Chương 47: The Queen's Ordinary Tea Invitation

When the glass pipes hummed all at once, the patients reacted first. Someone coughed. Someone gripped the edge of a bed. The people with weak mana grimaced every time the blue light shook. One treatment device stopped, and the assistant beside it startled and turned the handle again. Clerks ran. Sealed box. Patient list. Emergency procedure. Words struck one another in the corridor. The royal mage held out his hand.

"Please return that key." After the words were translated, Kichan looked at the key in his hand.

"This?" He looked at his shoulder. Dust had already climbed back up and flattened itself there.

"I didn't bring it." Dust flicked its legs once. The royal mage's eyes narrowed very slightly. He chose retrieval before explanation. He said the key was an item of royal authority connected to the treatment center's underground shutoff device, and that an outsider could not hold it. He stepped forward. At that moment, another voice cut in from the treatment center entrance.

"I would stop that hand there." It was the queen's confidant. She bowed first to the royal mage. Her manners were exact. The angle of her waist, the position of her hands, the height of her voice—there was nothing to fault. But the meaning was clear. Step back.

"Her Majesty the Queen has sent word that this foreign guest is to be treated in comfort." Before Ren translated, Kichan's face twisted. The royal mage's expression stiffened. The treatment center was his space. But the queen's name carried a different weight on paper. Especially in a situation where an accident with a sealed key had just happened. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The queen's confidant moved the royal mage aside in front of Kichan. She handed him a document packet. The queen's name was on it. In that gap, commotion rose at the end of the corridor. Clerks and assistants who had heard the emergency procedure were trying to move patients inside. A man gripping the edge of a bed shook his head. The woman beside him searched for her family. Two assistants grabbed her shoulder and elbow. Kichan pointed at the assistants' wrists.

"Let go." When Ren translated, the assistants' hands stopped. Kichan pointed in turn at the man holding the bed and the woman looking for her family.

"They said no." When the royal mage tried to step forward again, the queen's confidant said,"Read the document to the end." Temporary suspension of patient securing procedure. The red seal on the paper gleamed under the treatment center light. The investigator stopped between Kichan and the royal mage. His face said he had no idea what to do. Ren said again,"He said to ask the patients." The air in the treatment center grew colder. The royal mage held the document and said nothing for a long time.

Then he stepped back half a pace in front of Kichan. Behind the place where he stepped back were the mana storage control board and the blue glass pipes. Meanwhile, the queen's confidant turned toward Kichan. She bowed to him too.

"You will be treated as an honored guest." He had heard similar words just now. Protection. Cooperation. Public interest. Patient safety. This time, it was honored guest. Only the word had changed. The eyes were different. The royal mage's eyes saw Kichan as a variable that had to be controlled. The queen's confidant looked more advanced. Neither excitement nor greed appeared on her face. They were the eyes that looked at a precious object.

Something that must not break, must not be taken, and if possible should be placed inside their own box. Kichan hated those eyes. The queen's confidant brought up the silver-gray metal. The metal made in the market. The merchant who had bought it. The report that had entered the royal finance office. She took them out one by one. Slowly. It meant she knew he had hidden something. Kichan became conscious of the gold lump inside his clothes. He did not take it out.

The queen's confidant said softly,"Her Majesty the Queen wishes to share tea with you." After the words were translated, Kichan muttered inside. Tea? We haven't even met. Give me real food instead. The royal mage opposed the queen's confidant. He said that healing and magic performed without mana did not belong to any single person, and must be studied for the public good. It could not be placed in the queen's personal ledger. The queen's confidant did not smile.

"Say that directly to Her Majesty." Ren bit his lip while translating. Kichan looked at the two of them. Kichan said low,"I'm the one who chooses, though." Ren stopped. Kichan looked at Ren.

"As is." Ren swallowed and translated it as it was. The air in the room hardened thinly. The queen's confidant and the royal mage looked at Ren at the same time. Ren trembled, but did not lower his head. Kichan continued.

"Try touching the people around me. Let's see what happens." Ren sighed once and said it as it was. This time, even the investigator raised his head. The recording cord shook once. The queen's confidant did not seize Kichan.