The servant’s voice echoed through the room.
"His Majesty is now calling to meet with you."
The four Black Seed teams began moving.
Qasim noticed something almost immediately.
Team One and Team Three were moving as complete groups.
Aurora, however, was the only member of Team Two who had come.
And for Team Four it was only Valen and himself.
"Why are there so few people from some teams?"
Valen glanced at him.
"It’s different because each team had different invitation requirements."
"I don’t know about the others, but for us, it required you and the leader, which is me. The reason for our invitation was a reward for our efforts during the academy incident."
Qasim nodded.
"That makes sense."
They continued walking through the castle.
The further they went, the more extravagant everything became.
The walls were covered in beautiful golden decorations, enormous paintings and carefully carved patterns. Even the floor seemed to shine beneath their feet.
Eventually, they reached a gigantic pair of doors.
Two guards dressed in golden armor stood on each side.
They pushed the doors open.
Qasim’s eyes widened.
The room beyond wasn’t anything like an ordinary room.
It was enormous.
It looked more like a grand hall built to accommodate hundreds of people.
There were already people inside and they were moving toward the doors they had just entered through, leaving the hall after what Qasim assumed was another royal meeting.
Their clothes immediately caught his attention.
They were expensive.
Golden accessories covered some of them, while others wore jewelry that looked like it could buy an entire house.
Their movements were elegant, almost effortless.
They passed the Black Seed teams without even giving them a glance before disappearing through the doors.
Qasim couldn’t help but stare.
*Damn...*
He had seen nobles before.
But seeing this many of them gathered in one place was something else.
Then he heard a voice behind him.
"Next."
Qasim turned his head.
A man dressed in black and white stood near the entrance, holding what appeared to be a list.
"The Black Seed teams. By the order of His Majesty."
As soon as the words were spoken, everyone began moving.
Qasim blinked.
"Huh?"
Valen had already started walking.
So had Aurora and the other teams.
Qasim stood there for half a second, confused by their sudden movement.
Then he realized.
*Oh shit. We’re supposed to move.*
He hurried forward and quickly caught up with Valen.
Valen glanced at him.
"First time huh?."
"Haha so funny..."
Qasim turned his attention forward again.
And then he saw it.
At the far end of the enormous hall stood a massive and imposing throne.
And upon it sat the king.
He had dark hair and deep, blood-red eyes.
His skin was pale, almost unnaturally and despite the coldness surrounding him, there was something undeniably handsome about his face.
On his head rested a golden crown decorated with three red gems.
The king wasn’t looking at them, instead he was reading something on a piece of paper in his hand.
Then, without raising his head, he spoke.
His voice was deep and calm.
"We shall begin this meeting."
He paused.
"The duration will be twenty minutes."
"Starting with Team One. Continue from what we left off the previous meeting."
Aluna stepped forward.
She placed a hand over her chest and lowered her head respectfully.
"As your majesty knows during our last mission, we stumbled upon a rare plant that we Elves use to make high-quality healing potions, as well as several types of relaxation potions."
She paused before continuing.
"Usually, this plant grows only in the Spiritual World. However, we believe we found a unique genetic mutation that allowed it to adapt to the physical world."
Qasim listened carefully.
"And the result of our first experiment was around ninety percent as efficient as the original plant from the Spiritual World."
"This could be useful in many fields that require consistent healing. We request a full team of alchemists to help us extract and utilize this plant."
Qasim raised an eyebrow.
*Isn’t it Elves who are famous for their love of nature and will do anything to protect it?*
*Hearing them talk about extracting and utilizing a plant feels unexpected.*
The king remained silent for several seconds.
Then he finally spoke.
"I will approve this request of yours and provide the team you require."
His eyes remained on the paper.
"I expect significant scaling if this proves successful."
Aluna lowered her head.
"That will be manageable, Your Majesty."
Aluna then stepped back toward her team.
The king turned the page.
"Team Two."
Aurora immediately stepped forward.
"The officials from Black Seed have brought me your report from the last month, Aurora. I want an explanation."
Aurora placed her hand against her chest and bowed slightly deeper than Aluna had.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
She took a breath.
"My team and I have concluded that there has been unusual movement within the alchemy market."
"There are several specific ingredients that have been disappearing on a large scale. After investigating, we believe this may be related to the Scientists."
"We are asking for the entire market to be temporarily closed so we can track where these ingredients are coming from and where they are going after being purchased."
She paused.
"We would also like to monitor alchemy markets in other kingdoms. It is possible the Scientists are purchasing their ingredients from there instead."
"We also—"
"Silence."
Aurora immediately stopped.
The king didn’t even look up from his paper.
"It is manageable to do what you have requested within my kingdom."
He turned another page.
"But sending people into other kingdoms during such tense times will not happen."
Aurora lowered her head.
The king continued.
"If I remember correctly, it has been almost a year since you said you would find out where the Scientists are and how they conduct their experiments."
"But from what I see, there has been little progress."
The king closed his eyes.
"Do I see this as you being inefficient..."
His voice became slightly colder.
"Or are you making fun of me?"
Aurora immediately began sweating.
"I would never dare do such a shameful thing, Your Majesty."
Her voice remained respectful, but there was a clear nervousness behind it.
"It’s just... it’s like they know my next move. They are always one step ahead."
The king opened his eyes, his gaze remained on the paper.
"I will not speak much about this situation. I will allow you to proceed with your plans."
"But I expect results in return."
"Yes, Your Majesty. Thank you."
Aurora stepped backward, her head still lowered.
"Team Three."
Yorness stepped forward.
The king finally asked a question that made Qasim’s attention sharpen.
"How is the investigation into the academy incident progressing?"
Yorness answered.
"I am ashamed to say this, Your Majesty, but we are still having difficulty finding evidence regarding the exact hidden objective the Scientists wanted to achieve through that incident."
He paused.
"So far, we only have several theories, if Your Majesty wishes to hear them."
"Go on."
Yorness nodded.
"First, it may have simply been another experiment."
He shook his head slightly.
"This theory is weak, considering the risks the Scientists took. The amount of resources and power involved seems far too great for a simple experiment."
"Second, it could have been an attempt to weaken the kingdom’s future power."
Qasim’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"By destroying the academy and killing its students, they could reduce the number of powerful individuals the kingdom will have in the future."
"Third, and most likely..."
His expression became more serious.
"There is a hidden event happening in the background, and this incident was merely a distraction from the bigger picture."
The hall became quiet.
Qasim looked toward the king.
The king continued reading his paper as if Yorness had just given him an ordinary report.
After a few seconds, he finally spoke.
"I will provide Team Three with a special group of investigators to assist you."
Yorness bowed slightly.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"But," the king continued, "I expect you to show some progress by our next meeting."
"Of course, Your Majesty."
Yorness stepped back.
Qasim swallowed.
So far, everything had been strangely calm.
Then—
"Team Four."
Qasim’s body stiffened.
The king continued reading.
"Two of this team were inside the academy during the incident."
He paused.
"And the arrival of an unknown boy who somehow broke every known record for Awakening."
The king slowly raised his head.
For the first time since the meeting began, he looked directly at them.
More specifically...
At Qasim.
Their eyes met.
Those cold, blood-red eyes stared straight into his.
Qasim’s stomach twisted.
His heart suddenly began pounding.
*What the hell...*
It felt as if his entire body had suddenly become aware of the person standing in front of him.
Qasim couldn’t look away.
The king’s gaze remained fixed on him.
Qasim felt genuinely nervous.
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