Chapter 170
Chapter 170: What Do You Mean by That—Racial Discrimination, Is It?
A soul-shaking pressure climbed up the ministers' trembling, frail bodies and crept inward toward their hearts.
The ministers stared blankly at the Demi-human legion kneeling on one knee before them, and then suddenly realized something.
Quintin's emotions grew especially agitated. He pointed at the Demi-humans outside the Grand Hall and said hurriedly:
"Your Majesty! Take a look at this unit."
"They are all Demi-humans!"
The remaining ministers, paying no heed to the cold that swept through their bodies, exchanged hushed words among themselves:
"That's right... those are Demi-humans!"
"How can Demi-humans enter the Empire? And even form an army!"
The more the ministers spoke, the more worked up they became, their voices growing louder and louder, utterly ignoring Viktor who stood behind them.
As though if they could just get a little louder, a little louder still—their voices would reach the Emperor's ears.
Demi-humans possessed extremely keen hearing, and the voices discussing matters inside the Grand Hall came through clearly to their ears.
They kept their heads lowered, held their composure, and only bit their lips lightly.
The fists resting against their chests tightened ever so slightly.
They were not foolish. In this moment, they could clearly feel it.
Those humans, gazing at them from a distance, had eyes full of nothing but disdain and contempt.
As though they regarded them as nothing more than a group of savage, brutish beasts.
The Emperor's body tilted slightly backward, pressing his back firmly against the throne as he fixed his gaze on the noisy nobles, a flicker of displeasure passing through his eyes.
"Then, what do you all think should be done?"
Hearing the Emperor ask for their opinion, the nobles assumed the Emperor had softened his stance.
They grew somewhat elated, and in their momentary excitement, their words came out without much thought behind them.
A noble seized the opportunity and hurriedly said:
"In my view, Count Viktor should be made to disband this Demi-human unit and have them expelled from the Empire."
"The Empire should not permit these non-human races to enter."
"Ha... then you might as well not let me in either."
Cocotte let out a yawn, sitting on her cloud, pointing a finger at herself as she said casually:
"I'm not human either, after all."
Hearing Cocotte speak, that noble abruptly snapped his mouth shut, struck dumb with fright.
In human eyes, Elves and Demi-humans were, in truth, not so different.
Because neither of them was human.
But Elves were simply more noble than Demi-humans.
After all, Demi-humans had no rights—you could mistreat them however you pleased.
Elves, however, were a different matter.
He had no desire to spend the rest of his life suffering under some curse.
At the very least, right now, he had no wish to earn the resentment of an Elf.
Especially not a powerful 4th-Tier Elven Queen.
Though the ministers didn't dare say anything disrespectful to Cocotte, they still smiled along while pushing back:
"You misunderstand, Council Member Yadh—you are an Elf. Naturally, Demi-humans are no match for you."
Cocotte blinked and looked at the noble who had spoken.
"What do you mean by that?"
"So Elves aren't people either?"
The man froze on the spot.
Weren't Elves supposed to be gentle and agreeable?
Did that apparently not apply to the Elven Queen?
"No... I... that isn't what I meant..."
"Then Demi-humans aren't people?"
"This... I..."
He was completely thrown into confusion by Cocotte's sophistry, wringing his hands incessantly as he racked his sluggish brain—yet it couldn't produce a single meaningful rebuttal.
What was he supposed to say?
If he admitted that Demi-humans weren't people, wouldn't he be directly insulting every Elf, Cocotte included?
Even though Elves genuinely weren't human!
The ministers opened their mouths, but not a single word came out.
"Done? Then let me have my say."
At that moment, Viktor's cold gaze swept across everyone present.
The instant his voice rang out, they couldn't help but stiffen where they stood.
"I recall that the households of each of you have purchased quite a number of Demi-human slaves."
"This is hardly any secret."
The nobles listened as Viktor laid this brutal truth bare right in front of the Emperor without a shred of restraint.
Cold sweat broke out all over them involuntarily.
