Chapter 9

“When he said we can’t miss it… he meant it…”

A large fortress stood in the middle of the desert. Eight poles surrounded it, each waving the flag of the Eastern Wolves. The influence of this organization was undeniable.

“Is that the same people we met before?” Emori asked.

“Yeah. Let’s hope they didn’t decide to change sides.”

“... Before?” Solicea asked. “Did you two go on a date?”

“A da- date?” Emori stuttered. What we went on couldn't even be remotely called a date, though.

“Nothing of the sort. Just some midnight grinding.”

“You’re in a foreign land but you couldn't think about anything else but grinding. I worry about your future, Fortis.” Maya shook her head.

“Eyes in the sky. If there's someone to be worried about, it's you.”

“Says you. By the way, where should I land?”

“The field at the center should be alright.”

Maya’s arrival caught the attention of the guards. They all looked at us as we approached. After we touched down, a group of them circled us.

“It’s the kid!”

“Fortisbel!”

A pair emerged from the group of wolves.

“Amira, is this the one you’re talking about?”

The girl called Amira, the same one that fought with Regus, nodded to the question. “They’re our allies.”

Upon hearing her, the guards lowered their weapons. Amira and Regus approached us.

“Fortisbel, Your Highness, it’s good to see you’re alright.”

“We should get in, before the knights sniff anything.”

Maya changed back to her human form, Solicea helping cover her.

“Woah, an actual dragon.”

“I can’t believe I get to see one.”

Murmurs arose from the group.

“Back to your tasks, people.” Regus shooed them away. Eventually, the crowd dissipated. Amira and Regus then guided us to a room. The room had two large sofas and many plants as decorations. I went to the sofa and sat down, letting my body sink in. It was much softer compared to Maya’s back.

“Maybe we should strap one of these onto Maya's back.” I patted the sofa’s surface.

“I'm not a carriage,” Maya complained, sitting down next to me.

Amira sat across from us, while Regus went to the side and prepared some tea, the sweet smell spreading through the air.

“We’ve heard the news.” Amira began.

“You’re not suspicious of us?” Maya asked.

Amira shook her head. “Well, Fortisbel and Her Highness rescued us. There’s no reason to think you are planning anything bad.”

“Please just call me Emori.”

“Are you sure?”

Emori nodded. “I'm more comfortable that way.”

“If- If you say so…”

Regus brought the four cups of tea and set them down in front of us. “Please enjoy.”

“Thank you.” I brought the cup to my lips and took a sip. “It's sweet, I like it.”

“That's good to hear.” Regus smiled and sat down next to Amira. “The Boss actually told us about you. You came to help us in our fight against the monsters. There’s no reason to believe the Boss is mistaken.”

A great sense of relief washed over me. Considering the unfamiliar land, any help would be appreciated. “But, how about the other Eastern Wolves?”

“They have a bit of distrust of you, sure,” Regus said.

“But… there's this thing about the army. We have some suspicions about them and Nanawak's Bearer, so people aren't jumping to conclusions, either. Wouldn't be surprised if they had something to do with this,” Amira added.

In Nanawak, the general that held control over all three branches of the military is called the Bearer, as they are the only one that carries the Nanawak Armed Forces insignia. Not even the Emperor would be allowed to have that insignia on their clothing, unless they had become a Bearer sometime in the past.

In other words, the Bearer of Nanawak held immense power. Considering that the same Bearer was with Nayala when she disappeared…

“It seemed the issue within Nanawak ran deeper than just demon-tempered monsters.”

“Even those monsters are giving us a headache.” Regus held his head.

It was a great relief to know that, at the very least, the Eastern Wolves stood on our side for now. They may be little in number, but these people weren’t to be underestimated.

“Still… I wonder if this is because of him…” Regus murmured.

“Is there a power struggle within the empire?” I asked. It seemed like the obvious cause for something like this.

I mean, I didn’t know how strong Nayala actually is, but I doubt she would just disappear after being attacked by some monsters.

Unfortunately, Regus reacted with a nod. “Well… I wouldn’t call it a power struggle, exactly. It’s something different.”

“What is it?”

“I assume you never heard about this?”

All of us shook our heads.

Regus looked grim. “Well, the truth is, someone opposed the boss’ betrothal.”

Well that just got messy.

“Is it my brother’s fault?” Emori looked worried.

“Ah, no. It’s not His Highness’ fault. Rather, it’s neither of their faults.”

“The Boss had liked him for a long time. They met in some party a long while back and grew closer. At some point, that like turns into love. I occasionally see her standing alone with the Connect symbol in her-”

Regus quickly covered Amira’s mouth.

“Amira, the Boss ain’t going to be happy with that.”

“Don’t tell her!” Amira stomped her feet. “It’s a little slip-up, that’s all.”

“Guess every group has their own Emori.” I chuckled.

Amira brought her fist to her mouth and coughed. “Anyway, His Majesty had approved of the betrothal, so does Her Majesty. There should be no problem with the Boss marrying His Highness, but…one of the dukes opposed it.”

“So you think this duke might be the one behind the disappearance?”

