Chapter 76: The Green Box
"Why don’t you open it and see for yourself?"
Elena looked at the green box suspiciously before reaching out and picking it up.
After examining it for a few moments, she finally opened it.
"What is this?"
The moment she opened the green box, she found a red cloth inside, upon which rested twenty rings of different colors, each engraved with numerous strange runes.
"Why don’t you send your spiritual sense into them, just like you do with a Space Bag, and see what’s inside?" Rios smiled as he pointed at the rings.
"Y-You mean... these rings are like Space Bags? They have storage space inside them?" Thandria pointed at the rings, her voice trembling.
It was common knowledge that Space Bags were crafted using the stomach of an extremely rare bird with a natural affinity for the cosmic law of Space.
Finding even a single one of those birds every few years was difficult enough, let alone capturing one.
As for the Space Bags owned by the City of Light, they had been accumulated over tens of thousands of years.
Yet now, Rios was telling them these ordinary-looking rings possessed the same storage ability as Space Bags.
In response to Thandria’s question, Rios merely smiled without saying a word.
When Elena realized she wasn’t getting an answer from him, she turned back to the rings and sent her spiritual sense into one.
A few moments later, she opened her eyes in complete disbelief before immediately checking the next ring.
Just like with the first one, she was utterly stunned.
Then she moved on to the next...
Then the one after that...
And another...
Until she finally reached the last ring.
Her shock from that final ring surpassed all the others.
She looked at Rios, barely able to speak.
"I-Is... is this real?"
"What’s inside them? What exactly is stored in these rings?"
Thandria took the box from Elena and began inspecting the rings herself.
A few seconds later, she looked at Rios with the same stunned expression.
Faced with their reactions, Rios smiled proudly.
"Didn’t I tell you there was no need to worry about anything after I became your king?"
"No... This is simply impossible."
"Forget the enormous storage space in these rings—each possessing an internal space nearly two hundred meters in length, width, and height.—they’re filled with enough food to last us almost twenty years if we use it lavishly... or a full forty years if we’re careful with it."
Elena’s voice rose in shock as she grabbed the final ring.
"And this one? Where did you get all these weapons and armor from? There’s enough complete equipment inside—complete military equipment, including armor sets and weapons—to fully arm an army of one hundred thousand soldiers. High-quality equipment that only people like the Royal Guards are qualified to wear."
Her voice trembled as she continued.
"And these other armor sets? There are a hundred of them... they’re incredibly close to the level of the defensive arrays the sacred Tree of Cradle left behind to protect the City of Light."
"Where did you get all of this?!"
Hearing Elena’s shocked voice, Rios’s smile widened.
"I brought it from another world."
"Another world..."
Both Elena and Thandria muttered those words in disbelief.
Then Elena looked at him in complete disbelief.
"You were only gone for six hours. Forget traveling to another world—even flying nonstop, that’s barely enough time to leave the Light Forest region and reach another region."
"Wait a second..."
"He just said another world. Are there really other worlds besides the one we live in?"
Thandria waved her hands frantically, staring at both Rios and Elena in shock.
"Yes."
"There are countless worlds beyond this one. Millions... perhaps even billions."
Rios nodded toward Thandria as he explained.
"In those worlds exist races, places, and civilizations you’ve never seen, never heard of, and probably never even imagined could exist."
"And just a few minutes ago... I was in one of the most fascinating of them."
Elena looked at Rios, a trace of longing appearing in her eyes.
"C-Can we go to those worlds too... just like you did?"
Faced with that question, Rios smiled gently and patted her head.
"The way I did... no."
He paused for a few moments.
Disappointment immediately filled Elena’s face.
But his next words rekindled her hope.
"But once you become strong enough, you won’t need me anymore."
"You’ll be able to go there on your own."
Elena looked toward Thandria.
Thandria returned her gaze.
The two silently nodded to each other with unwavering determination, as though they didn’t need words to understand one another.
"It’s still early in the morning, isn’t it?"
Rios glanced out through the balcony at the sun to confirm the time before turning back toward Elena and Thandria.
"Good."
"Then tonight, everyone in the city will be invited to a grand feast to celebrate the beginning of a new era."
"So the cooks should start preparing as soon as possible if they’re going to finish in time."
