[Kitsuna Pov]
"How the fuck did this happen?" the king demanded, glaring down at us.
"How the fuck should I know? I wasn't even in the capital when this shit went down," I retorted, meeting his glare with my own.
After Kayda brought the barrier down, all the corpses were revived. However, the ones that Amari turned to dust never came back. That didn't really surprise me—her spells are ridiculously strong, capable of turning someone to dust in mere seconds.
On the other hand, Amari just realized she unknowingly killed over 50 kids. At least Zagan is with her, though I doubt he'll be much help after witnessing the horrors in those caves.
Hmm, Mom should be with them. That might help both of them deal with things. Dean, meanwhile, was here with us in this meeting with the king.
"Kitsuna Draig, you should watch your mouth in front of the king," the head of the royal guard barked, his eyes narrowing at me.
"Shut it, old-timer," I shot back, waving him off like he was nothing more than a buzzing fly.
"Kitsuna," Kayda murmured beside me, her glare piercing through me like daggers.
"Fine, I'll stop talking," I muttered, plopping down onto an ice chair I conjured for myself.
'I still can't believe Mom banned me from making an ice throne after the last time,' I thought with a soft sigh.
"Hah, why is she even here? I mean, she said she had nothing to do with this at all. She wasn't even there," the king grumbled, gesturing toward me.
"…Her clone was there," Kayda interjected, her tone calm as always. She knew full well I inherited the memories of my clones, even if they were a bit fuzzy at times.
"Yeah, so?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"I think she's the one who made the barrier, considering how defensive she's being," the organizer chimed in. His comment made everyone turn to him like he was the dumbest creature to ever exist.
"The fuck!" the king growled, glaring daggers at the organizer.
"She is unruly."
"Shut up for fuck's sake! Why the hell is someone as brainless as him the organizer for the under-16 tournament?" the king roared, his frustration spilling over as he directed his fury at his minister.
"Sorry, your Majesty. I didn't think he'd be like this," the minister replied, bowing his head slightly.
"Haah, whatever. How many died?" the king asked, turning to Kayda for answers.
"About 72," she replied, her tone neutral.
"That's a lot," I remarked, letting out a low whistle.
"Yes, and it's also a big problem," the king admitted, rubbing his temples thoughtfully.
"Just a question: do we know all the families of the deceased?" he added, fixing his gaze on the organizer.
"Yes, your Majesty. Everything has been documented," the organizer confirmed, nodding confidently.
"Hmm, I didn't really want to handle it this way…" the king muttered, his annoyance evident.
"What? Compensate the families of the deceased and let the tournament continue so the culprit reveals themselves?" Dean spoke up, cutting straight to the point. His bluntness was clearly intentional, sparing the king the discomfort of saying it outright.
"…You don't have mind-reading abilities, do you?" the king asked, his voice trembling slightly—though it was obvious he was faking the uncertainty.
"No, but it's obvious what you were thinking. And no, you're not making light of the dead by thinking that way. It's a productive approach, and it might lure the enemy out," Dean explained, his tone firm.
"Sigh…"
"Also, the main culprits are likely the angels from the federation. That Gluttony guy is probably involved, too," I stated, my words plunging the meeting room into silence.
"Kitsuna, where did you hear this?" the king asked sharply, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"Hear? No, this is just something I suspect. That Gluttony guy is a high-ranking member of the angel faction. I know because of Rachel—she's terrible at keeping secrets," I replied with a casual shrug, chuckling at the thought.
"She wants us to overthink this," Dean mused, his tone contemplative.
"Nah, she's too dumb to pull that off," I said dismissively.
"So her superior wants us to overthink this," the king reasoned, phrasing it more like a question than a statement.
"Yeah, that sounds about right. But I doubt they'd go to all this trouble to create a barrier Kayda couldn't detect from a few meters away," I remarked, glancing at Kayda to see if she had anything to add.
"Hmm, you have a point. But there's one thing, Kitsu—I wasn't there either," Kayda revealed, her words catching me off guard.
"…You weren't?" I asked, tilting my head in surprise.
"Yeah, I got called away by Stacy."
"…Don't tell me she didn't show up."
"She did, don't worry. She wanted to talk about something. Nothing important enough to drag out this meeting, though," Kayda said, brushing off the topic.
