The King, Archmage Vis, the ex-advisor Vota, the apprentice Spes, and an unknown face were all gathered around a table in the Royal Court. On the table was the map of both the continent of the Great Kingdom and the Alliance's Continent. Several flags were on precise locations that started from the Royal Capital and extended to the center of the other continent.
They were discussing the safest route that the two young men would take to get to the artifact. It was a heated debate, especially between the Archmage and the unknown face.
Vis was exchanging words heavily with a personality that would strike fear in anyone who would lay eyes on him. It was another Inquisitor. But this one didn't look like the previous ones that Spes had interacted with. This unknown man stood taller and stronger than any other. His helmet is on the table revealing his middle-aged features. With his face and bald head splattered with scars, this man looked very battle-worn and experienced. He was no other than the current General of the Inquisition. A man personally handpicked and appointed by the King himself.
"Archmage Vis… The route you're proposing is WAY too dangerous for these kids!" The man boldly said as he slightly glanced at the two main centers of attention. A scrawny kid and a fat one that had an annoying look on his face.
"The Council of Mages has dispatched way too many Mages at the borders and each day I get the reports of their deaths! The longer they take the more casualties there will be not only for my Mages but also for the army and YOUR men!" The Archmage shouted as he threw on the table stacks upon stacks of papers. These were the reports of the Casualties from the borders.
The General didn't bother taking it as he already got the same report. He knew what was being lost at the borders each passing day.
The General closed his eyes as he massaged his temples. This was no easy matter. The Archmage did have a point. They were also fighting against time as the demonic attacks were increasingly getting worse each day.
"We take the fast route then… But some of my men will escort them on their quest." The General spoke as he opened his eyes.
"You can afford to spare some?" The King worriedly asked with an eyebrow raised.
"I can make an exception." The General respectfully answered as he waved his hand behind him.
"General!" Two fully armored knights bearing the Inquisition crest approached and saluted the General seeing him signaling for them.
"Your squad will escort these two young men to the Capital of the Alliance. You can introduce yourselves later. We'll go into the details of your route for now."
The Archmage nodded gratefully towards the General. Not only he accepted his proposition but he also managed to bleed out a squad of men to escort Spes and Vota. With that, their quest should go smoothly.
The Archmage then addressed himself to the two young men and the Inquisition knights. He pointed at the map as he spoke: "Listen well then. The Royal Griffins will fly you to the Port of Orsus."
"Normally you would sail till the Alliance's Port right here and follow this road clear path until you get to the Capital but…" The Archmage had a wry smile on his face as he pointed the path they would've taken. It was a simple but long path without any obstructions.
"Since we're out of time your ship will instead dock right here." The Archmage moved his finger and pointed towards a forest at the border of the Alliance.
The faces of Vota and Spes turned black as they read the forest's name on the map.
"The Forest of Death !!!" Vota screamed as his thick fingers shivered while pointing at the forest.
"What's so deadly about the forest?" Spes weakly said as he turned towards the Archmage.
"You shouldn't worry about the details of these. My men will keep you safe till the Alliance's Capital." The General signaled the Archmage to be quick with it as he saw that their 'heroes' weren't that brave.
"Once you pass through the forest you'll be going through the Plains of Unending Despair, then you'll have to descend the Canyon of Ghostly Whispers and finally after crossing the River of No Memories you'll get to a road that will lead you directly to the Capital."
The Archmage tried to dump the information in one go so that they wouldn't react individually to the place's names but the pair's reaction proved that it did not matter at all.
Spes stared at the Archmage with teary eyes as if telling him to choose the other route while Vota looked like he was about to faint.
"The frontlines are way worse… right?" Vota tried to keep himself calm. Even if we wanted to change his mind and go to the frontlines instead it has already been decided. He gave his word and he was to keep it.
"Consider yourselves as our Heroes going on a deadly quest that will save the Kingdom. Return with success and both fame and glory will wait for you all." The King tried to inspire the both of them seeing how devastated they were upon hearing of their quest. Being the King he was, his charisma managed to calm the two of them down.
"That will be it then. The Royal Armory will be open to the four of you for this quest. You will meet me again at dawn before you depart. Everyone dismissed!"
Seeing that Spes and Vota were stabilized the King decided to end their meeting. He had many more military meetings ahead of his schedule.
