Episode 142 - Unimaginable amount of evidence.

Previous ep: Aedelak reaction to time stopping was suspicious. Eugene did not rest and wanted to go with everyone to the tribal village. Dea was still hanging on a thin thread and was still being operated on. Aernest listened to Moniqua and Levis last night.

.

.

Aernest fumbled with his index finger and cast a dejected stare to his feet. The reason why he listened in was so that he could report everything to Eugene. When she had protected him from Commander Kal yesterday, he found out that she cared more about him than she had let out and because of that he felt their bond becoming stronger. This bond made him want to become stronger to protect Eugene just like she protected him. And for the first time, the ears he didn't like, due to the scars, grew on him since he could use them to help Eugene.

“....” Eugene did not understand why Aernest was being pouty towards her all of a sudden. Though she has slightly overcome her alexithymia condition, this did not mean that she could understand why he was looking at her like this.

She decided to ignore Aernest and instead turn to Moniqua to ask about the random King that suddenly appeared in their conversation.

“And help has arrived by this… King Erich?” She was unsure where Erich was from since she had yet to learn the geography of United West Liasel.

Levis replied in Moniqua’s stead, “Yes, the King has sent many physicians over as well as many knights.” He paused for a moment and explained, “King of Erich rules over the country beside Zene. Erich is a country that produces a large number of specialized physicians and is one of the leading countries in the healthcare profession.”

“Oh…” So that’s where the limb specialized physician came from.

“The King himself also arrived in Zene this morning,” Moniqua added.

“...Yes?” Eugene blinked her eyes as she couldn’t believe what she just heard. Can a King just leave the country like that? And why did he come? Was it because the incident was too big?!

“Is it because this time’s issue was too big?”

Moniqua and Levis sighed and nodded at the same time.

“But why must he come in person? And how did he know about this incident so quickly?”

“Well…”

.

.

It all started before Levis and Moniqua entered Zene. Just right before they were to enter Zene, they encountered a handful of knights guarding the border of Zene. Now, knights guarding the border was nothing odd. Though border controls weren’t strict, occasional border control was implemented to ensure nothing shady was exchanged between countries. So the fact that there were a handful of knights guarding the border was nothing odd.

But what Levis and Moniqua found odd was the knights guarding Zene with their backs facing Xenperia.

There were no knights who guard like this, as they should be inspecting people entering the country… not people leaving the country. Levis found this especially suspicious because to him it seemed as if they weren’t on patrol but were caging people inside Zene. As if they didn’t want anyone leaving Zene at all.

Because of this, Levis and Moniqua had to enter Zene in a slightly roundabout way. And during the time he and Moniqua took a break, he sent a report to Emperor Zen and reported that the knights patrolling were suspicious and for the Emperor to look into it. As a backup, he sent a report containing the same findings to Zene’s neighboring country, Erich.

There were 3 reasons why he took this extra step. His first reason was simple and that was to ensure that at least one of his letters gets delivered.

If Zene’s knights were truly guarding anyone against entering Xenperia, this would mean that there was a high chance that they would block his messenger bird from delivering his letter to Xenperia. And in case his letter did not reach Emperor Zen’s hands, his backup report might get to King Erich instead. This then leads to the second reason why he chose this step.

His second motive was to enclose the oddity of this situation but also probe around to see if the border from Zene to Erich had the same situation as well.

His third motive was to raise King Erich’s suspicion which would be raised when he receives his report instead of a report from the Emperor of Xenperia, because why would a Duke of Xenperia report to another King? As a King of his country, he would not be able to leave this oddity alone and would investigate.

Later, a messenger bird came after the white-eye tribe incident. The messenger bird was from King of Erich which confirmed his suspicion that Zene was only guarding the border to Xenperia.

In the letter he received, King of Erich confirmed that Erich was not guarded. He also mentioned that he has since sent his report to Xenperia and that he would investigate Zene from his side.

In response, Levis thanked the King as well as reported the incident in Zene to King Erich in hopes that the King will alert this matter to Xenperia as well as report this matter to the counsel of United West Liasel which would then alert all the countries inside United West Liasel.

He had expected help to arrive the following day however what he did not expect was the King himself to come to the capital of Zene together with 2 board members of United West Liasel union.

The two board members of United West Liasel union together with the King of Erich have since been in a meeting with the King of Zene who came through just this dawn. Duke Marleigh, Crown Prince and Musician Hal were also partaking in this meeting as the observer, witness, and victim.

.

.

.

Eugene nodded, ‘So that’s how this ‘King’ suddenly popped out of nowhere…’ She thought silently and praised Levis’s smart move. If Levis hadn’t acted fast enough, help wouldn’t arrive as early as it did.

And without needing to ask, she understood that this country was in turmoil and that security must have completely collapsed. And, while the citizens were joyful and smiling, they would soon be unable to maintain this front if the country does not receive the help it requires.

Levis's contact with a king from another country also explained why he and Moniqua did not look panicked yesterday.

But talking about King Erich... Eugene had a revelation, “Will His Majesty, Emperor Zen come too?” The King of Erich was here, so wouldn’t this mean Emperor Zen might pop up as well?

Levis chuckled, “No. One King is enough to deal with this situation. Besides, the board members of United West Liasel union will deal with this situation and will gather the Kings of United West Liasel for a meeting soon.”

“United West Liasel union? Are they important?” It was the first time she’s heard of such a group so she was slightly confused.

