Knights and Magic Wand
Chapter 651: 304 Royal Palace Audience_3

Chapter 651: Chapter 304 Royal Palace Audience_3

Kovis stepped aside, allowing Leon to stride forward. Under the gaze of the kingdom’s nobles, he steadily approached the throne.

As his peripheral vision swept over the people gathered in the hall, Leon recognized a few familiar faces, mostly among those closest to the throne, such as Count Trolsa and Princess Ines on either side of him.

There were also some great nobles with whom he had only had brief encounters, like Count Duwana from the West Territory and Count Ackman, who once had ill intentions against Kovis.

The hefty man stood beside a towering elderly noble, whose high-standard crown, servitor’s cape, emblem, and staff suggested he was undoubtedly the father, Duke Vister of the Sea Dragon Family.

Of course, among the crowd of nobles was Leon’s newly appointed Sealing Lord, the current Thorny Flower Family Head, Count Fedor.

Beyond this, Leon couldn’t recognize anyone else.

Stopping ten meters from the throne, he kneeled on one knee, laid a hand over his heart, and bowed to greet the king.

After completing the ritual, Leon rose and shifted his gaze to the “Old Dragon” seated upon the throne.

Although custom dictated that he couldn’t look directly at the king’s face, focusing instead on the emblem on the king’s shoulder, the distance was close enough that Leon could discern King Lydwen’s appearance.

Just as Ines had mentioned, despite fully recovering from severe injuries sustained in the Battle of Mamor, Lydwen III looked significantly aged and less spirited than before.

“I’ve read your letter, Mr. Pendragon. Did you bring the instrument that you mentioned, which can select individuals with magic talent from the crowd today?” Lydwen asked in a steady voice, devoid of visible emotions.

The relaxed tone still held the dignity of the kingdom’s ruling power for decades, albeit with a subtle fatigue in his voice.

Upon hearing this, Leon instantly felt multiple intense gazes directed at him within the hall.

Through magic perception, he scanned around, realizing the royal hall wasn’t just filled with nobles and kingdom ministers.

There were also several individuals exuding strong magical responses, obviously spellcasters, yet they wore similarly luxurious attire and didn’t carry magic wands—their identities would be unrecognizable without magic perception.

These people varied in age, from twenty-year-olds to those appearing over seventy; it was obvious they were the Warlock Masters from the fortress academy at North County.

Evidently, Lydwen intended Leon to publicly showcase his success today, provoking the warlock society that monopolized the Northern Kingdom’s magic domain for centuries.

Leon, having long since crossed paths with the society due to Met’s affair, was unconcerned about attracting animosity. Besides, now under the protection of Lydwen III, those warlocks would naturally refrain from causing him trouble while aiming to stay comfortably in Orland.

He gestured to Sir Corinth to step forward and open the wooden box, presenting the instruments contained within to Lydwen.

Many in the hall glanced curiously over.

To say they were uninterested would be false; the transcendent magic wielded by the magicians had been witnessed by the kingdom’s upper classes for centuries.

No war, no incurable disease lacked the intervention and aid of the magicians—without them, the kingdom wouldn’t be so cautious of spellcasters, whose longevity and strength constantly threaten to usurp power.

Fortunately, the extreme innate requirements restricted the spellcaster population to being scarce, preventing them from posing any real threat to the kingdom’s ruling class.

If the warlock society truly attempted to seize power, the lords could ensure its obliteration even at a certain cost.

Moreover, if things escalated, neighboring Seryan, even farther away and more professionally adept in dealing with spellcasters—the Holy Court Kingdom—and other Holy Sun Faith countries would surely be willing to send assistance to Oran.

However, recently many have heard that King Lydwen possessed a method to cultivate magic power independently, bypassing the Northern Society, creating quite a stir.

If given the choice, who wouldn’t want access to powers beyond the mundane, especially the nobles who revel in authority and wealth?

Lydwen remained expressionless but internally satisfied with the reactions of his subjects.

If successful, acquiring the authority to select court mages would grant him yet another tool to draw kingdom nobles closer to him.

He slightly raised his hand, signaling with his eyes.

The court officials at the foot of the throne immediately proceeded to inspect the odd-looking magical artifact for safety.

Two royal palace attendants then took the wooden box from Sir Corinth and presented it to the king.

Ines was close enough to glance at the instrument delivered before her father.

She remembered years ago when she witnessed the “instrument” of the warlock society in the North, contemplating whether she had the talent to learn magic.

The Northern magicians naturally welcomed the Third Princess to test her talent, hoping her joining the society would significantly enhance the spellcasters’ standing.

Sadly, Ines recalled how, when she stood within the ancient instrument in the fortress interior, the nested demon rune rings rotated only twice before dimming with a click, leaving the warlocks present shocked.

However…

Recalling the size of the gigantic ancient instrument in the Warlock Fortress and comparing it to the instrument Leon presented to her father…

A helmet connected by thin steel tubes to a steel cage-enclosed iron sphere—the two magical instruments differed vastly in scale, by a thousandfold.

The young girl glanced at the representatives of the warlock society in the hall, observing their disbelief and skepticism.

“How is this instrument used? Why not demonstrate it for us?”

Lydwen couldn’t help but smile as he looked at Leon.

While he didn’t doubt this young prodigy would dare create a hoax to deceive him, verifying the authenticity of the item was certainly necessary.

Leon bowed slightly, saw the attendants retrieve the instrument, then asked Lydwen for a chair to fix the instrument, next inviting Kovis to put on the helmet and start the test.

Brilliant purple light mixed with golden streams radiated in the hall, eliciting curious murmurs from the surrounding nobles.

He first demonstrated the instrument’s reaction to a qualified individual, then had the traveling Sir Filippo show a contrasting response; the younger son of the Anquilla Family and regular muggle knight displayed only a faint, dim coloration in the instrument.

Observing the intent looks of anticipation from many nobles and the furrowed brows of the warlock society representatives in the hall, beneath Lydwen’s composed demeanor, there was a hint of delight.

…