Episode 643: Identity revealed (3)
Terry and Ryan Howl’s cold eyes contained complex emotions.
‘Ludger Chelsea·’
He was a teacher in Seorn and a man with considerable skills.
No, even saying he was considerable was rude considering his true skills…
I knew this because it was Terina who fought with him in the empire’s underground capital.
Still, we know how trustworthy he is, having once spent time as a comrade in arms…
That’s why Terina wasn’t very happy about this situation…
Although she expressed her heartlessness on the outside, somewhere in her heart, there was a wish that it would not be so.
“Do you have anything to counter this?”
That was the reason why Terina, who should have captured Ludger alive without mercy, kept talking back…
Lloyd and Enya Joiners, who knew Terina well, stared at her with wide eyes.
Because the manager they knew, Terry, would never say something like that…
It was said that Terina had a good view of Ludger.
However, upon hearing Terina’s words, Ludger simply held out his hand without saying a word.
Terina twitched her eyebrows at that sight.
“you····”
“Arrest him, because that’s your job.”
“····”
Terina glared at Ludger in silence, then took the magic suppression artifact she had already packed from her belt and fastened it to Ludger’s wrist.
Clap·
“Take it into custody…”
With those words, Terina left the teacher’s office as if she didn’t want to see anything.
Sedina, who was anxiously watching the situation from outside, tried to protest, but Ludger took priority in opening his mouth.
“egg plant·”
It was a very shameless attitude from the person being taken away, but it was so natural and fitting that the Knights of Nightcrawler dragged him outside as Ludger wanted.
Sedina could not say a single word to Ludger until the end, and just watched Ludger’s back as he was taken away.
“What? What’s going on?”
“Nightcrawler Knights? “Who is being dragged away?”
Perhaps because the Nightcrawler Knights attacked all at once, students and several teachers who heard the news came out to see the sight.
They wondered who on earth was being captured in this situation, but when they saw Ludger’s face being taken away, their eyes widened.
“Mr. Lou Ludger? “Are you back?”
“No, more than that, why are you being dragged away? “What happened?”
Line, who came running out of breath just in time to hear the news that Ludger had returned, stopped in her tracks due to the crowd of people surrounding her.
I could see Ludger being dragged by knights in black uniforms over people’s shoulders.
“teacher!”
As Line shouted, Ludger’s footsteps stopped for a moment…
But soon he started walking again as if something had happened.
“What on earth is this fuss about?”
President Elisha was also informed of the situation.
At her appearance, the crowd naturally split to the left and right, clearing the way.
Elisa walked out from the front and stood facing Terina.
“Terina…”
“Elisha.”
“···I need to hear an explanation of what this is…”
“Did you know?”
“···What do you mean?”
Terina caught Elisa’s subtle hesitation with the sense of a master, but tried to explain it while pretending not to notice.
“This man is not Ludger Cellisi… Rather, he is a man who disguised his identity and went into hiding in Seorn… And he is currently suspected of the murder of Cardinal Patricio…”
“What is that…”
Elisa also knew that Ludger was not his real identity to begin with.
But what about the murder of Cardinal Patricio Romelo, who suddenly disappeared from Ledervelk recently?
In terms of pure power, the cardinal is no match for even a 6th rank wizard.
Did Ludger kill such a cardinal?
“Not only that, he is accused of murdering several archbishops and even massacring priests and paladins of the Holy Kingdom of Bretus.”
“Don’t you think the joke is too much?”
Even so, if the word massacre was mentioned, including the archbishops, credibility would be diminished.
“We will find out when we hear the news coming soon. The important thing is that he did not deny his guilt.”
“···Is that really true? Mr. Ludger…”
“Are you still calling me Ludger?”
Ludger turns to Elisha…
No, he said it as if everyone should listen…
“Let me introduce myself again…”
Among the students who are confused as to what that means…
Line stared at Ludger with trembling eyes.
