CHAPTER 18


    GUESTS AT HOME


    “What happened here?” Kansas was scanning his senses. He came here instantly when his communication orb lit red, a distress signal signifying an emergency. However, the scene of the king’s escorts going berserk, infighting, a madness he hadn’t expected.


    “Just what happened here?” He turned to the group’s powerhouses, the three Dominion Knights, exclusive to the royalty.


    “It happened so fast…we didn’t have time to prepare… agh this headache…”


    Kansas turned around hearing their reply, grasping there were traces of explosions and burst his frustration toward the sane crowd, “How you fools couldn’t stop mere mana bombs? Have you sold your senses—”


    “Pardon me, sir..” The mage, scout of the escorts answered, “They weren’t mana bombs…I know…no one couldn’t have detected them…they weren’t responding to mana.”


    “Useless shit heads.” He frantically asked the mages, “Don’t tell me you couldn’t even procure the evidence, too?”


    The mage lowered his head and didn’t respond, suggesting the obvious answer leaving Kansas to grumble. Frustrated but at last, Kansas finally took notice of the hypnotised knight and mages of the escorts. “What the hell is wrong with these fools?”


    Kansas’s eyes searched for traces of magic but couldn’t find anything. Some were loitering here and there. Some were frantically attacking others, and some were even crying like they were high in depression. “This is not magic but alchemy…” Kansas reached the conclusion, “It’s a fuckin’ poison you fools.”


    “Yes.” The mage who had lowered his head in disappointment once again responded like a meerkat. He reasoned further, “But it’s too late, our healer’s spell isn’t working. The poison is deep in the system. The bombs had small, piercing objects, laced with poison. Some…some sort of hypnotic drug.”


    “Damn it.” Kansas roared in response, “How the fuck did three Dominion knights could not stop mere bombs? Even if you are useless, your armours should’ve prevented this shitty attack.”


    The sane knights lowered their heads in shame. Kansas was talking jabs one after another, so one of the more courageous escorts showed his damaged armour to Kansas.


    Frowning his brows, Kansas focussed, “Hmm… so it was not just a mere mana bomb. Something that can damage the dwarven runes…maybe elven craftsmanship or even some unknown alchemy?”


    Kansas had no definite answers but a lot of questions. However, it wasn’t important for now. He roared again and the effects of Hans’s little assault wore off like it was a lie. Then Kansas focussed his sight at the king’s road and his aura traced the whole path like a serpent on hunt.


    The whole road turned upside down, like a massive plough had ran rampant there. In the process, several more similar explosion happened. “I was right,” Kansas mumbled, “This is some insane bastard’s handiwork. He doesn’t want to kill but stall or chase you away…”


    Seeing the spectacle, Samwell came beside the enraged Warlord, “You are right Kansas, my friend.” Samwell tousled his well shaved chin and asked, “Is this the doing of Sylvetor family—”


    “I told you to let go of this, you bas..your majesty.” Kansas almost let out his inner feelings but calmed down with the same pace he got enraged. He continued in a hushed voice, “Just what will you get by poking around your wife’s family? They are a ducal family of Sylvetor, one of the founding fathers. You need them—”


    “They are cancer to my reign. As long as they stay strong, my hands will be tied. I’m not like my Parvian brother or my destroy-everything-father.” Samwell shook his head and continued in a sombre tone, “I’m a politician. And a politician needs to cut off the rotten part to move forward, Kansas.”


    “You both literally and figuratively made your bed with Sylvetor, Samwell. You need to lie in it and let go—”


    “No,” Samwell quickly rejected, “That document is key to controlling the Sylvetor family for good. I need it badly, Kansas.”


    “Then its fortunate since I was commissioned here before this nonsense happened.” Kansas sighed in relief and continued,“Edenberg is declared a no Warlord zone now. No new can enter it now or else Rudolf will return and you know what will happen then.”


    “Initially I didn’t want you to help me in this but, yes, its good you were here before this ban could start. Its like the gods are shining upon me.” Samwell chuckled in sarcasm as he looked his half-gone mad royal escorts.


    Kansas hummed and asked doubting, “Assuming, hypothetically if it was your in-laws who attacked you… It fits the bill that they didn’t want to injure you, yet this isn’t enough to scare you away. Something feels wrong here.”


    “It could’ve been retaliation” Samwell thought deep.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    “Did you do something…”


    “Yeah” Samwell chuckled, “I sent their mages to afterlife.”


    “You do shitty things when I’m not around, your majesty.” Kansas pointed to the maddened soldiers on the ground, still sniggering even when Kansas’s aura washed them of poison. He grunted and rushed others,“Knock these bastards out and do something about the injured. We need to enter Edenberg’s borders now.”


    Meanwhile, with the glee of a child skipping, Hans entered the mansions in joy. However, he met with an eerie atmosphere. Everyone was running around anxiously. Hans found his way to Vanessa. "What''s going on?" he asked, his voice imitating innocence.


    Vanessa motioned for him to follow her to a more secluded spot “Was your hand in this madness?” She asked almost certain.


    “You said to convince Kansas,” Hans answered, innocent, “I’m not seeing so it was a job well done. Don’t you think, sis?”


