It had been more than a year since we encountered the hooded man. Master Kaiser continued to train the three of us. Apparently, Lura's parents were supposed to come back to the capital in a few days. Ever since we heard news of this, Lura hasn't been coming to train. I guess that makes sense if she was preparing to meet her parents. They're King and Queen after all. Nazeem and I have been getting much closer. We've been spending our entire day with each other ever since the town burned down. I've learned a lot about who he is. Apparently, his father is from a noble family, but he ran away because of some issues involving a kingdom from the West. His mother was born and raised in our town, which is probably why she seemed so quiet recently. Her lifelong home was burned down, after all. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't tell him anything about my parents. Whenever I asked my father, he would brush me off and just say, "Your mother and I used to be adventurers." Which I already knew because he still goes on dungeon raids. Mother was the exact same way. She would never tell me anything more than the fact father and her were in the same party.
I woke up one morning and suddenly felt a sharp pain in my side. I guess I must've pulled a muscle during yesterday's practice. "You're finally awake ay?" Nazeem was standing by the foot of my bed. "Wow. I wasn't expecting you to get up before me… ever." "Well it's an important day. Lura's parents have made it back to the capital. And Kaiser told us we're invited to their welcome-home party!" Nazeem's eyes were wide with excitement. This was when I noticed he was wearing formal clothing, rather than his training apparel. "Alright…" I said, "I'm guessing we aren't going to the courtyard today, so I'll freshen myself up before leaving. I got out of bed and wet my face in the sink. I took a look at myself in the mirror and realized how much bigger I had gotten since the last time I looked at myself. Shit… am I really getting this much older? It won't be too much longer until I turn ten. When that happens, I should be old enough to go through Knight level dungeons with Nazeem and Lura. "Nazeem, what time should we arrive at the palace?" "Well, Kaiser is in the hotel lobby waiting for us, so we'll just ask him once we're done here." Uh oh… does that mean we're late? I took a look outside. Judging by how bright it is, I doubt it's anytime past 8 o'clock. "Alright I'm done. Kil, I'm gonna go meet with master Kaiser, come down once you're ready but try to make it fast will ya." I nodded my head as Nazeem left the room. Wait a minute, Ginelle isn't here. I wonder if she'd gone to the market early or something. Meh… she's a capable woman, no point worrying over her. I wiped down my face and put on my formal clothes. I took another look in the mirror before leaving the room. Master Kaiser and Nazeem were talking in the lobby when I arrived. "Ahh Kiliano. I see you're ready for the party." "Uh, yeah. Do you mind asking why we're leaving so early though?" Kaiser gave me a smile, "Well… Lura wanted you guys to meet her parents personally, before the rest of the guests arrived." Wait what!? We're going to meet the King and Queen of Zuri'el… personally!? I wasn't expecting this, that's for sure. "A-are you sure? I don't think I have the manners required to have a conversation with a King or Queen." Kaiser laughed, "Hahahah, nonsense! Lura's parents are not nearly as formal as you'd think. Honestly, they're pretty laid back. And since you're their only daughter's best friends, they are almost guaranteed to welcome you. Now, are you ready to go?" "W-wait… I gotta go tell fathe-""No need." Nazeem interrupted, "I've already told everyone about our situation and they've also been invited." Ahh, so that's why I didn't see Ginelle in the room. "Alright then, I'm ready." Master Kaiser got up from his chair and walked out of the hotel, with me and Nazeem following shortly behind.