According to Imperial law, Demi-humans were prohibited from entering the Empire, and slave merchants were forbidden from capturing Demi-humans beyond the borders and smuggling them in illegally.
Though Demi-humans might appear within the Empire's borders on their own, and those who captured them could dispose of the captured Demi-humans as they pleased—even keeping them at home as slaves.
But...
If a considerable number of nobles' households harbored Demi-human slaves, then where had all these Demi-humans come from?
It was impossible that a group of Demi-humans had deliberately entered the Empire of their own accord, specifically waiting to be captured by humans.
As long as the Emperor wished to investigate, leads pointing to slave merchant after slave merchant could naturally be traced back from their households.
When that time came, the situation would be very bad indeed.
Viktor watched those noble ministers with a mocking expression, and the meaning behind his words was exceedingly simple.
Even you lot are allowed to use Demi-human slaves as labor—and yet my Clavena Family isn't permitted to form a Demi-human army?
As for the danger Demi-humans posed?
Who dared bring up danger in Viktor's presence?
"I understand what you want me to prove. Fine."
Viktor raised his hand and snapped his fingers in the air. As though receiving some command, all the Demi-humans rose to their feet in unison.
The cat ears and dog ears atop their heads swayed back and forth.
They stood at attention in place, all at once—every last one of them in a posture of total readiness.
Judging from the reaction of this Demi-human unit, its discipline alone could hold its own against a regular Imperial army.
And from those seemingly slender Demi-human bodies, there emanated a faint and dangerous aura of something predatory—cold and merciless.
The noble ministers stared at this formation standing in perfect unison and went completely blank.
Though some among them had little familiarity with the Imperial military, the Demi-human unit before their eyes allowed them to understand very clearly.
What the word "professional" truly meant.
In this moment, quite a few of them began doubting themselves.
Were these really Demi-humans?
Could Demi-humans understand human commands?
Without a whip, without food—all it took was a single snap of the fingers?
Immediately after, Viktor walked slowly over to Quintin's side.
1 hand came down lightly onto his shoulder.
Feeling the weighty pressure that landed on his shoulder, Quintin shook all over.
He couldn't help but slowly turn his head, looking at Viktor with an expression of overwhelming dread.
"Master Quintin, as the Director of the Magical Creature Management Bureau, you should understand this better than I do."
"Magical Creatures, too, possess intelligence."
Viktor's calm voice drifted into his ear.
This was no falsehood—the Magical Creature Management Bureau would capture rare Magical Creatures capable of inciting uprisings and place them in proper containment.
Among those captured Magical Creatures, many were species that had developed a degree of intelligence and did not operate on pure instinct alone.
"Then on what basis do you believe that Demi-humans have no intelligence?"
"Simply because you have treated them as beasts?"
The cold words seemed to bore straight down to the marrow, drilling into Quintin's ears.
His trembling wouldn't stop. His voice grew somewhat feeble, and his gaze drifted involuntarily toward the Demi-humans.
Feeling Quintin's stare, the Demi-humans remained standing in solemn silence, eyes fixed forward, not shifting by even half an inch.
These were clearly an elite unit that could obey commands without exception!
In this moment, the large hand resting on his shoulder was slowly withdrawn.
Only then did Quintin feel that oppressive sensation—the kind that had brought him to the very edge of death—gradually recede.
Viktor walked in front of him, his back turned to Quintin.
"I hope you can understand something: I am their master."
"It is not yet your place to boss them around."
The instant those words fell, the Crow on his shoulder flashed a strange gleam in its eye.
The next moment, from Viktor's back, a pair of enormous pitch-black wings suddenly burst forth.
Red light flowed between the feathers, scattering flecks of black into the air.
The wings fanned gently in midair, as though to sweep every unwanted intruder away.
The ministers watched those wings erupt from Viktor's back, and as though catching sight of something terrifying, they were all frightened backward, retreating deeper into the Grand Hall.
The traits of a Demi-human? No!
That was clearly something only Magic could achieve.
