Book 3, Chapter 79 (1/2)

Something Must Be Done!

The news that Richard had been ambushed quickly spread across Bluewater. Many influential groups sent representatives over to survey the situation, but Richard locked himself in his room and claimed he needed time alone to heal. Every new arrival saw his followers were in perfect condition, so they left in satisfaction.

Just as it approached dawn, Richard pushed his room’s door open and walked out, tilting his head up to face the sky. The morning sun was slowly rising up. He squinted his eyes; this was the first time in the past few days he had even been out in the sunlight.

Another sunny figure entered his vision, that of Io. The battle priest always made sure to appear in certain places at certain times. Anywhere Richard could see or wherever Flowsand was, best if both were combined.

Richard smiled and quickly made his way down. Olar spotted him from afar, growing both surprised and happy as he asked, “Master! You recovered from your injuries?”

“It’s only been one night, how could I heal so quickly? It still hurts a little,” Richard said with a smile.

The elven bard inspected his master closely, but he could not understand how the youth who was in a daze just the day before had grown so cheery in a single night. Had he patched things up with Flowsand? Of course, Olar wouldn’t dare to voice that thought.

Richard was unkempt; he hadn’t shaved in a while, leaving a dense clump of facial hair on his upper lip. His scraggly hair clearly showed his lack of sleep.

“The nobles you invited are already here, and they wish to see you now. Many from Bluewater also expressed their concern once they heard you were attacked. Sir Rolf, Mr. Devon—”

“Alright, alright! You don’t have to tell me about everyone!” Richard stopped Olar, “Invite the representatives to the Golden Warflag inn, I’ll share lunch with them. We can discuss the Bloodstained Highway afterwards.”

He had returned to his straightforward self, once more a leader who had an answer to everything. This was something that left Olar both alarmed and happy.

“Oh yes, Master!” the bard suddenly remembered something, “Viscount Zim has come to Bluewater personally.”

Richard’s eyes were narrowed into a death stare at the sunny battle priest in his line of sight. “Oh, Viscount Zim is here as well…” he answered inattentively, but suddenly realised something was amiss, “ZIM?! He’s here too? How many troops did he bring, and how far is he?”

With a potential battle coming up, he immediately grew serious.

“Only a hundred guards,” Olar answered with a strange expression, “He already found himself lodging in the city.”

Richard’s face warped in confusion at this news, “What is he trying? Does he want to give us more ransom? How many saints did he bring?”

“Only one…” Olar thought about it for a while before giving his own assessment, “I feel like the saint is only here as a bodyguard. After all, he did have to travel through the Bloodstained Lands to get here. If he was trying to make things difficult for us, he would undoubtedly be courting death with just one saint. Even though he isn’t all that bright, his parents wouldn’t let him do something so stupid. They already know Odom fell at our hands, how would they expect one saint to do anything?”

Richard nodded, “Makes sense. Find some time to arrange a meeting with him; since he dares step into our territory, we need to treat him with some value… Wait!”

His eyes suddenly lit up, staring at Io who was not far away. The battle priest had just greeted Flowsand, whispering something into her ears. Even though they were a hundred metres away, Richard’s blessing of truth immediately told him exactly how far apart they were.

Ten centimetres. The two were separated by exactly ten centimetres.

This still didn’t cross the minimum threshold. However, Richard had seen Io hit this limit many times; what could it signify? His calm heart was set aboil once more!

However, this time, his train of thought was different. The entirety of the previous night, he only had one line of questioning in his mind. If his mother were in this position, what would she have done? What would his master have done? What would that man have done?

Elena’s pride would make her walk away, never to return. The legendary mage would just take Flowsand and Io and feed them both to a dragon. Only that man’s method seemed suitable.

*Smack!* Richard suddenly hit the elven bard, pointing at Io who wasn’t too far away, “Did you see that creep? Damn him!”

“I saw it! Would you like for me to break his legs, Master?” the elven bard said with an overcast face.

