Compensation

Although Hendrick had already decided to keep supporting Sorren, his priority right now was to find a way to calm down the Sword Saints first.

"Rohm."

Hendrick rubbed his temples as he called Rohm.

"How is the investigation going?"

Upon hearing this question, Rohm looked glum, almost ashamed.

"...It's been much tougher than we thought, Your Majesty."

"Because the place had been completely burned down, the court magicians couldn't find any useful clues. Even after the survivors' memories had been read at least ten times, we still couldn't identify Mist's identity."

"As for those high-performance alchemical dolls the survivors mentioned, the knights have searched every house in the royal capital repeatedly, yet they've found no trace. It's like those dolls vanished into thin air—no footprints left behind."

"However, one thing is certain—Mist uses swordsmanship very similar to the swordsmanship I used, and it probably has the same capabilities to evade detection, so even using tracking magic won't help us find him."

"Unless we use some kind of precognition magic or something, it should be impossible to find the swordsman who calls himself Mist."

However, precognition magic could only be used by magicians who had compatibility with the Imaginary System, and so far, there was only one known person capable of using it.

Unfortunately, this person wasn't in Jinas but was a magician from another country who clearly wouldn't show up here to help the royal family of Jinas solve this problem.

"Not even a single clue?"

Hendrick's expression darkened.

"Even without a magician skilled in precognition magic, the royal treasury should have plenty of treasures with tracking and searching capabilities, right? Can't we use those?"

"Moreover, even if we can't find Mist, what about the magician controlling the dolls behind the scenes?"

"He who calls himself Mist is a swordsman, but the one controlling the dolls is definitely a magician, probably someone else. Did that magician use some kind of counter-detection magic or item?"

Sadly for Hendrick, each of his questions only resulted in more bad news from Rohm.

"Yes, we haven't found anything, not a single clue. Apparently, they came prepared and possessed exceptional hiding abilities... it might be impossible to track them down without using taboo methods, Your Majesty..."

What Rohm meant by the so-called taboo methods referred to powers that violated moral and ethical standards.

Throughout history, magicians had created one type of magic after another, some with effects that others could hardly imagine, capable of breaking norms and producing anomalous results.

In fact, not just magic, even swordsmanship was the same.

Demon Sword Style was one such example.

Normally, Special Swordsmanship required certain requirements to be met for practice, particularly regarding who could learn it.

However, Demon Sword Style, as a Special Swordsmanship, had almost no requirements to practice. Anyone could practice it, and once mastered, as long as they kept killing and drinking blood, they could quickly grow stronger.

Although its practitioners' growth speed was simply inhuman, far beyond what average Special Swordsmanship practitioners could compare, it came with side effects that could drive its practitioners insane, bloodthirsty, and cause them to completely lose their rationality, leading to total insanity.

Similarly, some taboo magic had great effects that even the magic of the Imaginary System couldn't match.

If Hendrick were to use this kind of magic, he could achieve results similar to using precognition magic, and at that point, he would definitely be able to identify Mist and the magician controlling the dolls.

However, the reason this kind of taboo magic was considered taboo, a method that should not have been used, was because it came with terrifying side effects or extremely inhumane activation conditions.

"No."

As Hendrick thought about the so-called taboo methods, he shook his head decisively, rejecting the idea.

"We're currently the focus of the entire royal capital, and everyone is watching us. If we use that kind of method, the chances of getting caught, if not a hundred percent, are definitely not low. Our troubles would only multiply from there."

If the king himself used a taboo method that was explicitly prohibited, the trouble would be far more severe than a prince kidnapping the family of a Sword Saint. At least the latter had some room for maneuvering, while the former didn't.

No matter the outcome, it would undoubtedly lead to unimaginable damage to the royal family's reputation.

If this matter were to be exploited by the Duke Faction, Hendrick could face a crisis of being forced out of power.

If Sorren had already been dead, Hendrick might have struggled and hesitated, but since Sorren was ultimately saved and didn't die, he certainly wasn't willing to take such a huge risk.

'If only I could confirm whether the mastermind behind this is Riezel Brynhart or not…'

Hendrick sighed tiredly.

Truthfully, he truly doubted Riezel.

Not only had they failed to find Mist, but they also hadn't located the magician manipulating the dolls from behind the scenes.

He always wondered, was it possible that the two were actually the same person?

One should know that Riezel was not only a Sword Saint but also a Tactical-Class Magician. If it was him, he should have enough capability to control hundreds of high-performance alchemical dolls, right?

However, according to the investigation, Riezel was supposed to be a Tactical-Class Magician proficient in the Interference System, with fifth-grade compatibility in it, which was essentially the magic system that had made him attain the status of Tactical-Class Magician.

