Chapter 142
Chapter 142
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: Black Smoke
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“Minister Wesley has gone on a business trip?”
“Yeah. I hadn’t seen him for a few days, and that’s why.”
“Captain Hail doesn’t see Sir Wesley much anyway.”
“What’s there to see so often?”
Captain Hail replied indifferently, but Ian couldn’t believe the words about a business trip. He judged there was no way he’d recklessly leave the palace at a time like this.
‘The reason it’s been quiet these past few days was because of that. Gail must be holding him after confirming the forbidden necromancy, or...’
Had he fled? Or perhaps he’d gone straight to Karenna. To clean up after the undead. With no idea how Gail was acting, assumptions kept rising in his mind.
“So I’m planning to attend today’s personnel meeting in his place. Everyone, head home first.”
When Wesley was away, his aide would normally fill in, but this time that guy had gone with him too, so the division captains had to gather.
Nakina gathered up the documents and asked,
“Is the Magic Support Division captain not going?”
“All the division captains are going. Though we’ll just have to sit there without any say.”
It was a sort of courtesy. Still, since they were all family under the banner of the Magic Department, they banded together like this to show some sincerity at the personnel meeting.
“Then we’ll go too.”
“The Magic Support Division guys will follow their captain no matter what, right? We can’t leave Captain Hail standing there all lonely!”
“Go home, you lot.”
“I’m fine. Nakina?”
“Nothing for me to do either?”
Tommy and Nakina slowly turned to look at Ian. Their gazes asked what the youngest would do when the captain and all the seniors were going. Ian smiled brightly and nodded.
“I’m good too.”
“That kid just smiled with his mouth, right?”
“No. His eyes smiled too.”
“Youngest, when will you get to see a personnel meeting again? The atmosphere there is subtly fun?”
As if Ian didn’t know. It was the first button of politics for the coming year, the starting point that set the trajectory. For those who’d succeeded in solidifying their positions as insiders, it would be like a festival, while for those tensely tugging at lifelines, it was no different from a battlefield.
‘Normally, it’d just be a ceremonial event for the Magic Department too, but...’
This time would be different.
And it had to be.
Because there was bait laid out for Prince Marib.
“Then let’s hurry. Time to head out.”
Hail stubbed out his cigarette and checked his watch. It was the hour when all those staking their lives on the meeting would head to the Grand Council chamber.
* * *
“Minister! Over here!”
“Oh, isn’t this the next Interior Minister?”
“Haha, what are you saying? I’m embarrassed.”
“That painting you showed me last time, a friend of mine who knows it well...”
“Long time no see. How is it so hard to catch a glimpse of your face?”
“How much time does that one have left until retirement?”
“Ah, shh. Watch your words. I hear they shelled out a fortune in bribes to put Chirio in the Foreign Ministry.”
The area in front of the Grand Council chamber was packed with carriages. Fewer than half could actually observe inside, but everyone was waiting either to give their superiors one last send-off or to start the congratulations the moment they emerged.
“Ian!”
“Ah, Lord Romandro.”
Romandro was in the same boat. Being from the Administration, he was being jostled around here and there, drifting through the Grand Council lobby. He glanced around and whispered,
“No word from Berik yet?”
“If there’d been contact, you’d have heard first, Lord Romandro.”
“Aigoo, I’m going crazy. Where the hell is that guy and what’s he doing? Still no news! Nothing bad happened, right?”
He’d bolted out at dawn and it’d been nearly a week with no contact. They’d sent dogs to track him down, and now they needed people to track the dogs. Ian patted Romandro’s shoulder and muttered,
“He’s not the type to die somewhere, and definitely not the type to run away from home.”
“Right, he’ll show up eventually to stuff his face with pork. The issue is when. Should’ve set an exact time. With Berik, I forgot—he knows exactly one thing and tells you exactly one thing.”
If there was any relief, it was that no incidents or accidents had been reported anywhere in the capital. If Berik had swung that black sword even once, there would’ve been proper chaos.
Clatter clatter!
That was when it happened. A massive carriage rolled up in front of the Grand Council building. The Bariel flag fluttered with majestic splendor.
“His Majesty the Emperor.”
“His Imperial Majesty arrives!”
“Clear the path!”
“Bowl your heads!”
The Emperor staggered but slowly ascended the stairs on his own two feet. Ian and Romandro, along with everyone else who ate imperial rice, prostrated themselves in respect. Following behind were the two princes: Marib and Gail.
Swipe.
As the two passed by, they looked down at the back of Ian’s head. Their faces weren’t visible, but their gazes tangled obsessively with each other.
Bang!
Once the three royals entered the Grand Council chamber, the lobby returned to its noisy chaos. With the Emperor and princes inside, the meeting would begin immediately.
Some clasped their hands desperately in prayer, while others blustered loudly as if already appointed. Subordinates were ranked by their superiors’ positions in the lineup, creating yet another fierce political arena.
“...?”
Zing!
That was when it happened. Ian, Nakina, and Tommy all simultaneously looked north. It wasn’t just them—mages from other divisions who’d sent their captains inside flinched too.
“What was that just now?”
“Huh? What?”
“Tommy sir, Nakina sir. Did you feel it?”
