The Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 170 – To the Magicians (2)

Despite Juan’s words, the magicians remained quite hesitant and refused to move. Not only were they overwhelmed by the heavy atmosphere, but they were also concerned that they might also be deemed to be involved in Dane’s plot if they recklessly tried standing up for Opert.

Only Opert’s loud breath could be heard amidst the silence.

Seeing that no one came forward to defend Opert even after a long time, Juan finally opened his mouth first.

“As far as I know, Opert has served you all for quite a long time, but none of you is going to step up for him? Looks like all the hard work you did for all of them so far has been in vain, Opert.”

At that moment, a white-haired old woman stepped up to defend Opert. She moved forward with an upright gait despite how old she looked.

“Your Majesty, conspiracies don’t happen with just one or two parties. It is true that the vice master had been working diligently for the Magic Tower, but it is also true that he has worked almost as if he was Dane’s own hands and feet. Being diligent is not the same as being good. Being diligently evil is worse than anything else. There is no evidence that Opert is involved in Dane’s plot, but it’s also undesirable to keep him around.”

“Is that so? Then what do you think we should do about him?”

The old woman looked down at Opert for a while and then opened her mouth.

“I think we should destroy his mana heart, cut off both his hands and then confine him in some remote area. And that’s what should be done before he is proved to be directly involved in the conspiracy. If it is proven that he was directly involved in the conspiracy, then the death penalty would, of course, be appropriate.”

“I see. What’s your name?”

The old woman bowed to Juan and opened her mouth.

“My name is Arhan Allerly, Your Majesty. I am the head of the Red Tribe.”

The Red Tribe was a group that studied the magic used in wars, and it used to be the largest group within the Magic Tower when Juan had been the emperor. Magicians who learned practical magic were always in demand; hence, it was even easy to find them in the private sector.

Meanwhile, Opert trembled but remained silent.

Juan seemed to be contemplating what he should do, but the magicians seemed to have already accepted Arhan’s recommendation.

Opert bit his lips; it looked like it would be difficult for him to avoid heavy punishment.

“Your Majesty.”

Eventually, a magician who couldn’t bear the silence stepped forward. It was a magician with half a head of white hair. He gave quite the sharp impression.

“Mr. Opert has served the Magic Tower for a long time. Even many of us didn’t know that the master of the Magic Tower was Dane Dormund. There is no way that he would have revealed his identity to anyone when he was hiding from the Church to avoid getting caught. I think Mr. Opert is also someone who fell for his crafty tricks.”

“Do you think that ignorance can be used as an excuse?” Juan asked.

“Of course not, Your Majesty. But I believe in Mr. Opert’s kind nature. He has long sought to protect the Magic Tower from the Church and has helped us all continue our research despite the Church’s oppression. Many of the magicians in the Magic Tower owe him quite a lot. While there is a chance that he was used by Dane, he is a young man with a lot of potential. It’s not fair to convict him just based on presumption.”

“All right. So you believe in Opert, huh? What’s your name?”

“I am Milekis Maltard, Your Majesty. I am the head of the Gray Tribe.”

The Gray Tribe was a group of scholars who studied ancient magic systems instead of modern magic. They rarely used any type of practical magic, but their work was what helped prevent the destruction of the legacies left behind by fallen states or races.

“I see. Then…”

Juan did not hesitate.

Just as Arhan was about to suggest giving an extreme punishment to Opert once again, Juan grabbed her neck. In an instant, her feet were dangling in the air as she scratched at Juan’s arm while suffocating.

Juan opened his mouth amidst the perplexed gazes of the magicians.

“There was one more thing I didn’t tell all of you. Besides Dane, the members of Aruntal have also betrayed me.”

Arhan struggled as she tried to escape from Juan’s arms, but Juan’s arm did not budge. His arm, which was protected by Kelegrenon, could not be wounded by her sharp nails scratching him.

