"Welcome to my humble home...would be unreasonable for me to say. In any case, please relax. No, really. Relax a little." 

"My deepest apologies, but that is an honor I am not worthy of, your majesty!!" - Flint

Oh man, oh, man! It is his majesty! Damn that Viertrer Hyokras! He only said that his majesty required our help! Not that we were going to meet him face-to-face! 

"Now, now," said the majesty while he tried to calm me down. Grr, what a fool I am! Take deep breaths...

"Hohoho. Flint, you are the most curious of all the Voyagers." - Flamel

Flamel! Show some respect for his majesty...is what I want to shout out, but that would be disrespectful to his majesty, so instead, I sat down by the table where Flamel and his majesty were already sitting at. Viertrer Hyokras stands by his majesty's side, not taking a seat himself. 

"Getting back on track, welcome, people of Babel, and thank you for accepting my invitation. As you may already know, I am the Dragon King of Loitan: Tanwen Cadmus Loitan. And while it warms my heart seeing that my former subjects still worship me, please think of your position before you act, Mr. Solrah of the Nightmare Voyagers." - Tanwen

His majesty talked while wearing a slightly strained smile on his face. Ugh, now I have gone and done it...

"Thank you for your warm welcome, your majesty Loitan. My name is Rivert Flamel, grand Wiseman of the Alchemists' Union and one of the leaders of Babel. You already know about Mr. Solrah here, so how about we skip the pleasantries and go straight to the cause for why you called us here? Or do you want us to come back? Those wounds seem to be hurting." - Flamel

That is right! His majesty is currently in his lion-like humanoid form, seeing as how his opal-white hair is almost like a mane, but there are visible wounds all over his body. They are not life-threatening, but it is still not something his majesty should ignore.

"No worries. The skeleton-like ice dragon that resided in the tower was a tad more ferocious than its appearance suggested." - Tanwen

"Then I assume the Treasure is in good hands. How reassuring." - Flamel

Stop acting high and mighty with his majesty!! Ugh, my stomach hurts...

"Yes. Unfortunately, I am not in the position to give it to you yet." - Tanwen

Hmm?

"Complications have occurred. Vier, the image recorders." - Tanwen

"Yes," replied Vierter Hyokras as he placed several crystal spheres on the table. After he poured some mana into them, they started to show some images in the air.

They showed various Automatas and what I would guess were possession-type ghosts, the same kind of undead as Iron. ...but, they do seem a little strange.

Regarding the Automatas, they look like deformed dolls. The kind that almost looks humanoid, but is vastly twisted both physically and image-wise. If someone came and told me that they're the fusion of a "proper" Automata and a Curse Creature from the seas beneath the earth, then I'd believe them. 

As for the ghosts, they seem to possess multiple items and force them into a humanoid-looking shape. Yet, it looks more like the contents of a scrapyard that's been brought back to life. As an artisan, their sight is hurting my eyes. 

Hey, there's even one shaped like a dragon! Just because dragons are strong, it doesn't mean you need to make one for yourself! At least nothing so half-assed! ...hey...that thing...

"Isn't that dragon Ra-" - Flint

"Ragely insulting! I know how you feel, but bottle up your emotions for now." - Flamel

"Huh? No, I was trying to say that-" - Flint

"These are some horrifying creatures indeed. Now, onward to the next point in the agenda!" - Flamel

"No, that's not it..." - Flint

I continued trying to voice my opinion, but Flamel stopped me every time before I could finish my sentences. In the corner of my eyes, I could see his majesty and Vierter Hyokras looking at us as if they were watching a game of tennis, Loitan's #1 sport, which was introduced by a Migrant who ended up in this city.

"We need the Voyagers then?" - Vierter

"They are the most elementary choice." - Tanwen

"Huh?" - Flint/Flamel

"Guards. Please escort Lord Flamel to the guest room." - Tanwen

"Huh?!" - Flint/Flamel

---

After that, his majesty asked me to follow Vierter Hyokras to a different room while they took Flamel somewhere else. What's going on here?

