Chapter 65: The Empire’s Priorities
Sylvane was already awake.
The capital city was gradually waking up. Merchants were opening their shops. People were getting in their carriages. Soldiers were relieving each other at the gates. Adventurers were standing around the Guild. The Empire was going about its business.
Meanwhile...
Inside the Royal Palace, a number of officials were gathered in the Crown Prince’s personal council chamber. At the center of the room, the Crown Prince himself was sitting at the head of the long table. On it lay a single report.
The Crown Prince had already read it twice. He was now scanning over the contents of the last page when he finally closed the document. "This is the report about the Great Verdant Forest," the Intelligence Bureau’s agent replied immediately upon the Crown Prince’s question. "Yes, Your Highness." The man bowed. The Crown Prince took the report in his hands once more. "And these are the reports from a year ago." "Some of them." The Intelligence Bureau’s agent replied. The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow. "Some of them?" The agent hesitated.
"There are also reports from several months ago." "And why am I seeing them only now?" There was a deathly silence in the room. The agent chose his words carefully. "Because they were considered unreliable" "Unreliable?" "Yes, Your Highness." The Crown Prince leaned back in his chair. "Explain" The agent opened another report. "Several scouts have reported on unusual monster activity in the region. They claim to have seen monsters working together. Goblin, Kobolds, Wolves, Rabbits, Slimes..."
The Crown Prince listened quietly. "There are farms, wooden buildings, watchtowers... Monsters carrying goods..." The agent hesitated for a moment. "But none of the scouts were able to enter the area. They couldn’t determine the settlement’s size, who its leader was, or whether the monsters were indeed working together."
The Crown Prince was staring at him intensively. "So... what? We have rumors?" "Essentially, yes, Your Highness." The Crown Prince sighed. He looked at the map lying on the table. Several small markings indicated the location of the Great Verdant Forest. One of them, slightly bigger than the others, was located at an indeterminate location within the forest. A strange settlement, unknown to the Empire. "A settlement no one has seen." He muttered. He tapped at the map with his finger.
"Has it attacked any of our villages?"
"No, Your Highness."
"Merchant caravan?"
"No."
"Rosen?"
"No."
"Our soldiers?"
"No."
"Has it crossed the Empire’s borders?"
The agent shook his head.
"No, Your Highness."
The Crown Prince was studying the map for a few seconds. Then, he placed the report on the table. "So... why should I waste resources on it?" Nobody answered. The Crown Prince turned to the Intelligence Bureau’s agent. "Continue watching the forest." The agent blinked.
"Your Highness?"
"Watch it." The Crown Prince repeated.
"Gather information, determine its size, find its leader... "But don’t engage." The Intelligence Bureau’s agent bowed immediately. "Yes, Your Highness." The Crown Prince nodded. "There are more important matters." He said. The military representative straightened. "Yes, Your Highness. "The demons." The room grew silent. The Great Verdant Forest was undoubtedly strange. There was no doubt about it. But strange did not mean dangerous. The demons, on the other hand, were an entirely different matter.
The Empire’s territory had become increasingly unstable over the past year. Villages were being attacked; merchant caravans were being ambushed; border patrols were being harassed. A few watchtowers had even been reinforced. Unlike the monsters of the Great Verdant Forest, the demons were not only becoming more numerous - they were growing stronger. The Crown Prince turned to the general. "How many incidents have there been this month?" The general stepped forward. "Seven, Your Highness. Three villages were attacked; two patrols were ambushed; two merchant caravans were halted." The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes. "Any Survivors?" "Very few." The general replied. "Do we know what they’re after?" The general shook his head. "Not yet." He replied.
"Then find out," the Crown Prince said simply.
"Yes, Your Highness."
The Crown Prince folded his hands together.
"Until we understand what the demons are after, I see no reason for wasting resources on a monster settlement that has done us no harm." The Intelligence Bureau’s agent bowed. "Understood, Your Highness." The Crown Prince looked at the report about the Great Verdant Forest once more. He glanced at the illustrations of the wooden walls, fields, and watchtowers. He looked at the monsters carrying goods. It was all very strange, indeed. But strange was all it was.
"Keep it on record for now."
