Chapter 294: The New King’s Throne Room

’All of this place, in the morning, is colder than I imagined.’

Ryan’s gloved fingers sank slowly into the thick stone armrests of his new seat as he observed the gigantic hall with a highly critical level of detail. The frigid northern air seeped faintly through the ventilation shafts, chilling the atmosphere of the newly created castle.

’The design of this throne room was left in the hands of the elves. Helen was quite insistent on participating in the decorations, but almost all of her ideas were omitted—she even intended for there to be a statue with my face. The absurd thing is that the rest of the party supported that idea too, which I refused. If I hadn’t been here, I can’t imagine what else they would have planned.’

Ryan let out a faint, invisible sigh and cast his cold, analytical gaze across every corner of the majestic hall that now belonged to him.

Unlike ordinary human fortifications that took decades to build, this imposing structure had not been raised stone by stone by sweat and slow human labor. The entire immense structure of the new castle demonstrated a magical power far superior to traditional understanding.

From the massive main entrance arches to the intricate, beautiful reliefs carved into the side walls, the entire hall had been shaped through a powerful and ancient combination of earth magic and wood magic.

The gigantic overhead beams crossing the hall were not mere pieces of dead, cut wood. They were immense, ancient trunks intertwining with the rock itself to support the soaring stone ceiling, creating an impregnable, natural, and visually stunning fortress.

Right in the center of the spacious hall, a monumental, vibrant crimson carpet stretched across the petrified ground, perfectly polished by the elves.

That was the exact spot where, right now, six of the most lethal and powerful warriors in the entire frozen nation of Kowarre were kneeling, heads bowed slightly in a perfect display of respect and military submission.

Helen the swordsman, Mirian the archer, Beatrice the infernal-class assassin, Alicia the young beastwoman, Irina the elven princess, and Lise the imposing ice and wind dragon. His personal elite guard, his own tactical squad of anomalous rank, awaiting his orders in complete silence under the morning light.

"That damn fool... how much longer does she plan to make us wait?" Helen grumbled from her position, breaking the silence of the hall as she remained kneeling before Ryan’s elevated stone throne, clenching her fists against her thighs.

"I think she simply fell asleep again between the warm sheets..." Irina suggested, letting out a faint sigh of tiredness.

"Definitely. Karol is hopeless," Mirian said, nodding in agreement with the elven princess.

Alicia kept a respectful and disciplined silence, her furry wolf ears perked for any sound coming from the corridor, while Beatrice couldn’t help a faint smile at the blue-haired mage’s obvious lack of discipline.

"Ah..."

Suddenly, Lise let out a soft, wet sound, far more akin to a whimper of pure suppressed pleasure than a simple noise of impatience.

Lise raised her gaze slowly toward the throne, completely ignoring the other girls’ conversation, fixing her eyes directly on Ryan’s cold green eyes.

"My young master..." Lise continued, licking her lips with evident, overwhelming carnal desire. "If you command me right this instant, I will mercilessly punish that brazen, lazy mage for committing the sin of keeping you waiting."

Ryan completely ignored the dragon’s blatantly sadistic, perverted, and provocative intention.

He simply placed his left elbow firmly on the hard stone armrest and rested his cheek lazily against the first two knuckles of his hand, adopting the posture of a deeply bored yet imposing ruler.

"That won’t be necessary, Lise. Stay in your place," Ryan replied with complete composure, his expression unreadable, yet using a subtle, unmistakable tone of command that forced the dragon to swallow hard and immediately bow her head in obedience.

Just before any of the competitive girls present could complain or say anything more about the situation, the wooden doors slammed open at the back of the hall.

The loud creak of the hinges echoed throughout the throne room, followed immediately by the clumsy, hurried, and desperate footsteps of metal boots belonging to Chloe, the timid holy knight of the church.

As she rushed in, nearly tripping over the crimson carpet, the prisoner of war was not alone. Walking casually right beside her, dragging her feet slightly on the polished floor and rubbing one eye with pure morning laziness, was Karol.

However, she was not in her usual voluptuous, attractive S-rank mage form, but in her strange, harmless, and tiny child form.

"M-Your Majesty, Great Demon King," Chloe stammered, her voice cracking with panic as she made a quick, clumsy bow, trembling with fear at the sight of the elite guard of monsters and assassins gathered before the throne. "I found this little girl wandering completely alone through the castle corridors. She told me you were urgently waiting for her here in the throne room for a meeting, but honestly, I don’t understand at all—I’ve never seen her in the fortress before. Is she another hostage?"

"I’m so sorry for the delay, Ryan. I just can’t find my magic staff anywhere in the room," little Karol grumbled, completely ignoring her escort’s terror. The tiny mage puffed out her cheeks like a child and crossed her arms, making a cute yet annoyed pout.

’And where was she looking for it in the first place? She fell asleep right in the exact center of my bed.’

Helen, having completely lost what little calm and patience she had left this morning, stood up abruptly, breaking the kneeling formation without asking her leader’s permission.

"You stupid, irresponsible mage," Helen pointed her index finger at her, glaring at the girl with a murderous gaze. "We’ve been waiting here for you forever to start the meeting."

"It’s been a long time since I last saw you trapped in that useless child form," Beatrice said from her position on the floor, observing the small blue-haired girl with a clear touch of mockery and superiority in her voice.

Little Karol let out a cute, high-pitched laugh, closing one eye and scratching the back of her head with obvious embarrassment over her current appearance.

"I know, I know very well. It’s just that, as all of you know perfectly well, when I don’t have my staff close at hand, I lose a lot of control over the leakage of my residual mana."

"Is there really absolutely no other magical thing you can do to fix that permanently?" Alicia asked, tilting her head with genuine curiosity and feeling a bit of pity for the powerful mage’s inconvenient size.

"Now you are supposed to be part of Demon King Ryan’s elite force. Honestly, you can’t go walking around the corridors looking so weak and vulnerable in front of the subjects and soldiers," Lise complained immediately, standing up from the floor.

"Hey," Helen shouted immediately, spinning sharply toward the dragon with grit teeth and a deep frown. "Stop calling Ryan a demon king once and for all, you stupid lizard."

"But that is exactly what he is now to this entire continent. Denying reality is simply stupid," Lise responded sharply, raising her chin with pure racial superiority and pride.

"Yeah... well, maybe he is... to the world, but to us Ryan is still simply Ryan, our human leader and commander," Helen asserted with immense pride and unwavering loyalty, fiercely defending the origin and humanity of her beloved squad.

In the midst of that tense and dangerous exchange of words, Chloe was completely confused and terrified. The young holy knight looked frantically in all directions, watching the heated argument between a bloodthirsty human killer and a legendary dragon capable of destroying entire cities.

Chloe broke out in a cold sweat, completely unable to grasp what was truly happening within this bizarre and fatally chaotic elite squad.

Then, attempting to nip in the bud the useless tension forming in the air because of her, little Karol took a firm, decisive step forward.

The blue-haired mage stepped away from the frightened holy knight and walked until she stood right before her leader’s elevated stone dais.

"Of course there is a viable magical solution to my little transformation problem. Maybe I mentioned it before when we first met, I don’t remember clearly at the moment, but..." she declared aloud, raising her small hand and clearing her high-pitched throat.

Karol was trying with all her might to sound much more serious and mature than her current childish voice and tiny physical state made her seem before the king’s powerful court, preparing to deliver a grand revelation to her allies.