Raid allowed the knights to put him in handcuffs without the slightest bit of resistance. From there, he was taken to a drawing room inside the Verminant estate.
“I apologize that our first meeting had to be this way, Sir Freeden,” said Martis, gaze downcast as he took a seat in front of Raid.
With a strained smile, Raid waved his cuffed hands. “Please, rest assured. I understand how you truly feel and the current position I am in.”
“Hah... It puts me at ease to see you so calm about this. Headmaster Lammel explained to me the circumstances of your reincarnation, and I can see now that it is true without a shadow of doubt.”
“Indeed. I may look young on the outside, but I am actually over ninety years old now. You wouldn’t be the first person to notice a mismatch between my appearance and speech.”
“I see...” Martis leaned back on his chair. “You may speak casually with me, if you wish. I would feel more at ease if your speech were to match your appearance.”
Raid nodded. “So it seems I’ve been cast under suspicion. I assume this was instigated not by Vegalta, but by some foreign nations?”
“Yes... You were aware?”
“Not at all. It was just my speculation. Since I entered the Institute, my exams have been altered last minute, and I’ve been specifically appointed special-class magicians as proctors, among other rather questionable decisions—none of which Vegalta had any reason to make.”
Raid was far stronger than any student, and his abilities couldn’t even be defined within the parameters of magic, so it was only natural to treat him as a special case—but still, making him select a proxy for the last exam was far too bizarre a measure. In Eluria’s case, she could already cast tenth-stratum magic and was practically guaranteed to become a special-classer, so wanting to foster her teaching ability at this early stage made perfect sense. But considering the unclear nature of Raid’s abilities, it would have made more sense to give him an exam that focused on research and investigation. This would have been much safer too, given his inability to use magic devices. Had Vegalta been the one to decide, this would have undoubtedly been the case.
“Eluria Caldwin, who is already known to be of special-class level, is the daughter of an aristocratic household of Vegalta. And I, her fiancé, will also become affiliated with Vegalta through our marriage,” Raid continued. “This will cause a great power imbalance between the nations.”
Although the countries of the central continent were essentially vassal states to Vegalta, they still had rights over their own state sovereignty. In other words, while the Magic Kingdom of Vegalta had unified the central continent, in practice it stood on equal ground with every other nation. The structure was similar to a federation.
Hence, it was frowned upon for Vegalta to monopolize so many special-class magicians. At present, there were nine special-classers: two affiliated with the eastern continent of Legnare, one with the western archipelago of Celios, and the remaining six with the central continent of Etrulia. They were often dispatched to handle jobs that were beyond the hands of ordinary magicians, such as the subjugation of ultra-sized manabeasts.
Additionally, special-class magicians were typically affiliated with their home countries. Other nations could borrow them for a fee, and their home country always got top priority. Besides this, the mere presence of special-class magicians in a country stimulated their magic education and promoted economic growth, among other positive effects. Long story short, there were many benefits that came with a country having its own affiliated special-classer.
“There have been far fewer ultra-sized manabeast appearances compared to the past, so in the interest of balance, more restrictions have been set in place for the appointment of new special-class magicians. Otherwise, the more special-class magicians a country nurtured, the more powerful that country would become on the global stage.”
Martis sighed. “It is exactly as you say. This is especially the case for Vegalta, as we are already in a unique position over the other countries. If we carelessly amass too much power, we will be subject to needless criticism from all sides.”
“If it weren’t for this problem, Lady Alicia could have easily been reinstated as a special-class magician once Eluria had come of age.” Raid nodded. “But there’s nothing to be done now that Eluria and I have emerged center stage.”
“Correct.” Martis furrowed his brows. “That being said, there is no option for you and Lady Caldwin to not become special-classers.”
Raid and Eluria had not only defeated an ultra-sized manabeast—a Calamity, to be precise—but even saved Palmare from a disaster. Many people saw them as their saviors, hence the public backlash would be unimaginable if they were to be barred from becoming special-classers—and in fact, this would be the least of their problems.
