No Excuses

David tapped his fingers angrily against his throne’s arms, glaring at the two kneeling before him.

Abaddon was stood beside him with his arms crossed, though David knew he was probably smiling beneath his helmet.

They had messed up worse than he had.

Lady Rebecca stood on David’s other side, doing her best not to let her fear show on her face.

She must’ve been just as terrified as the generals on their knees.

It had taken less than a month for the plan in Stonefall to suffer its first major setback.

A Raven had come to David’s office to tell him the news, but even he didn’t imagine it’d be as bad as it was.

Twenty-two mutilated corpses hanging not even a hundred metres from the Hierophant.

There were tavern patrons who’d seen the thugs arrive.

Worse, there would definitely be witnesses who had seen Ryan’s men enter and leave the tavern.

We’re lucky that this hasn’t already been traced back to them.

I never expected Mímir to make such a big blunder.

If he was going to kill them, why didn’t he lure them further away from the tavern first before doing it?

Why did they inflict such injuries on the bodies and why did they string them up for everyone to see?!

David barely held back his groans. If this does get traced back to the tavern, people could find out that it was Lady Rebecca who paid for it and anyone who knows the situation of the Kelsey household would think it strange that Rebecca suddenly opened a business in the city.

Mímir’s cover story about a retired adventurer would fall to pieces once anyone with enough resources dig even a little bit of digging and, if my fears are realised, the coins we spent could be traced back to the Kelseys.

David was furious.

In fact, the last time he remembered being this angry was when Eris had tried to kill Kara, and that was after his whole world had fallen apart.

Maybe that’s why, David wondered. Maybe it’s because if they messed up this much, it would be the end of my life again. I don’t care if my generals are disappointed in themselves or fearful of my wrath; all I care about is that they put my family’s lives at risk.

David took a long, deep breath; then, he exhaled loudly and spoke.

“Mania.”

She flinched just from having her name spoken.

“Yes, Master?”

“Do you remember what Mímir told you to do when you got to the city?”

“…I do.”

“Recite your orders for me.”

“Yes, Dark Lord.” She swallowed hard. “Find out what would be the best kind of shop to set up, gather information and remain covert whilst-”

“Repeat that last one.”

“R-remain covert whilst-”

“Mímir.”

“Yes, your majesty?”

“You both had the same orders, didn’t you?”

Mímir hung his head low. “We did, your majesty.”

“Yes, yes you did.” David stood up from his chair, a dark magical aura forming around his body. “Just to be sure, you didn’t tell Mania to disobey my orders, did you?”

Mímir closed his eyes. “…No, your majesty.”

“And I didn’t tell you to do anything else but what I’d asked, did I, Mania?”

She whimpered and bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. “No, Dark Lord.”

“I didn’t,” David said slowly.

He took a sharp breath of air, exhaled and paused.

Then, he threw his fist as hard as he could into his throne behind him, smashing it into tiny pieces, a few chunks hitting Abaddon and the Machai that jumped to protect Lady Rebecca from the blast.

“So then why did you draw so much attention to yourselves after a week?!” David shouted so angrily that all those gathered in the main hall shook with fear. “Do you remember why it is that we are currently skulking in the shadows, clawing at scraps like rats? It’s because we aren’t ready to destroy this empire yet and raise mine in its place!

“You’ve drawn this much unwanted attention already and all of my plans could fall apart because of you two! After what Lady Rebecca told us, we knew that we’d have to deal with the underworld at some point, but not for a few more weeks at least.

“Now that you’ve killed their people and strung them up like dead pigs in a butcher’s shop, they’ll come for you and you’ll kill them, and you’ll draw more attention to yourself and our operation!”

David marched towards the two generals kneeling before him and sighed.

“I assigned you two to this task because I thought you would pull it off without any trouble. It would seem I was wrong.”

David had just a year to pull this off and get ready for the arrival of the summoned heroes.

It was a stressful, and time sensitive, operation and failure would not be accepted, nor were the to ever act against his wishes.

If I’m going to have any chance of pulling this whole thing off, then I need people that will do exactly what I need them to and when I need them to do it.

If the underworld organisations start to get dangerous ideas in their head about retaliating, then we could be in for some serious trouble and, worse, it’ll make taking control of the empire even harder.

“If you two have any good excuses, then I’d start talking quickly.”

“…Your majesty, while we have failed you in this task, I do believe that we can use this incident to our advantage,” Mímir replied, keeping his head low. “And I am sure that you yourself have already begun thinking of ways to use this in such a way.”

David glared at Mímir so fiercely that it felt like a gigantic force was crushing his spine.

“Are you telling me that you have thought of benefits for us from this incident?”

“…Yes, your majesty.”

What Mímir had said was true.

David had already started thinking of potential ways to turn this incident around and use it as a boon.

I only have one idea myself at the moment, but perhaps Mímir has come up with some good ones I can use.

“Then speak, Mímir, before I take your head.”

