208. Touhou, Ishai (3)
“What? Suddenly, the princess’s poison was cured? It’s not a trivial poison!”
‘It’ in the form of King Surui, younger brother of King Kchandar of the Kingdom of Ishai, entered the King’s study stomping on the floor as if nervous.
ㅡ Kwang!!
“aaa!!!”
Blowing down the desk and screaming, he was showing the opposite personality of Surui, who was famous for being gentle. His true identity was a demon named Shakal.
“Ha ha… Ha ha…”
Shakal, who had been tearing his hair out, calmly settled the current situation by catching his breath.
The ‘Sacrificial offering’, which was being eroded by demons smoothly, came to its senses. The Magi, which should have been inside her body, had completely disappeared.
“It would have been impossible to treat without a saintess’ visit, but how…? There is something. Someone interfered with our plans…”
In the end, Shakal comes to a conclusion.
Someone unknown cured Kimei.
There was no way Kimei could pull out the magic on her own, so this was a simple logic.
However, the strange thing is that no one entered Kimei’s room except for the morning examination as usual, according to the escorts guarding the annex where Kimei was staying.
Considering that the congressmen who were examining the patient were clearly confused, they assumed that the escort warriors had approached secretly so that they did not even notice.
There are more than 10 escort warriors stationed near that small outbuilding.
The escort warriors were also carefully selected talents from Cheonseonhakgwan, and all of them were strong people who could handle martial arts.
“He who has no fear whatsoever…”
It was at that moment when Shakal muttered that question, that his voice was heard from the other side of the study.
“…Did you cure Kimei?”
“Yes.”
Shaqal agrees, but a question arises in his head.
The study was a very private space where servants were strictly forbidden to enter because of Surui’s personality, who did not like to be disturbed while reading.
Moreover, since Shakal took Surui’s form, she had given her a word so that she wouldn’t even come near him.
So it was impossible to hear the voice of a suspicious man.
“…What kind of bastard are you!”
Shakal shouted at the sudden, unknown voice.
Shaqal picked up the lamp from the desk and shined it on the spot where the voice came from.
There was a man standing there.
Calm black hair as if the night had fallen.
Skin as white as moonlight.
Blindfolded with a white bandage, he stood leaning against a bookshelf, holding a book open.
“…A book?”
Shaqal let out a questioning shriek.
Why is a blind man reading a book?
After that question, all sorts of questions pop up in Shakal’s head.
How did you get here?
Have you heard all the self-talk?
What purpose did the blind man visit him for?
Before Shakal’s question could be resolved, the blind man’s voice was heard again.
“Is it so strange that I’m reading a book in my study? Well, I’m not particularly reading.”
The blind man who asked in a calm voice closed the book he was holding.
“By the way, when will Braille be invented?”
“Braille…?”
“Oh, I’m talking to myself, so don’t worry about it.”
“…More than that, did you come in knowing where this place was? Hello! Is there anyone else?!”
“Even if it’s a side effect… Your memory is really… Have you already forgotten the orders the King himself gave you?
“It was…”
“And I’m sure you’ve read the information about me too. It’s like having an enemy in front of you and not recognizing it…”
“Enemies…? Information…?”
The blind man lowered his head in pity, and Shaqal frowned and recalled the memory.
“Paradise…! Yes, the one who returns from Paradise!”
Shakal slowly studied the appearance of the blind man and found out who he was.
“You’re not too late.”
The blind man clapped for joy at his answer.
The blind man’s identity was the number one target of the current demons, who are called ‘those who have returned from paradise’.
The one who returned from paradise.
A blind man who became friends with Murka, the right hand of the corps commander, and was revived after a miracle by Heneris.
In the sense that he killed Murka and Heneris saved him, his importance to the demons was indescribably great.
“Did they say they were cadets of Innocence Academy? I heard that cadets came from the academy, so I didn’t expect to meet them like this…”
“Strictly speaking, I’m here.”
“Yes. I’m not wrong. If you came to visit me, you must have come to know my true identity. I don’t know what tricks you used, but if you’re close enough to me… I’m sure you were the one who cured Kimei.”
“Sure. I’m glad your memory is a bit off, but your head is working fine.”
“Judging by the mention of side effects, you’re also aware of the existence of ‘God of Fortune’… It seems that you’ve done quite a bit of research on me.”
“How much?”
Shakal was able to take on the appearance of a king thanks to the ‘Dharma Treasure’, also known as the God of Fortune.
Beopbo is a term used in the East to refer to an object imbued with mystical power, that is, an object containing magic.
It was not so easy to use polymorph magic to transform shapes. Not everyone has a powerful mana circuit like a dragon.
Shakal borrowed the power of a special mirror imbued with magic called the God of Fortune and copied the image of the king.
However, the power of the God of Fortune Mirror was not perfect, so there was a downside that it could only copy the appearance of a living person.
So the fact that Shakal is in the form of Surui means that the real Surui is alive somewhere.
As a bonus, there is a side effect of a little decrease in memory when using the power of the divine fortune.
“Puhahahahaha…!”
Around the time the blind man, or Jetto, came to that idea, Shaqal stopped looking at Jetto and suddenly burst into laughter.
