At another location.
In the office of Queen Catherine.
BAM!
Catherine sat at her desk, throwing a scroll at the head of a middle-aged man kneeling before her.
"This morning, there was chaos at the academy, and almost the seal of that man was destroyed."
"And tonight, a convoy of governnt staff and Royal Guards was attacked. Are you really in control of this city or not?"
Hearing Catherine's words, the middle-aged man lowered his head, pressing his lips tightly together.
His determined expression showed slight difficulty, but then he sighed and said, "Your Majesty, security has been tightened a lot."
"The Royal Guards and governnt staff have been deployed more around the city. However, this is truly strange. Please give ti to investigate."
"Ti?" Catherine coldly said, "How much ti do you need? While you investigate, how much more chaos will this city descend into? Do you even know?"
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty." The man bowed his head, seemingly unaffected by Catherine's anger, remaining calm and composed to a frightening degree.
Catherine, seeing how calm he was, felt her anger grow stronger.
However, she tried to control her fury and asked, "Have you checked all the information on the Lords who just returned from the Chaos World?"
"Checked, Your Majesty." The man nodded and said, "Even their summoning of the beasts to the city has been thoroughly examined."
"All the data has been cross-referenced with the energy fluctuation levels at the Academy and tonight's battle. However, the strange thing is that none of the information matches up."
"This suggests… it seems those people ca from outside."
"What do you an…" Catherine furrowed her brows.
"That's right, Your Majesty." The man continued, "According to the remaining witnesses and Aldric, it seems they ca from the Phoenix Guild."
Upon hearing this, Catherine sighed, feeling sowhat weary.
"Aldric… is a disciple of that person?" Catherine suddenly asked.
"That's right."
"Is he alright?" The Queen suddenly inquired about Aldric.
However, the man replied, "He's fine, just injured quite a bit."
Catherine nodded slightly, sighing and saying, "Increase the patrols. Any suspicious persons, you may capture and investigate first."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Call Aldric here."
"At once, Your Majesty." The man bowed, then left the room.
Catherine leaned back in her chair, trying to calm herself.
"Master, are you alright?" The maid standing beside Catherine gently asked, her voice filled with concern and worry.
Catherine waved her hand dismissively. "I'm fine, don't worry."
She said it, but deep down, she felt uneasy.
In truth, she wasn't fine.
An odd feeling had recently erged in her heart, especially five days ago.
That feeling made her heart beat faster, more anxiously, more hesitantly, and more prone to embarrassnt.
She didn't know what kind of feeling it was; at first, she thought it was just her instinct that was telling her that sothing dangerous was happening.
But a few days later, the feeling grew clearer, and she suddenly realized how strange it was.
Catherine imdiately thought of Carlotta.
But why would Carlotta be feeling this way? Could it be…
Catherine didn't dare to think about it further because it was too horrifying, too unreasonable.
Fortunately, that feeling had disappeared in the past two days, but instead, she felt a sense of sadness, exhaustion, and frustration.
Catherine frowned, silently cursing: 'Damn it! Carlotta, what the hell are you doing?'
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Suddenly, a knock on the door interrupted Catherine's thoughts.
The maid beside her nodded at Catherine, then raised her voice: "Please co in!"
Crack!
The door to the room opened, and Aldric entered, his body wrapped in many white bandages, with several injuries on his face that hadn't been treated yet.
At this mont, he was still wearing the Royal Guard uniform, his face serious and determined as he stepped into the room.
He approached Catherine, kneeling before her, respectfully saying, "Your Majesty, my most honourable and noble Queen."
Catherine nodded slightly. "It seems you've just been through a difficult battle."
Aldric felt deeply ashad upon hearing this, bowing his head even lower, saying, "Please punish , Your Majesty. I couldn't protect everyone, so I let them die at the hands of those evil ones."
"I willingly accept any punishnt."
As Aldric spoke, he removed his cloak from his back and offered it with both hands, his expression full of resolve.
Catherine sighed upon seeing this and said, "This is not your fault. After all, this ti, your opponent is a Phoenix Guild mber. Even if it were soone else, preserving their life would have been difficult, let alone protecting others."
"You are fortunate to have returned; I will not punish you."
"However, Aldric, do you want revenge?"
Aldric, hearing this, lifted his head, his eyes filled with hatred as he looked at Catherine. He nodded and said, "Definitely! Your Majesty, I want to kill the one responsible for the deaths of my comrades and the governnt staff."
"I want to kill them not just for revenge but to preserve peace for this city, for this Empire."
"Very well…" Catherine nodded, a look of satisfaction appearing in her eyes. "I will give you a chance, Aldric. Have you ever heard of the Dragon Realm?"
"Dragon Realm?" Aldric was surprised, quickly replying, "I've heard of it. My master once said that the Dragon Realm truly exists, but I am not worthy to go there."
"What if I give you a chance to go there?" Catherine asked.
Aldric was taken aback. He clenched his fists and said resolutely, "Even if I die, I will not disappoint the Queen."
"Good! That's what I wanted to hear." Catherine nodded, then took out a card made of a special tal.
The card showed signs of age as if it had been waiting for many years. It was engraved with nurous strange symbols in a crude fashion.
"This is the Pass Card. With it, you can go to the Dragon Realm, but the journey to get there is extrely difficult and terrifying," Catherine explained. "You may die before you even reach it."
"Aldric, do you wish to embark on this irreversible journey?"
Aldric held his fist over his chest, saying resolutely, "Your Majesty, I do not want to be weak."
"As long as I have the opportunity, I will seize it."
"I will beco stronger to serve this Empire, to serve my noble Queen."
Catherine threw the tal card to Aldric.
He respectfully caught the card, carefully holding it in his hand as if it were an invaluable treasure.
Aldric bowed to the ground, respectfully saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will surely return stronger than I am now."
"Go, I look forward to your future," Catherine waved.
Aldric bowed once more, then stood up and left.
As soon as he exited the room, the maid beside Catherine spoke: "Master, do you think it's too soon to give him that?"
Catherine shook her head, replying, "No, this is the right ti. After all, he has been stuck at level 7 for so long. It's ti for the Empire to have another Dragon Knight."
"But…" The maid seed to want to say sothing but fell silent.
"I know what you're about to say." Catherine sighed. "However, we can't place all our trust in that person. We should have a piece strong enough to counter them on the board."
…
The next day, in a secret room within Santoro's bar.
Noan looked at Vylyss lying on the bed, still unconscious, but he wasn't too worried.
Malrik had also said that she was recovering and sleeping would help speed up the healing.
Noan, on the other hand, had the 'Immortal' talent, so after the battle, all his wounds had almost fully healed.
Knock! Knock!
The sound of a knock echoed. Noan, hearing it, called out, "Co in!"
The door opened, and Santoro and Raito entered.
At that mont, Santoro was holding a tablet, looking worried as he spoke, "How could you have done this?"
"Hm?!" Noan furrowed his brows, confused as he asked, "What do you an?"
Santoro handed the tablet to Noan, who displayed several news items related to the day's events.
[Explosion of the gas pipeline on National Route 19, causing severe damage. The gas company has taken responsibility and promised to redy the situation.]
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