VOLUME 13: CHAPTER 8

"Ancient city? Did your group just come back after visiting it?"

Initially, Lark had no intention of interfering with what was going on below them.

He'd never be able to accomplish his goals if he were to meddle with every problem he came across during their travel. But after hearing the kid's shout, he decided to hear them out at least.

"God Evander, if you want, we can—"

"—No," Lark said to the Scylla. "I'll speak to them personally."

"…If that is your wish."

Seeing there were nearly two hundred soldiers chasing after the small group below, Lark decided to bring Captain Symon and Reginald Vont with him.

"Reginald, Symon."

"King Lark."

"Your Majesty."

"Come with me."

"Yes."

"Understood."

Taking Reginald with him, Lark jumped down from the Scylla's back, and Captain Symon immediately followed suit. Lark didn't even need to assist with the former leader of the royal knight's landing, as he had techniques capable of lessening the impact on his feet and knees.

The three landed in front of the members of Zenith.

The explorers visibly panicked. They looked at Lark, Reginald, Captain Symon, at the soldiers from the Republic behind them, then at the flying army above.

They couldn't believe they suddenly got sandwiched by these groups.

Karlo ruffled his hair, "Ahhh shit! Aster! Look at what you did! They decided to come down f-from that seven-headed monster!"

"Blackie is not a monster," said Lark.

"Haha, o-of course," said Raiga, warily raising his shield. In a voice only he could hear, he mumbled, "Shit. This one is a lunatic. If that's not a monster, then trolls are cute little puppies! He even gave the monster a name, too. We're screwed, damn it!"

Ludwig nervously looked at Lark's group.

The one on the right looked like a war veteran, and he smelled as dangerous as the Inspectors of the Republic. The one on the left looked like a wealthy noble, and he gave off the same feeling as Senator Sima.

As for the one in the center – the youngest among the three.

How should Ludwig describe it? Despite the young man's age, there was an indescribable air of authority in him that made it hard to approach or even stare.

The mere fact they were part of that flying army made Ludwig wary of these people.

"H-how may we be of service, sir?" uncharacteristic words came out of Ludwig's mouth. He was visibly trembling right now.

Well, who wouldn't be?

The army hovering above them could slaughter their group, including those pursuing them, if it wished to.

"There's no need to be afraid," said Lark. "We came down just to ask a few questions."

Don't be afraid, my ass, thought the members of Zenith. From above, they could feel the gaze of those massive flying creatures.

Were they Dragons?

They were not sure.

The one thing they were certain of was that one wrong move could mean the difference between getting out of this place alive and becoming monster snacks.

"Q-Questions?" said Ludwig.

"Temporary Boss, I think he wants to know about the ancient city we visited!" said Aster.

If looks could kill, Aster would have been ripped into pieces by Ludwig by now.

That little brat!

It seemed his mouth wasn't stopping anytime soon!

What were his other party members doing? They should be preventing that kid from speaking right now!

Lark looked amused. "Name?"

"Aster!"

"Haha, how enthusiastic. You remind me of the kids I've been taking care of."

He was talking about Austen and George.

"I am Lark, Regent King of the Kingdom of Lukas. And these men beside me are Reginald Vont and Captain Symon."

Reginald lightly nodded his head, while Captain Symon simply remained standing next to Lark, unmoving.

The members of Zenith looked at each other. They could easily accept the swordsman as a high-ranking military official, but as for the other person – did they hear it correctly?

Even if it were true, what was a King doing here in the first place?

"Woah, a King!"

Aster was the only one who immediately accepted Lark's words.

"Temporary Boss, don't we need to kneel or something when meeting royalty? Maybe we should get down our horses, no?"

"Aster," said Ludwig.

"Yeah?"

"Shut the fuck up! Hey, Raiga!"

"I'm on it!"

"Mmmm!"

On cue, Raiga covered Aster's mouth firmly with his hand, preventing the kid from spouting any more words that could aggravate their situation.

