How to Tame That Gentle Hero - Chapter 8.2
At those words, looks of bewilderment flashed across the knights’ faces. They remained composed because they were knights of House Arnasus who obeyed her orders. Thus, Resena could calmly continue speaking to the messenger.
“I will be accompanied only by Renard, Lord Alken, Lady Weiz, and Lord Fullecher. However, we don’t have supplies to last more than 3 days, so leaving them outside the royal city beyond that period would be problematic. Therefore, I will have them enter the inner city after 3 days.”
“Please do so. You only need to comply with His Majesty’s immediate orders, so that should be possible.”
Resena quietly looked down at the messenger. Was this person also under the control of black mana? But he seemed too normal for that.
‘However, most black mages appear normal on the outside. In a situation where even earth god priests become apostates and turn into black mages, it’s hard to believe that someone who comes and goes from a royal court dominated by black mana wouldn’t be subjugated by it.’
Resena’s lips moved slightly.
“Then, please guide us. We will head directly to the palace.”
Though it differed from the plan, Resena hurriedly headed toward the palace.
With the black mana clouds looming overhead.
***
‘Wow… at this point, are they not even trying to hide it? Everyone has no expression at all. They’re just like puppets…’
The palace maids and servants they passed while following the king’s messenger all had expressionless faces. One person who looked like an aide passed by with unfocused eyes, giving Resena goosebumps.
At the same time, she felt like she had jumped into the lion’s den. Though Renard and Alken would protect her, she couldn’t help her body tremble.
‘I’m scared…’
Resena grew increasingly frightened as she felt like she was experiencing again the savagery she had felt when confronting Zergard in her room. Of course, reclaiming the palace from the black mage was her plan, but she hadn’t expected to be this afraid when personally involved.
Her small heart was beating violently as if it might jump out at any moment. At first, when Zergard had intruded on the summer ball, she hadn’t been this scared. Resena clenched and unclenched her fists, trying somehow to calm herself.
‘I don’t need to worry. I’ve already conveyed the plan to both Alken and Renard… Lorona and Lord Ian will also exert their holy power at the appropriate time. Don’t be afraid…!’
While she was trying somehow to calm her trembling body, Alken reached out and tapped Resena’s arm.
When she turned around, he was whispering with a faint smile.
“Don’t worry, Resena. Nothing will happen beyond what you’ve anticipated.”
“Alken…”
“We came after completing all preparations. If things weren’t going according to your predictions, the king wouldn’t have allowed the delegation into the palace at all. This is practically a sign that things are going well.”
His words gradually brought her back to her senses. Feeling her mind stabilizing, Resena nodded as if agreeing with Alken’s words. Then Alken smiled slightly and patted Resena’s shoulder encouragingly before withdrawing his hand.
“We’re here.”
The king’s messenger stopped in front of a massive door. It clearly appeared to be an audience chamber, so Resena swallowed and took a deep breath. Then, with sharp eyes, she spoke confidently.
“Inform them that Resena of House Arnasus from Crevasta requests an audience.”
Soon after, a knight announced:
“Lady Resena Arnasus of Crevasta requests an audience with the king!”
“Let her enter.”
The voice was terribly cold. Resena bit her lip. As Alken had said, they had succeeded in having all the necessary personnel granted an audience with the king. Now, all that remained was to eliminate the high-ranking black mage controlling the king.
“Resena Arnasus greets the king.”
“Welcome.”
A king with an expressionless face sat on the throne, placed upon a red carpet. The moment she saw Ain standing beside him with a deep smile, Resena instinctively knew.
‘That person must be the high-ranking black mage.’
Not only Resena but also Lorona sensed the ominous presence. The savage aura characteristic of a black mage who had sacrificed numerous victims emanated from him. It seemed unnecessary to confirm, but Lorona quietly watched as Resena took out the obsidian rose from inside her garment.
‘So that’s the device Resena mentioned for “confirmation.” But how does she plan to make him hold it?’
“We have prepared this in gratitude for not only offering us a 30% discount but also providing us with your stockpiled goods. Please accept this.”
“What is this?”
“As you can see, it’s a flower crafted with magical power that can display the king’s dignity. Since it was processed from raw stone with pure mana, it will bloom immediately upon touching the hands of the king who possesses an unusually high amount of mana.”
“Hmm…”
The king looked at the obsidian rose Resena offered with an emotionless face. Then he flicked his hand, and Ain, who was standing beside him, came down and took the obsidian rose. At that moment, the obsidian rose withered like real petals and its petals fell downward.
“…!”
And in that instant, auras flew from Renard and Alken and struck Ain’s body. In a flash, without time to speak, Ain collapsed on the spot as black mana spurted like a fountain from his neck. Simultaneously, black mana flowed out from the king’s head and dissipated like smoke.
“So that person was indeed the high-ranking black mage.”
Resena agreed with Lorona’s words, saying, “That’s right.” The magical device made of obsidian was specially created by the Magic Tower to detect black mana, an item that appeared in the novel’s side story.
Originally, it was an item created by a 7th circle magician to find out if there were black mages among their family members, but after it was revealed that black mages could not receive blessings, it had been phased out, overshadowed by the power of the revised version that could identify black mages on a large scale.
‘But in this case, it was extremely useful. Above all, black mages don’t know about this item, and when it touches black mana that a black mage has concealed… The obsidian flower shrivels just like real petals withering, making it easy to distinguish.’
“Ugh… Argh. What on earth…”
The king, invaded by uncontrollable black mana and feeling a severe headache, began to suffer as he clutched his head. Lorona approached and immediately exerted her holy power.
“I will heal you right away, Your Majesty.”
With the blessing and the power of holy energy, the black mana that had been eroding his internal organs was pushed out all at once, and the king’s body recovered. The black mana that had been stimulating his heart was also completely expelled and dispersed into the air.
“…What is… this…”
“Have you regained consciousness, Your Majesty?”
While Alken supported him, Resena didn’t hesitate to take out the scroll that would make the weather sunny from her sleeve and tear it. Instantly, the black clouds that had been lingering in the sky disappeared at once. Thus, the black mana floating in the void above began to become visible to people.
The commotion outside the royal palace began to grow, but Resena calmly waited for the king to come to his senses. From now on, the king’s cooperation was necessary.
“Thank you. Thank you for freeing my body from the control of black magic.”
The king let out a deep sigh of worry and took Alken’s hand. Standing up with Alken’s support, he spoke to Resena in an earnest tone.
“But there are many others besides me who are controlled by black mana. By now, thanks to the death of the high-ranking black mage, the control has been released, but they must be suffering, invaded by uncontrollable black mana. Please, can you properly heal and save them?”
Resena nodded and respectfully replied.
“Of course. I plan to heal all of them with Saint Lorona here and also capture the black mages. But, Your Majesty, to catch the black mages, we need your cooperation. Besides this high-ranking black mage, do you remember who the black mages were that participated in controlling the royal court?”
“That is…”
