"Allow me to introduce myself", I said as I performed a noble's greeting, "I am seventh among the Seven Great Powers. The Magic God, Rudeus Greyrat."
"...The... Magic God?", the King looked more perplexed than anything.
After noticing the confusion of his lord, the court magician leaned forward and whispered something into his ear.
"I see. However, that is an even wilder claim than the one you made against my son! How can you expect me to believe a child like you could have earned such a title?"
I looked at him, surprised that what I've already shown him wasn't enough. "Well, if you want proof, perhaps I should defeat all the soldiers in your castle? I could demonstrate my most powerful spell, but I doubt your kingdom would survive it."
The King looked furious after hearing my response, having taken it as a threat. He looked to the side as though to bark orders to his guard to arrest me, only to be reminded that all of his knights and soldiers in the room were incapacitated.
"N-no. That won't be necessary... Wait! I know the perfect test! Just yesterday, my daughter was mysteriously turned to stone. If you are who you claim to be, restore her to her former self and I will believe your claim."
"Ugh...", I sighed. "I didn't come here to be tested. I came here out of respect." I pointed at Pax using the hand that wasn't maintaining the gravity magic. "Your son wrongfully imprisoned one of my good friends and had him beaten beyond recognition. After confronting him about it, I learned that he did so in order to use my friend to lure my Master Roxy so that he could assault her."
"I also learned from your soldiers that he has taken their families hostage to blackmail them into doing his bidding", I pointed at the five soldiers behind me when I said this. They all looked like they were terrified of what was going on, but one of them gathered the courage to step forward.
"My Liege. I testify that what this boy claims is true. I sincerely apologize for the improper way this has been handled. The boy here overpowered a group of eight of us in the courtyard, and then coerced the five of us to come along to testify against Pax. While it is true that he attacked several of your guards and effectively barged into your throne room, I swear on my life that what he claims about Pax is completely true!"
After the soldier gave his testimony, the eldest prince also spoke up.
"Father, if I'm going to be honest, I've been hearing several disturbing accounts of Pax's conduct over the past couple months. I only hesitated to bring them up to you because the contacts Pax has made in the slave market have proven very economically fruitful."
The King looked down at Pax scornfully, before sighing in lament.
"Very well. It seems that the evidence against you is overwhelming, Pax!"
"No, don't listen to them, Father! They're all lying! I've done so much to help you lately! Haven't my contacts made our kingdom a lot of money?"
"SILENCE!", the King yelled. "It is unfortunate that we will lose your contacts in the slave market, but I cannot allow your crimes to go unpunished. To hold the families hostage of my own personal guard is treason against the crown!"
Pax's face went ghostly pale as cold sweat ran down his back.
"As of this moment, I hereby banish you from the Kingdom of Shirone! Guards, lock him in the dungeon! I will deal with his exile later."
Some of the guards groaned in response, still being pressured down by my gravity magic. I decided to cancel the spell, still cautious of how they will respond.
Many of the guards had passed out from the intense gravity, but some of the stronger ones got up.
"Sire! What of the boy?", Darold, the knight captain of the imperial guard yelled out after catching his breath.
"Let him be. He's already proven you are no match for him. If he wished me any harm, he could have done so effortlessly while you were restrained. Take the rest of the guard along with you. I wish to speak to the boy in private."
"Yes sir!"
Darold and the remaining conscious soldiers grabbed Pax, who was still handcuffed with stone, and dragged him away out of the throne room. The five soldiers who were with him followed along.
"Now, Rudeus."
"Yes, your highness?", I said as I gave a slight bow.
"The actions of my son are unfortunate, but I hope you can understand my reaction to your sudden accusations made directly to me without an appointment."
"Yes, your highness. I realize this is a very... 'unique' situation."
"Good. Good. Yes, it's good you understand. I am willing to put aside this matter and I hope that we can maintain good relations with one another."
"That would be nice, your highness. I have no ill will against your kingdom."
"I have to ask. What of the rest of my guard?", the king asked while motioning to the unconscious guards lying around the room.
"They are fine. They just passed out. They will recover shortly."
"That is good news indeed. Now that everything has been settled, I hope you can help me with the matter I mentioned earlier?"
"You mean about your daughter?"
"Yes! I would be greatly appreciative if you could heal her. Of course, you will be rewarded handsomely."
"I don't mind taking a look at her, but I do have one condition for doing so."
The king furrowed his brows. "Name your condition."
"I will do so only if the third prince, your son Zanoba, is present while I come to restore your daughter."
"Zanoba!?... No, I cannot permit that. You see, he is already being punished for his actions the last time he saw Aurora in her current state. He threw such a fit that over a dozen of my guards have been injured; one of them even died!"
"I'm very sorry to hear that. Still, I need to speak with him. You have my word that I shall keep his behavior in line. Worry not, I personally guarantee that no harm will come to Princess Aurora."
