47 Plan

After hearing Thomas' question to them, both Romain and Markos were quite surprised to hear that. And this time, Markos looks more interested in the conversation.

He still remembers that Volya rejected him in the past. He thinks that because he is only a mere adventurer. But this time is different, as the one who asks him is one of the Royal Mage of Ostonorid, Thomas Gill.

Volya and Gracia look at each other and then bow together to Thomas. Volya then says,

"We are terribly sorry, but we can't accept your request..."

"Oh... Could you tell me your reason, Volya?" asked Thomas.

Volya then looks at Thomas, smiles at him, and says,

"Even though your request intrigued us, we can't leave our new home..."

"Your new home..."

"Yes. We are now a proud Haegian, and we will never betray them," said Volya full of confidence

Thomas then nods at him and laughs. He then says,

"What a shame as I know both of you have a great potential to become a better mage,"

Thomas then sighs and then continues,

"But maybe I could still teach you... You don't need to become part of Ostonorid but still, become my pupils. I believe these offers didn't break your allegiance with Haegia."

Volya and Gracia look at each other and they look like they are considering Thomas' offer.

Romain who watches them immediately walks to them and embraces them from the back. He then says,

"Why did both of you hesitate? Isn't this the best choice for both of you to help our Kingdom further?"

"But..."

"Are you worried about something? Is it about whether someone in our kingdom will permit you?" asked Romain

"Yes..."

Romain smiles and then says,

"Well, as a member of the Ambros family, I could give the permit for both of you."

Both Volya and Gracia are quite surprised to hear that and they start to argue with Romain.

Thomas smiles at them and then touches his chin. He then says,

"What a lively group..."

"Eh?" said Markos

"When I see this, it feels like our Kingdom is right behind Haegia... The young person in Haegia is lively and their King and Queen always helping their people..."

"..."

"But, we can't compare them... Ostonorid is different from Haegia. They have their own culture, so do we."

Thomas then smiles at them and continues,

"I hope... We could ally with them to throttle our kingdom further."

"I hope so," replied Markos, smiling at the other three that are arguing.

Not long after that, Paulo and Helena just finished their meeting with a man with short blonde hair and a dark brown eye. He is wearing a civilian outfit, but he emits his royalty. That man is Theofilo Anderson, the king of Ostonorid.

When the three of them look at Volya, Gracia, and Romain that are arguing, Paulo immediately bows because his people make a ruckus while Helena immediately stops them. Helena then says,

"Come on three of you... This isn't Haegia... And don't make a ruckus in front of the King of Ostonorid..."

Hearing that the three of them stop arguing and start to bow at Theofilo. Theofilo only laughs and then says,

"Your men are indeed lively, Paulo."

"I'm sorry about that," replied Paulo

"You don't need to worry about that. It's better to have lively young people like this."

"I believe your young man also as lively as them, Theofilo," said Paulo

Theofilo then looks around him and then asks the person behind him,

"Is it alright to ask them about the mission, Andrei?"

"Yes, it's alright... If the Queen of Haegia praises them, we could believe them..." answer the man

Volya, Gracia, Romain, and Markos heard that and became a bit surprised. The man then walks to the front and then says,

"My name is Andrei Brigandy, one of the Royal Mage from Ostonorid. And with this, I need your help with one mission..."

Before Andrei could say anything, Volya already raised his hand. But, Helena interrupted Volya,

"We already agree with King Theofilo about this, and let them explain what is the mission."

"Eh? Then, what about our Adventurer mission?" asked Romain

"Just heard their explanation first... And I'm sorry about them..." said Helena to Andrei

Andrei nods and says,

"I'm aware that some of you will not accept it at the spot because of your mission, but we need your help this time."

Volya and Markos look at each other and Markos says,

"We will hear the mission first and from there we will make our decision..."

"Then, please tell us what is the mission," continues Volya

Andrei looks at Theofilo and then he says,

"Could you help us investigate Reginald for his treachery activity?"

"Eh?" said the two of them

"We have some informant that told us that he probably will start a rebellion under certain cult," continues Andrei

Volya and Markos look at each other with Gracia and Romain only could gulp hearing that. Theofilo suddenly says,

"We already heard everything from Queen Estrudiantes on how you work as a team, also that you are working under him now. That is the best opportunity to find more clue about this,"

"And what you need to do is find it and help us to imprison him," continues Andrei

Volya suddenly raises his hand again and before Helena interrupted him, he immediately asked,

"What would happen if Reginald finds out about our activity?"

