"Yes Father... To be more precise, I mean Principal Xavier Alexandria."
The name echoed across the throneroom with the authority that came with its owner. The muffled whispers of disdain turned to interest and disbelief amongst the nobles.
"Did he just say Xavier? That's impossible!"
"You don't mean that Alexandria right?"
"A personal meeting? How bad of a liar are you? Hahaha"
Although the whispers and murmurs carried on, Elric golden eyes flickered. Not with amusement or pride, but with interest and curiosity. The kind that disregarded common sense as in this case.
'This boy...' thought Elric with a frown.
"You're telling me..." Elric began with his calm and grumpy tone. "....That after all these years shut in finally decides to show his face for change?" Elric inquired with a grunt.
'Shut in?' Damian thought with interest.
"My king, don't tell me you actually believe this boy." A noble asked with a bow as no one could see any reason to believe Damian's words.
'I don't really blame these guys for their disbelief... Afterall, not even his students have so much as heard the guys voice. All we know is that he exists. For some reason he prefers to be... A shut in.' he mused.
But the numerous gossips were broken down by a single solid question from the king that set the whole throneroom in utter silence.
"Are you questioning my judgement?" voiced the king as he released a massive amount of his aura out into his surroundings.
Although only nobles were present, but even they wouldn't be stupid enough to travel without protection.
These 'protection' were bowing on their knees with respect in the back. But even they couldn't withstand the King's destructive aura.
Alas, once again amongst everyone present, only the unfathomable 7th Prince could move freely in this space without any restraints whatsoever.
'It would be nice to see these geezers grovel a bit, but sadly Lyra's also caught up in this too.' he sighed and spoke up. Although it was not much more than a whisper, the silence made it loud enough for everyone to hear him.
"Father..." Damian called out, shocking everyone present, "Please... quell your rage" he continued. "I admit that I am but a lowly 7th Prince. So I suppose it would be understandable if my words may prove doubtful..." he bowed.
"Hmmm..."
Fortunately for everyone, Damian's little speech worked perfectly as Elric instantly released the aura he spread all over the throne room.
"Know your place." Elric announced to the nobles present. "So Damian, what is it that you wish to ask of me? Or don't tell me you just wish to receive a good job from me." he jested
'Wow... Aren't you a smart one father. Now, what was it again?... Ah.'
"I wish to partake in this meeting father. That is... If you don't mind." he requested, smiling under his bow.
"That so?..." Elric muttered as a grin crept on his face. Then by all means, join us."
"Thank you father." Damian appreciated as both he and Lyra rose to their feet.
"Alright, it's meeting time."
• • •
"With all due respect your majesty, we have no idea what we're even facing here." A voice rang out from the crowd as many others followed suit in voicing out their complaints.
'Its been over an hour now since we joined this meeting, and I think I'm starting to get the gist of it.' thought Damian.
Apparently, the issue at hand wasn't exactly normal by this world's standards. It involved a strange phenomenon that had been going on recently. It involved a spike in mana on a kingdom wide scale.
"...But that's not all. Such a spike could only mean one thing..." Damian whisperedfrim the back where he ad his retainer watched the other nobles ramble on
"Creation of new dungeons." Lyra added.
"Yeah."
Dungeons. Insanely dangerous natural constructs with insane benefits to match. Inside housed a vast array of monsters and precious gems and minerals and lots of other stuff with both good and bad benefits too.
The thing about mana spikes like this one was that they meant that a new dungeon was forming itself somewhere in the area. And everytime a dungeon formed itself, it would spawn separate gates where monsters immediately poured out from in hoardes.
But this alone wouldn't be enough to put everyone on a kingdom scale panic. The main issue was that the mana spikes were happening almost everywhere. Not only that, the spikes weren't stable, which means that no one could pinpoint the exact location the dungeons were going to spawn. No one ever knew how many dungeons would appear either.
"Young master, this might be problematic don't you think?"
"I know right... All these nobles gathered here are either nobles whose cities showed lasting spikes or the ones whose cities would suffer one way or the other... I can't bp but feel for the old man you know."
"I agree." Lyra nodded.
"Calm yourselves..." Elric ordered. "In case you all might have forgotten, this capital city Edelgard has also been reported to possess its own mana spikes as well... I assure you we will find a solution to this anomaly. We have already dispatched soldiers out into the danger zones, so ease your fears for now."
"The old man is tensed... I can bet my inheritance that he doesn't know what to do right now."
"Really?" Lyra inquired.
"Definitely."
'Afterall... I've already loved through this period already' he grinned nonchalantly. 'I already know how this whole thing ends.'
'I honestly don't blame anyone for making a few mistakes as normally, this situation is unprecedented in history... Heck I didn't even figure out why it happened even up until my death.' he thought calmly as he shot Lyra a glance.
'But if I've been given a chance to change my fate, then that's what I'm gonna do... I'll protect everyone in this life. That's a promise.'
"O--kay" he stretched while standing up straight. "It's about time I ended this charade now wouldn't you agree?"
"You can't be serious... And how on earth would you have the answer to such a pressing question?" Lyra asked in confusion.
"Watch me." He grinned further as he began walking towards the throne once again with his hands in his coat, trying to look as cool as ever as he finally stopped just in front of the throne.
*Breathe...*
He took a deep breath to fill his lungs and yelled out, just enough to drown out the voices of the other nobles.
"FATHER!...."
"Huh?... It's that boy again?"
"Can't you see the grown ups are busy child?"
"He shouldn't even be here."
He blushed in embarrassment.
'Glad that got their attention... Though I guess I did go a little overboard with the yell huh... hehe... Anyways..."
"Hear me out father... Ive gotten the answee to the issue at hand... Call back all your troops..." He announced with a grin. "We're holding down the fort."