Chapter 1801: The Crown King and the Consultants Rule the World Together

Ailintar.

High Mage Tailun rushed into the Mianwang Gongting in a hurry; about half a quarter-hour later, envoys began to emerge from the palace one after another, accompanied by a piece of news—

This year's Orc Tide has arrived early, and it is more severe than in previous years!

Across all parts of Ilfaran, especially the towns in the North, scouts were dispatched toward the far north to monitor the movements of the Orcs at any time.

Meanwhile, inside the Mianwang Gongting, the consultants held differing views on how to deal with this sudden Orc Tide.

One consultant appeared relaxed, seemingly not taking this unprecedented Orc Tide seriously at all, and said indifferently:

"The news brought back by Mage Tailun is timely. The most urgent matter now is not to find the potential mastermind, but how to deal with the impact of the Orc Tide."

Just as he finished speaking, another consultant raised a different opinion, "Your Majesty, my suggestion is the exact opposite. As long as we seal the northern Mythallar, the Orcs will at most ravage the outskirts of the Liweier Forest and eventually retreat. Even if they do not, we can calmly defeat them next year.

"The key now is precisely to find the mastermind behind this. Since they can do something like this, they may well have other tricks up their sleeves. Ignoring this point will only trap us in endless, passive reactions."

"Who else could be behind this? If it isn't Keman, it's Yierlan. Are we to go to war with them over this now?"

Regarding who the mastermind was, the consultants of Crown King Luoruian generally held the same judgment: it was either Keman or Yierlan.

The former was almost a mortal enemy of Ilfaran, and as for the latter, with the recent appearance of an Ancient Fortress in Siluwende, Ilfaran also wanted to profit from it. To hold Ilfaran back, Yierlan might well be capable of such a thing.

Likewise, Keman would not be willing to give up that Ancient Fortress, which might contain War Magic Artifacts. Coupled with Ilfaran's consistent hostility toward them, it was not impossible for them to trigger the Orc Tide early for this reason.

As for Netheril or other small nations, these consultants did not consider them much.

After all, Netheril was an ally of Ilfaran, and the Ancient Fortress was Elf property; no matter how much the humans clamored, it was not their turn.

As for those small nations, they indeed had the motive to stir the waters, but once such a thing was done, it would inevitably leave traces. Even without conclusive evidence, for a great power, conclusive evidence was not needed at all; a mere suspicion was enough to make a small nation sit on pins and needles.

Crown King Luoruian's consultants did not believe those small nations truly had the guts to scheme against Ilfaran. They were barely able to protect themselves; wouldn't such a provocation be suicide?

Luoruian watched as the group of consultants argued back and forth, but he focused his attention on another question:

"Mage Tailun, you just mentioned that you discovered traces of the Orc Slayer Society's activities in the north, is that correct?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Are there any preserved samples?" the Crown King asked again.

"Yes, I even captured an Orc Shaman who had come face-to-face with the Spellcaster at the time."

"Leave the Orcs for now; show the preserved traces to Wolisi."

Once the Crown King said this, the consultant named "Wolisi" became somewhat dissatisfied, "Your Majesty, it is true that the Orc Slayer Society is under my name, but Your Majesty—and everyone else, do you really think my control over the society is that poor?"

"Don't be agitated, Wolisi. I am not blaming you, but rather want you to look at the methods of those behind the scenes to see if any flaws can be discovered," the Crown King hurriedly pacified him.

Ilfaran had long since completed its centralization reform, but power was not concentrated in the Crown King alone; it was concentrated in a powerful department called the 【Executive Advisory Group】.

It was also the true Controller of the Ilfaran Mythallar system. The Crown King only held the power to dismiss and supervise it; as for appointments, they were all nominated by the lower-level Council.

Likewise, the Crown King's appointment succession was the responsibility of the previous generation's Crown King, but it could be initiated for dismissal by the 【Executive Advisory Group】.

However, at the beginning of Ilfaran's centralization reform, the Crown King and the Executive Consultants swore a mutual oath to be loyal to their duties; as long as they did not commit any principled errors, they did not need to worry about being dismissed.

Like this time, if the Spellcaster who triggered the Orc Tide early was indeed a subordinate of Wolisi, then he could indeed be dismissed by the Crown King.

But at this moment, the Executive Consultants had already reached a conclusion: this matter must be the work of Keman or Yierlan.

Therefore, after Crown King Luoruian offered a few words of comfort, Wolisi regained his composure. In reality, he feared his colleagues even more than he feared the Crown King.

The number of Executive Consultant positions was limited. Sometimes, in order to push a candidate closer to their own faction into the position, colleagues might resort to bringing down an existing Executive Consultant.

However, once one became an Executive Consultant, many forces would inevitably gather around them. There was generally only a difference in seniority among Executive Consultants, not in Permission Level, making it difficult to control them long-term.

If one tried to force control, it would instead push the other party toward the other Executive Consultants.

Therefore, from the time Ilfaran established its centralized system until now, in nearly two hundred years, not a single Executive Consultant had ever stepped down due to power struggles.

After all, there was still a Crown King above them, and the powers and responsibilities of both sides were clearly defined. If the Crown King acted unfairly, it might well become the fuse for his own future dismissal.

Next, under the demonstration of Mage Tailun, Wolisi saw the so-called traces of the society's activities—several badges and ornaments bearing the society's emblem, as well as the residual aura left after a Spell had been cast, which Tailun had intercepted and preserved.

The badges and ornaments were nothing strange; if one had the mind to, one didn't even need to forge them, as genuine ones could be bought directly from the society's shop. It was that bit of residual aura that made Wolisi hesitate.

Within the 【Orc Slayer Society】 he founded, there were some unique Spells he had created specifically for the society. Every person who redeemed them was recorded, and it was almost impossible for outsiders to obtain them.

But now, he had discovered the characteristics of the society's unique Spells in that bit of residual aura, which was simply hard for him to accept.

"This must be an enemy's trick. Although the beast-slaying Spells restrict Spellcasters outside the society from redeeming them, as far as I know, these Spells have long been circulating in the country in secret."

"I can testify to that!"

The person speaking was none other than Tailun, who had preserved that bit of residual aura. Although he was not a member of the Executive Advisory Group, he possessed Law Enforcer Permission Level within the system.

On the way to the palace, he had already used the Mythallar to search for the characteristic elements of the preserved residual aura; indeed, many Spellcasters in the country had mastered similar Spells.

If this were a power struggle, even if other Spellcasters had mastered similar Spells, that bit of residual aura with the characteristics of the Spells from Wolisi's society could still be used as a handle to topple him.

But now, the priority of the external threat was clearly higher than the priority of fighting for power.