The party is still bustling from last night. The amount of alcohol consumed is ungodly, enough to make one human town drunk for a week. The dwarves drank them in only a night. The glassmaker collects the empty bottle of liquor to study and replicate. The phone shows 3.15 AM. It's still early, but Akira thinks it's probably best to return to Hapsburg. He calls Shin, but no response from the first time. He texted Shin to let him know he's going home.

Grimgunn, half sober, is looking at Akira. He wanted to speak for a moment.

"Laddie. Today is a day we will never forget. We thank you from the heart of our bottom..."

Slurring a little bit, Grimgunn corrects himself

"...no, wait. From the bottom of our hearts. That's it. From the bottom of our hearts, we are grateful to meet you"

"It was an honor to meet you guys too"

"Now, Laddie. Are you sure you want me to run the workshop?"

"Absolutely. You are free to operate this workshop however you feel like it. Recruit, sell, buy as long as the guild rules are followed"

"That's given. But, what can we do for you?"

"Well, I could use the workshop whenever I want"

"That's also given"

"I want you to spare 15% of each monthly sales so I could take it"

"That's too low"

"It's okay. If you're going to recruit and buy materials, you're going to need a lot of money"

"Alrighty. Anything else?"

"Yes. Please forget what weapon we are making here. I don't want you to make or sell them to other people."

"Bah. We're too afraid to get it near ourselves even if we can. It'll explode, yes?"

"Yes"

"One mishandling, and we'll blow ourselves"

"Thank you. Make sure you follow the guild's regulations. It's time for me to go, Grimgunn. Please take care of our workshop"

"Of course, Laddie. Visits us from time to time, alright?"

"Goodbye, Grimgunn"

"Goodbye, Laddie. Oy! Give cheers to our young master here. Hurrah!"

The dwarves' crowd cheers for Akira, raising their glasses in Akira's name. Akira feels touched, and smiles before teleporting back to Hapbsurg. Sparks surround his body until he vanishes. He reappears at the front door of the hotel. No one saw him appear out of thin air, maybe except Huginn and Muninn. Both mechanical ravens land on his shoulder.

"What are you doing late this night, boss?"

"Oh hello, Huginn, Muninn. I just arrived here from Wilhelmshire"

"I heard there's a curfew here boss. Due to the recent incident. It's not safe for you to be out here"

"Is that so, Muninn?"

"Yes, boss. Huginn did some reconnaissance earlier after the kids are asleep. We found the cause of the curfew"

"You did?"

"Yes. But boss, let us move to a safer location"

Huginn and Muninn fly to the rooftop of the hotel, carrying Akira.

"The perpetrator is in that direction, boss"

"Muninn, wait. That was her location a few hours ago. If she's smart, she'll probably move"

"Her? I thought it was a male?"

"She used illusion magic. Even I'm not sure if the woman is a disguise or her real looks"

"So do you have any idea where she is?"

"Last known position is in the Dock District. On a ship called 'Nightingale'. I assume it's a merchant ship"

"Merchant ship? It wasn't a spy, but a merchant?"

"We're not sure, boss. Merchants could be a spy too."

"If that is the case, this might lead to an international dispute. Let me call Shin first"

Akira dials Shin number, and after several attempts, Shin picks up.

"Hello?"

"Didn't I tell you to meet me today?"

"I'm at Sara's. This is still early in the morning"

"Mina?"

"At the shop. We take a look at the shop, it was good. The room looks spacious"

"How many rooms are in there?"

"Two"

In the background, there is a female voice.

"Why are you up this time?"

"Oh hey. Sorry to wake you up. My partner is calling...telepathically. Go ahead and sleep"

"I need you to meet me now. At the top of the hotel"

"Can't do that. There's a curfew on the street"

"I know. But this is important"

"What's so important this time of the morning?"

"Huginn and Muninn found who stole the coins from the royal treasury"

"What?"

"Yes. A possible spy transported by a merchant ship Nightingale that is currently docked at the Dock District"

"Do you think we need to wake Sara up?"

