Second World

”Donʼt worry, Your Highness. That is also our wish,” Red Death said.

He then turned to where Jack had gone to, ”however, Your Highness. I will suggest not to take that outworlder lightly. It will be better if we deal with him now before he grows even more.”

”Hm… You almost sound like you are scared of him.”

”I believe Your Highness is just imagining things…”

Prince Rhemos seemed to be in deep thought for several seconds, before he said, ”there is no need for me to deal with them directly. He is going on an expedition with my youngest brother. And I know where they are headed too. I can borrow another force to deal with them. Haha, probably the lots of them will be wiped out before they even arrive at their destination.”

The second prince laughed as if he was truly pleased with his ploy. Red Death had no idea what the prince was scheming at, but he could imagine Storm Wind would not have a smooth journey in their expedition. Although it was a pity that she could not defeat the man herself, it would be for the greater good of her guild.

”Where are they heading to anyway?” Red Death asked. ”Their expedition sounds important. Will they affect our plan in some way?”

”They are heading to some ruins. They are trying to get a cure for the curse that is afflicting Duchess Isabelle.”

”Duchess Isabelle? Who is she? Is she someone important?”

”She was,” Prince Rhemos said. ”In the past, she was the main advisor to my father the king, and also this kingdomʼs strongest sorceress. Her words carried much weight in the court. No one would dare to cross her. She was also the sister to Alonzoʼs mother, our fatherʼs concubine. A whore who thought that her son could compete with us, the true heirs.”

Red Death could see Rhemosʼ face twisted into a warped expression that contradicted his previous friendly mask when he was talking about Alonzoʼs mother. She said, ”if she was so powerful, wonʼt it be dangerous if we allow their expedition to succeed?”

Rhemos chuckled. ”They wonʼt succeed. There is no cure to the curse.”

”How are you so certain?”

”Because the Godʼs apostle who gave me that curse assured me of it.”

He was the one that applied the curse? Red Death thought after hearing it.

”Letʼs go, there is no point for us to linger here any longer,” the prince said and started to walk away.

Red Death turned to look at Duke Alfredoʼs estate. when she saw Jack, she was equally baffled by his appearance here. Although the second prince had told her that there was an outworlder in his younger brotherʼs camp, she did not expect him to be Jack.

There were very few players who had managed to enter the noble district. Most did because of special quests, the way she did. On her part, her quest was especially special. As it was a high-difficulty guild quest that could affect the fate of this kingdom.

This quest had been the one that was discussed with all the other guilds who agreed to join their coalition and was bound into its secrecy using the Shackle of Vows. His guild had resolved to take in the manpower of the other guilds to form the coalition, not only to monopolize more areas for monster grinding, but also to have sufficient forces to work on this quest.

If this quest was completed and they managed to help the second prince in succeeding the throne. Their guild would receive special protection from the newly crowned king and could truly become the dictators amongst the player community. No players would be able to defy them then.

Hence, when she saw Jack here, she could not help but felt a bit of worry. After all, that guy had always been a thorn on their side. What if he was also on a special quest that was in opposition from theirs? The second prince told her that Jack was under the third princeʼs banner. What if his quest was to aid the third prince into succeeding the throne? Then there would be only one victor amongst them.

She was already in the process of compiling a report. She would need to send it to Scarface as soon as possible to let him know about this new development.

While Red Death had mistakenly thought that Jack was here on a quest. Jack had also misunderstood Red Deathʼs purpose in the noble district. He thought the woman was the same as him, that she had become the next player after him to join the Themisphere kingdom faction.

As befitting of a well-known top expert, he really could not underestimate her. Jack continued with this misunderstood thought. Maybe he indeed should have killed her in that duel? No. It was also due to the presence of opponents such as her which served as pressure, that he could continue to force himself to improve.

The Dukeʼs mansion came into view as he continued thinking. There was a crowd in front of the mansion. The beautiful garden was nowhere to be seen, covered by the people. Though it was a mass, the crowd was still organized. Rows of soldiers lined up with their backs to Jack. Commander Quintus appeared to be giving a speech beside Duke Alfredo.

He could see Prince Alonzo by the side, so he truly was joining the expedition. His level was 25 now, but another surprising thing was he was now a special elite grade. Jack surmised this was his real grade, the basic grade he exhibited when he first met him should be his disguise using some method.

There were two people in extravagant clothing beside him. A middle-aged man in a fully decorative cloak and a royal Tudor hat. This person was holding a long scepter in his hand. The other one was a woman in a royal dress and an antique velvet hat. From their appearances, Jack assumed the status of both was not any lower than the prince.

Jack did not want to disturb the speech. He stood waiting by the side in silence. He noticed somebody approached him and turned to see that it was Lindsey.

”You are joining the expedition as well?” Jack asked, surprised to see her here.

”No, I am still a cadet, so Iʼm not allowed to join,” she answered.

”Alonzo is also one, but I heard he will be joining.”

”He is special. The Duke thought him joining the expedition would be a good learning experience for him as a prince. Oh, and you should really address him as Prince Alonzo from now on.”

”Uh, kind of difficult to spell,” Jack expressed.

Lindsey chuckled. ”I am just here to send my father off. I donʼt know how long I can see him again, or if he will come back…”

Jack suddenly felt uncomfortable seeing Lindseyʼs sad expression. Heck, why was she so melancholy? The conversation had just started and she had to immediately talk about the sad part.

Urgently feeling the need to lift the girlʼs spirit, Jack exclaimed, ”donʼt worry, your father will definitely come back. I will protect him and make sure he is safe!”

Lindseyʼs sad eyes turned to him and blinked two times, before she laughed and said, ”more likely he will be the one protecting you.”

Jack only realized he had blurted out absurd commitment, trying to protect a level 60 while he was only a level 21 adventurer. Well, at least the girl was cheery again.

After the speech was done, the soldiers turned around and reshuffled their formation into a long column to fit the width of the road, ready to leave once the commander gave the command. Duke Alfredo and Commander Quintus came to where prince Alonzo and the other two were sitting, and chatted with them. The Duke saw Jack and waved for him to come over.

Jack approached them together with Lindsey. Commander Quintus noticed her daughter and took her to another place to talk.

Contrary to expectation, it was the middle-aged man with the funny hat who spoke to him first, ”so you are that outworlder called Storm Wind. I have been wanting to meet with you for some time. Iʼm glad that we can finally meet.”

Jack looked at him, he had that kind of face that seemed to always bear a smile, like that of Silverwing and that snake prince Rhemos. Such a person was either genuinely friendly or had an ulterior motive. Taking a hundred and eighty degrees approach from when he was dealing with Rhemos, this time he embodied the belief that everyone was innocent until proven otherwise. Jack took that friendly gesture at face value and gave an equally friendly reply, ”I am honored that such a revered noble such as you are willing to allow yourself to fraternize with me.”

”How do you know he is a revered noble?” Jack heard Penielʼs voice in his mind.

ʼAre you kidding me? Why donʼt you look at his fancy clothes?ʼ

”You even have a way with words. Good, good,” the revered noble praised.

”Only if I have to,” Jack said. ”If you donʼt mind me asking, who might your eminence be?”

”I am the royal advisor, Mason.”

😉