King's Rule: Creating the Strongest Kingdom With My Broken Talent-Chapter 16: Threat At The Doorstep: Temu & Quenila

"Meow~"

Kaeli was playing with Kayan while Arga, Rovina, and Viana were preparing lunch for everyone.

The people had taken a break from work and were resting outside in the open.

The gentle cold breeze was very comfortable and relaxing at noon after work.

Soon, the food was ready, and everyone began eating together on makeshift plates and bowls that Arga had crafted by blazing mud and hardening it.

"Meow!"

Kaeli sat down on Viana’s lap and began munching on the roasted fish.

But unbeknownst to them, two people had arrived close to the territory and spotted it.

Roughly two hundred and sixty meters away from the territory gate, inside the forest, Temu and Quenila stood on a sizeable tree branch, one on the left and the other on the right, with the trunk in the middle.

Their eyes flickered with Mana as they watched the territory.

"The T of the compass is pointing right at that place, and it’s blinking fast." Quenila narrowed her eyes. "Looks like we found her."

"Then let’s go. That place is so shabby and small. I doubt there’s anyone strong there. That guy sitting outside is also a weak Seed-rank trash with less than 5000 Seed Forc,e judging by his bodily aura." Temu grinned and jumped down right away.

But Quenila didn’t jump. "Wait. Not yet. We have to investigate properly first and see if there’s a Sprout-rank powerhouse there."

"Then hurry up." Temu sat down and leaned against the tree. "Tell me when you’re done."

Above, Quenila stretched her palm.

From it, mana churned and took the shape of a lifelike bird made of water, with a unique purple hue and faint mana patterns on it, indicating a unique imprint belonging to her, which meant that she had at least B-rank Water Mastery.

10,000 Seed Force, and B-rank Water Mastery with at least 15✧ potential.

To put it in simple terms, she had enough power to flood the territory, destroying the walls and killing the normal people inside easily.

Only Arga and others who had several thousand Seed Force to protect themselves would survive.

Naturally, she wasn’t planning on doing something like that.

Her magical bird flew towards the territory.

Sharing the bird’s eyes was Quenila, observing the people below.

’Hmmm, there she is. As for the others, all of them are weak.’

She spotted the cavern closed off by a door and blinked.

’If they eat together and that’s all their numbers, we have no threat. I doubt there’s any Sprout-rank powerhouse in that cavern either.’

Down below, Kaeli meowed and looked up as if it sensed something that no one else could.

The cat looked straight at the strange bird and meowed again loudly.

’Huh? That cat sensed me?’ Quenila was surprised. ’I thought it was a normal cat due to its weak Seed Force, but it seems to have some interesting talents to be able to sense the bird.’

’It’s mine.’

Quenila jumped off the branch and landed next to Temu.

"Let’s go. They don’t have anyone strong."

Temu grinned. "Told ya. By the way, can’t we have some fun with those ants instead of completing the mission right away? I won’t do anything to Viana, but I really need to play around with some lives."

Quenila rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Once I get Viana, I’ll take her back. You can play with these people."

"Great." Temu rubbed his palms, his eyes glinting with twisted glee.

Both of them headed towards the territory at a walking pace, leisurely.

Soon, they were just tens of meters away from Vesh.

Kaeli hissed in the direction where Vesh was sitting, her hair standing sharply and mana smoothly whirling around.

"What happened, Kaeli?" Viana asked as she looked towards the gatehouse.

They had kept it open so they could keep an eye on Vesh.

The angle was a bit shifted, so they couldn’t see Quenila and Temu, who were over fifty meters away, but Kaeli could sense their nefarious intents.

In the next moment, Kaeli vanished.

Kayan had stood up and jumped, entering a watch tower as he clearly saw the two.

"Two people incoming." His eyes narrowed. "Strong."

In the moment, Arga and Rovina made a beeline towards Vesh, one drifting over shadows while the other sprinted fast.

