Episode 140. Approach of Darkness
On one side of the imperial palace, a building for the chancellor was built separately.
The building, which was designed to be connected to the center of the imperial palace so that the emperor could call it comfortably when needed, rather than going back and forth separately, had small departments as well as an office for Prime Minister Hector Kazaf.
Hector, who had been gathering information related to Maximin in the intelligence department for a while, was getting his clothes neatly dressed for the sudden visit of the emperor.
“His Majesty has arrived.”
Hector looked around at the words of his subordinate and asked.
“Is there any news from the academy yet?”
“That’s right.”
Hector nodded and waited for the emperor for a while.
Soon after, the emperor arrived and the intelligence officers and Hector bowed.
“Raise your head.”
Everyone raised their heads at the emperor’s command.
Beside the emperor, who approached Hector, was Xavier Leonard, the commander of the Guard Knights, who had appeared for the first time in a long time.
“So Maximin is at the academy?”
“That’s right. your majesty.”
“You wanted to talk to Adrias Cromwell? I don’t know what you want to talk about?”
“They haven’t said why they want Adrias Cromwell yet.”
At Hector’s answer, the Emperor bit the surroundings.
“I have something to say to the chancellor for a moment, so everyone should step back.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
After everyone with the exception of Xavier and Hector withdrew, the emperor finally started talking in earnest.
“Did that guy Maximin notice the existence of original sin?”
“I am assuming that is not the case. For now, we are trying to find out where Maximin connected with Adrias, so please wait a little bit.”
“I don’t know what a guy like that is that the youngest citizen of the world is interested in.”
After thinking for a while, the emperor spoke impromptu.
“How about killing Maximin right now?”
Hector narrowed his eyes as the emperor asked, pointing to Xavier standing next to him.
Xavier just stood there like a doll, even in that situation.
“I don’t dare to estimate, but wouldn’t the damage be enormous? Obviously compared to the power of the Empire, Maximin is like a firefly, but Maximin’s ability is so specialized in escaping… ….”
“Hector.”
The emperor called his name in a low voice.
Hector barely answered with chicken skin sprouting from the unknown chill.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Neither this nor that. what the hell is going on Is Jim truly the master of the empire?”
“Of course, Your Majesty is the owner of the most powerful country on this continent.”
“Does it make sense that such burdens cannot now only punish individuals?”
“no! It’s nothing to dare to be an individual in the power of the empire!”
“Then I will kill Maximin. How is it?”
“I will contact you nationwide.”
Hector just shook his head.
Hector dimly sensed that he had finally reached his limit, despite having suppressed the increasingly arrogant Emperor as much as he could.
“Sir Xavier, can I trust you?”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
Hector saw Xavier answering mechanically, but it didn’t seem hopeless.
Xavier Leonard is also one of the 10 superhumans on the continent.
I wondered if Auror Masters and Warlocks scattered all over the country would be able to capture Maximin without sacrifice.
Then a sound broke their conversation.
smart.
Clearly, the emperor knocked on the door even though everyone had been told to leave… ….
“Come in.”
As the emperor spoke, a woman dressed in pure white entered.
She lowered her head and held out her magic communicator with both hands without saying a word.
“Hegel contacted me at this time…. Coincidentally, the chancellor is also with us, so it will be easier to talk.”
The emperor, who received the communicator, immediately connected the call.
―Have you been well, Your Majesty?
“Sir Hegel, it’s been a while. So what’s going on?”
―I found anger.
After a moment of silence, the Emperor nodded.
He seemed fine, but he couldn’t erase the smile on his lips.
“Good work.”
―Once we figured out the whereabouts, it will take some time to bring them.
“Are you having any problems?”
―It’s not a thing, it’s the warchief’s child.
“her!”
Hector was startled involuntarily, but covered his mouth.
Even the emperor, perhaps surprised inside, did not rebuke Hector.
“You mean a living child?”
-That’s right.
“Once you know. Let’s meet and talk later.”
After cutting off communication, the emperor immediately changed his words.
“I guess I’ll just leave the max citizen alone.”
“That’s right. Anger is more important now.”
“For now, I will wait for Sir Hegel to come. Keep posting reports about Maximin.”
“I understand, Your Majesty.”
