Pale hands with trembling fingers, ashen skin as if there was no blood in his body, Saber Reed, the high priest of the holy temple sat stiffly among the people gathered in the first prince's room.
The Reed House.
One of the prominent families that hold power in the Emmanuel empire. Second only to the imperial family and the duke houses, Marqus Reed was considered a prestigious person.
There was no end of people who tried to make connections with that person. But Marqus Reed was a hard man to please.
So when people failed to make connections with him, they changed targets.
'If we can't make connections with him, let's build up connections with people close to him.'
Because of that despite being the second son and not the heir, people treated Saber Reed well.
There was no end for people that tried to please the second young master of the Reed family.
Even when he awakened with divine powers and joined the holy temple, he was able to gain standing far faster than any newbie priest.
Using his father's name and money, growing his prestige and reputation and rising the ranks were nothing to him.
In the entirety of his life, he has never suffered. He was pampered and spoiled.
He was known as the youngest high priest, one of the candidates considered to become the next pope.
He was walking a flowery path to success.
But there was one obstacle.
He may have had a reputation among the priests of the holy temple and a few numbers of commoners related to the holy church.
But he had to build up his reputation among the most prestigious of nobles.
So when the news reached his ears that a priest was needed for a secret mission among high ranking people, he had volunteered.
Though he was uncomfortable when he had to travel in a mediocre ship without luxurious items to provide comfort, he couldn't say complain a word when not even the first imperial prince uttered a word of complain.
He gritted his teeth and endured.
They were progressing smoothly until their path became riddled with difficulties.
First the pirates, then the prince, the tower master and another were kidnapped.
After rescuing them, he thought their mission would be smooth sailing.
But then came the real challenge.
Other-worldly beasts.
Despite being a holy power wielder and a priest, Saber had no faith in God Lumiere, a being he has never seen or have come across proof for its existence.
That same priest who had never prayed earnestly prayed to the god for the first time.
"Please have mercy. Please save me. Show mercy."
As if the god was answering his prayers, the monster that was about to devour them was attacked.
The two swordmasters and the 7th class mage of the Southern continent came forward to defeat the monster.
The relief and the delight that came followed after their entrance into the battle were short-lived.
Because even Saber, a non-combatant could see their attacks yielded no results other than superficial injuries.
The hope was lost even before the outcome of the battle was revealed.
Until he appeared.
That person was another 7th class mage.
Just like the mage tower master, Enzo Hale.
But the way he wielded his power was vastly different from Enzo.
Even though that giant monster wasn't killed by him, substantial damage was received from him and he was the one who killed most of the monsters.
He looked younger than Saber Reed, who was 20 years old.
Now he was sitting amongst the people who went toe to toe with those monsters, including that young man, Keith.
They were quietly sipping tea, as if they never saw or fought against monsters.
Even now, Saber had goosebumps on his arms and his hands grew clammy thinking about those monsters.
Other than the inner bedroom Michael occupied, he also had a room as an office where he and Oliver dealt with official matters.
It had a set of couches where people could gather to discuss things.
Single seat sofa was placed facing a three-seater couch. In between them was a two-seater couch and a table.
The black colour of the furniture gave off an air of sophistication.
"Since so many unexpected interruptions happened upon us, we weren't able to discuss what we set off for."
First prince Michael said calmly while sipping on a cup of tea.
But Saber's attention was focused on Keith, or more explicably Kai who was using a fake alias.
So was the most people present there.
The person who was the center of attention only had a smile on his face outwardly but he was cursing up a storm internally.
'Michael, that annoying bastard. Why is he dragging me into this ? When he said he wanted to talk, I thought there won't be other people around.'
Then Kai's eyes suddenly widened as if a flash of lightning had hit him.
'Oh ! I see. He's trying to corner me with people to get the answers he needs.'
Michael must have figured it out that despite Kai's youthful appearance he wasn't someone Michael could easily handle.
So, he was trying to use peer pressure.
Kai didn't feel angry but he was annoyed.
'But the jokes on him though.'
Kai thought amusingly.
When Kai was living in Korea, many people tried the same thing.
They always tried to press down on him using indirect pressure. But there was something they never expected.
The more Kai remembered those pesky people, more annoyed he became. The more annoyed he became, gentler his smile became.
Michael felt a chill crawling up him, like a demon was peering down at him from hell.
It was a sign of doom but he easily suppressed his feelings. His attention was divested towards the high priest who was seated on the two-seater couch with Edgar Hart.
"Your highness, if we are trying to discuss confidential matters, shouldn't we only include the correct people ?"
