The Monster King's Legacy

The next morning, the camp was bustling, with everything mostly ready for the journey to pick back up, there was only one more thing that needed to be done, and that was to bring the remaining supplies and valuables. Under Eran's lead, a small group headed out while Lance remained behind, watching over the rest and the people.

Suddenly, after a while, one of the merchant guards came running through the camp, panic in his voice.

"Lord Lance! Trouble!"

Lance was already on his feet when the guard came running towards him.

"They're back! From Eran's group, one of them ran all the way here to report."

Lance didn't wait, immediately, before the guard could say more, he vanished from the camp, heading towards the bandit lair.

When he arrived near the old bandit lair, he immediately noticed the tension in the air. Eran and the others were standing outside the lair, weapons drawn, surrounding the carts they brought with them. There were three bodies on the ground, guards from the group, only injured and not dead, and beyond them, closer to the bandit lair, stood figures cloaked in black.

They weren't bandits, at least, they didn't look the part. If anything, they looked like the typical assassins, especially the stillness in their behavior and movements.

Lance had appeared beside Eran, startling him. "What happened?"

Eran breathed hard. "We came to retrieve supplies. But just as we loaded the carts, these people appeared. They said that we were trespassing."

Lance narrowed his eyes. "Trespassing?"

"I asked about it. They didn't answer."

Lance stepped forward calmly, now facing the black-robed figures. From the ones he could see, they were four of them. It was possible that others could be hiding nearby, and he could only sense the presence of others within a limited distance.

One stepped forward in response, their face still hidden under a hood.

"You are the one who killed Varkas," the figure said in a dull, male voice. "We felt it."

Lance didn't reply.

"You've disrupted the balance." The figure said.

"Balance?" Lance raised a brow. "You mean I killed your pawn."

The figure tilted his head slightly. "You are strong. That much is clear. But you've… drawn attention. And not just from… us."

'That doesn't sound good… but strangely, not threatening either.' Lance thought to himself.

"We mean no trouble. We came to recover something from Varkas's lair. A possession that originally belonged to us."

"What kind of relic?"

"A sealed one. One that must not fall into the wrong hands."

Lance's gaze didn't waver as he considered it. He could stop them easily from the looks of things, but what would be the point? They themselves had already searched the entire place and found nothing, and there was no way he these sort of people would deluge information even under torture.

"Then take it. But try anything else… and none of you will leave." He said after a few seconds.

The figure was silent for a moment. Then he nodded once and raised a hand. The others behind him immediately disappeared into the lair.

Eran moved to stop them, but Lance held up a hand. "Let them."

Minutes passed. Then the cloaked figures returned, one of them carrying a small obsidian box bound with glowing red runes. There was a dark presence about it… heavy, like a shadow pressing on the soul.

The lead figure bowed his head slightly. "We have what we need. We will not interfere further."

But before leaving, he said something rather, strange, for the kind of character he portrayed:

"That elf you carry… she is a key to something greater. Keep an eye on her."

Then the group disappeared into the forest like mist, leaving Lance and the rest standing in the eerie quiet.

Eran turned to Lance. "What… what was that?"

Lance stared into the trees.

"A, warning…" He said, though he wasn't sure himself.

"Help the wounded, let's return." Lance said.

'This feels like some entry into some sequel. As soon as we get back, she's going to the elves… let them deal with their problems.'

After their return, they prepared their things and once ready, resumed their journey.

The journey from then on was swift.

From then on they didn't encounter any more beasts, experiencing a smooth journey, and they weren't concerned either for their food and security. The supplies they got from the bandit's lair was more than enough, strangely so for bandits staying almost in the middle of nowhere. As for security, Lance was their one true hope.

By the time it was nearing a week, the dense forests that could be compared to somewhat of a rain forest gave way to a more open and less clustered forest, habouring strange and towering trees.

"Lord Lance, we're close to your kingdom now, aren't we?" Eran asked excitedly.

Lance nodded. "Yes. We've entered the wild lands proper."

From that point on, they only had to worry about a few wild beasts, and after only half a day of travel, they entered a proper road leading to the monster city.

It didn't take up to a day more before they reached the monster city. The rescued women weren't surprised by Lance's identity as much since they had learnt of it already from the merchants.

As soon as they arrived, Lance was greeted by Rikka and Zarra who were close by around the gate entrance. They looked excited and worried at the same time, welcoming Lance.

After that, he allowed the merchants to go about their business after inviting them for dinner with him, which even though they tried to refuse, didn't work. Lance requested for the women to be provided with a temporary lodging, explaining briefly what had happened with them.

On reuniting with the others, he learnt that things had not been easy since his disappearance. Tensions with the human kingdoms had risen quite a bit since the soldiers who had come along with the delegate more than a week ago were held in captivity in the monster city. The council of elders had requested for Lance to be brought back to them first before they release the soldiers, but the humans claimed that they had tried their best to search for him, but they couldn't find him.

The elders had decided to hold the soldiers until Lance's return, or the humans found a way to bring him back. Both sides were already ready to go to war, but the humans in particular had calmed down half a week prior it appeared.

Regardless, Lance was alright and back home, this was what mattered.

Finally getting the opportunity to lie on a comfortable cushion, Lance didn't waste any time lounging on a soft couch.

"You're finally back, you don't know how worried we were," Lia said, her tone one of relief.

"Come on, it's not like he would die that easily, especially now," Rynne quipped, entering the room with a grin on her face.

Lance waved a hand, a faint smile on his lips. "It's resolved for now," he said confidently. "The delegates have seen what we're capable of, and they know better than to act recklessly again. At least, for the time being. After sending word and everything is settled, we can also send their soldiers back to them." He said, as Rynne sat beside him while they all discussed about his ventures.

The most shocking part was when it got to the story about the bandit lair, and from listening alone, the ladies could relate to what the women captured by the bandits must have gone through, their pains and sufferings.

Learning about the elf amongst them was also a shock, and Lance used that opportunity to learn when next Melina would be visiting, so he could contact the elven King, Ithil, and send the elven lady on her way to her people. The reason he wanted to meet with Ithil was also to discuss the peculiar group of individuals he ended up meeting, and to pass their message.

This very group soon become to next topic as they struggled to understand who they could be and what their purpose was. At first, they sounded like some evil band of miscreants, but after learning of their warning to Lance concerning the elf, it changed the perspective… truly a strange bunch for sure.

…

Later that evening, Lance and his ladies gathered in the grand dining hall alongside a few others. The atmosphere was lighthearted, filled with laughter as everyone interacted. Not only were the other elders there, a few of their people, the rescued women, and the merchants were also present.

Kaeli leaned back in her chair, a rare smile on her face. "So crowdy in here. Why are there so many people? I thought you hated crowds?" He said, looking at Lance.

"Well, today is special." He answered, asking her what she had been up to as of late. She was always so engrossed in work, they interacted the least probably.

"I have to admit, the bathhouse project was a success. I didn't think it would catch on so quickly, but the people seem to love it."

Zarra snickered as she listened. "Of course, they do. Who wouldn't want to relax after all the chaos we've been through?"

Mira, ever the gentle voice of reason, added, "It's good for morale. The people need moments like that to remind them what they're fighting for."

Lance, seated at the head of the table, listened with a content smile… 'And I still haven't enjoyed it yet.' He thought to himself.