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Sol nodded slowly. There wasn’t much else to add. Everything had happened so quickly.

"This is ridiculous…"

"I’m telling you the truth. Please believe me."

Zaman rubbed his temples, his expression grim. "That’s not the issue. I do believe you. It’s just… I could never have predicted this. In the span of a single minute, he incapacitated all the A-Rankers and escaped with the vampires, completely unnoticed. If you hadn’t spotted him before he made his move, we wouldn’t even know what happened."

Sol agreed. "I just happened to notice him on my way here. What do we do now?"

Zaman leaned back, his brows furrowed in thought. "I know you’ve been through a lot these past two days, but forget about the escape, there is nothing we could have done. We’ll handle the aftermath. You, however, have an urgent mission."

"A mission?" Sol’s confusion was evident. With the city still recovering, it seemed an odd time to assign him a new mission at this time.

"Yes." Zaman’s tone grew serious. "I don’t know the specific details, but the Saintess insists you must travel to the Sapphire Scale Alliance immediately. She said if you don’t, it will lead to a disaster that affects the entire region, including our kingdom."

"The Saintess said that?" Sol was visibly startled. "Did she mention anything else?"

Zaman shook his head. "No. Sometimes, she withholds specifics to avoid unintended consequences. However, she did say you must go alone and without any of our resources. I assume you might have an idea why. If not, you can ask her yourself."

’So… she chose to help me after all?’ Sol thought, still processing. Their last conversation hadn’t gone well, and he wasn’t sure what had changed. But if she was giving him an opportunity, he wasn’t going to hesitate.

He stood from his seat and saluted. "Understood, Commander. Should I leave today?"

"If you’re ready, then yes."

"I’ll inform my squad and say my goodbyes. I don’t know when I’ll return." In his mind, he added, ’Or if I will.’

Sol left the Commander’s office, his departure marked by the sound of his boots echoing down the hall. Zaman waited until the sound faded completely before pulling out a bottle of the city’s finest whisky from his drawer. It wasn’t ordinary whisky, this was a tier 9 brew, so potent that its aroma alone could incapacitate someone with less than 100 vitality. To Zaman, the smell only made his nose tingle.

He poured two glasses and spoke into the room. "Care to join me? Or will you keep eavesdropping?"

The office door opened, and a man in a black cloak stepped inside. He pulled back his hood, revealing an old man with gray hair. Silently, he sat in the chair Sol had vacated and gave a simple nod.

Zaman poured the man a drink and pushed it across the desk. "You haven’t visited since the king fell ill. I had to reach out just to speak to you every time. What’s changed?"

The man took a sip of the whisky, then placed the glass down. "The king is dead."

Zaman froze mid sip. He lowered his glass and reached for the bottle instead, downing its contents in one go before exhaling deeply.

"How?"

The man’s voice was calm as he explained. "His illness worsened during the vampire attack. The turbulent mana in the area destabilized his already fragile condition."

Very few people knew that the king suffered from an incredibly rare condition called Manaspill. This illness caused a person’s mana to leak continuously from their body without end. While a certain amount of mana leakage was normal, the issue with Manaspill lay in the excessive quantity of mana expelled. Those afflicted would lose mana faster than they could replenish it, eventually leading to a state of Mana Overdraft. The condition could manifest at any point in a person’s life and always struck without warning.

The king first noticed symptoms in his mid twenties when he observed a steady decline in his mana levels on his status page. At the time, he managed the issue by consuming mana recovery potions, which temporarily boosted his regeneration rate. However, this solution was short lived. As the years passed, the rate of leakage increased, forcing him to consume potions more frequently to offset the loss. By his fifties, the condition had progressed to the point where he required a constant infusion of mana potions directly into his body just to stay alive.

This year, even that was no longer sufficient. His body entered a perpetual state of Mana Overdraft, with the king frequently passing in and out of consciousness. Though the continuous injections of mana potions kept him alive for a time, it was clear that his condition was terminal.

The king, fully aware of his impending death, had planned for this eventuality. He fathered two children, with his firstborn son intended to inherit the throne. Tragically, the prince died in an unfortunate monster house incident during a dungeon expedition, leaving his younger daughter, Valerie, as the sole heir. However, Valerie was inexperienced and unprepared for such a monumental responsibility. The king recognized that passing the throne to her too soon would leave her vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation. Yet in his weakened state, he could no longer fulfill his duties as ruler either.

Caught between these two unfavorable options, the king fell into a deep coma before he could decide, this one far longer than his previous episodes, lasting several months. The kingdom was left in a precarious position, without a king or any authority figure sufficient enough to lead.

The cloaked man continued. "But just before he passed away, he woke up for the last time. He knew the next time he closed his eyes it would never open again so he gave us his final command."

"What were his final orders?" Zaman asked, though he already had an idea.

"To obey Princess Valerie, help her ascend the throne, and support her in any way necessary."

Zaman nodded as it fell within his expectations and followed up with another question. "Then why are you here and not with her?"

"She is currently resting, so we will begin by fulfilling the last part of his command." The man extended a hand, and from his spatial ring, two towering stacks of documents appeared on the desk. "These are reports originally meant for the late king. Use them as you see fit. I trust you’ll act in Her Highness’s best interests."

Zaman glanced at the papers, skimming the topmost report. It listed the names of nobles conspiring against the royal family. His fist clenched, shattering the empty whisky glass in his hand. Anger, partially fueled by the powerful drink he had, came to surface.

"This would’ve been useful months ago! Where were you and the Royal Shadows when we were struggling with the nobles?!" Zaman’s voice boomed, his frustration palpable. "The hell is wrong with you, Kreese?!"

Kreese, unperturbed, replied evenly. "We are only following orders. Even if Her Highness commands us to destroy the kingdom or end our lives, we will comply without question. That is our purpose. Now that we received this new order we will act upon it."

Zaman took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Dwelling on the past wouldn’t help now. He nodded. "Fine. Let’s work together to fix damage and make the kingdom thrive again."

Kreese’s expression didn’t change and plainly said, "If that is Her Highness’s will."