Chapter 85
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Execution (2)
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Just five minutes until the announcement.
Hedera tapped her armrest with her fingernail.
"…."
Including the audience seats, the gathered mages numbered in the thousands, and their chatter filled the air.
The Dragon Blood owner's senses were exceptionally keen, so despite herself, every word reached Hedera's ears crystal clear.
"How's the Blue Tower faring for this announcement?"
"Confident as ever, just like always."
The exchange meeting came around so rarely, and the spot was so precious, that the voices of the tower-affiliated mages brimmed with determination.
Yes, the exchange meeting was truly a stage of opportunity.
A place where mages under the Imperial Tower could skyrocket their status and prove their worth in one fell swoop.
Then, a voice pierced her ears.
"The Imperial Magic Tower still hasn't arrived, huh."
Hedera perked up her ears. It was the Purple Tower's representative, tugging at his mustache.
"If they back out again this time... that'd be a real shocker. No one would trust the Imperial Tower's position anymore."
"Trust in the Imperial Tower was never there to begin with, was it? They've dragged their feet for over ten years with zero evidence of any real progress~"
That was the Black Tower representative's reply, clutching her teddy bear tight.
Hedera listened quietly to their words.
The exchange meeting was the mages' world, steeped in ancient tradition, so they had to strive for fairness.
"Lady Teddy Divine, a report."
Just then, someone reported to the Black Tower Lord.
"A thick fog of terror has formed at the southern altar. It seems the Imperial Tower failed in purifying the demon sword."
"...What? Ha, hahaha, hahahaha!"
The Black Tower Lord burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha—!"
Tears nearly welled in her eyes.
"Purifying a demon sword is child's play for the Black Tower. But the Imperial Tower, which should be the finest of all, struggles? What a mess. This is serious!"
It wasn't just the Black Tower Lord. Mages who heard the report began murmuring everywhere.
The Imperial Tower's prestige seemed utterly crushed, and subtle mockery laced their whispers.
—Four minutes until the announcement.
The guiding voice brought silence to the entire venue.
With four minutes left, no one but the presiding Black Tower Lord could dare speak.
The tower representatives around the central round table stood. The audience mages followed suit.
Among them, one empty seat stood out glaringly….
The Imperial Magic Tower's.
The group that should have been at the center was still nowhere to be seen.
"…."
Hedera tapped her armrest with her fingernail.
Four minutes suddenly felt perilously short.
Snap!
The Black Tower Lord snapped her fingers, and her teddy bear ballooned in size, floating into the air. It grew to the size of three warehouses.
Something black etched onto the teddy bear's belly.
A perfect circle, twelve markings, three hands.
A clock.
Dong—
Dong—
Dong—
Dong—
The teddy bear resonated with a deep, resonant tone four times. Only four minutes until the announcement.
Hedera took a quiet deep breath.
What if something had gone wrong?
Should she step in?
Stepping in would break exchange meeting rules, dooming the Imperial Tower to massive penalties, but Hedera was ready to do it if needed.
If Zekiel had been wronged unjustly, she'd intervene without a second thought.
That was when the Black Tower Lord raised both arms.
"My noble and exalted mages?"
Her voice, thick with mana, echoed across the venue. She elegantly curtsied as well.
Bowing her upper body and lifting one side of her gothic lolita skirt in graceful courtesy.
"The moment you've all awaited has arrived."
Teddy Divine.
The de facto master of the Black Tower.
She had reached lofty heights in black magic, halting her aging. Even Second Princess Hedera had to acknowledge her advanced realm.
Indeed, the Black Tower had spent those ten years diligently.
"Before we review each tower's brilliant achievements, we'll call roll to confirm everyone's presence."
Her childlike voice vanished entirely.
As if she'd aged in that instant, only a seductive woman's voice emanated from Teddy Divine.
"Red Magic Tower."
"Here, like an unquenchable flame!"
Perhaps fueled by fiery passion and spirit, a booming voice filled the hall.
"Green Magic Tower."
"Here, like unyielding roots."
This time, the voice was calm and steady.
Blue and Purple Towers responded swiftly next, proudly declaring their elements.
Now, only one tower remained to be called.
Still, that single empty seat.
"Imperial Magic Tower~"
When Teddy Divine called it.
