The Ghost's Mandate
The campfire crackled, casting long, dancing shadows against the ruins of an old watchtower. Anna stared into the flames, her bowl of stew untouched.
"Jessica," Anna said softly, her voice barely audible over the wind. "Don't you find it strange? We haven't had a single messenger from King Durmount in half a year. Not one crow. Not one secret signal."
Jessica didn't look up from sharpening her blade. The rhythmic shink-shink of stone on steel was the only response for a long moment. "The King is cautious, Anna. Leornars has eyes everywhere. He's probably laying low until we bring him the Demon King's head as a trophy."
"Anna pressed, her brow furrowing. "What if the order we're following doesn't exist anymore?"
Jennifer let out a sharp, cold laugh from across the fire. "Does it matter? The King gave us a task. Kill the Leornars, kill the Demon King. The order is etched into our status windows. Whether the old man is sipping wine in his palace or rotting in a cellar, the mission remains. We need the levels. We need the power."
"It matters if we're fighting for a ghost!" Anna snapped, standing up. The other heroes went silent, eyes darting between the three girls. "We're marching into the Demon Lands because a man who might be dead told us to. Meanwhile, Leornars is rebuilding the world. Have you heard the travelers? They say Durmount has a new ruler. A woman named Natalie Sulina."
"Propaganda," Jessica hissed, finally looking up. Her eyes were bloodshot. "Leornars is a master of lies. He puts a puppet on a throne and tells the peasants it's spring. We are the only ones who know the truth. We are the only ones who can stop the 'white plague' from turning the world into a marketplace."
She stood up, towering over Anna. "We follow the King's last command. Anything else is desertion. Ask Sahara and Sasha what happens to deserters."
Anna flinched, the memory of her friends' deserted by the group while she was behind getting loots silencing her. She sat back down, but the feeling in her gut only grew colder. They weren't heroes; they were an unpaid debt, wandering the continent in search of a purpose that had already been liquidated.
As the gates of Ashvilliah opened the following morning, the sheer scale of the "appreciation" was overwhelming.
"Look at them," Jason whispered, waving to a crowd of cheering merchants. "They still believe in us. The King of Durmount was right—the world needs us."
"It's a bit thick, isn't it?" Caleb remarked, though he was smiling. "They're treating us like we've already won. I haven't seen this much gold lace since we arrived in this world."
Thomas pulled his horse up alongside the leaders. "If Ashvilliah is this prosperous, their King must have a backbone. If we can secure a formal alliance between Ashvilliah and the remnants of Durmount, we can create a pincer movement. We take the North, Leornars loses his trade routes, and we squeeze him until his 'liquid assets' run dry."
"Logic," Jennifer nodded. "I like it. Thomas, you handle the diplomatic protocols. Tell the King we represent the 'True Crown of Durmount.'"
"And if he asks about the current state of our Kingdom?" Thomas asked.
"Tell him the King is 'indisposed' but the military remains loyal," Jessica commanded.
Anna watched them plan, her heart sinking. They were talking about military pincer movements and sovereign alliances, yet she noticed something no one else did. The "Hero Brooches" they wore—the symbols of their status—were made of a cheap alloy. But the merchant guards in the crowd? Their armor was etched with a familiar, geometric seal.
"Hey, Thomas," Anna whispered, pulling on his sleeve.
"Not now, Anna, I'm calculating the potential tribute we can request."
"Look at the guards' shields," she insisted.
Thomas looked. Down a side alley, a squad of Ashvilliah's elite guard was patrolling. On the corner of their shields was a tiny, gold-stamped mark: a stylized 'A' entwined with a scale.
"Avangard," Anna whispered. "Leornars' mark. This kingdom isn't welcoming us because they hate the Auditor. They're welcoming us because we're a spectacle. We're the entertainment."
Thomas paled, but he quickly masked it. "Don't be ridiculous. This is the Kingdom of Beginnings. They would never bow to a common tax collector."
"Everyone get some rest!" Jennifer's voice boomed, cutting through Anna's warning. "Tomorrow we meet the King. Tomorrow, the world remembers why we were summoned!"
The cheers rose to a deafening roar, drowning out the sound of the invisible chains tightening around them. They were walking into a throne room to meet a King, unaware that the man who had sent them there was six months in the grave, and the woman who now held his seal was currently signing a trade agreement with the very man they sought to kill.