Chapter 193 - Back On Tracks

Chapter 193

Red Sands Desert, Principality of Rebirth

Dungeon Factory, Fourth Floor

Alexandra nestled her face in her hands, while the maids did their best not to laugh, and failed miserably.

Emilia, on the other hand, was looking as mortified as she was.

"Honey, I know you like the concept, but isn't this a bit…much?" Said the vampire, picking her words with exquisite care.

"What do you mean?" Said CQ, tilting her head, before looking back at her royal guard. Who were covered in so many stickers it was hard to even see the occasional glint of metal beneath them. "They're all true."

Well, Alexandra couldn't deny that, although she wasn't exactly sure why labeling golems 'survived being blown up' and 'I killed my first adventurer!' was essential. And those were among the tamer ones.

"Yes, but they're also hampering their ability to fight."

"Not that much. They still have full range of motion!"

"I-" Emilia stopped as Alexandra put a hand on her shoulder and nodded. The vampire advisor smiled gratefully and stepped back, more than happy to let her girlfriend handle this.

"Look, kiddo, I'm not saying it's a bad idea." Alexandra knelt, and gestured at her and Emilia. "Neither of us are. But these stickers, they represent something special. If you're just using them willy nilly, they lose their meaning. That's why we were only making one type. Now you may want more, but I'd recommend saving them for special occasions. So they remain special to you, and to them."

CQ nodded. Slowly at first, then more and more quickly.

"Oh, of course! Thank you. I…hadn't seen it that way."

"No problem. So, wash those off, then make the ones that truly matter to you, okay?"

"Yes mom!"

"Good girl." She said as she patted her de facto daughter on the head, making her smile even wider. "Now shoo!"

The boss nodded, and quickly started ordering her golems, destination: the water temple's moat.

Alexandra watched them march out with a shake of her head.

"You know, the longer we go on, the more she surprises me. You'd think I'd be able to predict her better."

"Well, she does take after us I suppose. And you in particular, for that incredible sense of doing the unexpected at the strangest of times."

"True, I suppose. Alright, now that that's handled, what do we say we get those stickers used?" Said the dungeon core as she hefted the box of 'I exploded on my first test!' stickers their daughter had handed over a scant few minutes ago.

"Sure. But I get to chose where to put them. Knowing you you'd just stick them on the most boring, normal part of the prototypes."

"You mean where they're supposed to be so they don't hamper operations or become distracting?"

"Well, yes, but where's the fun in that?"

Alexandra rolled her eyes and chuckled, but handed the box over to her girlfriend nonetheless, and followed after her as they made their way back to the elevator.

It was, arguably, time that would be better spent on something more productive, but she found herself cherishing these moments more and more. It seemed like…like things were becoming a bit normal again, not just rushing from panicked preparations to paranoid planning. For some definition of normal at least.

And she was grimly certain that she'd need to make the most of these while they lasted. Because their enemies weren't going to give them much room to breathe.

Until she came in and made sure they were the ones in panicked defense mode at least.

*****

"Your highness, I must admit, I have never seen something like this before." Said the mage as he looked at the teleportation talisman, before smiling at Cassissa. "Which, I can assure you, is saying something, despite my age."

"I believe you. So, is it…functional?"

"Most certainly! I cannot vouch if it will do the intended effect, but I can assure that if it is triggered, the spell will work. What it will bring about however…" The robed man shrugged. "I have extensive training in teleportation magic, and I can tell you this much: it is not a teleportation spell. Not as we understand them. The foundations for modern teleportation spells were set by Saphire Arkan, as you are no doubt aware, his work based on recovered artifacts from the Old World. This talisman is reminiscent of a normal teleportation artifact in the same way, say, an airship is reminiscent of a waterborne vessel. Many of the principles look the same on paper, and so are some of the solutions, but are approached from a completely different angle."

"I see. And it will evade interdiction?"

"Certainly. No anti-teleport spell I know of will remotely be able to stop it. It is simply…so different."

"Well, thank you for your insights." Cassissa smiled brightly. "You have been most helpful!"

"No, it is I who is offering my thanks to you, your highness. Truly, the chance of studying such an artifact is a great blessing."

The princess nodded. He was almost certainly under the impression that the level of trust shown, especially as Cassissa had taken the time to have him several times over to assess his trustworthiness, was a sign that she was interested in him. He wasn't entirely wrong either, he wasn't hard on the eyes, very smart, capable, and he treated her as an equal, not some way to further his or his family's goals.

"Of course. Although…" Cassissa trailed off.

"Yes, I understand, discretion is essential. You have my word I will speak of this to no one." Cassissa nodded, letting her relief show on her face. Which wasn't faked, either. Some of the tidbits of informations she'd let out before handing him the talisman had pretty much convinced him that it was some kind of classified relic, reserved to the highest echelons of the Empire, and that she was breaking many rules even showing it to him, let alone letting him examine it. Not that she hadn't already done those kinds of things before with say, Allya, in the past.

"Thank you Gilbert. It's a relief."

"Once again, thank you, your highness." He bowed, and laid a delicate kiss upon the back of her hand as she smiled at him. Maybe she'd keep inviting him over. He was certainly better than the rest, and perhaps showing some interest in one of the courtiers would get her parents to back off a bit.

