Chapter 87: In The Council Chamber

At the very heart of the imperial capital city of Saiverr, within the innermost wall of the city, there sits a grand palace, which is curtained by the so-called fourth wall of the city to make a physical line between the properties of the royal family and its neighboring noble estates and government buildings.

The Imperial Royal Palace is where the generations of imperial royal families have resided since the foundation of the empire hundreds of years ago. With towers and roofs so pointed and tall, the palace towers every structure in the city.

At the moment, the palace is filled with people running around. A large explosion, which is followed by an encounter between the knights and the rogue adventurers and mercenaries, just occurred in the city yesterday.

The palace is in a state of emergency, and the offices are busy handling the case and trying their best to calm the situation down. They control the flow of information to avoid making the citizens panic.

In the council chamber in the palace, more than a dozen people of high stature or position in the Siafran Empire gather around a long table. They are going to discuss the things regarding the chaos happening in the city at the moment. Words fly on the table as they are debating what to do with each matter.

Among the people around the table, there is a man sitting hunched over the seat at the end of the table. By the color of his slicked-back black hair, which has a few strands of white lines on the sides, this man has passed his prime.

His face has slowly shown its ruggedness from years of stress and experience, and lines are prominent on his forehead. But under his fine linen undershirt, his physique is as lean as he can be at his age. He sure has some moves to show.

Given that he is sitting at the end of the table, this man must hold a great position in this important chamber. Clear from the golden crown on top of his head, every person in the room knows that they are before the ruler of this massive empire in the west, Emperor Adler Manndier the Third.

“Silence. I can’t hear you all.”

With just a single command, the people stop their mouths from talking, and the council chamber immediately falls in silence. The emperor looks left and right to check if anyone is paying attention. When he sees that no one dares to ask his authority, the emperor lets out a sigh before he opens his mouth.

“I summoned my advisers, ministers, and commanders here for a reason,” the emperor’s deep voice echoes in the chamber. “But all of you just argue with one another without settling on a single agreement. Marcus, summarize the situation.”

After that, the emperor glances at the man adjacent to him. He is Marcus Louis van Rolufas, a duke in the empire and the current prime minister of the Siafran Empire. After taking a nod, Marcus starts speaking.

“Your Majesty, the city has been in full hands to handle the aftermath of the disaster that occurred yesterday. Though only a small portion of the city was damaged, the explosion took the lives of approximately a hundred innocent people. Most of them are civilians and adventurers.”

“I see. That is very unfortunate. Condolences to the families of the victims of this tragedy.”

The emperor goes silent before he interlocks his fingers on the table to pray for the souls of the dead. No one dares to break the silence. A few of them follow him, whether their reason is to genuinely mourn with him or just to imitate him. After that, Emperor Adler turns to the council again.

“Who are the ones responsible for this incident?”

“May I, Your Majesty?”

A man in a military uniform then raises his hand. He is General Rino Plutz, the head chief of the Imperial City Patrol.

“You may proceed, Sir Rino.”

“According to the knights, this incident is caused by a group of adventurers and mercenaries, which mainly consists of the Black Hounds clan. It is said that the group was led by Mors Boulder, a purple-rank adventurer in the empire, also known as the Iron Fist.”

“And what of them?”

“More than half of them died directly from the explosion, then followed by a few more after sustaining injuries. One man named Hald fought the knights and killed a few of them before he ultimately died in the hands of the knight captain of that district.”

“What happened to their leader, Sir Rino?” One minister asks.

“As for Mors, he said that he is causing more destruction after the explosion. The knights and even Aamon, the empire’s strongest adventurer, tried to stop him, but they failed miserably.”

“Even Aamon cannot stop him?”

A voice raises his confusion. His question is followed by nods of other members of the council.

As a purple rank adventurer, Aamon is a well-known individual in the empire. His feat even reaches the ears of the nobles in the empire. It is the reason why the people here question the authenticity of the claim.

“According to the reports provided by direct witnesses, as well as the statements of the adventurers themselves, this man Mors had gained so much power in that day. We are starting to believe that he might have undergone a pseudo-awakening, or worse, a true awakening.”

“That might be the case.”

“That’s right.”

“He might be as powerful as the Great Sorceress of Roheazul.”

Murmurs begin to circulate in the chamber as they are sharing information with one another. After observing them, the emperor raises another question.

“I have read that this Mors guy has been arrested and in the custody of the military. How come he was defeated if the empire’s top adventurers could not win against him?”

“According to the words of the knight captain,” Sir Rino continues. “When they were about to lose hope, a yellow-rank adventurer named Azrael stepped in and singlehandedly defeated Mors.”

“A single man? A yellow rank at that?! That is impossible!”

“It is like saying that he is more powerful than the Great Sorceress and even the Limitless Sage.”

“I am afraid to say this, minister, but it might be true. The knights and adventurers alike witnessed everything, and they themselves could not believe what they were seeing. This man overwhelmed Mors to the point that it had become a one-sided fight.”

“Azrael, you say?” The emperor is becoming curious about that person.

“Yes, Your Majesty. He just registered as an adventurer a few days ago. From the login records, it was recorded that he had been entering the imperial capital way back a month ago.”

“Wait,” a minister says. “If he has been an adventurer for a few days, how come he is already a yellow rank?”

“Yeah, that should take at least a month’s worth of credibility.”

“Wait,” the emperor recalls. “Now I know why that name is familiar. I remembered writing a recommendation letter to the Adventurer’s Association. He might be that person.”

That’s right. He is the one who Grandmother asked to help us with the potential problem with the Tixiar Empire.

Not long ago, the emperor was ordered by his grandmother to use the imperial family’s influence to promote a certain person’s rank. He agreed after she claimed that this person could be a massive help once a war with the Tixiar Empire broke out.

Alder is aware that they lack powerhouses to match up the Paragons of the Tixiar Empire, so he agreed to write the letter. In addition, he sees no harm in it, as nations usually promote adventurers with exceptional qualities.

Only a handful of people know the fact that the current emperor’s grandmother is still alive through cycles of reincarnation. In this room, only the prime minister knows the truth, other than him, as the Rolufas family is related to the Manndier family.

“His Majesty approved of it, so we should not doubt that man’s credibility,” one man states. “After all, he has proven his strength in that incident.”

“Indeed.”

Everybody seems to collectively agree to the man’s words.

“So what is the reason for this incident, anyway?” The emperor inquires.

“Allegedly, this incident happened because, according to Azrael himself, Mors wanted to capture him for some reason. The fight broke up between them, which forced them to fire all together at him and caused that large explosion.”

“There must be a reason why he was targeted.”

“Although it is still not confirmed, Mors is suspected to be the one responsible for the abduction cases in the city. He might even be connected to a large syndicate. We suspect that Azrael was targeted because they saw him as a massive threat to their operations.”

“That makes sense to me. So where is this Azrael now?”

“He has done cooperating with us, the knights, and has been released from our custody. Does His Majesty want to do something to him?”

“For now, let’s give him a proper reward for saving the city. We cannot let him go unrewarded.”

“We will grant him his rewards, Your Majesty,” Marcus says. “Is there anything His Majesty wants to add?”

“One more thing. If he was as powerful as the reports, I want you to do anything to gain his trust. A powerful individual just popped up in our territory. I want him to choose to fight for our side. I don’t want him in the hands of enemies. I have been considering granting him a peerage.”

“But that’s too absurd…!”

“Please, think, Your Majesty…! It might be dangerous…!”

“He might be a spy…!”

“I wrote a promotion letter for him for a reason,” the emperor says. “It might be worth taking a gamble on.”