Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 45 Morat Hansen (Part 1)
There was a long silence.

But the old man seemed very patient, waiting tirelessly for Yodl's answer.

Finally, the voice of the secret guard came from behind the mask.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Yodel said coldly.

If anyone were present, they would have noticed how similar Yodl's hoarse voice was to that of the old man before them.

The old man in black didn't speak, but just looked at Yodl with a strange smile.

The old man's eyes remained motionless.

But as a peak-level expert, Yordle felt that the old man's aura was gradually overwhelming him.

"That night, all three and a half legendary anti-magic weapons in the country capable of sealing magic masters have found their places." The old man in black leaned on his cane, grinned, and slowly began to speak:
"The Staff of Stars is a symbol of royal power, forever held in His Majesty's hands... The Spear of Judgment is wielded by the Wing of Legends, guarding the western front... The Wrath of the Kingdom polishes his Immovable Bow in his manor outside the city... And the other half, the Shield of Supremes, remains with the Flower of the Fortress herself, in the Dragonbreaker Fortress in the north."

Yodl took a deep breath.

"Only the last half—the recently thawed Supreme Sword—is yours, Yordle Gatu, proceed to the Lower City."

"That same night, the Qi Mage disappeared on Red Town Street, at the border of the Lower City and the West Ring District."

The old man grinned again, but his smile was ugly: "I should have praised you. The last time someone single-handedly sealed a magic master was recorded back in the ancient empire era."

Yodl's hand, hidden beneath his sleeve, slowly tightened its grip on the dark gray cross-handled short sword.

“But—” Morat’s pupils contracted, and his tone suddenly changed:

"You, who went to welcome the bloodline of the kingdom, should have kept a low profile and carried out a secret operation. Why did you risk your life to confront the Qi Mage head-on and seal him away?"

"Don't tell me you want to be a messenger of justice."

Yodl remained silent for a long time.

The old man seemed impatient; the wrinkles on his face rippled as he said:

"Should I report to His Majesty and have him come and ask you personally?"

a long time.

Facing one of the five most feared figures on the entire planet, Yordle took a deep breath and spoke softly in a similarly hoarse voice:
“That night, I saw Ashida Sakorn on Red Street. At that time, he was on… Thales’ escape route.”

The old man in black remained focused, as if the news meant nothing to him.

But no one knew that at this very moment, Yodl was extremely careful in choosing his words.

"For Thales' sake, I have no choice but to take action."

"Although the Supreme Sword is only half an armor, it is enough to seal the Qi Demon Master."

The old man in black coughed lightly twice, and his ordinary face suddenly revealed a sharp glint in his eyes.

“I think you wouldn’t mind telling me every detail of him before you sealed him away? From his language to his emotions, from his actions to his attitude? I’m very curious about why Ashida wanted to return to the capital, a place that was so dangerous for him.”

Yodl clenched his fists slightly beneath his robes.

He must be careful.

He was facing the "Black Prophet".

He cannot lie.

he can not.

“Aishida Sakorn, he’s a madman,” Yodl said calmly.

The old man—the Black Prophet—chuckled softly, his wrinkles churning. "Of course, they're all madmen, so what? Madmen should have their words and actions, shouldn't they?"

“Before he was sealed away, he was very excited,” Yodel replied slowly, choosing his words carefully.

The old man stroked his cane, his dry lips moving slightly: "You can never fathom their emotions... They're not human anymore, so what emotions do they have?"

These nonsense words won't get him any attention... Yodl thought to himself.

Yodl hesitated for a second before making a decision.

He had to speak.

must.

“He said,” Yodl’s hoarse voice slowly came from behind the mask:
"He found a new mage."

————————————————————

Historically, the first recorded appearance of a mage was around a thousand years ago in the ancient empire, approximately between 825 and 835 in the Imperial Calendar.

The Imperial Calendar lasted for a thousand years? From the ancient empire to the final empire, the Imperial Calendar was used for over 1,500 years before transitioning to the Final Calendar. This year is the 672nd year of the Final Calendar.

