Mansion, City of Mira
At the same time.
In a quiet office filled with piles of documents, sunlight seeped through the vents, and the window covered by curtains seemed to bathe the room in bright red. However, the darkness of the room was illuminated by the faint light of a lit candle. Serena continued to write on every document, hearing the sound of someone running through the hallway.
The door was pushed open hard by Tiara, who appeared hurriedly, breathing heavily.
Tiara was panting after running through the hallway,
"Miss Serena, someone is looking for you!" A little sweat and the dew of morning on Tiara's breath did not confuse Serena; it did not faze her at all.
"Who? If it's—"
"An imperial representative!" Tiara interrupted Serena's words.
Serena, looking indifferent, suddenly stopped her feather pen's movement,
"Hey, faster than I expected," she said, her serious expression with a soft gaze masking Tiara's urgency. She remained unflinching, just looking down without changing her gaze for a few seconds.
---
Living Room, Mansion
Serena sat facing a middle-aged man across from her, even though surrounded by knights.
Tiara stepped out through the kitchen door, bowing to serve tea and biscuits, but the lewd gazes from the guards pierced her. As just a servant, she could only take steps that wouldn't endanger her life.
"Tiara, come back," Serena's words jolted Tiara, who diverted her gaze; she simply nodded and walked back to her place.
"So, what does the council want here?" Serena gave the council a serious look, their expressions unreadable from the furrows in their wrinkled faces, with their thick white beards covering their mouths.
"Young girl, aren't you being too harsh on this old man?"
"Haah," Serena sighed and leaned back on the sofa, easing the tension throughout her body, "Then... what is your business, Uncle Arnold?" Serena closed her eyes again, her hands opening up to relieve stiffness.
"You already know the reason I'm here," he stated bluntly.
"Hah," Serena was confused by the old man's behavior.
"Alright, let's get started then, don't waste time, Uncle," said Serena.
"As you might suspect—" the old man began.
"Why not just get to the point," Serena muttered, starting to get annoyed.
"What did you say?" The old man heard Serena's muttering softly.
"Nothing," Serena quickly changed her expression.
The guards could not say anything, merely observing their silly antics, unable to criticize anyone. On one side, Serena could easily throw spells at them through the walls if they criticized her, while on the other side, the council member, despite being nice, was still a member of the council who could easily have them kicked to the street.
"The emperor wants to ask for your explanation regarding what you all did at the party that night; many letters have been sent from the castle, but not a single one received a reply."
"It's no wonder, Arthur has already discarded every insignificant letter from the castle; of course, the news about me being proposed to and marrying him is true,"
"So I think it doesn't need to be a big deal, after all, he is a hero and I am currently the supreme war leader (General)," she said boldly.
"Indeed, that fact cannot be denied; right now you are a General, and your husband is a Hero, but that completely contrasts with your actions on the battlefield,"
"Limiting the supply of weapons, calling for a ceasefire, cleaning up the government, I know what you are doing is with good intentions. To create peace for both sides,"
"However, I must stress, that it is truly difficult; humanity's hatred for demons and vice versa is like a chasm that cannot be crossed. Many will oppose you, and betrayal cannot be avoided when that time comes... I cannot help much," Arnold said, his voice low, showing concern.
"You say that but, hey, you're not even trying to help us,"
"There are some things that you cannot see, little girl. I will be there to help you later," Arnold stood for a moment before turning away from Serena and preparing to leave.
"Alright, I think that's all I wanted to say; don't forget to write a reply to the castle," he walked slowly towards the door, using his cane to support his weight as he walked.
At the end of his path in front of the door, the knights followed behind him, but one last time he paused for a moment.
"By the way, congratulations on the marriage; I don't know how you managed to marry, but I'm sure your grandmother would be happy to know her little girl found a man," he said without even trying to look back.
"I don't know..." Serena was stunned, her sad eyes not knowing where to look.
"Oh, one more thing..."
"Have you...?" Arnold suddenly turned back, his expression curious like a child wanting to know about adult matters, his thumb and index finger of his left hand forming a circle, with his index finger going in and out of the circle repeatedly.
It turns out he was just a lecherous old man worried about a little girl who hasn't grown up yet.
Then the wind around them began to grow stronger, blowing Arnold and the knights away.
Crash!
The wall shattered, and the old man along with his knights were thrown from there, disappearing into an unknown direction.
---
Hugo's Castle
"Who are you!?"
His gaze fell upon a muscular figure, covered in wounds, with a face that bore no smile, instilling fear. Yet Arthur stepped forward, standing firm, staring into the man's eyes.