Once we made it to the courtyard Kaiser told us to wait for a few minutes. He walked inside one of the buildings which surrounded us in the courtyard. It took a few minutes before he walked back out, "Nazeem, Kiliano. Come inside." He gestured for us to come inside. We began walking but once we made it about ten feet from the building, our body' were hit with a wave of mana. It didn't feel bad but it did frighten me. I guess this was a way to ward off any unwanted guests. We walked inside to find Lura waiting for us on a couch which extended for about twenty feet. "Oh hey Lura!" Nazeem said with more enthusiasm than I'd ever heard in my life. "Hey Nazeem! How are the two of you doing? I'm sorry I couldn't make it to training these past few days." Lura patted the couch as a gesture for the two of us to come sit next to her. Nazeem and Lura began chatting while I tried to soak in all the information that I'd just been exposed to. So… I'm going to meet the King and Queen. If I say something wrong they won't send me to the chopping block… right? "Uh… master Kaiser? The King and Queen won't execute me for speaking too informally, will they?" Lura and Nazeem stopped talking and turned to face me with wide eyes. "Hahahahaha! As I told you before. The King and Queen are very laid back. Trust me when I say this… you are going to enjoy this." What!? That sounded way too ominous. Shit… I'm way more stressed now. Should I just bail out and l- before I could finish that thought, a door opened from behind us. An aura began emanating from it. I could sense no hostility but it's power was overwhelming. Perhaps it even surpassed master Kaiser's. I tried to turn my head but I couldn't. My body was stiff as a board, not out of fear but instead out of nervousness. I could hear feet patter through the room. A man began walking to my vision. Kaiser began speaking, "I am proud to announce the arrival of his majesty, Julius Zuri'el. Our humble and righteous King. The man walked to face the three of us on the couch. He had hair which resembled Lura's. His face wore a smile. He was dressed in a black suit and wore a silver crown upon his head. His mouth opened, "Hello. It's nice to finally meet Lura's friends." He didn't speak loud but his words carried heavily through my head. He seemed so intimidating yet so friendly. His voice was deep and demanding but still kind. Kaiser gave me a glance from behind the King. Oh right! This is when I speak up. I got off the couch and stood on one knee in front of him, "It's an honor to meet you sir. My name is Kiliano Monfril." "Ahh yes. So you're the one who defended Lura against that hooded man. I've heard a great deal about your capabilities as a swordsman. Please stand sir, you're an honored guest and a good friend to my daughter." He put a hand on my shoulder and we made eye contact. His eyes were a deep brown and they seemed quite intimidating. But still, he was emanating a very warm and welcoming presence. Perhaps he changed his aura flow to make us feel less stressed? He turned to face Nazeem, "Then I take it you're Nazeem? It's nice to finally meet you. I've also heard quite a bit from Lura about you and your antics." He gave a little chuckle and patted Nazeem on the head, before taking a few steps back. "Lura, I'm glad I was able to meet your friends. It seems you've been doing well, I'm glad." Lura's eyes were on the verge of tears, "Y-yes. Thank you father. I'm happy you're back ho-" "Where are theyyy!?" A woman's voice echoed through the room. "Julius you turd! I told you not to see them before me!" A woman ran into the room. Her hair ran down to her waist. She wore a red dress and also had a silver crown. What the?! She looks exactly like Lura. "Haha, calm down honey. I just wanted to meet them so badly I couldn't wait any longer." "No excuses. You've made me look bad now!" The King smiled, "Well, as you can see… this beautiful lady is my wife, Margaret Zuri'el." Her face turned from one of anger to pure joy as she set her eyes on us. "Hello! You two must beee… Nazeem," She pointed to me, "and Kiliano." She pointed to Nazeem. "Uhh mom. It's the other way around. Don't go guessing names, it's not polite." "Oh I see. Well my apologies." She turned away from us, "Damn, and I was so confident too." Wow… the King and Queen really are laid back. Kaiser was right, I didn't have anything to worry about. The Queen is a jokester and the King is very passive.
"Alright now…" Kaiser said, "the party will be starting shortly, I suggest we get moving to the main hall. Kiliano, Nazeem, your families are going to be arriving shortly as well." Julius and Margaret Zuri'el stiffened in sync. They both bowed their heads and said, "We welcome you into our home." They stood straight and walked out of the room. Lura got off the couch and began walking towards the courtyard, which was the opposite way the King and Queen left. Nazeem and I followed after her. "Lura? You know we're going the wrong way right?" Nazeem said. Lura turned around, her face held a smile, "Actually, I wanna show you guys something before we go to the main hall." She continued walking as we followed closely behind her. I turned back and noticed that master Kaiser wasn't following us. Instead, he chose to follow the King and Queen. Lura was walking towards a giant cylindrical tower which was disconnected