"I don't really trust her, but we need the imperial minister's advice. Besides, I'm calling you to ask if it is a good idea if we apprehend them now"

"Too risky. We need to inform His Majesty. Or at least an advice. They could suspect you of sabotage, or worse, murder"

"What should I do now?"

"Get over here. We'll fill Sara in. I'll wake her up. Don't let anyone sees you"

"What were you doing there?"

"She requested me back to her mansion"

"Business purposes?"

"That and more"

"We've been here for a day, and you already fuck one of the most important people in the kingdom"

"This was not my idea. No strings attached, she said"

"Alright, alright. I'm just fucking with you. See you in a minute"

"Bye, fucker"

Shin hangs up. From Shin's perspective, he put the phone back on the table. He wakes up Sara from her light sleep

"Beautiful, please wake up."

"Unngh?"

"My partner will be coming here"

"At this time?"

"Yes. He has information about the treasury heist"

"What?!"

"I know. I am surprised too. I am really sorry to disturb you with this. But this is urgent"

"Very well. Let me dress up"

"Just wear my shirt. It's long enough to cover your body. He will be here shortly"

"That's preposterous. We need to give him the clearance to enter"

"Don't do that. If you gave clearance after the curfew, they will be suspicious of you of conspiracy. Let him sneak here"

KNOCK KNOCK
There was a knock. Not on the door, but on the window of the mansion.

"This was a two-story mansion. How did he..."

Shin hands Sara his shirt, she puts on the shirt and Shin opens the mansion window seeing Akira levitating.

"Hurry. Come in"

"Good morning, Finance Minister. I'm sorry to wake you at this time"

"Be done with it"

"Right. Huginn, Muninn, please."

"Hello, another boss. We scouted the area earlier, we overheard a person saying that they have acquired the money. We heard that some people were involved, but killed after the money was acquired"

"Please tell me more"

"Sure. Muninn. Memory please"

Muninn projects what he saw like how a projector provides images. The moving picture shows a big river and the ship 'Nightingale'. Muninn opens his mouth and sounds came out of the raven. The image shows 2 people. One is a female, the other is unknown. Due to the mask the other person wears, the identity of the person is concealed.

"We have the money. It was a lot of work, but we got it"

"That's good. You could keep them. Friguld is proud to have you as its citizen."

"As long as the money is good, I will be at your disposal"

"Did you get the other thing?"

"Yes"

The moving picture is showing a sword jeweled with various gemstones, but the center gem is the biggest is made out of dragon glass, or obsidian.

"Oh my god"

"What's wrong?"

"That is the royal sword. It symbolizes the sovereignty of this kingdom. It has been passed down since the age of our first king, Huldar"

"So if they have the sword, they would claim sovereignty of the kingdom?"

"Precisely"

"So the money heist is a coverup, to mask a bigger issue?"

"That seems to be it"

"We can't let that happen. We must inform His Majesty at once!"

"Calm down, Sara. If you panic, the perpetrator will be alerted"

"Shin..."

"Why did he call you Shin, Nosk?"

"It's my name. Shinnosuke. No, you can't call me that"

Muninn continues his recording.

"What are you going to do with that sword?"

"I will present it to the Corsair Princes"

"What for?"

"You don't need to know. I will secure this item someplace safe"

The recording ends. Muninn's eyes stop projecting.

"There we have it"

"What do you think, Sara?"

"First of all, I think a bird that shows images is peculiar, even for magic. Second of all, this could lead to a war on an international scale. We do not have diplomatic ties with Friguld, only an economic one"

"What should we do about it?"

"Assassination?"

"An assassination on foreign soil? I don't think so"

"Shin. I have an idea. Let me know if it's bad or good"

"Hit me with it"

"That person seems to be loyal to the Corsair Princes. What about we made the Corsair Princes disavow this person's action?"

"We don't even know if he truly works for The Corsair Princes"

"Exactly. If this person's action is made known to The Corsair Princes, they will be forced to act on it. We can threaten with an act of war, or embargo toward Friguld"

"That is a great idea, but we don't have any authorization. Only His Majesty does"

"Sara is the minister of finance. She could petition His Majesty. Well, Minister? How about it?"

