KINGDOM OF CARDONIA
FORTRESS JESRAN
Prince Andruie have finally arrived on one of the secret chambers on the large coastal fortress. He had experienced such an extraordinary day when a few hours ago the Scolusians have launched an air raid.
He proceeded alone on the small room reminiscent of medieval times. Awaiting him was a man in a very tight black suit. He is standing next to the old fortress windows, with the setting sun behind him, an aesthetic scene.
"Good day, Your Highness. Did you have a fun afternoon?" the man saif as he fixed his eyeglasses.
"Could have been better, and you never cease to amaze me Agent Belgium, fashionable as always." the Prince replied.
"Hehe, you flatter me Your Highness. But please address me with the usual." this Agent Belgium then replied.
"Sigh, alright alright. However, they are running late huh Manager?" Andruei asked.
This man then turned on his clipboard, revealing an Ipad size device embedded on it. "They would be arriving in. 3. 2. 1!"
As soon as he uttered the last number, the wall just on his left them pop opened.
A man and a woman then emerge from what seemed to be a secret door.
"Hoho, Agent Prague, and that researcher. Welcome to our secret fort! Hehe, did you feel as actual spies now? Ya know, with the secret entrance and stuff?!"
"Stop it manager. I have bring our resource person. He recently arrived from Archesia and has fresh info." Agent Prague replied.
"Splendid, splendid you are as magnificent as the city name before you. Oho, what do we have here? We have new members coming in Prince Andruie." energetically uttered by this man called 'Manager'.
A wooden plank near the wine shelf then slowly creak opened and two woman then emerge from the tight hole.
One of the two has very noticeable dress. She is wearing a full dress.
"Sigh, why do we need to go through the underground entrance?!" spouted the woman in the full dress.
"Hey hey don't be too naggy about that Agent Sofia. You should take Agent Riga as an example, that calm demeanor is very lovely isn't it?! She was the perfect one to infiltrate those church dudes." said the Manager.
Manager or Agent Belgium is the one in charge of the overall operations of CRIS agents on the field. He acts and works as Head Manager of the chain of hotels owned and operated by the Cardonian crown.
The Royal Family is earning much of their funds through their businesses, this is because of the national law greatly limiting the family's share on the national budget. Not only they operate hotels worldwide, a good percentage of the shares of the country's Flag Carrier, the Cardonia Air were owned by the Royal Family.
And much of the earnings of the Royal Family are surprisingly well spent. They use the funds greatly for the armed forces, health and livelihood programs and even scholarships.
Now, how and why does CRIS agent's work at the hotels? Because they've learned where to get much needed info without them even leaving the hotel's premises or even the country. This is the brainchild of the current King, it once started as a limited test that ended up being the norm.
Because of the neutrality of the Kingdom of Cardonia, most countries used the Kingdom as a third party mediator. As such, this countries would then send their respective delegation to begin their talks. This delegates are then information goldmine, in which CRIS are itching to exploit.
The women agents, codenamed after cities, were the ones to draw in their targets to the hotel, vice versa if the target is a woman, the agents are then named after countries, for example Agent Belgium. They use two very effective methods, money and women. Either the target would scrounge his money on the Casino, and this shady agents would use the opportunity to get needed info in exhange for loans or free money or payments in short. And of course, the woman with their old school seductions techniques usually do the trick.
And thus the setup was institutionalized. Of course most of the time, the agents are needed to go out in the field, and the hotels served as their cover and base.
Afterwards, the agents laid out their reports on the old oak table.
"Now Agent Riga, spill the beans!" Belgium said.
As such Agent Riga described her time inside the main Cathedral disguised as a servant. The Church Guards were wary of her, especially their Commander, Anton the same guy who have brushed shoulders with the Prince over the custody of the Dragon. But through the connections of CRIS, she have spent considerable time inside the main Cathedral.
It started when the Prince colleague and friend that was involved with their encounter with the Elves on the border mountains. The Regent himself was the one who have instructed the Manager to look more into it, and thus sent Agent Riga to the heavily guarded Cathedral.
Riga described the ancient murals and an odd scuplture of woman underneath the Main Cathedral, away from the prying eyes of the public. She was also able to grabbed a few of the scrolls that dated back as far as 800 to even a thousand years ago, before their Great Migration to Earth.
The accounts also matched those of the Elves, the histories of the two countries, Cardonia and Archesia, was documented as "a warm and close relation" as inscribed on the scroll.