Vota knew well about every location in the Royal Capital. He was the King's nephew after all. And being the shrewd man he is, he had to know everything to maximize his future possibilities. That's why Vota himself arrogantly led Spes and the two other Inquisitors toward the Royal Armory.
For some reason, Spes felt a feeling of déjà vu when he saw the two knights walking along them. Before he could ponder more on the thought Vota suddenly spoke up.
"So, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. I'm sure you all already know me but for humanity's sake I'll be doing it: I'm Vota GoldenHeart. I'm 22, very young and very handsome." The fat young man proudly stated with his hands behind his back.
"As you can tell from the name, I'm of royal blood." Vota slightly turned around to see everyone's reaction to only get disappointed.
The two knights kept walking as if they didn't hear him at all while Spes seemed to react strangely with eyes open wide. Vota felt slightly content at that small reaction but if he knew what Spes was thinking he would give him a beating at this moment.
'No way he's 23! He looks in his middle ages!' Spes kept these thoughts to himself as he secretly took a quick look at Vota.
Maybe it was because he was tall and fat, his young features couldn't be seen anymore. Other than that, Spes thought that Vota comically looked like a fat broom with his golden hair.
After Vota's introduction one of the knights decided to go next. He took off his helmet revealing a handsome square face with dark hair. If there was a crowd of girls right now, they would be surely cheering his name and throwing flowers. He looked like every typical knight in shining armor.
"I'm Decus, 22. Humble servant of the SilverMane family and vice-captain of the Inquisition's Omega Squad." Decus introduced himself with a warm smile along a graceful bow.
The handsome Decus looked at the knight next to him and gave a warm smile as if telling: it's your turn now. The knight sneered back at him but still removed its helmet nonetheless.
Both Spes and Vota were immediately left breathless as the knight's facial features were shown. It was a beautiful girl with skin as snow as white. Her lips were smooth and rosy. Her silver eyes shone brightly as if they were the moons themselves. And her hair, so silky and silver as if weaved by the gods themselves.
"Crystal SilverMane, 20. Captain of the Omega Squad."
Decus wryly smiled at his captain's cold and brief introduction. He already expected it but he could never get used to it.
"Oh, a fellow noble? This quest won't be as noble after all." The fat Vota quickly performed a graceful bow seeing the ice beauty in front of him.
Meanwhile, Spes had another reaction the moment he heard the voice of Crystal. It was so familiar. After finally being able to ponder upon it a small memory resurfaced.
He was being dragged by two knights and when he spoke, he was immediately silenced with a punch. Not only that he was mocked for not being able to take the punch. He could clearly remember the voice and it was the same voice that had just spoken.
"You!" Spes unconsciously spoke out when he stared at Crystal.
Vota laughed awkwardly as he saw that the Crystal just stared at him coldly. He quickly tried to shift the conversation to avoid more embarrassment.
"You want another punch peasant?" She icily spoke not bothered at all that Spes recognized her.
"Hey let's not get on each other's bad foot on our first meeting." Decus noticed that Spes was starting to get scared and decided to intervene.
"Official first meeting." He also added that he remembered that they already had interacted with each other.
"What about you? Who are you?" Decus asked.
"S-Spes… 18. I'm an Apprentice Mage."
"Well met Spes, I hope we'll all have a pleasant journey together." Decus clasped his hands together and put his helmet back on.
Crystal as cold as ever just gave a cold glance at everyone before also donning her helmet. As for Vota, he rolled his eyes as he glared at Decus for taking the spotlight.
"We're almost there. Let's hurry, I'm starting to get hungry." Vota's stomach was starting to rumble so he hurried his thick legs to go faster.
As the group continued, Decus, who was walking side to side with Crystal fastened his pace and was moved next to Spes instead.
"Hey, sorry about how we treated you during our last encounter. I wanted to do something about it but as you can see, I would've been but a commoner against a noble."
Spes was slightly surprised that he received an apology. He didn't expect that Decus would be such a nice guy.
"I understand, I've also had my fair share of unpleasant noble moments…" Spes replied, forgiving him immediately.
"You should talk more; you're a funny guy." Decus laughed as he patted Spes's shoulders.
"Oh, and about Crystal, don't mind her. You'll get to know that she's a sweet girl. Just give her time, be patient, okay?" Decus went back next to the ice princess before Spes could answer him on that matter.