"We can try, but don't expect the result"

"Now, how are you going to make this person humiliated?"

"Sara, do you have any intel about the Corsair Princes?"

"They are going to visit Hapsburg in a few days. His Majesty will be holding a banquet for dignitaries every 3 years to discuss treaties"

"Great. Let's steal back the sword, and put a wrong replica for them. When they visit, Highly probable that they will show the sword to the court. Claiming legitimacy, but they will not know that the sword will be fake. We will show the sword to him. The real sword"

"That's...quite brilliant. But about the woman, what should we do?"

"Catch and replace"

"Excuse me?"

"We catch her, and replace them with a mimic"

Sara is confused, but Shin has an idea of what he's talking about

"Ah. I see. But, how do you create a mimic?"

"Can you guys take a look at the outside windows?"

Akira, Shin, and Sara walk to the windows. Akira zaps the ground with lightning and the ground and something came out of the elevated ground. Talos jumps from the ground and grabs the windows ledge and climb inside

"What kind of golem is this?"

"A bronze golem. My trusted guardian. Talos. And He's an automaton, not a golem. He has intelligence"

Talos greet Akira, bowing down to him

"Boss. It is so nice to see you"

"Hi, again Talos. I'm sorry to summon you here. But we have a job to do and we need your help"

"What do you need of me?"

"We're going to do a catch and replace. We need you to mimic our target's appearance and demeanor"

"Who's the target?"

"A thief. Someone is planning a coup and we're here to stop it"

"Ahem..."

Shin clears his throat

"Sorry. Talos. Meet my partner. This is Shin"

Talos extends his hand to reach for his hand

"Hello. I am Shin. A gunslinger and a merchant"

"I know. I'm basically him with a different skin"

"Oh god. There are two of you"

"Talos, This is Sara. Hapsburg Finance Minister"

"Pleased to meet you, Milady"

Talos bows down.

"Likewise, Automaton"

"Now. Huginn. Go with Talos and capture the thief. Talos, you bring her here and all of her possession. She stole a lot of platinum coins and we will bring the coins back to the royal treasury"

"Yes, boss"

"Oh, please be careful. There's a curfew on the street. You need to be discreet. Don't let anyone see you"

"If that is the case, please strike me with your lightning, boss. I would need a lot of magic power to go through this"

"So be it. How about you Huginn?"

"I'm good, boss"

Akira instructs both Sara and Shin to stand back and Huginn is standing on Shin's shoulder.

"Will you be feeling the pain?"

"A little bit, but the lightning will suppress the pain"

Akira nods. He clasps his hand and slowly pulls them apart. He creates what appears to be a sphere of the lightning ball. He keeps adding lightning after lightning to the ball. After the ball at the size of a beach ball, he pushed the lightning to Talos's body.

"Urk!"

"You okay?"

"This...is...so...many...power!"

"You want me to stop?"

"Keep...going"

Sara and Shin keep looking at Talos. A feeling of shock and awe overcomes Sara, but pride fills Shin's.

"Ugh...A...little...bit...more"

"Is that this loves to be tortured?"

"I wouldn't know"

Talos absorbs all of Akira's Lightning. His body is sparking. His eyes are glowing and his bronze body turned from Bronze to Iron. From now on, Talos will no longer be known as a bronze automaton, but as an iron automaton

"Talos. What happened?"

"I evolved a bit, boss. This kind of power is what I need to accomplish the mission"

"Mind explaining it to us?"

"The lightning magic is divine magic. By absorbing divine energy, I could use the magic to store and use them anytime I want. If you are thinking I'm going to betray you with all this power or achieve godhood, you can rest easy. I have no intention of doing so"

"I wasn't thinking that. But that is great to hear. Thank you. Do you want to evolve again?"

