[3 days later] 

The Royal castle was a buzz today as various rumours and talks of Arthur became the topic of the day, with both the workers and Nobles gossiping and exchanging information about him and the event that happened 3 days ago, despite the event happening days ago it was still fresh on the minds of many in the castle, a reputation slowly formed around Arthur as many nobles and Knights now held him in high regard. While it may have been a demonstration and not a deadly battlefield it was still impressive that he managed to defeat a hundred men in day, all without receiving damage himself, this made many want him by their side, something the princess didn’t particularly appreciate.

“So what do you think we should do about this?”

Prince Zanac asked after having given details of the previous event that happened 3 days ago to Marquis Raeven, usually they would convene immediately about important events However Marquis Raeven was a busy man and he could not be at the castle at such short notice, so Zanac had to wait for him. The Marquis wrestled with his thoughts for a moment before speaking.

“I believe our kingdom has gained a significant boost in power, one comparable to Gazeff himself” 

Between the two of them right in the middle of the two couches they sat on was a coffee table with a tea set and both had a tea placed on their sides, the tea was still hot and steaming an indication that it was recently brought in.

“Is that so, explain Marquis”

“of course, the reason I think this is because I equate Gazeff’s to be equal to the strength of a thousand men when fully equipped. However, without his equipment, that strength drops to Below 500”

The Marquis paused, allowing the prince to understand his words before continuing further. 

“Arthur defeated a 100 men and as you say all of them were defeated moments after the fight began there was no struggle nor any swordplay and each time one of the swords from the knights broke in half, I believe this was a subtle way of Arthur showing us a glimpse of his true strength he was most likely holding back but still managed to defeat a 100 knights, this could mean unequipped Arthur has the power of at least 300 to 400 men.”

“I see, so you’re saying that with the right equipment and gear, his strength would be equal to that of our chief warrior?”

“Exactly and that is why we can’t let the princess have him, I don’t even want to think what she would do with such power at her hands.”

The Marquis shivered as he spoke, he has long been aware that princess Renner was a dangerous person, she’s the type to play the Long game and wait for her chance, the fact that she managed to put the whole noble court into disarray just by mentioning the abolishment of slavery, something that was completely unthinkable to the nobles, and the fact that idea wasn’t immediately shut down after she mentioned it was proof of this, The princess knew how to use both her beauty and her brain to get what she wants.

“I agree, having someone comparable to Gazeff in strength, not only gives her more room to move but also an Authority to undermine the nobles. Physical strength and political power aren’t entirely separate and can easily intertwine, I mean, if Gazeff chose to rebel, the entire knight order would be behind him.

“Yes, you’re right your highness though Gazeff owes his life to the king, I doubt he would rebel” 

“true, so any ideas on how we can to take him from my sister?”

“for the time being, we need to observe what type of person he is. It will be easier to have him our side when we know his character?”

Zanac leaned forward and grabbed the cup of tea on the table and took a sip, he lamented the fact that there were no sweets, trying to lose weight was incredibly difficult and he didn’t like it.

“so spying on him? Are you sure that’s a good idea, my Sister always ends up killing the spies she finds to be annoying. In fact, I heard the ones sent by Marquis Bulloupe suddenly decided to quit”

“Yes I heard that as well, I heard he threatened to ruin their families but it seemed they didn’t care, they were rather afraid of ever going back to being maids for the princess, something must have happened”

The Marquis detailed, he figured the princess must have threatened or promised them something that made them be willing to go against a Marquis.

“ Regardless we’ll be using actual spies rather than just paying a maid to tell us what’s going on and besides our spy will stay away from the Princess’ chambers and instead tail Arthur whenever he’s by himself without her, of course we get less information but its better to be safe than sorry”

The Marquis concluded, and the prince seemed to concur with his words. They never did understand how Renner was able to find the spies, but she always does somehow, which was a Testament to her analytical prowess.

…….

[Princess Renner’s Room]

Arthur stood by the door and watched as the princess look over various documents that were spread across her table, Lakyus had finally returned with the necessary reports about the Katze plains and in the interest of efficiency she brought all the necessary documents related to undead in the plains and she was now standing over her in silence waiting for the princess to give out her thoughts on the matter.

The room was eerily silent and she did not quite like it, it also didn’t help that there was a new face that she wasn’t aware of standing right by the door, under normal circumstances this would not be a bother however her instincts as an adventurer told her to be on guard, she knew that as someone trusted to guard the princess he wouldn’t attack however she was getting a bit tense due to his presence and the silence did not really help alleviate that tenseness in her.

“Hmm”

A hum from the princess only served to make things worse, and her stomach churned with worry. She trusted Renner’s judgement above everyone else’s and understood that the princess was not to be underestimated as such those ominous hums felt like they conveyed that the situation was much dire and that danger was very imminent but at the same time they were vague and she could not draw conclusions from simple hums so she has no choice but to wait for the princess to finish reviewing the reports.

“These are reports from 3 of the previous years, is that right?”

Renner asked with her hand on her chin, and without looking at Lakyus, she was keenly focused on what was on hand. Lakyus, on the other hand, sighed in relief. Finally, someone said something and relieved the tenseness she was feeling.

“Yes”

“Among these reports there’s on-site observations, such as spawn rate and fluctuations and negative energy levels in the atmosphere plus the death rate of adventurers on the plains, right?”

Again she asked, on site observations were quite self explanatory, they were reports done by people who were on the Katze plains and recorded what they saw, all these were simple to understand, spawn rates were the amount of time undead spawned, this is not measured by individual Spawns but by the amount of undead found each season during the observations. Negative energy levels contribute to the spawn rate and can cause fluctuations depending on the amount recorded.

“yes, why are you asking me this, Ren… princess?”

Lakyus asked a bit puzzled. She was certain all the things Renner was asking were already written on the report, so she saw no point in asking about them. She also nearly called her by name, she’s used to be in this room with her and the rest of Blue rose so the atmosphere used to be more lax.

“just making sure what I’m reading is what you brought me”

Renner Responded as she held the documents, she had found a discrepancy in the paper, one that could be very dangerous not just for adventurers but for the entire city of E-Rantel of course that’s only if her suspicions are true.

“we have a problem”

.........