Thales recalled the basic knowledge he had learned in the past few days.

In other words, magic users have existed for more than 1,300 years.

But right now doesn't seem like the right time for him to get distracted and think about problems.

On the sandy ground under the setting sun, Thales gritted his teeth, ignoring the soreness in his left shoulder, and charged towards Ginny with his seven-year-old body, bearing the heavy wooden shield!

According to the fragments of the Tower of Ascetics' records: A caravan heading to the Tower of Alchemy witnessed an unusually large lightning bolt. On the same day, in a tribe a hundred miles from the Desert of the God of War, thousands of tribespeople were reduced to charred corpses.

lightning?

Why is the ability of an air mage to control the air?

Fantastic Four? Or Elementalist?
Ginny moved her feet without changing her expression, and with a clever angle, the wooden shield in her left hand collided with Thales' shield.

"boom!"

Thales's impact was largely dissipated, causing him to lose his balance and tilt unnaturally toward the side where the shield had fallen.

Thales, panting, leaned on his sword, his heart pounding with anxiety.

Ginny noticed Thales's condition.

She began to reprimand the boy with a stern face: "What are you thinking! Being distracted on the battlefield is tantamount to suicide!"

Thales shook his head, trying to banish what he had seen in "The End of the World: Cataclysm".

But it seemed to be of little use; the information about magic users kept popping into his mind:
The Alchemy Tower remained shrouded in mystery, offering no explanation (and their written historical records are now unavailable), and the existing annals of the ancient empire also make no mention of it. However, this foreshadowed the devastating scale of the final war.

What are the Tower of Ascetics and the Tower of Alchemy? Are they an organization or a place name?
Using the shield as a center of gravity, Thales swung his right hand, which was not much lighter than the shield, with all his might, his face contorted, and swung the sword back!
The war began in 1509 of the Imperial Calendar, but no historical records can prove what exactly caused its final conflict. It seemed as if overnight, all the opposing sides were placed on opposite ends of a chessboard, locked in a fierce battle.

Why, why is it that a war that changed everything cannot even be clearly recorded at its beginning?

Ginny moved effortlessly, dodging the incoming sword blade, and gently pushed Thales' unbalanced body from behind with the hilt of her sword.

Gilbert, who was watching from the side, shook his head.

"bump!"

Thales fell to the ground again, this time face down.

puff.

Thales spat out the sand from his mouth, struggled to pull the shield again, and stood up.

"Enough!" Ginny shouted, her face displeased.

"You've only learned the form of the seven offensive techniques; the efficiency is completely different from when you learned the defensive techniques—"

"If you're not an idiot—"

"That means you weren't really in the mood to practice today!" Thales panted, nodding with shame and apology on his face.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Ginny—”

[The number of mage is even rarer than that of the legendary dragons. At least forty dragons are recorded by name throughout history, yet only ten mage publicly appeared and participated in the final battle.]

Ten people?

Ten people facing the whole world?

"Boy!"

Seeing that Thales was still distracted, Ginny angrily threw down her shield and wooden sword: "get out of class dismissed! Get up at six o'clock tomorrow morning to catch up on today's lessons!"

Gilbert frowned; he had no idea what was wrong with Thales.

On the battlefield, Ginny turned her head and called out to Count Cassel:

"He's yours before dinner—fix him up like this!"

Gilbert smiled, raised his hat, and bowed.

Frustrated, Thales threw down his wooden sword and began to work on his left arm—which was stuck in the shield again.

Even so, despite having many followers, the truly devastating casualties of the allied forces were inflicted by a handful of mage masters. The most famous record is from May 1514 in the Imperial Calendar, on the battlefield of the Sighing Mountains in the Eastern Front. The eight thousand pilgrims of the mountain elves, who had been winning victory after victory, and the nearly fifty thousand well-equipped black-armored soldiers of the Dawn Dynasty, were wiped out overnight after the appearance of the mage master of power.