If Raid and Eluria did not become special-class magicians despite all their achievements, then everyone—from active magicians striving for a promotion to students of magic institutes—would be terribly demoralized, possibly even causing a stagnation in magic development and research around the world.
However, there were many countries that simply couldn’t accept Vegalta getting two new special-classers at once.
Raid sighed. “So, they’re grasping at straws by attempting to drag me down—is that correct?”
“It is,” Martis affirmed. “We had to explain your circumstances to the other nations in order to send you to the First World. It seems they took it as a chance to erase your prior achievements by claiming it was all a hoax—by insisting that you’d colluded with the First World from the very beginning.”
“And thus, Vegalta had no choice but to act on that accusation,” Raid finished.
Martis nodded grimly. “It was clear that they were ready to accuse Vegalta of ‘monopolizing the other world’s resources’ the moment we would attempt to defend you. Hence, we needed to detain you, even if it was just a formality.”
Raid huffed and shook his head. “Humans never change, do they?”
“Hearing that from you makes me feel all the more ashamed,” Martis admitted with a sigh.
Raid could only offer him a bitter smile in comfort. Long story short, Vegalta never doubted Raid in any way, but cornered by this barrage of accusations and criticism while Raid himself was absent, they had no choice but to detain him to, at the very least, keep up appearances and appease the other nations.
“I truly cannot apologize enough,” said Martis. “You saved Palmare and protected our world from an invasion we never would have seen coming—a true hero, through and through—yet we couldn’t even spare you from such an inane political skirmish... Please, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us.”
“I take no offense to it. Please, rest assured. In fact, since this meeting is technically no more than an interrogation, I will still get the chance to personally plead my case before the other nations. For that, you have my thanks.”
“Then your thanks belongs not with me, but Sir Dian and his fellows from the First World. Not once since the beginning of their detainment did they cause us any problems. Thanks to that, we were able to hold off the verdict on your case until your return.”
“That must be why Elise, Dian, and his subordinates were placed under House Verminant’s watch until our return, and you, Lord Martis, were put in charge of my detainment, correct?”
“You are indeed correct...but how do you know so much? Have you not just returned to this world?”
“There was no sign of recent activity in the headmaster’s office. Dust had begun to accumulate on some surfaces. Clearly, Elise had not used her office in a while, and we couldn’t even contact her. Thinking back to past events, it was obvious that she had been caught up in some incident, likely concerning me.”
Martis narrowed his eyes. “I see... I must use this as reference should I ever need to deceive you in the future.”
“In that case, you would best start with fixing Elise’s habit of beginning a conversation with prostrating herself. I’m afraid her forehead is too accustomed to meeting the floor every time she faces a complaint regarding me.”
“Aha, indeed... She is a very hard worker, but that habit of hers certainly doesn’t do her dignity any favors.” Martis chuckled, then quietly stood from his seat. “Headmaster Lammel and Sir Dian are currently confined in a Verminant villa. You and your companions are to be detained there as well until the day the Assembly of the Central Continent is decided. There, you shall respond to the summons and plead your case before all.”
“Understood,” Raid replied. “By the way, Lord Martis—I am aware this may be asking a bit much of you, but could I entrust you with a message for His Majesty the King?”
“Of course. His Majesty also feels rather apologetic for this entire affair. I’m certain he will gladly hear you out.”
“Thank you very much. I’m afraid this is something I can only ask of His Majesty.”
“Hmm? A favor, is it?”
“Yes. For the upcoming Assembly, the nations of the central continent will naturally be in attendance. However...” Raid narrowed his eyes. “I would like for the heads of the eastern continent of Legnare and the western archipelago of Celios to be invited as well.”
Martis furrowed his brow. “Could I ask why? These suspicions were cast upon you by the countries of the central continent. Legnare and Celios may know of your circumstances, but inviting them to the Assembly would necessitate an explanation of the charges... Depending on how they take it, they could very well end up antagonizing you as well.”
“Setting Celios aside... The Imperial Lord of Legnare and I are old acquaintances, so there is no issue on that front. Apart from pleading my case, there is also something I would like to announce to everyone.” Raid’s lips slowly curled into a dark smile. “In which case, would it not be easier to get it all done at once?”