"Please excuse his majesty's behavior back then. We needed to confirm whether you were responsible for the undead/automata attacks or not." - Vierter

"Say what now!?" - Flint

They thought WE were behind those attacks?! I mean, sure I've been showing off my drones when I helped rebuild the place, the branch-Dungeon of Damavand nearby is armed with undead-type monsters as our main fighting force, and it WAS something that looked like Noire's tamed undead dragon, Raoul, in those pictures...

"Crap. We're goddamn suspicious!" - Flint

"I am glad you understood that on your own. His majesty is not doubting your organization, at least not the Nightmare Voyagers. Your trading with our country has softened the ten Dragon Nobles' impression of you. But Babel and the Alchemists' Union are far too unknown, so the king is forced to take action to please them." - Vierter

Ah! The Dragon Nobles! No wonder. Even if his majesty is the supreme leader of the kingdom, the Nobles still have some degree of authority and power over their respective clans. And with so many people wounded by the recent attacks...

"Even his majesty would be forced to take action if his people were threatened. And most of the Dragon Lords felt so after the dragon-like undead appeared just a day before your group was allowed to enter the city. Some investigation was needed before we could be sure, so we could not "apprehend" you before today. Which means that the "owner" of the dragon-undead slipped through our fingers..." - Vierter

Raoul is part of the enemy's forces!? ...sure, I can't remember Noire wearing "it" on her lately, even if she always did before. She didn't even make any kind of ruckus because she lost it or something in that line. 

Did not Noire tell (brag about) me that Raoul used to be a Dungeon boss for that "ghost city" Dungeon that Iron and Revi used to live on before?

But that is impossible.

I never gave it much thought. Nor did anyone else, as far as I know. But Dungeon monsters...it is impossible for them to "betray" their Dungeon. This extends to being tamed by outside forces. Or even by the ones ruling the Dungeon. Their true master is the location, not the ruler. Even Garami can't take direct control over the monsters if she's not using the Dungeon as an intermediary. 

Then that means it's doubled as difficult to take over Dungeon bosses, even if I have no proof to back up that statement. 

Orimaru, the sword/samurai ghost that Mira used to own before it broke, could be akin to Iron. A creature that was "naturally" born due to the miasma the Dungeon released...

Hold on. When did it become possible for monsters unrelated to Dungeons to appear within one? Hmm? ...there is something extremely wrong with that "Tir na Nog" place.

...not that it matters now. The Dungeon is destroyed, and I have to clean up the mess now. Specifically, a dragon's worth of the mess. We need to get together to discuss Orimaru...and potentially Iron as well, I so hope the latter will not be needed.

"Okay, I think I got it. But even if Noire's a goddamn narcissist, she's not the kind to let her pet loose on civilians!" - Flint

My doubts about the undead weapons, treasures, and armor, can wait for later. Right now, I need to protect the allies that I can protect at the moment. Specifically, from false evidence!! 

"That is correct. We did not need much research to conclude that. Too bad all this happened after she left, right before we went to retrieve you and Lord Flamel." - Vierter

Did the Frost Hunters go soft for Celestials while I was away? Why are they showing Noire so much good faith? 

"That still doesn't explain why you took Flamel away." - Flint

"Because, between your Nightmare Voyager guild and his Alchemists' Union, the latter is much more suspicious-looking. We will imprison him here to lure the culprit into believing we are chasing the wrong leads. And Flamel seemed like the better one for that role." - Vierter

"...???" - Flint

"I will start from the beginning. What is the most dangerous aspect of these invaders?" - Vierter

"Huh? ...they're strong? Relentless? Non-living? Looks too much like something from our side? ...I got no clue!" - Flint

"Good guesses, but their greatest strength is...that they can appear and disappear without any notice or warning. Even his majesty cannot fathom where they crawl out from." - Vierter

Huh? Hold on. We are talking about his majesty here. The one gifted with the most incredible instincts of all of Loitan's history! Instincts closer to future sight! And if he cannot figure out where the undead is appearing from...