Quintin was still trembling. Tentatively, he asked Viktor:
"Count Viktor, are you... truly human?"
Viktor merely turned his head back and cast him a single cold, sidelong glance.
"I am not human."
"Are you?"
The mocking words descended upon everyone's head, making their hair stand on end all over.
In Viktor's gaze, they were like a group of primitive beasts stripped bare.
It left them wishing the ground would swallow them whole.
After a long silence, a bright and weathered laugh came from the direction of the throne.
It seemed to sweep away all the oppressive tension that had gathered in the air.
The noble ministers finally stirred. They turned around to see the Emperor slapping the arm of his throne, laughing uproariously.
Aubrey's laughter gradually quieted. He smiled and said to the Princess:
"Wasn't this all prepared long in advance?"
"Auréliane, go on—follow your teacher without worry."
The moment those words fell, it was as though a bomb had detonated inside every minister's mind—boom—leaving them utterly blank.
In their ears, a faint and sharp ringing seemed to linger.
The Emperor had agreed.
Auréliane, seated in her chair, was watching Viktor's back. A little star couldn't help but flicker to life in her eyes.
She felt nothing but the most overwhelming admiration.
Emperor Aubrey looked down with fond indulgence at the Princess seated below him and said with a smile:
"Go now, Auréliane."
"Don't disappoint me."
***
Wild wind and snow danced endlessly beneath the sky, and the howling cold wind kept slicing at the skin of those who had come here.
Across the vast, boundless snowfield, there seemed to be not a single shred of life.
A group of guards and Knights tramped through deep-packed snow, dragging their feet, pressing forward with great difficulty.
Beneath the white expanse, an overwhelmingly thick stench of blood rose up from the earth and diffused into the air.
A voice spoke quietly.
"We've arrived. This is where the decisive battle took place."
"This is also where the Demon appeared."
Led by Dike—General Vladimir's adjutant and the 3rd-in-command of the Pallid Mage Society—this army that had come from the Royal Capital was conducting its investigation of the Demon incident here.
The Second Prince flipped down from a sled, wrapped in a thick fur coat, exhaling cold breath as he looked around.
Before long, he narrowed his eyes.
"The Demon's aura."
The Second Prince could sense it clearly—a Demon had indeed been here.
And this stench of blood...
Wrath?
Beside his ear, a low and viscous voice slowly drifted in.
The Second Prince had no time to respond to Yem's words, and merely raised his head to look ahead.
Toward that expanse of Frozen Ocean.
Some time before, this snowfield had endured an extraordinarily terrifying battle.
So many Savage Beasts had died at that time that the blood staining that stretch of Frozen Ocean had not yet fully dissipated even now.
He was somewhat curious—exactly who had brought the Wrath from Jess's body all the way out here.
However he turned it over in his mind, he could think of only 1 answer.
"Viktor..."
The Second Prince murmured that name quietly, then cast his gaze forward.
Out on the surface of the ocean, the outline of a grand ruin lay buried beneath snow.
A ruin appearing abruptly on an otherwise flat stretch of ocean—that was something he found rather difficult to make sense of.
Had there been some kind of structure here before?
Dike slowly explained:
"According to the scouts from that time, they did indeed see a complete white temple here. At first, they assumed it had been built by those Savage Beasts."
"However, that temple was destroyed by Count Viktor."
The Second Prince looked at the ruin over there and felt a measure of surprise.
Viktor again?
But what exactly was this thing.
Suddenly—as though some raging beast had fallen silent mid-roar—the surrounding wind and snow gradually stilled, as if cut off and sealed outside a separate space entirely.
The sky overhead was slowly blanketed by dark clouds, sinking into a heavy gloom.
Yet this abnormal weather felt somehow... strange.
It was clearly an overcast sky, and yet—where was the wind? Why was there no wind?
The Second Prince seemed to sense something, and snapped his head upward.
A pair of eyes—as though piercing through the shadowed cloud layer—were directed at him.
Or rather.
Directed at that ruined temple.
Staring at it with unblinking fixity.