The Forgotten Warlord: Return of the Lost Son

---Afternoon---

After morning classes ended, Solaris and I made a hasty retreat to my dorm room. While I was away, Luxion had delivered a barrel of synthesized 94-octane gasoline. Since I could not recall the exact fuel type it required beyond unleaded, I had him produce the highest quality I knew. Now that I had Spacehog’s lifeblood, it was time to take her out for a spin.

“Alright, that should do it.” I set the barrel down and stowed it away in my item box. ‘I’ve been waiting for this day. The moment I laid eyes on this beauty, all I wanted to do was soar through the skies.’

I pulled out a clean towel and buffed out a few smudges on the chassis. Delighted by the fresh fuel and the pampering, Spacehog sent a playful jolt up my arm.

“I know you are eager to get back out there, but you will need to hold on just a bit longer.” I stowed the towel and ran my hand along the pristine leather seat. “We’ll hop over to the palace for a bit, then go for a long ride. If we are lucky, we might even find some sky pirates or enemy soldiers to take out.”

Spacehog engaged her anti-gravity thrusters, lifting off the ground. I was about to jump on when Solaris stopped me.

<Rawr!> Solaris tugged the collar of my coat.

“What do you mean a crowd has formed? Everyone should be in the cafeteria having—” My voice petered out as I turned around.

Over half the school stood thirty feet away. I had been so engrossed in the bike that I failed to notice their arrival. Frustrated, I swore to work on dividing my attention more effectively from now on.

“Uh… can I help you people?” I looked out at the sea of faces staring at Spacehog.

At my words, a familiar green-haired man and his fiancée pushed their way to the front. The instant Jilk got a look at the bike, his eyes practically turned into hearts.

“Lord Aremus, where in the world did you acquire such a spectacular bike? You must tell me, I want to buy one for myself.” Jilk rubbed his hands together. “The color scheme is a bit underwhelming, but that can be solved with a few coats of paint.”

Spacehog did not take the comment well. She surged forward to ram him, but I held her back with an annoyed expression.

“This beautiful lady is a Lost Item I recovered from a dungeon,” I said, caressing the handlebars to calm her down. “Her name is Spacehog, and she is a sentient machine. I suggest you refrain from insulting her further if you want to keep living. She will not hesitate to turn you into a smear on the pavement.”

To reinforce the point, a bolt of lightning shot from Spacehog’s chassis, striking the ground less than a millimeter from his feet. Jilk took a healthy step back and apologized to her.

“My sincerest apologies. I will refrain from making stupid comments in the future.” Jilk wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. “You mentioned she was recovered from a dungeon? Does that mean she was functional when you found her?”

“Aside from needing fuel and a good cleaning, Spacehog was in perfect condition. The fuel she requires is not found on our world anymore, so I had to synthesize it using alchemy.”

Dozens of students gasped. I had shared nothing about my magical talents with the public, so their surprise was understandable. If I wanted to, my skill set could earn me a high court rank with little effort. Since I wanted to avoid the Kingdom’s politics, I saw no reason to pursue it.

“You have skill in the art of alchemy? That is impressive. You are the first in our generation with such a talent.” Jilk offered a grin. “So… I know you only just produced fuel for her, but do you intend to ride right now? If so, may we watch?”

“Do as you wish. However, I recommend covering your ears and taking a few steps back. When I fire her up, she might knock some of you flat on your backs.”

Spacehog housed a 17-liter triple-turbo engine. If my memory served, she could cover several light-years in minutes. She had kept pace with Kryptonians in the comics, so she had to be at least that fast.

As I swung my leg over the bike, the crowd backed away. My peers had learned to heed my warnings. Once the crowd reached what they felt was a safe distance, Jilk and the other air-bike enthusiasts beckoned me to start it. With a fiendish smile, I slammed my foot down on the kick starter.

BANG!

VROOM! VROOM!! VROOM!!!

