Dungeon of Niflheim

519 Chapter 519: Waves

While Frost and Maya quickly made their way towards Borris’ weapon shop the situation in the alley had taken on a rather tense atmosphere. General Warik, General Anya and sir Dalamar all wore serious expressions for differing reasons, each worried in their own way about how the situation went down. Being on the receiving end of a S-rank fighter’s ire was not something easily endured after all.

General Warik in particular was looking rather unwell after receiving Maya’s glare, only he knew how close he and the crown prince were to death. He looked down at the young man who prevented him from interfering with the assassination attempt with worry, the crown prince had kicked an iron board with his decision.

General Anya however was more worried about providing Frost with a suitable investigation and maintaining close or at the very least neutral relations with such a frightening character. Although she enjoyed seeing Randolph and Warik kick and iron board she was worried that the blowback would affect more than just them. This incident painted the entire Northrend empire in a dim light given that it involved the ruling family, the representatives of the empire.

The crown prince Randolph however looked the worst. His face rapidly switched from displaying unbridled hatred and a neutral almost robotic expression as if he was desperately trying to control his anger and failing. Never in his entire life had Randolph been so insulted, he was the crown prince of the powerful Northrend empire, even the noblest families had to curry favour with him yet this random elf with unknown background dared to threaten him in front of so many witnesses. So what if he used him as bait what did the life of a single no-name elf mean when it came to the workings of a royal. In his mind Frost should be honoured to be a part of his plans. The possibility of him being someone even more important than himself never crossed his mind. Even now his anger kept him from thinking straight, chocking Frost up to be nothing more than a lucky bastard who relied on that frightening woman’s protection. His status could never be as high as someone like him.

While Randolph continued to struggle with his anger, whispers already started spreading throughout the other witnesses. They muttered amongst one another and occasionally looked at the warped expression of Randolph and Warik as if seeing the two of them in a new light for the very first time. Randolph was the crown prince known far and wide as a righteous and brave individual who had the backing of many nobles and government officials who praised his talents, glorifying the day he ascended the throne. A supposed stark comparison to his younger brother who was known to be ruthless, insidious, cold and unworthy of the mantle of leadership in the eyes of the masses. However, despite such negative accolades the second prince was still in the running given that many Dukes and marquises of the noble faction backed him. The regular people all flocked towards the crown prince due to his bright and lawful depiction, this current event however threatened to change all that. Was the crown prince really as honourable as they believed?

A good image takes years to build up but moments to shatter, if Randolph didn’t stop the bleeding soon and thoroughly his reputation could take a real dive, giving his younger brother an avenue in which to attack.

“Your highness.” Warik whispered into Randolph’s ear and placed a heavy hand on his shoulders hoping to bring him into focus. The act however instantly angered Randolph who viciously swatted away Warik’s hand and glared at the General with hatred, as if focusing the entire fault of the situation on his ineptitude. The once calm and friendly crown prince now looked like a demonic monster.

Warik winced before quickly placing his hand back on Randolph’s shoulder. He squeezed tightly and repeated his words with some force and aura. He couldn’t allow his prince to keep such an expression, especially in public.

This time Randolph managed to curb his anger and retain a neutral albeit cold expression, but the damage was already done. Many onlookers stood aghast and even fearful as Randolph looked over them, as if he was marking them for death. Of course the thought had ran through his mind, but such an act was impossible, it would only further lower his reputation and open him up to retaliation. Plus given the amount, the levels of the onlookers and where they were it would be impossible to cover up the news of such a bloody act. No, he needed to smooth things over as best he could, and hope time would eventually smother this potential fire.

.....

As though the previous situation never happened Randolph smiled and did his best to calm down the waves, using his status and experience as a royal to the upmost. He successfully limited the damage and saved much of his reputation but in the end many were still sceptical and would likely be more prudent in regards to news about him in the future.

Angered and disappointed at his failure Randolph decided to cut his losses and left with General Warik, leaving General Anya in charge of the investigation and informing the Furanos. He wanted to split himself from the incident as much as possible.

Once he left the onlookers were ordered to disperse by Anya who then scoured the area for possible clues. Tales of this incident quicky made the rounds throughout of the gossip circles, inns and taverns of the empire.

Dalamar returned to his granddaughter’s side after Anya dispersed everyone.

“What’s up grandpa, why’d you rush out so quickly?” Natalie who was still rather awestruck by her grandfather’s sudden seriousness quickly asked for the deets the moment he got back.

Dalamar looked down at his granddaughter and pondered on whether to tell her or not but eventually relented after minutes of constant pestering.

“There was an assassination attempt on one of the B-rank fighters, that Frost that everyone was singing the praises of when we arrived.”

“That handso…. I mean talented elf with the glacial winged tiger battle mount.” Natalie instantly knew who Dalamar was talking about as she couldn’t help but steal a few glances at the young hero in passing.

“Is he alright? Do you know who did it and why did you leave here so quickly?” Natalie was rather shocked by her grandfather’s revelation. Who would dare to assassinate someone under the noses of the frost wolf battalion and even more so the young hero of the monster stampede. However the fact that her grandfather left in such a rush made the situation all the more weird. Sure it was rather big news, but it had little to do with him who was an A-rank adventurer, practically beholden to no one.

“Haaaaaaaa” Dalamar let out a long, weighted sigh before informing Natalie of the entire event in detail, causing the young woman’s shock to grow and grow with every sentence. In the end she shivered as a cold sweat dripped down her neck.

An S-rank fighter was something legendary perhaps even mythical. The Northrend empire sported a fair amount of A-rank fighters but not a single one at S-rank and hadn’t in the past century, they were just too rare. Yet not only did one appear here in the boonies but she served as the protector of the young hero who was the target of the assassination attempt. Add on to the fact that it was a conspiracy involving the royal family this event was a real scoop, perhaps the biggest in several years. No wonder her grandfather left and ordered her to not leave the room, even he would be nothing in the eyes of an S-rank fighter.

After taking all the events in Natalie was silent for a while before speaking in anxious tone.

“.... What will you tell the emperor?”

“Haaaaaaa, the truth, it’s what he asked for after all.” Dalamar let out another sigh before responding. Dalamar wasn’t just here to play his part as reinforcements from the adventurers guild no he was actually requested to go by the emperor. The wise ruler wished to send the best his empire had to the Furano territory without stirring up the annoying nobles. He and Dalamar went way back and had been friends for decades. Along with his eldest son he wanted his friend to volunteer on behalf of the guild hoping that he’d not only guarantee victory and the safety of his offspring but also serve as his eyes and ears. To give him a true report of went on.

The emperor knew his son well and the strenuous situation he was currently in given the backing of his younger brother. He believed Randolph would certainly utilize the stampede to his benefit which was fine, but he just wanted to make sure everything was done above board. Though he heavily favoured his eldest he also knew that no member of royalty was squeaky clean in regards to their rise to the throne, he being no exception. His role however was to monitor the line, too much over it and he’d have grounds to strip them of their succession rights.

Dalamar would give him the true report that was unedited by Randolph, Warik or even Anya who was for some reason opposed to Randolph.

Dalamar felt a headache as he imagined explaining the situation to the emperor. He also hoped that Frost’s fury didn’t spill over to the empire as a whole. Someone with an S-rank protector wasn’t someone even their mighty empire wanted to fight against.

“Haaaaaaaaa” With one of the deepest sigh he’d ever made Dalamar shook his head and made a decision.

“Let’s go and speak to Douglas and your senior disciple, the sooner they know of this issue the better.” Wanting to share this hot potato Dalamar dragged Natalie to the Furano manor to inform Douglas of what happened.