Chapter 121: The difficult blue print
Gwin landed on the ground, a few feet in front of Sinex.
Flames danced around her fists as three more soldiers landed, each one guarding Sinex.
"Hey! What the hell?! What are you doing here?!" Sinex yelled, pointing at Gwin.
"His Majesty told me to make sure you don't do anything reckless, and as it would seem..." Gwin's eyes narrowed, noticing the dark magic on the wizard's staff. "I came in just in time."
The wizard's eyes picked up on the golden emblem positioned on the left side of Gwin's chest.
'Oh, a knight of the Round Table, my luck ran out, sadly,' he smiled slightly.
"You there, with the old stick and whenever, unlike my friend here, I'm not here to chit-chat," Gwin pulled out her flaming blade. "You are under arrest. Go down on your knees and put down your staff!"
"I hate to spoil your fun, but getting caught here isn't on the agenda for me, at least not yet. Tell His Majesty the king, the Demon King is nigh."
"Huh?" Gwin was surprised to hear that name.
Before any of them could react, the man slammed the bottom of his staff on the ground, and he and his fellow bandit vanished into thin air.
"Tsk! They're always runners." Gwin spoke, sheathing her blades. "Search the carriage, and bring me whatever you find."
"Yes, ma'am!" The soldiers responded, immediately running toward the carriage.
"Now then, why exactly did you think it was a good idea to battle a wizard by yourself? You do realize their kind are extremely rare. No one knows much about them, and yet you carelessly tried to battle one." Gwin nagged at Sinex, raising her finger.
"Maybe for the people of Camelot, but witches and wizards are well-known outside the country, and you best believe they are not to be trusted." Sinex began to walk away.
Before she could get far—
"Commander! Demi-Humans! A lot of them, but they… are all dead!" one of the soldiers alerted.
Gwin and Sinex instantly turned, their faces filled with shock.
…
Meanwhile, back at the main capital in Camelot.
"Your Highness, it is good to see you once again. The honor is all mine," the man, dressed in a rather high-fashion outfit, spoke, a single knight behind him who also had his head bowed.
Artoria and Merlin walked down the stairs, looking at the duo.
"Baron Ramsay, I believe my husband asked to see you yesterday. I don't want to believe you didn't respond to that," Artoria uttered, now standing in front of the man.
Slightly raising his head, he said, "No, My Queen, I did. He merely told me to come see him again today."
"He did?" She replied.
"You know how Ha Joon can be, he does things without informing anyone," Merlin whispered to Artoria from behind.
Artoria held back her sigh.
"My husband is not around at the moment. Any discussion you have can be said now, and I will relay it to him."
"You're generous, my Queen. His Majesty the King gave me a plot of land to manage, close to the southern borders toward Unakel. So far, my men have been able to successfully continue building roads there, as well as warehouses to store goods. We just have one problem—"
"And what could that be?"
"The prints for the bridge His Highness gave us to build… are quite… difficult." The Baron spoke, disappointment written on his face.
He was just a regular man until the day Ha Joon gifted him two estates and 100 men, along with a baron title, making him a nobleman in Camelot. To disappoint the king only brought the Baron great shame.
"If he gave you a print, what makes building it so difficult? Are you saying your men are not capable?" Artoria spoke, her voice cold.
"N-No, My Queen, it's... it's the ingredients needed for it."
"Bring it here, let me have a look. You should know better than to disturb the king; he's been rather busy," Merlin chimed in, walking forward and stretching her hand toward the Baron.
"My sincerest apologies!" The Baron lowered his head even more as he handed Merlin the prints.
Merlin opened it and began to read the ingredients that Ha Joon had written on the side.
"Volcanic ash, diamond... sand..." her voice trailed off as her expression slowly became robotic.
'Ha Joon and his weird designs. Just like how he brought the idea of water heaters and coolers for bathing and drinking. I swear he's something else. Now a bridge with a volcano?! No wonder these people were confused.'
Merlin sighed.
"The look on your face indicates it is as difficult as the Baron has said," Artoria hinted.
"Quite true, Your Highness. I even have trouble understanding how one would go about getting volcanic ash. It would take at least a year to obtain that from any kingdom to the east."
"I'll speak to him when he comes back. You may go."
"Thank you, My Queen." The Baron bowed and exited.
Merlin was still reading the papers. "How does Ha Joon even come up with these?"
"How come you are the only one that gets to call him by his name?" Artoria looked at Merlin suspiciously.
"Oh my, whatever do you mean, Your Highness? Are you perhaps tired of calling him 'husband'?"
Merlin placed her hand on Artoria's shoulder and, with a serious face, said, "If you are, then don't worry, I'll gladly carry on for you."
"If only your jokes were as good as your thoughts." Artoria turned around and began to climb the stairs.
"Where are you going? I thought you wanted to get something to eat?"
"I've changed my mind. My husband will be returning soon, and I would like to make sure I am well prepared."
"Where is he exactly?"
"He mentioned he was going to find a dragon or something. I guess he's planning to follow the tradition through and through." Artoria smiled as she walked away.