Akatsuki Translations

“Could you please explain to me what’s going on, Farsa-dono!”

“Isn’t taking custody of the demon’s personage without authorization an act of overstepping your bounds?”

“There are also reports that the Chief Court Magician himself protected the demon!”

Within the conference room inside the royal palace of the Valois Kingdom’s capital, a clamorous scene was unfolding.

Currently, an emergency meeting was being held at the palace regarding the demon captured by Farsa and his team. Representatives from various important positions had gathered together, including not only the King and Princess Aurelia but also civilian officials like the Prime Minister and ministers, as well as military officers such as the leaders of different knight orders and prominent court mages.

Some were unable to attend due to being away from the capital, but those currently in the city had all come together without exception.

A trilateral conference involving the Valois Kingdom and two neighboring nations to discuss countermeasures against the demons was also scheduled to take place soon, making the intrusion of demons into the capital a major issue.

That’s why, after the capture of Roux, this urgent strategy meeting was convened.

Farsa, who had been healed with healing magic by Palmina, was present, and Zenobia, the captain of the White Lily Knights, naturally attended as well.

The absence of the Hero, Julia, and the Saint, Palmina, was due to their respective positions. Although Julia was the trump card against the demons as the Hero, she didn’t have the authority to intervene in the kingdom’s politics. Likewise, despite Palmina’s fame as a Saint, she was merely a priestess within the church and her position limited her involvement.

Furthermore, Roux, being a demon, was currently being watched by both Zenobia’s subordinates and Farsa’s subordinates working together, and her whereabouts were kept confidential.

“I understand that everyone has their concerns. For now, let me explain everything step by step. Would you all please remain quiet for the moment?” -Farsa

Rising to speak, Farsa exuded a composed demeanor that gave no hint of his physical discomfort.

The barrage of questions earlier had been prompted by Farsa’s unilateral actions in hiding Roux and shielding her from Julia’s attack.

The incident at the South Gate had numerous witnesses, and naturally, information had been gathered before the meeting started.

For most attendees, the purpose of this meeting was to discuss how to extract information from the captured demons, such as their invasion route and objectives, and to plan countermeasures accordingly.

However, Farsa and his collaborator, Zenobia, had taken it upon themselves to hide Roux without consulting others and had imposed a gag order on their subordinates.

It was undoubtedly an unnatural course of action and a situation that could be criticized, yet with just one remark from Farsa, the conference room fell silent.

For those present at this meeting, witnessing Farsa being cornered was not an uncommon sight. Many had experienced it before, and they knew that Farsa usually had reasons behind his actions.

Farsa’s opponents, who had been verbally attacking him with harsh words, found themselves hesitating to make any further remarks, as they had no way of knowing how he might retaliate.

Yet, due to factional relations and the necessity to confront their opposing adversaries, they couldn’t remain silent without hearing Farsa’s statement first. Thus, until Farsa spoke, they had been unreservedly hurling their words.

Farsa’s known aversion to being interrupted during his statements and his unforgiving nature towards those who made needless remarks had become widely known over the past few years.

The sequence of events, both comical and revealing, illustrated the power dynamics within the court.

“I appreciate everyone’s cooperation.” -Farsa

Smiling, Farsa showed a practiced bow to the participants in the conference room, well aware of their inner thoughts.

The effort Farsa had put into ensuring the smooth progress of this meeting was no trivial matter.

Observing this familiar scene, Aurelia also wore a pleased expression, or rather, a wicked smile on her face.

Though she was quick to hide it behind her fan, some individuals noticed, and their faces displayed genuine annoyance.

The smile on Princess Aurelia’s face was clearly of the kind she shouldn’t be wearing. However, hidden behind the scenes of her collaboration with Farsa to bring down numerous political adversaries was always Aurelia’s influence.

From the start, the fact that Princess Aurelia, among numerous princes, was in the first position for succession to the throne, bypassing other royal family members, was an extraordinary and unprecedented situation. Naturally, one of the reasons was her involvement in toppling influential figures supporting other members of the royal family.

Thus, those who were political adversaries and sought to somehow undermine Farsa, the right-hand man to Princess Aurelia, were plagued with the dilemma of not wanting to be further disadvantaged by the situation.

