Chapter 214

#214 Episode: The Tin Knight and the Singing Bones (2)

The Magical Kingdom began to burn.

At first, it was slow, but it gradually grew in scale.

The undead birds flying in the sky scattered singing bones everywhere, and the bones that touched human hands repeated the same song tirelessly.

Some were terrified by the phenomenon of the bone flute singing by itself, while many others were just awestruck.

“A fake war? The Tower and the Lion plotted this?”

“What the heck is that supposed to mean?”

“Well? Did some fighting break out somewhere?”

When the singing bones first began to spread, people had no idea of their meaning.

Wanting to avoid any unnecessary war sentiment, the Tower of Guardian and the Tower of Prophecy demanded silence towards the Tower of Control, which, despite looking grumpy on the surface, was secretly pleased that its original purpose was being fulfilled and accepted their demands.

“Isn’t that it? Didn’t they say there was some fighting near the border?”

“Oh—now that you mention it, merchants passing through there complained. They slapped a complete travel ban on the nearby forest, so they had to take a massive detour.”

“But when they say ‘Lion,’ are they talking about that Lenart?”

However, it was almost human instinct to enjoy gossip and backbiting.

Especially if the subject was the Tower of Control, which was already receiving resentment from the lower classes.

Those who had even a little bit of relevant information started to speak up, and as rumors gained traction, they became increasingly specific, intertwining various speculations and nonsense into a massive knot.

Of course, the accuracy of these tales was abysmally low, but the mere fact that this sort of chatter continually piqued people’s curiosity was a nightmare for the Tower of Control.

“What the hell are you guys doing!!”

A 4th Grade Wizard affiliated with the Tower of Control.

Captain Valdeus shouted at his subordinates with a face that could scare the bejeezus out of anyone.

“Rumors about our tower are spreading every second! Retrieve that damn bone flute or whatever it is, and throw everyone spreading wild stories in prison!”

“I apologize, but, Valdeus. We are already in the process of retrieving them. We’re also trying to quell the disturbance with the guards.”

“Then why is it still like this!!”

“…There’s an overwhelming amount.”

His subordinate said with a grim face.

“During the dead of night, when people were sound asleep, a large quantity of flutes was dispersed, and they’re still being spread even now. The birds resurrected by necromancy are flying around and dropping flutes everywhere; we can’t stop the distribution by blocking passageways. To shoot down those birds high in the sky, we would need at least several 2nd Grade Wizards, but we simply don’t have the manpower for that.”

“Are you saying that now…!”

Valdeus clutched the back of his neck.

He was the captain of the law enforcement division.

It was his job to root out and eliminate all sorts of undesirables within the controlled territory of the Tower of Control.

The mere occurrence of such an incident would severely damage his prestige, and the thought of not being able to handle the aftermath without help from others was something he didn’t even want to imagine.

Just as he was about to yell at his subordinates again, a crystal orb on his desk gleamed brightly.

《─Valdeus, come to my room at once.》

A sudden and unilateral notification.

The order was far too rude for something directed at a 4th Grade Wizard, yet Valdeus dared not show any displeasure.

On the contrary, he couldn’t even hide the pale complexion as he urgently started to move.

The office of the Tower Master, located on the highest floor of the Tower of Control.

To the attendant guarding the door, Valdeus spoke in a trembling voice.

“Valdeus Lognir. I’ve come in response to the Tower Master’s summons.”

The attendant bowed respectfully before opening the door to the office.

Inside the office was a splendid yet old-fashioned scene.

Though it was merely called an office, its structure forced any visitor to feel an unconscious sense of intimidation and reverence, more fittingly described as a royal audience chamber.

There were already about twenty esteemed guests inside the office, all of whom were either descendants of Lognir or their spouses.

In the center of their circle, Valdeus noticed piles of bone flutes stacked on the floor, causing cold sweat to pour down his back.

Even though they must have known he had entered, none of the guests turned their gaze toward him or extended greetings.

