Chapter 146

“Those who knew that I was a sorcerer yet kept that secret from others.  Sir Kevin and the servant girls do not have any wrong doings.  They were only obeying my orders, applying the pressure as an aristocrat.  They would have lost their heads should they not have obeyed me.  Please do consider all these things and only pass down punishment on me, and only on me.

Her last words were meant to protect her people.  Kevin, the sorcerer, and the servant girls, who were like friends, were all surprised.  It was certainly a very kind and thankful gesture, but wasn’t entirely true.

They have never received any oppressive command.  In the beginning, it may have certainly affected how they might have acted, but after that, it was staying silent by their own volitions.

“Princess, my lady!  We are…..!”

“Stop, only the princess has the right to speak.”

“…..”

Deckard cut off others from speaking.

He slyly looked at Ian.

It was something that he could have simply let pass without interjecting.

Yet, Ian, the Ivory Tower lord, had to speak.

What was the reason?  Was it simply due to conscience?

It wasn’t that, no matter how hard it was thought over.  At least it was so according to Deckard’s senses and feeling.

‘Is it that he does not want a severe punishment to be passed down?’

It was the same no matter how it was thought about.  The conclusion always seemed to come close to that.

Deckard raised his head in silence.

The closest colleague in the Ivory Tower, the one who is quick-witted and has the ability to read the flow well.

He wanted to read Ronan’s expression.

“…..”

Deckard and Ronan’s eyes met.

Ronan nodded his head quietly.

Ronan also had the same thought.

‘Is that it.’

Deckard finally felt sure.  The Ivory Tower lord knew exactly how the trial’s flow would change by his own interjections.  As believed, he was not just a young tower lord of the Ivory Tower, who was born with magical talents.  He knew exactly how to use his position, to say it in a bad way, he was manipulative, but to put it in a good way, he was an intelligent young man.

‘It’s probably better that way.’

Rather than a sword held by a baby

A sword held by an intelligent person is safer.

At least that was the conclusion that Deckard has reached.

“Normally, after all the arguments are heard, the tower lord of the Ivory Tower determines the outcome, but since the tower lord is involved in this particular case, I will hand down the decision.”

Deckard has discussed with the high sorcerers.

Then he began reciting the final decision.

“Illegally passing-down and grooming a sorcerer is a great offense, but I’d like to point out to a few special circumstances.  First, Herbert Leon, the absolute power of the Ivory Tower, who was the target of the princess Hailey’s vigilance at the time was a devoted servant of Ragnard, the 5th prince, who wanted to assassinate the emperor, and was an evil slave of black magic.  Therefore, her vigilance was just.”

The first special circumstance was in reference to the Ivory Tower at the time.  The princess kept her vigil against the Ivory Tower in order to keep her crowned prince safe.  As a result, that vigilance was found to be justified.

“Second, it was found that princess Hailey did not reap any benefits from the hidden powers of being a sorcerer.  It was only that she revealed the long kept secret in order to protect her subjects, and that was the first and the last time.  Unless other new facts were to be discovered in the future, it is impossible to conclude that she kept the secret of her being a sorcerer in order to further her own desires.”

The second special circumstance was related to self greed.  The princess did not benefit or fulfill her desire using the power of sorcery.  She only trained in secret and grew stronger in magic, but ultimately, she had no choice but to act on behalf of her people.  At least that was all, based on the discovered facts.

“Third, under the constrained conditions, princess Hailey reached the 4th class that was equivalent to being a high level sorcerer.  There was only a limited, pool of talents in the entire continent that can achieve this level.  Therefore, rather than handing down a punishment, I’d like to move to offer her a last chance.”

The third circumstance was exactly the same as what the princess had anticipated.

The talent that reached the 4th class.

The conclusion that such talent will not simply go punished.

“The anticipated punishment shall be deferred for 5 years, but do perform all the responsibilities that come with being an Ivory Tower’s sorcerer during that time.  When missions are called for any reasons within the empire, you will be deployed before anyone else, and through individual lessons from the Ivory Tower, you will be taught, from the academy, all the things that you haven’t been taught yet.”

Any deficient knowledge will be supplemented through the individual lessons from the Ivory Tower as Ian had done before.  What was different, however, was that she would be deployed from the get go to any missions.  That was the summary.

“The importance of the deferred punishment will be decided again 5 years later based on the results by following the process.  Hence, from this time forward, I order Hailey Greenriver, a sorcerer, to fulfill the duties of Ivory Tower’s sorcerer, rather than as a princess of the empire.

Although it was conditional, it was still the birth of a new high level sorcerer.