"Your… Your Majesty knows our Head Minister?" Severus asked.
"Yeah. He is the one who gave this title. We have a good chat almost two months ago," Jack replied jovially.
Severus didn't question Jack's claim that the leader gave him the title. Severus knew only the leader could grant that title. He was more surprised about Jack's claim of having a good chat with the leader.
Jack might have said it as if it was nothing, but Severus found it hard to believe. Even he had never had the chance to et the leader, only the leader's copy. But then again, it would be impossible for the leader to give this Honorary Magi title to soone if the person was not close to the leader. Although it was not official, the one having this title could be seen as the successor to their faction.
Severus was baffled to silence. Jack might be the king, but the leader never deign to et any country's sovereign. This had happened in the past. Whether when the leader was summoned or when the sovereign ca to visit, it was always the copy who ca forward.
He could hardly believe this young boy, despite being a king, had truly t their leader face to face. Furthermore, Jack was not yet a king two months ago. This ant Jack had t the leader when Jack was still a nobody.
"Have you truly t our leader?" Severus asked.
"Yeah," Jack responded.
"You must an his copy, right? You are aware he has many copies, aren't you?" Severus asked again.
"I'm aware. I've t his old copy, his young copy, and also his real self."
"Are you sure? Can you just maybe mistake him for another copy?"
"Unless he lied to , but why would he lie to that he is the real one?" Jack asked back.
Severus thought back to one incident when the Queen of the elven country visited their headquarters in the Aurebor Dynasty. The queen had demanded to et the leader's real self, but it was still a copy who t the queen. When the queen asked if the copy was his real self, the leader didn't even lie to save the queen's face. He just said directly that he was a copy and his real self was unavailable.
If the leader didn't even bother to lie to Aurebor's queen, why would he lie to Jack, who was not even a king yet at that ti?
"You are not lying to , are you?" Severus asked.
"Dude, you are one mistrustful person," Jack replied. "How about we go next door? Young Janus should be there, right? Let's go and ask him directly."
"Ah… No need, no need," Severus said. "So, what is our leader like?"
"Well, he is…"
The two started to hotly chat on the topic. Diana who stood behind them was speechless. Wasn't Severus acting hostile not long ago? Now, the two were speaking as if they were the best of friends. Severus even forgot to address Jack with an honorary title anymore.
"Ehem!!" Diana cleared her throat again when their chat seed to be dragging on for too long.
"Oh," The two realized they were getting carried away.
"Hey, let's chat so other ti," Jack said to Severus. "I will look for you if I ever visit the Order of Magi here. Are you only stationed here, or do you occasionally go to other branches?"
"I mostly stayed here. The task in this place takes a lifeti, after all."
"That is depressing. I suppose we can find a place to hang out when you are free. Do you know any good place in the city?"
"There is a good restaurant around the…"
"EHEM!!!" Diana was getting impatient.
"Okay, okay! We are on official business here," Jack said to Severus, changing into a serious tone. "Tell , good Severus. How do you detect that the portal behind this seal is closing without a problem?"
Severus also cleared his throat and adopted a formal tone, "Reporting, Your Majesty. We detect it by reading the energies from the rune diagram which our ancestors had set up. My fellow mages here are channeling their energies to direct the flow within the rune diagram and make sure that everything works without a hitch."
"So, the portal is already halfway into completely closing."
"I say, around seventy percent. It might not need another century to complete this task. Probably around eighty more years, I dare say," Severus inford.
"Since the task is already half completed, do you still need two legendary artifacts to fuel your rune diagram?" Jack asked. "I an, can you complete the remaining task with only one artifact?"
"Well, technically, it is possible," Severus said. "After closing the portal to this stage, the energy the portal emitted was not as powerful as when it was first opened. Theoretically, one artifact was sufficient for the job."
"That's great. This ans I can take one of the artifacts away, can I?" Jack asked.
"Is that why Your Majesty is here?" Severus asked back. "Unfortunately, I must disappoint you."
"Why is that?"
"Because the artifacts are inside there," Severus pointed to the black do. "They were within the heart of the rune diagram, which was right next to the portal. To go near that portal will require us to open this sealing do. We don't know how many demonic creatures had slipped out of the portal. Although powerful ones should have been sucked back into their realm when the portal shrank, we can't know for sure. For all we know, there might be a mythical-grade demon behind this do. If it gets out and causes havoc here, then all our effort these past two centuries will beco wasted."
"Why does Your Majesty want to get the Boundless Cache?" Diana asked. "I understand the country needed funds after the war, but I think it doesn't worth the risk of agitating this demonic portal."
"What I want to take is the Totem Banner," Jack replied, which caused Diana's forehead to crease further.
"I need that artifact to make peace with Verremor," Jack said to her. "Trust . If we don't resolve our issues with Verremor soon, we will be besieged from the front and the back when the enemy cos."
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