Chương 26: Collateral Repossessed

Bart approached the ruined archway of the East Wing with measured steps. Albert walked silently beside him, the skeleton's empty eye sockets pulsing with a faint light in perfect rhythm with the illuminated seal on the heavy metal door. Gregor followed cautiously a few paces behind, keeping one hand near his daggers. Morzath the Undying floated behind them all, his tattered crimson cape drifting in the still air.

The massive lich was still profoundly offended by his encounter with the green tea, and he looked entirely prepared to direct his lingering hostility toward the noise in the basement. Purple fire gathered between Morzath's spiked fingers.

"Shall I open it?" the lich rumbled.

"No," Bart said.

"Shall I threaten it?"

"Also no." Bart stepped directly in front of the ancient, reinforced metal door. He did not touch the glowing blue seal. Instead, he activated his newest ability, Restricted Inspection. A blue overlay cascaded across the heavy door, analysing the physical and magical layers of the ancient locking mechanism.

EAST WING KEEPER VAULT Physical integrity: Unbroken Containment status: Active Internal breach: None detected Memory Authority: Verified Record Authority: Unavailable Citation Authority: Unavailable Closure Authority: External Succession Authority: Provisional Vault access: Denied Validated authorities: 1 of 5 As the text floated in the air, the first jagged seal on the metal door pulsed brightly. Thud. Gregor flinched.

"So there is nothing trapped inside?" Bart studied the exact wording on the cyan screen.

"There is no detected containment breach." Gregor waited.

"That was not the same answer." Bart adjusted his glasses. The ancient mechanism was acknowledging the restored Memory Authority. The vault was still sealed, it was simply no longer asleep. Albert stepped forward and gently touched the active seal. The cyan light in his skull flared, connecting with the door. The network seemed to hold. Before Bart could inspect the remaining seals, an enormous alarm erupted from the main desk behind them. It was not a subtle System chime. It was a blaring siren….

They hurried back through the ruined archway to the main desk. A huge crimson notification filled the centre of the Archive, casting a harsh red glow over the wooden floorboards.

OVERDUE LOAN DEFAULT CONFIRMED Borrower: King Aurelius of Tremendia Overdue Holding: The Private Journal of King Aurelius (Original) Loan period: 21 days Return attempts: 0 Extension requests: 0 Borrower communications: 17 declarations of royal immunity Registered collateral: Kingdom of Tremendia Collateral seizure: Authorised Repossession method: Sovereign Catalogue Lien Albert read out the text out loud.

Gregor distinctly remembered Aurelius grandly pledging his entire kingdom to secure the loan, and panic washed over the thief's face.

"Boss, is the Archive going to pull the whole castle through the bathroom?"

"No," Bart said, pulling up the lien parameters.

"The citizens?"

"No."

"The royal kitchens?" Bart paused, reading a dense paragraph of inter-dimensional property law.

"Still no." Morzath crossed his armoured arms, watching the flashing red text with mild approval.

"I have conquered kingdoms with different methods but I have never seen something so fascinating…" Bart expanded the terms of the lien on his screen.

SOVEREIGN CATALOGUE LIEN - SCOPE Included: Royal seal and sovereign authentication Crown decrees and executive orders Official state history Succession records Crown property records State-sanctioned titles and honours Authentication of royal property transfers Excluded: Citizens and private persons Private residences and possessions Agriculture and livestock Personal income Independent trade and ordinary commerce Local government not dependent upon crown authority"The Archive has not seized the physical kingdom," Bart explained to Gregor, pointing to the exclusions.

"Tremendia still physically exists. Its people can work, eat, trade, and live normally. What the Archive has repossessed is the kingdom's recognised sovereign authority."

"What does that mean?" Gregor asked.

"It means King Aurelius can no longer issue legally authenticated royal acts until his overdue holding is resolved." A new, smaller screen popped up in front of Bart's face. ADMINISTRATIVE CREDENTIAL UPDATED Temporary title: Custodial Administrator of Repossessed Sovereign Records Jurisdiction: Tremendian crown records and registered collateral Authority type: Temporary and remedial The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Political sovereignty: Not granted That final line was a vital legal distinction. It prevented Bart from technically becoming the King of Tremendia. Bart finished reading the notification out loud while Gregor grinned wildly.

