Chapter 46: THE OLD MOUNTAIN OF MAN

I flew over the capital to check if anything was on fire, but all I found was some fighting at the royal castle. Knights are coming from the eastern wall to help, so I think it will be fine, but I can’t sense the King or Princess Sylvie.

There are six Alarian knights in a line at the castle gate and 20 more searching inside. I’ll thin their numbers a bit and try to find the royals. I drop to the front gate and skewer the first knight through the top of the head.

“Wha- Don!”

“Back up!”

The knights scream, but the sight before them is unusual. Don’s body disappeared behind my light refraction, and a stream of blood rolling towards them is all that’s left.

I wrap my sword in a magic shell that extends for several meters, then compress it until it’s flat and sharp. I swing right to left through the remaining knights.

“HARBLUG”

“HERGUH”

They groan as the top half of their bodies slides away from their bottom halves and crash into the ground. I shorten the magic shell on my sword and pull it close to examine it. Magic this compressed has a red tint - it’s actually quite pretty. I was worried that using a blade of compressed magic would require too much concentration to maintain, but using my normal sword as a base and focusing the magic on extending made it easy. Good to know.

I walk towards the castle on magic footholds to prevent noise. I still sense 20 knights searching – but a kid is hiding towards the back of the main floor in a kitchen. I’ll have to cheat a bit.

10 knights are on the second floor, one group in the eastern hall and one group in the western hall. But the 10 on the first floor are getting close to the kitchen. If I move at high speeds inside, I could destroy some of the structures around me. Even if I put up barriers, I’m likely to smack into one and blow through it in such an enclosed space. Yea, I should cheat.

I close my eyes and focus on the knights approaching the kitchen from the rear of the main castle floor. Their formation is two in front, six clustered in the middle, and two in the back. I create a spatial opening in front of me, then another behind the last two knights. I press my sword through the opening and swing it to behead the two. The remaining knights don’t notice a thing until their comrades’ heads bounce off the ground.

All eight turn back-to-back and look around for an attacker. I could try using a magic shell on my sword to take them in one go through a spatial opening, but I’m not sure how sending magic through will work. And I don't love the idea of going through a spatial opening in front of enemies. It’s fine, they’ll be stuck for a minute, and I can catch up without destroying the castle.

I weave through the halls and past the main staircase in the center of the castle. The knights hear my approach and make a defensive line outside of the kitchen where the kid is hiding. I turn the last corner and arrive face-to-face with them.

“HOHO, young men, it’s impolite to intrude on someone’s home without an invitation,” I call out to them, “I see two of you have already been disciplined..” I add and roll my foot over one of the severed heads on the ground.

“Tch kill this old-“

“Wait!”

Two knights yell, but the second steps forward and places his arm out in front of the rest to stop them. He’s a younger knight, but his expression is stiff, and his face is pouring sweat.

“He’s the man from the rumors.. we’re dead if we fight,” the knight says.

All but one of the remaining knights lowers their swords. That one charges.

“Old bastard!” he screams.

I spin my body clockwise and swing my right leg up to the man’s head. The kick shears the knight’s head off and splatters it flat against the wall on my right.

“OHO, lively that one..” I chuckle.

“AH no!”

“Please, mercy! Mercy!”

“I was blackmailed! I swear!”

The knights start pleading, but the one who recognized me just stands at the front with a resigned expression.

“There’s no point begging, is there?” he asks with a smirk.

“You’re a smart young man - it’s a shame these are your final moments,” I reply with a sigh.

I coat my sword in a magic shell and condense it into a blade just long enough to reach each knight in a single stroke. As I lift the sword and prepare to swing, the sounds of clanging and whimpering fill the space. The knights have dropped their swords against the ground, and some have started to weep. I flick my sword and decapitate the group.

Sucks if that guy was really blackmailed, but it is what it is. I release a large burst of magic to scan the area. There’s still a child in the kitchen next to me, and the knights upstairs are still tearing through rooms looking for the royals, but there’s something else. I thought I sensed escape passages underground, but there’s a large barricaded room at their end. Knights are guarding the inside of the door and- there they are. The King and Princess are holed up with plenty of protection.

I walk on magic footholds over the bodies in front of me and enter the kitchen.

“Hey kiddo, I’m here to help you,” I call out to the room. The kitchen is small, but there are several cabinets along the far wall at floor level, and a little girl is hiding in one of them.

“I don’t want to open the cabinet and scare you. Would you come out, please?” I ask while crouching to my knees near the cabinets. The door to one swings open slightly.

“D-daddy told me to wait for him to come back..” the girl says through the gap.

“Who’s your father? Does he work at the castle?” I ask.

“He’s in the royal guard..” she answers quietly.

“I see.. do you know who he’s assigned to?” I ask.

“P-princess Sylvie, daddy keeps our princess safe,” she replies with a huff.

The royal guards underground would probably recognize her, but I don’t want to have a conversation with anyone in that room.

“How would you like to go and stay with the Princess until this is over?” I ask.

She opens the cabinet door a little more and reveals her face.

“Wha- the Princess.. I don’t deserve to stay with her, I’m not strong like daddy..” she says quietly.

“That’s alright, you’re going to tell them that the old man from the mountains sent you, and they won’t mind one bit,” I say cheerfully.

“They really wouldn’t be upset?” the girl asks.

“I promise, step out here so I can send you there.”

