Chapter 320

It was dawn, the first light breaking through the morning sky.

A pair of men and women were dragged before me by the Chief of Police.

“Walk quickly!”

“We need a proper explanation of what’s happening!”

“Your Highness! We have brought Count Iseas and Princess Marlina.”

Count Iseas was a young man with black hair and a suspicious squint, while Princess Marlina was a lady with a charming yet cute appearance.

“Well done. Let’s also conduct a raid on the trading post.”

“Yes. It’s already in progress. We are also searching for survivors and rescuing the injured in the area.”

The Chief of Police seemed excited, as if he had finally gotten the chance to demonstrate his presence, directing the constables with fervor.

I expressed my satisfaction at his energetic demeanor and turned my gaze to Count Iseas.

My voice came out harsher than intended.

“Count, Princess. I’m sorry to meet under such circumstances.”

I nearly lost Rudi over a small mistake.

I couldn’t shake off the feeling that leaving things be was a mistake.

If I hadn’t gone straight to the magic guild upon returning to the capital, things might have turned out much worse.

There, I had delivered the Eisen magic tool to Sererassie and heard the tale about Rudi and Count Iseas.

“A rare magic tool associated with ancient beliefs.”

“He seems quite resourceful, doesn’t he? Or he may be an infiltrator.”

Due to frequent encounters with heterogeneous races of late, I felt uneasy.

“Isn’t the magic tool used to identify infiltrators that Rudi took packed with my shards?”

“Exactly.”

“Then we’ll have some clue about the location. Sorry, I’ll get right up.”

My heart raced madly.

I wasn’t sure if that man was a cleric-associated infiltrator, a self-propagating infiltrator, a crazed mercenary spirit manipulator, or a heterogeneous race.

But responsibility lay with the outcomes, and those lovers who had started their ventures independently would have to bear the burden of drawing such a madman into the capital.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“I feel the same way, Your Highness.”

Princess Marlina nodded, trembling with fear, and Count Iseas responded with utmost respect.

To put it positively, he was confident; negatively, he was arrogant.

I raised my hand as if to slap him, but realizing he was a court noble whom had lived clean to this point, I rested my chin on his shoulder.

Innocence remained until guilt was proven, and it was our job to clarify that.

“We urgently need a detailed explanation of why this happened. I hope you understand that I’m suppressing a lot of anger right now.”

I observed Count Iseas biting his lower lip and trembling.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Then, let’s hear it.”

He slowly opened his mouth.

“Actually… we have no idea what is happening.”

* * *

I reached into my pocket to find the dagger ‘Black Scale.’

I had been showing him respect because of his title, but now it felt like he had betrayed that respect.

I figured lifting a few fingernails might change the response.

“Eek!”

Seeing something in my expression, Princess Marlina gasped and stumbled, while Count Iseas turned pale and supported her.

“Your Highness.”

“Is that really the time to say that—?”

“It’s true! We were merely an auction house selling magic tools collected from various merchants!”

“Hmm?”

He lowered his voice significantly.

It was so soft that the nearby constables couldn’t hear it.

“Our business was closer to simply running an auction than distributing magic tools. When merchants acquired magic tools, the princess appraised them. That was her area of expertise.”

“So, what did you do?”

“When she brought in valuable items, I embellished and sold them with flair. I created a decent space and auction system, spread rumors in high society, and acquired sponsorship from notable individuals…”

“Surely, there must have been exaggeration and false advertising in the process.”

He squinted his thin eyes tightly shut.

“I won’t deny it. We may have dressed up the discovery dates and classifications a bit more interestingly. However, I did not sell completely useless magic tools as if they were remarkable.”

Glancing back at Rudi, she nodded.

I sighed deeply.

It seemed the young count had been taken advantage of while trying to treat his future wife to a nice experience through this business venture.

“Your ignorance and inexperience almost brought disaster.”

“…I apologize.”

Count Iseas trembled at the shoulders.

Tears flowed down his eyes from those slanted lids.

Despite his appearance, he seemed innocent.

I looked back at the Chief of Police.

“Then the greatest responsibility must lie with the trading post that brought in such a suspicious individual.”

“My apologies, Your Highness. I was a step too late.”

He uttered, a tone filled with despair.

“The personnel on duty today were wiped out… No, there is one survivor. I will bring in their testimony right away!”

Just then, a constable rushed in, his voice rising with urgency.

The Chief of Police returned shortly after, speaking in a tone that revealed his discomfort.

“Your Highness. That fellow claimed to have seen an elf. He said the trading post master made a deal with an elf. It seems he was misled by a spirit user skilled in archery—.”

I felt the urge to breathe fire.

“Those pointy-eared bastards are truly—!”

“Y-yes?”

The Chief of Police appeared bewildered, and I ground my teeth.

Every situation has its extremes and oppositions.

Just as some elves venture out seeking new lands like Arins, others seek to reclaim old territories.

It seemed our enemies had multiplied.

“I will report to the Emperor. Can I see him now?”

I headed for the leader of the Silver Knight Order.

He gave me a thunderous response.

“The Emperor is not in the capital right now.”

* * *

It was a summer night, sparkling with stars.

A deep valley, nearly a kilometer deep, had been carved beneath the sky.

The ground, rich in iron ore, gave the valley a reddish hue by nature, but it was now suffused with purple.

A month ago, a magical realm with a diameter of two kilometers emerged in the middle of the valley, consuming it entirely.

It happened to arise at the boundary between two noble families, leading neither to take initiative.

And now, time had come to punish their negligence.

“Whoa!”

“Grrr!”

“Crack, crack!”

Golems made of gray rocks with protruding purple crystals began to walk out of the valley, one by one.

