ocean-life 394. One problem after another
394. One problem after another
As soon as Kai mentioned Vanderfall, the room broke into murmurs.It was not loud enough to become disorderly, but it spread fast all the same. Different expressions appeared around the table too—surprise, concern, calculation, even irritation from a few who had clearly come here expecting to speak only about the corruption zones creeping through Lancephil.
Their neighbours had a habit of stumbling into one crisis after another, and under ordinary circumstances some of them might have dismissed it as just another Vanderfall problem, but this was too large for that.
It had started earlier this morning.
Before dawn had even properly settled, Elias had received a letter brought in by a soldier riding hard from the border. More than one prince had written to him, each of them urging him to return as soon as possible and promising support if he would back them and help restore the kingdom under their rule. Elias had taken the matter with the seriousness it deserved and sought Kai out before he had even fully risen for the day.
The two of them had ended up taking breakfast together while the old Magus explained everything.
Elias had been visibly shaken by the news, and Kai understood why. Once he heard the details of how the king and crown prince had died, he knew immediately that it was not some random tragedy. The official account might have tried to pass it off as an unexpected beast attack, but there was too much wrong with it for Kai to believe that.
Both the king and the crown prince had died in a strange monster assault.
Not just that—according to the descriptions and sketches in the letter, the beasts responsible were not native to Vanderfall at all. Elias himself had confirmed as much after reading through the details.
Those monsters had torn through large numbers of Knights and Mages, yet for some reason they had not pursued the commoners marching just behind the nobles and royal family on the road back to reclaim their homes now that the plague was gone.
That alone made the whole thing reek of intention. It felt too targeted to be a beast attack.
And the more Kai thought about it, the more certain he became that Maleficia’s hand was somewhere inside it. He was not the only one. Elias had reached the same conclusion before even coming to him, and now both of them were left staring at the same ugly possibility.
Vanderfall’s latest crisis was not separate from everything else.
It was part of the same hand closing around the world.
According to the old Magus, the other princes could not have arranged something like that themselves. Half of them were not even Mages, and until now all of them had supported the crown prince openly enough. That made the shape of the attack clearer to Kai. It had not been done to remove one rival from the line of succession. It had been done to take out both the current king and the heir at once, then leave the remaining princes to devour one another in fear.
Why anyone would want that, Kai could not say for certain. But that did not make it less dangerous.
If he had still only been a baron, he might have treated it as a grim piece of foreign news and left it to burn on its own. But he was a king now. That meant he had people, structure, and enough hands around him that he could afford to face more than one crisis at the same time.
Around the table, the murmuring continued in low voices until Amara cut across it.
“How could both of them die at the same time?” she asked. “There’s no way that was an accident.”
At once, the room’s attention shifted. Elias answered her.
“It wasn’t. It was intentional. And because of it, the three princes who remain are now deeply suspicious of one another.”
Francis gave a small nod and added, “Each of them probably believes one of the others arranged the deaths of the king and the crown prince. The problem is that none of them knows which one.”
Elias leaned back slightly in his seat. “That is the heart of it, yes. Before this, they did not have a particularly bad relationship. They could afford not to. The crown prince had already promised them the kind of lives they wanted—wealth, power, comfort, but not responsibility. Supporting him meant they could remain princes without ever needing to become kings.”
His mouth thinned.
“Now that arrangement is gone.” He looked around the table before continuing. “Each of them has taken control of a different part of the purified kingdom, and each is now trying to gather enough noble support to declare himself the rightful ruler. If none of them succeeds quickly, then the neutral nobles may decide it is better to tear Vanderfall into separate pieces rather than let one prince take the whole.”
More than a few people frowned openly at that, and Kai could tell exactly why. It sounded like a disaster waiting to grow larger.
In some ways, it was worse than the civil war Lancephil had gone through. At least in their case, the kingdom had not been trying to rebuild itself after surviving a plague. Vanderfall was still fragile, and because it sat open to the ocean, any serious instability there could invite outside forces to move in, take pieces of it, and create even more trouble along the border.
The last thing Kai wanted right now was a region collapsing into chaos while Lancephil was already dealing with corruption zones and Maleficia’s movements.
That was one of the reasons he was taking Vanderfall so seriously.