to the rest of the palace. She made it to a wooden door and took out a key, which was then placed inside the door's keyhole. She turned the key and its door opened on cue. "Follow me. I gotta show you guys this!" Her face still wore a large smile, as she began walking up a flight of stairs. Nazeem and I hesitated, making eye contact towards each other for reassurance. Nazeem began up the stairs before me. Wow… the atmosphere in here is a bit cold. I don't think I've ever felt anything this cold since I took an ice bath back in my old town. We continued walking up for about a minute before Lura stopped before a door. "Alright, we're here." She opened the door and walked inside. The interior was well furnished. It had a bed with linens, a desktop with a chair and paper spread across it, and shelves of books. "This is sorta like an extra room. I go up here to study about dungeons and other things related to that stuff." She reached up onto a shelf, and grabbed a book with a pure black cover. "This is a book given to me by Kaiser about a year ago. I've been studying it for a while now, and I've found out how to clear almost any dungeon below the tier of Veteran." I got excited, "Wait what!? Does that mean we can find an Advanced level dungeon and you'd know how to clear it?" Lura nodded her head. "Perfect! We gotta go out and clear a dungeon asap." Nazeem stepped up, "Wow now. Don't you remember the last time we tried something like that?" I chuckled, "Yeah… you passed out before the real trouble arrived." Nazeem's face went red, "Oh c'mon that's not my fault! Actually… I remember you falling to the ground for the same reason a few minutes before I did." I shrugged my shoulders, "Doesn't matter, I managed to stay conscious and was even able to fight against a Sword Saint. While you passed out from exhaustion from merely walking." "Alright stop it you dumbasses." Lura said, with an agitated expression on her face. "The reason I brought you guys here wasn't to start fighting about who's more pathetic. Instead, I wanted to show you that we can probably clear out a dungeon if we want to. And if it makes you guys feel better, that hooded man who attacked us was a rare case. So I have no doubt in my mind that we'll be okay while on our way into the dungeon." Nazeem and I chimed in at the same time, "Well, if you say so!" We made eye contact and chuckled. "Alright enough chatter. Let's meet up here again tomorrow. But until then, we should go back to mother and father in the main hall." She walked past us and began down the staircase. Nazeem followed her with me shortly behind him. We made it down the staircase, walked through the courtyard and made our way around the palace until we were in sight of its main entrance.
Lura walked up to the doors and pushed them open. The inside was huge. Its floors were made of marble, and there was white glass hanging from the ceiling. The room itself was bigger than anything I'd ever been in before. Rows of tables were strategically set up all around the floor. They were furnished with glasses, napkins and white tablecloths. A red rug stretched from the entrance doorway to a staircase which started upwards in a spiral directly in front of us. The staircase led up to an outlook for the King and Queen to stand upon while making a speech. Lura walked in without hesitation and started her way towards the staircase. Nazeem and I were too stunned to move. We had never seen anything so fancy in our lives. The atmosphere was clear and a slight chill filled the room. It was so refreshing since the air outside was always so hot. I snapped out of my daze and began looking around for our families. There were dozens of people chatting around tables. All of them wore black suits, with the exception of the knights who were stationed around the room. "Hey Nazeem, I think I see our parents." His eyes blinked as he turned his face to look at me. He had obviously been in a daze much like mine. "R-really? Where are they?" I gestured for him to follow me and headed farther into the room. I had noticed father talking to some nobles. He was wearing a black suit, much like everyone else. He was also holding a cup filled with what I assume is wine. "Father!" I waved, continuing to walk towards him. He turned to face me and made a wide smile, "Ahh, Kiliano. You're lookin' sharp kiddo. Here I want you to meet a good friend of mine. We used to be in the same adventurer's party together before I left. This here's Emilia." She cleared her throat and spoke up, "Hello there. I assume you're Kiliano? Krill's told me a lot about you." I took out my arm and we shook hands, "It's nice to meet you Ms. Emilia." Suddenly, I felt a pressure emanate from her body. She was secreting a slight amount of ominous aura. "Ms. Emilia, may I ask what your specialties are when it comes to combat?" She gave me a smile, "I'm surprised you could sense my presence. Krill was right, you are an exceptionally talented child. And to answer your question… I am an Overlord tier Swordsman of the North style. And I'm a Saint tier Water mage." Overlord? She's gotta be pretty powerful. I'm surprised someone of her caliber used to be in the same party as my father. "Hey father? What tier are you?" Father gave me an embarrassed smile. His eyes were drawn away from me. "Well… if you must know. I'm also a Saint tier