They exchanged a few more pleasantries, and he left, looking definitely happy, and she gazed at the talisman on her table.

"The gentleman's conclusions?" Asked Olivier, the old butler stepping into the office with a level of discretion most would not have believed possible. The old bureaucrat could be sneaky when he had to.

"Apparently, Allya was right." Cassissa shook her head. "Stars knows how the dungeon core made this, but it is…something that should work. Although whether it's to teleport me or reduce me to bits I don't know."

"I don't believe young Allya would mean you harm."

"No. Neither do I." The princess sighed, before grabbing the talisman, weighing it…and then putting it on. "Besides, even if we're all wrong and it doesn't work, it'll still make an excellent good luck charm."

"That it will." Said the old bureaucrat with a smile. "Now, I believe you were to have dinner shortly with your siblings?"

"Yes yes, I'll change into those horrible court clothes. Damned silk deathtraps."

"Quite." The butler's smile got even wider. "Although, as a knight of the Empire." Which they both knew was purely honorific, part of the mass of titles given to any member of the Imperial family, however minor. "You are entitled to more martial uniforms. Like, say, your warmage garbs."

Cassissa snorted, before pausing. Actually, that was an excellent point.

And with her seemingly courting a mage.

"You know what? Why not. Let's see how sis reacts to me getting assertive again. Fetch me my warmage uniform."

"At once, your highness."

*****

Joachim sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"So, all three agents survived. Good."

"Not intact, but yes. The withdrawal plan is not finalized, but will be put into motion soon." Said Gregor. "There were some…issues with the original arrangements, due to the rather fluid transport situation."

Joachim nodded. The chaos the Order had unleashed on the Asarian Kingdom was outside of their control now. Their power was great, but even it had its limits. And given how the war was getting out of hand for both sides, although neither had any inkling of quite how wrong things were going to go, it was unsurprising that trade was getting a bit…unpredictable. Thus neat, pre-arranged transport wasn't a good idea anymore.

As had been proven by the chartered vessel getting captured by a detachment of Sunrise's gryphon knights and converted into a makeshift frigate. Which Grant the Giant had promptly reduced into driftwood in Sunrise's first, and so far only, serious attempt at an airship led offensive. The Kingdom's skyfleet had always been pathetic, and Grant the Giant's personal flotilla assured the loyalists a comfortable air dominance, as long as the gryphon knights were kept at arm's length, which was probably the only thing keeping the retreating royal army alive right now. What little was left of it anyway.

"I will leave it into your capable hands. What about the rest of our operations?"

"Our agents in the Hegemony and the Saphire Kingdom are reporting that things are going smoothly."

"Excellent." Joachim sighed. "It seems things are back on track."

"So far."

"So far indeed." Joachim smiled at his old friend. He knew the Order's peculiar inner workings well enough to realize his presence was as much an encouragement from his superiors as they were likely to voice, probably as a result of the excellent result of the fight with the Hammer of Eternity's coterie of murderous automata, neatly sliding high tech systems into Lesly's hands and forcing the town to allow her to go on the offensive against the Republic. "Still, it pays to be thorough, and paranoid. Contingencies?"

"We have deployed assassins in Tark and the Republic, but our operatives in both kingdoms have been delayed." Gregor shrugged. "The resources to get them in position were used to compensate for agent Salter and Iknor's absence."

"Unfortunate. Still, we need them in place. We simply can't afford many more slip ups, especially not as the plan reaches fruition. The continent must collapse as Lesly rises, just at the right time for her to ride to their rescue. Speaking of which, the UDC?"

"In total internal collapse." They exchanged satisfied smiles. The dungeons had been a thorn in the Order's side for millennia, as one of the God of Fire's foremost instruments of control over Alcheryos, and the forming of the UDC had been a huge blow to their plans. "They're doing their best to show unity, but the organization is a few push away from imploding. The debate has become so polarizing that neither side is willing to compromise anymore, and the independents are being forced to pick sides."

"Good. Let's just make sure everything goes down when and where we want it. Double check on our contacts there and try to throttle back the pressure. We can always fabricate some incidents to drive it apart faster, but keeping them together if something hits the fan before the time is right would be much harder." Gregor nodded, and Joachim gestured at the office they were standing in. "Now, how about we go fetch ourselves some drinks? I'm sure you'd like a more thorough briefing before you head back out into the thick of things, and I'd prefer to give it over a glass of something that feels vaguely like fighter fuel rather than tea and biscuits."

"I thought you'd never ask, my lord." They both smiled at the title. "If you can keep your liquor better than last time."

Joachim blinked at the reference at their previous meeting. That felt like an eternity ago, back when he'd barely given his new office and was still trying to keep the beginning of Lesly's plan together. Time went by slowly when the fate of the world rested in the balance, it seemed.

"Don't underestimate my resilience. But I suppose I am hardly the spry agent fresh out of basic training, with stars into my eyes. Come on, let's see what the quartermaster can scrounge up. At least it won't be the slosh we used to get, rank has its privilege after all."