Chapter : 1333

The wedding celebration was finally over. Most people were sleeping, recovering from the food, the dancing, and the terrifying attack by shadow monsters. But for Lloyd, there was no sleep. There was never any sleep. He found himself walking down a long stone corridor in the Royal Palace. His feet hurt. His head hurt. He just wanted to find a soft chair and sit in it for three days straight. But King Liam had summoned him. When the King calls, you do not say, "Can we do this next Tuesday?" You go.

Lloyd entered a room that was deep underground. It was a secret room. There were no windows, obviously, because it was underground. The walls were made of thick stone blocks. In the center of the room was a round table. King Liam was standing there. He looked tired, but his eyes were sharp. He looked like a man who had just played a very dangerous game of cards and won all the money.

"Come in, Lloyd," the King said. His voice was calm.

Lloyd walked to the table. "Your Majesty. I was hoping this was a breakfast meeting. I really like pancakes."

The King smiled a little. "Not today, Lloyd. Today we talk about war."

Lloyd sighed inside his head. Of course. It was always war. Why couldn't it be about tax reform? Or building a new park? It was always fighting.

"The attack on the wedding was a message," the King said. He placed his hands on the table. "Our enemies are bold. They are not afraid to strike at us in our own home. We need to answer them."

"I thought we did answer them," Lloyd said. "With swords and fire. It was very loud."

"That was defense," the King corrected. "Now we need offense. But we cannot use the regular army. The army is big. It is slow. It makes a lot of noise when it moves. If we march an army to the border, the enemy will see us coming from a hundred miles away. We need something different."

The King reached into his robe and pulled out a scroll. It was a fancy scroll. It had a red ribbon and a wax seal with the royal lion on it. He slid it across the table to Lloyd.

"What is this?" Lloyd asked. He didn't touch it yet. He had learned that touching things the King gave him usually led to more work.

"Open it," the King ordered.

Lloyd picked up the scroll. He broke the seal. The wax cracked with a satisfying snap. He unrolled the paper. It was covered in fancy writing. It looked very official. It had words like "Authorization" and "By Royal Decree" and "Top Secret."

"This is a charter," the King explained. "It authorizes the creation of a new unit. A special unit. They will not answer to the generals. They will not answer to the council. They will answer only to me. And to you."

Lloyd looked up from the paper. "Me?"

"You," the King confirmed. "You have a talent for... unconventional solutions. You think differently. You do not fight like a knight. You fight like a person who wants to win quickly so he can go take a nap."

"That is a very accurate description of my fighting style," Lloyd admitted.

"This unit needs a name," the King continued. "We will call them 'The Wraiths'."

"The Wraiths," Lloyd repeated. "Sounds spooky. I like it. It sounds like a group of ghosts who haunt bad people."

"Exactly," the King said. "This document gives you the power to recruit men and women for this team. It gives you the power to go anywhere in the kingdom. It gives you the power to do things that are... technically illegal for anyone else. If the regular army does something bad, it is an act of war. If the Wraiths do something bad, the kingdom can say, 'We don't know who those guys are.' We can deny everything."

Lloyd looked at the document again. It was basically a "Get Out of Jail Free" card, but for war crimes. It was a terrifying amount of power.

"So," Lloyd said slowly. "You want me to lead a gang of secret spies and assassins. You want me to go behind enemy lines. You want me to do the dirty work."

"Yes," the King said simply. "We are fighting monsters, Lloyd. We cannot be clean. We need to be effective. And you are the most effective person I know."

Chapter : 1334

Lloyd felt a heavy weight settle on his shoulders. He didn't want this. He wanted to make soap. He wanted to sell salt. He wanted to be rich and lazy. But he knew the King was right. The enemy wasn't playing by the rules. If they wanted to survive, they had to break the rules too.

"I accept," Lloyd said. He rolled up the scroll. "But I have conditions. I pick the team. I pick the missions. And I get paid a lot."

The King laughed. "Of course. I expected nothing less."

Lloyd looked at the scroll in his hand. It felt heavy, like it was made of lead instead of paper. This was it. He was no longer just a lord or a professor or a businessman. He was now the kingdom's shadow. He was the guy you called when you wanted someone to disappear. It was a cool job title, but the hours were going to be terrible.

"So," Lloyd said, trying to lighten the mood. "When do we start? Do I get a cool uniform? Maybe a cape? I feel like a Wraith needs a cape."

The King shook his head. "No capes. They get caught in doors. But there is one thing, Lloyd. You cannot start immediately."

Lloyd blinked. "What? You just gave me this speech about how urgent this is. You gave me this fancy scroll. And now you say wait?"

"Yes," the King said. His face became very serious. "Power is dangerous, Lloyd. This team will have a lot of power. We need to be careful."

The room was very quiet. The only sound was the flickering of the torches on the walls. King Liam looked at Lloyd with a gaze that was sharp enough to cut glass. He walked around the table, his footsteps echoing on the stone floor.

"Lloyd," the King said. "Think about what I just gave you. I gave you the power to act outside the law. I gave you the power to kill enemies of the state without a trial. I gave you the power to start wars or end them in the shadows. If the wrong person gets into this team, they could destroy the kingdom from the inside."

Lloyd nodded slowly. He understood. If a traitor joined the Wraiths, they would have access to all the kingdom's darkest secrets. They would know where the bodies were buried. Literally.

"So," the King continued. "We need to vet them. We need to check them. Every single member of this team must be loyal. Not just loyal to the kingdom, but loyal to us. Loyal to the mission. We cannot have spies. We cannot have people who can be bought with gold. We cannot have people who are weak."

"That makes sense," Lloyd said. "So, how long is this going to take? A week? Two weeks?"

"Two months," the King said.

Lloyd's jaw dropped. "Two months? That is a long time. The enemy is not going to wait two months. They are probably planning something right now. They are probably baking evil cookies and plotting our doom."

"Let them plot," the King said calmly. "We will use this time. We will prepare. My spymaster will investigate every candidate you choose. We will look at their history. We will look at their families. We will look at what they eat for breakfast. We will make sure they are clean."

Lloyd leaned back against the table. "Two months," he muttered. "That is a lot of paperwork. I hate paperwork. I thought being a secret agent meant jumping off rooftops and exploding things. I didn't know it involved background checks and filling out forms."

"It involves both," the King said. "But think of it this way, Lloyd. This time is also for you. You have been running non-stop. You fought a duel. You fought assassins. You fought a giant fire demon. You saved the wedding. You are tired. I can see it."

Lloyd rubbed his eyes. The King was right. He was exhausted. His bones felt heavy. His brain felt like it was full of cotton. He had been operating on adrenaline and caffeine for weeks.

"Maybe a little break isn't a bad idea," Lloyd admitted. "I could use some sleep. I could check on my soap factory. I need to see if my workers have accidentally blown it up while I was gone."