For the first time, no response came.
"Ah, has the Imperial Magic Tower failed to arrive after all?"
A confirmation kill, essentially.
Everyone let out sighs. A subtle, indefinable tension fogged the hall like mist.
The Imperial Magic Tower's absence.
Expected, yet hoped for.
They'd lorded over everyone with authority while neglecting their own substance, hadn't they?
No one welcomed the Imperial Tower's empty posturing without ability. Most towers yearned to see it plummet and be trampled.
"The Imperial Tower representative has not arrived. When the clock strikes the hour, exclusion from the exchange meeting."
Teddy's voice mixed leisure and delight.
"This exclusion isn't just for this meeting. For hiding their incompetence over endless years while deceiving other towers with ruthless scrutiny, the Imperial Tower will be permanently stripped of exchange meeting eligibility."
The most authoritative Imperial Tower, barred forever?
The fallout would be enormous.
"Now, three minutes left."
All eyes turned to the teddy bear's belly.
They focused intently on the second and minute hands.
Dong— Dong—
Now two minutes remained.
If the Imperial Tower seat stayed empty.
The tower that had sat highest, mediating conflicts and auditing corruption, would lose all honor and crash down.
A blatant stain on the Imperial face.
Dong—
One minute now.
Hedera could feel the audience's mood vividly. They buzzed as if their long-awaited moment had finally come. Sneers and joy.
This won't do.
Something's off about this gathering.
Hedera might have to step in herself.
Dong— Dong— Dong—
The instant the clock tried to signal time's passage.
Dong— Dong— Dong—
The moment the teddy bear should have burst like fireworks, grandly announcing the start.
Crack... Craaaack...!
The already tearing teddy bear froze solid. Hedera's eyebrow twitched, and everyone's eyes widened.
Dooong— Doooong— Doooong—
The fully frozen teddy bear.
Its hands circled the same spot endlessly.
Plip...
Something white fell to the floor.
"...Ice?"
Someone muttered.
All eyes snapped to the Blue Tower, but…
"…."
They soon realized it wasn't them.
Crunch—
Crunch—
Crunch—
It began high in the sky.
Ice stairs descended.
One man flanked by a woman on each side, dressed like an ordinary commoner family, yet their aura was extraordinarily noble.
Hedera's eyes widened unwittingly.
"…!"
The person she'd waited for.
The Imperial Tower's Inspector, Zekiel, had arrived.
No one spoke.
The scene was too mesmerizing to interrupt.
"Hear ye, all present."
The Imperial Tower Inspector broke the silence.
He descended each stair at steady intervals, sunweed clenched in his mouth, smoldering.
"The Imperial Tower's Inspector."
One step.
Another step.
"Zekiel."
Passing Hedera's height, heading to the hall.
"I hereby announce my arrival."
Contrasting sharply with other towers' introductions. An entrance and self-declaration dripping with arrogance, as if asserting utter supremacy.
The audience watched, entranced and dazed, but…
The Black Tower Lord soon scowled.
"Inspector? You're too late. You have no right to participate…."
"How are we late?"
Zekiel cut Teddy Divine off.
"The clock still shows exactly on the hour."
Dooong... Doooong...
It was true.
The frozen teddy bear had halted in place.
"The Imperial Tower can't even tell time or place, it seems. Here for word games?"
"From the start."
Zekiel chuckled softly.
"I didn't come to participate in the exchange meeting."
"...Ha?"
Teddy Divine's face twisted in contrast.
"Then what qualification do you have?"
Zekiel nodded toward her instead of answering.
Anes beside him tossed a scroll.
"For the crime of dabbling in forbidden corpse research."
Thud, thud, thud...
The scroll unfurled down the stairs, its endless accusations stretching on.
"For willfully ignoring bandits as if putting on a show, for deceiving other towers, for twisting the exchange meeting's purpose—"
The litany of crimes droned on without end.
"...For daring to mock the Imperial Tower."
Until it finally concluded.
Craaaaack—!
At the same time, the giant teddy bear froze over violently.
As if it were a bomb ready to obliterate the whole place.
"I come here qualified to execute the traitors."
The moment his foot left the stairs and touched the ground.
Zekiel finally spat out the sunweed.
"...No mercy, no exceptions. You get none of that."