Then he looked at Elena.
"You have the storage rings filled with food."
"I’m leaving this task to you."
He then pointed toward the storage rings.
"Use the remaining food in the city’s warehouses to prepare the feast."
"As for the food inside these rings, sort and classify it carefully."
"It may be suitable for humans, but it’s still food from another world."
"So make sure it’s thoroughly inspected."
Rios handed the box containing the storage rings to Elena.
However, he kept the rings filled with weapons and equipment for himself.
"You may both go and handle your assigned duties now."
"And don’t worry about anything else."
"As you command, Your Majesty."
Elena and Thandria each held the edge of their dresses with one hand, placed the other over their chests, and bowed respectfully toward Rios.
Immediately afterward, they left the room, leaving Rios alone.
Rios stepped down from the desk and slowly walked toward the balcony.
He stood there silently, gazing at the sky for several moments.
Then an ambitious smile spread across his face, shining from his eyes.
"This is only the beginning..."
"...of an era over which I alone shall reign."
---
Minutes turned into hours.
News of the feast spread throughout the City of Light as quickly as wildfire.
The common Elves and the nobles alike all had their own opinions.
Their reactions couldn’t have been more different.
There were the poor and miserable, those who could barely find enough food to survive.
Naturally, they were overjoyed.
Some even danced with happiness.
Others, however, trembled in fear upon hearing the news.
Only one thought occupied their minds.
Is that new king planning to starve us all to death by exhausting the city’s remaining food reserves?
Then there were those who were even more extreme.
They gathered inside a dark corner of the city.
Inside a dim room lit only by candlelight...
"Are you really going to let that monster do whatever he wants?"
One of the people in the room, wearing a black robe with a hood hiding his face, spoke before continuing,
"If that feast is actually held, this city will be finished before we can even seize control of it!"
"Should we inform the Storm Mountains or the Dragon Ruins Kingdom?" another hooded figure asked as he looked toward the man seated at the head of the room.
"No. This isn’t the right time."
"The new king is extremely powerful... and very intelligent."
"He has already surrounded the entire city with guards and scouts. The slightest movement from us will be discovered immediately."
The man sitting at the head of the room spoke in a deep voice that sounded like that of an old man.
"And I don’t believe this is merely a feast."
"There’s definitely something we don’t know."
His gaze swept across everyone in the room.
"And don’t forget what happened two days ago."
"That king performed a miracle unlike anything we’ve ever seen or heard of."
"He healed people who were on the verge of death."
"He regrew the limbs of those who had lost them."
"He restored sight to the blind..."
"Hearing to the deaf..."
"And speech to the mute."
"His popularity among the common Elves has already reached an unprecedented level."
"And if another miracle happens today..."
"...his popularity will reach heights that any ruler could only dream of."
"So making a move against him now would be nothing short of foolish."
"Then what about our rule? Our status among the Elves?"
"That damned monster only gave us ten years!"
"Once that time is up, we’ll be no different from those filthy commoners!"
"They’ll even outrank us!"
One of the people in the room shouted angrily before looking toward the man seated at the head.
"If we don’t find a solution and take control of the city, the Giants will break through the walls and wipe us all out!"
Faced with the panicked questions and hysterical shouting, the group’s leader smiled and looked at the man who had just spoken.
"There’s no need to worry."
"The Giants won’t breach the walls."
"They won’t even come near them."
"Oh?"
"And what makes you so certain?"
From one of the room’s dark corners, a man wearing a mask lazily leaned back and asked in a bored voice.
The leader looked at him and narrowed his eyes.
In the end, however, he let out a sigh.
"I reached a secret agreement with Sir Mark while he was here a few days ago."
"They’ll help us negotiate with the Giants so they never attack the City of Light again."
"The Light Forest will become entirely theirs."
"And in return, they’ll help us seize complete control of the City of Light."
"And what price are we supposed to pay for all of that?" one of the others asked, frowning. "Or are they doing this out of the kindness of their hearts?"
"The price..."
The leader repeated the word for a moment.
Then a chilling killing intent flashed through his eyes as he sneered.
"Of course there’s a price."
"We’ll help them obtain the heads of our beloved king... and queen."
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