DMHS 102

“I remember everything. I remember that Laura begged for leniency so the matter ended with school service, and I also remember that you were angry because you could not accept the result.”

“I told you back then too. That boy had human blood on his hands. He had to be expelled from the Academy immediately.”

After a fierce argument, the spirits admitted that they had been under the control of black magic.

Their weakened strength and the broken voices were also because of that.

The spirits decided to reveal what had happened in the Academy to the human world, because not only had human students been sacrificed, but Ivan’s black magic had been far too powerful.

Letters of condolence were sent to the families of the victims, and a letter warning the palace to beware of the dark mage named Ivan was sent to the royal court.

And while everyone was busy trying to deal with the tragedy, a black cat broke through the barrier and left the Academy.

Strangely, the cat had no head.

***

Ten days later.

After finishing breakfast, King Edward headed to the Begonia Palace.

Even though the meeting had started early in the morning, the core members of both the North Party and the South Party were gathered in the palace.

To show their hostility, the North Party sat to the left of the king’s seat, and the South Party sat to the right.

When the king appeared, the nobles and ministers from each department bowed and greeted him.

The king raised his hand to skip the ceremony that would normally last a long time.

“Since we gathered for an urgent matter, we’ll skip the formalities. As everyone knows, the spirits of the Academy sent a letter to the palace not long ago. I’ve already shared its contents with each department and noble house.”

That was the reason the meeting had been called today.

The spirits of the Academy, who were hostile to the royal family, had sent a letter. They had even revealed the tragedy that had occurred inside the Academy.

It was clear that such a matter could not be ignored.

As soon as the king received the letter, he ordered an investigation into Ivan Harkin and commanded that all departments report whether any villages had vanished recently.

The name Ivan Harkin certainly caused alarm among the people.

If a dark mage powerful enough to have become the Master of the Fourth Tower had faked his own death and planned this, then it was no ordinary incident.

“First, let’s hear the opinion of the Duke of North. How many missing villages has the Order of Knights identified?”

The leader of the North Party, Urea North, was a woman in her fifties. She had served as commander of the northern and central knight orders and now held the title of Duke North.

Urea North spoke with her blue eyes shining coldly.

“In the past three years, twenty-nine villages in the east, forty-seven in the south, and seventeen in the north have disappeared from the map.”

“That is a huge number.”

“However, not all of these villages vanished because of the dark mage. Only a few are believed to have had their residents used as materials for dolls.”

The king’s eyebrow rose.

“That’s strange. If they were not turned into dolls, how did perfectly normal villages vanish? And you say nothing about the number of missing villages in the west.”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I had no other intention in speaking that way. And as Your Majesty also knows, the western region has not been properly reorganized since the Blood Harvest Festival. It’s nearly impossible to determine the exact number of missing villages.”

“The one that’s disorganized is not the western region but the western knight order. Three years have already passed since that day. If they still can’t grasp the situation in their territory, that’s nothing but proof of their incompetence.”

At the king’s unusually cold rebuke, Urea North’s face darkened.

Meanwhile, a smile spread over the lips of Batoni South, the leader of the South Party.

He seemed sure that the king, who had hesitated between both factions for so long, was finally turning against the North Party.

“Duke South, have you found anything?”

“I’ve completed the investigation into who Ivan Harkin, the former Master of the Fourth Tower, was. I’m submitting the report.”

Batoni South handed a thick bundle of documents to the clerk.

The king received the report from the clerk, crossed his legs, and turned the pages slowly.

“I’ll read while you speak. Continue your report.”

“Ivan Harkin was born as the eldest son of Salman Harkin, the former chieftain of the Delia tribe. However, since he was born between the chieftain and a commoner woman who was not his official wife, he grew up facing discrimination.”

“How did he come to enter the kingdom?”

“The chieftain issued an exile decree. The reason for the exile was an attempted murder of a family member. He was caught trying to kill his half-brother, Gimere Harkin, and was banished.”

A small stir rose among those present.

The king pressed his temple, where a headache was starting, and asked again.

“Are you certain of this? Gimere Harkin came to me saying he would avenge his brother, so I believed the bond between the two was strong.”