After making sure that Aster had been taken care of, Ludwig carefully said to Lark, "…The kid is correct. We'd also like to express our respects by getting down our horses but…."

"You're being chased," said Lark.

Ludwig nodded, "Yes."

Lark looked at the soldiers from the Republic that had stopped from a distance. The presence of three Dragons effectively made their horses freeze in their place.

"Are they chasing you because of the artifacts you've obtained from the ancient city?" said Lark.

Ludwig looked at his party members. There was no more use hiding everything since Aster readily admitted they'd visited the ancient city.

Now, the only question left was whether or not it would be a good decision to reveal more information to these people.

Instead of answering Lark immediately, Ludwig asked the guide of their party. "Aster, you said they give off the same feeling as the Boss?"

Raiga removed the hand covering Aster's mouth.

"Yep! Especially that man!" Aster pointed at Lark.

Seeing Aster mindlessly point his finger at Lark, Ludwig became nervous. Although they were explorers, they knew it was rude to point fingers at nobles, especially those from the royal family.

Thankfully, it seemed that Lark didn't mind.

After hearing Aster's words, Ludwig decided to truthfully answer Lark's question. They needed to gamble this much if they wished to survive anyway.

"First, can you promise not to harm us after I answer that question of yours? Please swear on your family's honor."

Captain Symon frowned. He said threateningly, "You're speaking to the king. Remember, there's a line you shouldn't cross."

Ludwig nervously gulped upon feeling the bloodlust from Captain Symon.

This man was probably as strong as their Boss.

Lark said, "No, it's fine. As long as you got those artifacts without resorting to underhanded means, I, Lark Marcus, promise not to harm you or steal from you."

It was only a verbal promise, but it was better than nothing.

The members of Zenith sighed in relief.

"They're chasing us because of the information we hold."

"Information?"

"Yes. We know the way to bypass the arachnias that had made the second floor of the dungeon its nest. That dungeon is the entrance to the underground city. With our method, it's possible to enter the city without suffering any casualties."

Lark's eyes lit up when he heard the word arachnias.

"Arachnias. I thought I'd never see one again," said Lark. "There are a lot of eggs in the dungeon, I presume?"

"Huh? What, eggs?"

Ludwig was puzzled why Lark seemed more interested in the eggs of those giant spiders than the method of bypassing them.

"Yes, the eggs of the giant spiders."

"Y-Yeah? There's a lot of them."

"Hmm…."

Lark fell silent. He was contemplating whether or not he should help this group. After all, there was no assurance they were good people.

"Your Majesty, someone is coming."

Hearing the words of Captain Symon, Lark saw three mounted soldiers coming toward their direction, forcing their mounts to move every now and then. It was amazing that they chose to approach Lark despite the threat of the army flying above them.

The soldiers stopped several meters before Lark. They glared at the members of Zenith. When they turned to Lark's group, they deliberately softened their gazes, as though afraid of antagonizing them.

"Greetings," said the soldier, who seemed to be the leader. "I am General Marduk of the Republic of Everfrost."

Unlike when he first met the members of Zenith, Lark didn't introduce himself.

Carefully, General Marduk asked, "…I apologize for saying this, but what brought such esteemed individuals to our Republic?"

The General did not know Lark's identity, but he chose to be respectful regardless. Even he didn't want to fight those flying monsters.

"And that army above us," said General Marduk. He nervously gulped and uttered, "T-This is the Republic's territory. I haven't heard of any military visit or any envoys scheduled to come to our country."

He was basically saying that they shouldn't be here. He was nervously saying that soldiers that did not belong to the Republic should fuck off their territory.

Lark observed the reactions of the people around him. The nervous expression of the General and his soldiers, the hatred-filled gazes of the explorers.

Lark decided to introduce himself again.

After hearing that he was the King of Lukas, General Marduk immediately went down his mount and bowed before Lark.

"Your Majesty," said General Marduk. "May I know the purpose of your visit?"

"I'm here to make a proposal to the Republic," said Lark.