“Pu-huh… Pu-ha-ha…”
“……”
At this, Jeto tilted his head, and the guy, who managed to hold back his laughter while giggling, finally opened his mouth.
“That’s… Funny… How did you kill that Murka… Was Murka so poor?”
“He was normally strong.”
“You said you did some research on me earlier.”
“I did.”
“I’ll have to start over with the investigation, if you have the chance.”
Shakal, who had been reciting that, put her hand into her bosom, and Zeto immediately grasped the sword in response.
ㅡ Kyaaak!!
But at that moment, a giant centipede protrudes from Shakal’s arms and quickly ties Jetto’s body.
Zetto’s arm, which was about to pull out the sword, couldn’t move anymore due to the centipede’s strong pressure.
“The king usually pays a lot of attention to the dharma treasures. Unfortunately, now that I have taken his body, all the dharma treasures he was carrying are mine. That’s one of them.”
Shortly, Shakal, who spread his arms proudly, said this to Jeto, who was chained all over the body.
“Ah, it’s better not to move any further than that. It’s a dharma treasure called an empty chest, but it’s a scary thing that will bite your neck if you try to free it by force. It’s not really a living centipede, but it’s probably much more amazing than a living centipede. You can call him a guy.”
“Oops…”
Shaqal let out a laugh, and then Jetto gave up trying to free the trap.
“Anyway, it’s quite fast. To think that the guy who killed Murka could be captured so easily…”
“Should I be captured alive?”
“There’s no need to do that, but the staff member will like it. You might get to witness the torture of the staff. This would be enough… In exchange for the loss of the ‘sacrificial offering’.”
Shakal said as he approached Jeto, who was tied to a centipede and unable to move.
But Jeto, engraved in his eyes, was smiling at ease enough to not think that his life was being threatened at all.
“…But why are you able to laugh? Have you lost your mind?”
The power of the ball rack could never be ignored.
In fact, Jetto was struggling to withstand the crushing pressure on his entire body.
Nevertheless, he was able to laugh.
“Blind swordsman… There was no information that he could use magic, and since the swordsman couldn’t even draw his sword, you wouldn’t have any chance…”
Curious about the reason, Shaqal put Zeto in front of him and gradually retraced the information he knew about the ‘one who returned from paradise’.
‘…As it should have been.’
Shaqal narrowed his eyes at the bizarre sensation of Zeto’s sinister smile.
In time, Zeto’s right hand, which was holding the sword, reached his gaze.
As Shaqal took out the bowl from his bosom, Zetto also grabbed his sword at the same time.
It was strange that such a guy had become friends with Murka, simply because he was blind and unable to react.
‘It’s not that he didn’t react, he didn’t react…?’
Shakal’s conclusion jumps out of his mouth.
“…Because there’s no need for that?”
Shaqal frowned at the strange conclusion he didn’t understand.
Instantly, Jeto’s mouth, which had been silent with a subtle smile, opened.
“That’s correct. I’d love to applaud you, but I can’t afford it… I’m sorry.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“The correct answer was ‘He who returns from paradise can wield a sword without drawing it’.”
“Ha, what a bluff.”
“Bluff… Tsk, you’ll have to start the investigation again.”
Jetto’s voice resounded softly in the dark study, where only one lantern was shining.
ㅡ Creepy!!
Then a red sword light flashed.
“Of course, given the chance.”
Above the place where the sword light passed, a neck that was separated from the body rose.
It had the face of Surui, but by the time it fell to the ground, it had returned to the face of Shakal with a black horn sprouting from its forehead.
Meanwhile, Zeto, who was still tied to the ark, thought as he listened to the sound of thunder that followed.
A nonchalant idea of what kind of treasure to receive from Surui.
***
‘Comes.’
Surui, imprisoned in a dungeon secretly located inside the palace, listened to the sound of someone descending the stairs beyond him.
‘It’s coming.’
Because he was starving, he looked forward to the meal given to him by the mysterious goblin who stole his body.
It didn’t taste good, but I just ate it because I had to live.
Due to his confinement for several months, he looked so scruffy that he couldn’t even be thought of as the king of a country.
His clothes had been taken for a long time, and he hadn’t trimmed or washed his beard or hair, so it was only natural.
At the time he was looking at the stairs, scratching his thick beard.
A man entered Surui’s eyes.
He expected a goblin with the same appearance as him, but he wasn’t.
In the body of the blind man with black hair and unusually bandages covering his eyes, he could see something familiar to him.
“A bowl…? Ha ha…”
Immediately, Surui, who was holding on to the iron bars, lowered his head and let out a sigh.
That gigantic centipede that was coiled around the blind man’s body, that is to say, was one of the dharma treasures that Surui had previously carried.
However, it meant that the man who came down the stairs after being caught in a ball box was in a similar situation to him, since all of them ended up in the hands of goblins who stole his body.
“Have you been captured too? But where did the goblin go?”
“I was not captured.”
“…I’m sure you’re familiar with it. I understand a hundred times that you want to build up your ego, but you’ll soon realize that it’s useless when you’re stuck here.”
