r18novel Page 58
Page 58
Dane's demeanor was natural and composed, making it clear to the nobles that he truly felt no shame or hatred whatsoever.
Immediately, sighs of emotion arose from all sides.
Such a clear and bright mind as a former hero candidate, coupled with the selfless and fearless Grand Duke Thanaus of Light... this must be the most friendly and righteous noble class in the capital, the other onlookers outside the round table couldn't help but sigh.
Moss's eyes widened: That's not what these guys were saying just now!
Moss got up from the ground, covered in dust, and looked at Thanaus sitting down and Dane standing to the side. He curled his lip, silently moved his stool a little further away from Thanaus.
These nobles... their hearts are truly filthy.
A cheerful atmosphere filled the room, and the smile disappeared from Duke Moss's face, spreading equally to the faces of every nobleman.
Finally, the door leading to the palace opened.
A slight silence fell over the room as all eyes were fixed on the noble king who stepped into the conference room and stood at the head of the table.
“Grand Duke Thanaus.” Upon seeing Thanaus, Prince Ota’s usually icy expression finally broke into a smile.
At a time of great peril for the kingdom, the appearance of this Grand Duke with the outstanding candidate for hero, Dane, is undoubtedly a shot in the arm!
Clearly, Thanaus, as his father's right-hand man, had long sensed the precarious state of the kingdom, which is why he stepped forward at such a crucial time to quell the internal strife and stabilize the situation!
However, now was clearly not the time for pleasantries. After exchanging nods with the other party, Ota turned to look at Minister Tus.
"Is everyone here?"
Tus leaned forward and whispered, "Everyone is here, except for Chief Lak, who is still preparing for the Blessing of the Hero. Everyone on the list is in the meeting room."
Ota nodded slightly: "Chief Lark is the least likely person to harm the kingdom. Don't bother him."
"Then, let's begin the meeting—"
With a bang, the conference room door slammed shut, marking the start of this grand meeting.
"Gentlemen, all of you present here are the most important figures in the kingdom."
Prince Ota looked at everyone, "Therefore, the commotion last night must have been known to you. I regret to announce this news—the Ice Saintess Lena was severely injured by the Demon Clan's First Demon Official last night!"
"According to Archbishop Hope's speculation, the enemy has already grasped the holy relic, the Ice Heart's most important weakness!"
wow——
Many people in the room were shocked, stunned by the amount of information revealed in Prince Ota's words.
The Ice Saintess, wielding the Shield of the Hero with a Heart of Ice, has indeed suffered an unprecedented blow, just as the prophecy of the Holy Church foretold?!
That explains the commotion last night... While everyone breathed a sigh of relief and admired Prince Ota's brilliant response, a deep chill crept into their hearts.
Why... did the demons manage to exploit the weakness of the Frozen Heart?!
This is a major secret known only to the kingdom's high-ranking officials and even a small number of people present!
"Your Highness, do you mean... the demons have already infiltrated our ranks?"
One of the people in the meeting looked around anxiously, his voice trembling slightly.
Ota patted his palm: "Too much suspicion will only throw us into chaos. No matter how powerful the demons are, they can't infiltrate the human race."
Taking in everyone's expressions, just as they were about to breathe a sigh of relief, Prince Ota's voice became heavier than ever before:
"Therefore, we must sadly admit... that an unprecedented traitor has emerged within the kingdom!"
The powerful words resonated throughout the crowd, instantly stirring up waves of emotion.
Even Thanaus and Dane behind him, who were at the round table hearing this important information for the first time, were shocked and their eyes showed surprise!
With his hands clasped together in front of the round table, Prince Ota's eyes were incredibly sharp:
"However, by pooling the wisdom of everyone here—I believe we can find as many suspects as possible! So I would like to ask everyone present to think together… about potential traitors who might know the relic, the Heart of Ice, and have the opportunity to exploit Saint Lena's weaknesses!"
I've named it "Brainstorming!"
Seeing that everyone present was stunned by the ingenious trick he had learned from Mino, Ota was satisfied and put away his pose, deciding to ease the atmosphere a little.
Turning his head, he casually and kindly inquired of the highly respected nobleman:
"Thanaus, what do you think?"
Chapter 79 It’s Him! It’s Him! It’s Him!
"Huh? Ah, it's me." Thanaus's deep face paused for a moment, then he quickly put on a thoughtful expression.
"If I had to pick, the most suspicious ones would probably be the clergy from the Holy Church... I don't mean to question the Goddess, but just from a probability standpoint, the Holy Church, as the source of the intelligence, is obviously more likely."
Ota shook his head: "As early as that night, Archbishop Hope gathered all the clergy and even the sacred artifacts who knew the secrets of the Heart of Ice and conducted a thorough investigation."
“All the clergy, including Hope, have sworn a solemn oath to ensure that they have not leaked the information… The Church can now be ruled out as a suspect.”
“Every clergyman swears an oath in the name of ‘White Hair’, declaring that they have not betrayed the Holy Church.”
Everyone was shocked. They actually swore such a heavy oath. It seemed that there was indeed no traitor in the Holy Church.
Knight Commander Erwin, who was guarding the door and hadn't been affected by the buff, opened his mouth but ultimately didn't utter a word of complaint.
