The Auras I felt were strangely similar to the Vampire Powers of Rose or Camilla, were they Vampires then?! But why were they down- Ah, I think I can guess what's going on.
My senses never fail me, I think these are Camilla's "backup plan" as she told me beforehand… I don't know if they're NPC or Players, but maybe these Vampires are like her servants, or friends, and are here to protect the castle.
I never thought she would have a whole second organization aside from her Guild, which is one of the strongest Guilds in the entire Server… She's sure filled with secrets.
Not only living a double life as the Queen of a Human Kingdom, having a child with an inhabitant of this world, being the Guild Master of the strongest guild while pretending to be a man in there, all while she is probably some sort of Underworld Vampire Queen with a large following of bloodthirsty servants…
And that's all just my assumptions, I have a lot of imagination. Maybe it could be something even crazier, who knows?
I will simply ask her directly once the opportunity arises, for now, we better concentrate in what we needed to do.
Although the debt was paid, I need to most likely complete the quest by restoring Ambil's reputation to an extent, and most likely going back to the Divine Forge to talk with the Divine Forge Spirit.
But we can do this once we're done with this subject. I want to kill three birds with one stone, restoring Ambil's reputation, stopping this trio of villains, and convincing the King he's valuable enough.
"Welcome back."
The King greeted us with a rather exhausted-looking face, it seemed he had been up since yesterday, and had been assessing things to heighten the security of their castle.
Little Gustav was there too, sitting on his mother's lap while Camilla greeted us with a smile and a wave of her hand.
"King Luminous, I've brought back Ambil and also… this trio of ruffians." Said David.
"Ruffians?! Watch your mouth, knight!" Adman said.
"We're not ruffians, we are prestigious blacksmiths!"
"We're the forgery brothers, your majesty!"
The King analyzed them while squinting his eyes, rubbing his beardless chin.
"I see, I have heard quite a lot from you. I have also heard you sell a lot and are contributing quite well to other guilds, especially the Magician Guild…" Said the King. "Well done for that…"
He praised them, making the trio even prouder of themselves. I had to admit it, they were hard workers I guess.
However, that didn't mean that they had to bully Ambil and annoy him so much!
"Your majesty, as promised, I've brought my products for you to see… And also, the have brought theirs." Ambil said politely, bringing forth a huge wooden crate with items I had brought inside my inventory.
"My wife did inform me that you wanted me to appraise who had better craftmanship, yes." The King nodded. "It seems to have been Planta's idea?"
"Indeed, your majesty." I nodded. "I'm sorry if it was a bit rash, but they were constantly abusing and bullying my friend Ambil here. They said they were going to use their money and reputation to make the Merchant and Blacksmith Guilds revoke his licenses to forcefully buy his property. I couldn't stand such villainy."
"What? Is that the truth?!" The King quickly got angrier. "You…!"
"Eep! S-She lies, your majesty!"
"It wasn't… completely like that."
"You see, Ambil's license was already going to be revoked, he had been lazing around for years!"
"Hmph…" The King then gave Ambil a sharp gaze. "Is this true, Ambil?"
"Is it, your majesty. However Planta is also not wrong, they were using this as an excuse to extort me out of my property." Ambil sighed.
"I see… Let us decide this with this little contest then! I will see both of your equipment and decide which one is better, whoever has the better equipment will be favored by me." The King said. "And will be rewarded, meanwhile, the other will be punished. Are you ready for this?"
"We are!" The trio of brothers were ready.
"I am." Ambil nodded without doubting himself anymore.
"Very well, bring me the weapons."
The King called David, as he brought him everything they brought with themselves, they were placed over a wide table in front of the King, the Queen, and the young Prince.
"S-So many items, papa!" Little Gustav was amazed.
"Well, you can choose one once we're done here." His father seemed to love spoiling his son.
"Oway!" Gustav smiled happily, as Camilla caressed his blonde hair.
"How about you start, dear? We can spoil our son once we're done." Camilla seemed to be hurrying him up.
"A-Ah, yes."
The King nodded, quickly beginning to analyze every item. Ambil and the trio of siblings remained in silence as the King simply took a glance at the items, then held them, and even temporarily wielded them to try their abilities.
"Hmm, I see."
Once he was finally done, he left the equipment over the table once more, nodding.
"Do you know what is funny about this?" He suddenly asked.
Everyone remained in silence, not knowing what he meant.
"F-Funny?" Asked Ambil.
"Yes! The funny thing about that trio of rascals walking right into my castle, thinking they could benefit from a connection you made on your own." Said the King. "It is really funny how much they boasted about their mediocre equipment."
"M-Mediocre?!"
The trio of brothers were left speechless after they screamed in unison, almost connected as a single entity…
"But your majesty, how can our work be mediocre compared to that lazy man?!"
"T-There must be some sort of error…"
"Your majesty!"
"Are you saying the King is wrong?" Asked Camilla with an angered expression. "You dare talk back to your ruler? To my husband? Do you want me to execute you right here?!"
The Queen mercilessly unleashed her Aura of Magic, three needles made of blood appeared above the trio's heads…
"Eeep!"
"W-We are sorry!"
"We didn't mean to disrespect you!"
The brothers quickly kneeled down, begging for their lives.
"That's enough, dear. Although it would be swifter to just kick you out, I will explain myself."
