Inheritor Of Magic: The Magi King

602 602 But Does It Bonk?

The door slammed shut behind them, and Wolfe began to slowly walk toward the back wall, where a security case had already been prepared for the sceptre.

It was a thick glass case, like the bulletproof ones that were used in jewellery stores back home, and Wolfe nodded in appreciation. The sceptre could defend itself, but keeping it in a protective case was a nice touch.

"Is there a reason that it's being floated in the air?" The King asked as they walked past his throne.

Minister William bowed to him and gestured to the sceptre. "Yes, your Highness. We believed that it would be too risky to leave the core of the new barrier unguarded, so Patriarch Noxus added a number of defensive spells to it. There is a barrier that will sustain itself, as well as a pair of offensive spells that will attack anyone who tries to touch or damage the weapon after the barrier is down.

That way it shouldn't suffer the same fate as the last barrier, and Your Highness's throne room can enjoy an extra layer of security, as well as the rest of the castle."

"That is brilliant. But I was hoping that I could take it out one day and smash someone with it. It looks good for that, don't you think?" The young King asked.

Minister William bowed to hide his smile. "Yes, Your Highness. It definitely looks like it would be good for smashing someone with."

Wolfe smiled at the young King. "Your Highness, it's not too late for me to modify the defensive spells so that you can use it as a weapon, but do keep in mind that it is the core for a defensive array, so it would be unwise to move it far from the throne room."

The King sighed and gave the sceptre a longing glance before turning away again.

Wolfe took that as his signal and placed the sceptre against the cushion in the case, then frowned. There was a mana draw from the cushion, and when he increased the sensitivity of [Detect Hidden] he saw a subtle Unholy inscription on the cushion that would absorb the powers and disenchant any item placed against it.

That was pretty sneaky, and Wolfe was impressed. It had to have been cast before the [Kind Intentions] spell was activated, or it would have triggered the spell when it activated. The guard who put the cushion in the case and placed the case likely had no idea that there was a negative effect on it, so none of them had done anything wrong to trigger the defences. Castle politics really were on another level, and if he hadn't placed the sceptre himself, Wolfe would have never noticed.

A slight tweak to the spell stopped it from draining the sceptre, and Wolfe gestured for the guards to seal the case.

[Look for someone who looks suspiciously happy.] Wolfe whispered to Minister William as the case was sealed and the defensive spells on it were activated, sealing the sceptre inside.

They didn't even have to wait to find out who was the most likely suspect. The King's Financial Advisor gave an audible relieved sigh that caught the attention of half the room when the door was sealed shut, and before that, he had an obvious look of anticipation on his face.

The others all pretended that they didn't see anything, but William had noticed as well, and he wouldn't be as lenient, if Wolfe had judged his personality correctly.

With the task completed, the guards dispersed, and Minister William bowed to the King again. "My apologies for not extending my visit, your Highness, but we have quite a bit of work to get through to repair the security systems of the castle, and I would like to get them all done by the end of the month." He apologized to the young monarch.

The old butler beside the King smiled and bowed to the castle security minister. He was the King's guardian, until he was grown enough to defend himself, and having most of the castle's former security systems back online would be a huge relief to him.

The only thing that would make him happier was for the King to grow enough that he could dismiss the appointed ministers and appoint his own from among a trusted circle. The Demon Nobles had chosen these ones as part of a compromise to stop the violence after the last King was killed.

His son was his direct successor, but he had over a hundred brothers, most of whom wanted the throne for themselves. So, now the ministers were almost all relatives of the King, and they were all looking to exploit any weakness to get an upper hand on the next battle for the throne.

It was generally viewed as inevitable, as the King still needed too long to mature, and there was no telling how fast he could grow his power when nearly everyone around him was working to keep him weak and under the control of the advisors and ministers.

The mood in the castle was lively as they returned to the underground office of the security minister, and everyone seemed to have an idea of what they would like to see next. For Wolfe, that meant he was likely to see an influx of work sheets, but most of the requests sounded fairly simple.

The servants all had ideas based on the legends they had heard about the Magi from centuries ago, who were known as isolationist and minimalist, but their magic was supposed to let anyone live in comfort with very little. To the servants, that was a dream come true. The comfort of a royal suite, but in the shabby and cramped quarters of a common servant. Magical beds, self-cleaning rooms, closets that washed your clothes for you, they were dreams that anyone with a busy schedule could relate to.

The self-cleaning clothes closet sounded pretty cool to Wolfe. He had no idea how to make it, and water magic wasn't his thing, but sometimes you could accomplish the same thing with air magic as long as there were no stains.

Wolfe settled into the same visitor's chair as when he had first arrived, while Rail set cross-legged on the chair beside him and Minister William flipped through papers.

"Alright, that was the most important part, so we can start on the next request. The guard detachment has requested a security alarm to be placed on a large number of doors. Do you know a spell that would allow only guards to enter, but make an audible alarm if others entered? It doesn't have to actually stop them, as the areas are all guarded." He asked, expecting to be rejected.

Wolfe chuckled. "I actually do know the [Alarm] spell. It's fairly simple air magic. But how many doors are we talking about?"

William looked down at the sheet and sighed. "Forty seven, plus two archways, and twice that many chests and crates."

"You understand that if you put them on every single door, you'll just deafen your team when an intruder runs through the building, right?" Rail asked.

William glared at her and she shrugged. "I was just saying, forty alarms going off at once will drive everyone insane."