Even those who would typically mock him for his blunders were silent.

Valdeus was not dim-witted enough to think, “At least I’m not being insulted.”

The fact that even mockery and sarcasm had become scarce was a clear indication of just how grave the current situation was.

“According to our detection magic, there are over 2,000 undead carrying bone flutes across various locations. The majority are undead in bird form, but there are also rats and wild dogs involved.”

“Calculating backwards from the times the bone flutes were discovered in each area, it seems the original location where the spread began was the Utgard Forest, where Giras was on a mission.”

“We cannot get in touch with Giras and his unit right now; they likely—”

“—have already perished.”

The calm words of the gray-bearded elder made everyone else shut their mouths simultaneously.

The elder’s gaze turned to Valdeus.

“What are you and your subordinates doing?”

“We are retrieving all the bone flutes. We are also cooperating with the guards to capture everyone spreading these rumors!”

“Justification?”

“What?”

At Valdeus’s puzzled response, disappointment flickered across the gray elder’s face.

He casually nudged one of the bone flutes at his feet.

“You must have heard what this flute was saying. If you try to cover it up, people will think something suspicious is going on, especially when everyone already knows. Whether you’re retrieving them or not, preparing a plausible justification or cover story is just common sense.”

“I-I’m sorry! I wasn’t thinking clearly!”

“Enough. It was my mistake to assign you such a heavy responsibility simply because you are the eldest son.”

It was a cold cutting remark, as if he would no longer hope for any further expectations.

Valdeus gritted his teeth, feeling that being scolded would have been easier to bear than this cold treatment.

“Teur. What’s the situation with the pursuit team?”

“Evidence shows that dozens of them have moved south. They likely plan to cross into the Empire over the ‘Garden’ to shake off the pursuit.”

“It’s a decoy. Leave only the minimum number of pursuers and redirect the rest elsewhere.”

The gray elder stated nonchalantly.

“If such a large group of necromancers were roaming our territory, there would have been signs of it beforehand. The enemy numbers are small.”

“However, Tower Master, managing thousands of undead at once is no small feat. While we have several exceptionally skilled necromancers in our tower, even they can hardly control more than a hundred at the same time.”

“The Queen of the Undead can replicate an entire nation’s forces by herself. A mere few thousand is nothing.”

At that moment, silence fell over the room.

The meaning of the silence was significant and twofold.

‘So the Queen of the Undead… meaning the East Witch has turned against us?’

‘Even if she was the culprit, could a single wizard really pull this off?’

The younger and less experienced wizards were particularly prone to the latter perspective.

They found it hard to comprehend that an individual could rival a nation.

However, the gray elder was different.

He was well aware of what kind of figure the now near-mythical North Witch had been in her prime. He understood exactly how terrifying the other witches of similar rank could be too.

“Of course, the possibility that it’s the Queen of the Undead herself is low. She wouldn’t resort to such underhanded methods.”

“What do you mean by underhanded methods?”

“Undead lose their power the farther they are from their necromancer. Moreover, if they are to affect not just our controlled area but the entire Magical Kingdom, that principle applies even more. It seems they used special materials to overcome that limitation. If they’re using the corpses of 4th Grade Wizards and their elite subordinates, that would serve perfectly as catalysts.”

That meant the raw materials causing the current uproar in the Magical Kingdom were Giras and his subordinates.

People gasped once more.

The eyes of the gray elder glinted coldly.

“Send envoys to the other towers. Convince them that this incident is nothing more than a rumor and slander. Also, place a complete travel ban on all ships headed east. No one is allowed to cross to the island of the Tower of Guardian. The pursuit team needs to focus their search in the port cities. Hurry! This is a critical matter that concerns the glory and prosperity of our tower; failure is not an option.”

The Master of the Tower of Control.

With the words of a king who inherited the bloodline of an ancient kingdom, his kin all acknowledged in unison.

One of the four heads of the Magical Kingdom began to bare its fangs toward the enemy without any complacency or arrogance.