"A summons from the Magistrate Council, Huh?"
Seated at the head of the newly restored Algar Clan hall, Ethan held a neatly folded letter between his fingers, his gaze lingering on the crimson wax seal pressed firmly against its surface.
The emblem wasn’t the king’s personal crest.
Instead, it bore the insignia of the Magistrate Council, the administrative body responsible for enforcing the kingdom’s laws beneath the authority of the crown.
Breaking the seal, Ethan slowly unfolded the parchment.
His eyes skimmed across the neatly written accusations.
"...Assaulting Prince Tywin Algar."
"...The unlawful abduction and forced bedding of the heirs of House Dracontis."
"...Unauthorized construction of military and residential facilities without royal registration."
"...Failure to report the acquisition of strategic resources."
"...Failure to register high-tier summoned entities."
Ethan read the list once.
Then a second time.
Finally...
He couldn’t help laughing.
A quiet laugh escaped his lips before gradually growing louder.
"My problems really do keep multiplying."
He leaned back into his chair, dropping the letter onto the table.
First had come the endless internal politics of the Algar Clan.
Then the absurd evolution requirement after summoning his latest addition to his summons Gilgamesh.
Now...
The bureaucrats had finally arrived.
Somehow, that almost annoyed him more than the celestial dragon he had fought.
Across the table, Mister Mysteries casually sipped from an elegant porcelain teacup.
The absurdly tall top hat balanced atop his head looked completely out of place within the medieval hall, yet somehow no one questioned it anymore.
"You’ve become rather popular."
He smiled.
"The Magistrate Council usually doesn’t move this quickly."
"They must be quite eager to meet you."
Ethan rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"I somehow doubt they want to congratulate me."
"They don’t."
Mister Mysteries replied cheerfully.
"They’d much rather bury you beneath six months of hearings."
"Perhaps longer."
"You’ve managed to offend nearly every influential noble family within the capital."
"The Dracontis family alone has likely submitted enough complaints to fill an entire archive."
Ethan let out another sigh.
He had dealt with monsters.
Gods.
Spirit beasts.
Ancient rituals.
Yet somehow...
A courtroom filled with self-important nobles sounded infinitely more exhausting.
"A lengthy trial..."
He muttered.
"...would drive me absolutely insane."
"I swear those people train specifically to torture others with paperwork."
Mister Mysteries chuckled.
"The nobles enjoy games like these."
"They’ve been playing them for centuries."
"They know exactly how to waste a man’s time until he starts doubting reality itself."
He casually crossed one leg over the other.
"Of course..."
"You could simply ignore them."
"I certainly would."
Ethan looked at him with a deadpan expression.
"I’m not you."
"No."
"You aren’t."
"You also possess something I don’t."
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
"Responsibilities."
Mister Mysteries glanced toward the courtyard outside the hall.
Children could be heard laughing while craftsmen continued repairing several nearby buildings.
"You have people depending on you."
"If you disappear, the clan collapses."
"I disappear..."
He shrugged.
"...and someone eventually replaces me."
That was perhaps the greatest difference between them.
Mister Mysteries belonged to no kingdom.
No family.
No nation.
He answered to no one.
Ethan couldn’t afford such freedom.
"You have far more allies than you realize."
Mister Mysteries suddenly smiled.
"That old witch from House Dracontis, She’s only a Demi-God."
The words had barely left his mouth when a woman silently appeared beside Ethan’s chair.
No one had sensed her arrival.
Not even Ethan.
Arian folded her arms.
"I heard that."
Mister Mysteries merely grinned.
"My point remains."
"The Dracontis family possesses influence."
"So do we."
He leaned forward slightly.
"And besides..."
"I wouldn’t have come here today if I didn’t already have a solution."
Ethan looked at him.
"What solution?"
"The nobles may have time to play politics."
"But the kingdom’s true warriors don’t."
"The crown values strength above paperwork."
"You’ve repeatedly summoned S-Rank heroes."
"You’ve rebuilt an entire clan."
"You helped secure a celestial dragon."
Whether the bureaucrats liked it or not...
Ethan had become far too valuable.
Not only to the royal family.
But to Bark itself.
Mister Mysteries smiled mischievously.
"So..."
"Let’s go see the king."
Ethan remained silent for several seconds.
Then...
He smiled as well.
His gaze drifted toward Arian standing quietly in the corner.
"I suppose it’s about time."
...
Meanwhile...
Within the royal palace...
The King of Bark sat heavily upon his throne.
A nearly identical summons rested inside his own hands.
Unlike Ethan’s letter, however...