"You are the Landlord of the King." Bart closed his eyes.

"Never say that again."

"Yes, Your Landlordship."

"Gregor."

In the opulent, gilded palace of Aramholm, the Royal Historian Thaddeus sat at a magnificent mahogany desk. He was currently in the process of updating the official royal chronicle with King Aurelius's newest fabricated achievement. Thaddeus dipped his quill in gold-flecked ink and carefully wrote: On this historic morning, His Majesty personally improved the quality of sunlight by issuing a stern warning to the eastern horizon.

Before Thaddeus could place the final full stop, the heavy leather cover of the royal ledger violently slammed shut. Thaddeus jumped back, a wave of pale blue light spread across the records chamber. The room was a monument to Aurelius's ego, featuring heavily gilded walls, enormous marble busts, paintings of Aurelius defeating suspiciously large enemies, and a sprawling ceiling fresco showing the king inventing bread.

Right in the middle of this absurd grandeur, a plain, incredibly ordinary oak desk materialised out of thin air. An empty wooden Intake Tray appeared on top of it. Three plain oak filing cabinets materialised behind the desk, each labelled in neat black lettering: ACTIVE CROWN RECORDS DISPUTED CLAIMS OVERDUE COLLATERAL Above the chamber's ornate double doors, a modest wooden plaque formed, its simple lettering clashing horribly with the surrounding gold leaf.

INFINITE ARCHIVE TEMPORARY REPOSSESSION ANNEX OF TREMENDIAN SOVEREIGN RECORDS A System notice flared briefly in the air. SOVEREIGN CATALOGUE LIEN ACTIVE Crown authentication suspended pending return of overdue holding. Thaddeus stared at the oak desk. He barely had time to process the new furniture before the chamber doors burst open. King Aurelius stormed into the room, trailed by three nervous advisors. The king was attempting to issue a new, highly punitive tax decree on imported velvet.

"Record it immediately, Thaddeus!" Aurelius shouted, slapping a piece of parchment down on Thaddeus's mahogany desk. He grabbed a heavy wax stamp and brought it down magnificently onto the page. The royal seal pressed into the paper. Normally, the seal would glow with a faint golden light, authenticating the document as absolute crown law. Instead, the wax turned a dull, lifeless grey. A small blue box hovered over the signature. AUTHORITY UNVERIFIED Issuing sovereign currently under administrative hold.

Aurelius glared at the parchment. Assuming the paper was defective, he snatched a fresh sheet, scrawled his name, and stamped it again. Same result. His face turning a dangerous shade of purple, Aurelius signed a third sheet, slamming the heavy wax stamp down with tremendous force. DUPLICATE UNSUPPORTED SUBMISSION DETECTED"What is the meaning of this?!" Aurelius bellowed, rounding on his historian. Before Thaddeus could attempt an answer, a loud gasp echoed from one of the advisors.

He was pointing at a massive marble statue in the corner of the room. The glowing, magical caption beneath the statue had previously read: KING AURELIUS — INVENTOR OF RAIN. It now read: CLAIM DISPUTED Supporting citation required. Across the room, another golden plaque claiming the king had single handedly defeated 67 dragons shimmered and changed to: Verified dragons defeated: Pending evidence.

"Remove those labels immediately!" Aurelius commanded his guards. Two guards rushed forward and dragged their heavy gauntlets across the magical text. The letters vanished for half a second, then immediately reappeared, glowing slightly brighter than before. A nervous land minister scurried into the chamber, clutching an urgent crown property transfer.

"Your Majesty, the local magistrates are panicking. The royal seal is refusing to authenticate property deeds across the capital." Thaddeus looked from the plain oak desk to the furious king. He swallowed hard.

"Your Majesty, I believe your crown authority is technically... on hold."

"I am the crown authority!" Aurelius shouted. A blue notice appeared directly in front of the king's face. Unsupported institutional claim detected. Outside the open palace windows, the loud, ringing bell of a town crier echoed from the courtyard. The crier was attempting to read Aurelius's daily proclamation of greatness.

"Hear ye, hear ye!" the crier shouted in his normal, dramatic manner, listing the king's glorious attributes. But as he reached the end of the scroll, the royal proclamation spell faltered. Blue text raced across the parchment, appending a mandatory authentication notice. The crier paused, squinted, and reluctantly read it aloud.

