Ding!
Ding!
Back in his armor, Sylvester stood in front of the open window of his room, which overlooked the distant city walls. He could hear the sounds of bells ringing all around, and this time they were ringing from within the Hundred Castle City.
The sound of hooves of horses running around in a rush was akin to music to his ears. He could imagine the chaos and confusion after the administration found an empty treasury. How did the thief steal it? How many thieves were there? How did they carry it all?
The questions were simple, but answering them was nearly impossible. They could never, in their wildest dream, imagine that all their wealth was now sitting inside the belly of a little cat.
"Wake up, Miraj. We have work to do." Sylvester shook Chonky, who snored happily on the bed without a care for the world. He had gone to sleep the moment they returned from their little heist.
"Nyoo…Let me sleep more…Chonky is tired, belly too full."
Sylvester chuckled and sat down on the bed beside Miraj. He began to slowly tickle his belly to wake him up. "Who are you fooling? I know that dimensional space does not affect your hunger or physical body. You're just being lazy."
"Nyooooo~" Miraj meowed. "Using the power makes me tired. I'm just a little kitty."
"Fine, I'll go and get my breakfast alone. I think I'll get a banana shake today." Sylvester stood up and headed to the door.
Thud!
Before he reached the doorknob, Miraj landed on his shoulder, perching himself there with full attention. "Make it two!"
"You're too easy."
…
Sylvester left his room, grabbed his breakfast, and returned to wait outside the Princess's room as he had nothing to do. He wasn't assigned to any special duty, nor had the Princess told him about any major plan for the day.
Bam!
"Let's go!"
Princess Fernis suddenly emerged from her chamber in ordinary clothes. Her face wore a slight frown, and her brows cutely shot up. Unfortunately, she was too beautiful to look aggressive.
Silently, Sylvester followed behind, this time with Chonky perched on his shoulder. He didn't ask her any questions, as it wasn't his place to do so. Moreover, he knew she was going to tell him soon enough, as he knew her personality very well.
"Can you believe it?!"
'Here she goes.'
"That bitch! Lady Neris is spreading rumors about me, claiming I am sleeping with you," Fernis said, resembling a hissing cat rather than an enraged maiden.
'You did try that.' Sylvester thought to himself.
"How can she say that? I haven't done that yet. She's so proud of her long silky hair—I'll shave her head today!" Fernis started to stretch her shoulders.
'Princess, what do you mean by "yet"?' Sylvester silently wondered.
Soon enough, they reached the vicinity of the castle exit. It was extremely crowded that day as knights of various ranks roamed about. The administration workers also scurried around with documents in hand.
"What happened here?" Sylvester asked the Princess.
"Nothing. Someone stole all the money from the treasury, and now everyone is panicking. Father and big brother went to check the situation themselves. I suppose they didn't find any clues." Fernis replied, sounding unusually calm for someone whose entire fortune had been stolen.
Sylvester drew closer to her. "Aren't you worried? Without money, how will the Empire function?"
She shrugged. "The treasury outside only housed the main vaults, but they were not the only ones. We have some here, too, enough for the family to survive and tackle any emergencies. Besides, we have so many gold statues and other valuables all around. Even without gold, we're very rich. But, if the worst were to happen…" She looked at him with a seductive grin, which only looked childish to Sylvester's eyes. "Won't you protect me, my dear personal guard?"
Sylvester nodded only. 'Those women spreading rumors aren't really wrong.'
"Stop! No one is allowed to leave the Royal Castle."
Just as they tried to exit, a senior Royal Knight prevented them from leaving. A hundred more knights stood behind him, blocking the exit.
Fernis scoffed and pushed the Knights aside. "I'm the Princess! Have you gone blind to not recognizing me? I am going to the garden in the backyard. Now move, or I won't be merciful."
"The orders are to—"
"I can also order someone to remove your rank and position later. Will that suffice?" Fernis was the real hidden lioness in the castle. That was evident.
With a sigh and a looming fear for his job, the Knight stepped aside. "Please don't leave the vicinity of the castle."
Without uttering another word, Fernis and Sylvester exited the castle and went to the gardens in the backyard. It was a simple, usual green field with trees and some small ponds for birds. Flowers surrounded the area, and, of course, there were friendly dogs and cats to soothe one's mind.
"There she is!" Fernis stomped her foot and walked faster towards a table under a big tree. "Hey! Lady Neris! How dare yo—"
"Princess!" The beautiful woman, middle-aged, brown-skinned, and apparently crying, leaped from her seat and rushed towards Fernis instead.
In an instant, Fernis' attack misfired, and she stopped rushing. She turned around and ran to hide behind Sylvester. "Jack! Save me. She's coming to attack me."