The other was simpler.
He had a strong suspicion that this was exactly the kind of fracture Maleficia wanted.
As the room filled with half-formed theories and quiet tension, Kai spoke before the speculation could spread too far.
“From what I’ve considered,” he said, “and from what Elias and I have already discussed, I believe Maleficia is behind this.”
That pulled the room’s attention back to him at once.
One of the Enforcers, Bran immediately frowned and asked, “What do you mean by that, Your Majesty?”
Before Kai could answer, Ansel did. “I think,” he said, “that instead of trying to destroy Vanderfall outright like they did with the plague, they’re now trying to control it.”
Kai nodded at that. “He’s right. Before, their plan seems to have been the destruction of Vanderfall itself. That would’ve opened the way for Lancephil to take control of it, but that was when Regina was still alive. Now I believe their approach has changed. They want a civil war. They want one prince to become desperate enough, frightened enough, and hungry enough for power that he becomes easy to manipulate. Then they support him, help him secure the throne, and use that ruler to launch a war against Lancephil.”
At that, Mage Khoph spoke up. “But even if they do that, Vanderfall still won’t match our strength. Not with the Enforcers on our side.”
The moment he said it, his eyes flicked toward Elias, almost as if checking whether the words might offend him, but the old Magus only let out a small snort.
“They won’t be relying on Vanderfall forces alone,” Elias said. “They’ll be relying on Maleficia standing behind them. If that group can spread plagues and arrange the deaths of a king and crown prince, then they have more than enough strength to lend to a puppet ruler.”
“Yes. That is exactly why this is such a problem,” Kai agreed. “Maleficia is pressuring us from every direction at once. There’s the plague in our own kingdom, there’s the situation in Vanderfall, and I would not be surprised if other countries begin turning against us as well—not because they understand what is truly happening, but because they see opportunity in the chaos. Rumours about our kingdom will spread, and once they do, some will inevitably want to take a piece of us for themselves.”
If Kai remembered correctly, the Alparcan Kingdom had already refused any attempt at diplomatic ties with Lancephil. He could not entirely blame them for that. He had killed one of their princes, and even if he could justify the act, that did not mean their court would easily forget it. Even so, he still hoped that old grievances might be forced aside for a little while longer, at least until the world was safely past the point where the prophecy might come true.
“The plague and Vanderfall alone already sound like enough to drown a kingdom,” Killian said. “We have way too much on our plate suddenly.”
Kai noticed the way Francis grimaced. “We have more than that. There’s still Sylvastra. And then there’s the matter with the tribals in the desert.”
A few people in the room looked confused at the last two points. Not everyone present knew about the Elder Tree or what was happening among the tribes, but no one was foolish enough to interrupt and ask questions they could already guess would not be fully answered here.
Ansel was the first to respond to that. “I believe the tribals can handle themselves if we continue supporting them.”
Kai shook his head almost immediately. “No. I don’t think that’s enough.” His voice stayed calm as he continued, leaning towards Ansel. “I know you trust your people, but blood drinkers are not simple enemies to deal with, and they are definitely not going to limit themselves to just kidnapping tribals. They will keep pushing.”
Then he paused, choosing the next words more carefully.
“We have too much at stake in the Ashari Desert to leave things to chance. We can’t afford to let that situation resolve itself.”
Francis nodded faintly.“Yes,” he said, “but we still need to think about whether we can truly handle several fronts at once, Your Majesty. A great deal of our workforce is already tied up in different projects, and although we do have a strong army to call upon, we need to be realistic about how much danger we’re willing to throw them into.”
Kai fell quiet after that. Not because he lacked an answer, but because the answer came too quickly.
If it were up to him, he did not want to throw any able man or woman into danger unnecessarily.
He didn’t wish to coddle them—he understood too well that kingdoms were not preserved by softness alone. But the deeper truth was that he felt something worse was still waiting ahead of them. The plague and the unrest in Vanderfall felt too early, too scattered, too convenient. More and more, Kai found himself thinking that this might only be the beginning.
Maleficia was not done.
It was entirely possible that all these crises breaking out at once were meant to wear them down—to grind at morale, split their attention, and reduce their numbers little by little before some greater strike came later. The more Kai considered it, the more plausible that seemed.
