đ Chapter 52:
The palace was enormous, its white walls polished to the point of reflecting sunlight like mirrors, interwoven with delicate golden patterns resembling intertwined veins.
Four towers surrounded the palace, rising like massive spears, with royal flags fluttering at their peaks. The main entrance was colossal, and a stone-paved pathway led directly to a massive metal gate, engraved with the kingdom's emblem: two crossed swords around a shield, topped by a royal crown.
As soon as Ryo reached the entrance, Prince Elithius had already fainted. The guards at the gate noticed Ryo immediately:
"Look, it's Ryo! The prince must be with him!"
The guards welcomed Ryo's return, but he informed them that he was in a hurry. They also noticed the other people accompanying him, along with the prince in his weakened state.
"Waitâwho are these people, and why is the prince asleep?"
Ryo didn't give them an answer and walked straight into the palace. Still, the guards tried to stop him.
"Wait, Ryo! At least tell us who these people are!"
Ryo replied simply:
"They are our allies."
The guards were puzzled by their appearances: Haizen in a black suit, Number Five wrapped like a mummy, and Takeru, who was clearly a outsider to them. One guard commented:
"They look⊠peculiar."
Takeru and Haizen responded in unison:
"Who are you calling peculiar, fools?"
After that, Ryo entered the palace while the guards watched in astonishment, unable to comprehend what was happening. He headed straight for the palace's medical wing, where all palace membersâfrom the royal family to the lowest servantâreceived treatment.
Inside was Dr. Azitram, the chief physician of the palace. He was astonished to see Ryo approaching:
"Oh⊠Ryo, where have you been all this time?"
Takeru and Haizen got down on their own, while Ryo himself carried down the prince and Number Five from his back. Seeing them, Dr. Azitram tried to understand the situation:
"Ryo, what is this? What's happening here? Who are these people, and what's wrong with the prince?"
Ryo explained that many questions would be answered later, but first, the injured needed treatment:
"Doctor Azitram, these are our allies, and you must take care of them and the prince. His condition is not good. As for all the questions running through your mind, we will discuss them later when everyone is in better condition."
Dr. Azitram trusted Ryo's words and did not object. He summoned his assistants to tend to the injured and wanted to know their names.
"Since I will be treating you, could you tell me your names?"
Each of the three began to introduce himself. First was Takeru:
"My name is Takeru⊠Takashi Takeru."
"Takashi Takeru? That's an unusual name."
Takeru raised an eyebrow in irritation:
"Look at your nameâit sounds like a medicine box."
Dr. Azitram felt provoked by Takeru's comment. Then Haizen gave his name:
"I'm Haizen."
"Just Haizen?"
"What more do you want? This isn't a meet-and-greet session."
Finally, it was Number Five's turn:
"My name is BrenâŠ"
But Dr. Azitram showed no interest, leaving Five deeply frustrated.
Meanwhile, Ryo, sitting in the royal garden, was approached by a palace guard who informed him:
"Sir Ryo, the king has summoned you. He has heard of your return."
Hearing this, Ryo shivered slightly. He and the prince had disappeared for a while because they were hiding from the gang, but the palace never knew that this was the reason behind their disappearance.
Given all that had happened, he had to tell them everything he knew.
He headed straight to the main hall of the royal palace, where King Orik of the Azmirin Kingdom and his court were discussing the country's economy. A member of the court, the finance minister, handed the king a report on the kingdom's financial status for the month:
"Here, Your Majesty, this is our financial report for this month."
The king took the document and read about the current situation:
"This is excellent. We've made progress compared to last month; income only decreased by fourteen percent."
The finance minister interrupted:
"Sorry, Your Majesty, but the income actually dropped by forty-one percent. You're presenting the numbers in a more favorable light than they are."
"Apologies, but as you know, I have numerical blindness."
"Your Majesty, I don't mean to be rude, but we know you're lying. There's no such thing as numerical blindness."
"No, I really have it."
"Your Majesty, you've been doing this since the financial crisis began. It's obviously deliberate."
Mention of the financial crisis reminded the king how it had started.
"Speaking of which, the Vitalis Crystal has been depleting severely. It's the material that significantly boosts our agriculture and industry. If this material disappears, the economy will plummet, as we heavily depend on it."
Another court member, the kingdom's army commander, added that it was due to rampant theft of this resource:
"All of this is due to thieves stealing the crystal. Most kingdoms don't rely on it as a primary source of income. If this resource disappears entirely, our revenue will weaken, our army will falter, and we'll be vulnerable to neighboring kingdoms."
King Orik grew worried and announced a new decision:
"Since things have come to this, we must use the extra stock of crystal stored beneath the palace."
The court was shocked by this decision, considering it a drastic measure.
At that moment, Ryo arrived in the hall. The king welcomed him:
"Ryo, you've been gone for some time. How are you? And where is that foolish boy? He must have forgotten about the elite exam."
Ryo lowered his head shyly, unprepared to tell the king everything that had happened. However, the king himself began to sense that something was wrong.
"Ryo, is something wrong? Where is Elithius? Why didn't he come with you?"
Ryo stammered:
"Th-the prince⊠Elithius⊠he's currently in the medical wing, Your Majesty."
Hearing this, the king rose in shock. On top of the kingdom's troubles, learning about his son added insult to injury:
"What happened, Ryo? Tell me what happened to my son⊠speak."
Ryo replied:
"Your Majesty, Prince Elithius fainted shortly before we arrived here."
"And why did he faint?"
As Ryo tried to explain, another palace guard arrived with more shocking news:
"Your Majesty, EconPulse Company was attacked about an hour ago."
News of the attack on EconPulse, the nation's leading import-export company and also the front for the Numbers gang, reached the king's ears-it was, of course, the very attack carried out earlier by Takeru and Haizen to retrieve Prince Elithius.