Resume:
The daily life of Rudel and her friends is threatened by people who find it repulsive that two nobles are with a commoner girl. To make matters worse, a dark shadow threatens the country and no one can stop him.
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In a room of the Royal Palace, two men were seated eating at a table; both had steaks with lentils and were drinking wine.
The man on the right was robust and tall, his hair was red with black roots, his eyes were the same color. His face had a large diagonal scar that ran across his nose to his cheek, giving the impression of being angry with a touch of roughness. His name was Sven van Arses, a general, Earl of the Kingdom of Altfode, and he was known as the God of War.
In contrast, the man at the other end was taller, with handsome features and a mature expression, his beard was short but very fine. His hair and eyes were lemon green and extended down to his waist. He was Heinkel van Nightray, a general and Margrave of the same kingdom, nicknamed the Noble Strategist for his great feats.
Both were legends in the country, they had mismatched personalities that always led to fights between them, but they were still close friends since both were patriots who loved and fought for the good of their country.
Their dinner was somewhat special as they were discussing a trivial matter.
"How is your son?" Sven asked with his mouth full, spitting bits of meat.
Heinkel, after covering his face with a napkin, responded politely but in a very annoyed tone.
"He's doing very well, thank you. I punished him after his defeat, but only for being overconfident; I told him many times that the battlefield, no matter how safe, will always have risks."
After finishing speaking, he proceeded to eat while his companion, after a long sip of wine, responded.
"My boy is an idiot, I always told him that if you're not stronger than your enemy, you'll end up dead, and look what happened. I didn't punish him, I just beat him a lot... losing to a peasant, how humiliating."
Sven, looking at his plate after thinking about his son's humiliating defeat, shouted to one of the servants to bring him more wine.
The servant ran hurriedly and apologized for the delay, Sven dismissed him with a wave of his hand. Heinkel looked at him with a face that said it was embarrassing to be with him.
Before putting a vegetable in his mouth, he spoke.
"Speaking of that pea--- country baron. Did you know that His Majesty the King forgave him for hitting the Crown Prince? Not only that, he even rewarded him by giving him a knighthood!"
Sven swallowed his food before responding.
"I know. I'm upset about that, that boy should have been sent to the gallows for hitting the Crown Prince... no, the prince, he's nothing now."
There was an awkward silence after that, the servants in the room were worried about the sudden quiet.
Sven resumed the conversation.
"Changing to something truly important. How's that matter about the spy you found?"
Heinkel wiped his mouth before answering.
"He committed suicide."
"Th-that's a joke, right?"
"I'm afraid not, as he swallowed a pill he had hidden under his tongue. The bastard didn't even show respect for his country to avoid trouble."
Sven, after finishing eating, wiped his mouth with several napkins and then a servant came to collect his plate. He responded to his companion in a more serious tone.
"Nothing can be done. On my part, I found a strange burned document in a camp on a commoner's island."
"Hmph, very interesting. What did it contain?"
"It was... how do I explain it? It had a strange shape."
"Strange, you say?"
"Yes. It was long, very long in fact, larger than a canoe. It had a plank at each end of the middle of its body and..."
"And?" Heinkel said with an expression of extreme curiosity.
Sven had a complicated look as he answered.
"Well, it was shaped like a ship's propeller... but it wasn't made of wood, but of steel."
"Steel, you say?! Something like that should be impossible to use as the spin would slow the takeoff too much."
"I know, but the weirdness doesn't end there."
"There's more?"
"Let me finish... where do you think I found this clue?"
"You said it was a commoner's island, right? What do you mean now?"
Sven made an unpleasant smile after that.
"It was near the border of the Kingsfort Duchy."
Heinkel quickly rose from his chair, making it fall.
"The Kingsfort Duchy, you say!!"
"Calm down." Sven told him not to get excited.
"As you hear, but it's too quick to jump to conclusions. It's true that for years the Kingsfort family has had numerous and mysterious corruption cases that all ended up just being lies."
"But this is serious, they are our only defense against the Talis Commonwealth and one of the largest mithril mines is located there, so the palace has little authority."
Sven brought his hairy hand to his chin.
"I don't know what's happening lately, but the duke has recently locked himself in his territory without leaving."
Heinkel had been listening for a while after getting up from his chair, it was finally his turn to speak, but his words made the entire room swallow saliva in unison.
"For months I've been hunting the mercenary group, the [Black Ouroboros], their whereabouts are currently untraceable thanks to the Kingsfort Duchy."
The people around them couldn't believe it.
"Hey, are you serious?! No matter how much of a bastard they are, no. No matter what human scum you are, making a deal with those guys is an international crime. The Empire itself supports hunting them down among different organizations just to eliminate them!!"
"Has the Duke lost his mind? Why didn't they let you enter!"
Heinkel looked at him without blinking.
"I told them the same, but they said they would handle it themselves. Perhaps as a means to obtain forgiveness... according to that, the duke doesn't leave his territory, they're trying to say that too."
Sven looked with an annoyed face at his calm companion.
"What are those miserable fools thinking. Don't they understand that 'that man' is possibly in our country! Fear and chaos will spread if this is known."
After saying that loudly, Sven looked fiercely at the servants. Heinkel calmed him down.
"Calm down, the servants are part of the palace; if they did anything foolish, it would be trouble for their families and then for them."
The servants swallowed their saliva, then said they wouldn't do anything. Heinkel smiled slightly upon hearing that.
He watched his companion insulting the servants.
His thoughts were solely on that person.
(Infiltrating a country that wants to cut off your head is a very stupid decision... or, perhaps there is someone helping him?)
His gaze shifted to his wine, which was turning dark.
(Damn you. Bloody Knight...)