Chapter. 14. One Empire, Three Legends (30)
****
If it were the way it was, I would join a noble who would be a strong ally at this banquet, then ride that tightrope all the way to the capital and look at the faces of the royal family to be able to tell what is poison and what is medicine. It was a thought.
But this incident was not on that scale.
A witch who accumulated power through numerous sacrifices through repeated reincarnations. The opponent is the 500-year history of the empire itself. The power of the word [Emperor] within an empire built on a foundation of worship and respect for the emperor, which is close to belief.
‘Keplag Naidim. Dark skin, angular chin, low hooked nose! Even though it was decorated in imperial style, this guy doesn’t look like an imperial person to begin with! Damn it, the fifth son! I made a mistake while going out somewhere! They weren’t from the Empire in the first place! That’s why it was possible to remain so realistic among the [ideal] nobles! ‘This idiot doesn’t even know the emperor’s name, let alone respect him!’
A situation where everything is unclear. Among them, we must move forward using only a few revealed facts as a lighthouse.
The strange atmosphere of the banquet hall. The only thing that turned the mood of the doll-like nobles around was one name: Emperor.
In that case, it must be seen that their original atmosphere was caused by the witch, their opposite.
The atmosphere changed, but the behavior remained the same, except for the great reverence for the emperor. He is still a ‘good noble’ who is not greedy and prioritizes the empire and the royal family he serves.
The influences of the witch and the emperor push each other away, but have the same effect.
.
.
.
.
The power they both use is the same? The Empire’s 500 Years of History Is that a witch with powers close to divinity?
[Are you sure?]
‘….It’s not a fact, it’s an inference. Accuracy is less than 60%.’
Accidents were spreading endlessly, but there were so many empty spaces that no matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t decide what was right and what was wrong.
As my thoughts expand, I feel a strange, jarring feeling.
An error that cannot occur if the assumption is correct.
‘If the empire is unconsciously bound up in the name of the emperor. Why did the emperor, who was practically a god within his territory, leave behind the seeds of disquiet called witches in the empire? Why was it allowed to come up to the imperial family? How can a witch fight against such an old power?’
I don’t know. It feels like the more I unravel, the deeper I fall into a hole.
‘….stop. If I think about it further, I’m just making unreasonable assumptions. Trust my head. If you can’t understand it right now, it means that you haven’t accumulated enough information to understand it. Let’s not waste time meaninglessly. I do not have time. This time….!’
A situation that cannot be solved with just thinking. If so, it means that you have to move no matter what.
“What is Lucilla’s condition?”
“Hmm… I think it’s a little better.”
“Does anyone else feel like they are different from usual?”
Although I was in the middle of the street just after leaving the banquet hall, I had to figure out the situation first. No, if it was as I expected, there wasn’t much point in where I went from here.
“Hmm… I actually felt a little strange at the banquet hall too.”
“Aldrich? What was it like specifically?”
“okay. As I am a soul mage, I am sensitive to curses and such, so I thought nothing bad would happen, but… I was strangely swept up in the atmosphere of the hall. When they talk to me without my knowledge, I think, ‘We can talk about things like the inheritance rights of disappeared families and fiefdoms. If we talk about these topics, even countries that are outside of the aristocratic society will be able to communicate quite well.’ I’m thinking the same thing. “I’ve never talked about that past except to you all my life.”
“Damn it… right. Because Aldrich was also an imperial noble. Lucilla. “Tell me one word that comes to mind when you think of the emperor.”
“Uh… Supreme? “Sage God?”
Damn it. I knew it.
“Lucilla. “You said you followed a lot of merchants bound for the Empire, right?”
“yes. “Most of the Aedran family moves across the three countries of the Empire of Teldrat Rodrik.”
“You probably know how much influence the emperor’s name has in the empire.”
“Yes. Even the neighborhood kids go around singing songs to express their respect for the emperor?”
Lucilla felt only a strange feeling.
Aldrich even thought about interfering with them to figure out what to do.
Judging from the differences in degree, it certainly seemed to have a great influence on the people of the empire.
“Notum Hydrasil. “How far have you been to the Castle City?”
“I only went around the banquet hall. “Even if I try to go a little far away, the capital guards are glaring at me.”
“Shit. If it were the capital guards, they wouldn’t be ordinary people…”
“I’m sorry, Professor, while I’m thinking about it. I wish we knew together instead of just keeping it to ourselves. “What is happening in the capital now?”
The professor then realized that he was only muttering to himself and had not explained the situation to his companions, and continued his explanation concisely.
“To put it simply, it appears that the power to turn an empire into an empire is now concentrated in the capital.”
“strength?”
“yes. Just as we magicians ignore phenomena based on powerful personal interests, the subjects of the entire land mass of this empire have unwavering faith in the ‘Great Emperor’, making him closer to the ideal monarch of that legend.”
