The Legendary Caffeine Transcendent

Alex hated war. It made the people poor and only some companies profited from it. Since only a few select companies profited, that meant only the employees of those select companies had purchasing power. As only a fraction of the populace had purchasing power, the economy weakened.

That was not to say that war was a bad thing. It would lead governments to invest internally to create infrastructure, re-assimilate soldiers, and research technology. Soldiers returning from war would also procreate and contribute to population increase.

There were pros and cons to war in modern times, but Nulfrae was not a modern world. In feudal wars, both territories and their people lost, regardless of which side 'won'.

That was a problem.

Once the war was over, who would use her toll roads? Who would buy from Star Cubs? The people had just lost their land and all their wealth from the pillaging because of armies supplying themselves with supplies they 'conquered'.

A single tear rolled down the corner of Alex's eyes as she saw smoke coming from the town by the exit of I-10 while in the air. Aurora's eyes widened as she saw the tear drip down her cheek.

Surely, her own Chief Product Officer must understand the number of customers that would be lost at the cost of this war.

"Aurora, is war not cruel?" Alex asked.

"Yes, my Lady. War is too cruel," Aurora's fist clenched, shaking beside her hips.

Truly, her Chief Product Officer, Aurora, truly understood her peril… probably.

Who would fish the fishes for her restaurants if the barony's people lived in poverty? The children would ask their parents to go to the interstate stop to have an Arabelum refresher, a Cafe Mocha, or simply a fish burger from the restaurant nearby. All of that vision would be taken away if all they could do with their money was just buy essentials due to the aftermath of war.

Not to mention, she still needed to get that sweet deal from the baroness about the food trade. Seafood was one hell of an expense, at least, back on Earth it was. She'd buy the resources for low and sell them at a slight mark-up just above land meat so that the people would still be able to afford a meal at the rest stop.

Yet the little shit Count Mor-something had his men running down the fields chasing people as he had branded them 'heretics'. It was, to put it simply, an inefficient use of war.

Alex had seen these kinds of acts more than once. The Great European Witch Hunts, the Trier Witch Trials, the Basque Witch Trials, and many more. All of it had flimsy ass reasoning that served no purpose other than to feed on the hysteria of the accusers. All of which started off as baseless rumours, even though they were completely true.

She did take in Greenie as a pet, causing the coastal ecosystem to recover dramatically. Witch Raven did probably land somewhere here with her flock of ravens, which likely scared the natives and spread rumours.

So what? Her interstate rest stop was in jeopardy by these little shits.

"Come on. We'd better stop the baddies, Aurora," Alex said.

"Yes, my Lady," Aurora said, then muttered almost inaudibly, "as expected of the Lady's benevolence..."

"Huh, what now?"

"Nothing, my Lady!"

"Whatever," Alex said. It was true that her benevolence needed to be stamped onto these market crashers.

Descending onto the battlefield, she placed herself and Aurora into the middle of the fray. One side, the civilians while the other side were the pursuers knights with gem socketed armour and multiple mages carrying staves that held varying sizes of Fraedium gems. In total, Alex counted about more than 78 soldiers from the Count's forces.

The civilians continued running while the Count's main forces stopped in their tracks. Their swords were lowered, as were the mages' staves. At the front was the lead knight, stepping forward with his head held up high.

"State your name and territory you hail from, or you shall also be culled along with the heretics," the knight said calmly.

"Aurora," Alex said. Best to leave it to her employees to deal with the customs of this world.

"We are from the Hadstead mountain regions. I am Aurora, Chief Product Officer of the Path. Beside me is my benevolent Chief Executive Officer, Lady Alex. We greet Count Mourier's knight warriors and knight mages," Aurora said, dropping into a curtsy.

"The name is familiar..." the knight said. "You may call me Sir Fabio. Why must you Dragusians block our way?"

"The Lady demands you stop this senseless act of destruction and violence," Aurora said.

"The 'senseless' violence you speak of is justified by the Church of Frae," Fabio said. "We must cull the heretics before they spread the corruption!"

"Corruption which you have no proof of. Have any of the people of Earnest Plaedis turned into demons you speak of?" Aurora asked.

"The flock of dark birds has flown into this land. The territory's flourish speaks for itself as the Baroness has made a deal with the demon."