"Eh, not now"

"Alright. Muninn, go with Talos and capture her"

"Boss. If I'm going to be disguised as her, we need some sort of code. Hand gesture or something"

"Okay. How about this?"

Akira flicks his middle finger and his thumb.

"Lady Minister, does this gesture mean anything?"

"No. Not that I know of"

"Great. How about it, Talos?"

"Do it discreetly. We will be waiting for you"

"Wait. Akira. We need to see what happened there"

"What do you mean?"

"We need every bit of the intel if we are going to do this, so how about you link the visual between Huginn and Muninn and have Huginn acts as a camera, and Muninn as a television?"

"That is a great idea, Boss #2. Muninn. Will you agree?"

"Do you need to ask? Boss. Please do this"

"Both of you. Stand on my palm"

Huginn stands on Akira's left hand and Muninn on his right. Akira closes his eyes and opens them again. His eyes are glowing, but this time, with a trail of smoke.

"Is your friend a demonic being?"

"What? No! How could you say that?"

"Everything he does. Not even the greatest magician is able to do things as he does"

"He is a human. A transcended one"

"A transcended? You mean a god?"

"He insisted he is not. So, no"

Akira's electricity is flowing inside of him, it generated light from inside. Shin and Sara can see his bones, heart, lung, intestine, and skull. The light moved from his heart to his left hand. The light remains on his left hand, showing a shadow of his hand skeleton. The light from his left hand stretches out to his brain and stretches again to his right hand. All this bright light is making his body see-through. All they could see is his bones as if an undead skeleton is giving the raven power. Both ravens' eyes glow white. But unlike Akira's, it is not producing smoke. Their eyes return back to normal and Akira stops glowing.

"Let's test it. Huginn. Look outside of the windows."

"Caw, Boss"

"Muninn. I have linked your visual to Huginn's. See through his eyes and project them"

"Yes, boss"

Huginn went to the windows and Muninn is standing in the opposite direction of Huginn. Muninn's eyes started to glow and project what Muninn saw.

"Huginn. Try saying something"

Huginn flies above the mansion and says something out of the earshot of the humans. The vision projected by Muninn is showing no sign of latency and the voice is perfect. It was a perfect sync.

"It works. Now. Let's get this show on the road, people"

"Yes boss"

Talos and Huginn moved out of the mansion and started to sneak their way to the thief's hideout.

"Muninn. Project to that wall"

Muninn did what he was asked for and They saw everything in detail

"Dude. this is some freaky 4k shit"

"I know. Too bad we don't have tv here"

"Teevee?"

"A box with moving images. You can watch all kinds of stuff there"

"Damn, they moved fast"

"Boss. Let me be clear. We can hear you too, you know."

"Sorry. We'll be quiet now"

After a few minutes, Talos reached the hideout of the thief. He saw the woman in a robe sitting on a big chest. She is somewhat alerted, not because of Talos, but because of something else. Akira whispers to Talos

"Talos. It seems that she's expecting someone. Hang around for a few moments. See what she's up to"

Talos stealthily moved to a darker area of the hideout. He's waiting for a few moments. Suddenly, a woman meets the thief, wearing a robe, but this other woman is wearing a crest on his left chest. A crossed scimitar with a Kraken in the middle of the crest.

"That's the Friguld Insignia. They are involved in this"

"Shh, they'll hear you"

"So. We're doing this at this time?"

"I have your money. Please let my family go"

"Your family has been put on bid 3 days ago. They have been purchased for 250 platinum coins"

"I'll double it, and pay for the penalty fee"

"The transaction is approved and signed by The Corsair Princes. The bidder is a Mercian Noble. Are you trying to humiliate the Corsair Princes?"

"If it meant saving my family, I'd go to hell and back"

Akira is starting to panic. This was not the plan. Now the plan has been altered, he needs to make alternate plans.

"Shin. What do we do? This wasn't part of the plan. She'll get away with the money"

"Calm down. Let's see what she'll do"

"Very well. We'll take the money"

"So you're going to release my family?"

"I believe what I said was We'll take the money"

The woman pulls the scimitar from her back and stabs the thief in the stomach.

