Chapter 144: The Vastness of Heaven and Earth

Seeing Louis nod slightly toward him, Francesco smiled gently and gestured for Crowley to introduce him to the crowd.

Crowley repeated what he had just said with a flourish. To summarize his flowery speech: Louis had studied abroad at the Holy Oak Theological Seminary years ago, and he was now a Grand Scholar (a blatant exaggeration) and a Power Knight of the Moon Court Sanctuary. He was also a classmate and close friend of Her Highness Princess Ossicrys.

Having traveled to the Kingdom of Solondo, he had been entrusted by the Princess to visit the Crowley family and resolve the demonic affliction plaguing them. Following the customs of the Cloud Kingdom, which favor modesty, Crowley had previously been unaware of his status as a Prince.

It was only yesterday, when Crowley and Louis visited the Cathedral of Saint Anthony and discussed theology with Bishop Alwin, that they were astonished to discover he was, in fact, a noble Prince of the Cloud Kingdom.

"King of the Nine Dragons Who Pacifies the Sea"—it actually sounded like a legitimate title.

Louis looked at everyone with satisfaction. This backstory had been carefully crafted between him and Count Crowley—seventy percent truth and thirty percent fiction, leaving no room for holes.

He noticed Iggy looking at him with suspicion, but the ministers were casting those same looks at Crowley instead.

What was going on? Louis felt something was not quite right.

[Could it be one of those Cloud Kingdom royal titles again?]
[Did some foolish noble bring him before the King to show off again?]
[Crowley, you really outdid yourself. Have you lost your mind staying at home? Making such a laughingstock of yourself at a grand ceremony like this!]

Louis: "???"

Crowley, who hadn't ventured out in years, looked bewildered, while the Bishop and the others coughed in embarrassment.

Observing the awkward expressions of the Bishop and his cohort, Louis’s heart sank. He suddenly had a very bad premonition.

The Zodiac signs... the royal bloodline of the Cloud Kingdom... they really are everywhere, aren't they! I knew that if you traced everyone's lineage back far enough, they’d all be descendants of royalty!

And the Moon Court—don't tell me this is such a common side business that it’s become famous nationwide?! Could it be that every person from the Cloud Kingdom who comes by and pays a fee gets a certificate from these guys?!

You... you...

Ossicrys couldn't help but look at Louis with a pale face, her eyes filled with disbelief—Big Brother, isn't this fraud scheme getting a bit out of hand? This lie is going to be exposed any second!

Sure enough, Ossicrys saw the court wizards whispering among themselves, their words dripping with mockery.

"The Nine Dragon Province, is there even such a place?" one court wizard in silk stockings feigned deep thought for a moment before asking with a mocking smile, already knowing the answer.

"My lords, I have been to the Cloud Kingdom," another court wizard in silk stockings said to those around him with a laugh. "That place does not exist at all. Nor is there any so-called King of the North Sea. That Louis is the Princess’s student, a novice priest who just graduated from the Holy Oak Theological Seminary this year—oh, right, he is indeed an exchange student from abroad."

"Oh. No wonder he looked familiar." Prince Nefa laughed suddenly, looking at Louis with a meaningful gaze. "We saw him at the Foreign Affairs Office yesterday—I assume he was there to process his paperwork. Bishop John personally went to pick him up, in that secretive carriage."

The crowd erupted in an uproar. Many nobles and ministers wore strange expressions. Prince Nefa was here for the first time yesterday, so he had to process his paperwork at the Moon Court. But you’ve been in Solondo for six years—why are you only going now?

It was clearly another case of someone going to the Moon Court to buy fake credentials, and he’d been caught in the act by a real prince. How ridiculous!

"Archmage" Alwin coughed and said awkwardly, "This one is real."

The many priests also coughed awkwardly—this time, we really didn't take any money! We actually lost money on it!

Some noblewomen couldn't help but cover their mouths with their fans, laughing as they looked at the grim-faced Crowley, the Princess, and Louis.

"Your Highness Ossicrys," Delphinia glanced sideways at Louis and suddenly smiled, "Why haven't you introduced such a man of talent to us before?"