water mage. But my sword skills are also Saint tier." Hmph. Not bad. I didn't expect father to be weak, but I had no expectations for him to be on the same level as that of an Overlord or even a Lord. I guess being Saint tier is still pretty impressive. "Well, if you'll excuse me I'm gonna go meet up with Nazeem and Lura." I excused myself and turned away to find Nazeem. He was on the other side of the room talking to a boy who seemed to be in his mid-to-late teens. He wore a sword by his hip and had a car on his forehead in the shape of a half circle. I walked up, "Hey Nazeem, who's this?" The boy stepped up, "Hello, my name is Gregori Zuri'el. I am Lura's older cousin. May I ask your name?" Lura's cousin ay? He didn't look anything like her, if I'm being honest. "It's nice to meet you Gregori, my name is Kiliano Monfril." Once I said my name his eyes widened. "Wait you're Kiliano!? I've heard so much about you! Lura has told me a lot about the trouble you had with the assassin and how you bravely protected her despite being wounded." I'm surprised Lura had made me out to look so heroic. "My actions that day were pretty selfless but I wouldn't go so far as to assume I was too brave. I just didn't want to watch her die, that's all." "Even so, you went face-to-face with a Sword Saint and fended them off long enough for master Kaiser to arrive. I love my cousin very much. She's like a little sister to me. And I hope you know I am truly grateful for your heroic actions." He bowed his head. Wow… I'm surprised. This guy really does care for Lura. "Thank you for the sentiment Gregori." I reached out my arm to shake his hand. Instead, he cupped my hand and kneeled on one knee. "W-wow! Hold on a second now, Gregori. S-stand up. There's no need for you to sit on one knee." "No… I must show you the extent of my gratitude. I am truly grateful for what you did." He stood back up and smiled. "If there's ever anything you need, please let me know. It may not look like it… but master Kaiser has taught me a lot and I'm quite a capable fighter." "Thank you for your kindness, Gregori." I bowed my head and excused myself, "Nazeem do ya wanna go check out the food?" "Ohh yeah!" We walked off to the side of the main hall. There was a giant table which spread for at least 20 or 30 feet, completely covered in platters of food. I grabbed a plate and walked towards the mashed potatoes. We began filling our plates with the best looking food and once they were full, we walked to an empty table. Nazeem and I scarfed down our food rather quickly. "Hey Nazeem. Ain't it funny how Lura's royalty. Yet the first thing we did after we met was go around stealing streetvendor's food? I find it kinda ironic." Nazeem's face was full of food but he still tried to speak, "Yuh. Petty funny ay?" I continued shoveling food in my mouth, after only a few minutes the plate was empty. "Nazeem, I'm gonna get seconds. I'll be right back." I got out of my chair and walked back to the table of food.
My stomach was already filled with delicious foods, but I needed more. My body was yearning for more. I began filling my plate up with food, until I reached the cooked beef. I stood my arm out to lift up the platter's lid but before I could reach it, a hand moved in my way and grabbed it before me. I turned my eyes to face the person who'd done this. But what my eyes laid upon wasn't a person… It was an angel. An angelic girl was standing to my right, her hand and mine reaching for the same platter. Her face was beautiful. She had deep hazel eyes, and ginger-colored hair which stretched just past her elbows. "Oop- s-sorry. Go ahead." My face turned red and I began to feel flustered. She was so pretty! I felt a thump inside my chest as I laid eyes on her. "She turned to face me, and with a soft smile she said, "Oh it's quite alright. Please, take your share first." Her eyes left me speechless. I forgot to breathe, as I continued to stare at her. She noticed this and spoke up, "I-i'm sorry, is there something on my face?" Oh shit… I'm acting like such a creep! "No no, sorry. Please go ahead and take the beef. I don't need any more." She smiled and opened the platter's lid. She began scooping piles of beef on her plate. That's when I noticed her plate consisted of only meat. I guess she wasn't a big fan of the selection they had here. "W-wow… Are you a big meat eater?" She turned her eyes and began glancing at me while continuing to put meat on her plate, "Yeah… it's about all I eat. Is that wrong?" "N-no I guess not. Everyone has their preferences." I chuckled. She stopped putting beef on her plate once it was full, "May I ask your name?" "Oh sure!" I stuck out my hand, "The name's Kiliano, what's yours?" She shook my hand, "Hello Kiliano, my name is Nyleah, it's nice to meet you." She smiled and walked off. I continued to stare at her as she left my side. "Kil snap out of it will you." Nazeem was right behind me, shoveling food on his plate. "It's really obvious you like her… dumbass you're pathetic." "W-what's that for?" Nazeem gave me a disdainful look, "You're a very capable person. And if you like her then you should talk to her. But knowing you, I doubt you'll ever talk to her again." "Why do you say that!?" "Because your talking skills with girls suck." Nazeem scoffed and walked back to the table. I continued filling up my plate.
