With those words, the crown prince was rendered speechless and didn't dare to speak anymore as the other guests who were going to sit on the table came. He could only avert his gaze and pretend that the man was not sitting on the same table as him.
People from all walks of life attended the ceremony. The four great generals were also complete for the first time in a long time. Even the four great dukes did not fail to attend. This was a rare sight to behold so most of the guests were talking about it.
Everybody stood up at the announcement of the king's arrival and when he sat down on the thrown the others also took their seats. Before they commenced, the king took that opportunity to speak first and express his gratitude to everyone who attended.
"Thank you to all of you for coming to this ceremony and for joining us in this joyous occasion. We are not only here to witness how one of the heroes of our kingdom received an honor for all the merits he had accumulated while serving our country. Not only that, we are also here to celebrate our kingdom for getting past the calamity that has befallen unto us. Today, we celebrate life and a new beginning!" The king's speech made the people holler in joy and clap in excitement.
After that, the king proceeded with the ceremony and awarded Major Linius Ginehart with the title of a General. The applause became louder after the title was bestowed to him. They then proceeded with the celebration as music started to fill the plaza and food was served. There was wine and dancing which the people enjoyed and the aristocrats refused to join so they were ushered to the Duke Ulysses's manor where a banquet was prepared for them.
These aristocrats started to make their connections and say hi to the people who they wanted to create a relationship with. Now General Linius Ginehart was entertaining guests with a smile on his face and receiving their gifts and good will even though all he wanted to do was leave the place.
The night was long but after all guests were ushered out, all of them could finally take a breather. The staff in the house were also busy at that moment in fixing the venue and cleaning up while the young masters were sent to their rooms. Cygnus on the other hand was with Ulysses and was talking with him regarding the progress of the investigation.
"Have you found all evidence of the tower's crime?" Cygnus asked after a minute of silence inside the room.
It was now time to organize what they have so far so Ulysses and Linius was in the room. The investigation just concluded exactly yesterday as all evidence were collected and organized. They also finished recording everything and writing a report to be submitted to the king.
"Yes, all of it was turned over to the palace yesterday. Now that the Magic Tower has been compromised, the tower will be under the palace's control for the time being since there is no Magus Maximus to handle the affairs of the place. There will be no significant changes regarding the structured but some rules were added to ensure that something like this would not happen again." Ulysses explained after the question. He then handed him the compilation of what they found.
"Now that the tower is not powerful like it used to be and the people who were involved in those despicable acts are in prison, what will be your next step now?" Cygnus was curious as to what the duke would do.
"After tying some loose ends here, I'll be returning to Ginehart and will visit Galahad so I will be taking Isaiah with me." Ulysses answered without any hesitation.
Now that his current problem was solved, it was time for him to take his brother's hand and help him from the predicament he was in. He had long noticed the problem and continued to warn Galahad but the man was a bit unreasonable so when he found out that he sent Isaiah away from the territory, Ulysses already knew that the situation was not in favor to Galahad.
If not for what had happened those past weeks, he would have been in the Blackwell territory by now. Unlike Ginehart which was easy to govern because the people were willing to cooperate, the Blackwell territory was the opposite. This must be because the place was once overflowing with mana but now it almost has none and the people all blamed it to the rulers.
"Is that so, I might follow after a few days since I've made a deal with Isaiah so I'll go and take a look for a bit." Cygnus revealed which took the father and son a shock.
"You made a deal with that child? What kind of deal did you make?" Ulysses became interested.
"That I would help him solve the matter of the Blackwell," Cygnus answered.
Now that matters in the capital could be left as it is, it was fine for him to be gone for a few days. Besides, there was nothing to do now that he had taken care of the magic tower. It would also be a good way for the master to clear his mind.
Ulysses frowned for a moment but it disappeared just as fast as how it appeared. "Then I will be seeing you in Blackwell." He finally gave up.
After that topic was discussed, Ulysses let the master have his rest for the night. Cygnus took his time to walk through the corridors of the manor. He was humming and there was a skip on his steps.
"Are we going to look for the remnants of those people?" Ignius appeared out of thin air and floated beside the man.
Since he was a bystander, the dragon was well informed of anything that happens around the master. And ever since he learned that there is a possibility of those people being alive even after a thousand years. The idea of hunting them down could already make him excited.
"Do you want to go and hunt them down?" Cygnus looked back at the dragon with a smirk on his face when he saw the dragon nod. "You can hunt them but don't forget to bring them to me alive."
"Oh, that would be my pleasure since I already sensed people like that of the Magus still in the capital. I'm just not sure if they are the people you are looking for," the dragon started to float around him.
"Is that so," the master's eyes narrowed, "interesting."
"So what shoul I do now? Take them to you?" Ignius stopped and waited for the master's answer.
"No, let's observe them for a while and see if they have any relationship with the Magus Maximus. Can you do that?" Cygnus looked at the dragon's golden eyes with a smile. He even reached out to pat the dragon's head.
Ignius swatted the hand that was messing his hair and frowned, "Stop that and why are you changing you decision all of a sudden? I thought I get to hunt them!"
He felt indignant at how fast the master changed his mind. His excitement at the prospect of having fun was crushed. He could only give the master a glare that would intimidate anyone but the master only blinked and grinned his way.
"Yes you can but not for now. You need to observe them first and know their weakness so that when you strike down you will have the upper hand," Cygnus explained.
He really did intended for the dragon to hunt his enemies but at the dragon's word, he couldn't just let them die easily. He could also get information about the others or what happened after their whole clan was killed. Cygnus couldn't help but grin and the red glint on his eyes appeared making like a ghost in the shadow of the night.
Ignius laughed at how fast the master could change his facial expression. The man was really amusing and everytime they were in another world, his fun would never end. This time too, he would carefully watch at what Cygnus was up to.
