Chapter 43 – King of Emperors (3)

-King of Emperor’s POV-

「So, did you catch them?」

「Yeah. When the knights found them, for some reason, everyone was sitting down on the ground. It seems like they were caught without resistance because of that.」

I can’t help but knit my brows hearing what Mizerost said.

Sitting on the ground?

Why are they doing that?

The door is opened after a few knocks.

It was Gaji, who seemed to be panicking, who had entered.

「I heard you found him, is it true?」

「Yes, it is. We were able to retrieve Ase safely. He’s with a few more beastkins too.」

Gaji exhales loudly after hearing Mizerost.

Ase is his lifesaver.

I know he’s been worried about him for a long time so I’m also relieved that we finally found him.

「Ah, thank you.」

Ase is a feline beastkin who was in the same slave cage as Gaji.

He was one of the people Gaji introduced me to during the days when we were just starting.

He was quite wary of me in the beginning but each time we met, he opened up more and more.

And he had a special skill.

He could tell the true nature of a person just by conversing with them a few times.

He couldn’t see everything but he could tell friend from foe.

Thanks to him, we could safely say that we found more trusty allies.

However, he has been missing since the day before the previous king’s death.

The reason for this is magic.

I didn’t realize it either, but he was able to use magic.

And it was one of those special kind of magic, “brainwashing magic”.

Gaji said, “It is possible that Ase himself was unaware that he could use magic.”.

How did it become known then?

It was because Gaji was almost killed by a guard.

At the time, there were rumors circulating in the royal castle that messing with the slaves would incur the wrath of the forest.

The foolish guard tried to confirm the truth by killing Gaji.

To stop him, Ase unknowingly invoked his magic.

He brainwashed all the guards there.

Ase’s brainwashing magic will take effect for two days.

After the effect ended, their memories of those two days stayed.

Gaji and Ase learned about it two days later.

When the guards’ magic lost its effect, a mage was designated to check Ase.

Fearing the rumors, the mage only did a little research on Ase’s magic but that was enough.

That simple investigation revealed that Ase’s magic was unique.

It would have been better if it had ended there but somehow, the information came to the ears of a certain noble.

Ase was taken and disappeared.

Well, it was only a few days ago that I learned that Ase was taken out the day before the king died.

The search for Ase had been difficult due to the loss of clues because of riots.

「Where is Ase?」

「Talking to the mages. We need to know what they had asked him to do.」

What were the nobles doing with Ase’s magic?

We need to know what crimes they were committing.

「I see. By the way, you said you found Ase along with other beastkins, didn’t you?」

「They were hostages for Ase. They have prepared them to make him listen to their orders.」

「What a cunning guy.」

「Rest assured. The 2nd knight order vice commander Bisrog is interrogating him. He’s being assisted by Ritsuri.」

Those two are good interrogators.

Speaking of them, Vice Commander Bisrog became famous recently because he fell in love with a beastkin woman at first sight.

Ritsuri, a beastkin, became his wife.

He hid her all this time from the former king but some time ago, he proudly announced that the two of them had a child.

Rumor has it that she’s quite a loving wife and a child discipliner.

「Is that so? I thought the 2nd knight order was busy.」

「They were too motivated to take a break.」

「…..they’re interrogating?」

Hearing me, Mizerost shugs.

「I think they are.」

Well, it doesn’t matter as long as they can give me reports.

Bisrog and Ritsuri can do whatever they want.

「I have no problem with that. Gaji, you can join the interrogation if you have any questions.」

「….no, I’ll refrain. What will happen to Ase? His magic is….」

We certainly can’t leave Ase’s magic unattended.

Even if we hid his information, it could leak out somewhere.

If known, Ase would be targeted again.

We were able to protect him this time but we can’t say that he’ll stay safe.

If he refuses to cooperate, he could be killed.

「Magic. It’s useful but it also causes problems.」

Many people in this country can use life magic.

However, it is limited to pouring a glass of water or starting a fire.

Some people can pour two glasses but that’s it.

There are few people in this country who can use offensive magic.

However, in rare cases, children are born with a huge amount of magical power.

They have far more magic than others.

Even so, having a lot of magical power doesn’t mean you can cast magic.

Only after you learn how to use magic can you use magic.

However, Ase is different.

Ase is born with blossoming ability.

It is a rare occurrence since only one person like him is born every few decades.

The problem is that there are many special kinds of unique magic.

「I feel bad for Ase but he has to walk in the path of a mage.」

In a sense, the country will manage him.

He has helped us in many ways.

I would like to give him freedom but I can’t decide that because of my personal ideals.

As a mage, you have some restrictions on your life but you are basically free.

「I guess so.」

As the prime minister, Gaji probably understands what is best for him.

That is also good for Ase.

The country has a duty to protect mages.

In other words, we can use the resources of the kingdom to protect him.

Knock knock

「This is mage Arlija, may I?」

That was the mage who was tasked to check Ase. Since he’s here, that means they were done checking him.

「Come in.」

Arlija, our first ally among the mages.

Now, he’s our chief mage.

He opened the door and walked in. He looked at me with a very scary smile so I quickly averted my gaze.

The reason for this is that I have given him the position of chief mage.

When I asked him to be the chief mage, he firmly refused.

However, I have no one else to ask so…..as a last resort, I persuaded his wife.

It worked out well but even now, months later, his anger is still ongoing.

「Isn’t it about time to forgive him?」

Mizerost speaks out.

I immediately wanted to agree with him but I suppressed my urge to nod.

If I nodded, it would prolong his anger.

「Ah, I’m done asking several things to Ase-dono and the other beastkins.」

「You worked hard. How about the nobles?」

「I have to check them a little more. Also, the victims.」

「I see. Speaking of which, what happened to them to all sit on the ground?」

After hearing it from Mizerost, I’ve been wondering why.

Something must have happened but I can’t think of anything.

「It was incredible. It seems like the king and the god of the forest saved Ase.」

『…………………………huh?』

It took me some time before I was able to understand what I just heard.

But it wasn’t just me. Mizerost and Gaji are the same.

Arlija is smiling.

「What do you mean? The king and god-sama? Is that true? No, that should be a lie.」

Mizerost became slack-jawed perhaps because of excitement.

I’m thankful that we were talking about state affairs or I won’t be able to keep calm too.

「What happened?」

「While they were being cornered, the Fenrir king and god-sama, who was riding the Fenrir king, came down from the sky .」

「What! Right in front of them! What did he look like? When I saw him, he was too far for me to recognize his face.」

「Mizerost, shut up! And?」

「He didn’t do anything. He only looked around as if checking if everyone was alright, said something, and then, went back into the sky. Ase-dono said that the tension made everyone’s knees fall so they can only sit on the ground.」

Check?

What did he check?

「And as for the god’s appearance, I heard that he is very slender. He said that for a moment, he thought it was a child god.」

「Is he so thin?」

「What do you mean? That he was an adult with a body of a child?」

Gaji asked in a slightly puzzled tone.

「I don’t know if there’s a distinction between adults and children to gods but, according to Ase-dono’s impression, he is an adult. However, his body is small and thin.」

I had thought that divine beings would give the impression of being more robust.

However, he’s so slender that he could be mistaken for a child….

What a strange being.

However, Ase was able to see him close.

I envy him.