Chapter 281: 281 Royal Compensation
"That being said, right now, we must first find a way to appease those Sword Saints."
"Rom," King Hemulinp rubbed his temples as he spoke, "How is the investigation on the murderer proceeding?"
"...It’s much more difficult than we imagined," Rom seemed ashamed, saying, "The scene has been completely burned down, and the court magicians haven’t been able to find any useful clues. The memories of those survivors have been extracted no less than ten times, but not only have we failed to identify the attacker, even those rumored high-performance alchemical automatons, after the Knight Order searched house after house repeatedly, we still couldn’t find any trace of them. It’s as if they vanished into thin air without leaving a single footprint."
"The only thing we can be sure of is that the sword skill used by the Swordsman who claimed to be ’Kasumi’ is indeed very similar to the Shadow Strike Sword Skill, likely possessing the same ability to evade detection. Therefore, even using magic with tracking capabilities, we can’t locate the attacker."
"It seems, to find this self-proclaimed ’Kasumi’ Swordsman, unless we resort to magic like the precognitive kind, it seems impossible."
However, the precognitive family of magic is a magical system that only suitable practitioners can utilize, and currently, there is only one known person who can use this kind of magic.
This person is not in the Kingdom of Genas but a magician from another country and will not appear here to help solve the problem for the Genas royal family.
"Not even a single clue?" King Hemulinp’s face looked very grim as he asked, "Even though we have no magicians proficient in precognitive magic, shouldn’t there be many treasures in the treasury with tracking and searching properties that could be used?"
"Even if we can’t find this ’Kasumi’ or locate those vanished high-performance alchemical automatons, what about the magician who controlled the puppets?"
"The attacker claiming to be ’Kasumi’ is a Swordsman, but the manipulator of those puppets might be someone else. Could it be that this person also employed anti-reconnaissance magic or items?"
King Hemulinp’s series of questions were met with nothing but bad news from Rom.
"Yes, we couldn’t find anything, not a single trace. It’s evident the opponent came well-prepared and possesses great ability. Without using forbidden methods, we might truly be unable to find them."
The so-called forbidden methods naturally refer to some powers that violate moral ethics.
Throughout history, people have created numerous forms of magic, including some with miraculous effects and terrifying potency that are beyond imagination, capable of breaking the norms and exerting abnormal functions.
Not to mention magic, sword skills are the same.
Demonsword techniques are one example.
Generally speaking, special-grade sword techniques have certain prerequisites and are very selective, but as a kind of special-grade technique, Demonsword techniques almost have no thresholds. Anyone can practice them, and once mastered, as long as one keeps killing and absorbing blood, their strength can rapidly grow at an inhuman pace, incomparable to an average practitioner of special-grade sword skills.
Yet, such sword techniques come with side effects that drive one mad, instill a bloodthirsty nature, strip away sanity, and lead to a complete loss of control.
Similarly, some taboo magic possesses miraculous effects that even the precognitive family of magical systems can’t match.
If such magic is used, then the royal family would be capable of doing things similar to using precognitive magic.
At that time, they would certainly be able to find the murderer."
But such taboo magic is considered forbidden precisely because they come with terrifying side effects or conditions of activation that are extremely inhumane.
"No, we can’t," King Hemulinp decisively shook his head, rejecting the thought as soon as it came, "Right now, the palace is the focus of the entire capital, and all eyes are on us. If we used those methods, even if we don’t get found out with a hundred percent certainty, the likelihood is still extremely high. Our problems will only multiply from there."
The king personally employing forbidden and explicitly banned means would pose more serious problems than a prince kidnapping a member of the Sword Saint Family.
At least with the latter, there is room for maneuver, but with the former, it’s impossible to redress and the royal family would undoubtedly suffer an unimaginable blow to their reputation.
If those from the Duke’s faction exploited this, King Hemulinp himself might face the crisis of being dethroned.
If Solok were killed, King Hemulinp might struggle or hesitate, but since Solok was ultimately rescued and did not die, King Hemulinp naturally is not willing to take such a significant risk.
"If we could confirm that the mastermind is Reiger Brillhaut..."
King Hemulinp sighed deeply.
He really suspected Reiger.
If ’Kasumi’ couldn’t be found, the same goes for the magician who secretly controlled the puppets. Could it be possible that the two are actually one and the same?
Reiger Brillhaut is both a Sword Saint and a Tactical Level Magician. If it were him, wouldn’t he possess enough capability to control hundreds of high-performance alchemical automatons?