The Mage of Power? Power?
Alone, with fifty-eight thousand.

What kind of force could cause such damage?
It was almost comparable to an atomic bomb.

Can Ashida do that too?

Just now.

Ginny, looking unwell, was about to leave, rubbing her hands together, when she saw a guard approach with a serious expression and whisper a few words in Gilbert's ear.

The next moment, Thales was surprised to see that Gilbert's face suddenly turned surprised and—worried, even fearful?

Even Count Cassel, a man of rich diplomatic experience who remained calm in the face of both honor and disgrace, had moments of worry and fear.
Just as Thales was wondering what was going on, Gilbert called out to Ginny, his expression grave:
"His Majesty has sent a message."

"Lord Morat Hansen will be visiting Mindis Room tonight."

"He wants to see Mr. Thales."

Morat Hansen?
Who is that?
Then, Thales was also surprised to see that Lady Ginny, First Lady of the Court and lover of King Catherine V, also changed her expression.

That was also shock, worry, and—

Gnashing of teeth?

"He'll come sooner or later." Ginny's eyes turned icy, her voice frosty.

"Facing the royal bloodline, the succession of the Star King's throne."

"The head of the Kingdom's Secret Service, 'Black Prophet' Morat."

"How could they not get involved?"

————————————————————

The old man in black—"The Black Prophet" Morat Hansen—did not speak again.

For the first time, Yodl saw shock and... in Morat's eyes, a man who always appeared mysterious and enigmatic.

fear?

"A newly minted...magician?"

Morat paused, took a step back in disbelief, and then looked up sharply!

"It works," Yodl said silently to himself.

Morat possessed too many secrets, including the secrets of the mage.

But precisely because he knows so much, he is more easily distracted by these things.

Ignoring what Thales truly wanted to conceal, Thales's communication with Ashida.

Such as now.

“Impossible. The birth of a mage requires…” Morat’s face was full of shock. The old man gripped his cane tightly and stared intently at Yodel’s mask, as if trying to see through the layer of purple crystal.

"Who is it?" Morat's eyes were almost crazed.

"Who is the newly minted mage?"

Morat stared at his son like a viper, his pupils constricting sharply.

“Do you know how serious this is!” Morat frowned, his gaze focused, his breathing quickened, and he gripped his cane tighter and tighter: “A new mage—we have to deal with him before… it does.”

Yodl adjusted his breathing—breathing, an action that should have been effortless for an expert at the pinnacle of skill, was now incredibly difficult.

it.

it?
The image of the boy with black hair and gray eyes gradually became clearer.

"They'll stay here with you... I'll go alone." The stubborn boy's words and his determined gaze still linger in my mind's eye inside Sunset Bar.

Yodl clenched his fist slightly.

Morat slowly narrowed his eyes.

“Aishida didn’t say his name, so she probably doesn’t know his name either.”

Yodel carefully sifted through the most truthful information, slowly organizing it into words: "Then, I sealed Aishida away."

He truly didn't know Thales' name—Yordl told himself—and he wasn't lying.

Morat did not speak.

The old man just looked at Yodl with a strange expression.

A few seconds later, Morat turned his gaze away.

“Very good, you are not lying.” The old man used a statement of fact, his eyes filled with seriousness.

“But it’s also bad, because you really weren’t lying,” Morat added, his face grim.

Yodl felt a sense of relief.

He managed to keep it a secret.

“Now, by His Majesty’s orders, let us go see Mr. Thales.” Morat suppressed his gloom and solemnity, and a hideous smile returned to his face as he walked toward the Mindis Hall.

Yodl's breath hitched.

Moratmo rubbed his cane, revealing his few remaining teeth, and turned to laugh, "Regarding the truth about Red Street, you shouldn't mind if I ask that kid in person—like the so-called new magic user?"

"Don't misunderstand, it's just a professional habit, for example—"

"—Are you hiding anything?"

Yodl suddenly raised his head!

Morat laughed even more heartily.

(End of this chapter)