Tainted in Red

Chapter 4

The royal assembly. It was a weekly meeting held for the nobles of Sylva. Each family had a representative attending the said meeting, to voice their concerns to the king.

And yet the king - Zabana Geruntius, despite the years he'd spent as one, was currently having a headache listening to their unreasonable demands and squabbles. Yes, squabbles. He was already in a foul mood after dealing with numerous acts of corruption amongst these very nobles and now they're adding more to the pile of how much he'd rather jump off a high cliff instead of attending this meeting. Right now, he was contemplating such a thought.

The kingdom's grandmaster - Heinz Amon, sat beside the king, also bored with the assembly. His mind had long wandered but he kept an interesting façade on for the sake of appearances. He already had his hands full with all the mission assignments and many other important things. The next thing he needed was to deal with a complaint from the nobles. He'd rather not, actually.

The room had long turned into a warzone of schemes and insults toward fellow nobles and Zabana was on the verge of silencing them for the umpteenth time when the giant double doors of the assembly room flung open, silencing everyone for him. He and the grandmaster were happy about the intervention if not for the sight of the young woman that stepped inside.

It was Raven and she kept a stoic expression as she walked to the center of the assembly room. Ebony hair that was tied into a high ponytail flowed behind her. Her black eyes steadily gazed at the king and grandmaster.

It wasn't just her presence that had the nobles on edge but the red wispy mana that was surrounding her. It swirled calmly around the red-haired woman, almost as if it was dancing to a silent tune but the hostility it carried was dangerous enough for even the arrogant nobles to shrink under it.

"T-t-this is a royal assembly!", One noble managed to speak up despite his terribly shaking legs. "Someone of your kind doesn't belong here!"

Raven smirked and shot an even gaze at the said noble, immediately turning him into a quivering mess. Luckily, for the noble, she had more pressing matters to tend to with the king and grandmaster so she'll have to hold off on her fun for now.

Raven scanned her eyes at the nobles, "All nobles, please vacate the assembly room. Now."

Her red-tinted mana spiked angrily with her last word, which left the nobles scampering out of the room. In no time at all, the room was clear save for the king, the grandmaster, Raven, and the representative of the Moor Family - Anders Moor.

"Duke Anders.", Raven turned to the noble. "I take it you will be joining this discussion?"

"If it's important enough for you to interrupt our assembly, I will be participating.", Anders replied.

The king and grandmaster agreed with Ander's reasoning. Despite her uncaring demeanor and her love for scaring them, they knew Raven despised nobles. If she came to interrupt the very assembly held for them, an important matter must've come up.

"What is it you wish to discuss, Raven?", King Zabana focused his attention on Raven.

"Someone else will be joining us.", Raven replied curtly and spun to face the closed double doors. "Ishwar?"

Ishwar, who was suddenly shoved inside by a certain elf and had just barely walked a few steps, immediately came face to face with a gigantic fireball launched at him.

His warrior instincts made him reach for his saber to defend himself but as he clutched nothing but air, he remembered Vyll had taken it from him just moments ago and told him: "No matter what happens, don't dodge."