Acre, the capital of the Marquis Heinleinās domain.
A certain nobleās mansion in the city.
This is the base of the āWhite Brigadeā, a B-rank party from Rune city, in Acre.
Phelps, the leader of the White Brigade, is the heir to the Marquis Heinlein household, who owns the city of Acre, so even though they belong to Rune, heās been using the White Brigade quite a bit.
āI knew it, thereās something strange going on up Northā¦ā
Phelps muttered as he compared several reports.
Beside him was Sheena, the deputy leader, who had just brought a fresh pot of coffee.
āSorry Shena, but could you please get those four in here. They should be somewhere in the mansion.ā
When Phelps said this, Shena bowed once and left the room.
Three minutes later, Sheena and the other four who had been summoned came into the room.
āLeader, you called~ā
A man carrying two swords crossed on his back announced as soon as he entered the room.
Heās Blair, the dual swordsman.
āI keep telling you, Blair, your communicating skills could really use some work!ā
A man with a staff longer than his own height gave Blair a quick pep talk.
Heās Wyatt, an earth-attribute magician.
āAll right, cut it out both of you.ā
The man who interceded between Blair and Wyatt, who started arguing, was dressed in priestās clothes.
Heās Gideon, the priest.
āā¦ā
The last man entered silently, only shaking his head.
Heās Lorenzo, the scout.
Phelps and Sheena, plus these four, make up what Hugh McGrath calls āthe core of the White Brigadeā.
And these four were called by the other members of the party.
The āFour Heavenly Kingsā.
If Ryo had heard this, he would have said.
āHow chuuni!āĀ (TLN: Short for chuunibyou. The term for the fantasies of second year junior high school adolescents.)
āListen up guys, I want the four of you to take a trip to Duke Flitwickās territory in the north.ā
āFlitwick, as in the royal princeās territory?ā
āBlair, His Royal Highness you meanā¦ā
Phelps said, Blair reiterated, and Wyatt complained about the language.
āRight, His royal Highness this, His Royal Highness that.ā
āYou wanna go? How about we take it outsideā¦ā
āOkay, thatās enough.ā
Blair and Wyattās banter was a regular thing, so Phelps paid no mind to them whatsoever.
Itās priest Gideonās role to stop them.
And after Gideon had stopped them, Phelps picked up where he left off.
āI think thereās going to be a rebellion or something similar. And within a year if Iām right.ā
āDamnā¦ā
Sure enough, even Blair understood the gravity of the situation and stopped fooling around.
The Flitwick dukedom, ruled by the kingās brother Raymond, is one of the most powerful fiefdoms in the north.
With Carlyle, the second largest city in the north, as its capital, the vast and fertile territory is famous for its wheat production.
If a rebellion were to occur in such a placeā¦and worse, if it were the rebellion of the kingās younger brother, many nobles would rally at his back.
Those who cannot hope to rise in the ranks under the current king may join the kingās brother Raymond in an attempt to turn the tables.
If it goes badly, it could lead to a civil war that could split the Kingdom in twoā¦.
āWhat exactly are we supposed to do, leader?ā
Priest Gideon asked.
āI want you to bring back evidence of the rebellion if you can. But you donāt have to risk your lives to do it. Since Iāll be needing everyoneās help the most afterward.ā
āSo, as for suppressing the rebellionā¦ā
āThat wonāt be necessary. I donāt think weāll be able to suppress them so easily, and perhaps weāll be better off dealing with them after theyāve rebelled.ā
āWhoa, spooky.ā
The one who made the retort was Blair, the dual swordsman.
Blair was aware of the fact that their leader, Phelps is one of the best frontal attackers in the Kingdom, so much so that he could be called an elite even among knights, but heās even better at luring and scheming.
Now, for someone like Phelps to say things like, āafter theyāve rebelledā, itās only natural he felt a sense of dread.
āWell then, weāre off.ā
Thus, the White Brigadeās most elite āFour Heavenly Kingsā were sent to the north.