156 – The Lantern
Oliver Cromwell.
The second self that Ed created has a completely different personality from his original self.
Unlike Ed, who hates cringe-worthy things, Cromwell is poetic, romantic, and emotional.
“The sword wielded in defiance of fate oozes blood.”
Ed recited poetic words and inserted another card into his belt.
A brilliant sword was summoned and placed in his hand.
-Ta-da-da-da-da-da!
At the same time, dozens of security guards rushed to Ed.
However, Ed, as if he had teleported, moved between the enemies with tremendous movements and stabbed his sword into their vital points.
This is thanks to the use of ‘acceleration art’ by applying magical engineering and ancient techniques.
“Keuheook!”
Policy maintenance team spewing blood and collapsing simultaneously.
Barnessa saw Ed’s back as he took out the security forces all at once with a tremendous quick attack.
Soon, Ed turned around, shaking off the blood on his sword.
He said as he approached Vanessa.
“Rise, woman who carries the lamp. “Your mission is not yet complete.”
“···D, a lantern? Rather, who are you?”
“Who?”
Ed stopped walking when Vanessa asked about his identity.
Then he spoke to Vanessa with a low laugh.
“Isn’t it paradoxical? “You’re asking the name of someone wearing a mask.”
“······.”
“The name is not important. What we have to do rather than a name. That in itself is meaningful. “My only mission is to place the light of truth in your hands.”
Ed replied and approached Vanessa.
At the same time, the suit covering Ed’s body slowly began to unravel and return to its original shape.
White suit and white robe. And he returned wearing a white mask made of iron.
It was a complete homage to Moon Knight.
-Wow! Wow!
Ed, who returned in the form of Earl Cromwell, removed the shackles that bound Vanessa.
Then, after taking off his robe and covering the naked Vanessa, the comedian bowed her waist as if greeting the audience and said,
“Welcome to being a free man again. Vanessa Agnes.”
“······.”
“Just move your seat first. “For our meeting in this scene of sin, the fact that you have become a free man is enough, so I will hand you the light of truth in a more suitable place.”
Ed, who spoke a mysterious line like an actor completely immersed in the play, soon took out a device.
Then, when I pressed a button on the device and placed it on the floor, a portal began to be created.
With just one button, the highest level magic, the dimensional gateway, was opened.
“Rise, Vanessa Agnes. “The time has come to shoulder the mission of the times.”
Ed, who opened the dimensional gateway, extended his hand to Vanessa.
Barnette, fascinated by Ed, who has mysterious charisma, unknowingly took the hand of the man whose name she did not know.
I was led by his hand and entered the portal.
-Kugugugugugugung······.
Soon, the portal closed, and the two completely disappeared.
***
“·····Where am I?”
A dark secret room.
Vanessa looked around her and said with a nervous face.
The low-pitched voice that is pleasant to listen to has returned.
“It is a space where lanterns were created. It is also a space where I gave my all. Let’s see.”
Sparkle!
The room brightens as soon as Ed finishes speaking.
Ed soon spoke in an excited voice.
“As you can see, the space itself welcomes you. “I recognized the owner.”
“······.”
Ed said and held out his hand.
When Vanessa took his hand, he led her somewhere.
It was a shower room.
“Heal your tired mind and body first. “Everything you need will be ready inside.”
With those words, Ed left the room.
As soon as Ed disappeared, Vanessa looked around him.
After picking up something sharp that could be a weapon, he hid it in his arms.
That was when I opened the shower room door and went in.
“······.”
Vanessa looks inside the shower room with an admiring face.
It was a uniquely shaped interior that had never been seen before.
It was futuristic, modern, and aesthetic.
The design was intuitive, so I was able to quickly figure out its purpose.
-Humble.
Barnessa took off the robe that Ed had covered her with.
I turned on the modern shower and warmed my body with hot water.
I feel better.
The old dirt on my body was washed away, and my itchy scalp and body felt refreshed.
“·····This.”
Then suddenly, two potions nearby caught my eye.
One was a potion that helped the body recover, and the other was a potion that unclogged mana.
‘Are you confident in your power…Or…’
However, Vanessa was puzzled.
Objectively speaking, his own power is greater than that of a sword master.
Although I was in this situation now because my mana was blocked due to my subordinate’s betrayal, I knew that I could easily escape from a place like this if the blocked mana was opened.
But he returns mana to himself.
‘····Nothing bad at all. ‘I need to get her strength back in case something goes wrong.’
However, Vanessa drank the potion.
If he had intended to kill himself, he would have done so long ago, so he didn’t have to worry about it being poisoned.
Right now, it was important to regain strength first.
“Whoa…”
In that way, Vanessa performed the mana movement, feeling the mana flowing throughout her body.
A blue haze erupted and mana circulated throughout the body.
It had been 5 minutes since I had used mana like that.
“······.”
Barnessa began to worry.
Should I use teleportation and get out of here right now?
Or maybe I should look around this place some more.
‘It doesn’t seem like an enemy. I’m also curious about his identity.’
The worries did not last long.
Barnessa decided to stay here.
I was curious about the person who gave off a mysterious aura, and more than anything, I realized that there was a traitor within the organization.
There was nothing good about making a hasty move.
-Sssss respectively.
Just like that, Vanessa finished taking a shower.
Since he decided to stay here, he was able to relax and enjoy the shower to his heart’s content.
“Whoa!”