"Aren't you guys in check?" - Flint

"Not really. His majesty is not omnipotent, even if you may believe otherwise. He may have incredible instincts that allow him to solve mysteries with a success rate of around 95% by just using his hunch. The problem is that even he cannot guess himself to the answer unless he has all the necessary information available." - Vierter

"Oh, okay..." - Flint

There go my childhood dreams up in smoke...

"However, the fact that his majesty cannot foresee who is responsible is an important clue in itself." - Vierter

"How's that possible? Don't come here and say that there's something the king doesn't know about this country!" - Flint

"That is right. I do not know about other countries, but with King Tanwen, it is easier to count what he doesn't know about Loitan than the other way around. And this time, it is an exceptionally good piece of luck for us." - Vierter

"...huh?" - Flint

"In other words, we only need to investigate what his majesty has yet to know about in the city." - Vierter

"...wouldn't the whole point of "secret" passages, if those creatures of undead are using such things, be kinda impossible to know about?" - Flint

"Thanks to his majesty's mastery of the Vibration attribute, I doubt it. If the undead were marching through secret tunnels, his majesty would notice it." - Vierter

Vibration? I knew that his majesty was a Light Dragon in the past, so for him to be a user of Vibration came out of nowhere. 

...maybe this is the difference between the ideal and reality.

"Also, thanks to the Treasure Tower of Ice, we have a solid clue on who the potential culprit may be." - Vierter

"Spill it out already. I'm a smith, not a detective." - Flint

But even I can see the Tower represents you!

"The person representing the Tower, the so-called "Scamming Lord", who also works underneath Solomar's Demon King, is who we suspect to be part of the group behind the undead/Automata attacks on our beloved city of Loitan. Also, this person is without a doubt one of the 10 Dragon Lords of Loitan." - Vierter

"SAY WHAT!?!?" - Flint

"It is difficult to believe, but the position of the Tower is the utmost evidence. The lake around Castle Loitan is said to represent the collective will of the Dragon Lords, so if the Tower is placed in the lake, then it's only logical that it represents one of the current Dragon Lords." - Vierter

"...just asking, but you're not one of them...right?" - Flint

I vaguely remember that the leader of the Frost Hunters could not be one of the Lords, to not cause strife between the 10 Dragon Clans.

"Of course, I am not. And before you ask, my Lord has been incapacitated and bedridden for more than a month now. He is incapable of being the culprit. The same goes for the Light Dragon Lord, for obvious reasons." - Vierter

The Light Dragon Lord is his majesty's freaking wife after all! They got tons of love stories based on them, some are even known outside of Loitan. She can't be the culprit...

"Hold on! That doesn't explain why a Dragon Lord, out of all things, would be part of the undead/Automata attacks! Scamming Lord or not!" - Flint

"That is because the Dragon Lords have access to a special facility that his majesty has no power over. A facility that, with some alterations, could be the keystone to the enemy's strategy." - Vierter

What in the world could that be!? Something his majesty cannot interfere with, but the Dragon Lords have power over...

While I was trying to imagine what this mystery facility's identity is, Vierter Hyokras took a sack and poured out its contents onto the table. 

"What are these?" - Flint

"Extra Medals. Necessary items to access the Trial Grounds, the very same facilities that the Scamming Lord must be misusing. Or so we believe." - Vierter

"Extra?" - Flint

"Yes. Except for the "True Karma" skills and the "Seven Sins and Seven Virtues", these medals, when used to access the Trial Grounds. are the only possible method to obtain Extra Skills in this world." - Vierter

EXTRA SKILLS?!

"And to remove any suspicion the populace of Loitan may have for your guild due to the inclusion of the "undead object dragon" that should have been under your control, his majesty wishes that you work with me to examine all these possible Trial Grounds. As in, the two of us challenging all the Trial Grounds possible to search for any possibility of them being used as the undead/Automata army's way of transport." - Vierter

ME!? Tackling these Trial-thingies!? Along with THIS guy!?!?

...Noire. If we meet again, I'll make you sorry for not training that junk dragon of yours properly.