    “Ah! Dear brother, there is a limit of how much they can tolerate you.”she said, gripping his shoulders firmly, “You are in foreign soil, this is not your home as before.”


    “It was foolproof—”


    “Nothing is foolproof. Only fool and proof, dear brother. It was good that lady Sierra banned any warlord from entering the territory.”


    “That was in my calculations too, you know—


    “You are bad in math.” Vanessa pointed immediately. “Lets see how much damage you’ve done. We received news of emergency. The king was ambushed just at the borders of Edenberg. They have injured and are in the way here.”


    Hans, Vanessa and others waited for the royal escort to arrive. And after an hour or so, the trumpets around the Edenberg mansion signalled the king’s arrival in chorus.


    The group of around thirty people entered through gates. The emergency medical ward was established in the garden and Hans slowly approached, observing their guests. “Who did you pissed off this time uncle?” He popped out beside Samwell, almost surprising the king of Grimgar. And as if he prepared his dialogues, he teased, “And people call me troublemaker. Even sending their best knight to reign me down. Tsk! Tsk!”


    “Don’t rub it, nephew. I’m tired.”


    “Come on, they all look fine.” Hans pointed his healing Soldiers. He was not even surprised by their rate of detoxification and recovery under Sierra’s spell.


    “They were just attacking each other—”


    “Ooh! Why is that?” Hans piqued interest. “You know, Im a curious cat.” Samwell stared at Hans in doubt, almost giving him the cold sweat. “Come on tell me what happened?” Hans nudged him sneakily.


    “Here.” Samwell, hesitatingly pulled out a sphere of light that held one of Hans’s shrapnel.


    “The heck they captured it. This should have turned to dust the minute it exploded. How is it in his hands?” Hans couldn’t let his inner thoughts come onto his face so maintaining his composure like a wise sage, he asked Samwell, “What is it?”


    “The culprit.” Samwell answered with suspicion.


    “Do you know where it comes from. Looks elven craftsmanship to me.” Hans let the words fly since he knew, at least one person from the group would’ve thought that. Since Dwarf were famous for building machinery and structures while elves stood high in fine and intricate craftsmanship.


    “I don’t think so.” Sierra came ruining Hans’s parade and contradicted him, “This is not elven, everything they do reeks of mana, but this little thing is just…plain.”


    Hans began to be troubled after hearing her words, “Stop it, Grandma, don’t throw your lovely grandson to the guillotine.” Thinking hard about how to divert this, he came up with a way. “But who is so pissed at you to use this childish trick?” Hans said nonchalantly and made everyone turn to him.


    When Hans was sweating bullets, thinking he was caught. The people staring at him were thinking, “Talking too much about this with Hans will do nothing good.”


    “Why do you think we are here, nephew?” Samwell probed him.


    “Who knows?” Hans quipped, “Maybe you are preparing for divorce and needed some shady things about your wife’s family.”


    “So you do know something—”


    “I’m not deaf and definitely not an idiot. The Sylvetor is a hot potato in Edenberg nowadays. Everyone talks about how you and they both were giving around a million gold to procure some documents. It’s an open secret, Uncle.”


    Samwell remained composed so Hans grinned, “You really out lucked yourself by sending Mr Kansas before. No other warlord can enter now and with his help it’s not some complex math to know. You’ll be the winner in the end.”


    “You are right about one thing. I’ll take that hot potato in the end—”


    “Just make sure you won’t explode anything like that in the county.” Hans interrupted. “This place might not be mine, but it still is my home.”


    “Hey, cheeky brat. This is my country, and you are asking me to not damage it. Isn’t this the other way around?”


    “All I do is wake up, eat, and loiter around and sleep. I ain''t the one looking around my wife’s family, sir.” Hans’ words left Samwell speechless, and when he found the atmosphere getting tense, he nailed the coffin by saying, “You should hurry. I saw several shady people in the way back.” He pointed at his glowing eyes, “You know I can see how powerful they are, right? You should be concerned.”


    Hans warned them with a total lie, but it worked like a charm on Samwell. He was blinded by the idea of getting free from his in-laws’ influence and commanded Kansas to follow him in his goose chase.


    The idea of getting free from Kansas by Samwell’s mouth sounded like a sweet melody to Hans, and he unknowingly blurted out, “Finally, that scary knight is off my back!”


    Everyone turned to him, and he quickly mumbled an excuse, “I was getting tired of visiting dwarves. They drink, curse, and talk a lot, and when they’re not doing that, they just bang on metal. My ears are still ringing.”


    “Just what do you want to do this privately so you can’t even allow Kansas to watch? He was there to protect you from unwanted troubles.” Samwell defended.


    "Yeah, playing the spy for you? Hard pass." Hans coughed, his hand forming a fist over his mouth, as if to stifle further words. "I''m still growing, you know. Got my own secrets to keep. Take a hint and drop it." With that, Hans let Samwell''s imagination wander, leaving him to find his own conclusion.


    And just like that, the shrapnel incident was put on hold indefinitely. Samwell was convinced it was Sylvetor''s doing. After all, there was a wild card in the Sylvetor family: his brother-in-law, known for antics far beyond planting a mere mine in someone''s path.


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