"Yet you seek to destroy the lives of her subjects instead of dealing directly with the Baroness herself. An interesting choice."

"Aurora... I remember. You speak as though you stand on the side of justice, yet your source of strength originates from the groin of Dragus' King. Do not speak of morality with us, wench."

"You speak of the origin of my strength as if you have proof of such acts, yet here you are fabricating false truths about the Baroness's subjects. Truly, an interesting choice of words," Aurora said, earning a smile from Alex.

"If blindness to the proof of the demon is your foundation, then shall I pronounce you as puppets of the corruption as well?" Fabio asked.

"You may pronounce all you wish, as that is all you can do. What pretty lies you tell yourself to justify your heart."

"Aurora, cease your meaningless provocations." Fabio smirked while shaking his head. "You two are but frail beautiful women, yet stand in the face of an army which you cannot face. Leave now, and I shall grant you mercy by forgetting this memory."

"Forget the memory of the Lady's form? She has descended upon this land, yet you dare accuse her of being a puppet of a lowly corruption," Aurora said. "Watch your tongue in the presence of the Lady should you still desire to keep it."

Fabio turned around. "Men, I shall watch my words lest I incur the two frail women's wrath. Their words have struck fear into my soul. What shall I do, men? Shall I beg for forgiveness?"

The soldiers behind Fabio laughed as he turned back around to meet Aurora's eyes. He shrugged with a smirk while chuckling to himself, mocking her even more.

"How fortunate you understand your place. Kneel down and beg as you've stated, or do your words mean nothing, similar to the lies you've made yourself believe." Aurora grinned and the laughs of the soldiers immediately paused.

"Your words drip with arrogance... a pity." Fabio raised his hand. "Mage, fireball."

A single mage raised his staff. The blue-green gem flashed red before conjuring a fireball the size of his head. In that instant, it launched towards Alex and Aurora, exploding the area around them. Debris scattered throughout the vicinity as smoke veiled the area.

Before long, the smoke cleared as Alex and Aurora's silhouettes still stood where they were. A slight green glow of a wall surrounded both of the women.

"A pity indeed. A weak mage dares test the strength of the Path." Aurora grinned. "Have you not yet looked at your status glass?"

Fabio immediately pulled out his. Putting them on, his eyes widened as he took a step back. "1964... it cannot be... that's impossible."

"The word 'impossible' is only reserved for mortals who know not of the Lady's grace. Here you are, standing before her, yet you cannot see the light in front of your eyes." Aurora stepped forward, fists clenched. "I shall now deliver upon you divine punishment!"

Alex caught her shoulder just as she was about to demolish the army in front of them. She couldn't risk those precious gems on their armour being crushed just like the last one. "Aurora, I'll handle this."

"But my Lady! You need not lift a finger upon these lowly mortals!" Aurora shouted.

"It's ok, Aurora. You've done great," Alex said, and that was true. She had a fun time watching her Chief Product Officer verbally dismantle the idiot in front of them. For once, it was great entertainment. But now, the problem was that the product was in danger, specifically those precious gems on their armour.

"Thank you. I'm glad it was to the Lady's expectation," Aurora bowed, smiling with her usual crazy eyes.

Alex really wanted to ask about those crazy eye thing she was doing. Unfortunately, if the Path had HR, which it does, they would tell her not to ask personal questions of employees. That would be an invasion of privacy. So, Alex ignored it.

"So, about the war." Alex materialized a teapot to hand to Aurora and a teacup in her hand. She held it out for Aurora to fill with Cafe Mocha and took a sip of it. "I'll give you a choice. Strip down, put down all your weapons, staves, and armour. Then, you can go back home alive. How's that sound?"

"Hmph. A wench with a prowess of 20 dare act with such arrogance. You only rely on the demon behind you for protection, yet you speak with such arrogance." Fabio spat on the ground.

"YOU DARE BLASPHEME IN FRONT OF THE LADY?!" Aurora shouted.

"Aurora, cool it," Alex said.

"Yes, my Lady. My apologies," Aurora bowed again.

"Still haven't heard an answer, Fabbyboy," Alex said.

"Mages, cast everything!" Fabio shouted.

