Asmodeus (10) - Pulling Out A Gun

"What?" Daren was honestly shocked to hear that the Marquess family in the capital had leaked information on the imperial family's secrets.

'I thought he came to visit his family but he actually came to help them deal with this.' Daren figured that the marquess lied because there is no way he didn't know what was going on. The magistrate had clearly stated that all the nobles knew it.

"Hmm. What exactly are the consequences of such crimes?" Daren wanted to know how severe the crime was and what punishments the imperial family was likely to hand out.

"It usually varies based on how important the information that leaked was and how high of a status they hold in the country. The lower the importance and lower the status, the heavier the consequences."

Alexander then blanked out as he started to ponder things in his head and then after he came back to reality, he said "For a family as old and powerful as the Hendrix clan they usually wouldn't have to face any harshness. However, we are about to go to war with the neighboring kingdom of Ashina. This new magic would have been quite a surprise to use against them but it was ruined by them."

"It seems the emperor will have to be strict this time. Wartime is the worst time to be lenient," said Daren as he understood that during drastic times comes drastic measures.

Usually, a large family would be able to skimp out on their punishment but the emperor can't do that during a time as sensitive as the pre-war era. He had to make an example and keep an iron fist over his retainers as to not show weakness to the enemy.

The Hendrix mainly let loose the details on a secret weapon that could have possible strategic importance. That's only a step away from treason.

"It seems you have a better understanding of politics than most people." said Alexander as he rubbed his goatee as any old man would.

Alexander knew that people with common knowledge would not understand the underlying waves that run in the country's political system. Daren understood what the emperor's decision would be even without knowing the whole picture. He was able to put it together with the bits and pieces that he provided him with.

"I had to deal with an assortment of the political systems when I was younger. I can pretty much tell what should be one decision versus what decisions that person would make. Given I have enough information that is." Daren has always mixed up truth and lies.

Many political systems ran the multitude of nations during the interstellar era. Daren had to always gear his plans differently towards each nation. This required him to do extensive research and seek out as many hands-on experiences that he could.

He even ran for president of a federation at one point but lost because of a 3% vote difference. Daren was even born as s prince within a nation that was ruled by an emperor. He learned most of his scheming from that life. Every day in the palace was a struggle for power and life.

"Where do you come from?" asked the magistrate. He had done a little bit of research on where Daren had come from and had gotten a false lead that was created by Marquess Andrew.

Alexander's men had told him that the fake identity that Daren went by was just that of an orphan from 3 kingdoms to the east. He was informed later that it was just a fake one created by Andrew. This made him sent out his spies once again to find out Daren's background.

This time, they learned that he could be Alex Van Vorte. A prince from an insignificant, neighboring empire of Zolaris. After they went to Zolaris, the spies compared a portrait of Alex to that of Daren. It turned out that they were not the same people.

Alexander was furious when he learned that his men failed twice. He knew they were not incompetent but rather Daren's background was too elusive. His men were still out there, searching for the truth.

"I can't tell you where I'm from. Plus, you won't believe it even if I did tell you." Daren was sure that no one who doesn't see his old world could actually believe it exists. Technology in this world is basically nonexistent while science isn't really focused on or well funded.

"Try me." the Magistrate was sneering as he was sure he could handle whatever Daren spit out.

"Naa. I don't want to. I know you won't believe so let's end this topic here." Daren really did not want to say it out loud. He was sure to get ridiculed since the man would never believe him.

"What, are you scared? You want to just hid it." The magistrate mocked Daren. He wanted to see what this kid was playing at.

"You can think what you want. I'm not saying it because I don't want to be laughed at by someone who does not have enough knowledge about the world." replied Daren. The old man wanted to take blows at him so he wasn't afraid to hit back.

"Hmph. You are questioning the knowledge of one of the top three scholars in the nation. Are you sure that you're not the ignorant one?" The old man commenced a petty fight between himself and a youngster. If the court officials heard this, they would think the magistrate was going senile.

They knew him as a man of few words who liked to keep his dignity intact. He isn't a petty person who would pick a fight of words between himself and a junior.

