The atmosphere in the banquet hall abruptly grew tense, a suffocating sense of oppression diffusing through the air.
Carroll's face turned livid in an instant, thunderbolt-like fury clenching between his brows; clearly, he was utterly enraged.
"Alfred! Are you openly accusing the Kingdom's army of being incompetent? The hardships of our forced march, the harassment we suffered from Void Creatures, are brutal fact.
"The Night Watchers… the Night Watchers, yes, their Power is formidable, but their very existence is the root of a subversive and chaotic upheaval."
His voice suddenly rose, sharp as a blade slicing through the silence:
"Look at what they have brought? Those Adventurer's Houses, spreading savagely everywhere like a plague. They let those lowly mud-legged wretches who used to toil in the fields or quietly labor in the workshops gain Power just by making a vow.