Multiple mages held up their staves. Each one fired a different element. Sharp cones spun in the air, launched at Alex. Multiple ice spears hurled and whistled through the air. Fireballs rained down on the field where both Alex and Aurora stood.

Again, when the dust and smoke cleared, Alex was seen still drinking from the teacup. "That all you got?"

"Charge!" Fabio shouted.

But before any of them could even take a single step forward, Alex pulled out her golden Magnum .357, artificed for unlimited automatic loading via her space storage module and munitions factory module.

She modified the amount of Multifaceted Energy input to 0.1% of its normal output and squeezed the trigger 77 times in succession without stopping.

Thunder roared each time the muzzle flashed, while heads exploded with each trigger pull. In less than a second, all soldiers behind Fabio dropped to the ground, headless, as he looked in horror at his allies.

Fabio fell backwards onto his butt onto the ground. His breathing became ragged, seemingly unable to get a full inhale. "M-m-m-monster! Demon!"

"Hey, you should thank me for killing them instantly. They didn't even feel pain," Alex said. "Any last words?"

"The Church of Fr—"

A single squeeze of the trigger popped Fabio's head right off his body.

"Don't care." Alex dematerialized her gun back into space storage. With one snap of her finger, all the bodies instantly turned into ash by superheating.

Extending her palm to the bodies, a blue outline formed on all of them. The armour floated to her first, crumpling and compressing into a single cube. The staves came next as each Fraedium gem dislodged itself from the wood, floated towards Alex, and disappeared into her space storage.

Alex snapped her fingers again. In an instant, she and Aurora were back in the air, observing the barony from an eagle's eye view. Smoke curled up to the sky as towns were pillaged by invading forces sent by the Count.

"Aurora, you go ahead first. I need to make a call. And make sure you be careful with the armour and staves," Alex said. "Ready?"

"Yes, my Lady, I shall be careful and enact your light upon the Count's army."

"Good. See you in a bit." Alex snapped her fingers again just as Aurora bowed, reappearing at the village just a couple of kilometres away. Roots and green light could be seen from a distance as her Chief Product Officer 'enacted her light', whatever that meant.

Regardless, Alex pulled out the Mana Communication device that she had still yet to install at the interstate rest stop. She pressed the button and input the number for Grey.

"Yellow, Grey, do you copy? Over."

A crackle sounded before Grey's voice could be heard, annoying Alex once again. Damn you, past me!

"My Lady, Grey is speaking. I hear you loud and clear. Over," Grey said from the other side.

"So, you know Count Mourier? Over."

"Yes. He sells similar ore to Viscount Magnus. Over," Grey said.

"Here's what I want you to do. In 5 days, lowball Count Mourier for as much ore as you can get, all kinds of ore. Use the profits from the toll plus at least 10 gold from the treasury."

"My Lady, I do not know what 'lowball' means. May I have the grace of an explanation? Over," Grey asked.

Shoot. That was the problem with these fantasy medieval natives. Alex cleared her throat. "Basically, just try to make him sell it to you at the lowest price possible. You'll know why in a couple of days. Over."

"Yes, my Lady. I shall do as you say. Over."

"I'm hanging up now. Ciao. Over," Alex said, hanging up the phone. Because of her winning this war for the Baroness, she was able to secure multiple things at once.

First, the fish discount. That was a big one for the restaurant. Second, the loyalty of those lessees that were to set up shop in her restaurant. And third, ore for days.

Based on the amount of soldiers that the Count had sent over to the Barony, this would be a substantial amount of his forces. By completely losing his own soldiers and their armour, weapons, and staves, the Count would have no way to liquidate any of them to recoup the losses.

The only logical way for him to gain back anything from this bad decision was to sell his territory's product at a low. His predicament wasn't similar to food, where they needed it to live. It was ore, a purely commercial product meant to be sold for gold.

If the Count doesn't, then it would only mean that he had enough gold to cover this war effort. Based on the fact that he was attacking this barony for its food supply due to not being able to meet Lois's gold demand, having enough gold to cover his own ass was out of the question. Otherwise, he would look to other territories to import food from, but this barony was the closest.

As a result, the Count's only choice now was to sell his ores cheaply to increase his gold inflow to import food from farther territories. On top of that, the 'Lighthouse of Lois' had become indebted to the Path.