Yet, during the attack on the Frenzel residence, it seemed Riezel had used a Tactical-Class Magic from the Transformation System, burning the entire Frenzel family's mansion down.

Additionally, Rohm also said that when Riezel fought him, Riezel was using Decomposition Magic from the Control System, and the power of his Decomposition Magic far exceeded what he should have been capable of.

All these facts seemed to hint that Riezel had a secret that no one else knew.

If only he could uncover Riezel's secret, perhaps he could discover the truth and the method behind why Riezel was able to become a Sword Saint at such a young age, as well as how he could use various types of high-class magic.

'Unfortunately, even Rohm has been defeated by him. If we really went after him, not only would the success rate be low, but forcing him into the enemy's embrace would be a fool's errand...'

Making another sigh, Hendrick had to suppress some dangerous impulses stirring within him.

"Your Majesty."

At the same moment, Rohm called Hendrick, who was lost in his thoughts.

Hendrick knew this was a reminder that he needed to make a decision.

"Issue the notice..."

Hendrick remained silent for a moment before continuing with a stoic expression.

"Since Prince Sorren is still unconscious, he cannot be held accountable yet. Once he wakes up, the royal family will definitely investigate this matter and provide everyone with a satisfactory explanation."

"Also, release the Brynhart family immediately. Now that their memories have already been read, keeping them serves no purpose."

"As for Sword Saint Riezel Brynhart, let him choose a treasure from the royal treasury as compensation."

In the end, this was the best course of action Hendrick could think of.

"Understood."

Rohm accepted the order and instantly vanished from sight.

===

Before long, Hendrick's statement spread to the royal capital, but many people, especially the nobles, scorned it.

"Wait for him to wake up? Who knows when that will be?"

"Whether Prince Sorren is awake or not, isn't that up to the royal family to decide?"

"Indeed, even if he's awake, the royal family can just announce that he's still unconscious and hasn't recovered, dragging it out until the fuss dies down, then hand out some casual punishment later."

"Hmph, isn't that just giving an excuse?"

"What a bullshit."

Many nobles saw right through Hendrick's so-called statement and scoffed at it.

Of course, the Cordelion siblings were no different.

Nevertheless, they also knew that since the king himself had made such a statement, if they pushed too far, the royal family would turn around and accuse them of being meddlesome.

After all, they couldn't just grab Sorren while he was still unconscious and start interrogating him, right?

No matter how you looked at it, Sorren was, in the end, still royalty. If anyone dared to make such a request, it would be like smacking the fact of 'not respecting the royal family' right on their foreheads.

Given such a situation, it was believable that the royal family wouldn't let them off the hook and might be looking to pin some blame on them.

As a result, neither the Duke Faction led by the Cordelion family nor the Sword Saints who had sent protest letters said anything further.

Riezel also learned about Hendrick's statement from Yuri.

"Choose a treasure from the royal treasury?"

Upon hearing about the compensation, Riezel felt a flicker of interest.

"It's a good thing, you know."

Responding to Riezel, Yuri seemed to be in a good mood, perhaps delighted to see the royal family in a tight spot.

"Everyone in Jinas knows the royal treasury is the national vault that holds the most precious, rare, and valuable treasures in all of Jinas. Everything there becomes part of the royal family's collection, which forms the foundation of Jinas."

"In there, you can find magic books that record ancient magic, long-lost books of Special Swordsmanship, and various legendary weapons, equipment, or items known as legendary treasures—truly a magnificent treasury, containing only the best treasures."

"I've only been in there once myself, so this chance you've just gotten is definitely not to be missed."

After hearing Yuri's explanation, Riezel smiled faintly.

It was undoubtedly a lucky break for him.

He had clearly almost killed a prince, not just any prince, but the most influential among them, the candidate for the next king. Yet, not only could the kingdom not punish him, but they also had to compensate him with a treasure instead.

Needless to say, this was beyond a loss for the royal family.

He had actually just wanted to take advantage of the situation, but somehow, he ended up with such a sweet result—it felt like he had hit the jackpot.

As for the Brynhart family's life and death, to be honest, he really didn't care and didn't feel that accepting the royal family's compensation to put the matter to rest was unfair to them.

If it had been one of his companions from the Loki Familia who was maliciously kidnapped, he absolutely wouldn't have let it slide, and no treasure could ever make up for it.

But the Brynhart family?

Forget it.

For this reason, Riezel decided to seize the opportunity and accept the royal family's compensation with open arms.

"Alright..."

Riezel nodded to Yuri, a little excitement showing in his eyes.

"I want to see what good stuff is in that so-called royal treasury."