"Sebastian," he said as he eyed the man with his weary gaze.
"Where did you find out my name?" The man asked again, but not a hint of his expression changed.
Arthur, who then realized he had accidentally said that word, suddenly stepped back, his heart filled with caution, every step the man took creating a chilling atmosphere, "I just guessed," His right hand began to prepare a spell.
"So that's how it is," the man then walked back to his seat and fell silent for a moment, without saying a word for several seconds, "Leave this place immediately, I don't care what will happen to me, but it seems you still have families."
Pertkins, realizing Arthur was sneaking past the man, tried to unlock his chains with magic, attempting to distract the man.
"Hey, why do you say that," Pertkins said, trying to divert Sebastian's gaze.
"That's—" Before Sebastian could finish his words, a loud sound of chains breaking was heard.
Click!
Arthur successfully broke the chains with his magic, "Alright, let's go... Butler," Arthur slowly stood up, pressing his own knees with both hands to make it easier to stand.
Sebastian's expression did not change, but they could guess what he was thinking now.
"Tap—," Arthur interrupted Sebastian, who was about to speak, "But you don't know who I am, I could be blah blah blah blah... I know what you're going to say, Sebastian, just so you know, I've seen plots like this hundreds of times," Arthur rambled about how unimportant the words that would come out of Sebastian's mouth were.
Sebastian, surprised, whispered to Pertkins, "Don't look at me like that, I've only known him for a short time," he said while avoiding Sebastian's gaze.
Not long after, Ealia approached them.
"Everyone, no footsteps can be heard anymore; this might be our only chance to escape from here."
They all ran quickly, looking for a way out, but Arthur separated himself, planning to search for his equipment in the storage room.
In their escape, they were confronted by knights.
They got trapped in a fight.
"Talia, shoot the witch," said Pertkins.
"I know," Talia shot the witch and managed to take her down.
While they were busy fighting, a little girl slowly approached them. The girl raised her right hand as if lifting something, and rocks and the walls of the building began to break and float. Soon, the little girl swung her hand forward, and all the debris flew towards the three of them.
Not long after, Arthur ran toward the debris quickly, reciting a reconstruction spell.
"Break apart! Scatter!" Arthur shouted loudly as a giant magic circle slowly emerged from his right palm, striking the debris and causing it to break into small pieces.
Here is the translation of the provided text from Indonesian to English:
The others were surprised to see that the knights who were holding him down had all been defeated. Realizing the danger, the little girl Arthur stepped aside and directed her hand behind her while tilting her body.
"Please, brother, come this way," the girl said, allowing Arthur and the others to pass. They did not take long to think and quickly went past the girl, who could only bow her head and let them pass.
Not long after, Hugo and his troops arrived and saw the little girl allowing them to pass. Hugo stopped and asked for a moment, "Miss Dormilia! Why did you let them go?" he asked, his face covered in sweat.
"What's the point of fighting if the outcome is already certain? I don't want to waste my life being killed by that man," she said casually.
"Besides, I also want to rest after a long journey," she stretched her body, unintentionally revealing a bit of her chest. A knight who was with Hugo gave a lewd glance secretly, but Dormilia noticed him, giving an intimidating look at the knight and then throwing him with telekinesis through the wall beside him.
"You pervert! Even with the body of a little girl, you dare to have lust, Hugo teach your knights not to look down on others," Dormilia left Hugo and the knights just like that.
Meanwhile,
"How much longer are we going to run?" Sweat dripped down the exhausted face of Pertkins.
"Here!" Arthur signaled everyone to stop in front of a wall.
"Break that, Sebastian."
With his double-edged sword, Sebastian smashed the wall, but what lay behind it was only an abyss.
"Abyss, hey Arthur, are you serious about this?" Pertkins asked worriedly.
"We can't waste much time here; hurry up!" Talia said, poised to hold back, worried they were being chased.
"Wait a moment," Arthur was still busy setting coordinates in his Compass of World, but the others didn't know what Arthur was doing; they could only trust him.
Not long after, Arthur had entered the coordinates.
"Alright, done," Arthur quickly took aim and prepared to run through the wall. "Jump!" he said loudly.
"What!?" they exclaimed, not believing what Arthur said, but Arthur had already jumped, leaving them no choice but to jump as well.
"Ugh... whatever," Talia jumped, followed by Pertkins and Sebastian. Soon, a bright light shone from below the abyss, hitting them all and throwing them into the backyard of the mansion.