Plymouth.
Mitra Palace.
The delicate-featured Arthur VI sat upright upon the throne, idly toying with the golden scepter in his hand, his face devoid of expression.
Ever since the death of his friend Ferret, Pope of the Church of the Holy Spirit, he had become much quieter.
Inside the conference hall carpeted in scarlet, Duke Aergai of the military, Marquis Russell, Marquis Caventi, Count Lundel, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, and other high-ranking officials were all present, their expressions exceedingly grim.
The ashtrays on their desks were already stuffed full of cigar and cigarette butts.
Smoke wreathed the entire conference room, shrouding it in an ominous air.
"Rio Sodoma!"
At last, His Majesty King Arthur VI spoke. "Everything you saw... was real?"
"Your Majesty, I swear upon my life and honor... I truly saw that 'Count of Green Forest'... And he not only killed Flander, the Blood Cup, and the Descenders... even the vessel of an Age Controller was driven away by him."
Rio's face was pale, but his reply was resolute.
"A 'Longevity one of the present age' should have been roughly the same as an ordinary 'Longevity one,' shouldn't he? Yet he is actually this powerful?"
Duke Aergai's hair had turned much grayer, and even his body was somewhat hunched. "He can even drive away an incarnation of an Age Controller... Who in the mortal world could possibly rival him? The kingdom... is in danger!"
Though he said so, he was not truly all that terrified.
After all, the nobles' ties were tangled and intertwined. Quite a few of them even carried collateral bloodlines of the ancient Sothoth Family!
The ones who truly needed to worry were probably the Sodomas!
If the 'Count of Green Forest' wished to restore the glory of the Fabri Dynasty and