"What...are...you..."

"Don't worry. Given how Mercian treated their slaves, they will be joining you soon enough"

"Talos. Now!"

Talos came out of the shadow and punches the woman. The heavy fist from the iron blocks the sword, it shatters and connects to her chest. Breaking her ribs. She's throwing up blood before passing out

"Dear God. What just happened?"

"Akira. Teleport us there. Hurry"

Akira calms down and teleports to Talos' location.

"Akira. Take the thief. Talos, carry the other women. I'll carry the gold"

Akira cradles the thief on his arm. Talos carries the woman on his back and Shin carries the chest

"Teleport us back. Hurry!"

Akira teleports everyone back to Sara's Mansion, and puts the thief on the floor

"She's losing blood"

"Heal her. Quick! Sara. Please call the maid"

Sara nods and Akira places his hand on her wound and electrocutes the wound. The lightning closes her wound, but the blood loss is quite a lot.

"Heal this one too"

"Why?"

"We need information out of her"

"The maid is here"

"Great. Please tend to her wound. The wound closes but she's losing blood"

"Lady Sara. We're sorry for this commotion"

"What are you talking about? We are working for the benefit of the kingdom. I will be more than happy to get my hand dirty"

"Attagirl, Sara. You're the best"

"No. you guys are. You just arrived in the city, but you already solved a problem. But we have a bigger problem, and we need your help"

"We'll be happy"

Akira heals the woman, but her life is still unstable.

"Milady. This one is still unstable. Please have a maid take care of her"

"I'll have the maid do that. We need to see His Majesty right now"

"It's still curfew time. Do you think that's a good idea?"

"This is an emergency"

"No, wait. We still need the sword. Let's not be hasty"

"Oh shit, you're right"

"Boss. Muninn can extract the memory of the assassin. Maybe He can gather information from her so Sir Talos can mimic the assassin and infiltrate the whereabouts of the sword. In the meantime, please create a replica of the sword, so sir Talos can replace them"

"Huginn. You're right. Thank you. Muninn. Show me the sword again"

Muninn projected the sword again. Akira takes a look at the sword and creates the sword with his magic

"Great. Now, Muninn, extract the memories and give them to sir Talos"

Muninn stops projecting and pecks the woman's hand until it bleeds. Muninn drank a drop of the blood and produces a plasma leftover. A memory

"Sir Talos, please swallow the memories"

Talos swallows the plasma pill and her memories are surging through Talos

"This woman..."

"What's wrong, Talos?"

"This woman did some terrible things. We better left her dead"

"If she did some terrible things, we can't kill her"

"Why not, boss?"

"Because we need to make sure she suffers for it. No matter how long, she must suffer for it. If she dies, she got off light. But if she lives, she can be tortured for life"

Sara is shocked at Akira's statement. She agrees but is unsettled about how nonchalantly he would make the other suffer.

"Nosk. Is your friend...okay?"

"He's not. Better left him to it"

"What are you guys whispering about?"

"No...nothing"

"Right. Talos. Mimic her. Take this sword and hide it. Here is the replica of the chest. I cast illusion magic on it. Please return safely with the real sword"

Talos morph into the assassin and hides the sword on the coat. He picks up the chest.

"Huginn. You will be advising Talos in this mission. When the time comes, hide in his robe, but keep us updated"

"Okay boss"

"Good luck fellas. Happy hunting"

Talos nods. He runs from the windows and slips out to the Dock. Muninn projects what Huginn sees. 30 minutes later, Talos arrived at the merchant ships. The shipmates that are on watch duty see the disguised Talos.

"How did it go?"

"I got the money"

"Great. Put that here"

"No thank you"

"You're disobeying me?"

"This money is for the Corsair Princes. If the Corsair Princes receive less than what is in here, even for one copper, I will report to them that you have been stealing from their coffers, and all of your family members will be sent to Mercia as a slave, even your little daughter, and your pregnant wife. Is that clear?"

The guard is shaking in fear and anger. An image of her family being sent to slavery put him shaking

"Is that clear?"