"Ignorant? Me? You gotta be kidding. You know what, I want to go take a nap so I'll settle this quick. Tell me how confident you are in your knowledge of magic?" Daren had already gotten what he came here to see.

He wanted to look at rare magic and got a glimpse at the empire's experimental summoning spells. They looked very strange but Daren could easily tell that they were not taking this investigation seriously or they would be using older mages.

Using rookie mages instead of experienced ones told him that the ministry wasn't taking this case seriously. The young ones were either failing to use their magic or unable to control the summons very well. What was supposed to look like a well-coordinated play looked like a chaotic lab where kids were tossing chemicals around to see what happens.

Daren knew from the magistrate's relaxed tone and how he originally interrogated him that higher-ups knew that Daren took it. Since they didn't say anything about it to him directly, he didn't mind ignoring it either. Only the rookie had frustrated faces that showed that they cared about the disappearance of the Dragon Feeding Crystal.

Since he wasn't going to be shown better magic, he might as well go and take a nap before the banquet.

"My knowledge of magi is supreme within the confines of this empire. I am its strongest mage after all." The magistrate was relaxed with a proud look as always. He was sure he could handle most things when it came to magic knowledge. Only ancient magics like the summoning ones could get him to not be arrogant.

"All right then. Let's test this supreme knowledge of yours." Daren then reaches out into the air as a black portal the size of a basketball opens out of nowhere. Daren puts his hands into the portal and grasps a hold of something. He then proceeds to pull the object out.

It was a shiny, metal object that had a smooth surface and was cylindrical in some parts while rectangular in others. There were even some blue lines that spread out all over the large object-like veins. The lines also had a mysterious, fluorescent glow.

A sniper rifle. Daren took out the sniper rifle of the future. Code name, "Silence With A Bang", is the rifle that Daren used to knockout the cultivator sent by the Manupus family to deal with him.

'Wa...was that space magic? What is that thing in your hands?" The magistrate lost his calm demeanor as he was freaking out both externally and internally.

Not only did he have some sort of magic that seemed like the ancient magic of space but some sort of object was pulled from it. This object was over 2 meters long and seemed to contain some unknown energy. The energy felt similar to thunder and lighting but somehow quite different at the same time.

"Seeing as though you don't know what's in my hand and how you reacted to my magic, It seems you have failed my test. I will not be telling you where I'm from?" Daren then openness the portal to his inventory again as he tossed the very bulky yet streamlined sniper in.

Alexander was still caught up in his initial baffled mind until the black portal appeared again and the strange object went in. The portal blinked out of existence like it was never there.

"Wait!" Alexander shouted when he saw that Daren was leaving.

Daren turns around and asks "What?". He sounded somewhat annoyed.

"Can you show me that space magic once again?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to."

"What would it take to for you to show me?"

"What would it take? Well, I would need to have a good to discuss that. Byeee!" Daren then sprints off while a gust of cool wind was left in his wake.

"Dammit! That was definitely ancient space magic for sure. I don't care what that object was. As long as the empire could get its hands on space magic of that level, we will for sure dominate in the coming war."

The magistrate was cursing on the outside but he was quite glad on the outside. He was now sure that Daren and his group had to have a stringent background to have access to so many strange things.

'They truly may be the answer to wish that was made at the ancestral whishing altar. Our ancestors have not forsaken us yet.' he said to himself. the magistrate was sure that this boy and his family would be saviors that will shine their nation out of the dark pit of disaster that the nation is about to enter.

......

"I really thought that I would have to show the lethality of the sniper but it turns out that I didn't even need it. He got stumped as soon as he saw the portal. Space magic, huh. Look's like it's of major value."

Daren was sure that he would need to show the magistrate that the sniper is a lethal weapon. He would then ask if the old man could identify what the gun is or what it was powered by. He was sure that the old man would be lost for words as electricity does not exist here.

He had no idea that space magic wasn't a common thing here. Daren had realized that this world only had mainstream access to basic elements. Wind, water, fire, earth, and variations of these magic elements are the majority of what is used. Other element's spells are very scarce.