No, brother, don’t do that…
Freuden, who arrived at the scene just in time to hear about the situation, also stared at Ludger being taken away with disbelief.
“My name is Heathcliff…”
Ludger’s voice rang out quietly through the crowd filled with confusion and astonishment.
“Heathcliff Van Bretus…”
“···Bretus?”
“Wait a minute, is this real? Bretus… the person who can add that name…”
“…Wait… So what does that mean?”
No… it can’t be… This must be some kind of illusion or a lie…
No one wanted to believe the absurd truth that was thrown at them all at once.
But strangely enough, their instincts were waiting for what Ludger would say next…
“He is the bastard and illegitimate son of Benedict van Bretus, the previous pope of the Holy Kingdom, and the man who murdered the cardinals and archbishops of the Holy Kingdom.”
As if betraying everyone’s expectations and negativity…
A bombshell exploded from Ludger’s mouth…
* * *
Cheolkeong·
Ludger was locked in a cage…
Both of his arms were covered with magic-suppressing restraints, and not only his ankles but even his eyes were covered with a special eyepatch…
Not only that. Surveillance and security were maintained alternately around the bars without leaving for even a single minute, and measures were taken so that the moment Ludger made even the slightest mistake, the inside of the prison would automatically explode.
It was an attitude that could only be seen by a high-class criminal who committed terrorism almost at the level of overthrow of the state.
But Ludger quietly accepted it…
He was quietly locked in the iron cage, without any sign of discomfort, as if this was normal.
After some time, I felt someone approaching the bars…
“Go away…”
The knights, who had been on tight guard against the order given as if it were obvious, retreated without a word.
Only Ludger and the new guest remained in the cage.
“It moved faster than I thought…”
Ludger spoke naturally as if he knew who the other person was without even looking at him.
In the first place, it didn’t make sense to not recognize it because I heard the voice that raised my guard a little while ago…
At Ludger’s words, 1st Princess Eileen stared at Ludger, who was trapped in an iron cage, with a complex gaze.
“… To be honest, I was surprised… When you told me your true identity, I almost hoped it was a lie…”
“Unfortunately, I only told the truth.”
“Yes, that’s why I believed what you said and sent Terina.”
The story behind Ludger’s arrest was simple.
This is because Ludger himself confessed everything to Eileen and deliberately ordered her to arrest him.
“Revealing your identity ultimately means that you are planning to carry out the plan you have prepared before, right?”
“okay·”
“What a heartless man. Who would have thought that he would cut off all the relationships he had formed as a teacher in this way.”
“It was a relationship I didn’t need anyway…”
So what about me?
Eileen was about to ask that question, but held back with desperate patience.
I couldn’t be too emotional here…
“How dare you treat the person who will become the next emperor like this? What’s even more problematic is that the Holy Kingdom of Bretus has heard this news. You do know, right?”
Eileen said that and then shook her head.
“No, that’s probably what they told me to listen to in the first place.”
Eileen knew very well what Ludger wanted…
If she were in the same position as Ludger or knew his situation, she would have acted like she did now…
“Thanks to you, the empire regained its status that almost collapsed for a moment… Because we discovered the identity of Heathcliff, the rare man who exterminated the elites of the Holy Kingdom of Bretus, and arrested him faster than anyone else… The Holy Kingdom of Bretus bowed its head to us. “I guess I should request extradition of the criminal.”
“Yes, but no matter how much the empire is, it won’t last long because there is a second prince.”
“…Did you know that too? Yes… My ugly younger brother did things as he pleases… I told the whole truth to the Holy Kingdom…”
Rather, it was nothing short of good news for Eileen.
Because the 2nd prince, who had only suspicions and no actual evidence, revealed the fangs he had kept hidden until now…
If Ludger had not opened the way like this, the second prince’s dagger could have reached Eileen.
