“…..Eukh!”
A gagging sound echoed through the halls of Congress, drawing every eye to the figure who had just stood up.
His gaze was sharp, and his expression was grave.
Standing next to the Emperor of the Verdant Empire, Leon frowned.
‘Julien…?’
“Akh—!”
No, more importantly. What was going on?
As Leon turned his attention to the reporter who had just fallen to the ground, the atmosphere turned incredibly tense. The guards were also quick to respond, quickly dashing in Julien’s direction and pointing their weapons at him.
“Stop at once!”
“Take a step and we will attack!”
“…..”
In just a matter of seconds, he was surrounded from all sides. But in spite of their fast reaction, none of them were able to stop Julien’s actions.
This came as a shock to them.
How could he be so fast?
Surrounded from all sides, Julien looked completely unfazed, his eyes still locked on the reporter.
Eventually, his lips parted, his voice echoing throughout the hall.
“He’s a spirit user…”
A spirit user?
“What did he say?”
“…A spirit user?”
Leon’s attention shifted towards the reporter. His face was pale, and he was writhing on the floor. He looked to be in a terrible state.
But…
‘If Julien really did use his Emotive Magic, shouldn’t he have passed out by now?’
Indeed, taking note of this observation, Leon’s eyes widened. A few others who were familiar with Julien also took notice of this.
It was just unfortunate that not everyone was the same.
“Apprehend him immediately!”
These were mainly the vassals from the Verdant Empire, trying their best to delay the ceremony that was just about to occur.
Looking carefully, Leon noticed that their expressions were a little panicked.
‘Could it be…?’
“No, hold it.”
Stopping everyone was the Emperor, who raised his hand.
There was no higher figure present. His words were low, and the soldiers stopped. Immediately, the vassals started to show their dissatisfaction.
“Emperor! How could you let someone like that go?”
“Emperor! This needs to be investigated! Apprehend him and we can question him later!”
“Quiet.”
Though the Emperor’s voice was soft, a certain pressure burst out from his lips, sealing all noise coming from those who were speaking.
Seeing that the troublesome ones had stopped speaking, he turned his attention towards Julien, who remained calm the entire time.
It was as if he were completely unaffected by the situation.
Was it because he didn’t understand the gravity of his actions, or was there more to it?
“We don’t need to drag things for later. Young man, do tell me why you acted.”
The Emperor shifted his attention towards the reporter, who was gasping for air.
“You said something about him being a spirit mage?”
He cocked his head, his brows furrowing.
“But why can’t I feel anything from him?”
“It’s possible he has some sort of artifact to suppress his mana. After all, Spirit Mages don’t really need to use mana that much.”
Answering him was the Empress, who looked at Julien with a complicated expression. Her impression of him was quite positive, and seeing how his actions had somewhat been done in defense of Leon, she felt compelled to believe him.
“That’s true.”
Agreeing with her words, the Emperor eyed the reporter.
“But I’m sure we had the security check for any relics of such nature. Could there have been some sort of lapse in the security? Or…”
The Emperor paused, understanding dawning on him.
He was just about to speak again when Julien opened his mouth, his voice cutting through whatever word was about to leave the Emperor’s mouth.
“He should be dead by now.”
“What?”
Julien’s words were obviously met with a series of whispers, the faces of a few changing.
“What did he just say?”
Leon, accustomed to Julien’s bluntness, could only hide his face in his hands. There were countless ways to phrase that explanation, yet somehow, Julien had chosen the absolute worst one.
‘At this point, I feel like he’s probably doing it on purpose.’
Even if he asked, Julien would just gaslight him into thinking he wasn’t.
He was.
“Hold on a moment.”
Raising his hand again to quiet down the people around, the Emperor’s eyes narrowed.
“…You said he should be dead by now, what do you mean by that?”
“It’s exactly as I said.”
Julien replied in his usual blunt tone, his gaze falling on the reporter.
“The reason he’s down is because of my Emotive Magic. I previously noticed that something was off with him and placed a tag on his body. I used it just a few moments ago. The fact that nobody was aware of it suggests that none of them checked his body when entering the palace. Does this sound normal? If he were really a regular person, my tag should’ve been enough to completely fry his brain. And yet… he’s still alive.”
The hall turned silent again.
While Julien had some fame to his name, with most of the figures present aware of his identity, they only knew superficial information about him.
They knew his emotive magic was powerful, but to the extent of frying the brain of a regular person?
“What sort of nonsense is this?”
“That’s impossible!”
“How arrogant!”
Immediately, the hall erupted in a frenzy of curses and words. For obvious reasons, the more vocal ones were the ones who were desperately trying to delay the ceremony.
“Emperor, you must not believe his nonsense!”
From how loudly they were speaking, their motives were too easy to see. And the Emperor was no fool. He could see right through their motives and raised his hand.
“Quiet down. Understand what sort of place you’re in and act accordingly.”
It was only when he spoke that everyone settled down.
A few of the nobles were restless, but the Emperor’s authority was unquestionable.
“I can understand everyone’s perspectives, but like I said, there’s no need to delay anything. We can solve everything here, and right now.”
The Emperor slowly turned his attention towards an unexpected figure.
Leon.
“…I’d like to hear your opinion.”
“Mine…?”