The girl steps out from the cabinet. She’s probably 7 or 8, and she’s wearing a blue checkered dress. Her father must have a high rank for her to be dressed so well.

She looks me up and down curiously before bowing and introducing herself.

“I’m Haley, the honorable knight Sir Joseph’s youngest daughter,” she says confidently.

Sir Joseph? I think he came to get the Princess at my dorm – yea I’m sending this kid through a spatial opening. I close my eyes and pick a spot in the center of the underground bunker to make an opening, then make another next to Haley.

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Haley,” I say with a bow, then point to the spatial opening next to her, “walk through that door I created, and you’ll be by the Princess’s side. Do you remember what you’ll tell them?” I ask.

“Oh, um.. that the old man from the mountain sent me..” she says while looking at the spatial opening suspiciously.

“Perfect, now go on, kiddo,” I say and nudge her through the opening.

I sense knights approaching the gate. They can probably handle the stragglers upstairs, so I’m going to my dorm, where there’s a real bed.

***
Princess Sylvie is pacing around the underground bunker next to the bookshelves while the King sits on his throne and eats. The Princess’s movements are growing faster every time she turns around, until she storms up to the King.

“Father, should we not have heard from the knights outside yet?” she asks while rapidly tapping a finger against her arm.

“Aha, relax dear, it hasn’t been very long, time hidden away moves slowly,” the King responds with a chuckle.

Princess Sylvie turns to resume her pacing when a large black circle appears in the center of the room.

“Knights!” the King yells and points at it.

“EEP!” Princess Sylvie shrieks and runs to her Father’s side.

Several knights run from the door to take positions near the unknown phenomenon. Sir Joseph circles around it and places himself between it and the royals. Suddenly, a small girl pops through.

“I HAVE BEEN SENT BY THE OLD MOUNTAIN OF MAN!” the girl yells and bows to the room.

“what”

“it’s a kid”

“what?”

“Haley!”

Knights and royals alike are struck with confusion until Sir Joseph recognizes his daughter and runs to embrace her.

“Daddy!” she yells and tucks her head into her father’s armor.

“Haley, I told you to stay hidden. How did you get here?” Sir Joseph asks, bewildered.

She pulls herself back to look up at her father.

“There was a lot of yelling and fighting, then an old man found me. He said he’d send me to be with the Princess,” Haley answers earnestly, her eyes glistening from taking in her father’s safety.

Princess Sylvie steps forward and drops to a knee in front of Haley.

“Sweetie, can you tell me what he looked like?” she asks gently.

“Oh, um, Your Highness,” Haley stumbles over her words and aggressively bows, “he was dressed in black, his eyes were dark too, but his hair and beard were almost white,” she says.

“The old man came all the way into Sante..” Princess Sylvie mumbles.

Sir Joseph turns to the Princess and bows deeply.

“I’m terribly sorry for my daughter’s intrusion here, Your High-“

“Daddy! He said it was ok so long as I told everyone the old mountainy man sent me!” Haley protests confidently.

“Haley, watch your tongue he-“

“Sir Joseph, you needn’t apologize,” Princess Sylvie says, “we owe that man a great deal, if he wanted your daughter to join us here, not even His Majesty would protest,” she adds and looks back at the King.

“I have no objections,” he says, then buries his face in his hands before standing up and walking to his daughter’s side.

“Haley, can you tell me about how you came to this room?” he asks calmly.

“Y-your Majesty,” she says with a trembling bow, “the old mountain made a black circle he called a door, then pushed me through it.”

“We saw a black circle here as well. It resembled the temporary spatial storage magic that I saw at the academy,” Princess Sylvie says. “Father, have you seen anything like this before?” she asks.

The King takes a deep breath before scanning the room.

“What we’ve witnessed here I am deeming top secret, it is never to be shared with anyone outside this room,” he says, then turns to Sir Joseph, “Joseph, ensure your daughter understands as well.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Sir Joseph replies.

The King walks back to his throne with Princess Sylvie in tow.

“Father – do you know something?” she whispers.

“I know that we just witnessed something impossible..” the King mumbles as he sits down, “the most powerful artifacts from legend could hardly do something so absurd,” he adds as his face turns pale white.

“You’re worried about the church finding out?” Princess Sylvie asks quietly.

“I am, but I’m also worried that someone can use magic that can nullify the defenses of the safest place in the Kingdom..” the King replies.

The shock of the old man appearing at the castle numbed Princess Sylvie to Haley’s sudden appearance, but it was truly something beyond belief. She ponders for a moment before turning a steely gaze at the King.

“Father, he saved me, he saved our Kingdom from war, and he stormed the castle against insurgents and saved a child. He’s earned our trust,” she says.

“I can’t argue the results..” the King mumbles, “but he’s drawn attention to us that will be difficult to displace.”

The Princess sighs at her father’s disposition. She understands the King’s concern for the Kingdom, but she’s excited about the future. If she can give Alfred the credit he deserves for his work, he may be grateful enough to help form a bond between Sante and the old man. Better yet, Alfred could grow as strong as the old man one day.

Alfred is the key, once he’s famous for his ability, he’ll want to repay me. Maybe Father would offer my hand in marriage.. though Alfred doesn’t seem comfortable around me. No. He’s probably been uneasy because he’s being forced to hide his talents, and I could bring them to the surface! Now – where do I start..