Saber Reed added pompously while emphasizing on the words 'correct people.'
The relaxed atmosphere of the room created by the tasteful refreshments and tea dissipated like it was never there.
The expressions on most of the people there hardened in an instant.
Saber's words appeared simple at a glance but the implication of the words wasn't lost at all.
'We are here to talk about something important but we don't need unnecessary people here.'
Those words were aimed at one person.
It was none other than Kai.
But there were people who behaved as if no such words were uttered. They were Michael and Kai.
They didn't lose their cheerful and gentle dispositions.
Saber grew more frustrated seeing Kai's nonchalant expression.
There was only one reason Saber targeted Kai.
During the incident, Saber felt powerless and felt the inexplicable wall between the people who fought and him.
The reason he came here for was to gain recognition but seeing the fight that unfolded before him he grew frustrated and despaired.
He knew without a doubt he wouldn't reach the place they had achieved.
When someone couldn't accept reality, they find someone to blame.
For Saber, it was easier for him to target Kai than accept the reality.
He felt resentment and irrational anger.
"That's true."
Michael agreed without protest.
Saber couldn't help but feel gleeful and glanced at Kai as if to gloat. He was surprised that Michael agreed with him but didn't show it outward.
The only thing in his mind was to humiliate and embarrass Kai.
To Saber, it didn't matter that most of the people in the ship, including himself owed their lives to Kai.
"We shouldn't let people who can't contribute interfere with the discussion and the overall mission."
Michael crossed his legs and folded his arms on top of his lap.
He seemed to be readying himself for a serious matter. Then he suddenly turned towards Saber.
"So high priest what can you do for us ?"
The imperial prince's piercing eyes settled on him.
Faced with an unexpected question and an intimidating force behind the piercing gaze, Saber stuttered like a fool.
"Wh... what ?"
He flushed in embarrassment at unwittingly behaving disgracefully.
"Since the high priest seems to have an opinion about competency of the people gathered here, I thought you might have a suggestion or two."
Michael replied lightly, like he wasn't deliberately mocking someone.
"The high priest must have found how we fought disgraceful and incompetent."
Michael nodded his head to himself as if he fully believed the nonsense coming out of his mouth.
"We were quite busy dealing with the monsters back then. That must have been why we didn't see the high priest among the combatants. So we didn't have the time to listen to your opinion back then. I apologize for that. But now the high priest has the chance to share his opinion. Do you know of a way to deal with a monster of that caliber, if we were to come across one like that ?"
With each word that left the imperial prince's lips, Saber couldn't help but pale.
At first, he had though the prince agreed with him. But little by little his actions and words proved Saber wrong.
Then only Saber remembered who he was talking with.
The powerhouses of the Emmanuel empire.
The ones who had reached the pinnacle of power and humans.
They weren't beings shackled by human limitations. They could destroy countries with their power alone if they wished for.
He had behaved ignorantly before them. He had insulted Kai, which was similar to insulting the others who fought valiantly.
Because Kai was someone who stood with them instead of apart from them, unlike himself.
It was too late for him to recognize his mistakes.
Heavy pressure was pressing down on him. Mana of three different beings suffocated him. He felt his insides boiling but his skin was freezing.
It was hard to take even a single breath. He gasped but there was no air that reached his nostrils.
Edgar, Ruwel's son wasn't in a pleasant situation either.
Even though it wasn't directed at him, he didn't escape unscathed either.
He felt like his insides were being scraped raw. The mana that was suffocating them were like a huge hand that was crushing him.
Edgar fared better than Saber who was about to faint, sweating profusely.
That was when it happened.
Another force of mana was released into the room.
Feeling this Saber could only despair while Edgar tensed. But...
If the mana emitted by Ruwel, Enzo and Michael were so overwhelming that no being could survive them, the mana emitted by Kai was a brilliant force that soothed the suffering.
It gently wrapped around the bodies of Saber and Edgar and unknowingly comforting and relaxing them.
They fell into a blissful trance while Kai's mana that was scattered around the room surged and dispelled the intimidating pressure in the room.
The mana that could destroy kingdoms if combined were dispelled as if they were paper caught in a storm.
Michael, Ruwel and Enzo were taken aback and they couldn't keep their composure as they turned to him.
Kai was merely sipping tea as if he had not done something miraculous like that with his face peaceful.
To any person who didn't have much knowledge, the whole thing would look simple.
In reality, it was like someone subjugating three massive tides of tsunami with the vast ocean.
Cluck.
The sound of the tea cup been settled over was like a beginning of the end.
A calm voice that compelled everyone to listen pierced through the air.
"Then shall we start the discussion ?"