The most basic knowledge to understand GG.
A world where faith distorts phenomena.
The emperor’s power within the empire was absolute, and that absolute power extended from the great nobles of the capital to the nobles of the outskirts, making it impossible for them to recklessly exploit the people and accumulate property. The peaceful reign of a strong monarch once again reinforces that strong belief.
The empire is a place where this has been repeated for 500 years. The saying ‘the emperor is the empire’ literally becomes a reality.
“The emperor is the empire….”
“From here, it’s all speculation. Now it is a battle for the throne. A time when that great power is passed on to future generations. I think it may be somewhat unstable as the subject of power is transferred. “The image that comes to mind with the word emperor changes.”
“okay. yes.”
“I don’t know what tricks he used, but I don’t know why the emperor couldn’t stop the witch with his incredible power, but the witch got in anyway. “Did you feel the atmosphere in the banquet hall changing as suddenly as flipping the palm of your hand?”
“Hmm… It was just when I was walking out the door, but I definitely felt like my hair stood on end.”
“Both are ‘forces that enable the people of the empire to do what they must do as subjects of the empire.’ “It must have felt that way because the subject was different.”
They are not puppets without free will. All you have to do is remain faithful to what you must do as a citizen of the empire in the realm of the unconscious. He may be faithful to his personal desires and sometimes even do illegal things.
Under the giant hand that moves the entire empire as if it were my own body, I move forward in a direction that contributes to the growth of the empire without even realizing it.
[You are truly a Big Emperor beyond Big Brother. Hey, I think I caught a glimpse of it too. The witch side. I heard something has been itching since a while ago.]
‘What is it?’
[you. Did you feel anxious today? I don’t know what it is, but I feel like I need to do something.]
‘….No way?’
Now that I think about it, it was definitely like that. Even when I was talking with Hyde during the day about what to do with the oracle, I had a strangely strong feeling that something had to be done.
[okay. I think that’s it. impulse. It was like that earlier when I was in the banquet hall, but as soon as the emperor’s name was mentioned, that strange excitement disappeared. Then, when I came back to the banquet hall, I started to feel anxious again. If you count it as a coin, when it goes over to the emperor, oh, the emperor! I’m going to work for the Emperor! If you get into a state and then move over to the witch side, ah, what to do! I have work to do! I have to do it right now! It becomes a state of doing that.]
‘That’s….’
[It looks similar to me. Aldrich’s past history. The occupants of that mansion were like that too. The starting point was someone’s murder, but in the end, everyone turned out to be a murderer. Something kept stirring my heart. If you continue like this, you will be punished. If you stay like this, you will die. If it stays like this, if it stays like this! Something! You have to do it! -Anxiety fueled the mind, and the three murders exploded it. Do you know what I mean? The keyword ‘emperor’ was removed from ‘We must do this for the emperor!’ I just had a lot of ‘must do’s’ left in my head and ended up mechanically pursuing some kind of vague goal. Like you today.]
Definitely. That strange pounding feeling. An incomprehensible anxiety. That was also a strange phenomenon that started after entering the capital. If that’s true.
‘Does that mean here too?’
[Nothing can’t happen, right? If the witch is really a saint of light who fell a long time ago. There must be some reaction to the Saint of Light who has come so close. I don’t know what on earth he’s waiting for… but if he feels that something threatening him is just around the corner, even if it’s a little early. Wouldn’t it explode?]
Boom. Just like that day at Aldrich’s mansion.
Hyde’s voice echoed through my head.
The sound of a broom sweeping a straight path penetrated through the
evil-evil-evil- thoughts.
A maid mechanically sweeps a stone road without a single leaf or dust.
A lamplighter takes one step at a time in time with the setting sun and dusk, lighting the light exactly at the moment the shadow touches the streetlight.
“professor. “The sun is setting.”
“yes.”
“It’s faint, but the energy of the curse is also approaching. “I can feel it now.”
“yes.”
“Are you listening?”
I couldn’t concentrate on what Aldrich said. A strong feeling of coming as the sun sets. The realization that comes when scattered facts come together into one answer.
“Trigger…”
“Hmm?”
“Trigger, the starting point of the Teldemire family’s tragedy! An unusual routine that exploded anxiety and impulses! “Holy shit!”
The sun was already setting, and a shadow was falling beyond the walls of the castle city, which were so artistic that they were embarrassing to be called castle walls.
A beautiful castle wall made of large marble with paintings depicting the history and mythology of the empire.
When it came in the morning, sunlight penetrated the hole and engraved the history of the empire made of light on the floor, but now the sun is setting. The shadow approaching beyond the castle wall had a completely different light.
In a way that desecrates the dark and twisty mythology.
chuck. chuck. chuck. chuck.
“There will be an inspection. knife. The door. Night traffic in the castle town. “Permission accompanied by legitimate reasons is-”
The guards had not moved during the day, but now they are approaching in step with us.
