Crossover
Chapter 8: Dragonar Empire
Kuro arranged all the information he received inside his mind. He felt something was amiss. He asked with a puzzled expression, “Say, is there any change regarding Lazurias, Brumund, and Prometheus Kingdoms?”
Maximillian, who kept quiet all the time, was surprised. “I can see why General Halfer was interested in you. Besides the emperor’s decree which covers the entire continent, the aftermath of the dragons’ attacks, and the consequences of the changes in Qaiser, Almenach, and Trinity Kingdoms, nothing major happened with the rest.”
Kuro gently smiled, “It’s just strange that there were no specific events that came to Lazurias, Brumund, and Prometheus Kingdoms. It made me think that the tragedy happened to the three other kingdoms was intentional…”
Sierra gasped as if remembering something, “We haven’t told you that the royal families of those three kingdoms were murdered by the dragons during the coalition, and even those who remained were ambushed. Thinking about it…”
“It really seemed intentional.” Kuro continued.
If this conclusion is correct, Kuro could only think of some reasons why the Qaiser, Almenach, and Trinity Kingdoms were targeted.
‘Or maybe perhaps…’
Maximillian sipped his tea and commended Kuro, "You would be a good strategist if you are this observant."
Kuro remained indifferent, “You flatter me.”
“And it could lead you to your death.”
Bryer gave Maximillian a warning look. He was displeased with his attitude towards his benefactor.
Kuro became silent and then chuckled, “Well, that is unfortunate. Care to explain more?”
Maximillian put his tea on the table, for it was empty, and started to share what he knew.
“There were several rumors before. One was that the emperor ordered the dragons to kill the royal families to replace them, replace them with people that the emperor could control.
That goes without saying that these people are in an alliance with the emperor, making it the reason why there were sudden changes in these kingdoms, for they were doing a favor to the emperor. These kingdoms would always arrest and punish those who defied their orders regardless of how unreasonable it was.
Every year, the taxes and rent would increase. Even if all the citizens had their own jobs, their money would still not be sufficient to cover all monthly expenses. Lazurias, Brumund, and Prometheus Kingdoms did their best to avoid inflation, but the other three just let it go and made things worse. The continent eventually suffered inflation, which worsened the lives of the citizens.
At first, it was only the kingdoms that were drastic with their methods. Later on, the emperor even ordered to arrest and punish those who intended to question or oust him. He started doing things more inhumanely and drastically. The worst thing that could have ever happened was execution, which Bryer managed to escape…”
Everyone became silent once more.
Maximillian continued. “The citizens started regretting their decision. As for why any kingdoms did not make any move during these troubling times, it was only simple, for all of them were at a stalemate. But who knows, these are just my conclusions based on the rumors I heard.”
Maximillian ended his explanation and sipped his tea once more.
Kuro stroked Crescent’s fur as he was again, in deep thought. “Thank you for explaining things to me. I guess I’ll have to be wary of my surroundings in the following days.” He showed a smile of gratitude.
Sierra, looking at the sunlight outside the door, jolted and tapped Grenda’s shoulder. “Look, it's almost sundown. We have immersed ourselves too much in this matter. We all need to go home, well, us girls anyway, since we have to cook for dinner and the boys need to help Bryer fix his front door.” Grenda also jolted and stood up together with Sierra. With a kiss to their husbands and a wave of goodbye, they started to walk their way back home.
“Oh, how nice it is to have a wife…” Froy smirked and looked at Maximillian.
“Someone will cook for you and accompany you for the night…” Albert grinned and taunted Maximillian.
Bryer's eyes twitched, 'Here they go again...'
Maximillian rolled his eyes. “Stop chattering, muscle-brains, we still have a door to fix.” He threw a piece of rock on their foreheads.
Both of them groaned in pain. “That hurts, man…”
…
Inside the castle, a black-haired man was comfortably sitting on the throne. He arranged his body posture and seemed to be leaning his chin on his right arm. He was the current emperor of the Dragonar Empire and the man that Kuro and the others were talking about – Damascus.
“A young man single-handedly bested most of the soldiers at Xenophil’s house? Interesting… and the young man’s name is?”
“Kuro Takamichi, your majesty,” a man who wore blue military clothes with medals attached to it, with short dark blue hair and glasses replied. It was General Halfer.
“Kuro? Hm? It seems that you have set your eyes on him.”
Halfer politely replied. “His strength, I believe, is still undefinable. But I do believe that no normal person could exert the same strength he showed when he was fighting the soldiers.”
In a serious tone, Damascus immediately replied, “But general, you don’t know who he really is, nor do you know if he would really side with us. You have said that he already rejected once; it shows that the kid is uninterested in joining our side and might also foil our plans.”
Despite the pressure that Damascus emitted, General Halfer did not tremble a bit. “Your majesty, please be reassured. He will be of great help to us.”
Damascus was silent for a moment and then firmly replied, “Then you must do everything to get him, general. However, if he refuses once again, then kill him! Traveler or not, he still poses a tiny threat to my ruling, and I don’t take chances when that happens.”
Halfer kneeled and replied, “Yes, your majesty!”
“Also, is there any news about those pests from the resistance? I can't wait to catch all of those traitors and sentence them to death in front of the citizens.” Damascus licked his lips and formed a sadistic smile.
In a firm, resolute tone, Halfer reported, “Yes, your majesty, General Letinia and General Margaret obtained strong leads on the location of the resistance. General Summers together with General Gilbert is now verifying it.”
“Very well then, you may now go. Be sure to gain us a new general; it would be nice to strengthen our side further for our future plans.” The emperor maliciously grinned and dismissed Halfer.
Unbeknownst to them, there was someone eavesdropping behind the door; that person immediately left as soon as that they heard what they needed.
“They had found us…” that person muttered.
“This is not good…”
-End of Chapter 8-