"A proposal?"

"Yes. A proposal to join our coalition."

Lark explained that he created the coalition in order to protect the nations in the continent from the threat of demons.

After hearing the brief explanation, General Marduk loudly sighed in relief. He honestly didn't know what to do if that flying army was an enemy.

"Haaa… I feel like I lost several years of my life. That was scary."

Lark smiled. He could understand where the General was coming from. Moreover, he found it commendable that the General approached them despite knowing the vast difference between their strength.

With that exchange alone, Lark was certain that the General was a patriot.

General Marduk turned his gaze to the members of Zenith.

"Your Majesty, those people are criminals who'd escaped the dungeons."

"Criminals?! This fucking dog of Senator Sima!" roared Raiga.

"Criminals," muttered Lark.

"As you can see," said General Marduk. "We've been chasing after their group. We understand the purpose of your coming here. So, we won't stop you from reaching Quraso. But please let us have those explorers."

"Don't listen to him!" said Ludwig.

"They killed the Boss and now he's trying to extract information from us! We're innocent, I promise you that!" shouted Karlo.

The members of Zenith were desperate. If Lark chose to hand them over to the soldiers of the Republic, they would surely meet the same fate as their Boss.

"Reginald," said Lark.

"King Lark."

"What do you think?"

Reginald Vont said simply, "Just take them with us, Your Majesty. We'll know if they're truly innocent once we reach the capital of the Republic."

Lark liked the answer of Reginald. It was straightforward and simple.

"N-No, we can't go back there! Old man Sima will kill us if we return!" said Ludwig.

"As long as you're with me, I'll assure your safety," said Lark. "If you're truly innocent, I'll even help you escape the Republic."

It was a tempting offer. If they were under the protection of the Coalition Army, they would have nothing to fear, even if Senator Sima ordered all of the Inspectors to attack them.

The Inspectors may be superhumans capable of killing dozens of soldiers on their own, but they would still be nothing before those monsters flying above them.

"R-Really?!"

"You have my word."

"M-Maybe it's not a bad idea, I guess?"

General Marduk, who'd been listening to the conversation, couldn't even refute Lark's words.

The idea of attacking the flying army to prevent them from reaching Quraso never once crossed his mind. Although he wouldn't mind dying for the country, he knew that such endeavors would be futile.

The General sighed. He'd been tasked by the Senate to capture the escaped criminals.

Who would have known he would encounter this so-called Coalition Army after leaving the capital?

In resignation, he said, "Since you're going to Quraso, please let us accompany you."

"Of course."

After that agreement, Lark slowed down the pace of the Coalition Army to match the speed of the cavalry below.

Bringing the members of Zenith with them, they moved toward the City of Quraso.

***

After the platinum-ranked explorers escaped, Senator Sima immediately ordered the soldiers to capture anyone related to Zenith.

The soldiers stormed the Nasty Bucket where the parents of Margaret lived, but to their surprise, the place had already been vacated.

Judging by how their traces had been erased, it seemed that some of the explorers who'd been frequenting the tavern helped them.

The only person they managed to capture was the Head Librarian of the Republic's Grand Library. The man who raised Aster.

Crack!

"Aaacck!"

The sound of a finger breaking was heard along with an old man's cry.

The Head Librarian was currently kneeling before Senator Sima.

"Huff… Huff… please… s-stop…."

The librarian's face was filled with cuts and bruises. It was swollen to the point that he could hardly open his eyes.

"I don't know where the kid went," said the librarian. "How many times are you going to ask me the same question!"

Senator Sima gave the signal, and the soldier next to the librarian broke another finger.

"Aaccck!"

Senator Sima calmly sipped his tea. "It's not like I like doing this. We'll release you immediately if you just confess. The concoction – tell us how to make it."

"Concoction? What concoction? I'm a librarian, for god's sake! I know nothing about medicine or alchemy!"

The spit of the librarian started flying while he spoke. Senator Sima frowned.

