"I can help you, and you can help me."
Duran was silent, but he could now understand why and how the person in front of him whose name was Lea could possibly achieve a change for him. But he still was not convinced. "It's still too reckless."
"Izaya will be coming with us, and I have other powerful people behind me that you will be meeting quite soon." Without waiting for his response, she turned around and commanded. "Walk with me." And so he did.
They walked to where Izaya was, and saw his figure adamantly explaining Lea's suggestion to the people who seemed opposed. With a glare, Lea realized her frustration. The people of Chlad were proud of their heritage, and having them pushed to another nation was an insult to their birth.
"If you wish to die, remain. But Izaya shall not remain by your side." She uttered all of the sudden, loud enough for everyone to hear. Her words made Izaya speechless.
"Emperor Oliver can provide you with a temporary place to stay. If you wish to move after recovering yourselves, then so be it." She continued. "Seth?"
She knew he was close by and her words summoned him by her side in an instant. "Yes, Lea?"
"Pen and paper." Her palm in the air, Seth immediately produced her request.
Without waiting for the crowd to voice their own opinions, Lea finished writing a short letter for Oliver. She walked to hand the note to Chlad's Lord. "Present this, and..." Thinking it was not enough evidence of her identity, Lea cut a length of her hair and handed it to the Lord as well, which shook Seth terribly.
He whimpered inside. "............"
"Izaya, we leave now." Was all she said before turning around, leaving Izaya who was confused but obeyed her words. Duran was closely following behind as well.
When they all arrived in the royal bed chamber, Lea met Liam and Nia's surprised expressions. "We need to hurry." Without another word, Liam and Nia nodded their head. Questions were left for later.
☘
In the far reaches of Ingrid, a huge city named after a king long forgotten, could be seen with its towering buildings. Many civilians were roaming about in every street, busy with their own daily business. They had no idea of what was going on outside their huge city, and they did not seem to care.
The King's generosity to his people became a famous news item all over the different sections of the city. From slums to the marketplace, from middle residential areas to prestigious ones. They were bestowed with cheap goods and new deadly armaments for protection.
Noticing these slow but huge changes, Kiel and Raize couldn't help but fear what was to come. Normal people were now armed with guns that were believed to be beyond their technological capability.
"There's only one source that I can think of..." Raize stated in his deep voice.
"Sabrina...." Kiel said somberly. "The people of this continent can't possibly know the devastation those weapons can bring to this land."
"They don't know that... Not yet..." Her voice low and concerned, Ulla muttered under her breathe. Beside her, Imhe was busy curling her hair with her fingers.
"Where is Bright?" All of the sudden, Ulla noticed the usual troublemaker was not present in their small meeting. Realizing this, Kiel and Raize immediately looked around with a frown. "Don't tell me...."
"We should not have let him know of what was going on, and how badly it could affect the people! That idiot..." Thinking Bright had gone and stormed towards the palace, Raize was shaking in agitation.
However, before any of them could stand up and search for Bright, the door to the room slammed open. Behind the door was Bright who had a bag full of heavy stuffs in it. His smile made everyone, except Imhe, in the room feel anxious.
"Bright... What's in the bag?" Careful with her voice, Ulla inquired as she pointed at the huge bag made of blankets behind Bright.
To her query, Bright scoffed and released the huge bag on the floor. "Phew. These things are seriously heavy!" He exclaimed, wiping some sweat on his forehead.
On the floor, the bag opened wide, revealing all sort of guns powered by gunpowder. "I got them from a few people I was able to persuade. I tell ye, it was not easy." His words had a tinge of pride, his grin grew wide.
"And....?" Ulla suspiciously said, her brow raised.
"Well! Since they have guns, we have one for each of us too!"
"You...!" Growled Ulla, but before she could say more, Raize tied the spread out blanket into a knot. Disposing it into a corner of the room. "Bright. Guns can kill people immediately. With just a trigger, a human life might never be saved."
"He is right, Bright. With your skills, you can still defend yourselves and a few of those around you. You don't need guns. You don't need to retaliate with the same weapons as the King of Sabio. You do not even need to think about summoning huge arsenal of projectiles. We are here for the purpose of making sure we are up-to-date with the latest movements and to be capable of saving as many lives as we can...."
Kiel's words resounded in the room, making Raize nod in agreement as he crossed his arms on his sturdy chest. Ulla felt conflicted, since she noticed how discouraging it is to see the increasing manpower of their opponents. She didn't know what else they could do, but provide intel for Eden Kingdom as they remained at the heart of Sabio undetected.
Bright was speechless, and his heart was heavy. He badly wanted to help because after such a long time living in Sabio, he noticed he has yet to do much. Even remaining cheerful was very hard for him since he could see slaves being sacrificed to become soldiers, while others were abused by their owners.
The city was ruined. Most of its people poisoned in their mind that was alright to abuse and make use of slaves, trade drugs, violence going rampant and lawless.
The King whose name was Alfonso Baltazar remained on the throne as his people were ignorant of what a proper country should be. Under his ruling, he abused his power as he gathered soldiers trained with swords and guns. He was ready to purge the continent of Ingrid with his might in his vision of unification.
"Kiel. Has your father found the famous mastermind of the underground business?" Raize asked.
Over the course of time, Kiel's father, General Dean Fang, have helped in narrowing down their search for whoever was responsible in sending drugs into Sabio, as well as distributing skilled martial artists to be hired by rich households. Thanks to such individual, it was harder for Kiel and gang to eliminate potential threats, and even gather crucial and more private information.
"No. We are lacking too much intel for him to move about far and wide. He can't leave his post by his Majesty's side in fear the suspected nation that is allegedly connection to Sabio would storm our city during his absence."
Raize bit his lower lip. "We are a stand still, but the opponents are gaining advantage every day.
"Do you guys know of any Felicity Domain?" Ulla inquired.
At her words, Kiel spun his head towards her direction. His grey eyes narrowed with curiosity. "How do you know that?"
"I met someone who's from that place at my workplace. He asked me if I could be hired to work with him as his assistant. He currently studies at Sabio University... He said...." She said as she slowly turned her gaze away from Kiel due to his intense grey eyes.
Realizing his reaction, he softened his gaze and pondered her words. "He is someone important in Sabrina. Felicity Domain is one of the four nations, but they are mostly mixed in with intellectual beasts. As far as I know, they usually keep to themselves.
"If what you are saying is true, we might have a powerful card in our sleeves if we play it right."
His grey eyes turned to Ulla's nervous brown eyes.
"....Don't tell me.... No... I don't want to be chummy with someone!!"
"I haven't said anything yet...." But his lopsided smile revealed his intentions.
With a quivering gaze, Ulla felt she needed to escape. She felt she was about to be used for someone's gains. Her gut was telling her she wouldn't like what was going to happen, at least for her own.