An Interruption

As they came to the palace, the King's herald led them to the throne room and announced their arrival.

While the group marveled at the grandness and splendor of the hall, Gerald used his Magic Eyes to look around. He felt discomfort from the moment they entered the palace, and it was not without a reason.

The walls were reinforced with all kinds of runes invisible to the naked eye, and dangerous-looking soldiers stood guard on the edges. They wore a mixture of red hard leather and black metal armor, giving them a feeling of ruthlessness and aggression.

They were known as the Shadow Guard and were the King's guard, tasked with protecting him and his family from any harm, even at the cost of their own lives.

But all of that was not what made him feel suffocated, no, the reason he felt so was that some of these soldiers had no Mana signature! Mana flowed through them freely as if they weren't there, as if they were just an illusion.

The King was currently busy talking with a few of his people, but when he saw Arthur and the rest come in, he waved those people to the side to welcome his new guests.

"Ah, Arthur, you are back! And you must be Gerald, correct? Welcome, welcome!" The King came close to greet them.

Arthur quickly composed himself and made a serious expression. "Your Majesty!" he bowed while greeting. Gerald also leaned forward a bit while saying hello. He did not like the way he felt in the presence of the King though.

The man was also devoid of any Mana fluctuations, at least that's how Gerald saw it. But that was impossible! How could the most powerful man in the Kingdom appear so weak? A more likely explanation was that he could somehow cloak his Mana signature, and that's what made it terrifying!

Even powerful beasts that Gerald came across weren't able to do that. That's what made him feel so safe, he always knew when they were preparing to attack. But these people, the King, and some of his guards could attack him suddenly and without any warning. They were dangerous!

While Gerald examined the people around him, King Robart III also scrutinized him. It was just that he was already at the Nascent Soul Realm, and he could 'see' much more.

"Hmm, interesting…" the King murmured. 'This fella is quite interesting… He has so much Mana for being just a normal human… And his Soul is really weird, I wonder why,' he mused.

"Let's get straight to the point, shall we?" the King said, "I asked mister Arthur over there to bring you here because I'm interested in the Stamina Potions your master can make…"

"Wait!" Gerald lifted his hand and quickly said, "I heard that lying is to Your Majesty is forbidden, but how does that work? How do you decide who is lying and who is not?"

The King lifted his eyebrow in surprise for a second and then burst into laughter, "Haha, that's the first time someone asked me something bold like this!"

The King was not the only one who was in a good mood. Even the Shadow Guards who always wore a serious expression couldn't help but smile a little. The only one not having fun was Arthur who started sweating bullets.

"Alright, since you are interested I might as well tell you, it's not some secret anyway," the King said. "I can detect if people around me are telling the truth, so why don't you tell me about yourself and I'll tell you if you are sincere or not. Just start with your name."

Gerald squinted his eyes slightly. He only said those things randomly to see how these people would react to test their character, but now he was almost being interrogated.

"My name is Gerald," he started.

"That's a lie!" The King immediately smiled, but then looked at Arthur in doubt. The latter started sweating even more.

Gerald calmly nodded after getting exposed immediately, "True, that was not the name given to me by my parents, but my parents are not with me in this world. I didn't have any family members or relatives, I was all alone… That's why I changed my name, to start anew."

After hearing Gerald's short story, the people around him sympathized with him. Even the King became somber. "I see, my condolences. It must be difficult losing your family…"

"I try not to think about it," Gerald answered. 'So he can't detect warped truth, huh?'

"Why did Your Majesty call for me?"

The King straightened his back and spoke, "I'll get straight to the point then… I wish to buy the recipe for the Stamina Potion! I know it belongs to your master and I know he is currently gone, but we can't afford to wait for him to return..."

Gerald was not too surprised to hear it, but he had to express his thoughts, "Er, why the rush all of a sudden? Couldn't you wait another few months at least? Is there something happening?"

Although the King tried to keep a poker face, it was quite clear that he was internally having a debate with himself. He wasn't sure if he should reveal the truth since it will come to light soon enough anyway.

Bam!

Suddenly the door to the throne room opened loudly and a giant man came inside while fuming in anger. His eyes scanned the room momentarily before landing on a certain person.

"You bastard! How dare you harm my daughter, I'll kill you!" The man's leg strength exploded and he almost flew forward, landing a powerful punch on Gerald's face before the guy even knew what was happening.

Boom!

Gerald flew across the room and smashed into the Rune-reinforced wall with full force. Luckily he was on high alert the entire time and managed to cast the Iron Body on himself, but that punch still broke his skin and he started bleeding from his mouth.

He coughed out some blood and saliva while trying to recover from the dizziness he experienced from the impact.

"Razor! What are you doing?!" the King shouted after seeing one of his generals suddenly attack his guest.

"Father wait, stop!" Tabbris came running into the throne room after his father, but alas, he was too slow to stop him.

After losing the duel he and his sister went to meet their father, who was surprised to see him covered in cuts and bruises.

Aster quickly started talking about Gerald and how it was him who attacked her. Tabbris didn't even have time to explain when Razor already flew into a rage after hearing the culprit was in the palace. He lost his rationality and barged into the throne room unannounced and attacked without thinking.

Clack!

Gerald's silver hand produced a sound of a mechanism clicking open and this palm moved out of the way, revealing the opening of a barrel. His sight was still blurry, but he didn't need to see to know who attacked him.

"I don't care anymore, someone is dying today!" Mana inside him suddenly erupted like a volcano and surged towards his cannon. He lifted his hand and Razor could clearly see the iron ball inside it. He suddenly felt threatened!

"Stop!" the King shouted, and instantly everyone in the throne room fell to the floor holding their head in pain, including his guards and consultants. Gerald also held his head in pain and immediately lost control over his own Mana. He collapsed to the ground.

The pressure the King exerted only lasted a few seconds, and even the man responsible for it had to take a few deep breaths and sit down to compose himself. He used a crude Soul attack, but because he barely just entered the Nascent Soul stage, he couldn't control it well and it likewise exhausted him quickly.

By now everyone already regained their footing and could stand back up, but nobody thought about fighting anymore. It was all so sudden that many didn't get what was happening, including the girls who stood by the door stupefied.

"Razor!" the King shouted sternly, "Explain yourself!"

Feeling his King's anger, Razor shuddered, but the anger in his eyes did not subside, "Your Highness, forgive me for rudely interrupting, but this man is the one that attacked my daughter and almost made her cultivation go haywire! I beg Your Highness to let me settle this!"