Summoning the Holy Sword

Rhode revealed a gentle smile as he stood in the middle of the hall. The nobles gathered all their attention on the black-haired young man without speaking a word. The remarks of this diplomatic envoy were indeed startling as the nobles were aware of the incident in Soraka Mountain. However, even if they didn’t know the truth, their gazes towards Rhode were filled with astonishment. To be honest, they refused to believe what MP Danny had said. Firstly, the Country of Light;s Parliament didn’t have a favorable relationship with the Munn Kingdom and they had defamed the Munn Kingdom more than once. Secondly, Rhode had just been awarded an honor by Lydia and even though it was only a feudal rank of Baron, the nobles knew that this was a political statement and Lydia was declaring that she wouldn’t give up on Rhode. If Rhode was the main culprit of the entire incident, would Lydia even do this?

“Please continue your statement, Mr. Envoy.” Lydia spoke from her throne without the slightest change in her expression.

Danny lifted his triple-chin proudly and swept a glance of disdain at Rhode before retrieving a stack of thick papers from his pocket. “Your Highness, the next account that I’m about to present has been reviewed and investigated by the Country of Light’s Parliament. We have the most appropriate evidence and witness…” Danny swung his arm forcefully and continued. “Please allow me to summon my witness.”

“No problem,” Lydia nodded in agreement while Danny gestured to his subordinates. Shortly after, the two guards escorted a man into the hall. He seemed no more than 28 years old and was dressed in a luxurious robe. Although he appeared rather handsome, his every movement seemed extremely haggard, as though a gravely ill patient who didn’t have enough rest. The man stood beside the diplomatic envoy and bowed respectfully to everyone present. “Your Highness, my name is Zieg Alanic and I am the representative of the Alanic Foundation stationed in Soraka Mountain. I swear by the honor of my family that I’ve witnessed everything that happened on that day…”

Alanic?

Rhode scanned the man from head to toe. Come to think of it, he did see this man in the hall before the start of the meeting in Soraka Mountain. However, he couldn’t remember him after the start of the chaos. It seemed that this man was extremely lucky to have survived the disaster. But, Rhode didn’t think that he was just simply lucky.

There were no shortage of troubles that this family had given Rhode.

Rhode gritted his teeth at this thought. Initially, he had pestered Marlene in the Fortress and now, it was regarding Soraka Mountain. This Alanic Foundation seemed really afraid of losing their presence and had continuously found troubles for Rhode. If there was a vote for the best model workers, these guys would definitely be a popular choice. Rhode shifted his attention to the minister beside Lydia. The senior wore a white robe and held onto this golden staff while gazing at the man before him with some disgust. Rhode knew where his sense of disgust came from because this senior was the Patriarch of the Senia Family and Marlene’s biological father. Marlene was his only daughter and furthermore, she was a rare magical talent and she had almost turned into the slave of the Alanic Foundation… Rhode was aware that if it wasn’t for him taking into consideration the prestige of the Munn Kingdom, he would’ve gone into an all-out battle with the Alanic Foundation. Even though the Alanic Foundation was second to none in the Country of Light, the mighty generations of the Senia Family weren’t for naught too. If both sides did end up in a battle, the battle would be no less than a battle between the nations.

Just that the scale of the war would be smaller, that was.

“But, before that, I hope that Your Highness Lydia can explain why the seal of the Duke Fiend that the Munn Kingdom was responsible for guarding was unlocked? Furthermore, what was the purpose of that man heading into Soraka Mountain?! Why would he unlock the seal of the Duke Fiend with the Supervisor?!”

So that was why!

Rhode finally understood why the Parliament was this fearless.

Even though their recount was fabricated, there would always be a hole that Lydia couldn’t avoid falling into, and that was the necessity to explain to the parliament the reason why the Duke Fiend’s seal was removed. It was apparent that the Parliament must’ve heard about the situation and revised the truth. This way, as long as someone criticized that this incident was caused by a human, Lydia couldn’t blame an accident to lessen her responsibility. The Parliament didn’t wish to give Lydia any room to retreat.

But it was a pity that Rhode wasn’t a pushover.

“Please hold on,” Rhode said with a smile. “Sorry for interrupting. But… I have an entirely different opinion about Mr. Alanic’s recount.”

“What…!” MP Danny glared at Rhode and shouted furiously. “You are openly doubting the judgment of the parliament and tarnishing the reputation of the Parliament!!”

“I’m sorry, I have no interest in the thoughts of some old man who always sits around a wooden table while clinging on to his own viewpoint,” Rhode swept him a glance and responded instantly. The entire hall fell into absolute silence as though an ice-cold breeze had frozen everyone to the spot.

The nobles widened their eyes in disbelief as they had never seen anyone behave so disrespectfully towards the Parliament on a formal occasion. Even though the relationship between the Munn Kingdom and the Country of Light’s Parliament had reached a point where their conflicts couldn’t be defused, the nobles of the Munn Kingdom would only grumble privately no matter how unhappy they were. However, this young man who had just been conferred a feudal rank actually dared to give them a hard time in front of everyone!