Spacehog roared to life, releasing pressure waves in quick succession. The force radiated through the crowd, knocking dozens of unprepared students onto their backsides. Those who had braced themselves stared at Spacehog in awe and wonder.

“Holy crap! Lord Aremus wasn’t joking!” Julius said over the revving engine, leading his comrades and their fiancées to the front. While not as obsessed with air bikes as Jilk, he found the sheer raw energy intoxicating.

When they joined Jilk and Clarice, the group watched in amazement as wings of light erupted from Solaris’s back. In the same instant, the twin thrusters on the Organoid’s back rose and ignited.

<Rawr!!>

“That’s the spirit, Solaris!” I revved the engine twice more. “Let’s ride!”

Solaris and I shot forward at blistering speed. In seconds, we were off campus grounds and flying loops around port. Once Spacehog and I were in sync, the three of us flew to the royal palace and touched down at the front gate. Those posted there panicked, raising their spears and swords at us. Before anything could happen, Prime Minister Bernard and Duke Redgrave ran out with hearty smiles.

---Ten Minutes Later---

“That was a spectacular entrance, Lord Aremus. I am certain no one will forget it anytime soon,” Bernard said with a chuckle as the four of us entered his office. “Gentlemen, the man of the hour has arrived.”

At his words, several noblemen rose from their seats and gave me a polite nod. I had never met these men before, but based on their appearance, they were the fathers of Julius’s group. The King was not present, which was not surprising, and Lord Offrey was also missing. After brief introductions, Bernard took his seat and gestured to me.

“The Guildmaster sent word you had come across critical intelligence,” the Prime Minister said. “Could you please give us an overview of what you uncovered?”

“It will be easier for me to provide you with my findings. Please have a look.”

I retrieved several packets from my inventory. Instead of handing them everything, like I had with the Guildmaster, I had organized the information by noble house in advance. Some of this data could create internal conflict among members; by limiting what each house saw to their own leaks, that possibility was mitigated. I did, however, provide the Duke and Prime Minister with the full report. As heads of the faction, they needed to know everything.

“Good gracious!” The Prime Minister shot out of his chair. “That fool Frampton—how dare he have people stalk my daughter and her friends. He knows things about my precious girl that only her future husband should! We should gather men, march to his estate, and drag the bastard out for execution.”

“Agreed. Frampton and his followers must be dealt with.” Earl Roseblade gripped his packet, fuming with paternal rage. ‘Those old bastards have some nerve calling my beloved Dorothea a barren spinster. My eldest daughter rejected suitors during her time at the Academy because the spineless men who approached her were unworthy. When the time is right, the right man will appear and win her favor, just as I did with her mother.’

A faint smile touched his lips at the thought of his late wife. In her last days, she had made the Earl swear to protect their daughters’ happiness, no matter what. While he had reservations about allowing Chris to marry his daughter after the boy repeatedly spurned her affection, he kept silent for Deirdre’s sake. Now that he knew others eyed his daughters with malicious intent, he would channel that rage and more at them.

“While unsettling, it is also enlightening. We now have an unfiltered view of the fractures in our ranks.” The Duke tried to maintain a positive front, but Julius’s coldhearted writings about Angelica had pushed him to the brink. If the King or the Prince were in the room, the other nobles would have to pry the Duke away from them. ‘You wretched man-child. My Angelica is too good for you, yet she is head over heels in love. The moment you slip up, this farce of an engagement is over.’

While the women’s fathers were distressed, the fathers of the young lords were entirely on edge. On top of discovering the unforeseen troubles plaguing their lands, the sections detailing their sons’ private journals left them shaken. They had known the boys were unhappy with their arranged marriages, but nothing prepared them for the depth of that resentment. Across twenty pages, front and back, not a single positive word was written about their fiancées.

“Now that the Marquis’s misdeeds have come to light, it is imperative we act,” I said, my expression hardening. “The Principality is preparing for a bloody war, the likes of which this Kingdom has never experienced. I have it on good authority that they intend to summon ancient beasts that our ancestors sealed away at a substantial cost of life. Have you heard of the Guardians of Earth, Sky, and Water?”