And the plague, above all else, was exactly the sort of weapon that could do it.
It could kill soldiers in large numbers and then turn those same dead against the living, creating a cycle of slaughter that fed itself. That was the kind of war Kai wanted to avoid at all costs.
Looking around the room, Kai saw that everyone had gone quiet. They were waiting for him to decide.
He could feel it in the stillness around the table, in the way no one interrupted, in the way all of them seemed to be holding themselves back just enough to hear what direction he would choose. And as he sat there under all those eyes, the outline of a plan slowly began taking shape in his mind.
By now, Kai had acted as a leader for long enough that his thoughts naturally moved that way. Even when everything around him felt too large, too complicated, too close to slipping out of control, some part of his mind still worked to divide the problems, measure the risks, and find the path that would cost them the fewest lives.
After a moment, he finally spoke. “For the plague, we’ll send mixed groups of Enforcers and Mages to the newer corruption zones first. The ones that have spread recently and are less likely to become immediate disasters if we move on them quickly.”
As soon as he said that, a few expressions around the table shifted, everyone clearly trying to see where he was taking it.
Kai continued, “Alongside them, I want rescue squads made mostly of Watchers. Their job won’t be to fight unless they have to. They’ll focus on pulling people out, coordinating with the local churches and nobles, and making sure the evacuations happen as quickly as possible.”
“Do you want me to take the larger corruption zones, then?” Killian asked, leaning forward.
“No. You’ll lead the Enforcers in the other zones.”
Killian frowned a little, and before he could speak, Kai continued, “I’ll deal with the larger ones myself. Not immediately, but I will.” He let that settle before going on. “The damage there is already significant. Sending rescue squads first should be enough to stop things from getting worse too quickly. But if we move hard and early on the newer corruption zones, then we can stop the plague from becoming something truly unmanageable.”
Ansel lifted a finger after a few seconds of taking in his words. “Then what will you be doing first, Lord Arzan?”
Kai went quiet for a few breaths. “I’m going to the Ashari Desert.”
That made a few people glance at one another, but he kept going before anyone could interrupt.
“It shouldn’t take long, and I need to make sure our allies there are safe. If Maleficia is truly moving around the tribals, then I don’t want to leave that unchecked.” Then he paused, and his eyes shifted slightly as another piece of the plan settled into place. “But before that, I’m making a stop in Sylvastra.”
This time, the confusion around the table became much more obvious. Most of them clearly had no idea why he would need to go to the elves first.
Especially at a time like this, the confusion around the table swirled, but Kai did not leave it hanging for long.
“I know many of you do not understand why I need to go there. But for now, I will only tell you this much—it is important that I do. Some of you already know the reason. The rest will understand when the time is right.” His gaze moved across them one by one before he added, “Until then, I ask that no one wastes time speculating. Focus on the orders I’ve given.”
At once, more than a few lowered their heads and answered, “We understand, Your Majesty.”
Kai gave a small nod, satisfied enough that no one chose to press him further.
“What about Vanderfall, Your Majesty?” Amara asked.
Kai looked toward her, but before he could answer, Elias added from the side, “Yes. I understand why your own kingdom and the plague must come first, and I don’t dispute that. But if nothing is done about Vanderfall, it will only grow into an even greater mess.”
Kai looked back at the old Magus. “I think it’s already a mess.” Elias grunted at that, not disagreeing, and he went on. “But I do have an idea for how to deal with it.”
That drew the room in again.
Elias narrowed his eyes slightly. “What idea? Are you planning to send a delegation to tell those princes how foolish they’re being? They might listen to another king, if not to me.”
Kai shook his head. “That might have worked if Maleficia wasn’t already trying to push them into war. A delegation would only run into obstacles there—some natural, some very deliberate.” He paused, then added, “No. I think the person best suited to deal with what’s happening in Vanderfall is you.”
That made Elias raise a brow.
“With Lancephil’s support behind you, of course,” Kai finished.
Elias leaned back a little. “And how exactly do you see that working?”
Kai did not answer immediately.
Instead, he let the room settle, let every eye stay on him, and then began laying out the shape of his plan while everyone listened.
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