Princess Rose ordered the soldiers to preserve the bodies of the two men and collect the corpse of the Ironclaw Bear, whose body possessed many valuable uses. Darkness was approaching quickly, and nightfall would soon blanket the land. Since they had already traveled far after the battle, they decided to camp at the edge of the forest for the night.
At dawn, they resumed their journey back toward the capital.
During the journey, Rahul remained deep in thought. According to Monty, his father had likely already been imprisoned. Judging by Monty's expression earlier, Rahul doubted he had been lying. Realizing this, Rahul began planning his next steps in advance.
The first decision he made was not returning the weapon to the princess yet. It was a powerful weapon, and there was a chance he might need it.
Lost in thought, Rahul suddenly heard a loud voice echoing in the distance.
"The kingdom will be destroyed! The gods are angry!"
The shout caused him to snap back to reality. Rahul immediately ordered the caravan to halt and sent a soldier to investigate what was happening.
Princess Rose frowned slightly.
"Some people are always spreading nonsense. Why should we bother with it?"
Rahul calmly replied, "Sometimes even nonsense carries a fragment of truth."
Five minutes later, the soldiers returned, bringing five men with them.
Rahul looked at them and asked, "What is happening?"
As he spoke, he took out a bronze coin, a silver coin, and a gold coin.
The moment the coins appeared, one man quickly stepped forward.
"My lord," he said eagerly, "mythical beings are fighting. The world might be ending. People are worshipping them so they may gain their favor and receive mercy."
Rahul narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Did you see them yourself?"
"No, my lord," the man admitted.
"Then why are you not worshipping them as well?" Rahul asked.
The man scratched his head and replied honestly, "We plan to watch the fight first… then decide."
Rahul considered his words before saying, "How many are there? Where are they now? Tell me everything you know, and these coins are yours."
The man's eyes gleamed with excitement.
"I heard there are three of them — an eagle, a snake, and a lotus. They are currently about a twenty miles north of the kingdom. A large part of the Tundra Kingdom has already been destroyed during their battle. That is all I know."
Rahul nodded.
He then handed a gold coin to each of the five men.
Princess Rose looked surprised.
"Why did you give a gold coin to every one of them? Only one man gave you the information."
Rahul replied calmly, "Otherwise they would fight among themselves for the reward. Besides, there may be some truth in what they said."
He paused for a moment before adding,
"Although if they were truly gods, the destruction would likely be far greater."
Rahul then called six soldiers forward.
"You six will travel north in teams of two. Observe the situation from a distance and gather as much information as possible about these three mythical creatures."
Princess Rose folded her arms thoughtfully.
"You are actually taking this seriously. Even if the story is true, we do not have the power to confront such beings. Besides, you should be more concerned about your father. It seems my brother has evidence against him with the ministers."
Rahul shook his head slightly.
"Monty said my father has been accused of betrayal. But my father is an advisor, not a minister. He does not command an army."
"That means he cannot be accused of trying to seize power from the king. Yes, he knows many secrets of the kingdom because he creates military strategies, but the kingdom is currently at peace with all neighboring states. There is no war."
He paused.
"So what could the accusation be based on?"
Rahul then looked at the princess with questioning eyes.
"You think it might be connected to these events?" she asked slowly.
"Yes," Rahul said with a small nod. "That is my guess."
For a moment, Princess Rose simply studied his face.
Then she suddenly said,
"You seem different to me lately. As if… you have changed."
…
Flora City
After half a day of travel, they finally arrived at the kingdom.