It was another morning
Veyn walked alone toward the Royal Palace
The guards at the entrace greeted him as usual
No one questioned him
No one suspected anything
He returned the greeting with a smile before making his way through the palace corridors until he reached the Throne room
Then he knocked the door
There was a moment of silence before one of the Cardinals called him in
"Come in"
He slowly opened the door
Inside, a messenger had just finished delivering a report
The man bowed respectfully before leaving the room
As the door closed behind him, only the four Cardinals remained
Each sat upon their own throne,
Only the grand throne at the center, the King's throne…
Stood empty
From the left to the right sat:
Cael Orwyn, wearing his decorated hat
Elric Vaelis, his long hair draping over his shoulders
Aren Valther, adjusting his glasses
And finally…
Lior Fern, whose thick beard hid most of his expression
Elric broke the silence
"Veyn… what brings you here?"
Then Veyn stepped forward and bowed
"Sir…"
"I came to ask for permission to speak with the outsiders once more"
"They still wish to discuss His Majesty's disappearance"
Cael frowned immediately
"Again?"
"I thought we already rejected that request"
"There is no reason to continue entertaining them"
"They are outsiders"
"What could they possibly do that we couldn't"
Veyn kept his head lowered
"I understand"
"But they've come all this way to help"
"They're only asking for a chance to speak with you"
"Perhaps…"
"… they may notice something we've overlooked"
Cael clicked his tongue
"There's nothing they can contribute"
While Veyn talked with the Cardinals…
Outside the Royal Palace
Sylffie, Helen, Rikka and Gill waited quietly near the palace walls
But they were not alone, Tobari was with them
Helen glanced around nervously
"Hey are you sure this is gonna work?"
Tobari folded his arms
"I don't know, let's just follow what Veyn told us yesterday"
Sylffie looked toward the palace
"Now Tobari, Veyn should be inside the Throne with the Cardinals"
Tobari nodded, and carefully went inside the Royal Palace
Back during that night
Veyn spread a rough sketch of the palace across the table
"Our objective isn't to fight"
"It's to recover the crown"
Ashley frowned
"Recover it"
"You already know where it is?"
Veyn slowly shook his head
"Nope"
"But I know how to make them show us"
Everyone leaned closer
"Tobari's magic"
The Dark Elf looked up.
"My concealment magic?"
Veyn nodded
"It's a magic that only the Dark Elves could use"
"It completely erases your presence"
"Even the Cardinals' sensor magic can't sense you"
Helen blinked
"Seriously?"
"So, their sensor magic has a weakness?"
"It does"
"Which is why Tobari is essential"
Gill crossed his arms"
"…Then what?"
"Tobari will move throughout the palace"
"While doing that, he will repeatedly activate and deactivate this magic, making the Cardinal confused"
"And hope that this will pick their attention and went to check what happen"
"They will think someone has infiltrated the palace"
"Which led to the Cardinals to check the crown if it was still safe or not"
Everyone slowly understood
Veyn then looked toward Sylffie
"And here's come where Sylffie's team started to work"
"Sylffie will use her familiar to follow the Cardinal to the crown location"
"It only needs to discover where they're hiding the crown"
"After that you carefully retrieve it"
"While doing that the Gramm's team will hold the other Cardinals while you handle the crown"
"After we have the crown what left to do is find the King, and then the King will be back"
Before letting him talk even more Ashley stopped him
"Hang on, hang on"
"First of all, how are you so sure the Cardinals even have the crown?"
"And what if we're wrong?"
Ashley continued
"Second, you want us to fight the Cardinals? We don't even know what kind of power do they have"
"What going to happen if this plan doesn't work?"
Veyn silent for a moment
Then with a smile he answered
"Then we're dead"
"WHAT!?"