That damned Witch made such a good mess. But because it was a 'mess', it didn't require a reward to be given. It was best not to let the bitch get in way over her head anyway.

Descending onto the ground where Aurora was, Alex whistled at the fuzzy feeling of a quadruple kill. She saw giant roots writhe around multiple towns all at once, crushing the heads of the soldiers trying to pillage and kill. That was another thing she liked, the CPO had gotten the strongest class out of all her C-Suite, allowing her to sense what the plants sensed in her domain.

When Alex arrived at the nameless town Aurora was in, she saw her clothes covered in blood and guts. Apart from her face, it was hard to see any clean spot.

Aurora's eyes looked down at her clothes. "My Lady, I apologize for the dirt on my attire."

"No worries, come on. Let's head to the castle." Alex snapped her fingers once, and the viscera on Aurora's clothes disappeared.

"Thank you, my Lady!" Aurora shouted, following her closely behind.

But as they walked along the path to the castle, a man in gray robes and a black cowl blocked their way. Alex's eyes immediately saw the Fraedium gem on his staff, about twice the size of a basketball.

"Halt at once, two beautiful ladies. Might you humour this old man's queries?"

"That man's name is Lazarus. A Pandor mage that attained legendary status last Ter. Since he is from Pandor, he might not be related to this war," Aurora whispered.

"Cool," Alex said, eyes turned to Lazarus. "You get one question."

"How can two beautiful women walk with such casualness through a battlefield?" Lazarus asked.

"Because fuck you, that's how," Alex said. "Now fuck off."

Alex continued walking toward the castle along with Aurora. They merely walked around Lazarus, ignoring him.

Lazarus turned around and pointed his staff at the back of Aurora. A rock appeared in front of his staff, a small sharp cone. It spun fast enough to cause a high-pitched whirring noise.

"Wench! Do not ignore me!" Lazarus shouted.

His rock launched, whistling through the air, but it hit something solid just inches away from Aurora's back.

Alex glanced over her shoulder. "Fuck off."

A crater formed below Lazarus as an unknown pressure crushed his whole body into meat paste. The only thing that wasn't crushed was his right arm, still holding onto the staff. The Fraedium gem flew into Alex's hand and disappeared into her space storage.

"Thank you, my Lady," Aurora said.

"Don't mention it. I got a freebie," Alex said, chuckling. From all around the barony, armour sets, swords, the metal points of spears, and Fraedium gems flew from all the villages that were attacked. All the items entered the space storage as well.

"As expected of my Lady. Even in death, you allow the hostile mortals to donate to the Path," Aurora said.

"Yeah, definitely a donation," Alex said.

"May I ask why we are going to the Baroness, my Lady?"

"No reason other than to just greet our neighbours and probably the thing about the discount."

"I understand. I shall give them the light of the Path."

"Sure." Alex raised her eyebrow. Weird take on corporate negotiations, but Aurora was the expert in diplomacy anyway.

☕︎ ☼ ☕︎ ☽ ☕︎

Princess Alizia walked through the halls of the castle that had an ample view of the Royal Knight Training Grounds. It would be the 55th day since the expedition of the summoned heroes. Ever since the 52nd day, she had been waiting at the courtyard for their arrival, as that was the estimated and ideal time they should arrive if everything happened smoothly.

But as one could see, they had yet to arrive. The amount of supplies given to them would've only have lasted about 50 days. Father had already complained to her about the wastage of resources, annoying her even more with his lack of foresight in rushing this expedition.

Rumours did reach her ears about the injury of King Adric for summoning a demon along with their own set of summoned heroes. However, that was not a consolation. The summoning of the demon complicated the board much more than the quality of heroes they may have summoned.

At any rate, what mattered was the safety of the group. Without these summoned heroes, they would lose ground against Pandor once again.

The sound of horses walking back to the training ground could be heard behind the gates. A couple of squires ran to the commotion as muffled shouts could be heard through the window.

Could they have been hurt? Alizia walked faster through the hall, turning at the grand staircase and descending. Upon reaching the double doors of the main entrance, she exited and ran left towards the training grounds.

On the way there, she heard the muffled screams.

"Get bandages!"

"The Prince needs a Healer!"

"Where's the healer! The healer!"