“I guess it’s a stretch to actually call them Aruntal. After all, all the original members except for Dane have already died, and their spots seem to have been filled by new people. They were helping Dane with a very idealistic belief, but I never told you guys about that part.”

Juan grinned and glared at Arhan.

“But this woman talked almost as if she believed it was natural for people besides Opert to be involved. And there’s one more interesting fact… I remember the energy of all the opponents from when I confronted Aruntal.”

Arhan opened her eyes wide and looked at Juan.

“What is it? Is there anything you want to say? I can sense and grasp the signs and energy around me. Ah, yes. I recall you guys wearing a robe that helped you all to hide your presence. But did you really think you could fool me with that? I am the embodiment of magic itself.”

Juan glared at Arhan and put more strength into his grip.

Arhan trembled in intense pain, but there was nothing she could do. As a last resort, she tried to use magic to attack Juan, but for some reason, her mana would scatter and disappear every time she tried to gather it.

“You keep trying to use magic. But what you need to keep in mind is that the opponent you’re trying to use magic against is a natural enemy of magicians.”

Juan scattered the mana flowing through Arhan’s body with the help of Kelegrenon. The slight shock from this messed up the mana flow inside Arhan’s body and caused her to start bleeding from all seven of her orifices.

All the magicians that were sensitive to the flow of mana instantly noticed what had happened to Arhan. Some of the magicians even collapsed to the floor in fear.

Arhan shuddered for a while and then dropped to the floor as Juan released her neck. Then, she suddenly coughed up blood as if she had regained consciousness from the shock of being thrown to the floor.

Juan looked down at Arhan and muttered in a quiet voice.

“Other magicians won’t be able to understand what’s going on if I kill you like this. At least try to make an excuse.”

Arhan looked back at the other magicians with a pale expression. The place where the magicians had gathered to denounce Opert had now become the site of her death. Arhan looked confused and tried her best to understand what was going on.

It was true that she was a member of Aruntal. However, she had made sure to hide her identity before joining the conspiracy—she had made sure to wear the robe that Dane had given her. The robe not only covered her face, it also made it difficult for others to recognize her presence.

‘But he managed to read my energy through it? It can’t be… it’s a magical item that was produced by Dane himself.’

However, Arhan began to doubt Dane from the bottom of her heart. After all, the opponent was none other than the emperor.

‘Is it even possible for Dane to stop him?’

“Y-Your Majesty… I… I just…”

“You just… what?”

Arhan froze just by facing Juan’s emotionless eyes. Her doubts soon became reality. There was no way that the emperor would treat her, the head of the largest tribe in the Magic Tower, like this in front of everyone without actually having proof that she was a member of Aruntal.

There was only one way for her to live—begging for her life.

“Your Majesty! Please forgive me. I, too, have been deceived! I’ve been deceived by the illusion that helping Dane Dormund was the only way to revive mankind. So I ended up…!”

“Okay. So you’re saying that you are a member of Aruntal, right?”

Arhan’s eyes shook upon hearing Juan’s question.

‘Wait. He didn’t know for sure that I was a member of Aruntal?’

“Dane did a good job making that robe. It seems pretty convenient. I wasn’t too sure about you being a member of Aruntal, but I should thank you for confirming it. Now, shall we destroy your mana heart and cut off your hands before we continue to talk, just as you had suggested?”

Arhan jumped up and tried to shout something toward the magicians, but her waist suddenly bent back before she could say anything. Then, a loud scream broke out along with a terrible noise.

Everything happened in just a flash. Arhan’s back was bent in the wrong direction, while all of her joints were broken and dislocated with a clattering sound.

In just an instant, Arhan had died, and she now looked like a squeezed rag.

Juan frowned at what had just happened and examined her corpse.

‘Someone must have been watching and they cast a magic spell to kill her.’

The enemy was still inside the Magic Tower. Juan glared at the magicians with cold eyes and then turned his gaze toward Opert.

“It seems like Aruntal was hoping that I would either kill my subordinate with my own hands or at least keep their mouths shut. Either way, you’re not completely cleared of your charges, Opert. I will be keeping my eyes on you.”

