Chapter 7

This is the second update.

Due to Hachigami Ki returning from outside the capital, a temporary meeting was convened.

"How was it?"

The emperor asked without much of a greeting, and Claude was the first to respond.

"The group I dealt with was a horde of Ogres. It's unnatural for so many Ogres to appear in such a rugged mountainous area. My investigation found no traces. It's unclear how they maintained such a large group or how they moved here."

"The same applies here. The thousands of minions, the lack of food, droppings, or any signs of movement, all match."

The emperor, hearing the reports from the Hachigami Ki, was perplexed.

"Are you saying that monsters were sent to various places using teleportation magic? Is there an enemy capable of performing such a feat, even one that would be difficult for Wilhelmina?"

He spoke almost involuntarily.

Among them, Wilhelmina was the most skilled in magic, and the idea that there was an entity capable of something she couldn't do was the last thing the emperor wanted to consider.

"Probably a summoning spell."

It was Wilhelmina who said this.

Since it was rare for her to speak up voluntarily, the emperor couldn't hide his delight as he listened.

"When you say summoning spell, I think of elemental summoning. Is there one that can summon monsters?"

"Yes. It's called dark summoning for convenience. It can summon not only monsters but also inhabitants of the demon world if the user is powerful enough. I don't know if they can be controlled, though."

"Dark summoning..."

"Residents of the demon world?"

Claude's eyes widened at the new information, and Manuel's face twisted in disgust.

The demon world is said to be the place where evil beings and villains go after being expelled from the heavens, a place to be abhorred by the righteous.

The idea that there is a way to summon such beings is not something to be taken lightly.

"Wilhelmina, could you tell me more about it?"

"What more?"

Wilhelmina responded to the emperor's question with a question.

Despite her extremely impolite attitude, the emperor did not get angry and patiently asked more questions.

"Things like what is needed for summoning, what kind of beings can be summoned, anything."

"Basically, it should be the same as elemental summoning. Skilled practitioners can summon large numbers or powerful beings without a catalyst. Assuming this incident was caused by dark summoning, it would either involve a few moderately skilled practitioners or one exceptionally skilled one."

The emperor's expression darkened as Mina answered.

"Is it possible that there are multiple exceptionally skilled practitioners?"

"It can't be ruled out, but it's unlikely to be related to this situation. If they existed, it would have been better to summon a powerful being like a demon or a dragon rather than thousands of Ogres."

At this point, Manuel asked the next question.

"What evidence do you have that teleportation magic wasn't used?"

"You wouldn't know, but the difficulty of moving thousands of minions using teleportation magic versus scattering them in various places using summoning magic is vastly different. The former is much more difficult. If there were practitioners capable of doing that, they would have summoned a few demons instead. That would have been much more troublesome, wouldn't it?"

Manuel acknowledged this with a sigh.

"True. One demon is much tougher than ten thousand Ogres."

"Furthermore, I can sense the remnants or signs of teleportation magic, but not summoning magic."

This statement made the emperor nod.

"Are you saying the difficulty of sensing the magic is different?"

"Yes. With summoning magic, it's difficult beyond fifty meters, but with teleportation magic, it's possible up to ten kilometers. It's safe to assume that large-scale teleportation magic would be difficult to use without my noticing."

No one laughed at Wilhelmina's words.

While she is not well-liked, her skills are recognized by all.

"Is it possible that such forces existed but chose not to use them?"

At this point, Bar spoke up.

"Of course, it's possible. However, I fear it might lead to a labyrinth of thought from which we cannot escape."

Bar's tone became more formal when speaking to the emperor.

While some, including Manuel, looked displeased, no one voiced objections.

"You're right. With so many unknowns, it's pointless to speculate."

Bar then asked the emperor.

"Your Majesty, what will you do?"

"…Send spies abroad. Similar incidents may be occurring in other countries, or they might be the source."

"Is that all?"

The harsh response, of course, came from Wilhelmina.

"I can't keep you all on constant patrol within the country, can I?"

"But there are few who can stand against a horde of Ogres or Gargoyles, either alone or in small groups. In the military, it would be generals or knight commanders, and among the court mages, a few. In the civilian sector, only top-tier adventurers, right?"

Claude made a reasonable point.

Manuel countered with an opposing opinion.

"Is that so? It's true that we inflicted significant damage on the enemy, but we don't know if they know about our regular patrols. Only we and Your Majesty know about our movements."

"You're right," the emperor said.

"Thanks to you, the enemy now has the impression that 'we don't know when Hachigami Ki will show up.' They will likely act more cautiously in the future. If they have the kind of forces that can lose twenty thousand monsters in an instant and still be unaffected, that would be a different story."

"Of course, it's best not to rule out that possibility."

Claude's response was hesitant.

He also found it unrealistic.

In the end, they decided to remain vigilant and observe the situation for a while.