"Hmm... Very well. I accept your condition. David!"
"Yes father!", the first prince yelled out.
"Go fetch your brother Zanoba from the dungeon. Tell him I wish to speak with him."
After a short while, the first prince returned with Zanoba, and King Shirone guided Zanoba and I to Aurora's room. The statue replica of Aurora I had made was standing next to the window overlooking the courtyard in her room. I kind of wondered how they managed to get the statue in here; it had to have weighed nearly a thousand kilograms!
As soon as Zanoba saw the statue, tears began to well up in his eyes and he reached out to caress the statue's cheek.
"Zanoba! Keep your hands off your sister. Remember, you are only here to watch!"
"No, it's quite alright your highness. Zanoba would never do anything to harm such a masterpiece."
"Don't encourage him!", the king scolded.
Zanoba, on the other hand, turned to look at me as though I were a kindred spirit.
"I'm glad to see that you too can appreciate the beauty of this figurine", Zanoba said with a smile.
"Of course. This was my greatest work, after all. I'm quite proud of it."
"What!? You're the master craftsman who created this? Truly!?"
The King, on the other hand, was less than pleased. "Your finest work? What is the meaning of this!? Did you do this to my daughter!?"
"Rest assured, your highness. Your daughter is safe. This statue was merely created in her image."
"Then where is Aurora? What did you do with my daughter!?"
"Who cares about that!", Zanoba yelled while pushing his father to the side, sending him sliding on the ground to the other side of the room. "Did you truly create this work? Was it really you!?"
"Yes, Zanoba. This is my greatest work yet. I am glad you like it. I created it using magic."
As I told him this, I raised my hand and quickly formed a figurine in Zanoba's image. It was nowhere close to as detailed as the statue in front of us, but I've gotten good enough to create a figurine with enough detail to at least tell who it's supposed to be in just ten seconds or so.
The moment Zanoba saw me do this, he immediately prostrated himself on the ground in front of me.
"Master! Please! Please take me on as your disciple! I will serve you with every fiber of my being!"
"Raise yourself, Zanoba. You and I are kindred spirits. I would be glad to teach you my friend."
"...F-friend..."
Zanoba stood there dumbfounded. He had tears flowing down his cheeks as he reached his arms out towards me for an embrace. My eye of foresight warned me of the incoming danger, so I quickly summoned an earth wall between us, making sure that it was insanely dense knowing Zanoba's freakish strength.
"Wait! Calm yourself Zanoba! You don't want to crush your master, do you!?"
"W-What!?"
Zanoba was completely distraught and once again prostrated himself in front of me.
"What a fool I am! I nearly killed you! Please forgive me, Master! I'll do anything!"
"Just calm down, Zanoba. There's no need for such overreactions. I'll take you with me, not as my disciple, but as my friend."
"Ahh!!!!"
Zanoba scurried along the ground towards me and began kissing my feet. Bleh!
"Stop it! Please, Zanoba, if you want to come with me then just treat me as you would a close friend."
"Y-yes! If that is what you want, t-then yes! We shall be best friends!"
At this point, the King had gotten up from where Zanoba pushed him and was furiously stomping his way towards us. Zanoba saw him coming and stepped between us with a determined look on his face.
"I won't let you lay a finger on my Master!"
"Zanoba, no! I'm fine! Don't do anything to hurt your father!"
"Rudeus Greyrat! I demand to know what you've done with my daughter!"
I spent the next hour in an extremely tiring conversation with the King, while Zanoba interrupted us constantly throughout. I explained that Princess Aurora did not want to marry the nobleman and begged me for help. I agreed to help her and created that stone statue to act as a decoy while she escaped the city.
The King demanded that I bring his daughter back to him, but I refused and told him that she was free to return if that was what she wanted. At first he was angry, but when I told him that in exchange for his daughters freedom, I would declare myself an ally of the Kingdom of Shirone and swear to protect the Kingdom if it came under attack from its neighbors, the King concluded that giving his daughter her freedom was a small price to pay to make such a strong ally. He was just going to marry her off for political gain anyway.
I didn't mind allying myself with the current King as I remember Pax staged a coup in the future. I'd rather not see that jerk in charge regardless.
The King also agreed to allow Zanoba to travel with me. He considered this to be a win-win situation as well. Zanoba would stop causing so much trouble for him, and he gained an even stronger ally in his place. The only thing the King asked in return for taking Zanoba and Aurora with me was that I bring her back to the Palace one last time so he could give her a proper send-off.
After we concluded our negotiations, I made my way back to our room at the Inn, where Princess Aurora was waiting. Paul was there waiting for me as well; apparently he succeeded in his mission of freeing the families of the soldiers and the captured members of the Fittoa search group.
"Welcome back, Rudeus!", Aurora greeted me. "How did your summons with Pax go?"
"Better than expected! No need to hide anymore, Aurora. I've secured your freedom!"