“And the long version?”
Sidis recounted the situation as they’d found it, including monsters gathered at the wall and soldiers turned into dogs. He then moved to the meat of the story—how he’d wiped out the horde and discovered a small pillar of green light surrounded by Donan stones.
“The green light seemed to affect Lyse’s monsters too,” he reported.
“It’s true. They were so agitated that I was worried they might jump right out of my pocket,” Lyse added.
Alcede turned to her and said, “The monsters were agitated? That almost sounds like...”
The Light of Origin! Lyse’s eyes opened wide in astonishment. He’s right. They were acting like they do when they get near the Light.
Lyse’s tamed monsters normally heeded the Light inside of her and behaved themselves within the imperial palace. But there was one thing that made them resist her control—and that was the Light of Origin itself. It enthralled the monsters, drawing them in and making them restless when they couldn’t reach it. It was like how they’d behaved around the green light, albeit much more intense.
“Is the green light something similar to the Light of Origin?” Lyse asked.
Sidis furrowed his brow. “I’d say so, judging by how the monsters behaved. But that doesn’t explain the transformations.”
“It could be something entirely different,” Alcede offered up.
“No, it’s similar,” Sidis argued. “Perhaps...it’s like a miniaturized version.”
“Do you have any evidence to support that?” the emperor asked.
Alcede raised his index finger. “The Light of Origin grants people mana. The mysterious green light turns people into dogs—that is to say, it warps mana. But mana is necessary in order to warp mana.”
Egbert stood up from his seat. “I see. You’re suggesting the green light emits mana.”
“It may not necessarily grant anyone mana, but it most certainly radiates it,” Alcede concluded.
“Interesting. That may explain this then,” Sidis added.
“‘This’ being?” Alcede asked.
At that, Sidis brought out samples of the rock he’d collected at the scene.
“Black rock, but thin sheets of it, almost like it’s been chipped... I believe this to be the Donans’ black stone as well,” surmised Alcede.
“The material and the texture match, to be sure. I found this plastered across the ground around the green light,” Sidis explained.
“Plastered to the ground? Like spent catalyst after using stones for magic?” asked the emperor.
“Its color is different, but I’ve seen something like this before. I see it frequently in fact—at least once a week. Does it not remind you of the crystals beneath the Light of Origin, Your Majesty?”
“Oh,” Lyse unwittingly gasped as she connected the dots.
Sidis was right. White crystal spread across the lawn surrounding the Light. If someone were to pick up a handful of it, it would be strikingly similar to this strange black rock.
“Could it be that the Donan cultists have managed to make a simulacrum of the Light of Origin?”
“They might just have...” mused Alcede.
Everyone fell into silence.
If that were true, then the Donan Faith posed far more of a threat than previously imagined. It wouldn’t be so bad if the green lights popped up in foreign lands. It might dampen the empire’s authority and change its relationships with its surrounding nations at worst. But the green light didn’t nourish the soil—rather, it actively harmed people. It could prove a terrible weapon against Razanate.
Egbert sighed. “There is no doubt that the green light is connected to the Donan Faith. We now know that their black stones are mined from the bottom of a ravine far away from here.” The agent they’d captured recently had revealed not only information about the Donan leaders, but also critical intel like where they sourced their stones. “And right now, the Alstran Kingdom is at the top of our suspect list,” Egbert concluded upon sitting back down again.
Sidis agreed.
“To return to yesterday’s events, the timing was just too perfect. They have to be behind the attempt on Lyse’s life. We just don’t have evidence or testimony to prove it, sadly,” Alcede sighed.
They had since looked into the knight who’d attacked Lyse, but there were no eyewitnesses who knew how he fell under the power of suggestion. The knight himself couldn’t stand interrogation yet either, as he still couldn’t speak.
“The stones must have been involved somehow,” said Sidis.
“Yet we still don’t have the evidence to apprehend the Alstrans. All we have to go on at the moment are hunches,” said Alcede with a sour look before pulling out a paper bag of sweet treats. The sound of cookies crunching soon filled the office.
“If we could separate Seren from the Alstrans and get him to testify...” muttered the emperor.
“That should be easy. Seren seems like the type to succumb to guilt and start blabbering. But Your Majesty, how shall we approach this? Should we pin something on Seren, capture him, and force the information out of him?” Alcede suggested after finishing his cookies.
Sidis frowned at this idea. “Surely that’s too coercive, Alcede. Remember, the man is being abused by the prince. If anything, the empire should step in to protect him.”
“But he hasn’t confessed anything yet, has he? We need someone to pry it out of him.”
“He’d be too defensive if I approached him myself, but I doubt I could cast my confession magic on him in dog form. I could use regular magic though...” Sidis trailed off.
“I see. Your confession magic does stem from the Light, after all,” Alcede reasoned. Using it would therefore override Sidis’s transformation magic.
“But Sidis, watch this. I’ve discovered something quite interesting,” Alcede continued, pointing his index finger upward and moving it in a circular pattern before Lyse’s eyes. “You’re feeling sleepier and sleepier.”
“Your Grace...”
There’s no way that’ll work, thought Lyse...before suddenly losing her train of thought. A wave of drowsiness washed over her. At first, she’d looked at Alcede’s finger out of curiosity, but now she couldn’t tear her eyes away from it.