The council men shuddered. Even if this young brat was insolent he commanded an air of authority and killing intent that superseded anything that they had felt before. The name ‘Death God’ fit him just fine given his impudent nature and deathly killing intent. Just who was he? They had never heard of anyone like him before? Was he in some way related to royalty? There were questions but who was going to dare to ask?

The young man sat back on his chair feeling confident no one would now question his authority. Why did he not tell them who he was? He just considered the matter to troublesome to share.

“Please continue.” He said with a smile while staring at Vanessa.

“…James Adler returned back to Feladonia twenty and one days ago.” Vanessa was slow to start. The young man left quiet a strong impression on her (he left a strong impression on every one) but Vanessa felt that he had his eyes locked her on her.

She wasn’t mistaken. The self-proclaimed Death God had taken an interest in Vanessa for more than one reason – she was intelligent and beautiful; need more be said?

“Why did you not catch him then?” The Death God asked. “Three weeks is a long time to let someone as dangerous as him loose…”

“If there was damage to be done it would already have been done…” The king muttered but his voice was inaudible to all.

“We believed that he could not escape and it would therefore be better to catch him in action and his comrades together.” Vanessa responded quickly.

“I see cut the snake’s head strategy….though you said believed….did you not capture him?” The Death God’s glare was intense.

Vanessa felt he could see completely through her; there was nothing she could hide – that anyone could hide from this man. He had the wisdom and experience of an old man; he could read the meaning behind words and people’s hearts like a book. This man frightened her; his perception of the world around him was deeper than most his age. It would be better to say looks can be deceiving.

Vanessa hung her head down shamefully and answered, “No….we did not….he escaped…”

“And how is it that he escaped?”

This wasn’t a question the man had to ask her; he simply threw a rope to save her. Vanessa quickly began explaining the events that happened. How the Abbe brought someone from the outside, how this someone happened to be an adventurer and how during the confusion and chaos the Abbe got away. It was evident now; the meeting was being chaired by the Death God and the Chancellor who had no role to play. The Chancellor and the King were mere puppets in the story who danced to this man’s tunes.

“I see…although you lost the Abbe, you managed to capture the adventurer, so that evens it out?”

Every ounce of strength had been zapped away from Vanessa. The young man was quick and straight to the point. He asked questions which cut through the political façade and hit straight on the heart of the matter.

“No….no…. we did not…” Vanessa stuttered.

Council members would have been rejoicing right now seeing Vanessa stutter but the Death God had already crushed their pride and self esteem; right now there was only one enemy in the room – the self-proclaimed ‘Death God’. Vanessa was considered no more than a feeble child no many now even considered her an ally.

“So not only did you not capture the spy but you also failed to capture his accomplice?”

“We had him….but he disappeared ….”

“Vanessa, are you hearing yourself? The wind disappears, the water disappears but people don’t disappear…you are telling me, you carried him in a closed carriage surrounded by your people and yet the adventurer managed to escape?”

Vanessa avoided looking up. Her face was red in embarrassment.

It may be important to clarify; cases of teleportation are non-existent in this world. The world is governed by rules one of them being ‘Law of Knowledge / Understanding’. Suppose an adventurer wants to create the power ‘nuclear explosion’ then he must possess the basic understanding of the principles of fission. So if there were two users, one who understands teleportation principles and one who doesn’t then one will be able to create the power and the other won’t. Hence, completely fictional powers are difficult to replicate in this world (like Shadow Clone technique and Sayan powers) without an actual understanding of the technique / power. Teleportation is one of the powers those fictional powers which no adventurer has been able to replicate yet in Ruler of Rules.

It should also be noted that there are two types of magic in this world; one that existed in this world before the arrival of the adventurers known as ancient magic and the ones created by adventurers known as novel magic.

“Now, I would like to know to the best of your knowledge, is the summoning (example of ancient magic) of the slime and skeletons in Feladonia a work of this adventurer or spy?”

“Although we received word of spotting of a skeleton, we saw none ourselves. So it is incorrect to assume there was a skeleton…” Vanessa stopped talking. The Death God stared at her with such intensity that she knew giving excuses at this point was just plain foolish. “It is possible.” She replied.

“So not only did you let a spy get away but you also allowed a dangerous individual into Feladonia and let him get away with wreaking havoc to our city. Vanessa Alfen, what is the primary objective of a soldier of the Empire?”

“To..to protect the people, property and interests of the Empire…” Vanessa sheepishly replied back while avoiding eye contact with the Death God. She simply hung her head, staring at the Death God’s feet. Vanessa’s behaviour similar to all those who faced the Death God – he possessed an imposing demeanour.

“By letting someone who you have no background on into the city, not only did you throw procedure, rules and common sense out of the window, but you completely failed to accomplish anything of significance.”

The words the man spoke were harsh but true. Vanessa continued to hang her head in shame.

Seeing no response the Death God continued, “I hereby sentence…”