Episode 406
“I think this is my first time seeing you in person.”
The inner palace was in a deep darkness, as if the entire castle was lit with bright torches.
A calm voice echoed through the office, like a quiet night.
Then, one of the two people who heard those words calmly lowered his head.
“That’s right.”
Even in front of the King of McLane, this person does not kneel but simply bows his head.
However, the attitude of the blond-haired, blue-eyed middle-aged man was completely natural.
“I’m sorry things have come to this.”
“No. It had to happen at some point anyway.”
Logan couldn’t help but brighten his eyes at the middle-aged man’s words.
‘It doesn’t seem like empty words.’
King Dong-ik, a middle-aged man, had an unusually carefree expression for someone who had been at the top of the world and then suddenly fell to the bottom. Even though he didn’t even have any luggage with him and his only companion was the knight standing behind him.
Naturally, I couldn’t help but be curious about the story.
“It had to happen at some point? May I ask what that means?”
“…This is not a story worth hearing in these turbulent times. Isn’t it time to look to the future rather than the past?”
King Dongik, who was silent for a moment, smiled slightly as he said this. It was a face that showed no trace of the deep anger that had caused the Empire’s King of Sabang to defect to the enemy country and participate in the battlefield himself.
Of course, Logan knew that he was not a person who could be judged based on facial expressions alone.
‘Just by cooperating with the Kassel Magic Tower in that position.’
However, there were still things I wanted to check.
“King Dongik….”
“Gerard.”
“hmm?”
“Now Gerard is enough, Your Majesty. It somehow feels good to call someone other than the Emperor your Majesty.”
Logan’s eyes lit up again at the tone that seemed to have no regrets about being the king of the four directions.
“…I understand, Gerard. But is the reason why this happened really because of McLane as announced by the imperial family? Or is it also because of the problem related to the black snake?”
“Does that make sense?”
“It’s okay to tell you this now, but if it’s the latter, I don’t know what the next article will say, but Gerard needs to stay out of the war. The situation has changed a bit from before.”
As Luisa said, the circle writhing in Gerard’s chest contained the aura of flame. That alone was enough to know that he did not use the magic of the Kassel Magic Tower.
However, it was a problem that had nothing to do with the magical ability. The current international situation was progressing more dramatically than when I spoke with Luisa.
And Gerrard seemed well aware of that fact, too.
“Even in this situation, do you still care about public opinion?”
“Because of this situation, we need to be even more careful. Until war really breaks out in the west.”
Gerard chuckled at those words.
“…You’re a more cautious person than I thought. But you don’t have to worry. The reason I was kicked out probably had nothing to do with the tower. If I were to pick a high probability, it would be because I really helped McLane.”
Because there won’t be any? Is it because of this?
Logan frowned slightly at the strange tone rather than the condescending words.
“It seems like Gerard isn’t completely sure either?”
“Oh, I guess my words were misunderstood. Then I will correct it. If it had been a tower-related issue, I wouldn’t have been here seeing Your Majesty like this.”
“…What does it mean?”
“The imperial family’s obsession with black snakes is excessive.”
When Logan seemed unconvinced by those words, Gerard let out a small sigh and brought up an unexpected story.
“This is a fact that not many people know, but the imperial family was once in the same boat as the Black Snake.”
“yes?”
Logan’s eyes widened momentarily.
These words were even more surprising because everyone knew about the Kassel Tower and the origins of the Ares Empire.
Gerard continued speaking with a wry smile as to how he perceived that situation.
“You might not believe it considering the current situation, but it’s true. It’s difficult to pinpoint a time because there are no proper records, but there was definitely a time like that.”
“Huh…”
“I understand that the technology and artifacts of the ghosts of the Special Investigation Department are also relics from that time. In fact, it can be said that their power was great in helping the Kingdom of Ares grow into an empire.”
“But why…?”
“The magic tower owner said that if it hadn’t been for the incident of brainwashing the crown prince at the Kassel Tower at that time, we could have been together now.”
“Hah? Brainwashing? The crown prince!?”
“Yes. From then on, they became public servants of the empire.”
“Uhm…”
I guess not from then on.
I understand that what Gerard knows is not complete. The descendants of the great mage Taron Ares, who was a close friend of the Sword God, probably had no choice but to be hostile to them from birth.
Rather, it was even more absurd that they had even held hands with a black snake for a moment.
How did you join hands with them?
‘No matter how much a person’s heart changes…’
Regardless of Logan’s absurd feelings, Gerard’s words continued for a long time.
“Anyway, because of that incident, members of the royal family were subjected to magical procedures to resist mind control from birth. And if the imperial family saw the black snake symbol, they would try to root out all the relatives and cousins of those involved. But if I did, “If you saw that there was a connection…”
The end of the sentence was blurry, but it wasn’t difficult to guess what was omitted.
“I heard that Gerard’s journey to get here wasn’t all that smooth…” They
say he killed over 100 knights and 20 wizards just in the process of escaping from the royal palace.
I heard that there were several fierce battles on the way from Wangbu to McLane. It was also known at that time that King Dongyik was a 5th circle fire wizard.
But the person concerned calmly shook his head.
“It would have become incomparably more difficult than that. Superhumans from the imperial family may have stepped forward, so even if Jay was there, he would have died before he could escape the royal family.”
Did you cooperate with the Kassel Magic Tower even though you knew that?
As for Logan, he was once again curious about his guts and the inside story.
but.
“So, I too will participate in the battlefield. I might be able to see the face of Emperor Caesus.”