Amira’s eyes widened. “Quite the opposite, actually. Last info I have is that the duke has been arrested.”

So how is he relevant?

“When did this happen?” Solicea asked.

Amira took a deep breath. “The same time Boss was attacked.”

“Isn’t that just… hold on…” I began seeing how things clicked. Emori glanced at me. “You have something to say, Emori?”

“Ah, yes. I realized that in all the places we visited, there seemed to be no talks about Miss Nayala’s disappearance.”

“Wouldn’t it take a while for the information to spread?” Amira asked.

“Ah, right…”

“Would it take this long, though? I mean, she is the princess, right?” Maya asked.

“You have a point…” The more I sat there, the more I realized just how big of a mess we just got ourselves into. “Had the em- I mean, His Imperial Majesty said anything about this?”

The mercs frowned. “We’ve lost contact with the capital.”

“No… this is ridiculous.” I held my head. What terrible timing. We just had to arrive during a coup, didn’t we?

“What should we do?” Emori looked at me.

“I- I don’t know.”

Politics are outside my realm of expertise. The only thing I and Maya knew in this situation was to punch our way to the castle, then talk to the emperor, see if we could find a way to find Nayala…

Wait, could we do that?

“Are you suspecting a coup?” I asked, making sure that I wasn’t misunderstanding things. The two of them nodded.

“It must be.”

“No way around it.”

“Are the Eastern Wolves not going to react to this?”

“With our Boss gone…”

The Eastern Wolves I witnessed were an entirely different kind of wolf from the old ones in the game. More than a century has passed, I know, but they used to pride themselves in their ability to work on their own, making decisions on the fly based on the situation. Had this been the old ones, they wouldn’t be loitering around their base like this. They would have been marching straight to the capital, intent on stopping the coup.

Okay, maybe not like that, considering that they're an elite mercenary unit, but they would definitely be doing something.

Things weren’t going to get any better if we continued this way. I needed to think of a solution.

Yet, at the same time, I didn’t know Nayala all that well. Even if she was kidnapped, even if there was a coup happening in Nanawak, it was none of my business. If anything, it would probably be a bad thing for me to be involved, as I was still a citizen of Syla. It would be foreign interference.

“Do you have no second-in-command?” Emori asked.

“He’s currently outside on a business trip. He won’t be returning until next week,” Regus answered. It was quite the situation. Every second mattered, and with two of the most important people in the Wolves gone, the organization couldn’t take action. The past Wolves would at least try to search for information on their own.

I wonder if something happened in all these years.

Like people, organizations changed. Maybe there was an accident that was caused by someone taking their own action, thus the structure or the rules changed.

As I was thinking whether or not we should help, Emori turned to me. “Fortis… can we talk?”

“Sure.”

“We’ll be back in a minute.” Emori stood up and made her way outside. I followed after her. We made our way down the empty hallways, as most of the mercs were out on the field.

Emori stopped in front of a door with the writing ‘Nayala’s Office’ and went inside. The office had a sort of waiting area, with sofas and a table. Behind it was a closed off space, I assumed where Nayala actually worked.

Emori checked the room for anyone else before sitting down.

“You’ve been here before?”

“Yeah, but it's been a while. I and Prilus sometimes visited Miss Nayala on our own. She showed us all kinds of things, including this base.”

“You were that close?”

“Yeah.” Emori nodded. “At first, it was only the usual exchange of formalities. But, eventually, we grew closer. She is like a big sister to me. That’s why, if you don’t mind, I want to help her.”

“If you’re asking me, then yeah, sure.”

I was a gamer. A true gamer wouldn’t pass on a quest like this. That said, this world isn't a game. If I messed up, the results would be irreversible.

“But, I have some questions.”

“I’ll do my best to answer you.”

“First, let’s assume we’re dealing with a coup. What will you do to Nayala once you rescue her?” A coup often meant the rulers were doing something that made the people suffer. Depending on what Nayala did, I may not be able to stand by her side. It depended on the severity of her actions. I doubt Emori would be able to treat her with fairness, though.

“... I… I haven’t heard of any bad things she did...”

“People don’t exactly share their darkest secrets with each other, Emori.”

“You have a point… But I can’t exactly hold her in a Syla prison, could I?”

“Nope. That would mean transgression against Nanawak… probably? I don’t exactly have a background in politics.”

“... It’s complicated, isn’t it.”

I let out a sigh. “Yeah. We’re from Syla. Not like the politicians in Nanawak will take kindly to our interference. They’ll probably blame us for anything that happened.”

Well, even if we were from Nanawak, there are still some risks with interfering.

“But… if you really want to help…” Above all, I was a gamer. A gamer doesn’t back down from a challenge. “Then I’ll find a way to help.”

Besides, I could argue that the soldiers attacked me first. Such an act could be seen as transgression against Syla.

“Yes, I really want to help. I trust Miss Nayala weren’t the type that would do anything bad.”

“If you say so. Let’s go back, we’ll need to work with the Wolves if we want to get Nayala out of here.”

“Okay!”

We both made our way back to the room where the rest were waiting.