“Thank you! Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Operet banged his head on the floor to show his appreciation.

After that, Juan exited Dane's room without a word, and his subordinates followed him.

In the place where only the magicians were left, only a frustrated atmosphere and some quiet whispers remained. None of the magicians spared even a single glance toward Opert.

At that moment, only one person approached Opert—Milekis, the one who had defended him.

***

The mansion, once home to a man who impersonated the emperor alongside an expelled Priest, had now become nothing more than a ruin.

There was no one who would visit the ominous mansion from where the followers and supporters of the fake emperor had fled and dozens of Templars were killed—except for the very man who had made the mess.

“Well done, Opert.”

Juan was sitting alone in the room that was still full of burnt and broken items on the second floor of the mansion.

Opert approached Juan with an exhausted look on his face. There was a bandage on his forehead.

“I don’t think you needed to bang your head against the floor like that,” Juan said

“To be honest, I was a little scared,” Opert answered.

Juan rubbed the wound on Opert’s forehead with his thumb. His fingers had only lightly brushed past Opert’s forehead for a short second, but Opert’s wound was already gone.

“What do the magicians think of this situation?” Juan asked.

“It’s hard to say. Some of the magicians think that it was Your Majesty who killed Arhan. They are complaining, but most of them are scared. They lowered their heads due to fear, but I think that they will continue to complain, since they are all so full of themselves.” Opert sighed. “I’m not sure if it was necessary to put on a show like this. It would be great if the Magic Tower could become truly loyal to Your Majesty…”

“Dealing with Dane is more important than obtaining the loyalty of the magicians. I needed your help to figure out what he was up to. Were there any magicians who approached you after I left?”

“Milekis Maltard approached me. He offered me to stay with him until everything settled down. Of course, I said yes.”

“Just as I expected.”

“Do you think he’s a member of Aruntal as well?”

Juan nodded.

“There was only one person who I could be sure about being a member of Aruntal, and that was Arhan. I barely managed to recognize her by concentrating my five senses to the maximum. I’m sure that there are few more, and they will approach you when you are left all alone and are weak-minded.”

Juan tapped Opert on the shoulder as he spoke.

“As I already told you, I’m going to try and take advantage of that. They won’t drag you into joining Aruntal right away. I’m sure they’ll just be keeping their eyes on you for a while. Your job is to stay loyal to Dane and find out more about Aruntal. Milekis is probably thinking that he has gained your trust since Arhan is dead.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. But why do you think Arhan tried to kill me?”

“It’s because she wanted her words to have an influence on me regardless of which side I choose to listen to. She knew that I would trust at least one of you two once a contradictory opinion was presented,” Juan explained.

“Ah, I see. She probably didn’t think that Your Majesty would actually kill her. Hmm. Then I’ll be on my way back; they might start suspecting me if I stay here for too long. I’ll refrain from seeing Your Majesty until Aruntal comes into contact with me.”

“Sounds good. I appreciate it.”

Opere bowed to Juan and took a step back. Just as Opert was about to leave the room, he inadvertently stopped and looked back at Juan.

“Your Majesty, if you don’t mind, I have one more thing I would like to ask…”

“What is it?”

“What made you think that I wasn’t a member of Aruntal? I was one of the people who helped to hand over Your Majesty to Dane, and it is also true that I was manipulated by Dane. so, why…?”

Juan looked at Opert with a dumbfounded look. He considered telling Opert that there was no way that a spy would ask such a question in the first place, but then he decided to give him an honest answer.

“You are a brilliant magician, but you are more of a scholar than a magician, Opert. The difference between them is that the scholars try to find the truth while magicians try to take advantage of the truth.”

“Is… that so?”

“You had suspected me for a very long time, and only after a long time did you acknowledge me as the emperor. Scholars don’t change the result just because they don’t like the truth. But magicians or a swindler would—just like Dane Dormund.”