Outside the slums, on the high roof of an abandoned building.
"Hu...Huff..."
A magic circle overlayered with multiple shapes drawn neatly together, lit bright with a golden hue.
Resting above the circle was a wounded figure.
A mouse-man scythed for more breaths to settle.
"What a damn monster"
Complete humiliation was what that battle truly stood for.
"Making a spell with so many flaws the killer move, as expected of the commander"
Walker's chest heaved up and down in steady rhythms.
He clutched his charred left side, blood kept flowing from his mouth.
Fwip! Fwap!
The sound of a bird flapping its wings made his head snap upwards.
It perched on Walker's head, body, color and its tiny head resembled that of a crow.
But in fact.
"Caw! Walker!"
It was a parrot.
"Have you fulfilled his majesty's order!"
"No"
Saying it so bluntly made the parrot stagger.
"Huh?! Caw! Why the duck not?!!!"
'What did the duck do?'
Walker cleared his throat once before speaking.
"Because Yujin was too powerful for me"
The parrot pricked at the head of Walker.
"Nice excuse! But no one cares for a loser!"
Smack!
"Caw?!"
Smacking the parrot away.
Walker got up.
"It was impossible to get the 'product' but there are always more chances"
Grabbing the parrot that tried to fly away from his grasp, Walker whispered words into the parrot it choked.
"Tell his majesty to have some patience if he wants something, didn't he have that when becoming the heir to the throne?"
"I cawn't say that!"
Smack!
"Caw!"
Walker smacked the parrot again, this time harder.
"Alright, then I guess dying is better for you right?"
"!!!!"
The parrot straightened up at the words.
"So what does his majesty want me to do? Don't tell me he is giving a chore or an errand like stalking his wife"
The parrot shook its head viciously.
"Okay, then what is it?"
Clicking its tongue silently. The parrot began speaking.
"Enter the Royal Academy"
Walker's eyes widened slightly at the words.
"The academy?"
He probed and questioned.
"For what reason?"
The parrot glared with a scornful gaze.
"Use your damn head"
"Seems like chicken wings is on the menu today"
"....."
The parrot shrank back and thought of his predecessor.
'He might really eat me, I heard he ate the last one....'
Clearing its throat, the parrot began speaking respectfully to Walker, afraid to be on a silver platter.
"Listen here, you cucking mouse"
Shiiiingggg~
"...!"
Walker raised his blade against the parrot. Ready to put red on it at any moment in time.
"His majesty, or well his advisor recommended this action!"
The parrot began chirping words with fear, forgetting about its pride as a proud Zogu Phoenix.
"...?"
Walker lowered the blade and listened intently.
"The advisor basically said 'this is our best course of action' and some other edgy crap that made cringe on the way here"
Walker, pondering the words, asked the parrot.
"Why though?"
The parrot froze.
"I don't know—"
SHING!
Unsheathing his blade yet again, he slashed at the bird.
Leaving the blade inches away from its small body that twitched with fear.
"Eh?"
It didn't even realise it was knocking at death's door step.
"You are wasting my time quite spectacularly huh?"
Sensing Walker's impatience. It began babbling all that it remembered in perfect memory.
"They want you to promote a few noble families there, by doing that they gain their support and a bloated reputation which they can 'fake till they make it' while also making a few other students feel trashy about themselves and make nobles feel the difference in rank or something dumb like that. I really don't know much other than that sir."
Speaking so fast, the parrot took a deep breath and spoke for another paragraph which made even the author have a small stroke while writing and reviewing.
"Anyways, they want you serve as someone with extreme elitism while making the others believe that you are actually not, and that you are an extremely patriotic man who only wants the good of the students while clearly showing goodwill towards some students while embarrassing the students whose noble families do not align with the Royal Family's wishes under their shell which claims that all they do is for the Royal Family even though it is obvious they'd vote for a revolution. Ah! Also make as many of the commoners that somehow made their way in through the screening process drop out!"
"....."
'Yeah no, I didn't get any of that'
Massaging his temples, he summarized what he heard.
"So basically, you want me to favor some students whom the Royal Family want to show support and make those who aren't aligned with the goals of the Royal Family their academy life a living hell?"
"Plus the peasants!"
'Ah yes, the peasants. Such a priority'
Rolling his eyes to the side, he walked away from the fluently talking parrot.
"I guess I'll take it, traumatising and legally abusing a bunch of noble, sheltered brats could be fun in some way"
"Wait"
The parrot stopped him.
Its sudden deep voice made Walker flinch.
"Why could you not retrieve the 'product'?"
Walker looked at the parrot glinting suspicion.
"Because of Yujin?"
"Don't mess with me brat. 'We' know you went into the entertainment district where the 'product' was supposedly at for testing way before Yujin even came close to it, there had to have been another reason"
Walker scratched his cheek.
"I couldn't"
"..?"
He looked back, his face started twisting in pain slightly.
"She wasn't there"
The parrot twitched at the words.
"Either the informant lied to us, or he was found out and died feeding us false information, or"
"Or?"
"Someone else had reached her before any of us could"
"...."
The parrot fell into deep thought.
The sequence of events lined up one underlying figure to be the cause.
"Gaia?"
"Yes, or so I believe"
Lowering its small head and covering it with a wing, the parrot spoke with shame.
"Who would have thought Gaia was truly here...."
Strings were pulled to force the elite team which Walker had been in here.
However, there still needed to be an underlying reason as for why the elite forces of the empire needed to move, without the emperor realising the crappy stunt they pulled right behind his back.
Gaia the Cold Metal was a very good reason for making them move.
Tricking the mana sensors was a tricky process, but with a lot of hard work, they were able to do it.
The 'product' also had the least amount of people guarding her as well, due to still being in the testing phase.
But....Gaia, actually being here was the true puzzling anomaly.
He wasn't supposed to be here, he was only used as an excuse to get close to the 'product'
Him actually being here however. Also meant he had a purpose to do so.
Archmages wouldn't move without an underlying reason to after all.
His rampaging mana suggested that at the current moment, he was very vulnerable.
So, if he truly was the one to steal the 'product' from them....
'Is there a trait of the product that even we don't know?'
They could only draw conjectures, but that was enough. Enough for them reevaluate how important the 'product' truly was.
And that she is so important.
That even Gaia, the Archmage who brought hell with him after the Roksu civil war.
Moved for.