Chapter 33.1 |
Saturday morning, in the conference room on the top floor of the Palace of the Sun…
Today was Amer’s second visit here.
The first had been in November of last year.
It was an emergency meeting held right after the sudden ‘summoned being’s cataclysm’ was confirmed.
Although Amer was a minor and a non-awakened at the time, she attended the meeting as a member of the royal family who would soon become an adult.
In that meeting, she was given the all-important responsibility of being in charge of the summoned beings.
This was because of her politically neutral stance compared to the rest of the royal descendants.
Amer did the best she could with the first major responsibility she was assigned.
She worked hard to create a friendly relationship between the Empire and the summoned, while also helping them adapt via common sense education.
Besides the fact that five summoned beings were still missing, there were no other issues.
As watched her new friends adapting to the academy life without problems, Amer realised little by little that she had only a very minor role left to play regarding the summoned.
When the door to the conference room opened, she saw many familiar faces.
Among them were her sister Soniel and her brother Dave.
It seemed that they had arrived before her.
All Amer had heard in advance was the sudden piece of news that a certain monster had broken through the protective barrier of the ecliptic.
Judging by the fact that an emergency meeting had been called, it appeared that the problem was a lot more serious than she expected.
It was not only the imperial family that was in attendance at the meeting.
Countless people were seated, with stern expressions on their faces- from important individuals she knew the names and faces of, to people she had never seen before.
Soon, her father entered with her brother, the first Prince Porcus and the chief maid of honour- Senri- and everyone except the imperial family stood up.
The meeting began when the emperor and everyone else sat down.
“Thank you for responding to my call even though it was late at night. We’re running out of time, so I’ll skip the formalities and start right away. First, a report on the summary of the incident.”
At the emperor’s instruction, a man shot up.
“Yes! I am Alphonse Chendra, Director of the Airborne Surveillance Department of the Imperial Defence! Yesterday at 20:19, I confirmed that an unknown object was heading towards the ecliptic in the sky, and I ordered the reinforcement of the barrier while continuing to track its path. But at 20:31, the barrier was broken through in one go and the intrusion gained entry! It landed on Genimer Hill at 20:32 and is currently being searched for in conjunction with the Court Wizards, but they are having difficulties, Your Majesty.”
The Imperial Defence Commander finished his report.
The second Prince, Dave, asked him in a puzzled tone—
“Wait, a landing? Not a crash?”
“That’s right, Your Highness. There were no craters left at the site, let alone any physical traces. However, a strong reverberation of mana was observed.”
It landed, not crashed.
There were no physical traces, but a magical trace.
This suggested that the unknown object was a magical item, monster, or wizard.
“Furthermore, if you take a look at this… This is a zoomed-in photo taken in the process of tracking it down.”
A thin magic window floating in the middle of the meeting room displayed an image with grey pixels against a pitch-black background.
The black-and-white photograph was gradually zoomed in, focusing on the grey pixels, and the mark on the image gradually formed a long, straight shape.
“Spear...? No, that’s... Is that a human?!”
Its face was not visible enough to be identified, but it was most certainly a human-shaped thing.
At the surprised voice of the chancellor, the commander nodded his head.
“Currently, we are investigating and on the fence between two hypotheses: it’s an ‘intelligent monster in human form’ or an ‘unidentified archmage’.”
Everyone audibly gulped at his answer.
An intelligent monster—
It was the proof of irrationality born from an overwhelming manifestation of physical prowess and intellect.
Present in the demon army 300 years ago, it was a monster that had disappeared into the legends and history books in the modern day.
An Archmage—
A being who had reached the level of a superhuman through magic.
They were a tactical nuclear warhead equivalent to that of an army by themselves.
Their enormous potential and the infinite possibilities surrounding them could not be comprehended by just about anyone.
Soon, most of the eyes in the room turned toward the only Archmage in the meeting room- the head of the Court Magicians.
The grey-haired old man eventually opened his mouth heavily while stroking his white beard—
“······It’s hard to believe this without doubt. It’s common knowledge that the higher the altitude, the lower the concentration of mana. What kind of crazy—-? Kuhm, excuse me, Your Majesty. I can’t imagine what being could do that.”
“Would you be able to break through the barrier and safely enter the ecliptic like that?”
“Your Majesty, I apologize for having to tell you this, but if I were to fall like that myself, I would not be able to guarantee my life.”
It was a feat in which even the head of the court mages was not sure of his own survival.
“Nature’s mana is sparse in the sky, so I would have to solve all the limitations of such a feat with only my body’s mana, and I would also need to pick up a tremendous speed and concentration to sustain the magic while enduring the resultant frictional heat. Either of these is impossible for me.”
Court wizards were mostly those who focused on quiet and peaceful research and development rather than fierce battles.
In addition, since the archmage was already over 100 years old, he would not find it easy to break through the barrier in the sky.
The first Prince Porcus leaned back and frowned.
“No, but there’s no guarantee that this thing is a monster or a person is there? A photo? How can you determine what it is based on this unclear image?”
“There is one more clue, Your Highness. Please look at this picture as well.”
The commander’s adjutant operated the window, and soon a new picture unfolded before their eyes.
This was another image with the same frame as the previous photo, but it was not in greyscale.
The background of the jet-black night sky was now a dark blue shade, and the red spot in the centre of the image represented the unknown intruder.
“This is a picture with a mana filter applied. According to this, its mana density is over 10,000MpV... In other words, it is of the ‘Keter’ class.”
“!”
“!!!”
“Heh... Heheh...”
One couldn’t have known just how many times the audience would become agitated by every subsequent bit of news since the meeting started a few minutes ago.
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