When Arthur and his group returned to Camelot, they brought back one massive piece of bad news:
War was about to start!
When a crestfallen Arthur delivered the news to King Uther, the King was completely stunned. He couldn't figure out how things had gone so wrong. Before they left, Kai had given them very specific, repeated instructions: Don't cause trouble. Don't cause trouble. Solve the bandit problem and come right back; don't linger.
Uther had honestly thought that since the instructions were so clear, even Arthur, with all his impulsive tendencies, wouldn't mess up badly enough to create an uncontrollable situation.
But the results spoke for themselves...
"What in the world did you do, Arthur?! Why is King Snedrid planning war against Camelot? You tell me right now—what happened?!"
King Uther's face was dark with fury as he grit his teeth and demanded an explanation.
Arthur had lost all his previous swagger. He could only hang his head and recount, detail by detail, how they had defeated the bandits.
King Snedrid, as previously mentioned, had sent his son, Prince Alric, to Ealdor to take care of the bandit problem. That's where everything went south. Arthur had planned to leave Ealdor after just one night, but the following morning, just as they were preparing to depart, they bumped right into Prince Alric.
Honestly, the situation wasn't bad yet. Arthur had traveled to Ealdor in a private capacity, so he wasn't technically trespassing. Plus, he and his friends had done the Prince a favor by taking out a gang of bandits. From any angle, Prince Alric shouldn't have been upset with Arthur's group.
In fact, Prince Alric seemed perfectly reasonable. He genuinely thanked Arthur for their help and even offered them a monetary reward.
Everything seemed peaceful.
Unfortunately, in the middle of their conversation, Arthur carelessly made a sarcastic remark about King Snedrid.
In Arthur's opinion, Snedrid was a terrible king. His own people were being terrorized by outlaws, yet he, the king, chose to stand by and refused to send his army. Since the villagers of Ealdor had inevitably suffered casualties while fighting the bandits, Arthur felt a bit of guilt. Seeing the King's representative standing right there, Arthur couldn't control his mouth and let a few disrespectful comments slip.
This, too, might have passed unnoticed if Alric had been the type to let it slide. Prince Alric appeared to be a decent person, which is why Arthur hadn't been careful with his words.
However, no one expected Prince Alric to be such a dutiful son. While he felt sorry for Ealdor's plight, he couldn't accept a cocky young upstart insulting his father. And just like that, a conflict erupted.
People in this age tend to be very aggressive; if they can fight, they will. The argument quickly escalated into a duel.
Whether you credit Kai for training Arthur so well, or curse Kai for training Arthur so well, Arthur quickly won. The trouble was that Arthur also took Prince Alric's life in the process.
Out of respect for the rules of a knightly duel, the knights and soldiers who accompanied Prince Alric didn't attack Arthur. However, before leaving, Alric's escorting knight issued a declaration of war. King Snedrid would definitely not let this go, as the deceased Prince Alric was the King's eldest son and most favored heir.
...
King Uther stared blankly up at the vaulted ceiling murals of the great hall, suddenly overcome with the urge to strangle his idiotic son. How utterly clueless do you have to be to mock a man's father right to his face?
Kai had a similar expression. He couldn't believe Arthur had managed to end this bandit-hunting excursion in such a way. He felt like he needed to crack open Arthur's head and see what was rattling around inside. He had emphasized, over and over, not to cause trouble...
However, Kai knew that scolding Arthur now was pointless. Could he and Uther really hand Arthur over to King Snedrid for punishment? To put it plainly, other people's children were expendable, but Arthur was family. Neither Uther nor Kai had any intention of sacrificing Arthur. So, only one option remained.
"Your Majesty, I will leave for the border immediately."
"Yes. I will send an envoy to speak with King Odin. If it's possible... Regardless, we must prepare."
King Uther would absolutely prefer to resolve this peacefully, whether through compensation, an apology, or even ceding a bit of territory. But the problem was that Uther knew this wouldn't be easy. That fool Arthur had killed the heir to the throne! King Odin Snedrid accepting a peaceful resolution now would be a miracle.
Uther knew that if the roles were reversed, there's no way he'd accept a peaceful solution.
Kai nodded and immediately turned to leave. He understood that war was practically inevitable. As he passed Arthur, Kai barely managed to suppress the urge to kick him, settling instead for a cold snort before rushing out. He didn't even stop to comfort Morgana.
So many people went with Arthur, and not one of them could talk some sense into him? What were they all doing out there?!
Morgana wanted to say something to Kai, but seeing the grim expression on his face, the words died in her throat.
...
While Camelot was in chaos, scrambling to deal with Arthur's impulsive actions, in a hidden cave somewhere, Nimueh, the sorceress who had appeared before, was observing everything in Camelot through a crystal ball.
When she saw Kai urgently lead a group of knights galloping out of the city, Nimueh finally allowed herself a smile.
Then, her smile vanished. A gust of wind blew through, and she disappeared from the cave. The very next second, Nimueh materialized in a camp nestled in the woods.
Her sudden appearance clearly caught the people in the camp off guard. A group of men, yelling and brandishing weapons, quickly surrounded Nimueh.
Nimueh seemed completely unfazed by them, watching their frantic movements with amusement.
A moment later, a man who was clearly the leader emerged from a tent in the camp. Seeing the commotion, he roared, "Calm down, you pigs! Everyone get back to your posts! Now! Right now!"
At the man's command, everyone seemed to find their composure, immediately quieting down and returning to their assigned duties. Only a few soldiers remained, dutifully surrounding Nimueh, showing no sign of relaxing.
The leader walked to the edge of the circle and clapped one of the soldiers on the shoulder. "No need to worry, gentlemen. She's not an enemy. Go on, get back to work. I have business to discuss with our guest here."
The soldiers obeyed their leader, lowering their weapons and moving away, though still looking suspicious. Only the man and Nimueh were left standing there.
"Looks like your little operation is doing well, Torvin," Nimueh said. She seemed very familiar with the camp's leader, speaking in a casual tone tinged with a slight sarcasm, especially emphasizing the word "little" in "little operation," clearly showing a bit of disdain.
"What do you want? Nimueh, I distinctly remember you saying we weren't on the same side," the man, Torvin, said, his voice wary and showing no offense at her sarcasm.
Nimueh was a Master Sorceress, incredibly powerful, and the known world's only current keeper of ancient magic. She was very famous in the magic community, but equally famous were her unpredictable nature and ruthless methods. Over the years, many had tried to partner with the powerful witch, but the results were rarely good.
Torvin himself had once sought to work with her when he was desperate, but the sorceress hadn't been interested in him at all.
Nimueh ignored Torvin's question, instead asking a few irrelevant things with an amused look. "How have you been lately? Still running around fooling people with your so-called alchemy? How many have fallen for it?"
Torvin's face instantly darkened.
Alchemy was an ancient branch of magical study, rumored to predate magic itself. Its earliest goal was to transform common metals into precious ones like gold, and later evolved into impractical pursuits like the elixir of life and panaceas.
Because of its impractical goals, alchemy had completely fallen into decline today. Successful cases were extremely rare, and whether it had ever truly succeeded was questionable. Now, it was mostly just a trick used by con artists.
Torvin was an alchemist, which is why Nimueh's mockery made his expression so grim.