The scroll also mentioned about Queen Aurnora. A few more accounts about the Goddess of the Skies. But that is all that she got currently, she concluded that more accurate reports and accounts are probably stored in the Inner Library, further inside the Cathedral, but her current clearance doesn't allow her to go further in.
"Wow, this confirms and unravelled a lot of things. We can safely say that we are really from this world. Not only the Elven accounts and Archesian account match each other, our own accounts too!" Prince Andruie exclaimed, obviously excited.
"But why would the Church hide all of this? The history taught in our classes doesn't tell us this. And the scrolls are hidden away in their secret library! Something's fishy, I knew it!" Agent Sofia said, she was the one who picked up Riga from the Cathedral. Their alibi is that they were only taking a stroll, as old time friends as such they were able to arrive at the fort.
The Researcher then added. "If we add all the accounts, we can conclude that our history was purposely forgotten and even erased! I have been studying our history eversince, and as historians we can assure you that our history as it is is bunch of crap. None of the old written accounts made sense. Our entire existence were being doubted by dozens of scholars eversince. And we have partial answer to the longstanding question!"
"But I can feel there is something off. The Church of the Blue Star is definitely hiding something. Make sure that this informatiom is only between us. Riga, you should continue snooping around the Cathedral. But once you feel that you're in danger, you bail out instantly. You, the researcher guy, by my Royal Decree, I order you and your group to keep your mouths shut from the time being. Until we have conclusive evidence we should lay low. The Church's Guards are very well equipped to silence us, remember, we didn't meet here and definitely nothing happened here. That is all" Prince Andruie exclaimed.
"You heard Your Highess! Keep our lips sealed, ohkay?! Yessss, you Prague and researcher guys are out on date and Sofia and Riga are catching up lost times as long parted friends alright?! Dismissed! Have a fun night everyone!" the Manager said.
Everyone then dispersed. They were able to mix with crowds touring the fort.
But after that, Prince Andruie immediately head to the airport when he receive a text message.
It seems the Azalean Fleet would depart earlier than planned.
He then run all over the airport packed with these Azalean airships in search of Princess Penelope.
The large propellers of the airships began to turn, signalling their imminent arrival. Cold sweat trickles down the Prince. The Princess would be leaving him behind without even saying goodbye. He began to lose hope, but a Royak Guard then mentioned that the Princess was sightseeing on top of the main terminal. The Prince sprinted without much thought.
...
ESDEN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
TERMINAL 2
"Oh, Prince Andruei you're here?!" the Princess asked, surprised.
"Please, please Penelope, stay for a bit longer!" exclaimed Prince Andruei, while trying to catch his breath.
"Ehh??! I am not going anywhere though?" Penelope replied.
"Ehh, you are not?! Then what about those airships?!" Andruei replied.
"Oh they are going back to Azalea, their cargo holds are filled to the brim with your goods. And we need to transport those douchebags home so we can prosecute them there right? But more importantly Prince, are you scared that I would be leaving soon?" teasingly asked Penelope.
The Prince was left speechless, as he sort of confessed to the Azalean Princess.
"Hehe, don't worry, My Prince, I would not be leaving soon. I have fallen in love with this country and a certain person, hehe. Besides my stupid brother insists that I should stay here as a mediator between you and Dylasla. Sigh." the Princess said.
"Ah, haha, I.. I.. See. So uhm. By the way? What happened with our evidence and delagation? Would they be aboard the departing fleet?" the Prince asked, trying his best to change topics.
"Oho, I see. Yes, they would be aboard my flagship, they would be flown directly towards where the peace negotiations are being held." replied Princess Penelope.
The two then watched from atop the airport terminal as almost two thirds of the Azalean airship fleet departed the airport. They watched long enough until they disappeared from the night sky. Wherein afterwards the two shared dinner on top of the highest restaurant in Cardonia.
The evidences and delegations the Prince spoke of were the videos captured aboard the Reliance. Her CCTV's and the electro optic camera captured almost all of the action against the Dylaslan fleet. And among the data being presented as evidence were the recordings of the radar and sonar, though there is high chances that the peace negotiators would not entertain such foreign and advanced tech. Among the delegation are sailors present on the Reliance when the incident happened their statements are expected to help Azalea to gain ground, wherein as of present, the Dylaslan have the higher ground.