As the Emperor disappeared with Xavier, Hector sighed as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
‘In the early days, the benefits came back to me, but the fortress has not even looked like that. Wouldn’t it be better to make another string soon?’
He felt with his own skin that the emperor, whose reference point was unclear, was becoming more and more dangerous due to all the dark struggles he had experienced in the imperial palace.
Although they are a family of founding contributors and have followed the emperor since their ancestors, they sensed that the time had come for them to make a decision in order to survive.
‘It’s difficult. It’s difficult.’
* * *
Isabelle wakes up and Maximin leaves immediately.
Before leaving, I made a simple promise that I would contact her when she fell asleep again.
Meeting in the Empire is a concern, so if you contact me separately, I decided to go outside the Empire.
The rest of the requests were not urgent, so I decided to think about them.
‘If Surahan had died, the situation would have been complicated, but I’m glad he survived somehow.’
Maximin disappeared with Isabelle, and Bahat, Burial, and Deos, who came late, saw Surahan in a dying state and hurriedly moved him to the treatment center.
Fortunately, it seems that my first aid treatment worked well, and I was able to treat him safely without a single mistake. If he had died, it would have been a problem even if Surahan had attacked him first.
smart.
“Your Highness Count Adrias Cromwell has arrived.”
As I walked and organized my thoughts, I was in front of the door before I knew it.
The place I arrived now is the residence of Duke Alven located in the capital city.
I was in a situation where Bahat called me for something related to Maximin.
“Yes, come in. Only Adrias can come in.”
Hearing Bahat’s voice coming from inside, the butler who guided me to this place bowed his head to me and left.
When I opened the door and entered, I saw Bahat with someone.
‘Carlos Alven.’
It’s been about half a year since I saw him in the port city of Muriel.
It was an unexpected figure, but he did not show it.
“came. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Carlos.”
“joy! came? I ate the rice without eating it.”
“It’s been a while, Sir Cromwell.”
Ignoring Bahat’s grumbling, I ignored Carlos.
“Your Highness, I will go then.”
“Where are you going? On the topic of waiting for Adrias. You’re getting more and more upset.”
“haha. You do too much, Father. Please chime in.”
you waited for me?
By the way, even though I’m there, I should say that it’s very Bahat-like to talk badly to his son.
Still, it’s nice to see that the relationship between the father and son is good.
“You said you were waiting for me?”
“I was going to bury it subtly, but it got messed up because of my father. you’re right. I hurriedly came to hear Maximin Cronell’s story.”
It was like that.
If you think about it, it’s not unusual that Carlos became a wandering knight even though he was from a prestigious magic family.
Seeing that Diene is also a lover of knights, something must have been written on her family name.
“Now sit down and talk. I heard about it at the academy, but I didn’t hear the details.”
“What do you want to hear?”
“Everything from start to finish!”
You’re making an unreasonable request.
Still, I had the confidence to say that it was adapted well to some extent.
“There is no need to say anything, but since Carlos-hyung is here, I have to say something special.”
“As expected, Sir Cromwell.”
“Fortress Adrias seems to be getting more and more arrogant.”
After I learned that Bahat had no hostility towards me, I had been throwing jokes often, not paying attention to his eccentric personality. It’s expressing that we’ve gotten closer, but fortunately Bahat only said that.
“Initially….”
I hid the content about God and began to explain the content with a little dramatization.
Coincidentally, I had an image that I was good at making potions, and rumors that I had cured Lucia’s disease, which had been hidden recently, spread and I decided to use it.
“There was a person in the coffin that Maximin was carrying. I was sick and asked if I could take care of it, so I looked after it for a bit.”
“her? I know that Maximin is taking Isabelle with her. But are you saying that you cured her disease?”
“It is not a complete cure. It just woke me up for a moment.”
Then Carlos asked.
“If it’s Isabelle, what happened during the Terrapin Incident…?”
“okay. It is a vampire.”
As for the reason for the Terrapin Incident, Isabel’s stake would be the highest.
If her identity hadn’t been revealed, the Terrapin Incident wouldn’t have happened.
‘If it was just a vampire, things wouldn’t have gotten so big.’
She was a direct vampire.
The position of the head of household was still vacant, but as a vampire with the potential of the head of household, the value as a hostage was high.
However, the problem was that she was Maximin’s woman.
Even back then, Maximin was quite famous, but he wasn’t famous enough to be called the strongest swordsman.