Jingling jingling!
“Please let me serve you.”
“My shoes are dirty.”
“The seams of the clothes.”
“For meals.”
“How about a bath?”
“Please let me take you there?”
Jump, jump, jump!
Straight-looking servants and maids lined up from the mansions that filled the city, ringing bells to summon them.
There was no aggressive or malicious movement anywhere in the body, but the strange desire in the eyes made the companions step back.
“It’s not mind control. There are no signs of such large-scale black magic, but…”
“No. This is the result of cutting out only one of the behavioral principles implanted in the deepest subconscious of the people of the empire: ‘Emperor’. Without malice or command. “It just moves on its own.”
They too must be confused.
It is not the kind of power that can be denied. The foundation that makes an empire an empire. Because it is an impulse engraved in the soul.
However, users who are confused by the impulse that has been castrated in that direction are rushing out to do anything.
Some to their masters.
Some to where they usually work.
Some… are extraordinary beings. Outsider In front of something different from the usual.
And that little spark of innocuous confusion.
Many, many, many, many.
“Oh. “You are a saint and Lady Aedran.”
A nobleman who returned under the care of servants who seemed to be possessed. Like them, the Marquis of Belpatier had slightly blank eyes. It was clearly the marquis who hosted the party.
He appeared, separating the guards and employees, and seemed very calm, as if he could not see the strange events occurring throughout the city.
“I was very disappointed. I thought he was a person well-versed in etiquette, but he stormed out of the banquet hall without even saying hello. Was my banquet not enough? “No, since he is a person well-versed in etiquette, it would be better to see that his insulting actions were meaningful.”
The sun has set and the streetlights are strangely dark on a dark street. So now I could see it clearly. Two auras waved above the head of the Marquis of Belpatier. A golden aura representing the emperor and a purple aura representing a witch.
And I finally realized it. How to proceed with this quest involving an empire and a witch.
“Marquis! There was some misunderstanding! Lady Aedran’s condition was not very good at that time-”
“Yes. It seems that the saint and his party have no intention of serving the first prince.”
The conclusion reached by the Marquis after consulting and answering questions. At the end of those words, a purple aura covered the Marquis’ head. At the same time, a similar purple aura spread to the guards and employees gathered around him.
Checkers game. If you flip one over, everything around you becomes dyed with that color.
“It’s an intruder. “They are foreigners who came into the capital with an uneasy mind.”
As soon as the Marquis’ cold words fell, a commotion began to rise as if a fire had been ignited among the people who had been feeling strangely excited and dazed.
“Raise your windows! “Defend the city from invaders!”
“Chi intruder! “Protect the house, the mansion, and the master!”
“Kill!”
“Oh no! Water Wall!”
Sigh!
Otman blocked the recklessly rushing servants with a wall of water and shouted urgently.
“I don’t know what this is all about, but I know for sure we need to move now! “What are we going to do now?”
“For now, force a breakthrough. Not a single person should die. “The moment there are casualties, ‘survival instinct’ will be added to the directionless impulse, and the tragedy of the Teldemire family will be repeated!”
“If you go, where will you go?” “No matter how much we do, we can’t get through those countless knights and wizards to the capital!”
“No, the next target is… over there!”
The professor pointed to another carriage heading towards the mansion in the distance. Likewise, a carriage surrounded by guards muttering about their mission to escort workers who want to do something.
“Lucilla! “Convince him while we somehow stop these lunatics without getting hurt!”
“Persuasion? In this situation, do you know who that noble is…”
“If you can’t do that, you have to kill everyone here and go up! “Not just him, but all the nobles on the way to the capital city that stand out in the vicinity!”
game. The entire capital was like a giant horse board.
Amidst the spreading chaos. Nobility is a token. A dazed state where the power of the colorless emperor and the witch coexist.
The noble who came out in front of us and pretended to be in front of us is now a purple token. A man who is against me and trying to stop me from going to the emperor.
If this guy moves and succeeds in conveying his intentions to another noble, that noble and the group also receive purple tokens.
‘Thoughts paralyzed by excessive impulse and confusion. Among them, ideas and impulses are spreading like an epidemic…. What on earth was going on and what was the intention behind planning this?’
At that moment, the witch Aldrich had talked about came into the professor’s mind.
[I was just born like this. I can’t help it. I decided not to hold back anymore.]
“….I don’t have time. “Get as many nobles as ‘friendly’ as quickly as possible and move on.”
“Hydraulic sphere! Oh my… It’s coming up even in cities where people use it. “Where are you going?”
“Where the emperor is! If that’s too much, go to the place where those closest to the emperor’s name are! Where the witch’s influence will be the weakest!”
Pow!
The professor ran to where the next nobleman was, swatting away the guard’s spear blade that split the water barrier.
I pray that the emperor’s influence will be stronger in the capital Ol Amperia than here.
****
