Valerian, The Legendary

171 Borrowed Knife.

Valerian and Fortuna were standing in front of the old man after the boy narrated everything to the old man. He did not look away from the old man at all. If he dared to show the slightest hesitation he will not even know how he died. This old was not someone he could afford to toy with. He only wanted to borrow his power to get things cleared

As the hall descended into silence, Valerian became anxious. He wanted to say something when the old man asked, “Given what you said, Thales intends to gain more territory through this ploy of his? Then why shall I help you? Is it not good for my empire to grow more?”

Valerian smiled suddenly, and said, “Sir, if you think that gaining more territory at the cost of your prestige, and dignity throughout the continent is worth it then please go on. I have nothing else to say. I have always learned that an Emperor’s face is the face of the empire, and his deeds and the deeds of his empire.

By murdering his own son-in-law, leaving his daughter to live a life of a widow. Facing war from both sides of the border, do you think you can hold on to the territory you will gain? The dragon treasure you possess is a strong chip but can you really use it?”

His counter left no room for the old man to refute. He smiled at Valerian and said, “Indeed, you are correct. Fine, if what you said is true, then I will help you, but you must give me something more concrete than your words. A witness.”

Valerian nodded and said, “The second princess of the Royal Family, Ashlyn can is enough to satisfy that need, I suppose?”

The old man raised his eyebrow and then thinking about it he nodded. His figure shimmered and his body divided in two, another old man appeared in front of the two of them. Valerian was surprised and then the old man chuckled looking at his expression. He said, “This is a cloning spell. My clone would last for half an hour, and then it will return to me. He is my eyes and ears outside this chamber.”

Valerian nodded and then said, “We do not have much time left, please come with me, sir.”

The old man looked at his urgent expression and nodded, after all, the time they had was tight and thirty minutes will pass away in a jiffy. Valerian led the clone away, while Fortuna gazed at the dragon treasure in front of her and finally left with reluctant eyes.

.....

Dragons liked treasures, a lot. This bow was a treasure that was rich in dragon aura, it was useful for her. However, she also knew that only the strong can hold onto the treasures. She left the room with Valerian and the clone of the old man. When they came out of the secret chamber, Valerian suddenly turned around and asked, the old man, “Sir, pardon me but may I ask how shall I address you?”

The old man smiled and said, “You can call me Gelasimus.”

Valerian nodded and moved through the corridors heading to Ashlyn’s room at a fast speed. Fortuna was just like earlier leading ahead to see if there was any obstacle in their paths. Gelasimus finally realized that this seemingly ordinary cat was a magical beast as they were able to communicate with their thoughts. They avoided two patrols before finally reaching the room, only to find that two guards were standing there.

However, they did not have to worry about it and could use magic spells. Valerian turned around to look at Gelasimus and asked, “Sir, may I know what is your magic element?”

The old man said, “Light.”

Valerian scratched his head and asked, “Can you flicker directly inside the room?”

The old man asked in confusion, “Flicker?”

Valerian nodded and said, “I mean to say the spell to magically appear inside the room directly.”

The old man chuckled lightly and said, “That, I did not know that transference spell has become a flicker spell, to be honest, it does have a nice ring to it.”

Valerian scratched the back of his head and flickered inside the room with Gelasimus. This surprised both, Princess Ashlyn and Empress Stephanie, who was sitting with her pale face on the balcony. Valerian stepped forward and greeted the empress, “Greetings, Your Excellency, I apologize for startling you, this is Senior Gelasimus, he is...”

Before the young man could say anything, the stunned Empress stood up and bowed her head as she said, “Greetings, Imperial Guardian.”

The status of the imperial guardian was higher than the reigning emperor or empress. Gelasimus merely nodded and Ashlyn stood up to greet the old man as well. Valerian said, “Your Highness, you can now tell senior what you told me. He will be willing to help us if we can prove that what we know is truth.”

Ashlyn nodded and then turned to look at Stephanie, as she said, “Mother, please.”

Stephanie understood finally what Ashlyn was planning, and in front of the imperial guardian, if she lied it will be inviting death to have a meal with her. Her throat turned dry, her heart was beating at a fast speed, and just when she was about to faint under the pressure, she heard a calm voice devoid of any emotion, “Calm down and tell me the truth.”

The voice belonged to Gelamicus. The lady took a deep breath and said, “Your grace, Emperor Thales joined hands with the Valkyrians and decided to betray the trust of his own blood, Princess Adele, by capturing the Elder prince of the Lumen empire, Ignis Verus.

He plans to ransom some territories from the Lumen Empire or the eldest prince will be killed, if that happened, it will be simply a death decree for the thousands of soldiers. So, I implore you to help us out in this tough time, your grace.”

She bowed her head and told him everything she knew but she did not dare to meet his gaze. The tension inside the room was almost tangible. The old man scoffed and said in a low voice, “To think that the descendants of our lineage will turn into such scourges. Killing and betraying their own kin for the piece of land. Sinner.”

...

Meanwhile in the royal court, Ignis and his unit was escorted by a Sapientian guard. They could all sense that the atmosphere was not as they were told it was, at this moment, Ignis could only think of one reason behind this false intel, the shadow assassins here had fallen or were taken under control.

He clenched his fists in secret, behind him, General Un had changed into an attire that made him look no different than the rest of the soldiers in the unit and he even tied a piece of cloth on his eye to pretend to be an injured soldier. His aura was retained and none of the people earlier suspected him to be the grandmaster tha he was.

Thales sat on the throne, looking down at the incoming guests. Ignis looked at him and asked, “Greetings, Your Excellency.”

Thales looked at him and nodded, he said, “Welcome, Prince Ignis, was your journey comfortable?”

Ignis imitated his fake smile like a mirror image and said, “Yes, your excellency. It was all fun and games. I wonder which idiot shared the news that Sapientia nation is at war. This was literally a big prank.”

Thales’s face changed a little, and the officials inside the court changed and a minister shouted, “Insolent! How dare you talk to His Excellency in this manner?”

Ignis chuckled and said, “Your Emperor can make a mockery of me, my nation and the soldiers who stake their lives for the safety of my people. While I cannot even mock your messengers? What a great nation you are.”

General Un watched this and nodded slightly. Thales asked, “So now that you have found out what I have done, what can you do about it?”

Ignis gave a stunned reaction and said, “Indeed, what can I do to you and your lies, Your Excellency, now please tell me what do you plan to do?”

Thales said, “I do not plan to do anything much, just wanted to have someone from the royal family as a guest and here you are.”

Ignis sighed and said, “Your Excellency, this is surely a strange way to invite guests.”

General Un and the rest wanted to pull out their swords but the prince shook his head at them, the emperor was not worried about their attack since he allowed them to come in with their weapons.

Thales saw that the prince was tamed and said, “Have a seat.”

Ignis looked at the empty seat placed in the court and walked over, when he was about to sit down a soldier on the side moved. The action was so fast and quick that none of the people were prepared. General Un was the person nearest to the Prince, but even he was caught off guard.