“Yeah. You too, youngest?”
“Hey, it wasn’t just me, right?”
“Strange. North from here would be...”
“No, what is it? Ian, clue me in.”
“Lord Romandro. Stick close to me for now.”
The mages kept honing their senses uneasily, but those without mana had no clue. Quiet amid the uproar. Romandro, clueless, scanned the surroundings warily while sticking right behind Ian.
Boom!
At that moment, a massive explosion rang out.
Something had detonated from the direction where the ominous mana had been felt. Only then did others pause and lift their eyes to the sky. Black clouds billowing darkly. A scene never seen in the imperial palace—so no one could quite grasp the reality.
“...Fire?”
No way.
Fires never broke out in the imperial palace under the Magic Department’s control. If it were some mistake in a research division blowing something up, maybe. But weren’t all the key figures in the palace right here in the Grand Council lobby? What research could they do without these people?
“What is that?”
“Better call the palace guard.”
“Hold on, wait.”
The palace guard fell solely under the Emperor’s authority and wasn’t part of the personnel agenda. Someone went to fetch the Guard Captain, and soon Jayrot appeared leading his subordinates. Barsabe was among them, last in the pecking order though she was.
“Yikes, that smoke seems to be getting closer.”
“Everyone, move to your posts and assess the situation.”
“Yes, Captain.”
It wasn’t his imagination. Something wielding powerful mana was approaching this way. Jayrot asked the mages,
“Have all the captains gone inside?”
“Yes.”
“For safety, put up barriers.”
“Hey, quit dawdling and gather! Time to draw a magic circle!”
“Who are you to order us around? Magic Support Division, over here! We’ll draw the circle centered on us!”
“Crazy bastards.”
Even now they were fighting over turf, so Nakina heatedly flipped them the bird, but Tommy covered it with his palm. As the mages mobilized, members from other divisions panicked and flailed about.
“Shouldn’t we halt the meeting?”
“Joking? Says who?”
“With His Majesty inside, if something happens, who takes responsibility?”
“Everyone knows that faction’s getting purged this time. Don’t try using this as an excuse to stop the meeting.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Take a good look! The ones calling to halt it—they’re the ones you won’t see in the palace this year! Haha!”
“That’s not our intent!”
Once a year, the most crucial meeting laying politics’ foundation. Those facing downfall would do anything to halt it for a delay or future chance. So the newly appointed couldn’t stop, no matter who dropped dead.
“No more disturbances will be tolerated. Stay quiet and cooperate. The Magic Department will erect a defensive formation, so wait here.”
Jayrot spoke with authority, and the crowd quieted somewhat. Unlike the Magic Support Division drawing formations on the floor, Tommy and Nakina slowly loosened their arms and legs while gazing up at the black smoke.
“What’s north? Did something go wrong in the magic beast research division?”
“That’s north from the main Magic Department building. Not here. Hmm. If you go straight this way... Administration, support division, Grand Council, and Prince Gail’s residence.”
“Closest is the support division?”
Zing. Zing.
Tommy and Nakina’s eyes glowed golden. They crouched and lightly rubbed their Achilles tendons and ankles. Mana welled up following their gestures, pooling around their feet.
“Youngest, you stay here and watch closely.”
“We’ll go check.”
Leap!
Whoosh!
With a tremendous gust, the two shot into the sky. As if pulled by invisible strings.
Romandro gaped at them, while Ian shielded himself from the wind with his arm. Trails of mana light lagged behind their speed, like a monochrome rainbow.
“Oh ho, I, I see. Mages really fly.”
“Didn’t you see the Magic Operations Division fight?”
“...Ian, everyone who sees that dies.”
“Ah. Right.”
The battles they were deployed to were when victory tilted toward the enemy. Turning that angle back to their allies with magic power. They were the Magic Operations Division, called in to achieve the impossible without divine intervention.
‘Gail’s palace being that way means—’
Ian easily discerned what the black smoke laced with mana was.
‘Wesley?’
He didn’t know how it happened, but if it was Wesley, they needed to brace themselves. She was a great mage who’d risen to the youngest court count position.
Ian approached the mages and glanced at the floor.
“Don’t clutter it up, move aside. Noble sir.”
“The formula’s reversed. Do that in the field and everyone dies. Senior sir.”
“...What?”
“Oh, right. Hey! Who wrote this crap?”
“And here shouldn’t be in Alehaman script—Variel script would be more effective. Who’s handling activation here?”
“Me.”
“Then rewrite it. Formula goes like this.”
Ian slipped naturally among them and corrected the magic circle. A long formation stretching from one end of the vast lobby entrance to the other. While the mages prostrated themselves designing the barrier.
“Out of the way! We need to stop the meeting now!”
“Says who? Hey now, last-ditch struggle, eh? Guard Captain, arrest these for irreverence!”
“Tell them inside right now!”
“No chance! Not until the stamps are in there!”
Those trying to block the meeting and those defending it tangled at the entrance, brawling. Ian clicked his tongue and looked up at the sky, soon spotting Tommy and Nakina hovering dazedly in midair.
Pop!
Ian fired mana into the air. A signal asking what they saw. But the two remained dazed, as if their minds had blanked out upon beholding the smoke’s true nature, making no move.