"This proclamation is unauthenticated due to one severely overdue archival holding," the crier announced loudly to the crowded square, his voice laced with confusion.

"Citizens are reminded that returning borrowed materials on time prevents institutional disruption." The public square fell completely silent. Somewhere in the back of the crowd, someone began laughing. Aurelius's anger shifted from comical disbelief to a genuinely threatening, unhinged rage. He whirled around, his cape flying. He pointed a trembling finger at the plain wooden desk sitting offensively in the middle of his gilded records room.

"Arrest those filing cabinets!" Aurelius ordered his royal guards. The heavily armed guards drew their swords, then hesitated. They looked at each other. They did not know whether filing cabinets could be physically arrested. They did not know what crime to charge the furniture with. Furthermore, the wooden plaque designated the desk as a Temporary Repossession Annex, which meant they were unsure whether approaching it constituted interference with an interdimensional administrative annex.

One guard tentatively raised a hand.

"Sire... should the cabinets be read their rights?"

"I declare this Archive illegal!" Aurelius roared.

"I banish it from Tremendia!" A System prompt immediately appeared above the wooden intake tray. LEGAL OBJECTION RECEIVED Submitting party: King Aurelius Claim: Infinite Archive possesses no legal authority within Tremendia Supporting authority: Not provided Supporting citations: Not provided Relevant contractual exemption: Not provided Aurelius let out a scream of pure frustration and punched the glowing blue screen. PHYSICAL FORCE IS NOT A VALID CITATION Potential frivolous filing detected.

Additional administrative fee under review. Thaddeus stood quietly near the wall, watching his royal ledger steadfastly refuse to record Aurelius's latest lie. For 20 years, Thaddeus had written down whatever the king demanded. Victories that had never happened. Dragons that had never existed. Inventions created centuries before Aurelius was even born. Thaddeus had compromised his principles every single day just to survive. For the first time, the royal record itself was refusing…..

Thaddeus knew he should have been terrified. Aurelius was volatile and cruel, and Thaddeus was the Royal Historian overseeing a rebellious history. Instead, he had to lower his head to hide a smile. Aurelius spun toward him, his chest heaving.

"Thaddeus! Draft a formal appeal to this... this librarian! Immediately!"

"On what legal grounds, Your Majesty?" Thaddeus asked, picking up his quill.

"The legal ground that I am furious!" Thaddeus dipped his quill in the gold-flecked ink and began writing. Back in the Infinite Archive, the wooden Intake Tray on Bart's desk began shaking violently. With a sound like a paper avalanche, a gigantic stack of documents erupted from the tray, knocking Gregor backwards and burying a quarter of Bart's solid oak desk.

INCOMING LEGAL APPEAL Submitting party: King Aurelius Document length: 107 pages Supporting citations: 0 Verified legal authorities: 0 Self-portraits included: 22 Gregor picked himself up off the floor and gingerly lifted one of the pages from the top of the pile." This one is just a painting of him standing on a mountain," the thief noted. Bart leaned over and examined it.

"The mountain is also labelled as his personal property."

"Is it?"

"No evidence has been supplied." Bart performed a basic intake review. He currently possessed the authority to receive the appeal not to correct the sovereign record behind it. He picked up the entire 107 page stack, tapped the edges neatly against his desk to align the papers, and placed the appeal directly into a tray marked: INCOMPLETE — RETURN TO SUBMITTER. The Archive chimed, issuing another notice above the desk.

SOVEREIGN COLLATERAL ASSESSMENT REQUIRED Physical audit of repossessed records must be completed within 24 Archive hours. Temporary Annex portal authorised. Bart read the glowing blue tex out loud and then Gregor said.

"What happens if the king refuses to return the journal?" Bart picked up his faded mug and took another slow, deeply satisfying sip of his perfect coffee.

"A king can rule without a sword," Bart said calmly.

"He cannot rule without a certified stamp allowing for his decrees."He placed the mug down and stood up, adjusting his glasses.

"Pack lightly, Gregor." Gregor looked at the mountain of rejected royal paperwork slowly sinking back into the intake tray.

"Are we going to repossess the castle?"

"We are going to inspect the collateral." Gregor grinned.

"Landlord of the King." Bart pointed towards the plain white door of the Staff Restroom.

"Go."