"Y-yes"

"Good. Don't ever bother me with this kind of tomfuckery again"

Talos walks inside the ship's cargo hold with the chest.

"Nice one, Sir Talos"

"Thanks, Huginn. Where is the sword?"

"My guess is, it is on the captain's quarter. Leave the chest here and let's check there"

Talos quietly sneaks to the captain's quarter. There's a man inside. Sleeping

"Isn't that the guy from before?"

"What guy?"

"The one who asked for the other thing?"

"I don't know. I never knew the one who received the sword. Hey. Use your worldly eyes. Assist them"

"Got it"

Shin closes his left eye and touches Muninn on the head. The visual link bestowed Huginn to see where's the sword.

"Sir Talos. Over then, under the desk, there is a safe"

Talos walks slowly towards the desk. He checks under the desk and sees a safe with a combination key

"What's the combination?"

"I don't know"

"Munnin. Tell Huginn it's 37-12-55"

"Sir Talos. 37-12-55"

"How did you?"

"Message from Boss Shin"

Talos tried the combination, he turns the dial to the right. 37. Then, to the left, 12 and right again, 55 and Click!

"Voila! Tell them to hurry up and go back

"Sir Talos. Let's go back"

Talos nods and closes the safe. Stealthily moved back to the door. The man sleeping is moving, but still asleep. Talos slips out of the ships and went back to the mansion. He jumps to the windows and climbs in.

"Great job everyone. Without you all, this kingdom might have fallen into scoundrel's hands. Talos, Ravens, Great job."

"Thank you, Milady"

"Should we go see His Majesty now?"

"Yes. Let's go"

"Talos. disguise yourself as a human"

"Yes, boss"

The group goes out of the mansion and heads toward the direction of the castle. Akira carries the chest and Sara carries the sword on her robe. When they approached the castle, they are stopped by the guard

"Stop right there! What are you doing here?"

"We're here to deliver emergency news"

"Finance Minister? There is a curfew. Return to your mansion"

"Let me through or I will cut the guard budget for an entire year"

The guards are shocked by her declaration

"You can't do that! That's an abuse of power!"

"And I have said that this is an emergency. Keep this up, and I'll make it 2 years"

The guard captain sees the commotion and approaches the group. The guard captain is an elderly man but still muscular even under that heavy armor

"Good morning, Minister Sara. What seems to be the problem?"

"We have an emergency"

"What's wrong?"

"Someone is planning a coup"

"Really? Boys, let them through. Please follow me"

The group follows the guard captain to the king's chamber.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Who is it?"

"It's the guard captain, Your Highness. Minister Sara says that she has emergency news"

"Let her in"

The guard opens the door to let the group enters. Sara kneels and the rest follows

"Stand up. We're not on court. What is this news, Sara?"

"Your Highness. We have found the stolen gold from our treasury"

"You did?"

"Yes. Here is the chest"

Akira puts the chest on the floor. The king opens the chest, but sees the money was more than what was robbed

"This seems a lot more than what was robbed. Did you rob someone, Sara?"

"Nothing of the sort, Your Highness. The thief puts the platinum coins in this chest with the other"

"Where is this thief?"

"Held custody at my mansion, His Majesty"

"Good. Take what was robbed and return the rest"

"As you wish, Your Majesty"

"Speaking of which, who are these people with you?"

"These are the ones who found the gold and bring it back"

"You have done well for this country, young men. Tell me your name"

"Akira, Your Highness"
"Shin, Your Highness"
"Talos, Your Highness"

"Tell me, are you a citizen of my kingdom?"

"We are not, Your Highness. We are adventurers"

"Adventurers, huh? You must be looking for some compensation for this"

"Not this time, Your highness"

"What? Then why are you doing this?"

"We don't have any reason, really. We are looking for adventures, so when we are old, we could tell these stories to our children"

A diplomatic lie, but the king does not buy it

"If you don't want to tell me, suit yourself. But tell me who you are."