"If I knew this would happen, I would have never picked up that kid! That damn brat! If he's going to do something stupid, he should leave me out of it!"

Unable to fight back against the soldiers of the Republic, the librarian directed his rage at Aster instead.

"I raised him well and this is how he repays me!"

Although everything could be just an act, Senator Sima felt that the librarian really had no knowledge about the concoction that gave one the ability to bypass the arachnias.

The old senator cautiously looked at the woman on the opposite side of the room. The High Magistrate had also come here in person to witness the librarian's interrogation.

"Tch. Maybe we should start capturing the other explorers?" muttered Senator Sima.

They probably knew more about the concoction than this useless librarian before them.

"Senator! High Magistrate!" shouted the librarian. "I'm really innocent! I have nothing to do with that damn ki—"

"—How noisy," said Senator Sima. "Lock him up and interrogate him further."

"Yes!"

"W-Wait! Please!"

After the librarian had been dragged away, the High Magistrate spoke, "How frustrating."

It was the first time Senator Sima heard the High Magistrate utter such words. It seemed even she was starting to become anxious after they lost the formula for the concoction.

"Indeed, High Magistrate," said Senator Sima.

"I've also sent my own men into the dungeon yesterday," said the High Magistrate. "But this morning, only two out of twelve people returned. Those who didn't survive became food for the giant spiders."

Their inability to bypass the arachnia territory on the second floor further amplified the importance of the kid's concoction.

They would probably need to mobilize half of the nation's army if they wished to eradicate those arachnias, and even that didn't have the assurance of success.

There was a reason why arachnias were categorized as calamity-class monsters.

"The Ist' Tamat Empire," said Senator Sima. "Both of our ancestors belonged to the ruling class of that Empire."

At least, that's what they'd gleaned after reading the ancient books they'd recovered from the dungeons throughout the years.

It was among the reasons why they decided to join forces despite their differing opinions and personalities.

It was Senator Sima's and the High Magistrate's lifelong wish to enter Ist' Tamat, where their ancestors lived. Of course, they had no intention of simply handing all of the treasures in that Empire to other people.

"Just a little bit more, Senator," said the High Magistrate.

"I've sent General Marduk to capture those damned explorers, so we can expect good news soon." Senator Sima smirked. "Those stupid mutts. Did they really think they can escape the Republic?"

To err on the side of caution, Senator Sima also sent two Inspectors with General Marduk.

Senator Sima never doubted that the General would soon bring him good results.

Once they'd captured the Aster brat, they'll finally get what was rightfully theirs.

Senator Sima couldn't imagine the amount of power the Republic would receive the moment it gained unrestricted access to Ist' Tamat.

While he was lost in his thoughts and fantasies, a nervous-looking soldier entered the room and reported, "S-Senator Sima, H-High Magistrate. We've received news that General Marduk has returned along with the members of Zenith."

Senator Sima almost jumped in joy upon receiving this news. Even the High Magistrate showed a rare smile.

"Hahaha! As expected of General Marduk!"

It took some time before Senator Sima noticed the soldier's trembling shoulders.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

The soldier nervously gulped. "A-About that… Dragons."

"Huh?"

The soldier started stuttering so much that they could hardly understand what he was saying.

"D-Dragons! We've also received news that a group that calls themselves the Coalition Army has arrived together with the General and the explorers!"

Senator Sima and the High Magistrate looked at each other. It seemed that neither of them could understand what the soldier was trying to say.

What kind of gibberish was this?

"P-Please come to the eastern gate! T-They're requesting a meeting with the high-ranking officials of the g-government!"

After talking with the soldier some more, Senator Sima deemed that he wouldn't be able to garner any more useful information from him. Together with the High Magistrate, he went to the eastern gate.

And upon climbing the walls, he saw it.

An army was currently waiting outside the capital.

Dwarves, elves, humans, metallic knights, power suits, a seven-headed creature, and three red Dragons.

The coat of arms on their banner did not belong to any countries the senator knew of.