Chapter 59: Imperial Prince
"Ahem," Michel said, standing in front of Ultimatum. His nose was still a bit red from the fall just a second ago, but thankfully he had a few dozen health capsules to keep him in good shape.
A couple of guards stood behind him, their bodies tensed up in case Michel fell again.
"I have arrived--" Michel tried to say, but gave up the act, "Ugh... it\'s me. You get the gist... its no fun to act all high and mighty with my nose still stinging. Just get in the carriage behind mine. You all know who I am." Michel suddenly said with an unimpressed look on his face, turning and entering the vehicle he was just in.
It was as though he was a child who didn\'t want to play anymore after getting hurt.
"Uh, right. Yes sir." Hanzo said, first to walk forward. Ultimatum followed him, all getting onboard the carriage behind Michel\'s.
"Guards! You know what to do!" Michel\'s voice rang from the carriage in front.
"Y-yes sir!" One of the guards said. The other guards got on their respective carriages and left the area at once. This one guard, however, neared Ultimatum\'s carriage with a small scroll in hand.
Tyr popped his head out of the window to look at what the guard was doing.
The guard opened the scroll, beginning to chant something under his breath. Afterward, he placed his hand on the carriage. A red aura traveled from the scroll into the carriage through his hand.
After a second of delay, Ultimatum\'s carriage pulled forward on its own and morphed into Michel\'s carriage.
It became longer. Tyr looked with heightened brows of surprise as he saw this happen.
He could see Michel now, but for some reason, the royal\'s carriage was blocked by what looked to be wooden bars. Moreover, Michel\'s part of the carriage was elevated compared to Ultimatums.
\'What a weird setup. It\'s like we are in jail or something.\' Tyr thought to himself, \'And not only is this guy in an elevated position, but he\'s taking all that carriage space for himself. Tsk.\'
Tyr looked back out at the guard outside, who walked to his own carriage and rode away.
"That guy\'s Ancestral Ability isn\'t to morph carts is it?" He questioned at that moment.
"Nah..." Yurin answered, "The scroll he was holding allowed him to do that. It\'s an inscription scroll, meaning it has an Aura Array placed inside of it by someone else. All he has to do is activate it using his own Aura and whatever was inscribed will take place."
"I see..." Tyr replied, slightly impressed at the idea of these Aura Arrays.
"They are mass-produced in Rock Saelfine. Most of those in Ainsveld come from Rock Saelfine." Jonas said at that moment, taking Tyr aback slightly.
"In all of the continent? Wow... it\'s quite a niche item though. Why would it need to be mass-produced?"
Hanzo replied this time: "This is meant to transfer slaves. And it just so happens to be that Rock Saelfine is the largest slave capital in all of Ainsveld. It practically runs on the slave trade."
Tyr furrowed his brows: \'Slaves huh... so I\'m finally getting closer to that part of the world.\' His eyes peered over at Michel.
\'Unlike a lot of things after coming to Subworld, having slaves is something I still can\'t justify. Hell, I\'ve even justified murder at this point. But slavery... I don\'t care who you are, what you want, or any other reason under the sun... it just seems so pathetic.\'
\'Master...\' Rudra\'s voice chimed in at that moment.
\'Hmm?\' Tyr replied, a bit surprised by his pet\'s sudden call.
\'What if... one deserves to be a slave?\'
\'W-what?\'
\'You probably think that slaves are simply good people turned into working hogs and tortured, and that is true most of the time, but maybe criminals sometimes should be slaves.\'
Tyr squinted his eyes. He hadn\'t really thought of it like that.
\'Hmm...\' He was torn on whether that would justify it or not.
\'Think of it this way...\' Rudra said, \'What about those horrible slave owners themselves? The ones that torture and rape their slaves. Don\'t you think they--\'
\'Yes.\' Tyr interrupted Rudra, his expression stern, \'On second thought, that would be a perfect justification for slavery. Thanks, Rudra, you\'ve opened my mind up some more.\'
"Listen up, you Hunters!" Michel suddenly yelled, catching everyone\'s attention.
"I sent my guards away, so you all better protect me with your lives! If you do, you know what\'s waiting for you after you complete this dungeon mission. We are heading to the Truid Dungeon!"
"Hmm... yes." Hanzo replied, "The rumored most dangerous dungeon to show up throughout the south of Ainsveld."
Michel paused before speaking, "Yes... and I bought the rights to it as soon as it came out. I\'m eager to retrieve its treasures for myself. Consider yourselves lucky, pipsqeaks. You are all from the tiny Dynasty of Seris, which is like the piss droplets of Rock Saelfine.
I could have hired any Hunters from Rock Saelfine, but I wanted to keep this mission secret, so I hired the best in the region closeby to the dungeon. I don\'t have time to wait for those any further. This quest is a gift from me to you..."
"Yes." Yurin quickly replied, "And we thank you for this opportunity."
Everyone looked at him as he said this, including Michel--who had a slightly disdainful look.
After a pause, he harrumphed and turned the other way, "Sure... It will take us 1 day to get there, so prepare yourselves. And don\'t forget, if you try to steal any artifact inside there for yourself, you will be punished by me. Or in other words, by the Imperial Prince of Rock Saelfine. Or, in other other words, the entire Rock Saelfine Imperial Cavalry."
He tried to sound threatening, his voice sounding like an annoying 40-year-old Dutch woman.
Nonetheless, what he said was still scary. The voice didn\'t matter when flexing the shit Michel flexed.
Tyr laid back whilst looking up, \'One more level... I guess I\'ll get it during the quest.\' He looked at everyone else. Yurin, Urvil, and Cyllia were playing a game of rock paper scissors. Hanzo was snoozing, and Jonas was looking out the window.
\'Let the quest begin.\'