The next morning, I had prepared myself wearing my formal clothes. Sherubiel and Mendicore already looked enthusiastic to attend today's celebration event. While we were waiting sitting in the lounge, we heard the sound of that go-kart horn again. When we went out, I saw Grelmure picking us up.
"Wooww... everyone already looks cheerful and happy, right! Let's immediately go there!" said Grelmure. I glanced at Sherubiel who also looked happy. It seemed she was glad Grelmure didn't tease her anymore.
"Where will we celebrate, sir?" I asked while on the way.
"We will all go to the Imperial Palace. That is where the center of the celebration is held. Commander Gruzhnil has picked up Sir Hellraider first because Emperor Gregustus wants to meet him personally."
Ooohhh... I didn't expect this celebration moment to also be used by Gregustus to meet him too. But I could not imagine how their conversation would be. I thought The Emperor would talk more while Hellraider would answer with body gestures or few words only. I remembered in the storyline of the game, Hellraider indeed sided more with Emperor Gregustus. I once saw a flashback scene in the game where he knelt before him.
When entering the city, I saw so many people filling the roadside. They wore their best clothes. Some of them looked towards our go-kart. Maybe they were interested in Sherubiel and Mendicore because they saw foreign entities for the first time.
"What kind of celebration is it, Sir Grelmure? Is it filled with military parade of The Graendall order?" I asked.
"Of course not only military parade, Johann. At the beginning it will be more dominated by military events. But after that, the Grivendal people's festival will become the main entertainment."
"Will all high commanders from each planet attend the palace as well?" I asked again.
"You already know the answer, right. So I will not explain it again." Grelmure smiled.
I just nodded. However I thought about what would happen if Tiberos met Gruzhnil again after their conflict on planet Grohn. I could not imagine Tiberos bringing up again that matter which I thought was very contrasting in the palace area which clearly was the center of Gregustus' power. Hopefully no similar conflict would occur between them on this celebration day.
When the go-kart entered the city center, I saw many The Graendall soldiers who seemed to prepare the event like a military parade. Soldiers had formed formation lines consisting of various ranks and weapons. Several military assets also joined the parade such as tactical vehicles, tanks and bipedal robots.
"It seems all military equipment is here. But I don't see Graganthurion. Are they too large to be shown in the middle of the city, Sir Grelmure?" I asked.
"Hahahahaaa... You must be a big fan of that robot, right? Be patient Johann. You will surely know..." Grelmure slightly joked. From his answer, I felt Graganthurion would appear later but not placed here yet.
After some time driving, we finally arrived at the Imperial Palace. Grelmure didn't enter through the main gate but from the side because in front of it there was already a magnificent stage for Emperor Gregustus to watch the military parade. In the magnificent corridor that would lead to the emperor's throne room, suddenly we met Gruzhnil and Hellraider. But what made me astonished was the change of outfit worn by Hellraider.
He was no longer wearing elite soldier armor like the infiltration mission before, but instead armor for commander rank similar to what Gruzhnil wore. That armor was equipped with a red cape and a thick black fur mantle. That was the mantle made from Greslan fur that was given some time ago! I had suspected Hellraider would appear like that according to The Mayhem gameplay. He already looked like a supreme commander of The Graendall.
Suddenly my heart felt something unpleasant. I knew this appearance of Hellraider was the last one until the game storyline ended. The original ending that I could not accept immediately came back into my mind. I was not feeling amazed, but became worried if later I could not change his ending into something bearable.
"Heeeyyy, Johaannnn... Grelmureee... Come here all of youuuu...!!!" Gruzhnil shouted.
Instantly my thoughts were broken. I immediately put on a bright smiling face and invited the others to go to Gruzhnil.
"I invited Sir Hellraider first because Emperor Gregustus last night asked me to meet him first. He also personally gave a special gift in the form of this armor and he immediately wore it at that time. He looks very suitable as a leader of The Graendall hahahaaa..." said Gruzhnil proudly. Hellraider only glanced at Gruzhnil with his usual expressionless face. I knew he tended not to like being joked with. But he only expressed it like that.
"Forgive me, sir. I was just joking..." said Gruzhnil when Hellraider still looked at him. I just smiled seeing Gruzhnil's behavior. Hellraider had changed a lot and the possibility of showing anger when accidentally joked with was very small.
"Where will we watch the event, commander?" asked Grelmure.
"According to the direction of The Emperor earlier, we will all sit at the wing section of the large stage in front of the palace. Let's go there now!" Gruzhnil invited.
We all immediately walked out of the palace through the main door towards the stage. I saw on the left and right many high-ranking empire officials walking in the same direction as well.
"I will go up to the very top part of the stage first, okay! Grelmure will guide where you will sit." said Gruzhnil.
We all followed Grelmure towards the seats. There were already sofa chairs arranged in rows totaling 3 rows. We sat in the front row. Hellraider sat on the sofa closest to the top stage followed by me, Grelmure, Sherubiel and Mendicore.
I saw in front of it a large highway that probably had 6 lanes. In the middle there was a large pole that seemed used for flag raising. Across the road, there was a kind of large videotron displaying live broadcast of The Graendall soldiers' preparation for the parade later through flying drones.
I also observed the broadcast capture on the top stage where it was seen Gregustus, Glynpatra, Grishal, Gruzhnil along with the six other high commanders were already seated. It turned out Tiberos was also present at the palace today.
After some time passed, finally the event began. I heard the sound of trumpets echoing from each side of this stage. Gregustus stood up then followed by everyone standing including me. Then it was seen one elite soldier walking with firm steps forward to the center front of the stage.
"We will carry out the imperial flag raising ceremony first, Johann." said Grelmure in a slightly low voice. I just nodded. That soldier seemed to be the ceremony leader today.
The flag raising process were done by three other elite soldiers accompanied by Grivendal's anthem played by choir formation in both sides of stage. After that, Gregustus began delivering his imperial speech. I heard that Grivendal this year was at the peak of its strength. But instead of feeling happy, a sense of worry appeared in my mind about the threat of hell monster invasion that would come sooner or later in the future according to the game storyline.
I also remembered Gruzhnil's statement about the expedition plan and connected it with this threat. Even though Hellraider was on Grivendal's side, it didn't mean that when the invasion truly broke out later, he could destroy the hordes of monsters while saving the weaker people at the same time.
I hoped I could immediately inform Gruzhnil after this so that he would provide mitigation training to the people of Grivendal if this disaster truly occurred.