Eden was making her way back to her main castle to take a bath when the merchant man who brought the villagers stopped her. "Excuse Great Eden, could you please help me out with an important matter?" Eden paused and looked around for anything suspicious before asking, "what is it that you need help with?" The man introduced himself, "I am Dolion, a royal ambassador when I am not transporting resources or villagers. I was robbed by three thieves recently and they have taken the treasured chests I was transporting. I need your help in finding them and executing them for the kingdom. You will get rewarded for each thief you can catch. It was two males and one female. I can give you a full description of what they are wearing" Eden let out a breath of air, then said, "I have decided that I will raise my sword only for a cause like defending my people. If it's only humans you are fighting, then continue to search elsewhere." Then Dolion immediately added, "oh but I failed to tell you, they are not human. You see, I didn't want to scare you but these thieves look like humans until they fight back. They turn into these tall creatures with hunched backs. Wearing a red cape over them and holding a magical stick. Their faces change by growing horns and long beards. They are fast and strong. You know it's the right thief once they turn into their natural form. That is why my men escorting me couldn't stop them. They went in different directions. Please at least help me with one. I will find others to help with the rest." Dolion was beginning to sweat and almost begged. He wanted to get an answer before selection was over and the owners of the gold appeared. Eden paused to think, then asked, "what kind of rewards can I expect for my services?" Dolion responded quickly, "resources, gold, materials for forging weapons and treasure maps." Eden felt some relief when she asked, "materials for forging weapons, are they of good quality?" "Of course, mid tier and if you get all three you may even get lucky to receive a higher tier," answered Dolion as he looked back. Eden smiled and said,"alright I'll accept the job. Arthur send out a squad to find this royal thief and get us that material." Eden didn't fail to notice Dolion's nervousness, but believed it was due to losing the treasure and they were going against a creature. She turned her heel and left.
Arthur called for Gwaine to escort the Royal Ambassador out and to get a full description of the thieves. Dolion wasn't sure how to describe the thieves since he didn't see them. He was with Arthur and Gwaine the entire time until the selection for the villagers was finished that he didn't get a chance to ask Sylvie the details. Little did he know that he was also conned with a fake story. At the main gate, Dolion made up his mind that he would describe some shifty people he would hire for specific jobs. Since his main role in the realm was to transport, he was given an estate to live in, but it was never enough for such a greedy man. He wanted to live like the monarchs with an army at his beckon call. For the female, she had light brown hair and used a bow. She wore pants and had a leather corset as a shirt with brown boots. One male wore a leather vest as a shirt and carried a large hammer. The same kind you use in the forge but he uses it as a weapon. He had brown hair down to his shoulder which he tied half of it back to keep his hair from getting in his face. He wore knee covers and brown boots as well. The third man was the distraction that made him lower his guard. He had a top hat, walking cane stick and dressed like a noble. He wore a fine suit and had a monoclonal on his right eye. Dolion thought with those descriptions, they are bound to find something. It is not very specific but it was a start.
General Gwaine asked Dolion to wait by the gate since their business was done and there was no need for him to be within castle grounds. Dolion got into his cart and sat down. He laughed quietly inside thinking he will keep this story up and continue to show up until he finds the chests full of the gold he had in his pocket. After a few minutes of looking for the described thieves, General Gwaine arrived with the man who was described with a hammer. He was already dead and presented to Dolion. There were two chests found with him that he didn't give up right away. Once opened there was exactly what Dolion promised as a reward and one with a few gold coins and a letter addressed to Dolion. Nervously he grabbed it and opened it as General Gwaine awaited the confirmation the job was done. In the letter, it said,
"Dolion, we have been watching you for some time now but you have never schemed this far, however, because you entertain us we will continue to supply you with these chests. These people are deserters from battles and now they are being hunted for your benefit. Do not enquire how it's possible as you know already."
Dolion swallowed the spit in his mouth and closed the letter immediately. Then he said to General Gwaine, "This one is a royal thief, here is your reward. Take this chest and go. Thank you." Then he quickly grabbed his and went inside his carriage again where a pop up screen showed the words, Congratulations! You have been promoted to Royal Ambassador. He bit his knuckle and let out an air. He knew the letter was from the elders and it was a warning. How he got that position was because he had once tried to cheat the system so much that they paid him a visit and threw him in the dungeon. He has never been the same. The dead he was now collecting were never to be revived. It was the price you paid for being a deserter and not returning to your monarch.
When Dolion arrived at his estate he noticed that it got larger and he now had a cemetery across from him. He received a pop up notification with a task. Visit every monarch and announce the royal decree to help with killing a thief. Collect the body as confirmation it was done. Bury the body personally in the cemetery. Final rewards can be sent out to monarchs that are from the same alliance and kill 3 thieves in total. Dolion reached for to move the body to the cemetery land when he received visions of his last moments of death. He felt what it is to die unjustly. Dolion released the man's body right away and began to breathe rapidly. Then he cursed the elders internally for giving him those visions as torture. Dolion began to dig a hole and moved the carriage closer to the hole. Once he got it where he wanted it, he got off to pull the body into the hole. But the moment he took a step outside, the carriage was no longer close to the hole, it was at the entrance again with the body still there. Dolion knew that the elders were not going to let him off easy and enjoy watching people struggle. Dolion then dragged his feet to the carriage again and this time took in a few breaths of air before carrying the dead body to the hole. He struggled making every step towards the final resting place of the man. He kept closing and opening his eyes, then breathing hard to catch the air he felt he was never going to feel again. Once he got to the hole, he felt remorse for making such a scheme because he was now destined to relive each person's last moments. There were going to be so many bodies he would have to bury himself. He would be glad if someone didn't catch a thief, but he couldn't tell the monarchs for fear of the consequences.