“Ugh—.”

“Mom, Mom.”

“My Lord, this doesn’t seem right. My Lord.”

Infiltrators with skin turned to gray rock also ambled out alongside the golems.

Their total number reached thirteen thousand.

That was enough to wipe out a few cities.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

The large and small golems marched out of the valley.

All animals, from rats to birds, had fled the area the moment the magical realm opened, but one injured rabbit crawled desperately, unable to escape.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

A rock golem’s mineral-like purple eyes glimmered as it gazed at the rabbit.

Snap.

The giant jaw of the golem swung open, and a raw, sticky tongue that resembled entrails shot out.

Puaaaah!

The rabbit’s eyes reflected the tongue.

Gulp.

The creature clad in a shell of rock gobbled up the rabbit in one bite.

“Here comes the vermin, neither stone nor flesh, crawling into my world.”

At that moment, a chilling voice resonated throughout the valley.

Whoosh!

All thirteen thousand creatures that emerged from beyond the magical realm simultaneously gazed upward at the sky.

Each possessed three or more eyes, adding up to sixty thousand in total.

“I refuse you all. I will cast you away. Return to a place where mind and body cannot be distinguished.”

The Emperor of the Empire floated above the valley, scoffing at their gaze.

She raised one hand to the sky.

Shaa!

A golden aura flared, mana from around the area surged toward her, and her black dress billowed dramatically.

Her finger drew a circle in the air.

Blaaaaam!

Ding, ding, ding, ding!

An organ-like melody rang out, and the night sky turned to gold.

Ding, ding, ding, ding!

Dozens, hundreds, thousands of enormous golden rings filled the night sky.

At every intersection where the rings met, the power multiplied twofold.

At around six or seven circles, the overlapping power reached figures in the thousands.

Numerous rings floated in the night sky.

Jeilliris laughed sweetly, waving her hand.

“This much is still too slow even with the circles.”

Whoooooosh!

The rings radiated golden light, moving about and rearranging themselves.

Beneath the massive circles interwoven by thousands, slightly smaller circles overlapped, and beneath those, even smaller circles stacked up.

They formed an inverted cone pointing towards the ground.

Whoooosh!

The rings glowed and emanated light and heat to their limits.

Whooooosh!

Fire columns as thick as the Ivory Tower erupted forth.

Bright red flames fell like a judgment day upon the world.

Yet those flames were aimed not at the people of this world but at the otherworldly beings.

Blaaaaam!

The entire valley became engulfed in flames, and all otherworldly creatures and infiltrators faced a fair death.

“Keek!”

The rocky shells evaporated, and the flesh within vanished without a trace.

The fiery columns didn’t stop there and shot straight into the magical realm.

Blaaaaam!

The magical realm was impacted by laws of physics different from our realm.

The degree of gravity acting in reverse belonged to a refined magical realm, while sulfuric acid vapor suffocated the air, and countless times the fabric of space and time was twisted.

Thus, Jeilliris’s flames could not immediately incinerate within the magical realm.

However, Jeilliris was an emperor who understood the virtue of excess.

If something couldn’t be resolved by strength, she pondered whether the inadequacy lay in the strength itself.

Whoooosh!

A blaze hotter than that which would frighten even the demon of fire poured endlessly into the magical realm.

Crystals that should not melt began to liquefy, and rocks that should not burn ignited, while entities trying to cross into this realm through a core screamed in the heat akin to the sun.

Crrrack!

Finally, at the moment the core could withstand no more flames and shattered.

Shaa!

The violet space collapsed.

The valley regained its original reddish hue.

“Ha!”

Jeilliris smiled contentedly, looking down at the valley, then soared toward where the two counts and a group of clergy awaited in the sky.

“Holy Emperor.”

“Noble Being.”

“Protector of the Faith.”

The two counts and clergy, who witnessed the closure of the magical realm before them, bowed to the ground in a daze.

“Your Majesty has come to guide our humanity…”

Jeilliris observed them for a moment before extending her hand.

As expected, flattery suited Valenciaunos best.

“Coffee.”

“Pardon?”

“Bring me coffee. I’m weary.”

A languorous mischief flickered in her expression.

The counts’ attendants scrambled to prepare the coffee, and Jeilliris issued various commands to the two counts and clergy.

“No matter how I think about it, it’s most efficient for me to close magical realms myself.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“However, preventing and preparing against infiltrators is something you too can handle. The Imperial Magic Guild has developed a magic tool that dispenses blessings of light in the night when gathered.”

“If you share that grace with us, we will humbly accept it.”

She knew how to distinguish between areas where she could perform efficiently and those where others could take charge.

While the administrative nobles of the Empire exchanged correspondence and gold coins with high nobles to establish a system for detecting infiltrators, she directly closed magical realms.

This also encouraged local lords who had been appalled to directly see the Holy Emperor to comply even more with the correspondence of the imperial court and the great lords.

“Disasters must be met with greater disasters, and systems must be established for order. I shall deal with disasters myself, and you strengthen the system.”

Census, public work and cultivation to prevent the extreme poor from succumbing to corruption, distribution, the establishment of churches to fill faith voids, sponsorship of cleric academies, and purchasing of ‘Divine Light Radiating Street Lamps.’

The two counts bowed their heads in reverence and accepted the Emperor’s orders.

And just as she was about to continue speaking, the emperor raised her eyebrows while looking toward the sky.

A wyvern was soaring toward us.

“Valenciaunos?”

Her twin had returned sooner than expected.

I had secretly thought that she might have been completely devoured by that white shark.

Now, I wondered what good news she would bring back.

“Your Majesty! A heterogeneous race has appeared in the capital!”