“Yes, your majesty. First, while this is not the best possible bit of news, the truth is that no one in Stonefall actually knows who is responsible for the murders. As I and Mania were careful in that regard, we have kept our identities anonymous from the citizens and the underworld for a time. However, I do believe eventually someone will make the connection to us.

“With that said, this will definitely take a long time for anyone to piece together because everyone in the city will have their own ideas about who did it and why, allowing us to slip out of their gaze for a time. The guards will have their own thoughts, so will the peasants, so will the various criminal and underworld organisations throughout Stonefall. There will be some who connect it to us, but there will be witnesses that will say we were inside the tavern when they were murdered thanks to my illusion magic.

“It will take them time to do that. Admittedly, we have no idea how long exactly it will take for this to happen, but we can use this time to strengthen our position within the city, establishing our information network, then Mania and I can then use that information to help your majesty.

“Further, after this attack, it is likely that the underworld organisations within Stonefall will be distracted from investigating Lord Kelsey missing his ‘business trip’ to the slave markets, meaning that there won’t be anyone coming to investigate this castle as we continue with our improvements and expanding our army.

“Which leads me onto my final point, your majesty. We can use this incident to stoke the fears of the general populace greatly by utilising Mania’s powers.”

“Explain,” David ordered.

“As a Succubus, Mania has the power to charm men with her magic. She could invade their dreams, plant ideas into their minds and make them subconsciously loyal to her. If she uses her abilities correctly, we can make the city’s public criers and other influential individuals say that this is some sort of prophesied ill-omen of a great disaster approaching.

“During our stay within Stonefall, I came across a book that spoke of a cursed ruin in the southern parts of the Empire nicknamed ‘The Shadow Tombs’ that, from what I’ve read, appear to be catacombs that claims all that venture there, making-”

“Making it the perfect staging area for a terrifying disaster to spawn?”

Mímir nodded. “If an undead army were to march from the tombs and destroy the vital trade city of Black Port in the south, then that could allow us to test the strength of our enemies and strengthen the narrative. We could falsely push the idea of an unnatural disaster befalling the land. The people will wonder if the criers speak the truth of such an event and that pandemonium will spread, making it easy for us to act.”

David smiled beneath his helmet.

Now that is exactly what I wanted to hear!

It was a well thought out, realistic plan that would accomplish plenty of David’s goals. His own plan that he had come up with was weaker than Mímir's.

However.

“It is often said that great mind’s think alike, Mímir,” David bellowed. “To think that you would have the same ideas as I; that proves that you are worthy to serve me.”

David couldn’t afford to appear weak in front of his subordinates.

“While it pleases me that we both came to the same conclusions, this plan is not without its issues,” David said. “Namely, how we would go about travelling to such a faraway place?”

“Couldn’t you simply teleport there, your majesty?”

David sighed and walked back to his throne. “Did you think I hadn’t considered that? My teleportation spell is the same as yours; it will only allow me to open portals to places that I have already visited, so we will have to travel there by normal means.”

“Which means we’d be taking quite the risk,” Abaddon muttered. “Lord Emperor, if we’re spotted en-route, then rumours could spread and the empire could come looking for us.”

“It is a risk we will need to take and one that we can minimise the risks of using Lady Rebecca.”

“Me, your majesty?” Rebecca asked.

“A noble daughter going on a trip with a ‘parent’ is hardly uncommon and, with me beside you, we would be safe from all possible dangers. It’d provide us with the perfect way to slip into the south unnoticed. Once I’ve been there, it would be possible for me to open up my teleportation portals for the rest of the council to visit it as well. That way, it wouldn’t be just me that could transport our forces to the south.”

“I-I agree but, your majesty, with all of us away, who would take charge of running the castle?”

“Abaddon can assume both your and Mímir’s responsibilities whilst we are away, providing he follows every order that is left behind for him.”

“Of course, Lord Emperor! Unlike other people, I will make sure to perform my duties exactly as you intended them to be completed.”

Mania hissed at him too quietly for anyone else to hear.

“What about us, your majesty?” Mímir asked.

“You two will continue running the Hierophant as previously discussed, with the new parts of the plan we discussed today implemented. Spread fear throughout the city and gather as much information as you can. I want to know everything about that city and other key places across the Empire by the time I return. Make sure to keep training Hilda as well, Mania. Understood?”

“By your will,” they replied.

“Good. Then, let us begin. Mímir, dispatch some Ravens ahead of Rebecca and I to investigate the site, but leave one behind to pose as our carriage driver. Then, go back to the city with Mania. The Raven’s magic should be strong enough to make an illusion of Rebecca’s father. Abaddon, continue to bolster our forces and improve our bases, both here and the cave. Mania, continue to take time to train Hilda when you can spare an hour or two.

“Servants, remember this! A single misstep is enough to cause our entire operation to collapse and, if it does, we will never overthrow this empire and raise mine from its ashes. If we are careless, too arrogant or not efficient in how we use our time, then all of this will have been for naught. And to all of you here, I say this.

“Do not fail me again.”