Inside a room located within the royal palace, a meeting was taking place. all the most influential figures within the Kingdom were gathered together. The room was filled with knights who were guarding the exit, and some were standing by at the corner of the room.
The room was the largest place within the royal palace a red carpet was spread from the throne to the large wooden door. The ceiling was designed with beautiful square tiles that glowed with the room lights, giving it a lustrous look.
From the royal family, there was King Almous sitting in a comfy position, Queen Annie was seated next to him, sitting elegantly in her chair. Princess Scarlett was seated next to her; however, there were two empty seats on her right.
The nobles all had a tense look on their face as they bowed to the royal family respectfully.
The topic of the meeting is, of course, Princess Scarlett getting mugged in the back alley and her recent Spy. The nobles are not fully aware of the details of those events, as they were only told that there was a spy following the princess in the capital.
The nobles were extremely angered by the fact that a fool had laid their hands on the kingdom's princess. This could easily have triggered a war under normal circumstances; however, since they had no idea who or why the princess was a target of a spy, they couldn't just declare war without any legitimate proof.
The nations were all at peace right now, and they couldn't just accuse a nation without evidence, as they would put the kingdom in danger of making enemies with the neighbouring kingdoms.
The room became silent as they waited for the king to speak.
"Thank you for coming today. We have some troubling topics to discuss."
The king said with a troubled look on his face as if he was holding back a headache.
"First, let me say this: I believe that the spy was from the demon race."
The King said in a stiff tone.
Once the King had uttered those words, the room was filled with tension each noble had a dreadful look on their face.
After all, had they not had the heroes on their side three hundred years ago, the human race would have been enslaved or, at worst, gone extinct by the ruthless demons.
The demons had become a nightmare for every child even adults would sweat whenever they heard the stories of the demons. After all, hundreds of lives were lost, and there are still scars left on the world yet to be healed. So, the King could understand their worries in a world like this that no longer had the heroes; if the demons really have been freed, then humanity is in great danger.
"I can understand your feelings honestly, even though I hope it's not true, but if it really is the truth, we are all in grave danger of extinction."
The king said with a bit of hesitation in his voice.
"We also speculate that someone or one of our neighbouring kingdoms has been working with the demon race, though we still have no proof of that."
The King said with a frown on his face.
It wasn't wise to accuse a kingdom, especially when you have no proof.
One noble then walked to the front and raised his hand to speak.
He was a handsome young man in his early thirties and had short blond hair and green eyes. He was the duke of the kingdom, the one who held the second-highest power, only to the royal family.
"Your majesty, if you would allow me to speak?"
He said with a slight raise of his hand.
The King nodded, allowing him to speak his mind.
"The Kingdom of Alberta has been rather suspicious lately."
He said fluently.
The Kingdom of Alberta is located right next to the Kingdom of Watanabe as their closest neighbour. The two kingdoms had form a close friendship With each other, however recently the Alberta Kingdom had cut its ties with the surrounding Kingdoms the King had actually sent his daughters to the kingdom of Alberta to investigate what had happened in that nation. Since they had other relatives that are staying in the kingdom, they could stay there while investigating.
Though it was a dangerous mission, he had faith his daughter would be able to bring back good results.
Though the Kingdom of Alberta has cut its ties with the surrounding nations, the Alberta Kingdom is still one of the biggest and most advanced nations on the continent of Enosh. So, cutting ties doesn't really hurt the kingdom itself.
(Now that they have cut ties with us, not only does the Alberta Kingdom lose most of their supplies, but we also lose as much as the Alberta Kingdom)
Duke Beckett thought with a pained expression.
Not only does the Kingdom of Watanabe depend on the Kingdom of Alberta for their supplies, but also for military power. The Watanabe Kingdom doesn't have much battle power, so they depend on the Alberta Kingdom for military support. It's not like the Watanabe Kingdom doesn't have their own military power; it's just that the other Kingdoms have much more military power at their disposal.
"I have to agree with Sir Beckett. The Alberta Kingdom gets some of their goods from our nation, for the king to cut ties with us... Honestly, I don't know what is going through that king's head."
The noble said with a slight twitch of his brow.
He was a young man in his early twenties, he held the position of count in the kingdom, he had dark brown hair that reached his brow and light brown eyes.
"Count Wesley, please mind your tongue. While it's true we have no idea what is running through that old man's head, he is still the king. Be careful what you say."
Duke Beckett warned him in a strong tone. However, Count Wesley simply shrugs his shoulders in response.
