
...—Suretz Border Town, Gardom— Kingdom...
...—18 December 1238—...
The atmosphere of the border city of Gardom Kingdom which is in the southern coastal area of the strait that borders the western continent with the mainland that became the territory of the Republic of Ecasia feels very lively.
The festival has been celebrated, today is a very historic day for residents of the Border Town of Suretz. It was never imagined in their minds that the small town that almost never received the full attention of the Queen, Florentia, became the place where the high-level conference of the three countries would take place.
Houses and shops have been decorated, the typical medieval city stone streets have been repaired. The atmosphere was created lush, many parks and trees were placed along the main road, as if to indicate if the welcome given Florentia could not get the slightest scorn.
Crowded peddlers filled every corner of the city, the basic goods that every citizen needs subsidized because of the Queen's policy, showing the good faith of Gardom Kingdom which strongly welcomes the delegations of two other countries with a happy, warm and festive atmosphere.
Not far from the mansion where the border baron lived, the small ships of the Ecasia Republic delegation had filled the pier, temporarily removing the servants' boats from his stopover.
Nor is it different, not far from the coast, dozens of large ships of the Republic of Ecasia have lowered their anchors, he said, showing the prowess and height of technology owned by Ecasia even though it only stayed waiting until the three great nobles of the republic had returned to ride it.
Set on the main street of the city, with the guard of dozens of Knights Gardom who escorted from both sides of the road as well as the cheers of the residents, a caravan containing dozens of very luxurious horse carriages moved closer to the mansion of the Baron, the Baron, it looks very lively even though the people who are in the carriage do not show the slightest war for their own safety.
Even so, the atmosphere of excitement was not in the least luxurious carriage that had the emblems of the Aubert Family and Francois engraved on it. Acting as prime minister, Warren had a similar task to his superiors acting as a delegate from the Arestia Empire.
There's something wrong.
Warren's forehead wrinkled, his stature as if showing tremendous fatigue. Still, he could only be silent, astonished by the behavior of someone who was now sitting face to face with him accompanied by two legs crossed with a body that was stretched out.
Yeah.this is completely wrong.
The butler's uniform was something Ares wore right after he rejoined her. Warren never thought that his friend, who had conquered five countries and was the Emperor, would beg for a ride on one of the main street corners after being reunited with the main delegation.
Sitting right beside her, Gale also wore a black maid outfit with a short white skirt, enduring embarrassment with a flushed face, trying to pull her skirt so that both knees could be perfectly covered.
"Well..." Warren broke the silence, faceless difficult due to a slight confusion of how to reveal what was in his mind.
"What's that?" ask Ares.
"It's common knowledge that the head of state will be in a different caravan to a carriage that looks ordinary for security reasons." said Warren difficult.
"Then?" ares asked, re-raising his head that had previously been leaning to look at Warren.
"But...what's your reason for hiring that transportation service and ending up as bad as yesterday?" Warren turned his gaze sharply, not missing any of the behaviors Ares had, "Didn't you set out in a caravan that had very tight security? Besides, where are they at the moment?"
Plagued with a barrage of questions she couldn't possibly answer, Ares could only make a forced laugh, his gaze turned to the window behind the curtain.
"Y—yah... I have a reason for that." said Ares, his eyes running away to avoid seeing the Prime Minister.
Increasingly narrowed, Warren knew that Ares did not want to answer his question. A heavy sigh while momentarily closing his eyes made Warren slightly relax, intending to change his approach to speaking.
Although Warren has an assumption that Ares does not have the knowledge and skills of using weapons that surpass him, but the man in front of him has gone through several major battlefields, intelligence operations, and intelligence, until the infiltration that has a major threat to his safety.
Warren did not think that Ares did this unless the knights guarding his caravan were spies.
"Why can you make such a conclusion, Warren?" The facial expression instantly became serious, Ares pressed on the name of the man before him to take it seriously.
"Even for me, I left my daughter and Ann with some elite guard knights whom I trusted a lot to keep them safe... Didn't you feel that the air in the capital felt strange for the past few days?" timpal Warren's.
The Arestian Empire did not yet have a single official agency overseeing all of their intelligence operations. In the past year, Warren has deployed intelligence members from the House of Francois because the state does not have enough hands to quickly shape it.
Of course, Warren does not know if Eina is now a subordinate of Ares who specializes in the task. Moreover, even though the House of Francois had many subordinate nobles, he did not trust them completely.
"Have you signaled me to form an intelligence division?" Ares smiled wryly, staring at Warren's expression intently.
For a moment, Warren's gaze turned to Gale who remained busy in her servant's clothes. Thinking it was not the least bit to pierce the conversation of the two, a feeling of security arose because it did not offend the Cornwall Clan in Warren's mind.
"No need to think about it, I already have it under my palm." Ares' words made Warren close his lips again.
Various negative thoughts floated in Warren's mind. If Ares does not make the organization officially stand under the umbrella of state law, then various actions can be easily done.
It could have been the man before him ordering them to kill Warren's wife and daughter, though Warren didn't think Ares would do that. However, in the future, it does not rule out the possibility that the Francois and Aubert Families could have a dispute between the two, which is likely to be the cause of the destruction of the country.
"Don't worry, I've ordered them not to touch the House of Francois, no matter what," Ares said.
Doubt lingers in the heart, Ares's subordinates' abilities are under the spotlight from Warren, "Why are you so confident in their abilities?"
The question of insinuation had been thrown, Ares turned his face to look back at the curtain that had now been slightly opened, momentarily pensive by looking at the rows of horses of the knights and the cheers of the residents of the border town.
"To be honest, I never once had the peace of mind to leave Excel, Raze, and Orcian in full custody of the Cornwall Clan and my subordinate Intelligence Bureau." Ares' words made Gale's forehead wrinkle, feeling his abilities were greatly underestimated.
"A—"
"It doesn't mean I underestimated the Cornwall Clan's capabilities." Ares's words left Gale speechless again, "However, just that alone would not be enough if we faced two organizations from 'Seven.'"
Gale understood, there are some dark organizations that can be compared to the organization where it is housed. Despite wanting to refuse, wanting to argue, Gale realized that he was unable to do so.
So did Warren, hearing this, he could only break out in cold sweat. The eyes of the underworld had reached out to his little family. As prime minister of a great country, Warren knows he cannot escape the threat.
"Although I don't know when they will move towards Excelia." Ares smiled, trying to ease the tension that had enveloped the atmosphere inside the carriage.
"Because I've prepared 'Joker' if they use 'As' card."
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