Eden was in the study when General Gwaine arrived with a chest so she could inspect it. Eden took one glance at the chest and said, "distribute it among the villagers and ensure you get all of the materials awarded to the forge." Gwaine was a little stunned at the order. He asked, "You want all of the rewards to be distributed to the villagers?" Eden nodded and said, " a huh, I know that they trade and buy with their own wages already, but it's still not enough for them to get better quality outside our city if they want to travel to the communal area where the monarchs go, then they need tradable money or goods. I can't afford to pay them more, but we can spare these types of rewards." Gwaine closed the chest and picked it up. Before he moved to leave Eden asked, "how was the battle with the royal thief?" Gwaine answered,
"It was odd. When I found the man. He seemed to have no idea of the stolen chests. Then something glowed on his forearm. A tattoo of the shape of a nautical star appeared. He looked surprised it appeared and a few seconds later he turned into some tall devil looking beast. We haven't encountered something like that before and it's not in the library of the academy. The library has a record of all beasts and gets updated with new information."
Eden pondered regarding the origin of the thief. Was this another species or something the elders created? How she wished she could ask Gwaine questions and the origin of a lot of things. But it would put both of them at risk. But she can still hold a regular conversation with him when she asks open ended questions. "What do you think it is?" Eden asked. As if to realize that maybe he spoke out of term and perhaps his role, Gwaine nervously said, "oh, don't mind me. I just simply found it odd because it wasn't in the books I read, but I bet they have been updated." Eden nodded in agreement and said, "General Gwaine, if you could pass on the message to the rest of Generals that when I ask for opinions and thoughts, they are to speak freely as long as they are comfortable and it doesn't break any rules." Gwaine stiffened a little and then he said, "yes commander, as you wish!" "You may leave now," instructed Eden as she resumed to look at the reports that were waiting for her to review.
The elders had conducted a ritual so that all deserters would get a curse mark that could be erased only if they returned to their assigned monarch. Due to the new development of the royal thief, if a deserter with a curse mark is found, their appearance will change to look like the human description Dolion gave and once in contact with a soldier they would change into the creature described. This made the elders job of finding the deserts and getting rid of them. In the books for the academy, they called the royal thieves as children of Loki with a description and how to defeat them.
Eden called for Erza and asked her about the announcement regarding the royal thief that she received just minutes after Gwaine left. She found it odd that she had received the invitation before the event was announced. Erza provided Eden with the updated information that was in the Academy library. Just as she was in deep thought, Eden received a notification. Congratulations! All three thieves have been killed. Here are your rewards. Then a chest suddenly landed on top of her desk. For some reason, Eden didn't feel comfortable keeping the rewards from these events. So she placed it by the door to be picked up later. She had no logical reason, it was just her gut feeling.
It was almost dinner time and Eden decided to join the Generals at the dining hall for the first time. She used to always eat in her room or study while going through tasks and checking improvements. She would check her rank and stats often to see if it moved. She realized that after that defeat her ego completely took a beating. Some socializing and talking would get her mind back in place. Eden in real life, Natalia, would get bullied as a little girl. Mainly because of her skin color and because she didn't have a feisty attitude. She developed a way to fight without raising her voice, sarcasm and fist punches to one's face.
When she arrived at the hall everyone was stunned by her arrival. They did not expect to see her at all. Arthur immediately stood up and pulled a chair that was always reserved for her, but remained empty. The rest of the men followed Arthur's example and stood up as well to greet Eden's arrival. Eden gestured to them to sit down as she took her own seat. Then she asked for a plate with a glass of grape juice. "Commander, we have wine if you would like to have some," suggested Sir Tristan. Eden shook her head and said, "No, I chose to give up alcohol until I become server king. It is a promise I made to myself to accomplish such an achievement. For now, I am satisfied with grape juice."
Eden noticed General Gabriel looked a little uncomfortable and she asked him, "Is there something that is unsettling you Gabriel." "Uh just that I wanted to apologize that the new recruits have not made it to your study yet. One of them fell sick suddenly and another insisted you wanted them all to be there. I gave them some time to gather themselves before going to your study. I'm so sorry Commander," answered Gabriel and he bowed his head. Eden stared at him as the entire room fell silent. Then after a few more seconds of anticipation, Eden bursted out laughing. They were all surprised and chuckled hesitantly with her. She then said, "There's no need to worry about a quick introduction. I have been busy with administrative things. I wish I could hand off some of that responsibility to someone else, but it has to be done. Tomorrow is fine. Give the new hires time to rest and get settled. We will go over their tasks in the morning with Gunther and you." Eden then raised her glass and said, "cheers! Let's enjoy this meal." The men felt a breath of fresh air, they weren't used to seeing this side of Eden. She was mostly serious with them and straight forward.
After a few more conversations with the men regarding formations and the new gear she is ordering for them, Eden remembered the chest in her study. She then let Gabriel know he should take the chest received and do the same she told Gwaine to. Since Eden promised not to talk about what she found in the cave, she didn't want her men to talk about it so freely either in case a guest overheard them. It was a nice feeling to talk to her army like a regular person. She didn't feel as if she was alone in a castle. Her city took the form of a large castle from far away, but once beyond the gate, you could see different buildings and a village. The main castle quarters was located in the back before you reached the inner gardens. Because she was the only heir in her background story, there were no others living in the castle. She then had an idea, she could ask the Generals to live on the first floor so that it wasn't so lonely. But she didn't want to make it awkward at dinner, so she decided to assign a hall just for them in the morning.