“Maximin during his academy days was a huge prospect, but after graduating, he decided to wander around with nothing much to do. He even refused to be awarded the title of emperor. Then, somehow, the identity of a vampire named Isabelle was revealed within the empire, and Maximin pulled out his sword toward the empire to protect her. It is the beginning of the terrapin incident and the starting point of the title of the strongest swordsman.”
Come to think of it, I know that Bahat was Maximin’s junior.
It’s a bit strange that two out of 10 people on the continent went to the academy at the same time.
That’s why you might be more curious about Maximin.
‘If Bahat and Maximin fight… ….’
I can’t imagine.
In fact, they are rare to encounter even in the game.
Bahat belonged to the Empire, and Maximin was a wanderer who did not enter the Empire at all.
Personally, I thought Maximin would win.
Seeing his skills right in front of him, it must have been a natural idea.
“If I ask you what the cure for waking Isabelle is, you won’t answer, will you?”
“To be honest, I don’t even know what the cure is. Isn’t it a little strange that you treated a woman you just met in the first place?”
“What do you mean?”
“It is a story that I woke up by accident. I was just lucky.”
Bahat nodded as if my words were plausible.
Even Bahat would know that Maximin wandered around to treat Isabelle for 40 years, so it would be hard to believe that I, seeing him for the first time, immediately healed him.
After that, Carlos explained in detail the battle between Surahhan and Maximin, which he was curious about, and stood up.
“Sir Cromwell, it’s late today, so why don’t we eat here?”
“Who do you want?”
Bahat asked, but Carlos waited for my answer with a completely unconcerned face.
I was grateful for Carlos’ suggestion, but I shook my head.
“I appreciate your words, but I have work to do, so I’ll leave.”
“I’m busy alone.”
It was funny when Bahat grumbled as if he was regretful about the subject of someone who asked if he wanted to eat with him.
I also wanted to be taken care of, but since I had a place to stop by after coming up to the capital, I couldn’t help it.
After the story, we left the mansion with Carlos seeing us off.
Just then, he saw Diene walking towards the mansion.
“what? Are you done talking already?”
Apparently, Diene also came in a hurry because she wanted to hear Maximin’s story.
When I nodded awkwardly, she sighed.
“I was late because I was asked by Professor Shirin to help me for a while.”
“I will tell you. Because I heard it all.”
When Carlos said with a smile, she finally waved.
“Long time no see brother. It’s hard to see normally, but since Adrias came, he’s coming right away.”
“haha….”
Leaving behind Carlos, who let out an awkward laugh, I lowered my head.
“Then let’s go.”
“See you later, Mr. Cromwell.”
I nodded and asked Diene to see me at the academy before leaving.
I wonder what Carlos is running around doing now.
I was curious because I had never experienced the world Carlos had survived until now.
‘I’ve been indifferent for a while, but if you think about it, you mean the eldest son of the Duke of Alven?’
I don’t feel high in status because I’ve been close, but he was a duke of the empire.
It was also a family that even held the authority of the Rodelen Magic Tower, which is said to be one of the best magic towers on the continent, so its power was comparable to that of most small and medium-sized kingdoms.
To be honest, I couldn’t guess what variables would arise from Carlos.
“Adrias Cromwell.”
While thinking of Carlos, I was on my way to the branch of the Everlast Merchant Merchant, where I had business, when someone called my name.
Ordinary clothes with an ordinary appearance.
However, the mediocrity rather caused a sense of incongruity to me.
Because I knew from previous life experiences that such a person was particularly dangerous.
“who are you?”
Still, I wasn’t overly concerned.
Where I am now is the capital of the empire.
Besides, I was proud that I now had enough power to protect myself.
“I am the forwarder. Here….”
He quickly came up to me, handed me something, and disappeared.
In the blink of an eye, I missed the opportunity to reject what he was offering.
‘I’m not an ordinary person after all?’
Seeing a person whose presence had disappeared in an instant made me feel sick.
What else are you involved in?
When I checked the item he handed over, it was a small note.
I felt a faint energy of mana, so I looked it up with my mana talent, and there was a magic that automatically ignited when time passed.
‘Contents to be hidden.’
You’d better check it out first.
I carefully unfolded the note.
And the brow furrowed at the apparent sender.
‘assembly?’