Surui shook his head as he looked at the blind man who couldn’t even open the empty box.
“No, they weren’t really captured.”
The blind man who approached the iron grate insisted on it until the end.
“Then why are you chained to the ark?”
“Isn’t it the royal treasure that the emperor cherishes? Considering the price of the treasure, I thought it would be a waste to break it.”
“…Do you know me?”
“Your voice is the same as that goblin’s, isn’t it the king? I came to help the king at the behest of Princess Kimei.”
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“Kimei… Have you met Kimei?! We have to save Kimei! That crazy goblin is trying to sacrifice Kimei!”
When the blind man mentioned Kimei, Surui quickly conveyed the information he had heard implicitly while talking to the goblin.
“Princess Kimei’s treatment has already ended. Now, the King’s treatment is finished. Could you step back for a moment?”
“Ah, ah… I see…”
For some reason, Surui couldn’t understand why, but he followed his words and retreated from the iron bars.
ㅡQuad Deuk!!!
Then, an unidentifiable red sword light suddenly flashed, and the thick iron bars that had imprisoned Surui gently cracked.
“How…? I didn’t even swing my sword…”
Surui muttered, wide-eyed at the strange sight.
Soon after, the blind man who calmly entered the prison approached Surui and shrugged his shoulders.
“Can you release this for now? I don’t know how.”
“Oh, I see…”
Dejected by the blind man’s unstoppable progress, Surui fiddled with the long antennae of the ball box a couple of times, and then the ball box that was clamping the blind man’s body regained its strength and became smaller.
After that, Surui picks up a small bowl on the floor and examines it.
‘My bowl is right.’
Then he turned his head and looked at the blind man who was relaxing.
Unfamiliar swordsmanship with unknown principles.
The feeling of inner strength was also unusual.
The unique composure of strong people.
And even though he was blind, he acted like he was unhindered.
‘Maybe it’s fresh…’
The blind man who solved his ordeal, which had not been resolved even after months, felt like a freshman to Surui.
“Your name…”
Surui urgently asked politely.
“The introduction is late. My name is Zeto.”
“Jetto… I’m sorry, but I’m not familiar with that name, so I’ve never heard of it before.”
“hahahaha, that’s right, I’m not active in the East. There’s no need for the King to show you respect. I’m just an ordinary Innocence Academy student.”
“Innocence Academy… Of the West…”
Surui nodded his head.
No matter how you look at it, he didn’t look like an ordinary cadet at all, but he didn’t seem fresh.
“But how can I repay this grace… Did you really cure Kimei?”
“I have absorbed all the magic that was in Princess Kimei’s body. You regained your energy earlier, so you must be recovering now.”
“Absorbing demonic energy… Then what about you…?”
“I’m fine.”
“…Unbelievable things happen all at once, so my head can’t keep up.”
“For now…The goblin has been dealt with, so Wangje can quietly return as if nothing happened, but before that…”
Jeto muttered at the end of his words and ran his nose through him, so Surui thrust his head into her shoulder and sniffed him.
“…You’d better look neat.”
***
With my help, Surui safely returned to his place.
The fake king has returned to the real king.
I don’t think anyone will notice, but it wasn’t good to be known, so it will be left as a secret between Kimei and Surui, who were the parties to this incident.
I told Surui that the study might be a bit messy, and Surui, who thanked me over and over again saying he didn’t care about the mess in the study, asked if he could invite me to a banquet to be held later.
He said he didn’t want this incident to be known to the outside world, but then he asked if it was okay to invite all the students, and he couldn’t bear to object to that.
The banquet will be a good rest and knowledge for the students.
Finally, he told Kimei not to forget to explain that he is the real Surui.
I suggested that we talk about the compensation slowly at the banquet, and after that I was able to return to the dorm late at night.
Now I was taking a rest in the hot spring at the inn.
“Whoa…”
It felt like all of the fatigue that was suffocating my body was melting away.
I found one curious thing, but Shady did not float. It’s like I’m not affected by anything.
The guy jumped into the hot spring and fell down, crawling on the floor.
Unfortunately, Sierra couldn’t keep up with the hot springs. This was because they could not enter the hot springs with weapons in their possession.
There was no one in the hot spring, probably because it was quite late. For me, it was rather nice to have time alone for the first time in a long time.
‘Wouldn’t the prosthetic arm get rusty?’
Around the time when I was staring at the prosthetic arm for no reason and thinking that it would of course be waterproof.
“There are no men at this time.”
“But what about Cadet Lucia?”
“You fell asleep already? I’ll take care of myself later.”
Some women’s voices came from the other side of the entrance.
Yes. This hot spring was for both men and women.
There was no wall blocking the men’s and women’s baths.
I wasn’t even writing a kigam because I was taking a leisurely rest, but after listening to the conversation and voices, I realized that I didn’t even need to write a kigam.
‘Should I get out? Should I stay still?’
When those worries are running through your head.
A platinum-haired girl who entered the hot spring first finds me.
“……”
Eisel stared at me as I was soaking in the hot spring.
As expected, it would be better to leave.
That’s… That’s dangerous.
Lucia strikes again
Zero senses danger to his chastity