Moreover, those unable to read the situation were all ultimately brought down, and the power dynamics within each faction had undergone significant changes.

Those who remained were not idle individuals, sitting cross-legged as they had in the former Valois Kingdom. They were individuals with considerable ability and skillful in navigating the intricacies of politics.

While they currently bided their time, they were undoubtedly looking for opportunities to bring down Farsa.

“First of all, as I believe everyone has heard, let’s recall the actions of those who escaped among the three demons who attempted to infiltrate the capital this time. They came to target not only me but also the Hero, Julia, the saint, Palmina, and even their own comrade,” Farsa began explaining the events in reverse chronological order.

Though some of the attendees had expressed complaints about Farsa earlier, they now wore slightly dissatisfied expressions, wondering what purpose was served by stating the obvious. Nevertheless, they continued to listen quietly.

“From this, it’s clear that their objective was both the Hero, Julia, and the head court mage, me. However, they also specifically targeted the saint, Palmina, along with their fellow demon, but they did not aim for the Knight Commander, Zenobia. Moreover, the fire-based magic they used for the attack is highly lethal, and they fired three shots; this part is important.” -Farsa

“Why didn’t they shoot four times, including Zenobia, is that what you’re wondering?” one of the court mages, ranked second in the court’s hierarchy, raised a voice.

“That’s right. Whether they are human or demon, magicians typically release magic from their palms. This is because the organs that allow the flow of magical power are… well, I won’t go into a lecture on that now, but the palms are the most suitable parts of the body to channel magic. Court magicians of our level could potentially activate two spells simultaneously using both hands. However, for demons, who are even better at handling magic than humans, why didn’t they do that? Zenobia, if you were subjected to an attack using difficult-to-dodge magic, or if I had to endure two shots, could you have protected me?” Farsa questioned, directing everyone’s gaze towards Zenobia.

Zenobia looked slightly uncomfortable but cleared her throat before answering, “To be honest, the enemy demons were quite skilled, and if they had released one more attack, it would have been difficult. They appeared out of nowhere, and by the time we noticed, they had already launched their assault. With very little time to gather my magical power, I managed to endure the first shot, but if they had fired the second one simultaneously, I would have suffered significant damage.” -Zenobia

As the kingdom’s strongest knight, if Zenobia found it challenging, there was no room for dissent among the other martial officers.

For the civilian officials, it might not be easy to understand, but observing the silence of the knight commanders and court mages who opposed Farsa, they seemed to accept it with resignation.

While it was possible that Zenobia’s statement might be a lie, any petty falsehoods could be easily exposed in a situation with numerous eyewitnesses.

“Thank you for your testimony, Zenobia. Now, let’s return to the discussion. The enemy went to the trouble of attacking me and could have killed me, but they eased off on their assault. We can easily deduce this from the fact that they disappeared in an instant after the attack.” -Farsa

Though he hadn’t witnessed that moment personally, he was convinced that it was teleportation magic based on the accounts of Zenobia, Julia, and Palmina, as well as the residual magical traces at the scene.

The fact that they had assumed the appearance of himself and Astarte was his issue on the demon side of things, and it was irrelevant to the current discussion.

“C-could it be… Is it true that teleportation magic really exists?”

“Fool! We concluded that such convenient magic was nothing more than an absurd rumor! Even the Hero Julia’s statement was likely due to severe memory loss and held no credibility.”

“However, there are reports that they vanished in an instant. I find it hard to believe that Zenobia or the Hero Julia would easily lose track of demons.”

The rumor of teleportation magic, which allowed one to move freely, had naturally reached the Valois Kingdom as well.

However, if such magic were truly at the disposal of any demon, they would have used it to invade the kingdom, and such reports were virtually non-existent. Hence, it was generally considered a baseless rumor.

Of course, Farsa also kept the existence of teleportation magic a secret and made sure to use it discreetly outside the demon’s territory.

Thus, the Mirage of Illusions’ existence was shrouded in low credibility, with only vague rumors circulating, mostly concerning one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Cruel, and the golden-horned demon clan.

