A month has gone by, and it has just been announced that a delegation from the empire will be arriving within a week. Meaning, the war will kick off sometime soon. Right after the Empire declares war, the Queendom of Telva will summon their hero, a female hero by the name of Iska, a woman from "generic nordic country".  Then, the Kingdom of Yaelva will get the hero of might, a massive guy named Taci, from "generic African country". Then, finally, the main character, were it not for me. The hero of light will be summoned by the Perotell Imperium.

His name will be Alexander. He'll have blonde hair and blue eyes at first, but within a month, he'll be blessed by various gods and will gain golden eyes. And finally, the hero of flames, who will be summoned by my kingdom, Gaera. She's an awful human being named Valerie. She'll join in on the war, while the hero of light refuses to fight the imperiums war.

I use search to look at the knight. He just walked into the slums, looking awful. Ah, he just bumped into that lady. Aaaaaand, there goes the sword, straight into the stomach. The woman lets out a scream that is stifled by the knight shoving his gauntleted fist in her mouth. This breaks her teeth, and completely muffles her voice. As I watch, I feel guilty, letting an innocent woman die like this. Sadly, her death is necessary.

After muffling her, he then reaches for his dagger and stabs her in the chest. Alright, I'm done watching.

Anyway, during this time, the rumor about the empire has spread like wildfire. The kingdom has built up forces at the border, pressuring the empire to also build up their forces. The king announced just last week that he plans on adding an additional ten thousand border guards. He's even begun construction of a fortress, which is a significant escalation from before.

My brothel has been performing relatively well, the girl, Neela decided not to do sex work, and instead be a dancer. She was so apologetic when we met again, but I reassured her that it's her body, her choice. The other two have been doing well. Aiwin has met with Helio quite a few times during the month, as well as a few fat nobles. My profits for the month come out to around 600 gold, but they should increase quite a bit over the next few months as word gets around the nobility. We don't have any prospects to use the less-than-legal section yet.

Annie has been acting a little off lately. She's been spending less time in our room, and more time outside, which I think is good, but it feels as though she's trying to avoid me. Maybe the honeymoon phase of our relationship has ended?

Well, my nightmares have been getting worse lately. I'll see that girl in my dreams every night, and sometimes she'll lunge at me like a maniac. I guess that time floating through space left some scars on me. She constantly yells at me in some language I don't understand. If it weren't for the fact that none of my future enemies know about me, I'd think I was cursed.

Other than that stuff, nothing of note has happened. So, I'll pretty much be doing nothing until the start of the war, a week or two from now.

—--------------------------------

The day has come, I received a summons to the royal castle to join in welcoming the delegation in my parents stead. I wore a relatively basic dress for once. I'm currently in my carriage, heading towards the castle. The possessed knight has been acting according to my knowledge of the book. He's gone around apologizing for his actions and making up excuses for it, and has been placed in the castle for this delegation. Well then, let's get this over with.

I arrive at the castle and am led into the throne room to sit at the side, closer to the king. Sitting beside me is Duke Drachna from the party. We give each other a passing smile and sit in silence, waiting for the delegation to arrive. The king and queen sit on their thrones, while the princess sits off to the side of them. Suddenly, the doors open as a tune plays, welcoming in the delegation. Every noble in the room stands and bows to the delegation, while the king and queen remain seated.

And, walking in… Is a beautiful young lady with jewels adorning her neck and arms, along with two men who seem to be guards..

…

This is not the delegate from the book.

The delegate was supposed to be a pompous asshole with more chins than fingers. He was supposed to act rudely to everyone, acting as though he were a god amongst ants. This young lady is most likely the Empress' daughter! Shit… This could be bad…

As she enters, she speaks,

"Your Majesty, King Gaera. I am Imperial Princess, Persephone Elias Perotell. I have come, as a show of good faith. As any other delegate would be insufficient."

As she walks forward, I keep an eye on the possessed guard.

"The recent buildup of troops at our border leaves us to believe that you may be planning on breaking our previous truce, which has been active for well over two decades. So, I have come to ask you what your true intentions are."

The king stands and speaks,

"It is most gracious of the empress to send such an important person to act as her delegate. As for your question, we have received reports of an increase in the amount of troops on the empire's side. The troops placed at the border are merely there as a deterrent, should the empress act brashly."

Well, that certainly raised the tension in the room. The princess seems to be rather angry at this, but does not show it fully. As she is about to respond, the sound of a sword being unsheathed rings out across the room. The knight springs forwards, at a speed nearly equivalent to an Aura Knight, the equivalent of a 5th circle mage. He arrives in front of the imperial princess and slashes at her, only to be met with a glowing blue barrier as the necklace the princess wears glows.

The sword bounces backwards as the knight turns to a different target, the other two delegates. He sends out a wave of sword energy, slicing the two in half. As he goes to begin killing nobles, I cast an ice spike spell underneath him, sending it shooting up into his skull, and ending him.

The Imperial Princess collapses backwards and screams as the upper half of the other delegates hits the ground.

Well, this certainly wasn't to plan…

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AN: And with this, we reach the end of the first arc! I'll be taking a week off to recoup and to regain a bit of motivation, as I was running out around the end of the chapter in case you couldn't tell.