Levis nodded, “They are important and are made to keep order within the United West Liasel. Each country in the United West Liasel decides on its representatives and sends them over to the UWL union. There are many things UWL does and one of their most important jobs is to watch foreign activities. They look out for potential war breaking out in other countries and or countries threatening to revolt against the United West Liasel.”

“And two of these board members are currently in a meeting with the King of Zene.”

Levis nodded, “Yes.”

The King of Zene came through this morning with the help of the Royal physician's bustling here and there all night. Because they were in charge of the King's body, the King's health horrified them tremendously. Their responsibility was enormous, and you could argue that the cost of not discovering the King's true condition or allowing his condition to deteriorate during their care was worthy of execution.

The physicians all wanted to jump into a river and drown when they realized how bad the King’s physical and mental health was. It was like a joke to them because the King gets a full body check-up once a week.

Yet under their eyes, the King had been given a dosage of vicious medicine that makes his mind weak. This vicious medicine is normally used on animals whom you want full control over, such as carriage horses. To use this on a King, one had to have a thick face. But it wasn’t just this medicine that was found, numbing medicine was also found. When taken for a long time, you will eventually become numb, not just physically but mentally. As if you aren’t alive.

Patients will become unable to feel empathy which is the most important emotion of humans. To these patients, everyone in their eyes will become unrelatable. Resentment and anger will also become an issue. And Commander Kal most likely took advantage of this and drove wedges between the King and people.

“But the King is in the meeting. Does this not mean he is somewhat recovered?” Eugene asked.

Levis shook his head, “No. Though he has somewhat come back, he has yet to recover.” At most, he is 10% recovered. He had taken too much medicine for years and was also constantly hypnotized that full recovery in a day was impossible.

But the truth is, the King was able to take part in the meeting because of that 10% recovery. With sheer will as the King of Zene, he surpassed himself to make decisions as a ruler. That being said, his personality was not that different from yesterday. But because the truth has come out, he is questioning every move and every decision he makes based on facts and not emotions.

Eugene mouthed an ‘oh’ and nodded, “It is good that the King is… slightly back then.”

“Yes, it is.” Levis agreed immediately. A country without a monarch will simply not run. Yes, the Crown Prince of Zene could be the next King but there was already a massive problem with that and that was that the King disliked his ‘offspring’. Shady nobles would take this chance and overthrow the Crown Prince. The knights who thought of Commander Kal as their number one priority will never choose to support the Crown Prince.

In other words, as of right now, the Crown Prince couldn’t be the King.

“What was the knight's reaction to everything?”

“It is difficult to say.” Levis pursed his lips and continued, “Some knights are in deep regret. But some knights are not in support of the revelation. It is a tricky situation to be in. As a knight, you swore allegiance to the person you serve, which is Commander Kal and the King.” He sighed, “It’s a very complicated situation to be in.”

“What did… they do?” If some knights still choose to follow Commander Kal, wouldn’t this be a big problem? Or is it possible that there was already a revolt?

“The Crown Prince saw the knight’s displeasure and made the knights investigate Commander Kal themself. Whatever they want to believe is up to them, but they had to investigate Commander Kal in great detail first.”

Eugene’s eyebrows rose, “And what happened?” It was a move she never expected from him which made her quite surprised.

Levis was silent for at least a minute before sighing, “It was horrifying…”

The Crown Prince, Duke Marleigh, and the knights did an extensive search of Commander Kal’s residence. This included the greenhouse where the children were kept, the forbidden room, the lake, the stone figures, etc, etc.

According to Duke Marleigh, his palace was like a pandora box. An unimaginable amount of evidence was found. One of the pieces of evidence found included research Kal had been developing over years. This research included the King but other subjects stood out more and that was research on children. Specifically his children.

This revelation shocked the knights and everyone greatly because no human would dare touch children, let alone his blood.

In the report, it stated that with children, specifically his children, that he was able to achieve a higher level of hypnotism and control than other subjects. And if experimented with for a long time, the children would become great war soldiers without emotions. They would be unable to have a mind of their own and would no longer be human.

In the course of this experiment, many of his children had passed away. This did not include his current generation of children who were supposed to be his third-biggest sacrifice. At the end of his report, he included that this batch had a 99% chance of complete control.

But unfortunately for him, they were all dead. When the knights and Duke Marleigh began investigating the greenhouse, they were left with a complete murder scene. There was not even a single body left to recover but by the sheer amount of blood alone, anyone could tell that there was no way the children were alive. These were the children Commander Kal accused Duke Marleigh and Duke Rodriguez of killing.

“And did the knights still believe in Commander Kal?” Eugene asked.

Levis shook his head, “The more they doubted, the less control Kal’s hypnotism had on them. By the end of the day, the knights were able to somewhat recover from their hypnotism and were able to question their loyalty to Commander Kal and their loyalty to the King. It will still take time however it won’t be long before the knights completely come through…”

Eugene exhaled in relief.

Aernest scratched his chin and also nodded along. Though he didn’t exactly understand the words exchanged between Eugene and Levis, one thing he understood was that everything would be alright!

“....” He felt as if he forgot or missed something very essential. But before he could ponder upon what it was, the carriage rattled very violently, causing him to smack his head to the carriage with a loud thud!

“Ack!” He clutched his head as he turned to Eugene who was very close to him.

‘Did I or did I not bump into the carriage?’ He was unsure what he hit but no matter. His head was aching so much and he felt as if he almost crossed over to heaven just now. But before he could pout, the carriage driver announced their arrival.

“.....” Aernest’s tears hung at the corner of his eyes...