The temperature in the room seemed to drop to near freezing. Considered by the public to be nothing more than fairy tales, only a handful of high-ranking nobles and Temple officials knew the truth. Their summoning flutes had been lost to history, and the truth buried to prevent a situation like this.

“Are you absolutely certain they have the flutes?” Duke Redgrave leaned forward.

I handed him a satellite photograph of the monster swarm massing off the Principality’s capital island. Upon seeing the sheer scale of the threat, the Duke fell back into his chair.

“Lord Aremus is correct. If we are to have any chance of surviving, we must present a united front,” Duke Redgrave said, his resolve hardening. “I assume you have a plan to achieve that?”

I nodded. “My plan is simple. Destroy the Marquis’s leverage over the nobility, expose his misdeeds to our peers, and execute the high-ranking members of his faction. I recommend doing so publicly, proclaiming that they betrayed our nation to the Principality. It will give you the perfect justification to conscript soldiers and accelerate preparations for war.”

The noblemen tilted their heads. Given the grand rumors circulating about the Academy’s rising star, they had expected something far more complex.

“My plan is a little lackluster, I admit, but we do not have the luxury of being flashy.” I presented the Prime Minister with the document I received last night. “The Principality isn’t the only threat...”

Bernard’s face turned ashen as he read the first few lines of the report. A conflict with the Principality was already going to be difficult; now they had to contend with the Holy Kingdom of Rachelle as well.

---3rd Person POV---

Marie staggered through the door of her family’s estate, exhausted and mentally drained. She had not slept a wink the night before, fearing someone had followed her. Now safe inside her family home, she collapsed onto the floor.

“Mother… Father… I’m home…” Marie said, her face pressed against the granite floor. “Can someone please carry me to my room? My limbs refuse to obey me.”

When several minutes passed without a response, Marie forced her weary body up. With great effort, she announced her arrival again and requested aid climbing the stairs. Another few minutes ticked by.

“For fuck’s sake, where is everyone?” Marie staggered down the hall toward the dining room. “I know you told me to keep my head down and find a wealthy husband, but I upset a few prominent noblewomen. Just let me stay here until next semester; everything should blow over by—”

Pushing the double doors open, she found her parents and their servants bound and gagged. The moment their eyes met, their unadulterated terror transmitted a clear message to her mind: Run.

Without hesitation, she spun on her heel and bolted for the exit. Before she could make it far, a group of hooded men materialized in front of her. They moved with such speed that she thought they had teleported.

“Who… who are you!?” Marie took a wary step back. One of her father’s display stands was close by. She just needed a few seconds; then she would have a weapon. “If this is about my father skipping out on payments, I can get you a lump sum. He has a secret stash in—”

“We are not here for money, child.” The largest man strode forward. “Your family’s usefulness has run out. What we want now is your lives.”

An icy dread gripped Marie’s heart. Something in the man’s crazed eyes told her they intended to do far worse than simply kill them. She dashed to the display and ripped a short sword from its sheath. While she had no combat experience, it was do-or-die.

“I… I will not die here!” Marie glared defiantly, pointing the blade at him. “Let my family go. You will never hear from or see us again.”

Amused, the large man stepped toward her with a toothy grin. “Perhaps there is still some use left in you. That twinkle in your eye—I bet you would make an excellent host for our comrades.”

A crackling purple aura began radiating from his body. Every fiber of Marie’s being told her to run, but she knew turning her back to them would end poorly. With no alternative, she released a scream and threw herself at the man.

The blade cut through his robes before coming to a dead stop. It felt as though she had struck a stone wall.

“You have guts, I’ll give you that, kid.” The man reached down and snapped the steel blade like a toothpick. “I think you are worth keeping alive—for now.”

Dumbfounded, Marie tried to break away, but the man seized her before she could move. As she thrashed in his grip, the purple aura began seeping into her head. Within seconds, she fainted from the unbearable pain of a thousand burning needles in her skull.

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