MP Danny’s exasperated voice broke the silence in the entire hall. “Y-You are provoking and humiliating us! I want to raise a protest! Protest!”

“Please be quiet, Mr. Envoy,” Lydia’s words showed that she had no intentions of correcting Rhode’s behavior. “This is a sacred and fair venue. We have the rights to listen attentively to the statements of everyone. Since you’ve spoken your part about the truth that the Country of Light’s Parliament had presented here, isn’t it only right for us to hear the words of the accused?”

“T-This…” MP Danny hesitated. Lydia didn’t deny that this matter had nothing to do with Rhode. Instead, since the Parliament had said that Rhode was related to this matter, they would naturally hear Rhode’s narration on the matter.

MP Danny was also aware of this, which was why he calmed down quickly. “No problem, Your Highness Lydia. But I don’t think that a criminal is capable of speaking anything that is worth our time.”

“We shall know after we hear it from him,” Lydia nodded at Rhode while Rhode stepped forward swiftly and bowed respectfully.

“Like Mr. Alanic, I am also willing to swear by the honor of my family and that everything I say will be the truth. But before that… I hope to receive Your Highness Lydia’s approval because my statement may implicate some classified matters.”

“No problem, Baron Rhode. Please go ahead,” Lydia granted her permission.

“Thank you, Your Highness.” The nobles sat straight and prepared to listen attentively. After all, Rhode declared that there might be some classified matters that he would reveal. Humans tend to long for gossip and Rhode’s solemn behavior had earned him a few points of trust from the nobles.

“… A few days ago, my guild received a special order from Royal Highness Lydia.” Rhode spoke after he had captured everyone’s attention. “At that moment, there was some trouble in Soraka Mountain and the Chairman of Soraka Mountain’s Parliament had been attacked by some unknown forces for certain reasons. Royal Highness Lydia was aware of the situation, but due to the unusual nature of Soraka Mountain, she wasn’t able to dispatch a proper army for assistance. Therefore, she entrusted Starlight to enter Soraka Mountain and rescue the Chairman.”

Many of the nobles nodded. After all, they were clear about the rules and position of the Munn Kingdom. Moreover, it was logical for Lydia to rely on a mercenary guild since she couldn’t dispatch an army due to the unusual nature of Soraka Mountain.

“… I shall not recount the minor details of the process. In the end, we rescued the Chairman and successfully escorted him into the Mithril Hall just before the start of the meeting… This point was also iterated by Mr. Alanic,” Rhode paused before smiling at Zieg whose face was slightly ashen. “Am I right, Mr. Alanic? The Chairman was around when you joined the meeting in Soraka Mountain, right?”

“T-That’s…” Zieg was somewhat bewildered as he had never expected that Rhode would ask him a question. However, he could only nod in agreement since he couldn’t swallow his words back into his throat. “Right, the Chairman had indeed participated in the meeting. But we weren’t aware that he was…”

“I only asked for your confirmation on this.” Before Zieg finished his sentence, Rhode interrupted mercilessly before turning around and continuing his speech. “But we are also clear that the attack targeting the Chairman was likely to happen again. For safety, we sought the help of the Supervisor and for the peace of Soraka Mountain, Madam Supervisor had agreed to join us in searching for the culprit who attacked the Chairman. But at that moment, the forces that witnessed their failure in keeping the Chairman away from the meeting actually turned to attack the sacred grounds instead while the Supervisor was occupied during the meeting. However, we weren’t aware of the methods that they used to unlock the seal in the sacred grounds to awaken the Duke Fiend by force.”

Rhode’s expression sulked slightly. “Although Madam Supervisor and I managed to return to the sacred grounds on time and annihilated the culprits, the unlocked seal was irreversible. In order to stop the Duke Fiend from damaging the continent even further, Madam Supervisor had to sacrifice her life to defeat the sinister Devil while I escaped Soraka Mountain with the remainder of the seal. In the end, we managed to lure the Duke Fiend away and eliminate it successfully…”

“A load of crap!” MP Danny interrupted angrily before Rhode finished his sentence. He glared at Rhode with widened eyes. “You cunning criminal! No matter how you talk your way through, it will never remove your crimes! You are uttering nonsense! This isn’t the truth at all! Besides, you mentioned that there was a force that attacked the sacred grounds and removed the seal. Why don’t you tell me who exactly that force was?”

“As for this question… Are you sure you want to hear the answer, MP Danny?” Rhode questioned with a curious tone.

“Of course, do you dare to tell us? In front of so many people? I do want to know which force dares to do something this presumptuous in Soraka Mountain,” Danny revealed a proud smile while gazing at Rhode slyly. It was apparent that he thought that Rhode didn’t have any information about them. However, Rhode didn’t need it in the first place. “Can you tell us?”

“Of course.” Rhode patted and tidied his clothes before reaching into the fold of his clothes and retrieved a brass badge. “I got this from the attacker… A four-leaf clover outlined with gold and carved with two dragon wings…” Rhode turned around and faced the ashen diplomatic envoy. “If I remember correctly, this belongs to the Country of Light’s Parliament. Doesn’t it, MP Danny?”