His contained dozens of additional reports.
Petitions.
Complaints.
Demands.
Requests.
Every noble seemed to want something.
The king slowly rubbed his forehead.
"Talk about a complete psychopath."
He wasn’t referring to Ethan.
Nor to the Magistrate Council.
His frustration centered around someone else entirely.
Bark.
The kingdom’s ancestral god.
More specifically...
The old demon tree’s latest decision.
The attempt to capture the celestial dragon had spread throughout nearly every major power bordering the Great Sea.
Human kingdoms knew.
The demi-human tribes knew.
Even the beast races had begun investigating.
Messengers arrived almost daily.
Some politely requested permission to observe the dragon.
Others demanded it be released immediately.
A handful openly threatened military retaliation.
The king snorted.
"As if he’d ever listen."
Anyone familiar with Bark understood one simple truth.
Once the old tree desired something...
Nothing short of another god could convince him to relinquish it.
Reasoning was impossible.
Negotiation rarely succeeded.
Force...
Was laughable.
Which left the king with an impossible task.
He needed to satisfy every human ally just enough that they remained supportive.
Because sooner or later...
The non-human races would come.
And when they did...
He needed the human kingdoms united.
Otherwise Bark would undoubtedly drag everyone into another catastrophic war.
"Always behaving like a spoiled child..."
The king muttered.
His fingers rhythmically tapped against the armrest.
Every solution he considered somehow created three more problems.
Before he could continue thinking...
The doors to the throne room never opened.
Instead...
Space itself quietly split apart.
A thin crack appeared near one corner of the chamber.
The crack widened.
Darkness seeped outward.
Several figures casually stepped through the void as though entering an ordinary hallway.
The king froze.
A heartbeat later...
His expression twisted with fury.
"Insolence!"
Boom!!
The entire throne room shook.
Terrifying royal authority exploded outward like a tidal wave.
The marble floor cracked.
Golden banners fluttered violently.
The palace guards instantly dropped to one knee beneath the crushing pressure.
"You dare..."
The king slowly rose from his throne.
"...enter the royal palace without permission?"
His eyes locked onto the man wearing the impossibly tall hat.
Mister Mysteries merely smiled.
Hands clasped politely behind his back.
"I come in peace."
He tilted his head.
"Why are you people always so hostile?"
The king nearly laughed.
Hostile?
The man had bypassed every defensive formation protecting the royal palace.
Every alarm.
Every guard.
Every royal barrier.
He had simply...
Walked inside.
"You invade my home."
"You bypass my palace defenses."
"You appear inside my throne room."
"And then..."
"You ask why I’m hostile?"
The king pointed toward the smiling man.
"You old fool."
"I should teach you a proper lesson."
His aura continued rising.
The guards instinctively retreated another step.
No one doubted the king meant every word.
This...
Was exactly why the White Tower made every kingdom uneasy.
It wasn’t because they lacked discipline.
Nor because they committed crimes.
It was because their leader simply refused to acknowledge common sense.
No walls stopped him.
No territory restricted him.
No ruler received prior notice.
He simply appeared wherever he pleased.
Completely unpredictable.
Entirely unreasonable.
Utterly impossible to prepare for.
Then...
The king noticed another familiar face standing quietly behind Mister Mysteries.
Ethan.
The young summoner awkwardly raised one hand.
"...Hello."
Silence filled the throne room.
The king stared at him.
Then at Mister Mysteries.
Then back again.
Finally...
He closed his eyes.
A long, exhausted sigh escaped his lips.
The terrifying pressure blanketing the palace gradually faded.
"So..."
He muttered.
"...you brought him too."
Mister Mysteries nodded proudly.
"I thought it would save everyone some paperwork."
The king pinched the bridge of his nose.
Somehow...
That statement made perfect sense coming from him.
"I really need better security."
"No."
Mister Mysteries corrected.
"You need impossible security."
"...Which doesn’t exist."
The king couldn’t even argue.
That somehow irritated him even more.
Slowly lowering himself back onto the throne, he gestured toward the visitors.
"Fine."
"Since you’re already here..."
"And apparently none of my barriers are capable of stopping you..."
His eyes settled upon Ethan.
"Let’s hear exactly what kind of disaster you’ve brought into my throne room this time."
Ethan looked down at the summons still clutched in his hand.
Then back at the king, a faint smile slowly spread across his face.
"It actually started with this letter."
He placed the royal summons upon the floor between them, if anyone could nullify these absurd charges, it was the king.
Especially after they helped him accomplish that near impossible feat just a few months ago. He owed them, and he definitely knew it.
And so did they.
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