Laozi and Anne stepped into the interior. Though it was dim and lacked lights, both could operate without difficulty.
"...This is..."
Quartz tiles lined the floor, and the walls were made of granite. The ceiling, constructed from what appeared to be basalt, was incredibly robust. While the exterior had suffered some collapse, the interior remained completely unscathed.
"The construction of the interior differs from the outside. The exterior was likely an afterthought. This design... it was common three hundred years ago."
Anne’s design was based on an automaton from three hundred years ago, just before the Great Magic War. Her data on such matters was more extensive than Laozi’s.
"This pattern is typical of those used to hide something beneath the floor."
Anne lightly tapped a section where differently colored quartz tiles were arranged in a regular pattern with the heel of her shoe.
"...There is a hollow space beneath this."
It appeared she had discovered a basement.
"...Shall we proceed further?"
It seemed even Anne wondered if that might be overstepping their authority.
"No, it would be best to consult with My Lord before we go any further."
"Understood."
＊ ＊ ＊
Fritz and the Golias squad were pushing forward with the removal of debris at the Detached Palace in an attempt to locate the basement.
Finally, the last of the rubble was cleared away.
"Oh? Is that...!"
A hole that appeared to lead underground was revealed. The door that once covered it had been pulverized by the falling wreckage, leaving a gaping mouth in the floor.
"I'm going in," Fritz said, moving forward.
Reinhard hurriedly stopped him. "Fritz, it's too dangerous. I'll send in my Schwarzritter."
"...Right."
Fritz readily accepted the advice.
Reinhard's Schwarzritter, Noir, stepped into the opening. There were stairs, allowing for a steady descent.
Five minutes passed after Noir vanished from sight.
"Oh!?"
Noir returned with Prince Cesar slung across his back and King Richard cradled in his arms. Both appeared to be unconscious.
"Your Majesty! Your Highness!"
Rushing over was the Prince's aide, Kirk At. He had been severely injured himself, but he had recovered thanks to Elsa's healing magic. His crushed arm was still in the middle of treatment. Though he shouldn't have been in any condition to move after such blood loss, his loyalty drove him to the side of the royals.
"There are two more injured people inside. They do not appear to be in critical condition, but please rescue them quickly. There is no longer any concern about the interior collapsing further."
After delivering the report, Noir carried the two royals to the infirmary in the Guest House.
Just as Noir had stated, two maids were lying in the basement. They had apparently lost consciousness after being struck by fragments of the falling ceiling.
Upon examination, their injuries were found to be light. Fortunately, they had been near Count Guarana's solid gold golem and Jin's Venus Statue, which had prevented them from being crushed by the ceiling.
The solid gold golem had been deformed, and the Venus Statue crafted by Jin was half-destroyed...
Nevertheless, nearly every survivor had now been successfully rescued.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Elsa-dono, may I ask this of you?"
Ludlord Cores, the Third Seat of the Celuroa Kingdom's Ministry of General Affairs, bowed his head. Since the top cabinet ministers—including Chief of the First Ministry of Internal Affairs Rambeau, First Foreign Minister Beaujolais, and Chief of the First Ministry of Technology Latant—were all injured, Ludlord was overseeing the disaster response.
"I understand."
Jin and Reinhard stood by Elsa's side. The Empress also approached.
"We need to get this chaos under control. Regardless of everything else, he is still the King."
Since there were many domestic matters that foreigners could not handle, restoring consciousness to either the King or the Prince was an urgent necessity.
The grime on their bodies had been wiped away. While the King showed no obvious external injuries, the Prince had a wound on his head, likely from a blunt impact.
Elsa began by diagnosing their conditions.
"...'Diagnose'... 'Diagnose'...!?"
Her expression turned grim.
"...'Heilung'... 'Heilverfahren'..."
Following her initial diagnosis, Elsa first applied healing magic to the Prince. She mended the wound from the rubble and stabilized his internal organs. The results were immediate.
"...Ugh?"
Prince Cesar regained consciousness.
"Your Highness!" Ludlord cried out in joy.
Prince Cesar slowly pushed himself up. Then, as if the memories were flooding back, he muttered, "...I... I see, the ceiling fell... That's right, Father!"
Seeing his father, King Richard, lying beside him, Cesar’s face filled with distress.
"Your Highness, are you alright? Does your head hurt?" Elsa asked with concern.
Cesar turned toward her. "Yeah, I'm fine now. My head is clear. Was it you who treated me? You have my thanks."
"...I am glad to hear it. In that case, could you tell me about His Majesty? Based on my diagnosis, something is quite wrong."
"Wrong?"
"Yes. It does not appear that he lost consciousness due to an external injury."
"I see..."
Cesar closed his eyes, thinking back, before he spoke. "At that time... Father was bleeding from the nose and seemed to be in a state of delirium."
His tone was pained. "Immediately after he gave the order for the 'Lyon' units to rampage, I knocked him unconscious to stop him."
"Ah, I see."
Though they had only heard the audio at the time, the events in the Great Hall of the Detached Palace were now clear.
"My father was clearly not in his right mind then. If I had left him alone, he might have given a catastrophic order to every combat golem."
"...I understand."
Having heard the explanation, Elsa performed another diagnosis on King Richard, this time focusing intensely on his brain.
"'Völlig Genesen'."
She cast the supreme-level surgical healing magic.
However, the King did not wake up. Elsa, after examining him once more, let her shoulders slump as she reported her findings.
"...I have done everything within my power, but..." She hesitated. "...To be honest, there is a high possibility that his brain has been permanently damaged."
"I see..."
To the grieving Cesar, Elsa posed another question. "Regarding His Majesty, did he have any particular habits or vices?"
The answer came without hesitation.
"I wouldn't call it a vice exactly, but my father always loved his wine. He drank it from the morning onwards; I told him he should refrain during the day, but he wouldn't listen. It was a specific brand from the Corin region."
Hearing that he was a habitual drinker, something clicked for Elsa.
"Is any of that wine still available?"
"I suspect there is still some left in the basement."
Turning to Edgar, Elsa gave an instruction. "Edgar, could you go and fetch it?"
"Yes, at once."
With a quick nod, Edgar ran off.