Vans was kneeling before the King, and he raised his head as soon as he was told to.
"Your achievements have been impressive, young man."
Those words pierced Marquis Anderson's heart.
"You achieved three easy victories. I don't know if there is another mage more qualified to be my court mage, which is why I want you to become the new court mage of the Kingdom of Vorngate."
"I am humbly honored by such words, but I cannot accept. I already have a job, and I cannot break my contract."
The tournament was meant to choose the new court mage, so it was only natural to assume that everyone who entered wanted the position.
"Then why did you sign up?" an irritated minister asked.
"I didn't sign up. In fact, I didn't even know such an event was taking place. I was simply forced."
"Forced? How insolent. Who forced you?"
"I don't know exactly. I was approached by two guards who told me I had to participate, or I would be punished. I found it strange, since I'm not a mage, and those two men followed me all day. For my own safety, I decided to accept, and I was lucky enough to win."
The Marquis grew furious.
"Then prove what you're saying!"
He used confession magic, a spell that forces anyone affected to tell the truth and prevents them from lying. However, it was rarely used because it drained nearly all the caster's mana.
"I'm sorry, but that kind of magic doesn't work on me, for some reason I don't even understand," Vans said calmly.
The Marquis fainted from exhaustion.
"I apologize for my court mage's behavior. I will try to compensate you for this. However, I still need you to provide some proof of what you said."
"You could ask that man over there, the third guard from the right," Vans said, pointing at one of the men who had approached him at the guild.
"You there, identify yourself."
The guard knelt and began to apologize. At some point, between sobs and repeated pleas for mercy, he ended up confessing what he had done at the request of the Second Prince.
The King could not apply any punishment, since the guard had only followed the Second Prince's orders, and disobeying would have led to punishment. If the King punished him, it would put the entire chain of command at risk, as any order could then be questioned and punished on a whim. So he had to proceed with caution.
The King remained firm. He did not apologize, he only offered some form of compensation for the misunderstanding. Vans thought carefully and asked for the Hero's original sword, since it would be presented to the public for people to try to pull from the stone, but since he himself had already managed to remove it, then the original should belong to him. That was the argument Vans used. The King did not like the request, but he considered it.
The stone with the sword was being kept in a room next to the treasury. Security was tight, and none of the guards knew that the real sword had not left that room for at least twenty years.
The next day, a carriage with several guards stopped at the Duke's mansion gate. The servants opened the gate, and the carriage entered. Some guards stepped inside the carriage and brought out a massive stone, with the sword embedded in it. The guards left the stone and the sword behind and departed.
"You can try first," Vans said to the Duke. He tried, but it was in vain. Vans also couldn't remove the sword, nor could Victor.
Niko used magic and managed to nullify all the enchantments on the stone, and the sword was quickly removed. Vans kept the sword for himself, but he noticed something. Victor noticed it too, but did not ask, assuming it might be something Vans would prefer to mention later.
Victor was right. Vans had never submitted the report about Mirel's body. He had completed all the analyses and then hidden all the information. Victor had never asked for it. At first he wanted it, but later he completely ignored it.
"This involves Mirel."
Victor sat down in a chair in the room. Lysandra and Eris remained standing, while Niko sat on the bed beside Vans.
"The crystal that was in place of her eye was different. It was from a monster, but not just any monster, only the cursed ones. The crystals from the strange monsters in the forest were no different from those of normal monsters, which suggests either a natural mutation caused by excess mana or that they were created by someone. However, their strength was very similar to that of cursed monsters. While that is difficult to measure and compare, since artificially created beings are strong in one way or another, I still had those suspicions. When I analyzed Mirel's body, there were no signs of needle punctures or any method. I had a hypothesis that she was injecting monster fluid into herself and..."
"Wait, wait, hold on. You stripped her and examined her entire body?" Niko asked, her face flushed red.
"Yes, there's no way for me to perform an autopsy otherwise..."
Niko slapped him.
"Please, Niko, control yourself and act like an adult. Vans, continue, please," Eris said.
"Alright. As I was saying, I had been curious about this for some time. I had already thought she was acting strange, and once I sensed a monster's energy in her body, not just any monster, but a cursed one. I suspected the fluid, and when I realized that couldn't be it, I changed my approach."
"But couldn't she have used a potion or healing magic to hide that she was applying something?"
"No. The puncture turns dark, and the surrounding skin becomes rotten. Over time it fades, but there's no way to hide it with magic or potions. The energy I sensed was coming from her eye. That crystal was definitely from a cursed monster. I took the crystal, and it caused me some injuries, but I managed to destroy it, since it would have been dangerous to keep it. But this sword has the same type of crystal, so I can say with absolute certainty that the same species of monster was cursed to create this sword and Mirel's eye."
Victor remained silent, deep in thought and slightly annoyed at Vans for never mentioning that he had found something so interesting and dangerous inside the body of a former ally. At the same time, he wasn't blaming him, since he had never asked for the report.
"So that means Mirel was with the Hero," Niko said in surprise.
"Exactly. I don't know the exact connection, but somehow they were linked," Vans said calmly.