Hikari: Rise Of The Weapons Master

"So, that's what happened in the last weeks," Eva asked while eyeing Emma as the girl nodded.

The CEO of Doogle was sitting on her chair with a tired expression. After seeing the number of players Oracroft was recruiting, she knew that she too would have to do something.

Her best bet were the two players standing in front of her yet...

'I should try sleeping here. Maybe I'll not have those dreams.' Eva started rubbing her temples as she remembered the dream she had the last night.

She had been sitting under a tree before being kissed by...

Eva shook her head before looking at Emma.

"Don't get killed by any attacks that might happen against you. And both of your accounts should have around ten million dollars from me and Ray. You can go to the roof and take the helicopter to my house. There, you'll find the gaming pods.

Zack and Emma then nodded before leaving the room.

After they were gonna, Eva turned around in her seat and stared outside while wondering what she was supposed to do next.

Most of the time, Eva had a plan in her mind that she would follow but Oracroft had made her think about her next move.

'Zack, Emma, I hope you grow stronger soon. I need all the power that I can get.' Eva thought with a sigh before she got back to her work.

***

The duo stood in front of the gaming pods in Eva's secret gaming room.

After the nuking incident, Eva had managed to get the silver discs around her home.

Now, some portion of Doogle Mansions was safe however it would take Eva a long time to get the entire place protected.

"We should test Neji's skills now. After all, we lack a close-range fighter who doesn't rely on a sword." Zack muttered before the duo entered the gaming pods.

After entering the game, the duo noticed that they had a notification on their guild page.

[ Come to the palace as soon as you see this. ]

"Why is it that every time we solve something, a new problem comes up…" Emma groaned as the duo saw who had sent the message. It was none other than Jonathan.

The duo then exited the guild and made their way towards the palace. By then, they knew that Jonathan would always meet them in the throne room since it was the most private place in the palace.

After entering the throne room, the duo saw that Pearl was standing behind Jonathan's throne and the girl looked completely different.

Her light blue hair were clean and tied behind her head in a ponytail. She was wearing a noblewoman's dress and had a sword hanging on her belt.

"I decided to make her my personal guard," Jonathan said in a slightly amused tone as he looked at Zack and Emma's expressions.

The king of the kingdom was dressed in his usual mixture of red and orange clothes as he stared at the duo.

Even though they were counts, their status was much higher than that. Currently, they could almost be treated as dukes.

'But then, even the dukes only talk with letters and keep themselves occupied with their own land.' While sighing Jonathan stood from his place and took out a brown envelope.

"Here, read this." He handed the envelope to Zack who used inspect on the envelope.

[ Letter from Duke Ezio Auditore of the West. ]

'So it's a letter from the second duke of the kingdom.' Zack took the letter from Jonathan's hands before opening it and reading it alongside Emma.

*The western border is facing some kind of movement. The tribes situated near the area are migrating to cities like Trishapat.

Their numbers are far less than what they used to be and they are refusing to share any information with me. After some digging, I found out that the land at the border is getting cleared.

My king, I need some trustworthy people to help me however don't send the remaining two dukes.

And this is just pure speculation and rumors but I think the prince is plotting something…

Ezio*

After reading the letter, Zack and Emma looked at Jonathan. The king of Eizenburgh had a sad smile on his face as he took the letter back.

"Yes, you both are the ones who will go there."

"Jonathan, can I ask you a question," Zack asked as Jonathan nodded. "How much do you trust your men including the dukes?"

"Trust?" The smile on his face widened a little. "I trust the three dukes enough to sleep in the middle of an army during wartime if they are guarding me. As for the rest…"

Jonathan's voice trailed off as he remembered the event that had taken place a few years ago.

"I trust them to milk as much money as they can while making sure that I don't notice it. I trust them enough to know that they would kill me in my sleep if they were offered more than what I give.

Because of this 'trust', I never keep guards in this room nor my own sleeping room. Because one quick thrust is all it would take to end my life."

"Then we will go and check what Duke Ezio wants us to do," Zack replied before he and Emma moved out of the throne room.

Reading the letter, he remembered the event that had taken place in the past of the Eizenburgh kingdom.

'I wonder how he feels knowing that his son, the one responsible for killing his family, is planning something.'

Jonathan's son, Aizen Eizenburgh, had attempted a coup d'etat which had ended with him killing his entire family except for Jonathan.

At that time, the one to stop Aizen had been one of the dukes but it had never been revealed who the duke was.

'There are many holes and flaws in the history I learned last time,' Zack thought while staring at the map of the Eizenburgh kingdom. 'Since this world is semi-real, I wonder if the story of the ten heroes is real or not.'

With that thought in mind, Zack and Emma began their journey towards the west.