Even Tobari stared at him
"Yeah, I know it sound crazy that everything sound really non sense"
He lowered his eyes
"But we've reached the point where doing nothing is even dangerous"
"And at the same time, there's also a lot of things that you guys didn't know and I couldn't tell it"
"But that really-"
"It's fine" Sylffie interrupted
Then she looked straight at Veyn
"Veyn you sure, it's going to work"
He scratched his head
"Well, there is no other way"
"Let's hope everything work as planned"
After a brief silence
Sylffie nodded
"Then let's do it"
Back to the present time
Sylffie's team still waiting for the signal
"Hey why are really trust in the plan that Veyn said?" Helen asked quietly
Sylffie looked toward the palace enterance
"I don't really know"
"I even think that this plan is crazy"
"But in think there is no other way, the Cardinals is really suspicious right now"
"And I think Veyn wouldn't gamble everyone's lives without a reason"
At the same time, Tobari just did what Veyn said he wandered around the Palace while activated and deactivated his magic
His presence disappeared
Then reappeared
Then vanished again
He repeated the process as he quietly moved through the corridors
Until he reached a certain corridor and activated his magic
Back to the Throne room, Veyn continued speaking with the cardinals
Untul Lior felt something and narrowed his eyes
He whispered something to the other Cardinals
"I'm sorry Veyn, there is something that I need to do" he said
"Please continue what you have to talk with the others"
Then he left the room
At the same time Veyn quietly pinched the small bug hidden inside his pocket
Back to the girls, the bug on Sylffie's pocket chirping
She immediately smiled
"That the signal"
Helen blinked
"What? It really worked as planned?"
"Yeah, it seems so, but that means there is a lot of things that we need to do"
Then Sylffie summons another familiar, a squirrel
She closed her eyes and started controlling it
The squirrel immediately dashed into the palace
Through its eyes…
She watched Lior walking quickly through the corridors
Then he stopped before an ordinary looking wall
His fingers pressed several hidden stones in a specific order
Then, part of the wall slowly slid open
Sylffie's eyes widened
"What!?"
"Sylffie, what happened?" the others asked
"There is…"
"A secret door"
"He went inside"
"That means, the Cardinals really have the crown?" Rikka asked
"I don't know, the door immediately closed after he went inside"
Then he cancelled her magic and opened her eyes
"But that only mean one thing, we need to check it ourselves"
Before chased Lior to the hidden door, Sylffie pinched the bug inside her pocket
The bug on Veyn side was chirping
He smiled and continued to hold the Cardinals
"I know that they couldn't help much but what's wrong if we got some help, right"
"Their help might be a little, but it might fasten the search of the king"
Aren finally talked
"Veyn why did you really thought that these outsiders could help us"
"Don't you believe in us to find the King?"
"No, it's not like that"
"They might not know much about us, but sharing a little bit of information with them wouldn't bad right?"
Then Elic immediately spoke
"No"
"It's enough"
"There is nothing they can do"
"Go back to you work Veyn"
"Well… I think there nothing I can do"
Then he pinched the bug in another pocket
The bug chirped loudly
"What was that"
The Cardinals shocked
"Nothing"
Cael's expression hardened
"Veyn… what exactly are you plotting"
He looked each Cardinal in the eye
"Nothing, I just need you to stay here for a while"
Back to last night
Rikka suddenly raised his hand
"But you said we are going to hold the Cardinals back, right?"
"How are we even getting inside the palace?"
"They'll never let us through the front gate"
Veyn smiled
"I already have an answer for that"
Then he pulled out a purple crystal from his pocket
"Teleport magic"
On the other side the Gramm's team already prepared for Veyn's signal
The moment Veyn pinched her bug, their bug also chirping
"That's the signal, right?" Erin asked
"Yeah, it should be" Gramm said "Prepare for battle"
Then Auel cracked the instant magic in his hand
Instantly the four of them teleported right to the Throne room
The put out their stance for battle
The Cardinals were stood in shock
Cael's face twisted with anger
"Tch… Veyn what are you doing?"
"I already told you…"
He pulled a blade from his back and put on his stance
"I'm going to bring back the King"