Chapter 267: Mark's Desire
"Was the wiik-bat able to find the knight's territory? if it did, then we could use this to our advantage. If the knight is inviting us so graciously, then we should attack him and be done with it."
Mark spoke with the wiik-bat and it sent back a message that it already found the knight's territory. The knight's territory was only a few kilometers away from Tokyo Bay, along the Arakawa River. It was a stone's throw from the place where the knight wanted to have the meeting.
Once Mark told this to Merlin, Merlin nodded and then gave his own opinion about the situation. It was going to be easy to simply launch a powerful enough attack from far away to take the knight out at once. They knew where the knight was, and they knew he was not in his territory. That was enough information to launch a preemptive attack.
Merlin said this to Mark and was stunned when Mark did not respond for some time. Mark looked to be deep in thought and after some time, Mark looked towards Luna.
"I want to go and meet the knight."
"What? Why!?"
Merlin suddenly shouted in annoyance. He was not having any of it! Why would Mark want to risk his life like that when he could just launch an attack from far away and deal with the knight without putting themselves in danger at all? Luna also seemed to be having the same thought as she calmly asked Mark why he wanted to meet with the knight.
Mark explained his thought process.
"I want to hear what he has to say. Since we are all going to be outside our territories, it is at least going to be a fair conversation. Besides, if a fight were to break out, I would be close to the territory of both the knight and the queen. I don't think I can have a better advantage than that."
Merlin and Luna both gained looks of realization as they saw the sense of what Mark was saying. Since the queen and knight territories were merged, that means that Mark will have the power of both the queen and the knight if he goes into the knight's territory.
Mark continued.
"I don't think the other fighters know that I can take on the attributes of the other pieces when I am in their territory. If he knew, then the knight would never invite me like this. I should be able to handle anything they throw at me, but if I can't then I can just make my way to the knight's territory and gain an advantage.
And since I also know the Rook's territory, I can drag the fight in whatever direction I want."
What a selfish reason to do something so dangerous. This was the only thought that Merlin had at that moment as he stared at Mark in disbelief. Mark was willing to drag them into enemy territory because he didn't feel like denying the invitation. Was that a good enough reason to do anything?
But Merlin couldn't say that out loud because he knew how hypocritical it would sound. Merlin came into this game simply because he wanted to fight. He was someone who also chose to do something dangerous just because he felt like it, and he even dragged Morgana into it against her will. He would be the biggest hypocrite if he condemned Mark for this.
Besides, this was just the sort of person Mark was. He was someone who would prefer to face an adversary head-on rather than use some underhanded trick to launch a surprise attack. It was the same mindset that made him King. He was not the sort of person to bend his ideals for the sake of an easy win.
If Merlin and Luna still refused after everything Mark said, Mark was willing to just go ahead with their plan. He would not like it, but he would do it because he was not the only one affected by the decision they made here.
But there was no denying the fact that if it was up to Mark alone, he would go to the meeting.
"What if this is a trap?"
Luna finally spoke up after thinking for some time and Mark looked up at Merlin with a small smile on his face. Merlin immediately understood Mark's reasoning and sighed while putting his head in his hand. He was not in agreement, but he didn't want to fight against Mark since he had already made up his mind.
"Well, I guess I can stay on the lookout and make sure you don't get caught off guard by any traps."
Merlin said this with a sigh and Luna smiled at Merlin in gratitude as she finally stood up and gave Mark a grin of approval. Luna was not interested in honoring the message. She did not understand why Mark wanted it and she knew that Merlin's plan to just throw a massive spell on them was probably the safer plan out of the two, but she was not going to deny Mark's desires.
Who's to say the other servants can't avoid a massive fireball the same way Mark was able to? If they attacked the other servants and they evaded it, then the other servants would join forces and make things more difficult. It was better to just hear what the knight had to say while preparing for a fight.
Mark was the one fighting for them, so it was only right that she paid attention to his requests. Since he wanted it, she was going to give it to him.
"Alright, we can go, but we need to come up with a plan. In case things go south, how are we going to deal with the master of the knight?"
…
Vroom!
A police car zoomed down the road with its siren blaring and the woman driving the car could feel sweat traveling down the side of her neck as her hands tightened on the wheel.
"You shouldn't honor that invitation. It'll be a waste of time since they are probably planning to attack you."
"You know nothing of true honor, girl, do not speak to me about such a thing if you wish to continue talking. Warriors do not lie."
"Hrk… Alright fine, but you know this could be a trap! What happens if they attack you in the middle of the meeting!?"
"If such a thing happens, then it happens. We are meeting for the sake of our individual desires, so a clash is imminent. This Knight is a man willing to look into the eyes of his enemies, that is someone I can respect. Now, stop talking and focus on the road. I did not hire you to talk."
"Hire me!? I'm a police officer and you're forcing me to drive you to Tokyo Bay like a damn taxi driver for some meeting that I don't even want anything to do with! This is forced coercion! It's kidnapping! If you let me go now, then I won't call the rest of the forces! Just let me go!"