Humanity's Hero Of Despair

"The Elemental Sphere of Earth. It has finally been spotted after all this time."

The Emperor's words rattle in my mind. The Elemental Sphere of Earth? That's been missing for so many years. This is the last thing I expected to hear from the Emperor. Even all my friends are stunned. Our own Kingdom of Tarondar is known for our hold over the spheres, but we never managed to find where the Sphere of Earth had gone.

"That damn Grand Duke Pedgas. Everyone, please follow me."

My friends and I exchange glances as we follow the Emperor through the dark halls of the Imperial Palace. After a few minutes, I have an idea of where we are going. The staircase at this point is extremely familiar to me. We are heading toward the Emperor's private office.

Well, I was partially right. We make it up the staircase that leads to the private office, but instead of going straight, he takes a right down a hall. We follow him, and he unlocks a couple of doors with his magic. He opens one of the doors and walks through. We all follow.

All of us end up standing in what seems to be a private lounge area. This lounge contains several luxurious couches and chairs. A roaring hot fire in the hearth makes the room feel comfortable, the glow of the flames providing warmth.

The Emperor walks around the room with his wand, making sure there are no holes in the protection magic. He sighs as he finishes his inspection.

He turns toward us.

"Usually, I would bring you all to my private office, but there is not enough comfortable space for all of us in there. That is why I opted for my private lounge instead. Now, onto business."

He walks over closer to us and sits down in one of the chairs while placing the report on the table for all of us to see. Quillen picks it up first and examines it. He then hands it to Ivy, who looks at it briefly and hands it to Matteo. After it rotates around my friends, it comes into my hands. I read the report as fast as I am able.

Your Imperial Highness,

The Elemental Sphere of Earth was spotted in the Grand Duchy of Pedgas a couple of days ago. It was seen being protected by suspicious individuals near the Grand Duke's castle. We cannot confirm if Grand Duke Pedgas is the one in possession of the sphere, but we cannot rule out the possibility that he is hiding it from all of us.

Please remain vigilant as the situation in the Grand Duchy of Pedgas becomes unstable. We will stay in the Grand Duchy of Pedgas and observe more until it becomes too dangerous to continue.

I double-check it to make sure I have all the facts straight. I place the report back down on the table in the middle of us. It is just unbelievable, they finally found one of the most precious magical artifacts known to humanity. I look back and forth between my friends and the Emperor.

"So, what do we do now, Hadrian?"

I ask the Emperor as I lean back in my chair and think to myself. The Emperor's face looks grim. He says to wait for a moment. He gestures for Quillen to speak to him privately. They exchange hushed whispers, and Quillen looks at me a few times during their discussion. Then, they both return to the center of the lounge.

Quillen speaks calmly.

"We will only do this with your permission, Nico. The Emperor would like us all to travel to the Grand Duchy of Pedgas and pretend to want to understand the territory more. The Grand Duke has expressed a lot of interest in you and shouldn't mind your friends coming either. It is a possibility that Grand Duke Pedgas might try to sway you to his side in case he does plan to continue the rebellion."

"While we are there, the Emperor's imperial intelligence group will work on retrieving the sphere and determining whether Pedgas actually has it or not. In other words, all of us will be performing a covert mission."

I slowly nod as I take in all the details. I trust Quillen with this plan since he knows how to navigate these matters and ensure political stability remains intact.

We do have to find out sooner or later if Grand Duke Pedgas is truly loyal to the throne and whether he is hiding something that important or not.

I agree to the plan and turn to my friends, telling them they don't have to take part in a dangerous mission like this if they don't want to. Of course, all of them say they are fine with it. After all, none of us had friends except each other during our Keeper Academy days.

We discuss the details for a bit, then we are dismissed. We all head to our beds, doing our best not to dwell on the new information brought to our attention. Whoever has ownership over the Elemental Sphere of Earth can drastically change the landscape of the battlefield. Even mages who don't use Earth magic can temporarily wield its power if taken directly from the sphere.

Though this often causes the person to go berserk.

I go to sleep as soundly as I can. The next morning, I do my usual routine.

I then head to the dining hall for breakfast, rehearsing what I am going to say to the Grand Duke later. My friends and I eat together and pretend like nothing happened yesterday to make it appear as if we found nothing. After breakfast, my friends go off and pretend to do their own thing.

I walk around the Imperial Palace and spot Grand Duke Pedgas reading a book while slowly walking down the hallway. I catch up to him and grab his attention. He closes his book and looks at me with curiosity.

Let's see what magic I can work here.