Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Rena, Natali, and Lyrah walked through the halls of the academy together, cheerfully talking and enjoying the calm day. Lucius followed slightly behind them because he did not want to interrupt their friendly banter.

He felt that he monopolized much of Rena's time as it was. Even though he was more than happy to take all of it, he also knew that she deserved time with her friends. Lucius felt that he had to give in somewhere and that was where he decided to do it.

However, he still improperly assigned one of his remaining men to guard her at all times even when Lucius was around. In his reports to King Verdayl he would always report that he was working on a "private task concerning the future of the House of Kane" when reporting on that specific assignment.

It was a bullshit answer that the king and his retainers would see through instantly, but as long as his other endeavors bore fruit, they would be content to ignore it.

On that front, Lucius had met with the remaining soldiers under his command and compiled a list of possible locations to search for the brains behind the assault. Many possibilities existed including the city of Lelvern, Spire Hollow, a few small towns on the outskirts of Paede… and a number of other villages and cities with strange movements happening around them.

He did not have the manpower available to address all the potential areas of concern, so he strategically chose to focus on specific areas instead of throwing a large net. Given the amount of people wearing the same robes and masks, it seemed they would have come from or at least been provided supplies by locations with a lot of resources.

For the most part this cut out many of the smaller towns and villages. However, cutting those out still left too many locations to scout even if he did only assign one person per location. Typically they would work in teams of two for safety and logistics.

"Hmmm…"

"Everything okay, my love?"

"Rena, my ever clever darling, might I get your opinion?"

"Of course."

Rena smiled at his clumsy excuse for flattery, but let him off without any teasing. Lyrah noticed the lack of fun and pouted ever so slightly.

"Let's hypothetically imagine that a group of people were able to simultaneously supply hundreds of people with simple robes and masks. However, they did not supply these people with weapons, potions, or any other supplies. What would you think?"

"Well, if that were to occur I would say initially that the supplying of simple robes and masks would indicate that they were receiving their goods with a lot of the resources available to craft such things… however, I feel it would be a front. Rather you should not be looking in areas where such resources are abundant.

"You should also not swing the opposite direction and look for areas where those resources are fewer. What you should look for are locations where the import and export of those goods are too normal and too stable for too long. It is natural for the market to ebb and flow. However, it is impossible to simulate that natural flow for long periods.

"Evidence of tampering with the local supply chain in order to amass such a specific need would be indicated by long and unnatural looking periods of stability in various locations."

Natali and Lyrah looked at their friend in slight surprise. They did not expect her to have given such an in depth and thoughtful answer to the question. Lucius on the other hand, asked because he knew that she would have good advice.

Prior to their separation and even before becoming adventurers, Rena was a thinker. She was raised to have a mind suited for strategy and cunning. It behooved her to learn such things since she only had a talent for Magic and had no Compatibilities within the Arts.

Lucius knew that Rena would never let such a tool go to waste, but it seemed she did not expose her friends to the fact that she was rather intelligent.

"Thank you, Rena."

"Of course," she responded with a nod, "By the way. Should one be wanting to look into matters like what we discussed, they might want to start with the merchant's guild. By the way you have a meeting with Kalliope later?"

"Yes, business related matters, I'm afraid."

"So we will miss you for today's coursework."

Explore more at empire

"Yes, I will see you at dinner this evening." Lucius took her into his arms and gave Rena a deep kiss in the middle of the hallway.

Several students stopped and stared for a moment, but neither of them cared to pay attention or let others interrupt their moment. Ever since learning about the child, their affection for each other had only seemed to have grown.

This was much to the chagrin of Natali, who was not a fan of public displays of affection. They tended to make her rather nervous and shy. So far, the increased amount of Lucius's and Rena's public affection had done little to temper her feelings on the matter.

"Yes, yes, you love each other very much. Thank you, go now brother dearest."

"Goodbye Lucius."

"Bye for now, Lyrah, Natali." Lucius gave Rena's hand a light squeeze before pausing and placing a gentle touch along her stomach. He then turned and went to Wally's study where Kalliope waited for him.

The old man was conveniently away on urgent business for the king at the time of the attack and had yet to return. From what his sources said, there were issues at the Demon's Stomach, a major dungeon halfway to Pelith from the capital. Wally was a subject matter expert on dungeons and many things considered related to the extinct demons thanks to his focus on marks.

Kalliope was waiting inside the study. She was wearing leather armor accented by metal pieces on her shoulders, chest, and thighs. Lucius found himself slightly entranced by her for a moment, but quickly cleared his head and got into his business demeanor.

"Commander, I have news."

"Go ahead."

"Eroa experienced a small revolt around the same time as the academy attack here in Arcadios. Similarly, every other Union nation as well as Aedrider suffered small instances of these violent outbreaks. However, none were as large as what we experienced." Kalliope explained.

"Any news on Alorek or Raleron?"

"None."

"And we are sure they are the same group?"

"According to reports at every location of incident the people starting the revolts were shouting phrases related to fire, flames, truth and the 'throne of creation.' Which is something we still have yet to uncover."

"None of our information sources know what this 'throne' is? I find that strange… is it some object of worship?"

"I do not know…" Kalliope shifted around uncomfortably for a few moments.

"Say whatever it is that is on your mind."

"I have more news. I learned of it prior to the academy attack. However, I needed to independently verify some of the details via more reliable and trustworthy channels…" Kalliope swallowed a lump that seemed to have appeared in her throat. "It's about Shiyani."