286 - Here is His Home

“All these targets, they are going after those who are away from the Brodice Kingdom. He is out for blood. Your Majesty, I wonder if he is not afraid of them.”

The king’s council of Alexandria looked tenser than ever. 

They already had the problem with the army of the Brodice Kingdom pressuring them on the borders, and there were heavy military operations from the Crystal Pulse. Although they hadn’t started the attacks on the bandits and outlaws, it was obvious it was a matter of time before they started the massacre. 

Although the Crystal Pulse wasn’t their direct enemy, Alexandria was under constant pressure to have another powerful party with whom to share their borders. This was especially stressful for them when there were no clear borders between Light Shone and Forestedge. 

The Crystal Pulse currently operated surrounding the Forestedge, and it was overstepping the boundaries of Alexandria. 

The strategy of securing a safe trade route was good, but the nobles across Alexandria showed concern about this action. 

With three Wizards on their side, the Crystal Pulse had the power to invade Alexandria at their wish simply. 

However, none of these moves troubled them as the bounty from the Brodice Kingdom and the counter bounty from the Crystal Pulse. 

Both bounties came from the Assassins League, and it was more than enough to vouch for its legitimacy. Still, the heavy bounty from the Crystal Pulse followed by its specific targets was enough to send a chill down their spines. 

The Crystal Pulse showed how well-informed they were about the Brodice Kingdom. Other than the King, the rest of the targets were officials of the Brodice Kingdom who left the kingdom for various reasons. Even among them, the targets were those who had a notorious reputation.

“Your Majesty, at least a couple of people from this list will die. They… They might even assassinate the king.”

Another minister looked terrified of the probability of the massive storm heading their way.

Even though this looked like a good thing, the war wouldn’t end even with the death of the king of the Brodice Kingdom due to one simple reason. The rest of the world didn’t want this war to end. 

The war between their kingdom and the Brodice Kingdom was no longer a simple war between two kingdoms, it was a war to eradicate the threat of the Crystal Pulse. 

Even Alexandria received various offers to challenge the Crystal Pulse, but none of those offers went beyond what various parties offered to the Brodice Kingdom. 

The reason was very simple, Alexandria didn’t have what it takes to defeat the Crystal Pulse, and everyone knew it. On the contrary, Alexandria had a huge disadvantage within them.

Everyone knew alien humans almost always recorded everything they did, and they didn’t hesitate to share it. These humans even betrayed their own strongest warrior, Jason Hope. 

With the number of humans in Alexandria, they couldn't hide any major movements from the aliens. 

On the contrary, the Brodice Kingdom despised aliens and they didn’t allow any humans to enter their territory. This created a situation where their information network took more time to bring news regarding Light Shone, but it also prevented their news from leaking back to Crystal Pulse.

“Is there any response from the aliens?”

King Alexander looked to the side, waiting for some news from Boris. 

A simple envoy they sent to the border of their kingdom played an important role for the past year. He was the main link between Alexandria and the Crystal Pulse. 

“So far… No alien is trying to take on Jason Hope, Your Majesty. And no assassin would sneak there unnoticed. Their security is really good.”

Another man answered with a hint of admiration in his voice. 

Even during the festival, Light Shone maintained its tight and impressive security. They couldn't fail during this period when many of the strangers left Light Shone after the event. 

“They know it is almost impossible. Is there any news about them trying to take this conflict into their world?”

“Not at the moment, Your Majesty. But I feel like Jason is at a disadvantage because of this.”

Despite Jason targeting vulnerable targets of the Brodice Kingdom, he had to fight two fronts at the same time. While he may be invincible in this world, he isn’t immortal in his world.”

The older man looked troubled like everyone else.

In a way, losing Jason was a good thing for them because the Brodice Kingdom would lose their support, but it didn’t matter to them at the same time. In the end, the Brodice Kingdom would attack them, and Jason’s presence actually made an all-out war even more difficult. 

Especially after the violent reaction from the Crystal Pulse, the Brodice Kingdom would have to watch their back.

“But the bounty. It shows how rich the Crystal Pulse is.”

There was another wave of deafening silence after that. 

It looked like a messy ball of strings with no end and beginning. Wherever they looked, Alexandria was entangled in a deep mess they had no way through.

“Our nobles might soon lose hope.”

There was another whisper that brought no response. 

Their kingdom was crumbling due to the pressure. A pressure that simply came from being in the middle of a stubborn immortal monster and the rest of the world. 

…

“Mommy, is this Daddy’s home?”

Hanna looked at the images she saw with an o-shaped mouth. 

She had seen pictures her daddy showed, but there were so many more today. She wished she could go there and walk around with Daddy. 

“Hm… Maybe….”

Amelia was in deep thought as she looked at Jason’s apartment and the surrounding building from various angles.

“You need to monitor this place and have these places covered. Change these windows.”

Her focus was on arranging Jason’s security.

She knew Jason was vulnerable in his world, and she had to arrange the best protection for him until the stalemate situation came to an end. 

‘This fool. We should just slaughter them.’

She had her own reasons to stay hidden, but she was ready to act at the moment. 

They could simply get rid of the entire Brodice Kingdom overnight, but Jason didn’t want to do so. He also had good reason to hold back at the moment, and Amelia knew it was fair he wanted to hide things until everything was ready. 

Jason’s stay on Yuriel depended on the ancient machine, and there was a possibility of him being thrown back into his world even if he stayed here as much as possible. It was better to keep his capabilities concealed and act moderately before the migration was completed or Jason became too powerful to contain. 

The best she could do at the moment was to arrange Jason’s security to the best. The other part was to keep Jason on Yuriel as much as possible. 

‘Sigh.’

Amelia sighed and raised her head.

“Hm… What?”

She saw Hanna looking at her with teary eyes. 

“Mommy… Is this Daddy’s home?”

Hanna looked really sad at the moment. 

“Of course not.”

Amelia gently patted Hanna’s head, trying to smile.

“Here is his home. This is just a place your Daddy has to go from time to time.”

She assured the little girl, trying to convince herself as well.  

‘It is not like he has anything valuable there.’