The instant the old priest finished speaking, the Council Hall fell deathly silent.
"His Majesty... took... what... from Emerald City?"
Including Tales and Federico, everyone stared at Feibul in disbelief, listening to him point his finger directly at the King, as if they had yet to process what he had said.
A few seconds later, the Council Hall exploded!
"How dare he..."
"So all these misfortunes in Emerald City were really the King's doing?"
"How could he say that out loud..."
"No, no, no, he's just trying to put some pressure on these people from the Royal Capital..."
"I'd like to see how the Duke of Star Lake gets out of this one..."
"There aren't any axemen ambushing us outside the hall, are there?"
"What's there to fear? We've got plenty of people..."
"The Vice High Priest is incredible!"
"The Old Man is getting on in years and didn't have many years left anyway... He might as well have taken the lead and exposed this matter..."
"Interesting. The game in Emerald City has already shed all pretense and abandoned all dignity..."
"Isn't he afraid of offending the Prince, and the future King?"
"It's fine. Just pretend we didn't hear anything, laugh it off, and move on... That's the usual way in Emerald City..."
"Don't make any unnecessary expressions. Everything that Old Man said has nothing to do with us..."
The uproar in the Council Hall continued without pause. The Star Lake Guard and the Order Officers struggled to suppress it, but with little success.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Amid the uproar filling the hall, Tales stared solemnly at Feibul, the Vice High Priest, whose face was flushed and chest heaved. The voice in his heart spoke coldly:
At least, this wasn't how things were supposed to go.
Especially in