"I'll have to make slight adjustments to my plan. I have once again increased my value to this nation again." '

Daren did know that showing off too many things might make people want to lock him up or rob him but this is the Gigantus Empire. The majority of nobles and royals here are fantastic businessmen. They would not harm the goose that could lay the golden eggs. If this wasn't the truth, Gigantus could never have become and stayed the richest nation for the past 2000 years.

Daren lets his thoughts run wild as he gets a maid to guide him to a room so he could squeeze a nap in. The maid told him that she would wake him up with enough time to get ready for the banquet.

(5 Hours Later)

Daren opened his eyes abruptly as he could hear his door being knocked. He puts his clothes back on and opens the door for the two maids that were standing there.

"We hope you had a good rest. The banquet is in an hour but one must get there early." Said one of the maids as both of them walked into the room carrying clothing and shoes.

"Why do we have to get there early?" asked the curious Daren.

"The older princes have a habit of getting to banquets earlier than everyone else. They take it as a chance to get to know people better before they sit down to eat. The princes like being familiar with the people they eat." replied another maid as she laid out an outfit on the bed.

"I see. It is in order for me to get to know the princes better so they do not feel uncomfortable with me." Daren found this odd as humans are inherently lazy and like to be as late as they can. He could really understand why these men would like to get to places early just to talk.

"It's due to her highness the empress's teachings. She wanted the princes to be more social." The maids had finished assembling Daren's outfit on his bed.

"is that what I'm supposed to wear to the banquet?"

"Yes. we have also assembled similar colored clothing for the rest of the family. Imperial banquet's outfits are always color-coded."

Daren then nods and gestures the maids to leave the room so he could change by himself. He doesn't like others touching his body unless they had to, for example, a doctor.

After the maids leave, Daren starts to mumble to himself as he examines his clothing.

"This empress is quite good. She wants the princes to be more social so they have better relationships with powerful people.

She does not want them to be left behind in the power struggle just because they can't talk to others. On the other hand, she might want her sons to gain more outside power so she could consolidate it as her own.

Either she really cares for the wellbeing of her children or she's as scheming as those drama empresses are."

After putting on the clothes, Daren admires himself in the mirror.

A royal blue shirt with royal blue pants that hat a tight fit and showed off the muscles on his tall, lean body. The shoulders had red frills that made it look like a formal military suit but without the medals and accolades.

He still looked quite dashing in these clothes but wondered why it looked so militaresque. His short, aqua blue hair seemed to not go that well with the clothes but he didn't mind since his handsome face and striking blue made up for it.

"It would be quite nice to have rows of accolades like I used to." Daren remembered the life where he was a military general. His entire chest was always covered in dozens of badges due to his unparalleled tacts on the battlefield.

"I wonder what my reward is going to be." Daren wondered as he remembered that one of the reasons he was invited to the capital was for him to get awarded for "killing" a wyvern and defending the city of Igrit with his life.

When Daren walked into the living room, he was stunned by the appearance of the ladies in front of them.

Both Chanela and Celina wore long, royal blue dresses that fit their bodies perfectly. Every one of their gorgeous curves was highlighted without a miss. Their crimson hair had been perfectly straightened as each strand seemed to exude a beautiful river of blood flowing down to the hips.

On their ears were earrings made from blood rubies that matched their glittering, crimson eyes perfectly. They didn't wear necklaces though as it seemed they were not very trendy in the empire's capital at the moment. Not that these stunning girls needed them.

Daren looked over to Celina's side where he found his cute little daughter staring at him with expectant eyes. He saw that her frilly, blue dress, and oversized blue ribbon in her hair made her seem 100 times cuter.

He knelt in front of the girl but t wasn't enough to meet her at face level so he backed up a little bit and leaned forward while kissing her forehead.

"You look unbelievably cute my little angel. The ribbon suits you very well."

Daren had no idea what came over to him as he fell into a fatherly trance the moment he laid eyes on the little girl. He not only kissed her forehead with great affection but also said those sweet words in such an endearing way.

He had never been able to do something like this in the past. It left him astounded but it also felt natural. He felt as if it was something he needed to do and will always continue to do no matter what.

There was only one sentence in his head.

"No matter what, she will always be my little angel."