"We will deny any ties between you and us," answers Andrei as he looks at Volya coldly

Everyone in the room can't hide their worry after hearing Andrei's answer except Theofilo, Paulo, and Helena. Volya then looks at Andrei and answer,

"If we manage to get the clue and manage to imprison him, what would we get?"

"Just as I thought... What you after is the prize..." answer Andrei

"My late father always said, it's easier to mobilize a group if we could get their attention to the prize. The better the prize is, the easier to mobilize them..." replied Volya

"Your late father, huh..."

"Yes..."

Andrei walks towards Volya and then raises his hand towards Volya's face. Both of them look at each other with a stern face and Andrei prepares to cast magic, before Thomas start to interfere,

"My, my... Andrei, I never know that you develop a hot-blooded character like this~"

Andrei looks at Thomas that stops him and then smiles. He then continues,

"I only want to see... What kind of person he is... Is he a real deal or only a jester,"

"If he is a jester?" asked Thomas

"I will obliterate him as he could make this plan fail..." replied Andrei

Volya gulps a bit and at that time Andrei notices Volya's hand is making a sign to stop. When he looks behind Volya, he could see Gracia and Romain is ready to take action depending on his action. Even he could see Volya's other hand is preparing a magic circle.

Andrei then smiles again and then continues,

"And from this, I'm sure about one thing... You are not a jester,"

"..."

"Yet, you are really brave to say that in front of the King from another Kingdom together with the Head of Royal Mage from another Kingdom. Do you know that could be punishable by death?"

"Yet... None of you showed an intention to punish me..." replied Volya

Andrei is a bit surprised to hear that answer from Volya and starts to laugh. He then looks at Theofilo and says,

"My King... He is an interesting person..."

"I could see it from here... And I presume, he is the person that you are talking about, Paulo?" said Theofilo as he looks at Paulo

"Indeed he is," answered Paulo

"A once free man that isn't restrained by any kingdom... Nothing less than I expected of him," replied Theofilo as he looks again at Volya with a smile.

At the same time, Markos drags Volya a bit and says,

"Volya... Please keep your manner in front of them!"

"..."

"Volya..."

"Markos... Couldn't you see that he is testing us now?" said Romain weakly at Markos

"Huh?"

"They want to see whether we are a trustworthy person or not... This is our chance to stop more adventurer death on Reginald's hand..." said Volya to Markos

"..."

"And I believe... The cult is the one... that drives him to do everything..." continues Gracia

"Is that so..."

Andrei then looks at the four adventurers and then says,

"I could say that all of you are trustworthy... Then what prize do you want?"

Volya looks at Andrei and then gives a sign to Romain and Markos that he never thought it will work and they will ask about the prize. Romain only chuckles a bit, while Markos is a bit scared with that sign. Until Gracia walks to the front, bows at Andrei, and says,

"If possible, could you grant any of us permission to enter the kingdom without any problem?"

"A permit to enter our Kingdom?" said Andrei

"Yes..."

Andrei closes his eyes for a moment, and then he says,

"I can't give you that..."

"Eh?"

"Because... How could we give something that never exists..."

Gracia looks surprised at Andrei, looks at Volya for a moment, and nods at each other. Before Andrei asks the same question, Volya then says,

"Then, could you help us with money for each Adventurer?"

"If that what you want, then so be it..." said Andrei

"But, give more portions of the prize for Dominik's family," continues Volya

"Huh? Why is that?"

Volya then explained the current situation that they are in. Theofilo and Andrei look at each other and then they agree with Volya's request. After that Andrei summon a paper and says,

"We will sign this pact... If you dare to betray us, I will know immediately. We will give you a capital punishment from Ostonorid as you help the traitor that wants to overthrow this kingdom!"

"Sir, yes Sir!" replied Markos, Volya, Romain, and Gracia

"And I only want you to sign this!" said Andrei as he points at Volya

Everyone in the room is surprised by that, yet Volya didn't falter. He then walks towards Andrei and says,

"I accept it..."

Andrei nods and lets Volya read the paper first. After that, he signs it and with that, the pact is sealed. Andrei then continues,

"Don't let us down..."

"No, I will not let you down... Rather, I believe I could believe everything will be fine," replied Volya with a smile