The Capital's sky was dyed in an orange hue. The movement of the sun was no different than usual, but the scene reflected by the setting sun could only be described as a pandemonium.
Debris and asphalt littered the road, while a child was crying under a light pole adorned with luminous stone which was snapped in half. Soldiers moved back and forth, carrying wounded people or corpses.
Although the situation had been taken care of by the dispatched reinforcements, the aftermath of chaos still remained.
As the injured were being carried on one side, on another side, the huge corpses of the purblinds were being transported out via magicians and knights, who secured the area, still checking for any traces of the culprits.
"There are no traces of mana, it seems like they used an artifact."
A mage, particularly on a younger side, said as he just opened his eyes after concentrating on finding the mana traces around the women's restroom where a portal was suspected to be opened.
""They are clever, huh? But even if they have used an artifact, it is impossible to create a portal from outside as a barrier surrounds the royal museum at all times."
A middle-aged man with bulky and notable muscles, who seemed like a giant in comparison to the young man, said, He seemed superior to the young man as his voice was rather commanding.
"Yeah…It is likely that someone helped them to open the portal from the inside."
"Hmm…Now the question is, how would we find the culprit? Is there anyone suspicious?", the bulky man asked.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"For now, we have to consider everyone as suspicious. The royal soldiers stationed in the museum should be particularly investigated as there is a chance that they would have been bribed by the rebels."
"That is a possibility."
The man pondered, thinking about anything that could help them trace the culprits.
"We should also consider the probability that one of the visitors is the culprit, afterall there are many means to bypass the security."
The young one said, speculating the matter.
"Are there any suspicious activities that were reported by the guards?"
"There wasn't anything in particular….but the soldiers are currently looking for the Daughter of Marquess Cromwell, whose daughter was reported to be present in the royal museum at the time of the attack."
"Marquess Cromwell's daughter?"
A man who was listening to the conversation for the whole time interjected.
With a hair and beard as thick as lion's mane and giving off an formidable aura, he was none other than the Grand duke, Arden Von Agnus.
"Is there anything wrong, Duke Arden?"
The Grand duke was famous as a man of few words, but even then they were surprised because the duke didn't even speak one the whole time and even didn't talk with his son who was injured as a result of the rebels' attack.
But he chose to talk now, so they were obviously intrigued.
"Marquess Cromwell along with his daughter and family is currently away from the empire as they are attending the birthday banquet of the Han Kingdom's King."
The duke said as he was aware of matter since it was the order of the emperor to the Marquess to represent the Mauryan empire in Han Kingdom's king's birthday banquet.
"Huh? Then….! Ray! Quickly send someone to bring the soldier who had met them!"
The middle aged man said as he finally found something that could give them some leads about the culprit.
"Yes, Vice-master!"
The young one named Ray quickly ran ahead to relay the command of his superior.
"It seems like the culprits have planned everything meticulously, it will be hard to find any traces, but we will try our best, Duke Arden and thanks for your help."
The bulky man said scratching his head to the Grand duke.
Arden Von Agnus, who heard the words of the bulky man, looked unpleasant, but nonetheless, he respected the person in front of him. After all, the bulk-looking man was none other than the vice master of the Tower of Justice, Aurnox Blocker.
The Grand duke nodded towards the vice master of the Justice tower. He didn't ask any questions to him and without saying anything, he turned around and left somewhere. The knights who accompanied the duke hurriedly followed behind him.
As the duke walked though, the grip around his sheathed sword tightened. It seemed as if he was angered by the sight of seeing his child harmed even when he didn't show it on the outside.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm***
The news of what happened in the royal museum spread throughout the Mauryan empire and as a result, there were many who criticized the royal family because they failed to stop the attack that happened at the heart of the empire, the capital.
However, there was also talk about another matter.
"The Sleeping Pendragon."
It was a nickname that was given to the protagonist who had managed to stop a peak 7-star knight while he himself was just a being in the realm of beginner 3-star knight. It was an achievement that was unheard of in the history of the Mauryan.
Some people called him the Genius, while some others called him the Crouching Tiger, but finally, through the mouths of people, the name, Sleeping Dragon quickly spread through. Maybe due to the rumor that he was sleeping peacefully without a single injury in the chaos-filled royal museum when the reinforcements got there, it was the fuel to it, and people started to call him the Sleeping Pendragon.
However, the protagonist of such a grand nickname was nowhere to be seen and no information about him was disclosed to the public.
But these matters were short-lived as something much bigger overshadowed these affairs.
The Birth of the Continent's Youngest Archmage.
The news that Llyod Frontera, a professor at the Freljord academy, had broken through to the stage of 8-star mage just at the age of 28 spread like a wildfire, not only within the Mauryan empire but throughout the whole continent.
The emperor who heard the matter had ordered for the commencement of a banquet where the 8th Archmage of the Mauryan empire was going to be officially given the title and others who had worked hard to stop the rebels in the fight would be rewarded handsomely.
Maybe he hoped to make the citizens forget about the terror attack by turning their attention towards the appearance of another Archmage in the empire.
His attempt worked greatly and the citizens forgot about the mistakes of the royal family while celebrating the fact that the Mauryan empire had gotten much stronger with the appearance of another archmage.
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