"I am a noble from a far kingdom, but my partner here is the son of Marquess Hull de Wilhelm"

"Master Hull only has one son, Frederick. He does not look like him. What are you talking about?"

"I am aware that you are familiar with how Master Hull is summoned to this kingdom?"

"I was a teenager back then. But Master Hull is from another world"

"We found ourselves in the same situation as Master Hull. Akira is his son before coming from this kingdom"

The king's composed demeanor fades and he jumps from his seat at this news

"You mean, you are another worlder? From Japan?"

Sara looks at Akira and Shin, in disbelief

"Precisely, Your Majesty, but how do you know Japan?"

"I used to be around Master Hull. He used to tell me a story about Japan. How they have hot water baths there for everybody. We'll talk about this later. But please tell me. Is there anything you would like? The platinum plate? a peerage? Please. You have to make a demand here, or this will imply I'm a weak monarch"

"If I am allowed, please give lighter punishment to the thief?"

"Why is that?"

"The girl's family was taken to a slave bid. Muninn, please show His Majesty"

Muninn projects the memory from the earlier interaction with the girl and the official from Friguld

"This... This is disturbing. Do you know who she is?"

"The thief? We currently do not have any idea"

"I need to process this information in the meantime, but once I have visited the thief, I will make my decision"

"Thank you, Your Majesty"

"One more thing, Your Highness"

"What is it?"

"The thief use the stolen platinum plate as a cover. The real objective is this"

Sara pulls the sword of Theovan.

"She stole this too?"

"Yes. We're afraid this is part of the Corsair Princes' plot to overthrow you. To claim sovereignty of this kingdom"

"This is outrageous. Why would they do that?"

"If I may, Your Highness?"

"Go ahead, Shin"

"We are planning to expose them to their crime. I heard you are planning to host a banquet?"

"In 2 days, that is correct"

"We will expose them in front of all of the delegacies from the countries. If they knew how treacherous they were, they surely will cut ties with them. Hitting their trade agreement and possibly branding them as hostiles. Hitting them where it hurts"

"Maybe not all of them."

"What do you mean, Your Highness?"

"The Kingdom of Mercia is a powerful militaristic nation with strong trader guilds. They wouldn't care since they knew Friguld can't attack them. And they have a great relationship with them"

"May I ask if slavery is legal in this kingdom?"

"No. Slavery is illegal. The only place slavery is legal is Mercia and Friguld"

"Why is that?"

"The kingdom all over the world signed a Slave Abolishment Act 10 years ago"

"So why are Mercia and Friguld still legalizing slavery?"

"Mercia never agreed to sign that act. As for Friguld, they are established after the act was signed"

"We have no way to weaken Mercia then"

"I don't think there is. For now, let's just focus on exposing Friguld."

"What if Friguld tries to attack you?"

"Then it would be a declaration of war"

"Would you be ready for war, Your Highness?"

"We will, if it against Friguld. But we have no chance against Mercia"

"My lord. Have you been to Friguld?"

"Several times, yes"

"What was it like?"

"An archipelago. A lot of beaches, rich in minerals due to volcanoes"

"Sounds like paradise"

"The place? Absolutely. The kingdom, not so much"

"What would happen if a kingdom falls?"

"For the people, they will seek refuge in another kingdom. For the territory, any kingdom able to seize them for their own"

"My lord, If we are able to seize the kingdom, would we be able to take them for ourselves?"

"If you're planning to run a country, you need approval from the world council"

"Oh, no, no. We're not making a kingdom. You can take the kingdom. What I would like is land."

"Akira. What is this?"

"I wanted to create my own version of paradise"

"What about our journey?"

"We will still be adventuring, of course. We will appoint someone on our stead"

"I'm against the idea, man!"

"Think about it. Once we have finished adventuring, we have home to return to"

"What about Wilhelmshire?"

"I don't feel anything special about that place"

"Your dad is there!"

"We can talk with our phone"

"Phone? is that your messaging magic from Japan?"

Ask the king

"Yes, Your Majesty"

"Can I see it?"