Ossicrys pursed her lips, her face pale. "Man of talent"—that was clearly a jab.

Spurred on by the Witch Queen, the ministers, noblewomen, and court wizards burst into uproarious laughter. The scene descended into chaos, and even the nobles behind Crowley looked at him with surprise. Crowley was trembling with rage, wanting to say something.

Just then, the many princes and ministers saw the man who claimed to be the King of the Nine Dragons release a cold laugh—a sound so jarring and out of place, it was piercing.

"This is truly laughable. I could understand the nobles, as they haven't traveled much. But for a scholar as learned as you to be so ignorant—and so daringly boastful."

Louis suddenly brushed off his sleeves, bowed to the Witch Queen with a smile, and then looked at the group of court wizards. "I’ve long since had my fill of the 'mages' on this Western Continent—at the Holy Oak Academy, I witnessed the half-baked, pathetic level of your skills. But I can't blame you, as I hear people here love burning books. At least the scholars at Holy Oak are humble enough to know their own limitations."

Louis pointed at the livid court wizards and said, "But you lot of 'Muggles' are not only shallow and ignorant but also incredibly arrogant. You are truly like frogs in a well; it’s enough to make one laugh until their teeth fall out. I could teach a few apprentices who would be more than qualified to be your masters!"

After he finished speaking, many mages stood tall and puffed out their chests. But the group of elderly court wizards was so angry they nearly fainted.

Even Ossicrys was seething—these words were too inflammatory. Do you have to attack everyone at once?

The Witch Queen was already trembling, her chest heaving, nearly losing her composure and triggering a magical backlash on the spot. She pointed a trembling hand toward the Dragon-born guards specifically tasked with handling wizards and tried to speak: "Drag... drag this brat away..."

Before she could finish, she was interrupted.

"Oh, right, and this what-you-call-it green, white, blue... oh yes, gray, the Gray-plane clan." Louis tapped his forehead as if suddenly remembering and looked at Prince Nefa, sneering, "A few small lizards thirty or fifty meters long, and you dare call yourselves dragons in my presence?"

"Drag him away! Drag him away!" The Witch Queen could no longer contain herself and roared.

But at that moment, the King, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.

"No rudeness." Iggy suddenly raised a hand to cut off the Witch Queen, looking at Louis with a grave expression.

If others didn't know the King of the North Sea, how could she not? That was a god-level entity on par with the Moon Goddess!

The King’s attitude left the many ministers and nobles, who had been enjoying the show, feeling somewhat dazed, while the faces of the Witch Queen and the court wizards turned even uglier.

They were all from the wizarding circle; who didn't know this was Ossicrys’s student?

There were rumors from the Holy Oak side that he was a minor foreign prince. But for these six years, he had been quiet and had not even brought a single attendant—even if he did have royal blood, it was just the kind of dime-a-dozen Cloud Kingdom royal lineage.

And he wants to teach us magic! He is utterly devoid of any sense of reality!

Seeing His Majesty quietly observing Louis, everyone held back their anger and kept silent. Just then, both the King and Louis shifted their gazes simultaneously, looking across the space toward the arena.

At the same time, a burst of gasps and commotion erupted from the various stands in the venue.

Francesco suddenly stood up and walked toward the stands.

Only then did the many nobles and wizards react. Following the King’s gaze, they all looked toward the stands.

They saw that in the arena, out of nowhere, a figure had appeared, wearing a long trench coat, holding a parasol, and wearing a felt hat. He stood swaggeringly in the center of the arena, with a small suitcase resting at his feet.

From that suitcase, a behemoth was slowly crawling out.

Francesco’s expression turned grim. This was not the scheduled time; the monster was supposed to emerge during the performance of the Son of Lante. That way, there would be no commoners in the arena, and no innocent lives would be harmed.

But the noble wizards hadn't considered Solondo in the slightest—out of boredom, they had released the creature ahead of schedule.

As for the lives of the hundreds of Muggles on the field—they were nothing more than a group of ants.