Richard shook his head, “No, he did it on purpose! If he wants me to play it like this, I’ll grant his wish. Go call everyone here… Call that Zim too! Tell him he’ll miss a good show if he isn’t here in five minutes.”

Flowsand had noticed Richard and Olar in the distance, and she saw the bard suddenly rush off somewhere. It left her feeling like something had happened, but she was caught in discussion with Io about the issues with Richard’s army.

She hadn’t shared the broodmother’s existence with him, so she listened to him solemnly while trying to explain as best as she could. She told him about the specialties of each kind of drone, and how best to supplement their fighting style. Io was a battle priest after all, he was better in war than she was. As a priestess herself, she was mostly an expert when it came to sacrifices.

All of Richard’s followers quickly gathered together, alongside the clerics and Viscount Zim. The Viscount had even come alone, displaying a rare amount of courage.

Richard took big strides towards Io and Flowsand, leaving everyone watching with bated breath for something to happen. They felt like this morning would be a good show.

Io felt something was strange as well, stopping his conversation with Flowsand to turn and face Richard with a confident smile. In actual fact, all of his concentration had been on Richard from the start.

“Hey! Level 13 battle priest!” Richard yelled from a distance away. His voice was loud enough for everyone present to hear.

Io’s eyes flashed with a look of astonishment, but his radiant smile did not fade. “Level 12 mage!” he replied formally, “Good morning!”

Hearing such a bizarre reply, Flowsand’s expression changed. She finally realised that she had missed something: the misunderstanding hadn’t been with the followers, but with Richard himself.

Richard stroked his prickly stubble, starting to like the sensation more and more, “All of the noble delegates are here. We’ll be starting the discussion on the Bloodstained Highway soon. This will be a real war; I hope you’ll obey all my commands on the battlefield, not acting freely. I look forward to the display of a level 13 battle priest.”

Io smiled in reply, “What if I feel like my own judgement is better?”

Richard flashed a similarly radiant smile, not pretending to be courteous in the slightest, “That would be a foolish idea. Follow my orders.”

Io finally displayed his true colours, “Do you really think you’re a better commander than me?”

Richard stared into Io’s eyes, “In a battle of thousands, I don’t even need my own battle capabilities. I can destroy you any time I want.”

Io laughed, “As a level 12 mage?” He carefully enunciated the number, the double meaning only caught by a few. When Io had first appeared, he was just like Richard at level 12. However, he had quickly risen to level 13 while Richard remained at level 12 with no chance of advancing within the month.

As she heard this, Flowsand suddenly regretted giving Io a high power growth.

“A mage?” Richard laughed heartily, turning back to face his followers and Zim. “You want to know what my confidence is based on?” he asked loudly, “It’s based solely on the fact that I can bring victory after victory! I may not be a great general right now, but I am an excellent tactician!”

Richard waved his fist vigorously, “We have been through so many battles. Faced with similar numbers and opponents of similar levels, have we ever lost?!”

All of his followers started cheering loudly, as though they had been through many barrels of hard liquor. They had more energy than a riled up mob! Even Phaser started mumbling strange, incomprehensible words. It didn’t matter that nobody understood her; the words were fierce enough.

Richard turned around like a whirlwind and pointed his finger at Io’s nose, “For what other reason? For the reason that I’m a runemaster, and a royal runemaster to boot. A runemaster who launched two sets at his first convention! Level 12 mage? What’s that?!”

Io’s expression started to sour, his smile now slightly unnatural. Still, he tried hard, to keep it on his face.

However, Richard wasn’t done. His finger remained pointed at the battle priest, “I don’t know who you are or what your position is in the Church. You’re in Faelor, which means you are my subordinate. I’m giving you two choices; follow my instructions, or get the hell out! We don’t need an aloof and arrogant master amongst us!”

“Richard…” Flowsand couldn’t help but call out, but he only turned his finger towards her, “You better keep your mouth shut! This doesn’t concern you!”

Flowsand was stunned. She had never imagined that Richard could speak to her this way. She also didn’t understand why she subconsciously retreated and shut her mouth.

Io smiled, “Are those all the reasons you have?”