"Sure. Here's mine"

Akira hands the king his phone. The king is fascinated by technology, not of this world

"Amazing. Can you send a message to Hull?"

"Yes. Let me try to call him"

Akira opens his phone and dials his dad and put him on speakerphone

"Hello?"

"Woah. There's a voice in this thing"

"Who is this?"

"Sorry to call you, dad. It's me. I'm with His Majesty. He asked me to call you"

"Your Majesty?"

"Go ahead, Your Majesty. speak with father"

"Oh. Uh... Good morning, Hull. I hope you have been doing well?"

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am doing really well"

"Great to hear it. So this is the thing you called phone back in Japan?"

"That is correct. Back in my day, we could call people from a great distance"

"Is there any way we could replicate this device for our kingdom?"

"I'm afraid not, Your Majesty."

"That's a shame. Sorry to wake you up Hull. Have a great morning"

"Good Morning, Your Majesty"

Akira hangs up. The king feels like a kid discovering magic for the first time

"Thank you. Now, I can give you land along with peerage, but you need someone to manage it. Seeing you guys are reluctant, we have to put this on hold"

"I agree, Your Majesty"

A few moments later, Olivia arrives and enters the king's chamber

"Father. Minister, Brother-in-law. What happened?"

"Olivia! Great timing. We have discovered a plot to overthrow Theovan"

"What?!"

"Fortunately, These young men found what happened. It was Friguld."

"Brother-in-law. Thank you. You have saves us again in this time of peril"

"Again?"

"Yes. Melissa was kidnapped and he safely return her"

"Whahahey. You have my gratitude. Really"

"Not only that, I have brought gifts from these men that we can use on the banquet"

"What is that?"

"Alcohol. These alcohol are out of this world"

"Mmhm. I'm sure it is"

"I brought one bottle with me. Would you like some?"

"Yes, please"

Olivia pours the wine into the king's glass and sips the wine. The king savors it until the last drop

"That was amazing."

"Your Highness. How should we approach this?"

"We'll go with your plan to expose them in the middle of the banquet"

"It shall be done, Your Highness. Now If you'll excuse me, I'll be returning home"

"Thank you, Sara. Oh. Please let these two stays at your house for a moment"

"With pleasure, Your Majesty"

They all bows and closes the door. They return to the mansion. Sara calls her maid to accommodate the guest for a few days and all Talos, Shin, and Akira enter a room. Once the door closes, Shin releases a small outburst

"What were you thinking?!"

"Geez. What's with you all of a sudden?"

"Now you want to rule a land? I thought this was going to be our adventure!"

"Settle down"

"No. I will not settle down. We were supposed to travel the world, and see what there is. And now you want to settle down on a beach?"

"Master Shin, please calm down. There must be a good reason why he wanted to rule a land"

"You stay the fuck out of this, Tin can!"

"Shin. please calm down"

"Why should I?"

"Because I will punch you right in your mouth if you don't shut up and let me talk"

Shin, clenches his fist, ready to sack Akira

"You better have a damn good reason"

"I am. I wasn't planning to rule the island. No way in hell. What I'm planning is to create my own version of the ideal city. Someone else will be running them for us"

"What are you planning on creating?"

"A city. I wanted to build an 80s-style Miami on that island, so I could build a beach house for us to settle when all of this is over"

"80s Miami? What? Prostitution and Drug flooding through the street?"

"No! Neon and Beachside Apartments. Well, maybe women with bikinis, but we know that won't happen in this day and age"

"Look. Even if we build a city, who's going to run it?"

Akira looks at Talos

"Oh, I'm sorry. But I don't know a thing about running a town"

"See?"

"Let's put this on hold. I'm tired. I'll tell you tomorrow"

Akira takes off his clothing and went to sleep. Shin, who cannot fathom what is going through his friend's mind, gave up for the day and went to bed without changing. Talos mutters to himself

"Boss. You're a fool. You wear your heart on your sleeve. But I respect that. I may be a replica of yourself, but I will do my best to make you a great hero"