Chapter 23.
The imperial palace was the symbol of the empire.
Inside the imperial chambers in the inner palace, Bloody bowed to the emperor and approached him. Normally, one had to keep one’s distance, kneel on a knee, and shower elaborate greetings and praises to the empire and the imperial family when meeting the emperor according to palace etiquette.
However, Bloody was one of the five people who did not have to do so. The quintet comprised the closest aides of the emperor: Prince Zantes, Prime Minister Arcanta, Court Magician and Military Commander William of the Butterfly Tribe, Marshal Orphina of the Dragon Tribe, and Marshal Bloody of the Crow Tribe.
At the emperor’s side stood three of his closest aides excluding Orphina who had been sent to Demon’s Territory.
"Welcome, my dear friend, Bloody von Di Canta Blade. Thank you for defending the empire from Demon’s Territory."
The name von attached to Bloody’s name was a title for nobles and Canta was the name of the territory granted to him.
Canta was a location outside the capital and considering that it was a territory for a marquis like Bloody, it was smaller than a territory owned by a baron. Since Bloody was planning to return to his homeland one day, it was a somewhat meaningless piece of land.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Your Imperial Majesty."
These greetings were just formalities that were exchanged every time he came back from Demon’s Territory. After the boring pleasantries were done with, the emperor clapped his hands to lift up the atmosphere.
"Now, let’s go to the conference room. William, please."
"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty."
When William raised his hand, magic power started to circulate and teleported them into a secret conference room consisting of a table and six chairs.
Bloody thought it was an inconvenience to meet in the imperial chamber if they were planning on gathering at the conference room from the beginning. Even if the useless formalities were omitted, it was still necessary to keep the tradition of meeting at the imperial chamber. This was because they still had to display their actions to the other nobles.
The emperor needed to honor his subjects who had suffered at Demon’s Territory, and Bloody had to prove that his loyalty to the emperor remained strong even after he had left his seat vacant for a long time.
Bloody knew as well that it couldn’t be helped even though it was annoying. Still, nobody tried to be formal anymore after they arrived at the conference room.
"So Bloody, I read from the regular reports that the demons’ movements have been more active lately?” the emperor asked as he removed his uncomfortable veil. This definitely went against the norm, but no one here said anything.
If the imperial attendants had been here, they would have nagged the emperor until their mouths frothed. Fortunately, their authority was not sufficient to participate in this meeting.
"Yes, they’ve become very active lately. But it’s still not enough for us to take action. Let’s wait and see what happens. I think we should wait for news from the woman who worships the lizard."
Bloody clasped his hand behind his head and lifted his foot onto the table. If this had happened outside the conference room, this would have been a major insult to the imperial family warranting the extermination of his entire family.
Of course, if the empire were to try and exterminate Bloody’s entire family, it would inevitably result in the destruction of the empire. No matter what, Bloody was part of the imperial family of the strongest battle tribe in the world as well as a descendant of the warrior who had killed the Demon King 120 years ago.
"If Orphina had heard that, this conference room would have been destroyed by now. Bloody, how could you call a dragon a lizard?” Prime Minister Arcanta started complaining with a bitter smile at Bloody’s action. In the perspective of the Dragon Tribe who worshipped the dragon, calling a dragon a lizard was akin to blasphemy.
"What about it? It’s not like Orphina is here. She goes around talking about me like I’m an idiot who can’t lift up a spoon anyway."
Arcanta sighed and began nagging at Bloody. "Be careful. To her, this is worse than insulting her parents. It’s because you’ve been bragging about how you defeated a dragon all by yourself and how you stabbed a knife on a dragon’s head that your relationship has become such a mess.”
Bloody had led the warrior force before coming to the capital. After which, Denburg’s older brother, Gawain, had taken over the vacant position of the general of the warrior force.
"Ay, what’s wrong? Back then, I didn’t know that the Dragon Tribe worshipped the dragon. I wouldn’t have said it if I knew." Bloody jokingly retorted and sat up straight.
"Speaking of killing dragons, I have one piece of news for you."
"What is it?"
When the emperor asked, Bloody took a letter out of his pocket.
"So apparently, my nephew Denburg ran away from home."
Upon Bloody’s words, William smiled and said, "Haha, that sounds like trouble. Didn’t you say your nephew Denburg is a magician?”
The emperor and the prime minister who had become slightly nervous relaxed at William’s words because Olympus Forest was also known as Magician’s Hell and was not an easy environment to learn magic in. In addition, people who learned magic had weaker physical training, so even if they were to cause an accident, it was easy to quell it.
The emperor laughed and said, "Don’t worry. Even if he is a magician, he is still from the Crow Tribe. It’s not like he’ll get bullied somewhere."