Alizia's heart thumped, but not for the safety of Haestus but more for his demise. Losing him would hurt the Royal Family, but not by much. Even if her father died right now, nothing would change within the kingdom. One was a fool drunk on his past legacy, and his son drunk on superbia.

Arriving at the training grounds, what Alizia thought had happened was not what she expected. The four summoned heroes, Haestus, and Klaus were all alive and well. On the ground, head cradled by her brother, lay a man in dull black robes, bleeding through his flank and missing an arm. On the side of his chest was a badge depicting a rose, the symbol for the Court of Mists.

A man in brown robes, wearing a ring adorned with a blue-green stone, ran to the robed man. He held out his hand to the dying man as a green light permeated from his palm. The man had activated Minor Healing, effectively stopping the bleeding.

The black robed man coughed as colour returned back to his face. His eyes glanced at places before finding Alizia.

"Princess..."

Haestus turned the man's head back to look at him. "Young knight, what happened?"

The Court of Mist knight turned his eyes to Alizia, who slowly shook her head.

Do not give me away. That's what she wanted to say, and the knight seemed to have understood her.

"Crown Prince, I have news of Lyra and the situation at the outer lands of the western Hadstead mountain range."

"Speak," Haestus commanded.

"Almost two months ago, a flock of dark birds flew over Lyra's lands and landed at the outer western Hadstead range at around Baroness of Lois' territory."

"Quickly. Say more." Haestus said.

"Just a couple of days ago, the Count had launched an all out assault against the barony, but was utterly defeated by..." the knight glanced at Alizia again.

"By what, fool?!" Klaus shouted.

"By the land." The Mist knight coughed. "Giant roots, glowing with green light, erupted from the ground as if Nulfrae herself was mad. She killed those that attacked the barony, ripping them apart and stripping them of their armour, gems, and arms."

"What does it mean? Is it the demon or the Goddess herself?" Haestus asked.

"I do not know, my prince. My task was to observe and report. I do not draw my own conclusions."

That was Alizia's directive. Any conclusion would've been tainted by their own intelligence. The only reliable report was one that was as objective as possible. A flock of dark birds and giant green glowing roots. The key point: why would a Goddess need to strip the soldiers of their equipment?

"I see. Then you may rest. I will deliberate with the king."

"Thank you, my prince."

"Take him to the quarters."

The brown robed man picked up the Mist Knight and carried him by the shoulder. They walked towards the entrance of the barracks and disappeared inside.

"Crown Prince Haestus, Klaus, summoned heroes. Welcome back," Alizia said, forcing a smile. "How did the expedition fare?"

"It went as expected, Alizia. Thank you for your worry." Haestus smiled at her. "I believe the summoned heroes need to take their rest."

"Then shall we debrief tomorrow at mid noon over tea?" Alizia asked.

"There is no need, Alizia. You may work on your administrative tasks while I handle the military governance," Haestus said, then waved at the summoned heroes to leave.

"Prince Haestus, I believe it may be important for Princess Alizia to hear the details?" Bow Hero Tiffany said.

"Nonsense. She is not a fighter. Take your rest and we shall train once again tomorrow," Haestus said, waving them off more sternly now.

"We shall take our rest, Crown Prince. Please take a long rest." Sword Hero bowed and then ushered the rest of them to move; their forms disappeared into the barracks.

Alizia gritted her teeth. Typical arrogance of her brother. Even though she wasn't acclimated to the violence of the battlefield, it didn't mean that she couldn't gain anything from the information they'd gathered. Their Spirit Sign condition and rate of progress were variables that could be accounted for in expeditions.

What about the amount of supplies that were used? Or any new talents that the summoned heroes learned? Not to mention the information they would've observed as they passed through the Hadstead mountain range. There were rumours that she needed to confirm about these 'toll roads' that the bandits had built.

All of these were needed for the inevitable clash with Pandor. Any parameter and variable that could be used against the incoming invasion would be a key or detriment to her success... She still needed an opening to overthrow her father. As much as she loved him, he was unfit to be king.

Turning around, Alizia walked back to her quarters.

"Alizia, you have not yet bid me farewell," Haestus said.

"Rest, my brother. We shall talk again in the coming days," Alizia said without looking back.

"Adequate enough. Rest well, little sister," Haestus said.