“Be careful of the second prince… He seems to be very deeply involved with the Holy Kingdom of Bretus beyond joining hands… There must be more he is hiding…”
“···Yes· It will be my job to prepare for that from now on·”
“If that’s the case…”
Eileen bit her lip at Ludger’s words.
He could choose a peaceful life
I was able to live as the real Ludger Chelish, not Heathcliff…
However, Ludger escalated the incident to the point of covering himself in filth and sacrificing himself.
“···You are a really annoying man·”
Still, there was a time when I even thought they were equal…
When I discovered his whereabouts and revealed his true identity when he was working as Seorn’s teacher, I couldn’t tell you how happy I was to finally be on the same level as this man.
But at this moment…
Eileen got hit hard by Ludger.
“It’s really the worst… They arbitrarily piled up debt like this and didn’t even give me a chance to repay it… I don’t know how many times I’ve felt this much shame in my life.”
“You will do well… you will most likely become a great emperor…”
Eileen sighed as she looked at Ludger.
I realized that getting angry here was useless, but there was something more important.
“… Someone came from the Holy Kingdom to meet you… It was a very quick move, as if they knew something like this would happen… If I had been a day or even half a day late in arresting you, I would have been helpless…”
“is it·”
“The situation is hopeless no matter how you look at it… But I don’t think you’ll give up for nothing of value…”
“····”
Ludger did not answer…
However, Eileen’s voice brightened a little at the fact that she did not deny what he said.
“You too, do your best. I will also do my best.”
The bond between Eileen and Ludger could not be separated by these bars and restraints…
Just as Ludger only said what he had to say to Eileen, Eileen also only said what she had to say to Ludger.
However, the two trusted each other more than anyone else, so they did not criticize the other person’s words.
Well then…
Eileen left prison·
And as if he had been waiting, a new person came looking for Ludger and stood in front of the iron bars.
“It’s such an unpleasant presence that I can feel it even if I cover my eyes.”
“That’s too much… But I came to see you because I was worried…”
As always, it was the priest of Lemria who spoke in a voice full of laughter.
“Thanks to you, we were able to get rid of Cardinal Patrick, right?”
“It was also the result you hoped for…”
“Is that possible? There is no way I would have let that happen to a faithful cardinal from the same denomination, right?”
“Enough of the useless chatter… So, why did you come to see me? “Is this to mock me for being trapped in a place like this?”
“You know better than anyone else that that can’t be possible. You are of holy blood. As a priest, I can never disobey you.”
“okay·”
Ludger curled up the corners of his mouth and made a bitter sneer…
“My words cannot be disobeyed… But what if the words of someone with more power than me are spoken?”
“····”
Although Ludger was blind, he stared straight into Lemria’s face.
Lemria also covered her eyes with a tiara, but her expression did not smile like before.
“···My role ends here·”
Lemria said that and slightly lowered her head…
Not towards Ludger, but towards the other side…
“this·”
A third person’s voice like that…
A voice that seemed similar to Ludger’s, but was also soft and full of kindness, strangely lingered in my ears…
“I never thought I’d see you face to face like this…”
A man approached the iron bars without any footsteps or presence.
“Even though it is said to be bloodshed, my brother inherited the other half from my father.”
“····”
“Hmm, you can’t see me because you’re covering your eyes. Then, let’s do this.”
The man said so and lightly flicked his finger towards Ludger.
Then the eyepatch that was covering Ludger’s eyes was cut in half and slid down.
Even though it looked like this, it was not an ordinary eye patch, but a specially treated artifact.
It was cut off with a light flick of a finger from behind the iron bars, so no alarm was even set off.
It was proof that the opponent’s skills were great.
Ludger finally saw the man behind the bars in his vision that regained light.
A person with a face similar to yours, but a completely opposite mood.
A young man with red eyes, long white hair, and a friendly smile that makes people look good.
“Salesin Van Bretus…”
“I should call you big brother.”
The eldest son of Benedictus, a prosperous man of the past,
The current prosperous man came to visit in person.