By the time I walked back to the table Lura and Nazeem were chatting, "What're y'all talking about?" Lura glanced over at me and made an ominous smirk, "Sooooo, you like Nyleah ayyy?" You bastard! Nazeem how could you! "Nazeem… you probably shouldn't fall asleep tonight." W-why?" Nazeem looked terrified. "Because if you do…" I began emanating as much malice as I could muster up, "If you fall asleep, you'll die." I began staring daggers at him. Lura spoke up, "Oh please! Nazeem didn't need to tell me. I noticed you fiending over her like a dog from the stands." W-what!? Was it that obvious? "W-well… shit was it really that creepy?" Lura's smirk reappeared, "No not really. But It's obvious you like her." I could tell she was just messing with me before. But something about her tone made me feel as if she'd help me. "What's it to you?" Lura frowned, "idiot. Nyleah is one of my cousins, and she's also a very good friend. If you like her…" She gave me an evil smile, "I can help you." "Oh really? I'm guessing this help ain't for free?" Lura laughed, "Of course not. I'm gonna need something pretty important actually." I sighed, "Well, what is it?" Lura stood up from her chair and began staring at me, "I want the two of you to go on an Advanced tier dungeon with me… tomorrow." What is she talking about? Tomorrow is way too sudden. I'd need to prepare for at least an entire day. "If you're worried about preparation, then don't worry. I've gotten everything in order. We have supplies that should last us a few days." Nazeem spoke up, "Well in that case, I'm all in. Kil?" "W-well I don't know… this could be really dangerous you know." Lura got mad, "Do ya want the help or not!?" Geez? Lura's pretty persistent on this matter. I guess there isn't much to worry about in an Advanced tier dungeon. So long as another assassin doesn't show up. "Fine, I'll do it. But if I say so, we gotta turn back… got it?" Lura and Nazeem nodded in approval. "Alright then… help me." I said, with determination in my eyes. Lura looked up at me, meeting my gaze. Her face was stern. "Alright I'll help." She stood up and began walking with me towards where Nyleah was standing.
"Lura, please tell me, what's her age?" "Don't worry about it Kil. Nyleah's ten. Not much older than you." Alright, that's perfect. We made our way to her table. I had assumed Lura would talk to her, and maybe introduce us. But instead… she shoved me into her! I looked back at her, fuming. She smirked and walked off. "Hello again, Kiliano. Is there something I can help you with?" I turned to look at her. She was smiling but her expression was that of worry and curiosity. "O-oh sorry about that." I stood back up and stiffened my posture. "Nyleah. Are you by any chance… busy at the moment?" She shook her head, "No, not at the moment." Perfect! Now's my chance, "Well if you're up to it. I have a table set up with my friends. If you'd like, I would love to introduce you to them and maybe we could become friends?" Holy shit! That came out a lot smoother than I'd expected. Nyleah's head turned to look behind me, she was looking at the table where Nazeem and Lura were sitting. "I see you're one of Lura's friends. Actually… Now that I think about it, I've heard a rumor about your heroic act outside the city. Is it true? Did you really fight a Sword Saint?" I blushed, "Well, y-yeah I was able to hold my own but only for a little bit. I'm nowhere near the level of an adult Sword Saint." I chuckled. Wow she's really tootin' my horn. Nyleah grabbed her plate off the table next to us, "If your offer still stands, I'd love to join you at your table." Lets fucking go! Mission accomplished. Nyleah cleared her throat, "Are you okay if I got more food before I joined you?" Wow she's got a real appetite. I smiled and said, "Of course not. Actually, I was gonna get thirds as well." She began off to the food while I bolted over to my table and snatched up my plate before meeting back up with Nyleah before she could even begin. I began putting food onto my plate. As I was doing so, I glanced over at Nyleah's plate only to see a giant stack of meat on it. Nothing but meat. I'm surprised a girl like her could still be in such good shape and have a diet consisting of purely meat. I chuckled, "It seems you only eat meat?" Nyleah glanced at me while continuing to plop meat on her plate, "Well yeah. Meat contains large amounts of protein. And since protein helps to build muscle and increase strength, I'm gonna have to take advantage of this abundance." Wow… she's trying to build muscle? But she's only ten. I guess it isn't much different from my training with Kaiser. "I can respect that. I'm also trying to get stronger." She looked at me. Her eyes were shining. I got flustered, "Oh sorry, did I say something wrong?" "N-no it's not that. I'm just surprised someone my age was able to sympathize with me… that's all" She began to blush and turned away from me. Oh my… is this what father would call, game? Did I just make her fall for me? No no, that's not it at all. Girls aren't that simple at all. I was merely able to add points towards our new friendship. "Nyleah…?" She turned back to face me, "I'm sorry to ask you this so suddenly, but is it possible that you have trouble making friends?" Her