"Yes, Your Highness." The Intelligence Bureau’s agent replied. "If anything changes..." the Crown Prince said, looking at the agent directly, "I want to know about it immediately." "Understood, Your Highness." The meeting was nearly over when the scholar spoke up. "Your... Highness." The Crown Prince turned to him. "What is it?" "There is one more matter," the scholar said. He opened another report.
"It concerns a person or something called Tanaka." At the mention of the name, several officials in the room stiffened. "The incident in Rosen City." The scholar said. He opened the report and continued, "Tanaka appeared in Rosen approximately one year ago; the battle with Zarathiel soon followed."
The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow. "I’ve heard of it." "Then you know how ridiculous the reports were, as well?" The scholar said and looked at him for a moment before placing several documents on the table. "Some witnesses claimed to have seen a human, while others insisted he was a monster. Some believed he was a shapeshifter..." he paused, "and a few adventurers even claimed..." he hesitated, "...that he was a slime." "A slime?" one noble scoffed. "That’s what they said." "Preposterous!" Another noble said. "Slimes are the weakest of monsters!" The noble added. The scholar nodded in agreement. "That is why all of these accusations were ignored."
The Crown Prince looked at him closely. "And what do we know, then?" The scholar grew serious. "Zarathiel identified Tanaka as a Monster Lord." A hushed silence fell over the room. Even the nobles stopped talking. The Crown Prince leaned forward. "The Wyvern Lord?" He asked. "Yes, Your Highness," the scholar replied. "And this Tanaka, what did he do?" "He didn’t deny it." The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes. "Interesting. Tell me more..." The scholar opened the next page. "According to witnesses, Tanaka used an ability called ’Devour’ against a Greater Wyvern." The Crown Prince said nothing. "What happened?"
"The Greater Wyvern disappeared." The scholar replied. "Disappeared?" "Yes. It seems to have been devoured." The room grew deathly quiet. One of the nobles shook his head. "It is impossible." He said. "Perhaps it is, perhaps it is not." The scholar replied dryly. He closed the report. "But whatever Tanaka was, there is no doubt that he was not an ordinary adventurer. The fact that he fought against another Monster Lord - and saved the lives of many humans and other races in the process is true."
The Crown Prince was looking out the window when he spoke. "So he fight Zarathiel?" "Yes and even protected the humans." The scholar replied. The Crown Prince almost smiled. "So... what? A mysterious Monster Lord appeared in Rosen City, fought another Monster Lord, saved the lives of the city’s inhabitants, possessed an ability strong enough to devour a Greater Wyvern, and then simply vanished?" "Yes, your Highness." The Crown Prince leaned back in his chair. "And we still do not know what he is?" "No, Your Highness." The scholar replied.
The Crown Prince was silent for a moment. Then he shrugged. "Leave him be." He finally said. Several officials were surprised by his words. The Crown Prince continued, "After all, if Tanaka wanted to destroy Rosen City, he would have done so by now. If he wanted to kill the people, he would have done so, as well. If he wanted to declare himself a rival of the Empire, we would know about it by now." The scholar nodded in agreement. "That was our conclusion, as well. There was no basis for pursuing him."
The Crown Prince looked over the report one final time. "Then there is no reason to waste time on him," he said.
The Crown Prince was looking at the map again when a thought occurred to him. "Could Tanaka be connected to that settlement?" There was a tense silence in the room. It was entirely possible, he supposed.
A Monster Lord.
Strange settlement.
Monsters of various types living together in peace. An ability that could devour an entire Greater Wyvern... The mere idea was ludicrous, but there was no doubt that it was suspicious. The Crown Prince shook his head.
"Still a speculation." He said. The Intelligence Bureau’s agent nodded in agreement. "Yes, Your Highness." "Until we have more evidence..." The Crown Prince set the report aside on the table. "...treat it as such. Understood?" He looked around the room. "The demons are attacking our territory. That is a problem. The Great Verdant Forest has given us nothing but rumors. Rumors are not a problem." He said. No one disagreed. The Crown Prince stood up. "Waste your time on what we know." All the officials bowed. "Yes, Your Highness." The meeting was over. The report about the Great Verdant Forest still lying on the table. Next to it, the report about Tanaka.