his face.
"Is that it? Enemies of your god are coming to my world, and that is your best explanation to me?" Rana was furious about William's simple answer to her questions. How can she defend her country and her people from unknown enemies when a single person who has direct answers to defeat them isn't telling jack shit?
"I can't say more. As I said, they will have the anchor to this world if I tell you who they are. If that happens, there will be no ways to remove their grips from this world and everyone you know." William's explanation didn't help much as Rana understood it differently. After all, her world has multiple deities, and some of them previously caused problems before, so supernatural invasion isn't something new for Rana's knowledge.
"What about your god? The God-Emperor? Why doesn't he directly handle his enemies like a true warrior you claim him to be? Isn't he a god?" Rana asks William with frustration after hearing William's stonewall answer. With everything, William told her about God-Emperor is true, then Emperor must be doing something to stop his enemies.
"He is, and you are looking at it. I'm here to protect you, but Emperor can't directly take action just like his enemies can't. This fight is my burden, and it isn't yours to be part of." The last sentence from Emperor's Champion ends the discussion as William doesn't want to push any further. The war between Chaos and Imperium indeed came to this world, but it doesn't mean this has to stay here forever. William will find a way to push the Chaos and close every gap of warp that leads to this world, the only problem being if there is a way to seal the gaps.
The Duchess didn't say right away after William finish his last sentence. From her perspective, William declares that her help isn't needed as she isn't part of his religion. The religious movements are something Rana heard and saw plenty as various deities exist in this world. Some are gods or goddesses of something and tend to cause problems once every hundred years to which group of heroes or adventurers usually stops it.
Still, those people need help from local lords, king or queen as logistics of the holy campaign are needed. William declines that significant help on his holy campaign to defeat some unknown evil gods and even told Rana to 'Backoff.'
Once again, there was a silence between William and Rana as both just stare at each other and wait for one of them to speak. William is doing his best to protect people who were kind to him in his known world. Rana is willing to help the Paladin of the Emperor on a holy mission to defeat evil gods. Finally, Rana spoke first, breaking the silence.
"Then add me to your group. I don't belong to any particular religion, so if I convert to your religion, then I will have all my questions answered, and you will have my help, problem solved." Rana's answer surprised even William as he didn't expect to hear the change of religion from her.
Yes, this will somewhat solve the current problem, but it doesn't mean it won't come back to haunt William in some ways. What if Rana goes complete Sisters of Battle against Chaos and ends up getting killed? Or worse, what if she joins the Chaos after learning Emperor's lore and history of Imperium? If Tzeentch is genuinely messing with William, this is it for sure.
"I… I will think about it. For now, I will hold your request for religious conversion until further notice. Until you become a full-pledged member, you won't get any answers to your questions. Please be patient and let us handle local political problems first." William somehow redirected the topic of the sudden religious recruit and put on his helmet back on. While Rana is somewhat satisfied with the temporary solution, William has more questions on what will happen if a native of this world gains knowledge of a completely different world's religion.
William sends the Duchess back to the camp first with the excuse of wanting to be alone to think further. When the Duchess finally went away, William stands alone as the calm wind blew away gently. Turning his head to his left and right, William finally said to himself through his helmet.
"You may come out," Second later, two Tempestus Scions came out from the shadows of the trees. Living up to their elite status, they killed their presence and guarded William against any potential enemy, even from an internal one.
"The area is secured, and everyone is ready to move them the moment you give the command. I sent two others to follow the Duchess back to camp in case anything happens to her, including a sudden change of heart," One of the Scion reported to William, including sending escorts to the Duchess, which William wasn't aware of.
'Damn, there were four of them? I didn't saw the other two from my helmet sensor.'
"Good, we will be arriving at Prince Benton's home tomorrow, but I want to make sure there isn't any surprise for us. Pass the order to Catachan Jungle Fighters to send 5 of their best scouts to check areas, including the border between Alderim and Legellan. I have a feeling there is more to this alliance of two kingdoms." William gave his order to which the second Scion immediately went on radio to pass the order. With new order given and William had enough for the night, he and two Scions return to camp.
The silence welcomes William, but he knows at least a dozen eyes are watching the perimeter for any unwelcome guests. Knowing the coming of tomorrow's political game, William went to his spot to relax, which is a large tree big enough to support his back.
The night continues without any incident as William closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep.
The darkness quickly consumed his mind, and William fell asleep. But to his surprise, he was standing in a garden with two chairs and a table in the middle, sitting on one of the chairs, a mysterious entity covered in the light signals William to take a seat.
"William, come and sit with me. I wanted to meet you ever since the other one met you." The mysterious figure happily welcomes William as it prepares snacks on the table.
"Who are you? What do you mean the other one?" William asks the mysterious figure as he takes the chair to sit. There was no sense of bad intent coming from the figure, and William can tell he was in a safe place for some reason.
"Sorry, it's been ages since I talk to anyone new. You can call me Numen, but you know me as Star Child, the soul of the Emperor of Mankind, and I'm here to help you with your relationship problem."
