The Prince in Question Is Not Stable

Chapter 67: Duplicity (2)

Wheels of the dark grey and silver carriages rolled across the borders of Orchiv.

Leading the way were two carriages of Orchiv, with designs of orchids all over them, being pulled by white horses.

Their journey wasn’t long. The first three carriages came to a halt near the edge of a massive crater that spread wide enough to capture in the view.

The remaining carriages split on both sides to surround the county as fast as they could. Runes on them gleamed as horses ran even faster.

The sun had set long ago now.

One by one, carriages would stop, and the remaining would keep moving forward to surround the crater.

Giovanni’s gates were opened up by his butler, as he got out of the carriage at the same time Count Orchiv and Ferrey did.

"What in the name of goddess-" Count murmured, looking at the view.

No matter how far he looked, he couldn’t see the other end of the crater, only the movement of carriages that were not even halfway around it.

The demonic energy was dense...dense enough that Ferrey was feeling suffocated in the presence of only the residual.

Giovanni closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, a magic circuit in pale white hovered behind his head.

Its structures rotated for a moment and then stopped.

Giovanni opened his eyes again, and now his pupils were vertical slits that didn’t seem human.

No one else except him could see what was at the centre of the crater.

Faint brush strokes of black ink...As if the ink was drawn into the air, hovering around and slowly dissipating.

He couldn’t put it into words; for him, it looked like some sort of magic, that ink had created a cage with no particular form, and when it dissolved into nothingness, he spotted Janus, looking around in slight amazement.

And then slowly and steadily, when the ink disappeared, Marcus was revealed, fixing the ring on his finger.

"..." What terrified and amazed Giovanni wasn’t that they both survived.

But they were...unscathed. Except for a few torn clothes of Janus, there was not a single wound on Marcus.

The holy knights that were surrounding the crater pulled out their long swords and stabbed them at the edges.

Their swords glowed with a fine blueish-white hue, and then the light burst upward, as the air inside the crater started to ease.

Demonic energy was being purified.

But suddenly...they stopped, noticing the changes occurring in the soil beneath them.

A root, lush green pecks of grass started sprouting all over the crater.

Even Giovanni looked at the ground beneath him as the dark soil corrupted by demonic energy started purifying at a far more tremendous rate than holy knights could even think of.

It wasn’t divinity he was sensing.

Lush green grasses glowed in the fine moonlight of the night, and several flowers sprouted across the land, making the crater look like it was a farmland.

He looked back once, the moment he sensed a new presence.

Ferrey and Count couldn’t even feel the person who just quietly approached and stood between them.

"..." Tracing Giovanni’s gaze, the count followed and looked towards his right.

"Whoa..." he staggered back, looking at the woman beside him.

Even Ferrey stepped back the moment he saw her.

A woman with long white hair, golden eyes, two golden flowers tucked behind her right ear, and a long white and golden dress that flowed to the floor.

There was not a single person in the world who didn’t know about her.

The youngest of all clearance six mages, and the tower master of the greatest magic tower in the world.

"I greet the Master of Fulcrum." Giovanni stepped aside and greeted. "Miss Victoria Voss."

"..." Count and Ferrey bowed slightly, following Giovanni’s words.

The woman just acknowledged their greeting with a slight nod. She carried a faint scent of rain on fresh soil.

Lush green grass pushed upward in waves, wildflowers unfurled in sudden bursts of colours, spreading outward from the centre.

Janus looked down at his hands, turned them over once, looking at the dream-like transformation of the land.

His gaze then landed on the carriages around the crater’s edge.

"Hm," he nodded.

He then reached into his coat and took out a small notepad. Opening it to the current page, he started making notes.

Marcus plucked a wildflower that bloomed fresh and delicately held it in front of his face, smelling the scent of the flower.

’Turns out I don’t like the scent of these flowers,’ He exhaled.

He took a step forward...and for a moment, no one knew how he who was miles ahead of them was standing in front of Giovanni Valante.

"Well..." he said, and looked back as Janus was still far, walking casually.

"You might want to start with the roads...they seem to have lost their shapes," he said.

"..."

"..."

"..."

’Lost their shapes?’ Count Orchiv thought. ’There used to be a whole county here...’