"Hmm, so what we know is that they somehow knew you wouldn't be there and that their target was Amari Draig," the prime minister stated thoughtfully, stroking his chin.
"I doubt they knew she wouldn't be there," Kayda interjected. "But their target was definitely Amari. Not to actually kill her, but to make us believe she was dead," she added, her voice steady despite the subtle anger she was clearly suppressing.
"What do you mean by that, Kayda?" the king asked, his brows furrowing in confusion.
"Well, the only reason the 72 kids didn't come back was because there were no bodies left to reverse or recover. More accurately, their ashes were dispersed before the original reversal barrier kicked in," Kayda explained, her tone calm and measured.
"Please, explain for the uneducated," the king requested, rubbing his forehead as if nursing a headache.
"The reverse barrier can only reverse events within a specific time frame," Kayda replied simply, her words laced with a hint of patience.
"Yes, but that timeframe is a few hours," the king countered, his frustration simmering.
"Correct—it's six hours. But what if the secondary barrier sped up time? We didn't even manage to remove it until two hours after their deaths," Kayda elaborated, her tone as analytical as ever.
"So, you're saying they did try to kill Amari Draig but ended up screwing themselves over with their own barrier?" Dean asked, his tone a strange mix of anger and amusement.
"That's assuming the deceased kids were from the federation," Kayda affirmed.
"Or the angel faction," I added, chiming in.
"That's true. But do they even use non-angelic beings?" the king asked, referring to the possibility of mixed forces.
"It's the most likely option," I replied with a shrug. "The easiest way to gather forces and cannon fodder."
"Sigh… This is so annoying," the king muttered, rubbing his temples again.
"Yeah, but don't cancel the tournament. Just let it continue and compensate the families of the deceased. End of discussion," I stated firmly, eager to put the matter to rest.
"Kitsuna, it's not that simple," the minister interjected, shaking his head disapprovingly.
"They don't know about the second barrier. They'll just blame Amari for killing their kids. Well, at least the ones actually mourning their children," Dean remarked coldly. "Everyone in the arena saw her use her new spell, so just let them think it was that."
"You think not all of them are mourning?" the king asked, narrowing his eyes at Dean.
"Some of them are definitely from the federation, and we all know how those sick bastards view their kids most of the time," Dean replied with a shrug, his tone as blunt as ever.
"Fine. We'll handle it like that, but I'll go over it with the council first to finalize the best approach," the king decided, nodding in agreement.
"Sure, go for it. Now that's settled, can I go?" I asked, already itching to leave.
"Yes, you can leave."
"Wait, Kitsuna, we need to talk," Dean said, his glare fixed on me.
"Fine. Let's take it outside," I replied, standing up and walking toward the balcony.
"I'm coming with you," Kayda added, following close behind.
Once we were outside, Dean wasted no time. "Why are you making your sister take all the blame?"
"It's the best outcome, and you know it," I shot back, crossing my arms.
"Yeah, for the country, but not for my kid," Dean countered, his voice laced with frustration.
"Hmm, Dean, you realize about 90% of the deaths were from the federation, right?"
"How sure are you?"
"My group only consisted of federation participants. All 2,499 kids were from the federation," I explained.
"No, that's not possible," Dean argued, disbelief flashing in his eyes.
"It is. I checked yesterday. That's why I was talking with Stacy during the tournament. Everyone from our country was placed in Group 4 with that over-leveled 800 kid. I haven't seen him myself, but it seems intentional."
"Still, why make Amari take the fall?" Dean pressed, his frustration boiling over.
"She'll be fine. Just explain everything to her—all the details, even the small ones. She'll be depressed for a few days, sure, but she'll recover," I replied firmly.
"Kitsuna, you're terrible at understanding familial love," Dean muttered, his words cutting deep.
"Uncalled-for, sickhead," I snapped, glaring at him.
"It's the truth."
"...Sigh." I sighed heavily, annoyance simmering beneath the surface as I teleported away.
'How the fuck am I supposed to know how family love works?' I thought bitterly, kicking a tree in frustration. The impact uprooted it, sending several others crashing down behind it.
'Should I just finish what Zagan failed to do today?' I wondered, glancing at the fallen tree before teleporting away once again.