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As the double doors opened for the throne room, gone were the courtiers and miscellaneous people from earlier. As of now, only the Emperor and his daughter were the only ones ushering me and Guidance into the jade room. As usual, Shizu was in front of us, and we bowed in time with whenever the princess did it herself.

"I\'ve brought them here as requested, Father," Shizu respectfully announced.

"Rise."

At the Emperor\'s grunt, the three of us got our gazes off the green floor and up to where the man was sitting. He now wore something a bit simpler, in my opinion; a jade kimono still, but nothing as billowy as the one he wore when we fought, at least. The golden staff that almost killed me was present by his side now, and overall, the man just looked healthier for some odd reason.

Oh wait, that was Guidance\'s fault.

"Once again, I must thank you two for giving me one of the best experiences I\'ve had in a long time," the Emperor spoke with a slight smile. "I must especially thank Lady Guidance for healing me away from death\'s door. Truly, her [Manifest] is something that not even our enemies could possibly comprehend."

"T-thank you, Your Majesty," the dev preened. "It\'s the least I could do."

And wasn\'t that affair so unnecessarily flashy... Seeing Guidance using her thing to heal was as disorienting as it was effective. The moment she pressed her enter key, the world around the Emperor barely held itself together as ones and zeroes appeared around him to fix the damage. I still remember Shizu barely keeping herself together as she forced herself to look at the unnatural phenomenon in front of her. To the princess\'s credit, however, she didn\'t vomit, unlike last time. Heh, and-

"And as for you, Moriya..."

I barely stopped myself from flinching in surprise. My eyes refocusing, the Emperor was now looking right at me with a hint of amusement.

"You might not be as strong as I am now, but I can see the enormous potential that you hold," he complimented. "As you are, you are more than ready to take the fight to the enemy."

"Uhmm... T-thank you...."

It took all of my willpower to not phrase my thanks in a questioning tone. I mean, what was I supposed to feel with what he just said?

"Princess Caris, your friends are more than capable of turning the tide of battle to our favor," he nodded, now addressing Shizu as he looked at her. "And seeing as you are now a [Somatic] yourself, you will be required to fight for the good of the Empire."

Stealing a glance, one would think that Shizu was unaffected by what was being said to her. But knowing her enough, the glimmer in her eyes told me everything she was feeling underneath that elegant exterior of hers. She was pretty excited. Frothing at the mouth even.

"Of course," she saluted, giving her father a slight bow. "I shall do my best to serve for the betterment of our fair Empire."

"Good."

And with that, a terse silence settled between the four of us. Guidance was content with just standing beside me and following my lead, while I myself followed Shizu\'s lead as she stood still in front of us. I was pretty sure something significant was about to happen, but I wouldn\'t count my eggs until they hatched. Besides... wait... why was I thinking about this again?

"Now, seeing as [Vestyge] has launched an unprovoked attack this deep into Imperial territory, it is only proper that we respond in kind."

Oh right, I decided to help the Empire. And now that I remember it, I should really ask Guidance if there was some sort of Reputation system here or something.

"As such, I\'ve decided to arrange for a small strike team to sail to [Vestyge] and attack the aggressors."

"Eh?"

My eyes widened. Was that Guidance just now?

"Is there something wrong with this plan, Guidance?"

The dev immediately froze from where she stood. Her voice stuttered as she quickly denied, "N-Nothing, Your Majesty."

"Are you certain?" the Emperor musingly asked. "I can arrange for a different plan should a better option present itself."

I actually tried thinking up of something right then and there. Then I realized that I didn\'t have all of the details required to even do such a thing. Maybe arrange for a full mobilization of their troops? But then, how far away was [Vestyge] even?

"No, Your Majesty," Guidance insisted. "It\'s nothing."

"As you say," the man grumbled. He then cleared his throat before continuing, "To continue, I am planning on sending a handful of our [Somatics] into this venture. While the primary objective is to do as much damage to the enemy as possible, this also counts as a reconnaissance mission."

I nodded in understanding. A sensible plan so far, but I could only guess we\'ll be flying relatively solo in this. Unless...

"We\'ve come, Your Majesty!"

As if by fate, or some sort of trigger, a rather sizeable man decked out in full plate armor appeared from behind the throne. He had a shield on his back and what was clearly a sword on his hilt. His blonde hair was in a buzz cut, and overall, he just looked like an army man in paladin clothes.

"It is as he says, Your Majesty..." And to my own surprise, yet another man voiced out his arrival. Walking beside the army paladin, his long brown hair almost reached his shoulders. He wasn\'t dressed in armor, but his standard suit looked like he was more fit to be a butler than anything else. "Ah? Another beautiful lady has joined our ranks along with the princess?"

"Kya~"

My eyes widened at the voice that just came out from beside me. Looking at the dev, she was actually blushing like there was no tomorrow, her hands covering her face as she acted like the stereotypical schoolgirl. My eyes came back to the new arrival, and I could only guess that Guidance was crushing hard on her own design.

Seriously?

"These men will be accompanying you on your journey," the Emperor introduced the two.

"Maruki Storm reporting for duty!"

"Shade Dryer, at your service."

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AN: Kindly vote so that I can get back to 2 chaps per day ^^