Feeling the Emperor’s warm gaze, Leon felt a little bit burdened. While this situation wasn’t completely unexpected to him, having guessed a few bits here and there, he was still quite shocked.
But it would also explain a lot.
Especially since the Emperor did mention something about a burning mansion. Of his faintest memories of the past, he recalled the burning of his house.
It was just unfortunate that all prior memories before that were completely gone from his mind.
“Yes, V-I… mean Leon. I’d like to hear your opinion on the matter. From what I’ve gathered, you should be quite familiar with Julien. Do you think he’s lying?”
“…..”
Leon stood silently, his head slowly turning in the direction of Julien, who just very subtly flinched.
In that moment, even though Julien tried his best not to show it, Leon saw it.
Fear.
A true innate fear came from Julien as his eyes practically seemed to be begging him.
‘Spare me. I’ve treated you well all this time. I’ve never done you any wrong. Think about all the times I’ve been so nice to you!’
This was what his eyes seemed to say, and the more he read into his eyes, the more his brow furrowed.
Treated me well?
Leon had lost count of the many times he had called his face stupid, alongside threatening to sell him. He had also called him useless many times in the past.
Not only that, but the number of times he had threatened to fire him to…
‘He should be executed.’
The more Leon thought about Julien, the more the thought of execution became relevant in his mind.
‘Let’s not forget how he also traumatized me when we were young, and killed me.’
Indeed, Julien should be executed.
But…!
‘Not yet.’
Leon knew that he had to savor his moment, and now wasn’t the time.
With a sigh, he nodded his head.
“Yes, he’s more than capable of killing someone with just his emotive magic.”
“That’s impos—”
“Stop.”
The Emperor cut through the first sign of opposition as his hand raised. Then, shortly after, he turned to look at Julien, nudging the guards next to him.
“Bring him here.”
The guards followed the Emperor’s command as they closely eyed Julien, who calmly made his way towards the Emperor. But just before he could get close enough, he was stopped by the guards.
“This is far enough.”
Julien could only comply with their words, turning his attention towards the Emperor, who turned his gaze towards the opposing nobles.
A smile marred his features shortly after.
“Who here would like to volunteer?”
“What? Volunteer? What for?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
The Emperor pointed at Julien.
“Since all of you doubt his words, we shall have them tested, right? Have someone come up and test his emotive magic. If any of you can resist it, then I’ll stop the proceedings at once and reschedule it for later. How does that sound?”
The eyes of the several nobles lit up at the sudden suggestion.
“All we need to do is resit it, right?”
One of the nobles stepped up. He was a rotund man with finely trimmed black hair, wearing an elegant green robe.
His presence was quite imposing.
He was, in fact, Cameron J. Morland, the Duke of Westville of the Verdant Empire. Renowned for his formidable Tier 7 [Elemental] magic, he was regarded as an esteemed mage within the Empire.
Perhaps not at the top of the food chain, but reasonably high.
“…Yes, that’s all you need to do.”
The Emperor smiled, nodding his head calmly. At the same time, he turned to look at Julien.
“You should be able to handle him, right?”
“…..”
Julien didn’t answer immediately, turning his attention towards the rotund man.
Then, with a faint nod, he said, “Yes, no problem.”
“Arrogant.”
Duke Morland spat, his expression darkening.
Without hesitation, he took off his robe and handed it over to one of his attendants. Without wasting time, he walked over towards Julien and stood right in front of him.
He stood a head shorter than Julien, but at the same time was wider than him.
Furthermore, from the way he was looking at Julien, his disdain was evident for all to see. Without even considering his image, he placed his finger on Julien’s shoulder and pressed down with force.
“You should be—!”
Julien’s hand reached for his face before he could get any word out.
Then, under everyone’s shock, he mumbled.
“Fear.”
All noise ceased.
Silence.
And then—
Thump!
A body fell to the floor under everyone’s shocked look.
What followed were Julien’s cold words.
“Are you kidding me?”
He looked at the Emperor, almost offended.
“…This guy has the mental capacity of a child. Were you trying to get me to kill him?”
His words were met with even more silence as everyone found themselves unable to believe the sight before them.
This was a Tier 7 mage we were talking about. Not just any regular mage.
Not even a word. A scream. Or a change.
He just… passed out like that.
How could nobody be shocked?
And just when the atmosphere seemed to stand at a standstill, a sudden clap broke through the silence.
Clap! Clap!
From the far end of the hall, a young girl wearing a ‘reporter’ badge rose to her feet, her expression brimming with amusement.
“Amazing! Wonderful!”
Everyone’s attention fell on her, the previous silence shattering.
“Who is she?”
“Why is she standing up like that? A mere reporter…?”
“Oh, ah.”
As if overhearing the murmurs from those around her, the young reporter scratched the back of her head, putting on an embarrassed expression.
“Oops. It looks like I got a little bit too excited. Well… I guess it doesn’t matter. I’ve already found what I needed to find.”
She retrieved the badge from her neck, and instantly, her form began to change—her hair lengthening, her complexion smoothening, and her eyes transforming into brilliant, crystalline orbs.
“What!?”
“How could this be…!?”
As her change was completed, the figure that had held everyone’s gaze for the past hour now stood in place of where the reporter used to be.
But wait…
Everyone’s head flicked to the front, where an identical figure appeared.
The hall froze.
“Two…?”
“Why are there two Saintesses?”