Chapter 1761 - Royal Court (Part 1)
The god of healing lay right in front of the King's throne, incapable of moving more than a few fingers at a time.
Meron looked at him with a scowl, and so did a petite figure sitting beside him on a smaller throne that resembled the Queen's. Lith recognized her as Princess Peonia.
She was a young woman, 20 years old, about 1.58 (5'2") tall. She had blonde hair streaked silver, black, and blue all over. Her blue eyes and Tyris' blood smoothened the sharp features she had inherited from her mother.
That along with her slender figure and diminutive stature made her as cute as a button.
Her presence was unexpected as well since the throne wasn't hereditary and the heirs of the current King had no voice in matters of state.
Lith gave them both a deep bow, waiting for an explanation.
"It's nice to see you again, Archmage Verhen." Meron greeted him with a nod of his head. "I wanted to personally thank you before discussing the next item of our agenda."
"Thank me for what, exactly?" Between Pelan's report, the missing Dragon corpse, and the railgun, a warm welcome confused him more than a sword pointed to his throat.
"The Royal Healer informed us that it was you who convinced him to return after just a few days from his latest escapade. Also, he told us how your diagnostician skills helped him to figure out the threat of the Skinwalkers." The King said with a fatherly smile.
Now that the situation finally made sense, Lith glared at Manohar. He silently scolded the Mad Professor for breaking his promise to not involve Lith in that mess.
"Nobody's perfect." Manohar replied since the word sorry wasn't part of his vocabulary.
"There's no shame in admitting your own limits and asking for help from a peer, Manohar. Especially when you suspect that the security of the Kingdom is at risk." Meron smiled, but at a flick of his wrist, the chains tightened, just to be safe.
"As for you, Lith, I always encourage friendship and camaraderie, but the next time Manohar contacts you while he is on the run, I'd like you to not cover for him and inform us of his position."
'Great. Now I'm considered his accomplice.' Lith inwardly sighed.
"I didn't contact Your Highness because Manohar promised me that he would start working on the issue immediately. How long ago did he return?" He said.
"About an hour ago, right before you were summoned." Princess Peonia's warm smile made his bachelor sense tingle.
"It was obvious that when I said 'immediately', I meant after I was done with my current project, Lith. Your misunderstanding is an insult to both my and your intelligence." Manohar whined as if he was the injured party.
"If you are done showing off your daughter, Meron, we have a lot of work ahead of us."
At those words, the King and Peonia blushed in embarrassment. If someone as insensitive as Manohar called out their ruse, then it had been way too obvious.
"It's King Meron for you." He said just to save his dignity in front of the Royal Guards. "Are you sure about the Skinwalkers?"
"It's the only explanation that makes sense, Meron." The Mad Professor replied. "Both Lith and I have found minuscule abnormalities in the life forces of several nobles. Too many for it to be a coincidence."
It sounded a farfetched hypothesis to the King, but he had long accepted that Manohar's genius was beyond the understanding of mages that were just talented. Lith somehow following his logic was an unprecedented miracle.
"Do you understand that we can't just arrest all nobles in the Kingdom? Panic would spread and without leaders, our forces are useless."
"Do you take me for an idiot?" Manohar scoffed. "Of course I know that. That's why you need to release me. We have a perfectly plausible reason to examine the nobles in Zeska since they have been allegedly imprisoned for months.
"If Thrud's Skinwalkers have replaced anyone, it must be one if not all of them. Once I expose their presence and find a way to identify Skinwalkers that even regular mages can use, I'll pass it onto you."
"Fine, but remember that time and discretion are of the essence." A snap of Meron's fingers released the god of healing from his bindings. "No tomfoolery nor delay is allowed. Are we clear?"
"Crystal." Manohar dusted off his clothes and took his leave without bowing.
"That man will be the death of me." Meron sighed, weaving at the Royal Guards to let him go.
"Since I'm already here, I would like to ask you a few questions, Your Majesty." Lith said and the King nodded for him to continue.
"I was wondering what happened to Captain Pelan after the mission in Zeska and why you listed my latest creation as tier one forbidden magic yet I received no commission nor instruction about it."
The King flinched at those words, taking his time to find a polite way to answer.
"Captain Pelan and some of the upper echelons of the army, like General Morn aren't happy with your leadership. Xolman Pelan may be an idiot, but his family is powerful and well connected.
"Demoting him kicked a hornet nest in the Court and the loss of the Dragon's corpse only made it worse. Even though the army failed to help you in the subjugation of the beast, its remains should have been split equally between you and Tiamat.
"Since you were there as an army official, the Kingdom was entitled to half of your share which is a lot considering the size of a Dragon. Yet your ally disregarded the law and took everything for himself."
'Yeah, right.' Lith inwardly scoffed. 'If I lost a quarter of the corpse, I wouldn't have enough to make a decent armor.'
"I solved the issue without involving you because I know that you don't like politics. No matter how much Pelan complained, there were plenty of witnesses to his insubordination and to your valiant fight against Quaron on the frontlines.
"We have issued a dead or alive arrest order for Tiamat, but you have my word that's not going to affect you in any way. You are not responsible for the actions of an associate of yours." Meron tried and failed to reassure Lith.
'That would be true, if not for the fact that you and Tiamat are the same person.' Solus said. 'Now you have to be careful when shapeshifting.'
"As for the weapon, you are forbidden to manufacture more, even for yourself." The King said.
"I'm fine with it, but I expected Your Majesty to ask me to provide a few for the Royal Army." Lith replied.
"Thanks for your kind offering, but no." Meron had completely misunderstood his words. "An alchemic weapon like that bypasses arrays and can be used even by non-mages, making it a threat for my life as well as for yours.
"General Morn wanted to build some of them the size of a ballista and use them as either siege weapons or defensive systems against Divine Beasts, but I denied his request.
"We have traitors in our midst and if one of them puts their hand on…"
"Thundercrash." Lith said.
"Thundercrash, they might use it to conquer our own cities."