Jasly didn't look very happy, she was right, I should have told her I was going out with Tsukuyomi.
"You need to improve a little," she said.
But little by little she went back to being who she was, a caring and gentle mana.
My father was standing, he was to the right of the King, the Queen was sitting, and next to her were my mother and Bedelia. I was sweating cold, not because I was in front of the King, but because I was in front of Bedelia. She could kill me in seconds.
I was kneeling, as were Tsukuyomi and Jasly.
"You may rise," the King said.
"How did you get the horn?" a man asked, he seemed to be some kind of minister.
"I broke into a cabin and found it," Tsukuyomi was very direct.
"I apologize for that, actually it wasn't quite like that. She and I were in the forest and heard a horn sound, we followed it and found a cabin. We thought it was strange, because it was completely intact in the middle of the forest. We knocked on the door and a man jumped out a window and started running. Tsukuyomi opened the door and we found the horn on top of the table."
The man looked serious, he was staring at me.
"For what reason were you in the forest? It's dangerous."
"For people like you, it really is dangerous, but for people like us, it's easy to deal with." Tsukuyomi didn't like the man.
"At what moment did you realize that the horn could control monsters?" He gave up on the first question after seeing the King laugh at the answer.
He was definitely blaming me, or blaming Tsukuyomi.
"I know what you're doing, you're trying to find some flaw in my interrogation. You think I'm guilty or that I'm on their side and somehow wanted to hand over evidence. Maybe out of remorse or simply as a way to deceive you. Am I right about that?"
"What makes you think that?"
"It's something a stupid person would think. But, back to the subject, we just blew the horn and some goblins came, I said something and they reacted. Then we gave them orders and they followed. You'd know that if you read the report that's in your hand."
"I didn't like your hostility..."
"Hostility? I'm just displeased with you asking me the same question I've already been asked. The difference is that the first person who asked knew how to interrogate. Being interrogated by an amateur makes me sad," I paused. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but I felt uncomfortable with his presence. I'd be happy to repeat everything I've already said if it's with that other one, he seemed smarter and less incompetent."
A guard pointed his sword at me, the King just laughed.
"You're absolutely right, he irritates me too."
The man was embarrassed, Bedelia was hiding a laugh, my father too.
The guard kept his sword pointed.
I was just doing what my father had asked me to do before, that man was the Count who had challenged me to a duel. He was also a minister of something.
The King made a gesture and the guard sheathed his sword. The guard realized he had done something wrong when he noticed the Queen's expression.
"But that's enough, your interrogation was already sufficient. Some guards have already gone to the cabin you said you found. The horn is under analysis, we have competent alchemists and mages, and they'll be able to discover how it works and, who knows, the person who built it might be found."
"Or the country, this seems very much like a small-scale war tactic."
"Small-scale wars?"
"Yes, it goes like this. Country A wants to attack country B, but that's risky. Even with greater military power, the attacking country always has a disadvantage. But if it creates distractions and other wars, like a civil war, or makes country C attack B, or even weakens country B's military power, country A would certainly increase its chances of success. So maybe the horn leads us to a country, but we can't be sure it's the one that actually wants to attack. It could just be a distraction to make the Kingdom use its strength to strike the wrong country, and when we do that, the real enemy will attack and succeed," I paused. "That's if we consider it's another country and not an internal alliance that wants the crown."
"That's absurd, just mentioning something like that should be enough to have you imprisoned..."
"Enough," the King ordered Zano to be silent.
"You're right, it could be all of that, and the fact that none of the generals thought of it just shows we haven't considered all possible cases. Thank you for your opinion," he seemed pleased, but not because of my opinion. He enjoyed seeing me humiliate Zano, that was quite clear.
Someone else must have thought the same as I did, that's not something absurd or impossible to at least consider.
In the meeting room there were ten people wearing armor with golden designs. There was also the man with a lion's head and the first prince, both of them wore armor that looked like gold but was actually mythril plated with gold.