On the other side, Duke Clyde also made a connection: "Could it be that the librarian of the Kingdom Library... can also find many ancient secrets about the relics in the Kingdom's archives?"
“If you put it that way, the scope is too broad,” Duke Moss immediately retorted.
"Among the nobles present, which one of you hasn't passed down a long history, and whose family secrets may contain information about the Heart of Ice?"
Seeing that the nobles present were genuinely expressing their own opinions without questioning or smearing each other, the atmosphere in the meeting room gradually became more lively, with learned scholars and insightful adventurers sharing their views:
"Perhaps the demonic book spirits of the demon race discovered the weakness of the Ice Heart in ancient books?!"
"That's impossible. The Book Demon's interference with privacy is extremely weak, and only those common, mass-produced comics can be stolen so easily!"
"It's also possible... that they were high-ranking adventurers who fought alongside Saintess Lena. They secretly lured the saintess out information and set a trap!"
"That's the Ice Saintess, do you think everyone is a Mino Warrior?"
"Perhaps... I am the mole, but I just don't know it!"
The noise was chaotic, but the atmosphere became visibly lively. Soon, after a round of discussion, it was the last person's turn, Minister Tus, who was next to the prince.
Tus was slightly excited, and the words that came to mind without thinking slipped out unconsciously.
"It's also possible that the one who exposed this crucial information was the hero Mino and the holy sword beside him!"
"Mino...the Holy Sword...!"
"Sword...sword...jian..."
The sound echoed continuously in the conference room, which was so quiet it was almost impossible to miss.
The once lively conference room fell silent like a ghost, freezing Tus's excited expression on his face.
All eyes turned to Tus with surprise, and the entire conference room became eerily silent... If it weren't for the occasional suppressed laughter coming from the corner, Tus would have even suspected that he had suddenly lost his hearing.
"Uh, well, we were just... brainstorming... weren't we...?"
Tus looked dazed, and began to doubt the meaning of life.
He made pitiful gestures and said dryly:
“Think about it, the Holy Sword of Light of the Holy Church, Altote obviously has the most detailed information on the Holy Relic Heart of Ice.”
"Given the relationship between Mino the Brave and Saintess Lena, finding a flaw in their connection to the Ice Heart isn't entirely impossible..."
With his neck hunched, Tus's voice grew weaker and weaker until it was just a muffled whisper.
Finally, it was Prince Ota's questioning that eased the tension and made Tus realize just how absurd his idea was:
"Minister Tus, do you mean that this time not only Mino the Warrior, but even the Holy Sword of Light, Altotai, has betrayed us... along with Mino?"
Tus lowered his head, his neck turning red all the way to his ears: "But...maybe...not necessarily."
The people present looked at each other, and this time they took notice.
They pondered and thought about Tuss's hypothesis repeatedly, and finally raised their heads with bright eyes... and burst into laughter.
"Haha! Minister Tuss, what can I say to you? Brainstorming is just for guessing, not for making random guesses!"
One person laughed so hard he was doubled over, wiping away tears from the corners of his eyes. His laughter was powerful as he said, "That was the strongest hero in human history, Mi... (688 words omitted here)... Can you really say that such a hero betrayed humanity?"
"Not to mention, there's that incredibly hard Holy Sword of Light. How could ordinary tortures inflict any effect on a blade sharp enough to slay demons! No one can pry open the hilt of the Holy Sword of Light!"
"Finally, and most importantly—the sacred artifacts from the Holy Church, and the hero from the same village as the Ice Saintess, were all given away to the demons for information... Did this lead to this crisis?"
"Minister Tuss, your imagination has reached the heavens!"
The seemingly complimentary but actually sarcastic words left Minister Tus feeling ashamed, his spine unable to straighten any further.
He didn't know what was wrong with him; he seemed to have become addicted to suspecting Mino... The last thing he blurted out was this most unlikely guess.
Mino the Hero, I'm sorry, I promised I wouldn't doubt you anymore... I deserve to die!!!
"enough."
Unexpectedly, it was not Prince Otta who stopped the momentum at this moment, but Grand Duke Thanaus, who was sitting to the side before him.
After these weighty words were spoken, the noise in the room suddenly subsided.
Amidst surprised looks, Thanaus spoke up: "Your Highness Ota, I think this is also a possibility."
“If we are to truly find the traitor of the kingdom, then even the Mino Warrior cannot be exonerated without evidence.”
"Isn't that the original intention of this roundtable discussion?"
As Thanaus finished speaking, the crowd fell silent, some feeling ashamed of their own rigor at Grand Duke Thanaus's strictness.
If a nobleman of insufficient rank were to utter such words at this time, they would only assume that the nobleman had something to hide and was throwing out a smokescreen to confuse them.
But since it was Grand Duke Thanaus who made the statement, then at this point, to refute it would make them the ones with guilty consciences.
"Evidence is the sole criterion for testing truth."
Thanaus spoke, uttering the famous quote that had made him renowned for his justice throughout the continent.
There were no further objections from the crowd.
Minister Tuss, however, cautiously raised his head and seemed to see his former self reflected in Thanaus's unwavering belief in the truth.
He had a feeling that Thanaus would probably end up like him before.
I was deeply impressed by Mino's sincere character...