Chapter 41

The second chapter, the latter part, begins!

In one of the rooms in the palace, a discussion was taking place about the incident that occurred during the eastern region expedition.

The barrier stone is a crucial entity that protects the citizens from monsters. In addition to the upper echelons of the Magic Bureau, the current king of Tressti Kingdom also attended the meeting.

The king has been on the throne for fifteen years and is fifty years old this year. He has the golden hair and blue eyes common among the royal lineage, and he has a gentle appearance.

Although he created an opportunity for the neighboring country to aim for an invasion, he ultimately won the war, so the public opinion of him is generally positive.

As he read through the report, he quietly listened to the conversation of his subordinates.

"The magic formula of the barrier is a 'perfect formula' that is difficult to interfere with. It’s a level of magic that requires a specialist to deactivate it when updating. The person who managed to overwrite the monster-attracting formula is likely of considerable skill."

"At the very least, it would be a mage capable of direct bestowal. However, why did they only partially overwrite the monster-attracting formula? If they were targeting human casualties in the city, they could have destroyed the stone or forcibly deactivated the barrier formula."

"The criminal's motives are unclear. However, the eastern region is far away, so it’s a good thing that the palace mages in the capital can be ruled out as suspects."

The king nodded deeply at the words of the Magic Bureau official.

The palace mages are the second most popular profession among the citizens after the Divine Beast Knights. They are admired as protectors of the people. If the perpetrator was one of the mages within the Magic Bureau, it would tarnish the country's reputation and lower the trust of the citizens.

The alibi of the retired mages is currently under investigation, but they are no longer affiliated with the palace.

Since they are not under the king's direct jurisdiction, if they were the culprit, they would be punished without mercy.

However, he silently prayed that the perpetrator was not of high noble birth. High nobles have some connection to the royal family, and it would be best to avoid such a situation.

That said, to bring them into the fold, he has already given important positions to high nobles. He was confident that they would not betray the favor he had shown them.

While thinking this, the king read through the report again.

It was written that thanks to a young palace mage who could deactivate the magic formula, the scene avoided the worst-case scenario.

The king felt pleased to have such capable subordinates. He wanted to promote such talent, secure their loyalty, and keep them close.

He decided to give them a reward—after confirming the name and background, he raised an eyebrow.

(Viela Yubert... the fiancée of Lukas Helling, huh. I see, I was surprised by the sudden engagement to someone of a different social status, but she’s not just any lady... Yes.)

The king narrowed his eyes, having thought of something, and spoke.

"I have a matter to discuss with you—would that be alright?"

No subordinate would ignore the king when he said such a thing.

After confirming that all attention was on him, the king issued an order disguised as a consultation.

Another chapter will be updated at 8 PM today.

The draft is complete up to the end, so I plan to post one chapter per day while revising.

I would be grateful if you could stay with me until the end.

* The review section will be reopened after the story concludes.