"Most of the people were able to survive and hold onto their lives because of you, Count Rile," Giovanni spoke.

"A county can be rebuilt as long as its people live, for that, you have my gratitude, and the Valantes shall not just speak of you with honour, but will always be there for any assistance you might require," Duke said.

"Families of Amavelle shall also follow this decree," he said and looked at Count Orchiv.

"We will forever follow the commands of your Grace," Count said, "And also consider the County of Rile as one of our closest allies."

"Closest allies?" Marcus repeated.

"Funny how alliances bloom pretty fast," he scoffed.

"Enough of the pleasantries, what’re the casualties?" He asked.

"Most of the Frontline knights and mages, thankfully, cadets didn’t get fatal injuries because of Professor Jose, who helped in evacuation and was at the inner perimeter," Giovanni spoke.

"Isabelle Voss, one of the cadets who you’re very well aware of, was also rescued in time; she’s the younger sister of Victoria-"

"Victoria Voss here, I know," Marcus completed for Giovanni and looked at her.

"I’m grateful and will forever owe you for saving her," she said.

"Or maybe next time, try breaking some protocols to arrive early in order to protect your family," Marcus replied.

The remaining people were...taken aback by his tone.

"And the flowers are a good touch, though personally," he dropped the wildflower, "I find the scent a little overwhelming,"

’They smell like shit,’ he thought.

"I’ll work on that," She replied. ’Your Highness!’ and moved her lips to form certain words, but didn’t voice them out.

"Ahem..." Marcus coughed slightly and then looked at the man on his left.

"Professor Marcus Rile," the man finally spoke. He was Ferrey.

"Who are you?" Marcus asked.

"Ferrey. A humble priest of the covenant." Ferrey replied.

"Hm," Marcus thought for a second and then looked at Giovanni.

"If the priest and knights are here, then would I be right to assume that Saintess is also here and currently healing the ones that might be losing their lives?" he asked.

"You’ll be wrong to assume that, and we were having the discussion about the same with Priest Ferrey here," Giovanni replied.

"With him?" Marcus pointed at Ferrey.

"He’s a priest, why are you discussing with him?" he asked.

"A high priest," Ferrey corrected.

"You just said you were just a priest," Marcus replied.

"A humble high priest," Ferrey repeated. "And a strategist of the Covenant,"

"You call yourself a strategist and fail to introduce yourself properly. What kind of strategic decisions do you hope to conclude with that level of conduct?" Marcus replied.

Ferrey’s jaw tightened imperceptibly.

"Kek!!" Count Orchiv looked elsewhere to control himself.

"The Saintess," Marcus said again. "Is she or is she not within the reach of this County?"

"She’s at the Covenant," Giovanni replied, "High priest here holds the authority to request her arrival."

"Isn’t it the duty of the Covenant to save as many lives as possible?" Marcus asked.

"Isn’t that the whole...memorandum of your existence?"

"We cannot bring Saintess into a zone with high residual of demonic energy," Ferrey replied.

"And what’s the problem with that?" Marcus asked.

"What?" Ferrey furrowed his brows.

"What’s the problem with bringing her here?" Marcus asked again.

"This is a demoni-"

"Divinity," Marcus cut off Ferrey’s words. "Runs in her veins."

"She’s the only being in the entirety of this world that can never feel suffocated in the presence of demonic energy; she cannot die from poison, she cannot get affected with any disease, the fire cannot burn her, the sea cannot drown her, and wherever she steps, the ground itself heals," Marcus said.

"Holy knights, clearance five mages, two of the clearance six mages are here right in front of you, they’re enough to wipe out the entire kingdom, and you’re worried about the safety of the very person they put their faith in?"

He put his hand on Ferrey’s shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. Ferrey groaned from within.

"Three hours, high priest," Marcus said. "I’ll give you three hours,"

"After that, the only thing your pope will receive is not a letter of request, but your head along with the corpse of every single holy knight that’s in this County."

Ferrey was sure that the moment he stared into the eyes of Marcus, he saw them turn red. The same red he had witnessed in the hearing of the Saintess a year ago.

And oddly, the way they both spoke felt the same to him.