According to the investigation, the youth should be a Tactical Level Magician specialized in interference magic because his suitability for interference magic is fifth grade, and only interference magic can reach the tactical level. But previously, during the attack at the Franzel residence, he seemed to have used transformational Tactical Level Magic to burn down the entire estate. Later on, according to Rom, he also employed control system decomposition magic, the power of which also far exceeded his own suitability range.
All these conditions seem to suggest to others that Reiger holds a secret unknown to everyone else.
If only we could uncover this secret.
Perhaps the kingdom could thus learn the truth and method behind how he became a Sword Saint at such a young age, as well as the means by which he is able to use a variety of different higher-grade magical systems."
"Unfortunately, even Rom was defeated by him. If I really did take action against him, not to mention the low odds of success, driving him into the arms of the enemy would be a loss far outweighing any gain."
Considering this, King Hemulinp could only suppress some of the risky thoughts that were stirring within him.
"Your Majesty."
At this point, Rom once again made his presence known.
King Hemulinp knew that this was a reminder that it was time to make a decision.
"...issue the announcement."
King Hemulinp fell silent for a while before he spoke expressionlessly.
"Prince Solok is still in a coma and cannot be held accountable. Once he wakes up, the Royal Family will assuredly investigate this matter and provide everyone with a satisfactory explanation."
"Furthermore, release the Brilliant family immediately. Their memories have been extracted already, and there’s no use in keeping them any longer."
"As for the person in question, Reiger Brillhaut, the Sword Saint, let him choose an item from the royal treasury as compensation."
This was the best solution King Hemulinp could come up with.
"Yes."
Rom complied and vanished on the spot.
...
The news quickly spread from the Palace.
Many scoffed at King Hemulinp’s assurance.
"Wait for him to wake up? Who knows when that will be?"
"Whether Prince Solok is awake or not, isn’t that for the Royal Family to decide?"
"Even if he wakes, the Royal Family could simply declare that Prince Solok hasn’t regained consciousness, hasn’t recovered, and keep dragging this out until the controversy fades. Then, they can hand out some token punishment as their so-called explanation, right?"
"Such a shrewd calculation."
Many nobles were acutely aware of the machinations at play and held the Royal Family’s so-called explanation in disdain.
This included the siblings from the Codelion Family.
However, they also knew that since the Royal Family had given such a statement, if they pushed further, they would be accused by the Royal Family of causing trouble without cause.
After all, no one could possibly interrogate the prince while he lay unconscious. To do so would be tantamount to publicly admitting one did "not take the Royal Family seriously."
If things turned out that way, it could mean the Royal Family was looking for an excuse to punish them.
So, whether it was the faction of Dukes led by the Codelion Family or the Sword Saints who had sent letters, none spoke out any longer.
Reiger also learned of the Royal Family’s announcement through Yuri.
"Choose a treasure from the treasury?"
Upon hearing about such compensation, Reiger did become somewhat interested.
"That’s right." Yuri seemed in high spirits, as if seeing the Royal Family suffer brought her joy. She said, "The kingdom’s treasury is our national vault. All the most precious, rarest, and most valuable treasures in the entire Ginas Kingdom are taken there to be part of the Royal Family’s private collection, the foundation of the kingdom."
"There, one can find magic books recording ancient magic, lost high-class sword techniques, and all manner of legendary weapons, equipment, or relics referred to as secret treasures."
"It’s a true treasury, where only the highest-grade treasures are stored. Even I have only been in once. You absolutely should not miss this chance that’s fallen into your lap."
Upon hearing this, Reiger smiled mildly.
This truly was an opportunity that had come out of a deception.
Despite nearly killing an important member of the Royal Family, they couldn’t exact revenge on him; instead, they had to compensate him with a treasure. This was akin to not just losing his wife but his soldiers too—a significant loss.
Reiger had simply wanted to make the most of the situation, but now he had scammed such a favorable outcome, profiting immensely.
As for the fate of the Brilliant family, he honestly didn’t care, nor did he feel that accepting this piece of compensation from the Royal Family made the issue any less serious or fair to them.
Had members of the Loki lineage been maliciously abducted, Reiger wouldn’t have settled easily, no compensation would have sufficed.
But those people?
Better to let that go.
Thus, Reiger chose to take the offer.
"Alright."
Reiger nodded in agreement.
"I am curious to see just what kind of treasures that so-called treasury holds."