King Estadian stood frozen in shock. The words that had just been blurted out by his first son seemed to be rejected by his common sense. He never expected, and truly did not want to believe, that not only had the main library been picked clean, but the royal treasury had also suffered the exact same fate in a single night.
To confirm Pratesias's report with his own eyes, the King, without uttering a single word, strode out of the library with hurried footsteps, completely ignoring the protocols of composure he usually upheld in front of his subordinates.
Seeing the ruler of the Victoriaz Kingdom rush away, Franz Hualimand immediately withdrew his mana flow. The transparent golden dome of Mana Visualization that had been enveloping the library slowly faded, dimmed, and finally vanished completely. After dispelling his magic, the investigator immediately walked with quick steps, catching up to King Estadian toward the royal treasury.
Now, inside the spacious and silent library, only Pratesias was left all alone.
Following the departure of his father and the royal investigator, the First Prince slowly straightened his body. His heavy panting from running all the way from the treasury began to steady. However, as his panic began to subside, his awareness was slowly drawn back to the surroundings where he currently stood.
Pratesias's eyes swept his surroundings. He instantly realized what he was looking at. The towering wooden shelves, which should have housed hundreds of books, now stood completely empty. Not a single book, parchment, or scroll was left. Everything was wiped clean, as if this room had just been built and had never been filled with anything.
What exactly happened here?! Pratesias screamed in shock in his heart. His eyes continuously scoured every aisle of the shelves, searching for at least one or two books that might have fallen or been left behind. However, the result was nil.
He walked slowly along one of the shelves, tracing the empty wooden surface with his fingertips.
Why did the neatly arranged books on these shelves disappear at the exact same time as the treasures inside the royal treasury? Pratesias muttered in his heart, trying to search for answers amidst the silence.
He was utterly confused. He truly did not understand. This entire incident made absolutely no sense to him, as if it had been meticulously orchestrated.
A large-scale looting occurring in two different, highly vital locations within the palace without anyone noticing made the prince feel that something was deeply amiss.
However, amidst his confusion, Pratesias's analytical mind as the Crown Prince slowly began to work. His memory returned to the series of events that had recently taken place within the palace grounds. He began piecing the fragments of those incidents together into one larger picture, forming his strongest hypothesis.
First, the escape of the prisoners from the underground prison. That bloody incident had killed so many of their best soldiers, rendering the capital's military defense forces extremely weak and vulnerable.
Second, the current state of the library. The disappearance of all magic books, precious parchments, and the kingdom's historical records. Without these literatures, the successors of the royal family and the nobles would severely lack the knowledge needed to progress, which could even lead to their own kingdom's history being completely forgotten.
Third, and most fatal of all, was what he had just witnessed with his own eyes. The disappearance of all money, gold coins, jewelry, and other valuable assets from the treasury would only worsen the situation. Without funds in the state treasury, the palace would be unable to pay the surviving soldiers or rebuild damaged facilities, ultimately causing the kingdom's economy to become completely paralyzed or even collapse in the near future.
A decimated military. Eradicated knowledge. A paralyzed economy. The three main pillars upholding the Victoriaz Kingdom had been systematically and methodically destroyed.
Was all of this actually orchestrated by the mysterious assassin who killed Wiltan? Pratesias hypothesized in his mind. He recalled the mysterious figure who had suddenly appeared to block the Second Prince's sword swing. But, for some reason, I feel absolutely certain... that assassin is the mastermind behind all the chaos unfolding in this kingdom.
...
Meanwhile, deep within a different palace corridor, King Estadian's footsteps echoed loudly. He kept running until he finally arrived in front of a set of double doors, one of which was already left wide open.
With a sense of dread, King Estadian immediately stepped inside. However, the moment he crossed the threshold, his steps came to an abrupt halt. He froze where he stood, as if both of his feet had just been nailed to the floor.
The sight before him right now was far worse than any nightmare.
Just as his first son had reported earlier, inside the room that was as massive as a grand hall, there was absolutely nothing left. The mountains of gold coins, jewelry, and other precious items had all vanished without a trace.
Seeing all of his kingdom's treasures stolen away without a single piece remaining, King Estadian's eyes glinted sharply. His face hardened, restraining an outburst of emotion that was on the verge of exploding.
"Who has dared to do this to my kingdom?" the King growled, his voice laden with a burning, seething fury. His hands clenched tightly by his sides. "I swear... I will track down and hunt the culprit!"
Shortly after, the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard from behind. Franz Hualimand, the royal investigator, had arrived and stepped into the royal treasury.
However, just like the King, the man's steps instantly halted the moment his eyes caught the horrifying sight in the room.
The room was completely empty!
The reaction displayed by the investigator was exactly identical to that of King Estadian. Even after decades of handling various criminal cases, Franz could not hide his utter shock at what he had witnessed inside this royal treasury.
The sheer scale of this theft was far beyond the realm of ordinary human logic.
"Y-Your Majesty... this..." the middle-aged man muttered unconsciously, his voice trembling amidst the silence of the treasury room.
Hearing that murmur, King Estadian instantly turned around. He looked at Franz with an incredibly sharp gaze, radiating the intimidating aura and absolute authority of a king.
In such a critical situation where his kingdom was hanging by a thread, the King felt deeply furious at the investigator's action of standing transfixed and murmuring, instead of immediately carrying out his primary duty.
"What are you mumbling about while just standing there, Franz?!" the King barked furiously, his voice booming and echoing off the walls of the empty treasury. "Do your job right now!"
That loud bark instantly made Franz flinch. However, he knew that he had no other choice but to suppress his profound shock and follow the command, lest he stoked the King's anger even further.
"As you command, Your Majesty." the man replied while bowing his head respectfully.
Without wasting another second, the man resumed his walk, stepping with certainty toward the center of the room.
Upon arriving at the center of the royal treasury, Franz lowered his body and crouched down. He regulated his breath for a moment to stabilize his focus, then placed his palm flat against the floor's surface.
Channeling the flow of mana from his body back into the floor, Franz immediately activated the Mana Visualization magic.
In a matter of seconds, the transparent golden dome reappeared inside the palace for the second time today. The dome expanded rapidly, widening and rising higher, eventually enveloping the entire area of the treasury room, ready to reconstruct any trace left behind by the infiltrator.