Gerard’s eerie smile with burning eyes did not seem fake at all.
‘No, it’s the truth.’
Logan’s red eyes shined transparently. Since I had a clear sense of the Aura Master’s power, my senses had become increasingly clear, and I was even reading that the wavelength of Gerard’s angry soul and the mana that matched him were completely identical.
However, Gerard, who had no way of knowing that fact, spoke again as if he had pledged.
“I can do anything as long as I can hit the emperor’s head. And Jay here is just like me.”
At those words, the handsome blonde knight standing behind King Dongyik nodded vigorously as if it was natural.
The same goes for the soul and force wavelength of the East King’s Hidden Sword Auror user Jay Pulson.
This too was true.
But…
“Gerard, your skills are a bit disappointing compared to Sir Jay’s fighting spirit.”
Logan had no choice but to make a cold assessment.
“that…!”
“Stop it, Jay. This is the judgment of the strongest person on the continent who defeated the sword spirit. Don’t put your pride first.”
Jay, who was about to step forward at Gerard’s words, bit his lip. However, the twitching eyebrows and burning eyes clearly revealed his intention to take out the sword and show his skills at any moment.
Logan’s eyes sparkled when he saw that.
‘Hoo?’
The angry appearance I was seeing on the outside and the wavelength of my soul were subtly different.
Compared to the muddy emotion of anger, the waves were somewhat calm. I think it’s closer to a feeling of fighting spirit, desire, and longing rather than anger.
Eat.
In fact, it was too immediate to be considered the reaction of someone who had hidden himself for a long time.
Speaking of acting…
‘Do you want to see my skills?’
Of course, there was no need to deal with it. Although his ability to maintain his momentum was amazing compared to his level, the gap between him and himself was too large.
but.
‘If it’s a card that doesn’t know where it will go, it should at least clearly show the difference in level.’
To prevent them from ignoring instructions and advancing recklessly on the battlefield.
With that in mind, Logan slowly got up from his seat and approached him.
“Did you say Sir Jay Furson?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. It is an honor to meet you… it is a great honor.”
The moment he approaches and mentions his name directly, he looks like he has forgotten that he is acting.
When I realized this and saw myself embarrassed, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
‘Is it more pure than I thought?’
Of course, it may be younger than expected.
No matter how much he is an Auror user, the fact that he looks that young means that he realized his Auror status at a similar or younger age than his actual age.
In other words, he was a tremendous genius.
If you compare the visible level with the presumed talent, the actual age will not be much different.
‘At best, I’d be in my early 30s.’
If he had become a superhuman at such a young age and lived a life of hiding his name and skills, I can understand why he would become so passionate about himself.
However, seeing his expression of emotion just because his name was called made me feel like I was wondering if he would give me more momentum, but it cooled down.
“…Okay, Sir Jay. Please take care of me in the future.”
“I really need you to take care of me!”
If this is going to be the case, why did you act angry earlier?
I burst out laughing, feeling a little absurd.
But then.
Gerard, sighing slightly, suddenly joined in.
“Jay. Didn’t you say you wanted to ask the continent’s greatest sword for guidance? Now is your chance. I think it would be better to be honest.”
While Jay was confused and even Logan did not understand for a moment who Gerard’s words were referring to.
“Your Majesty, could you please teach Jay a lesson for a moment? He is a friend with unprecedented talent. This is all I can do, as I, a poor person who blocked his path, can do this.”
The man who had been one of the rulers of the empire not long ago bowed to him at a 90 degree angle.
“Your Majesty! Why so much…!?”
Logan was more embarrassed than Jay, who was embarrassed and tried to stop him. Gerard’s excessive politeness was polite, but it was because he realized a beat late that the enormous expression that still felt awkward was referring to himself.
‘The best sword on the continent?’
A grandiose title given to a swordsman in the past…
“Ah…!”
Such a sword spirit died by his own hand.
In other words, the best sword on the continent is now himself.
“Huh…” Jay
let out a sigh-like laugh at the momentary realization, but Jay, who was biting his lip hard to figure out how to accept it, took a step forward and lowered his head.
“I would like to ask you to spare me the shame and teach me a lesson, Your Majesty. It would be an infinite honor if I could get a glimpse of the sword that broke the soul of the sword, even if just for a moment.”
Ahhh.
A word of flattery that is so excessive that it makes your skin crawl.
For a moment, my hands almost shriveled. Additionally, the expression on the person’s face who said those words was so serious that it gave me even more goosebumps.
But soon, Gerard’s confused expression, Jay’s flushed face, and his original intention of wanting to control the variables of the battlefield came together, and Logan nodded.
that day.
Logan replicated the move that Sword Spirit had shown him many years ago and showed it to Jay.
However, the difference was that what he showed was a ‘real’ Soul Blade that was infinitely close to the power of an Auror Master.
A genius knight who expresses admiration for himself, but he engraved in his soul a number that could become a new direction or a huge barrier for a knight who might become his enemy in the future.
As a result.
Jay Pulson, the hidden blade of the East King, could not open his eyes for a full day from that day.
And the moment I came to my senses again.
“…It was an overwhelming act of inaction that could not be surpassed. King Logan must also be around my age.”
Jay turned Gerard’s expression into one of the greatest admiration he could express.
At the time, the former King Dongik and his guards were astonished and amazed at the inaction of the new Continent’s First Sword.
News reached Kyle Castle that the imperial army had broken through the McLane border.
