"s-sorry lord king"the king gave a smile
"I don"t mind Kim... I take it you have met Mars before?"
"yes! he"s the one that I could not stab!"
Kim showed a child-like smile which startled the king a little
"i-is that so?"
"yup he"s really fast!"
the captain gave a sigh
"okay Kim quiet down and let the adults talk"
"...okay"
the king turned to Mars with a slightly apologetic look on his aged face
"well then I"ll skip the introductions and get straight to the point, Mars I want you to follow the dark knights and act as insurance on their mission"
Mars narrowed his eyes slightly before he looked down at the table and spoke
"what"s their mission?"
"well it"s rather complicated but the gist is that a lord in the north might have joined the civil war in the empire and is supporting one of the factions without my consent, this if true could drag my kingdom towards it"s untimely end"
Mars gave a nod
"I see, if the faction he supports wins then it"s no big deal but if it loses the reformed empire might use it as an excuse to invade Destra"
the king gave a smile and a nod
"and the thing is the lords in the north has always been on edge against the empire so their private armies are rather large, if he really has joined in on the war in the empire and is fis.h.i.+ng in troubled waters he might also have received help from the faction he"s supporting so sending 3 dark knights alone is too risky, I need a one man army as insurance"
Mars gave a nod
"sounds interesting... But let"s talk compensation"
"okay, how does---"
"I was thinking 100 cla.s.s 6 magic beast cores would be fine"
the captain gave a slight frown, this was the first time he had seen a man capable of interrupting the king, the oldest dark knight also gave a frown, but before they had any charge to speak the king gave a nod
"sure thing, 100 cla.s.s 6 magic beast cores it is"
Mars gave a nod and reached out his hand to shake on it, so did the king and after they shook hands Victoria suddenly appeared from out of nowhere
"wh--"
Mars reacted quickly and spoke before the situation got out of hand
"it"s fine, she"s with me"
Mars stood up from his chair and walked over and petted Victoria on the head after which she began purring loudly, the king was the first one to pull himself together and was about to ask a question when Kim suddenly yelled
"look captain it"s a kitty cat!"
"....yes Kim I have noticed"
"look at its fluffy ears! I want to touch them so bad!"
"yes yes Kim quiet down we"re still in the presence of the king"
"s-sorry lord king"
Mars looked at Kim which he had mentally named crazy Kim in his head with wonder before he turned to Victoria and asked
"so what have you found?"
Victoria purred happily with her eyes closed as her horns flashed
"I found... a nest of... bad people... praise me?"
"yes yes you"re a good girl Victoria"
the king and the dark knights all wondered what Victoria was saying but only one of them asked the actual question
"what did the kitty cat say?"
"she says she has found a group of kidnappers or more likely slavers here in King"s city"
the king widened his eyes and took a few seconds to calm down meanwhile the oldest dark knight that had been silent so far spoke
"is that the truth?"
Mars narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke
"of course it is, now if you will excuse me I"ll go clean up"
Mars turned and was about to leave the room before the king spoke out
"Mars could you take the knights with you?"
"...sure, as long as they wear something that isn"t too eye catching... I"ll be waiting at the gate to the castle"
Mars stepped out of the room and left, then the captain spoke
"my lord is he really all that important?"
the king gave a sigh before a stern look appeared on his face
"he"s the one that killed the emperor"
"...is that true?"
the king gave another sigh
"that you will have to see for yourselves, now go change and follow Mars, remember he has the power to destroy our kingdom it is most important we befriend him.... he"s also close with Green rivers immortals"
the captain widened his eyes in shock for a moment before he calmed down again and gave a bow
"I understand"
outside the castle by the gates Mars and Victoria waited for the dark knights to arrive which they soon did only this time they were all dressed in civilian clothes with various concealed weapons
"let"s go, we have some slavers to exterminate"
Kim looked around before she gave a frown
"where did the kitty cat go?"
"Victoria? she"s hidden in my shadow"
"aww I wanted to talk with the pretty kitty cat..."
Kim shoulder slumped slightly before the captain patted her on the shoulder
"focus Kim, we"re on a mission now"
"yes captain~"
the dark knights followed after Mars that followed Victoria"s instructions and soon they entered the storage area of King"s city
"it"s always the warehouses... so cliché"
"did you say anything Mars?"
"no it"s nothing... we"re there soon, game faces on"
"oh can I put on my mean face?"
"sure Kim do whatever you want as long as you don"t stab me"
"okay~"
"we"re.... here"
"okay, then let"s go"
Mars looked at the warehouse Victoria had pointed out and walked up to the door before he drew his sword and checked the door
"it"s actually unlocked?"
in the next second Mars felt danger and quickly kicked the ground and jumped back just as a crossbow bolt landed where he had been standing
"well that"s rude..."
Mars walked up and pulled the bolt out of the ground and examined it and quickly noticed it was poisoned
"I take it back, that"s d.a.m.n right hostile"
Mars deflected the next bolt with his sword before he activated [Instant movement] and rushed into the warehouse and slashed at the man that had been firing crossbow bolts at him, swiftly sending him to the underworld as his head rolled on the floor, then Mars looked around the warehouse which was cluttered with boxes of various sizes
"Victoria mind finding the entrance to the underground rooms?"
"okay... be right... back"
Victoria slipped into the shadow of some boxes and disappeared, at this point the dark knights finally walked into the warehouse, the captain looked at the corpse on the floor and gave a slight frown
"....we could have interrogated him"
Mars gave a shrug and sat down on a random box
"not likely that the doorkeeper was the brains of the operation"
the captain gave a nod and looked around
"so where is the slavers?"
Mars pointed to the floor
"most likely in the bas.e.m.e.nt, I have Victoria looking for an entrance"
the captain gave another nod
"I see, good work"
Mars frowned slightly, although he liked to receive praise the praise the captain gave made it feel like Mars was his underling, but before Mars had a change to do anything about it Victoria returned, jumping out of a nearby shadow with her horns flas.h.i.+ng
"I found... it... follow me"
"okay lead the way"
Mars and the dark knights followed after Victoria pa.s.sing a few traps on the way as they moved into the labyrinth made up of boxes
"this is... it"
"good work Victoria"
Mars gave Victoria a few head pats before he kicked the box which was hiding the entrance to the bas.e.m.e.nt aside and jumped down into the bas.e.m.e.nt without using the ladder and looked around
"this really is like last time..."
in front of Mars was a reinforced door made of steel
"last time?"
"yeah I raided a hideout of the... 8 heads was it? before"
the captain gave a frown but didn"t comment further instead he gave a few hand signals towards the door and to the other 2 dark knights that both gave a nod before the oldest of them walked past Mars and began checking the door for traps, Mars gave a sigh and walked up to the door
"it"s not that I don"t like your style old man, but...."
Mars put a hand on the door and activated his [Energy: discharge] blowing the door clean of its hinges with a loud bang
"I just prefer to go in with a bang"
Mars walked past the old dark knight that was rubbing his ears while looking at Mars with resentful eyes
"intruders!"
"kill them all!"
"Victoria go ahead and cut off any of the ones that are running away"
"okay..."
Victoria jumped into a shadow and disappeared meanwhile Mars deflected a crossbow bolt that was aimed at his head with a calm smile on his face
"time to go wild!"