It was hard to imagine members of the Crow Tribe as magicians.
Bloody added a word in this peaceful environment.
"But Denburg was chosen as my brother’s successor."
The Crow Tribe had the tradition of having their strongest member become the tribe leader. It was the same even after they changed the title to village head. The emperor and the prime minister became worried that a nightmare like Doomstone Blade would occur again.
"Wait, you said he’s a magician. Did he learn magic as a side hobby?" A bewildered William asked.
Bloody shook his head. "No, magic is his specialty. But I don’t think his martial arts or swordsmanship is that far behind from his brothers."
This was the impression he got from Denburg when he had been to his hometown on vacation. The lad was obviously skilled in martial arts and swordsmanship. But, he had also felt this nephew was a bit lacking compared to his two older brothers. Still, he had high expectations since a kid who wasn’t an adult yet was already catching up to his two older brothers who were the generals of the guard division and warrior force.
"But if his main focus is magic, shouldn’t he be a bit behind in terms of physical abilities?"
"That might be true, but they told me that when he was twelve, he caught a dragon by himself using magic."
"What? At twelve? Using magic? Does that even make sense?"
William was astonished at Bloody’s words. That was because even he, who was from the magic-specializing Butterfly Tribe, became nothing more than a person slightly stronger than a knight at Olympus. It was suicidal to try to defeat a dragon there. Afterall, it wasn’t by coincidence that the strongest battle tribe after the Crow Tribe worshipped the dragon.
"So the question is, how strong would a magician that can defeat a dragon at the age of twelve become once he leaves Olympus."
William could not answer Bloody’s question easily. How could he measure the abilities of a magician who could catch a dragon alone when even he couldn’t do it in the first place?
Still, he had to provide some sort of answer. Afterall, there was no magician stronger than him in the empire.
"— Once he leaves Olympus Forest, he’ll be at least ten times stronger. How old is your nephew?"
"Sixteen.”
"What age did he start to learn magic?"
"I’m not sure about that."
"This is important, so think about it."
"Five? Six? Around that age?"
To be exact, Denburg started to learn magic at the age of two, but there was no way for Bloody to know that.
Meanwhile, William thought that this was the worst thing he could hear from Bloody. Magic also depended on talent, and if the talent was developed from a young age, its potential would be limitless.
To put it simply, even with the same talent, the limit of those who began to learn magic at the age of five, ten, and fifteen was all different. The earlier one learned magic, the higher one could climb.
It had been four years since someone who had learned magic at the age of six to seven had defeated a dragon at the age of twelve. With that much talent and time, they were probably able to kill a dragon with ease by now.
Perhaps he could even handle two dragons at once?
He was talking about those inside Olympus Forest.
"If it’s outside Olympus, maybe we could compare him to the tribe chief of the Crow Tribe that I met before?"
William had seen Doomstone in person a few years ago when he had accompanied Bloody to obtain some magic ingredients that only grew in Olympus Forest. He believed he had seen something that went beyond human limits. It made him wonder if there were any human beings, or any living creatures in the world who were stronger than him.
At William’s words, Bloody said, "Your Imperial Majesty, may I go back to Demon’s Territory?"
"No? Isn’t he part of your family? Where do you think you’re going?"
Bloody was soaked in tears upon the emperor’s ire.
"So what? They’re saying he’s comparable to Big Brother! I’m scared."
"You still can’t. Even if you’re scared of him, do you think we’re going to be fine? Just find him quickly and send him back to Olympus."
"How should he do that, Your Imperial Majesty?" Arcanta carefully asked after the emperor spoke.
"What?"
"Even if we were to somehow find out Denburg’s location, we have no methods of capturing him if he is as strong as that person."
The emperor was rendered speechless at the prime minister’s words.
William then came up with a solution. “What if the Crow Tribe was to come take him back?”
The emperor and the prime minister agreed that it was a good idea, but Bloody’s face turned dark.
“The thing is... it seems like they think nobody can catch Denburg other than Big Brother."
The atmosphere inside the conference room died instantly. They simply couldn’t call a disaster like Doomstone to the empire.
The prime minister and the emperor began to suffer from extreme stress.
"Phew... this isn’t a problem that can be solved immediately, so let’s move on and keep quiet about this news."
"Your Imperial Majesty, what should we do about Orphina?"
"Keep it from her as well. We can’t burden her with bad news when she’s already struggling at Demon’s Territory. It’s not like anything will change if she came either."
"Okay." They all said in unison, and with that the conference ended.
However, a few days later, they received news from the Big Mama intelligence agency that there were movements from an unidentified agency. The prime minister and the emperor had no choice but to work to the brink of collapse.
It is said extreme stress was the reason why generations of kings died at a young age.
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