Volume 1 Chapter 31 ★ The Banished Half-Elf and the Foolish Prince [Dranix IV]
While Mida steadily gained power as a member of the Act Guild, at the same time, Crown Prince Dranix—the very one who had exiled her—found himself in a dire situation. He was sweating bullets.
"GYAOOOOS!"
"GOGYAAAAAA!"
"GYAGYAAS!"
The skies over the Royal Capital boiled with chaos. Wyverns wheeled and dove through the clouds, screeching wildly. These dragons belonged to the kingdom's elite Dragon Knights... yet now they flew as if possessed.
"Stop it! Hey, what's going on!? Listen to me! Pay attention!"
The knights scrambled beneath the shadows of their own beasts. But the wyverns smashed buildings, tore through streets, and sent terrified citizens fleeing for their lives. The Royal Capital was being devastated by its own defenders.
"What on earth is happening...?"
Dranix could only stare, frozen. He didn't have time to make sense of it before citizens stormed toward him, eyes wide with panic and rage.
"Your Highness! What's going on here!?"
"Why are the wyverns rampaging!? Did the kingdom order this!?"
"N-no! The wyverns are acting on their own! We have nothing to do with this!"
But the crowd was beyond reasoning now. They pressed in closer, their grief turning to fury.
"My house is wrecked! What are you going to do about it!?"
"My child got injured!"
Their faces twisted with blame. And why wouldn't they? Their homes shattered, loved ones harmed. It was the kingdom's dragons that had done this. Naturally, they turned to Dranix—the one in charge.
"SHUT UP! You Dragon Knights! Get those wyverns under control, pronto!"
"What do you mean get them under control? They're flying in the air... and we can't just kill them..."
The knights hesitated. Wyverns were the kingdom's pride: transport, reconnaissance, defense. They couldn't afford to lose them.
"YOUR HIGHNESS! My house!"
"Send a doctor!"
"Do something about that dragon!"
"YOUR HIGHNESS!"
"G-G-GAH! How did it come to this!?"
In desperation, Dranix ordered the court magician to use sleep spells to bring the wyverns down. The process was messy and slow. Even as some dragons crashed to earth unconscious, the damage was done.
The Royal Capital lay in ruin.
Now then.
Dranix was summoned to the audience chamber, where the king's wrath awaited him.
"YOU IDIOT!"
Dranix flinched under his father's roar.
"This time, the dragon rampage is all your fault!"
"W-what do you mean...?"
The vassals had delivered their report. The dragons' condition had begun deteriorating from the day magic dolls were introduced to handle them.
"I don't understand the details, but the dragons have never gone wild before! It's obvious the cause lies in the dolls you created!"
"T-that's... Even though you haven't properly investigated the cause, you're blaming me..."
"SHUT UP! Are you talking back to me!?"
The king wasn't interested in facts. He wanted a scapegoat.
But in truth, the vassals were right.
The magic dolls, designed by Dranix to handle dragon maintenance, lacked the subtlety and empathy required. They had treated the dragons like lifeless tools.
And the dragons... had rebelled.
"The damage to the Royal Capital is enormous! The commoners are demanding their houses be rebuilt! They want compensation!"
The king's gaze darkened.
"You take care of it. Or I'll strip you of your right to the throne!"
Damn it!
Dranix clenched his jaw.
He was furious. Furious to be blamed for his perfect creation.
There was no mistake!
Suppressing his frustration, he forced himself to focus.
"Then, let's do this, Father. I'll mass-produce magic dolls for reconstruction. They'll repair the damaged buildings. As for compensation, we have funds from exporting the dolls abroad. That money can cover it."
The dolls, already sold to other countries, had become a hot commodity.
They were being called convenient magic slaves by foreign buyers.
And many nations had pleaded for more.
"Alright... fine. I'll let you off this time."
"Whew! What a relief!"
"But if you cause trouble again? I'll throw you and that Deku puppet out of the Royal Capital!"
"...Don't worry. There won't be any more problems. My creation, the golem, is perfect."
Grinding his teeth, Dranix left for his workshop.
Inside, the mass production of his golems was already underway.
"Hey! Gather all the workers. Hurry!"
His aide jumped to comply. Soon after, the workers assembled. Nervous glances passed between them as Dranix barked orders.
"Increase the golem production rate. This is urgent!"
The workers hesitated.
"But, Your Highness... it's impossible. We're already running at full capacity for export quotas."
"We can't increase production any further..."
Reasonable arguments.
But Dranix, feeling the pressure, snapped.
"You two, get out of here."
"Wh-what...? Why!?"
"For talking back to me! Listen up! From today, you're forbidden from leaving or sleeping! Make golems, and make them constantly!"
It was absurd.
And, of course...
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
Anger erupted from the elves. Their faces burned with resentment.
"We've been working our butts off to meet your ridiculous demands! And this is what we get?!"
"You think you can talk to the Crown Prince like that?! I could fire you both in a heartbeat!"
But the elves weren't intimidated.
Instead, they all raised their voices in unison.
"Fine. We quit!"
One by one, they walked out of the workshop.
Not just a few.
All of them.
"What!? Wait a minute! Why are you doing this?!"
Dranix scrambled to stop them.
"Shut up! First of all, why aren't we letting the half-elves handle this grunt work!?"
"Why should we, proud elves, be treated like slaves!"
Originally, these tasks were assigned to half-elves.
But after the banishment, Dranix had turned to the elves of the royal palace.
And now, pushed too far, they had revolted.
He was repeating the same mistake he made with the wyverns.
"HMPH! HMPH! You fools! Fine! Even without you, I have my magic dolls!"
He would have the dolls make more dolls.
And he didn't realize how dangerous that was.
"That's right. The magic dolls I created are perfect! Flawless! A groundbreaking invention! I'm not wrong! I'm right!"
But Dranix didn't notice.
On his desk sat a report.
Stamped [URGENT].
A critical flaw had been discovered in the magic dolls.
But Dranix was too busy.
He never bothered to read it.
And so, the flawed dolls were mass-produced.
Exported across the kingdom—and beyond.
The consequences were inevitable.
This time, it wouldn't be wyverns.
It would be the magic dolls that rampaged.
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