“I was also surprised and checked several times, but according to what’s known internally, this is the truth.”

“Yes. That’s true. But setting that aside, the important thing must be that man’s ability. When I asked Bashim Harkin, the acting chieftain of the Delia tribe, he said the sorcery used to create dolls was never something common.”

“That’s correct.”

“Then let’s get to the main point. Have you determined where Ivan learned and mastered that vile sorcery, how one distinguishes the dolls, how one fights them, and further, whether it’s possible to restore the souls used to make them?”

Batoni South’s pupils quivered.

“We haven’t discovered that yet.”

“What do you mean by ‘not yet’? Did I order you to pry into Ivan’s private life? The first priority must be to determine how great his power is and how much harm he can bring to the kingdom. If that’s not included, what use is a thick report?”

The king slammed the papers down with a loud sound.

Batoni South muttered an apology and stepped back. But behind his lowered head, his eyes were filled with discontent.

The king clicked his tongue inwardly.

“Both dukes must be displeased with how things are going.”

He knew well that the same people who called him Your Majesty to his face cursed him as a mere puppet behind his back.

Until now, the king had survived by asking both factions for help in turn. Since the kingdom had already fallen into their hands, there had been no other choice.

But today was different.

“May I speak here about the matter Your Majesty wished to know?”

A woman from the North Party raised her hand and stepped forward.

“You may.”

At the king’s permission, a knight with red hair tied high stepped forward.

“My name is Daisy Bernstein. By the king’s order, I accompanied Lord Lucien the Gold Dragon and his mate during their journey. During that time, in Chronos, I saw two bandits who had turned into dolls.”

“I’ve received that report. From what you saw, was there any visible difference between dolls and humans?”

“None. To the eye, they looked completely the same, so even their comrades couldn’t tell the people had changed.”

“So there’s no way to distinguish them?”

A heavy sigh escaped from the king’s mouth.

“Then I’ll ask in detail about the way to destroy the dolls. The report said a strong physical hit to the crown of the head makes a doll vanish. How was that method discovered? According to your words, you didn’t even know they were dolls.”

“It was thanks to the help of the Gold Dragon who guards the kingdom.”

“Lucien?”

“Yes. That method was used by Lord Lucien on a doll that showed sudden erratic behavior. I also wondered how he thought of hitting the head, so I asked him. He answered, ‘It just felt like that would work.’”

Soft laughter leaked among the people. The dragon’s blunt answer sounded absurd, and they seemed to find it amusing that even he had become a subject of ridicule alongside the king.

But the king composed his expression and angrily shouted.

“Who dares to laugh at whom? The dragon who at least achieved something is far greater than the fools here who sit and accomplish nothing.”

“……”

“If not for him, Chronos would already have turned into a demonic realm. And not only that. The western lands that you abandoned would have suffered greater devastation from the chimeras that escaped the Fourth Tower. It was Lucien who performed a miracle in the western sky to calm the people, and it was Lucien who entered the Academy himself to awaken the spirits.”

“……”

“He’s a dragon, and he’s working so hard to protect the kingdom. Yet what have those who claim to rule the country done until now?”

At the king’s fervent words, the faces of both Duke North and Duke South turned red.

Finally, Batoni South failed to suppress his fiery nature and retorted.

“The Gold Dragon must have too much time on his hands, so he happened to stumble upon those things while wandering around the kingdom. Comparing him to us is an excessive judgment. Although doll-making falls under, ah, black magic, which our Magic Tower doesn’t study, if we’re given enough time, we can uncover it.”

Daisy answered his words.

“There were about a hundred dolls found in the Academy basement. Given the urgent situation where we don’t know how many more Ivan may have hidden or where, it’ll be difficult to secure such generous time.”

A wrinkle formed between Batoni South’s brows.

He already was displeased about being reprimanded by the king, and now he felt insulted by a young member of the North Party as well.

“So, you’re Sir Daisy Bernstein. You’re still too young to understand state affairs. Running a nation isn’t like ordering food that appears immediately. Every step must be weighed carefully before decisions are made, so that no trouble follows later. Though I suppose a knight who only swings a sword wouldn’t know such things.”