“Everyone, please calm down. While it’s indeed a threat if such convenient magic exists, until now, there have been almost no signs of teleportation magic being used. It’s possible that they were unable to use it effectively or that the magic has significant limitations on its usage. Hence, the fact that the demons only used three shots of magic, despite being capable of instantaneously killing their targets, suggests that it required a substantial amount of magical power and time to execute.” -Farsa

Naturally, Farsa himself had no problems with teleportation magic, as he possessed vast magical power. However, he found it unlikely that other teleportation magic users could possess similar abilities. Moreover, even if they could use teleportation magic, the consumption of magical power was undeniably significant, and the time required for activation was considerable.

In reality, the magical power consumption of teleportation magic was immensely greater than that of regular magic, and the time required for activation was also much longer.

For someone like Farsa, who could handle teleportation magic effortlessly without the need for incantations, it was an abnormality.

The demon attackers who struck this time appeared at the south gate using teleportation magic, leaving behind a diversion and escaping.

They had been observing the situation from a distance during the battle with the guards and Julia. Seizing an opportunity, they launched their attack using teleportation magic and then escaped again using a gate they maintained with one hand. This was Farsa’s assessment.

Furthermore, there were no traces of suspicious magical seals. From the fact that they used visual teleportation magic, Farsa inferred that the users were less sensitive to magic compared to himself.

“In the present, we have deployed magicians who can sense even the slightest magical power to search for suspicious magic seals centered around the south gate and the royal palace. It’s hard to believe that such ridiculous magic, which allows free movement, can be used without any constraints. Even the court mages like me will join the search after this meeting. As for the reason I’m keeping the captured demon hidden… Minister of Defense, you found a male corpse before this meeting, didn’t you?” -Farsa

Though he spoke the words aloud, Farsa believed that the possibility of a magic seal for teleportation was close to zero. However, he couldn’t explain the details of teleportation magic to the people present, so he simply stated that they were conducting a search.

The Minister of Defense was the head of the organization responsible for the security teams within the royal capital, including the knights. They were completely separate from the Royal Army and mainly focused on maintaining order within the city. Many of them were commoners, and they even dealt with incidents involving noble misconduct.

“In-indeed, it’s true that a corpse was found near the south square, but what does that have to do with the demons?” -Minister of Defense

“That person came all the way to where Julia and I were having our meal to inform us about the appearance of the demons. He said it took fifteen minutes for them to arrive at the south gate after the demons were reported, and that seemed way too short for their travel time. While we were looking for that man, he was found dead, which surprised me. It’s a pretty strange coincidence, don’t you think?” -Farsa

“W-What? Are you suggesting there’s a traitor among us, colluding with the demons?” -Minister of Defense

The Minister of Defense was astonished, but he urged Farsa to continue with his questioning. From his position, letting someone connected to the demons enter the capital would reflect poorly on the security, so he had to address the situation seriously. Little did he know that there was already a man with demon blood in the heart of the royal palace, and the conversation they were having right now would hardly even register to him.

“I’m just speculating, but it’s a possibility. Moreover, they might even be considering the possibility of killing the demon we’re harboring in secret to silence them. If the other party can perform teleportation within the royal palace… wouldn’t that be terrifying?” -Farsa

Naturally, while making such statements, Farsa himself had little doubt that someone other than him had entered the royal palace using teleportation magic. He wouldn’t be the great magician he was if he hadn’t taken precautions against magical intrusion, and the royal palace had secretly become a fortress against such magic. If someone other than her tried to create a gate using teleportation, there was no way Farsa wouldn’t notice.

As he pursued his hobby of delving into ancient technologies, he had turned the royal palace into a testing ground for those techniques. Although it was said that Farsa’s magical theories had reached an incomprehensible height for others, it was only natural considering that he frequently drew on ancient technologies.

Of course, he possessed the knowledge, experience, and talent to understand and utilize the technology, making him a true genius, worthy of the title.

“…Hmm, Farsa, you’re saying that you’re secretly harboring the demon to prevent assassination attempts. Indeed, it may be the safest way within the kingdom.”

After Farsa’s ominous words had silenced the conference room, the King himself finally spoke. Despite being in his mid-fifties, he appeared youthful, thanks to his well-toned physique. His dignified appearance, with a mustache, was more befitting of a knight commander than a king.

The King’s words were agreeable to everyone. It was widely known within the conference room that both Aurelia and Farsa had thwarted every assassin sent after them. Although this fact was kept hidden from the public, it was no secret among those present.