'What am I doing with my life?' Sylvester couldn't help but wonder. 'I should be training or destroying the Empire. I only have one bloody year.'
He sighed, unsheathed his sword, and pointed it at the oncoming lady. "Halt, woman! Any attack on the Princess will earn you this blade on that neck!"
Thud!
The woman dropped to her knees, her face looking like an ugly mess from the tears and ruined makeup. She almost prostrated herself and cried out, "Princess Fernis…Please speak with His Majesty…Please save Lord Puzsi! My husband is innocent."
"..."
"..."
Sylvester and Fernis both remained speechless for a few seconds. First of all, the name was not something they felt comfortable speaking aloud, and secondly, they had no idea who the woman's husband was.
Fernis walked out from behind Sylvester. "Who is your husband?"
"My Puzsi! My dear husband, the renowned Knight of the olden days, the Golden Tiger was his famed name. He was the overseer of the treasury where the theft happened!" She cried out the explanation.
"Golden Tiger? He's the Fifteenth Grand Wizard of the Empire, isn't he? Woah, I didn't know you were married to such a famous man. But why are you crying here? Did he steal the money?" Fernis asked.
"No!" Lady Neris shouted. "He didn't…But all the other Grand Wizards there accused him, claiming he was the only one near the money when others went to check the explosions. How can he move so much gold alone, Princess?"
All Sylvester heard was soothing music to his ears. 'Internal politics among the Grand Wizards? I suppose it's possible.'
Sylvester understood that in the East, each Kingdom had, at best, two or three Grand Wizards, ranked by their power. In the Holy Land, it depended on one's faith, strength, and experiences. But here, they had twenty-five Grand Wizards, and with only ten power levels to the hierarchy, some of them were likely the same level, yet ranked differently.
'Perhaps it's time to divide and conquer the backbone of Masan's power. With them compromised, I can go on to kill the Emperor!'
Finding fortune in another's misfortune was a part of his spy work, and he was going to exploit it with all his heart. But first, it was necessary to implicate all the Grand Wizards from that night.
"Sorry, I can't help him if the crimes labeled against him are so big. If he truly had nothing to do with it, he will be released. Jack, let's go. I'm done here." Fernis coldly stated and walked away.
"No! Please, Princess…!"
Sylvester blocked the woman from approaching Fernis and followed her back into the castle. The rest of the day, since they could not leave the castle, they spent time in Fernis's chamber. She painted, took a bath, told Sylvester stories while trying to make advances, and ate Eastern Cuisine in an attempt to impress Sylvester.
Eventually, night fell, and Sylvester found himself alone in his room. The city was under intense lockdown, so he had no plans of going out. After all, that night, his target was within the castle itself.
"Chonky, vomit up ten thousand gold coins we took last night."
"Uwaaa!" Miraj vomited gold right then. "Donated, Maxy…They donated it."
"Hah, indeed." Sylvester chuckled and sorted the money in various pouches. Each held a different amount of gold.
After that, Sylvester started to make his way to the training hall, where the Grand Wizards stayed most of the time. It was only for the Grand Wizards ranked above number ten, as the first ten had their personal chambers.
Of course, Sylvester didn't dare enter there or go close to it. Instead, he sent Miraj inside.
"Place one of each pouch in random rooms with beds. Hide them under their beds if you can, and if you can find who it belongs to according to their number, make sure you go for number fifteen or higher." He briefed Miraj.
"Got it," Miraj whispered and quickly flew away. It was a blessing that he could fly since it meant no paw marks anywhere.
'Perhaps by the end of this month, I'll break the Empire in four. I have the candidates for the new Kingdoms ready…Just need to make it official.'
Sylvester waited a distance away from the Grand Wizard's resting area. It was night, so there wasn't much movement anyway, and most of the knights were outside, searching for the money, so the castle was mostly empty.
'But Shadow of Masan, who are you?' Sadly, Sylvester felt no joy in his accomplishment as the biggest thorn was still stuck in his throat.
'Sylvester…!'
'Are you there? It's me…!'
"Hmm?" Sylvester turned his head left and right to look, but there was nobody there. Yet the voice calling his name felt so close.
'Father, I'm using your technique…'
Sylvester immediately closed his eyes behind the mask and allowed the piercing sensation to enter his mind. He finally knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of the Solarium Web.
'Xylena? Have you mastered it? When?' He asked without physically speaking.
'Hardly…I can't keep this up for long…Lady Aurora asked me to do this…Please come to the house quickly. She found the fourth Guardian of Light. He's h—'
The words got abruptly cut off midway. 'Xylena? Are you there?'
Sylvester sighed and opened his eyes once again. He couldn't attempt to speak to her while standing in the hallway, so he could only wait for Miraj.
'She found Lord Soulbreaker? But the bigger question is, which camp does he belong to?'