Kayan also shot a blood whip from his hand that grabbed the battlement ledge over the gatehouse and jumped, shrinking the distance quickly.

In two seconds, all three of them were standing before Vesh.

Kaeli was standing on top of Vesh’s head, form sharp, hair standing, and pitch-black darkness surging around like smoke.

"How cute." Quenila’s eyes twinkled. She turned to Temu and said, "Don’t you dare do anything yet. I want to secure the cat and Viana first."

"Don’t worry. I have to have fun, so I’ll build up towards that." Temu grinned as he walked leisurely with his hands behind his head and slightly leaning back, watching the group from the slits of his narrowed eyes that surged with dark glee. ’What game should I play with them?’

He waved at them.

’Look at their faces, haha. They know they are in deep shit.’

"What’s the plan? Should we wake him up forcefully now?" Kayan asked, his hair also standing sharp like Kaeli’s, fear clear in his eyes. "They are strong. I think they can kill me. My blood is saying so."

Arga’s fists clenched tightly as flames sparked around them. "Well, it’s life and death right now, but what if they are not here to fight?"

"Kaeli or Kayan wouldn’t act like that then," Rovina said.

"True." Arga nodded.

"Hey. But now that you say it, only one of them is scaring me. The other one is silent. No fighting intent at all." Kayan frowned.

As seconds went by and the distance closed, Quenila and Temu finally stopped walking.

They stood roughly five meters away from the group.

"What brings you to this humble village?" Arga asked, his face flat. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Haha, we are here to play." Temu lightly laughed as he smiled like a jolly man. "We’ll have lots of fun."

"Correction," Quenila said while looking at Kaeli, who hissed at her. "Only he is here to play. I am here to take this cat with me."

Kaeli wanted to protect Vesh.

But Kaeli knew she didn’t stand a chance against these two humans.

The threat was immense, so between flight or fight, Kaeli chose to stay with Vesh.

"Hey." Temu turned to look at Quenila. "You’re forgetting the mission."

Quenila blinked and bowed as she apologized. "I apologize. I mean, I am here to take this cat, and the girl named Viana."

The eyes of Rovina, Arga, and Kayan trembled.

They are here.

The ones hunting for Viana.

"Hissss!!" Kaeli sharply hissed and suddenly vanished.

In the next moment, she appeared from a shadow pocket right behind Quenila’s head in the air, her tiny claws gleaming in darkness with a lapis-colored border-glint heading towards her neck.

Quenila didn’t bother dodging and simply turned around while letting the claws strike her neck.

But instead of piercing her skin, Kaeli’s claws stopped one inch away from her skin, where a magical coating enveloped her whole body.

In the next moment, her hand swooped forward, invisible to the naked eye.

"Rarrrrrr!!" Kaeli screamed as Quenila’s hand wrapped around her small body.

But in the next moment, Kaeli turned into pitch-black smoke and vanished, appearing back on top of Vesh’s head.

Kaeli scratched Vesh’s head in panic, issuing aggressive cat sounds to wake him up.

"Very slippery, aren’t you?" Quenila smiled at Kaeli.

"What’s with this guy, by the way?" Temu curiously asked as he looked at Vesh. "He is not opening his eyes despite such commotion."

"That is indeed strange." Quenila nodded as she looked at Vesh, her eyes glinting with Mana. "There’s something going on with him, but Mana is behaving strangely around him."

"Yeah. This is interesting. I’ll keep him for dessert. Surely, he’ll wake up if I stab his arm or legs. Jejeje~" Temu chuckled and looked at the group. "What are you three looking at? Go and bring that bitch Viana here."

"What if we don’t?" Rovina calmly asked, her face indifferent.

"Oy." Temu frowned. "I only don’t like one type of people. The ones that don’t listen to me when they clearly know THEIR LIFE IS NOT IN THEIR FUCKING HANDS ANYMORE!"

After shouting angrily, he calmly smiled and added, "Go and bring her here, so we can happily play a fun game."