The two generals with golden armor were the ones who protected parts of the Capital. The man with the lion's head, Harold Lyon, protected the castle's entrance. The first prince protected the castle itself. Albert Albatros protected the Capital as a whole. Altogether, there were fifteen generals who protected the entire Kingdom. The first prince wasn't officially considered a general, but everyone called him one out of convenience and respect.
In each city, there was a general protecting it. They were always the strongest people in the entire Kingdom, all of them were the best swordsmen, except for the city of Cathedral. It was the largest city in the Kingdom and once had been a small country, but it joined the Kingdom and is now just a city. However, the government of the city is somewhat different from the others. The general is the person who commands the city. That position is inherited and has always belonged to the Raioform family, the former rulers. Jade Raioform is a mage who uses fire and lightning magic, her power can match Silas's, but the two hated each other, and fortunately for him, she wasn't in the meeting.
"Not everyone has arrived yet," one of the generals said to the King.
The King sat down in a chair at the head of a long table, the other generals took their seats. Each chair had a number, each general had their own place to sit.
"Any reports of attacks?" the King went straight to the point.
"Yes, Panzer suffered a major attack. We reported it to the minister of security, but we received no support from the Capital," one of the generals said while standing and bowing.
The King was irritated. "What do you mean no help was sent?"
"We received the request a day after the first attack on the Capital, we couldn't send any forces," the minister said, he seemed afraid.
"What's the current situation in Panzer?" the King asked. "How so? As far as I know, only the Capital had been attacked."
"I'm sorry, but the information also took a long time to reach me," one of the ministers apologized.
"We managed to resist, but the walls suffered major damage. Reconstruction will take a long time."
"The walls were destroyed?" Duke Lyon paused briefly. "What do you mean the walls were destroyed?" He repeated the question.
"We suffered a massive attack of orcs and a dragon. We managed to deal with the attacks, but it took too long and was complicated. Their strength and the number of monsters managed to exhaust all our forces."
"I never thought I'd live to hear that Panzer's walls were destroyed," Silas said as he entered the meeting room. Since he wasn't one of the generals, he stood behind the King.
Then, Bedelia and Thalya entered.
"What's the chance that it's another country using someone else for the attack?"
"Low, but at the same time, it could be that. To be honest, I don't know. There have been many strange events, and any hypothesis could be useful, but at the same time, it could lead us away from the truth."
"A horn was found that can control monsters. We'll use it in the next attack, we want to minimize future damage."
"Can we reproduce that horn?"
"The question should be: can we reproduce that horn to use in the other cities?"
"Unfortunately, no alchemist has been able to understand how the horn works, since it's different from common magical items, as it has no visible magical inscriptions."
"So we only have one, if it breaks or stops working, it could be a great loss."
"If I may speak, my son can make more. He's very skilled and can create some magical items."
"How good is he?"
"He created a rusty sword that managed to break the indestructible sword the castle had in its arsenal."
The generals were whispering among themselves.
"Explain," the King requested.
"My son created a magical sword during a duel with the second prince. He used a rusty and thin sword, the headmistress took the sword for testing and decided to try it against the magical sword. That was a big mistake, since it broke a very valuable relic, but Your Majesty must already know that."
The King looked thoughtful, he didn't know that the headmistress had broken the Crown's sword.
"How old is your son?" one of the generals asked.
"Twelve years old."
More whispers, the generals were displeased.
"Alright, the alchemists will receive your son and he'll teach them the techniques."
"I'm sorry, but that's impossible. Not even the Academy's alchemists have managed to reproduce what he does, so he won't be useful that way."
The sentence sounded like an insult, but the King didn't take it that way.
"You dare say that our alchemists are inferior to a twelve-year-old boy?" Duke Lyon was furious. The first prince looked at him but said nothing. He took the phrase as an insult but didn't think it worth raising his voice to Silas.
"That's exactly what I said," Silas replied calmly, restraining every emotion.
"That's enough, both of you," the King said in a low but firm tone.
They both stopped talking, Bedelia was hiding a laugh, she hated Duke Lyon.
"Take your son to the workshop and ask him to recreate the horn. If he succeeds, he'll be rewarded. I also want him to try teaching the other alchemists, and we'll see whether they can or can't keep up with your son's skills."
That was a problem.