eyes widened in surprise. "You can tell that easily?" I nodded, "It wasn't that hard actually. The only people at your previous table were adults. And judging by your reaction when I asked for you to sit with us, it seemed almost like a new experience. Honestly, there's no shame in it. I used to have a lot of trouble talking to new people. Actually, I still sort of do. But getting out of your comfort zone is what's going to help you the most." I smiled at her. She began blushing once again, but instead she chose to smile back at me, "Wow, you're right on the mark. Thank you for inviting me, Kiliano." "Please… call me Kil." We walked back to our table and she sat down. We started talking about our interests and what we enjoyed doing in our free time. It turns out, Nyleah is training with the bow and arrow. She hopes to one day achieve a high ranking job as a guard or military official. I told her about my hopes of becoming a legendary hero. "Wow Kiliano! You've got just high expectations of yourself." I chuckled and made an arrogant face, "Well of course! If you don't aim high, your chances of living up to your standards fall drastically. And besides, being a legendary hero who helps everyone just sounds really fun. I wanna be known as someone who rivals the Gods." Nyleah giggled at this. I was making progress. We were getting closer. She had opened up to me and so had I. "If you don't mind me asking…" I spoke up, "...Where is your residency? Like do you live in the city or are you just visiting?" Lura spoke up in Nyleah's stead, "Nyleah is currently living in the palace with me. Her parents aren't currently around so she's been staying here. And as far as I know, she won't be leaving anytime soon." Lura sat back down. I'm still a bit confused then. Why hadn't I ever heard or seen her? I continued on, "If that's the case then why haven't I seen you around? We've been training in the courtyard for quite some time now, but I haven't heard so much as a whisper that Lura had a cousin living in the palace." Nyleah's gaze turned to the ground, "Well I don't really like leaving the palace much. The city tends to be rather crowded, and I like my solitude." What!? Her first impressions on me made it seem like she was very outgoing. But it turns out she's actually very shy. "Well, now that you've made some friends, we should hang out! Perhaps you could join us in our training some days. Or if you're not interested in learning swordsmanship, we could find some activities to do." I leaned in, closer to Nyleah, "Truth be told… we're gonna challenge a dungeon tomorrow. It's only Advanced tier so it won't be a problem for us, but it should be fun. You're welcome to join us." Nyleah's face was stunned. Her eyes were fixated on me. Uh oh… was she gonna tattle on us? Before I could say anything else, Nyleah spoke up, "You guys are pretty insane huh. But I've gotta admit… I do enjoy a bit of danger." She smiled, "I'm in!" Perfect! We've got a fourth. That makes this a real party, rather than a trio. Lura stood up, "It's settled then. We'll meet up in the courtyard tomorrow morning." "Got it!" We all said in sync.
Right as Lura sat back down, the King and Queen appeared on their overlook stand. The room went silent. A small magic orb hovered around the King's mouth as he began to speak, "I welcome you all to this party! Please continue to help yourselves to the feast we've prepared. And as you can see, we've finally arrived back home after a long few years outside our kingdom. During our travels, we've met with several other royals from different kingdoms, and have established connections with all of them. Those kingdoms include Jarlee, Sumerst, Hydenfort, Lortmunt, and Belafleece. Each one of these kingdoms have agreed to offer mutual support during this time of unfruitful weather conditions." Unfruitful ay? It's a bit more drastic than that but whatever. The King continued, "I'm also happy to announce an official peacetime with the Southern kingdom of Thyndhime. After decades of war, we've made an official peace treaty and have agreed to halt all interactions involving our two kingdoms." Wait, we were at war? Damn I didn't even know that. The room was filled with applause. I turned to face Nazeem, "Did you know we were at war." Nazeem chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. For the rest of the day, we continued to fill our stomachs with food. And once we were sure there wasn't any more room left, the four of us began going around the room pulling small pranks on the nobles. It started with simply pouring sugar in people's drinks, but spiralled into things like continuously hiding people's plates and then blaming others for what we'd done. It had obviously made people angry and some even began to argue amongst themselves.
By the time we had left the palace, it was nightfall. Lura and Nyleah decided to walk us home, with the company of master Kaiser. We continued chatting all the way to our hotel. Once we made it back the four of us said our goodbyes for the night. I looked over at Kaiser, his face was filled with a half-asleep grin. He was obviously pretty drunk. So drunk in fact, that I'm quite confident that if I caught him off guard he would probably lose to me in a battle of swordsmanship.