"Hmph, I don't see what's wrong with my earlier statement. Am I simply speaking the truth, you know? Don't you think those other nations look down on us a bit too much?"
Count Wesley said nonchalantly in a relaxed manner.
"Even so, we still need their support with the development of our nation, am I wrong?"
"That's the problem with you; you depend too much on the other nations. That's a weakness; it would be better if we made a better future ourselves."
The count said, retorting to Duke Beckett's earlier statement. while glaring at him. However, Duke Beckett kept a calm face as he narrowed his gaze at Count Wesley.
The two factions had been in dispute with each other for years, always arguing with each other when their ideals or goals contradict those of the other. The disputes between the two factions always end up giving the King a headache, with no way for the two to see eye to eye.
Of course, Duke Beckett is mostly responsible for the kingdom's military, so he knows very well that they need the kingdom of Alberta's support to increase their military power; however, Count Wesley believes that they should increase their own military power on their own. The two factions had opposite ways of thinking, which is why they are at constant odds with one another.
The King wore an annoyed expression as he was seated.
(I guess some things will never change, huh? They keep saying they're doing this for the sake of the Kingdom, but they're only doing this to increase the influence of their own noble household)
Scarlett thought. She had an exasperated look on her face as she watched the quarrel between the two.
"Alright, that's enough."
The King said in a humble tone. Though there was a certain power in his voice which caught the attention of the nobles present.
The other nobles all had a troubled look on their faces. There were a lot of problems that they had not addressed, which is what made it more difficult to resolve the situations.
The King then brought his hand under his chin and went into deep thought for a moment.
The nobles then waited for him to speak.
"If the demon race really has been released, we need to contact the neighbouring Kingdoms to come up with a way to deal with them."
He said in a light tone.
"Yes, will contact them at once, of course, will also remain vigilant."
"Even if we contact them, won't we need the power of the great heroes?"
The Queen suddenly asks.
Even if the kingdoms are aware of the demon's existence, the only ones who can actually defeat the demon army are the heroes. While the ritual had been passed down through generations, the kingdoms had to all agree to it first before anyone could summon them.
"Yes, we will definitely need the hero's power to fight against the demon army."
The ritual takes up to ten people since it acquires a massive amount of mana.
An old man then calmly walked to the front and bowed to the king; he had been silently listening to the conversation until now. There was a unique aura surrounding his body that showed dominance. He had a long white moustache and hazel eyes. He looked to be in his late sixties.
"Your majesty, if you would allow me to ask what about the boy?"
He inquires curiously.
The nobles then turn their gaze to the old man.
The king, for a moment, gave him a puzzled look when he heard the word "boy", but immediately understood the meaning of his words.
"You mean young Haruto, right, Hugo Marquis?"
The King asked.
"Yes, there are a lot of things we don't know about that boy; I've been secretly watching him these past few days. I'm sure he's aware that I'm watching him, yet he decided not to do anything and pretend not to notice."
He said with a frown.
For a commoner to be so close to the princess, many of the nobles were extremely bothered by that fact.
They all furrow their brow in displeasure at the mere fact.
"Yes, he is an impressive boy, even I once had the idea he was a spy; however, so far, he has not done anything to be suspicious over."
The King said with a slight smile on his face. ignoring their displeasure.
To be honest he had expected some nobles would come to him about their suspicious over Haruto, considering his background had still not been cleared however Haruto had saved his daughter many times now because of that he instinctively didn't want to be suspicious of Haruto, though he isn't naïve enough to think that there isn't any possibility of him being a spy sent by one of the surrounding kingdoms that's why he had left Scarlett to keep on watchful eye on him. However, Scarlett seems to have put her trust in him completely, so it was fine for him as the king to trust him as well.
"The boy had not done anything wrong; he has even saved Scarlett not once but twice, so there is no reason to be suspicious of him, isn't that right, Scarlett?"
The King suddenly asks Scarlett who decided not to take part in the discussion until now. Hearing her name, Scarlett suddenly flinches slightly.
"Y-Yes, Haruto is my Saviour and also my friend. I can assure you he isn't a spy."
Scarlett said with a smile. Though she was slightly flustered by the sudden spotlight.
Though some of the nobles were still not convinced. But they couldn't go against the words of the princess, so they had to swallow their doubt.
"Now then, we will wrap up this discussion. I will be counting on you all to carry out your task, understand?"
The King said while gazing at everyone present in the room.
The nobles all nodded their head in response.
"Now let's get ready for their return."
The Queen said happily.
"Yes, I can't wait."
Scarlett beamed with a bright smile.