Seven-Person Council

Thanks to Anna, Other Shore had to attend an emergency meeting led by the current Pope before the expedition began.

A white glass window in the domed church depicted a longsword, symbolizing justice and order. Beneath the dome, six people dressed in wildly different styles sat around a square table. Other Shore, the current commander of the Kingdom Army, promoted by His Majesty Henry, attended the meeting as a council member.

The Seven-Person Council was a proud tradition left behind by the First King. Its original purpose was to let him hear the voices of people from every field, allowing him to make decisions that would better serve the Empire's future.

The seven representatives came from the seven fields with the greatest influence on the Empire.

The Church, the nobility, the merchant guilds, the academies, the Astrology Society, the Inquisition, and the military, represented by Other Shore.

Although the reports so far indicated that no one had died and only one Grand Magus from the Astrology Society had been seriously injured, the spell that had appeared in the Imperial Capital was enough to put everyone on alert and remind them of an "old friend."

Some years ago, that "old friend" had also been a member of the Seven-Person Council, attending meetings convened by Henry VI as the academy's representative.

But that had been before the War of Corruption. The king had been gravely injured in the war, and his health had steadily declined. The authority to convene meetings had therefore passed to the current Pope.

Nobody spoke in the meeting room. The six people seated there were all waiting for the final council representative to arrive—the academy's current Dean. After the War of Corruption, this centenarian had been forced to take up the reins of the Seven-Person Council once more.

Before long, an old man in a white robe, travel-worn and dusty, came in. His eyes were cloudy, and he looked even older than the last time they had met.

"Mr. 'Hermit,' I hope you can bring us some good news."

The Pope's authoritative voice opened the meeting.

"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you." The white-haired old man sat down and spoke calmly. "Your concerns weren't misplaced. The three Elemental Shaping spells that appeared in the Imperial Capital are highly similar to the spells of... that person you know, with only minor differences in the details."

The Pope gave the old man a long look. "Are you saying the Witch is still alive?"

The council members wore different expressions. There was no doubt that this was a dangerous question.

To admit that the Winter Witch was still alive would be tantamount to telling the world that the public execution two years ago had been a farce staged by the Pope himself.

Ever since the War of Corruption, many people had suggested that the Winter Witch might still be alive. But those people had either been exiled to the Empire's borders or exposed as Evil God worshippers trying to spread lies and incite panic among the public.

As for whether they really had been corrupted by an Evil God...

The authority to judge matters of faith had always belonged to the Church.

"She may not still be alive, but whoever made these magic scrolls was deeply influenced by her. That explains why the scrolls were able to trigger such a massive upheaval in the Ice Element."

"Mr. 'Hermit,' please explain in more detail."

The speaker was the Astrology Society's representative. Judging by her face, one would think she was merely a kind, wrinkled old woman. She smiled gently, as though she didn't care in the least that the Grand Magus had been seriously injured.

Making magic scrolls wasn't the exclusive domain of Elemental Shapers. In fact, in recent years, magicians like those in the Astrology Society had become the Empire's primary makers of magic scrolls, while Elemental Shaping Magic had gradually fallen out of favor.

The Saint's magic was unique, and as a Grand Magus, she wanted to know more details.

"That person... the one you know, proposed a theory while teaching at the academy. It was about the relationship between Elemental Shapers and the natural elements."

At that, the merchant guild representative from the Lofik Consortium even took out a notebook and a Feather Pen. It was clear that the Astrology Society wasn't the only faction interested in these secrets.

Though a hint of displeasure crossed the Pope's eyes, he didn't interrupt the old man, letting him continue.

"The theory proposed an unprecedented concept: 'The resonance between Elemental Shapers and natural elements comes primarily from emotion.' She believed that the established theories of Elemental Shaping were, at their core, a form of constraint. Although they enabled apprentices to quickly master a particular spell, in the long run, they cut them off from the possibility of resonating with natural elements."

"Resonance!"

The current Guild Master of the Astrology Society tried hard to contain her excitement, but her fingers, tapping on the conference table, picked up speed. She felt she ought to thank whoever had made those magic scrolls. Otherwise, she might never have learned these academy secrets.

She went on to ask, "Incantations are essentially commands, and the act of issuing commands damages the relationship between a spellcaster and natural elements... That's a very interesting idea. So, did she mean for spellcasters to become friends with natural elements?"

"Building a resonance with natural elements and becoming friends with them was merely the most basic stage of this theory. The theory was meant to achieve an ultimate goal—or, rather, a concept she envisioned."

The Lofik Consortium's representative joined the discussion, asking eagerly, "What concept?"

"The spellcaster is the element itself."

The room fell completely silent.

Everyone held their breath, taking in the astonishing amount of information.

They all knew what those calm words meant: the secrets behind the Saint's magic!

They could hardly believe the old man had revealed such advanced theories to them so casually. The representative from the Lofik Consortium and the noble faction shared the same thought: once the meeting ended, they would put the theory into practice.

But Other Shore saw through the situation and asked, "If that's the case, why didn't the academy turn this theory into a textbook?"

Over the past two years, she had met many talented Elemental Shapers, but they still used the "old-fashioned" methods.

"Because no one could learn this theory. Or, rather, because it couldn't produce results in a short time."

That sweeping reform of teaching methods had ultimately ended in failure. "The academy gave her one semester to put her theory into practice. After a semester, her students gave up on it of their own accord."

Progress had been painfully slow—so much so that it could hardly be called progress at all.

Not only that, they had watched their peers studying elemental spells excel in all kinds of academy activities. In the face of such a sharp contrast, students and teachers alike had begun asking the same question.

Was a Saint necessarily a good teacher?

Perhaps she was simply so gifted that she had developed a theory nobody but her could learn.

Worse still, even the academy's experienced professors couldn't prove that the theory was viable. Their ways of interacting with the elements had already become deeply ingrained.

Even the professors who still believed in the theory had eventually reached the same conclusion.

The only Elemental Shaper who could learn this theory would be someone from outside the academy.

And now, that person had appeared.

"This is the secret hidden inside those magic scrolls. He didn't record a spell in the scrolls. Instead, he sent a letter to the Elemental Spirits. Miss Anna tore open the envelope, allowing the Elemental Spirits to see its contents."

At this point, the old man paused for a long while before stating the final conclusion of the investigation. "The one who fought Mr. Silver Fox was nature itself."

(A little request: please keep following the novel! The third round of trial promotion is already halfway over. It's expected to go on sale in about two weeks. Here's the current plan for the release: if the book's initial subscription count reaches the premium tier (3,000 or more), I'll keep updating five chapters a day (over 10,000 words) for the entire month after release!)

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