After enjoying the bubble bath in the bathtub, Vanessa came out of the shower room feeling refreshed.
When I came out of the shower room, clean, ironed clothes were ready right in front of me.
‘Who on earth is this person?’
Barnette thought about Ed while wearing sweats made of cotton and polyester.
The inside of the shower room and these clothes. And everything here was unfamiliar.
His combat uniform was also something strange that I had never seen before.
‘·····Edgar Fix.’
Barnessa first thought of Edgar Fix.
Isn’t he also a genius engineer who fights wearing the strongest combat uniform with tremendous technological prowess?
From noble mtl dot com
‘But why with Edgar Fix?’
However, I did not understand the motive for Edgar Fix.
Isn’t Edgar Fix an opportunist who clings to vested interests?
I was certain of this because it was a conclusion I came to after watching him for a long time.
Edgar Fix was a man who acted for his own self-interest rather than for the greater good.
This point was clear just by looking at the class with which he mainly interacted.
‘He is a politically intelligent person. Specialized in using his own abilities to gain advantage. But such a person is coming to see me…?’
But for him to come to see me like that, it was nothing short of political suicide.
This is because the Cravel Revolutionary Group is a group that calls for the collapse of all royal authority and equality for all people.
‘·····If we talk about it, we’ll understand.’
In the end, no amount of thinking will give you an answer.
I have no choice but to confront him and find out for myself.
Barnessa made that calculation and walked inside.
I soon smelled something delicious and saw Ed cooking.
It was a smell that naturally made my salivary glands water.
“Ah, it came just in time. Eat it. “If you listen to a long story when you are hungry, it will only make you irritated.”
“·······.”
Vanessa nodded her head.
Indeed, it was an understandable statement.
She, who had not been able to eat a proper meal due to being tortured by her, sat down at her table, swallowing her saliva.
She bowed her head to Ed and said that she would eat well, and then she began to eat.
The taste was excellent.
“······.”
How much time has passed?
Once her hunger was somewhat satisfied, Vanessa realized that she was devouring her food like a possessed beggar.
For a moment, she felt embarrassed and wiped her mouth with a napkin nearby.
Ed, who was looking at that, said.
“Now doesn’t seem like the right time to be formal.”
“···Um······. “I ate well.”
“No problem. “Didn’t you express it with your whole body?”
Ed said that and poured himself some wine.
He held it out to Vanessa and said.
“Originally, you should enjoy it slowly, savoring the scent, but sip it all the way through. “It could have been put on top.”
“····hehehehe. “Did you save me just to make fun of me?”
“···Kkkkk. Please forgive me. I wanted to be a little mischievous. “You don’t know, but I’ve been looking forward to this meeting for a long time.”
“·······.”
I have been looking forward to this meeting for a long time.
Vanessa took a swig of wine and looked at Ed with a meaningful expression.
Soon, Ed stood up and said.
“I have washed my body cleanly and filled my hungry stomach, so I can listen to you leniently even if you talk about something boring for a while. Can you see ahead?”
Just right.
Ed said and snapped his fingers.
The beam projector flashed on and the screen played on the white wall.
On the screen, a young boy was looking at the sky through a telescope.
“The story begins with a boy’s curiosity. “A boy who was fascinated by stars began to design equipment to observe the stars.”
Just right.
Proceeded to the next screen.
Ed began to explain the narrative of Oliver Cromwell that he had set out.
“Luckily, the boy had talent. He had extraordinary powers of observation and thinking. “He was only 8 years old when he designed this device. Can you believe it?”
Ed said that and threw a small toy at Vanessa.
It was a toy made with a sophisticated mechanical structure.
At a glance, I could see that he was a genius among geniuses.
“The boy’s talent was dazzling. Even the boy’s owner, Earl Cromwell, recognized him immediately. Fortunately, Earl Cromwell was friendly to the boy and gave him a lot of support to help him develop his talents. Of course, the count enjoyed all the results, but the boy didn’t care. “He just needed the space and resources to play.”
A boy who unleashes his genius to the fullest and a count who uses it to his advantage.
The relationship between the two seemed to be twins, like a crocodile and a crocodile bird.
Until the count took the boy to a noble gathering to show off his talent.
“Then one day, the boy finally achieved his long-cherished wish. “He realized the principles of heavenly bodies.”
Ed said that and roughly explained the principles of celestial bodies.
In other words, it was explained in an easy-to-understand manner that the sun is not revolving around the Earth on a flat surface, but that the round Earth is revolving around the Sun.
Vanessa said with a shocked face.
“Well, if that’s true…”
“Okay. All the myths about the ‘celestial being’ who controls the sun and moon are false. In addition, the authority of the royal family and nobles who call themselves descendants of ‘celestial people’ is also falling to the ground.”
Vanessa clenched her fists.
If what he said was true, his revolution calling for ‘equality for all people’ could have been given great strength.
The huge paradigm that provides legitimacy to the rule of vested interests is collapsing.
“·····But the boy first told the count’s son this great secret he had discovered. “Never dreaming that it would plunge his life into abyss.”
And then, Ed started talking about the turning point in the story.
It foretold the fall of a boy with great talent.
“···Earl Cromwell loved the boy like his own child. Because he brings enormous benefits to himself. The boy, who had no father, followed the Count as if he were his father. So, what must the count’s son feel as he watched this?”
“·····Jealousy.”
“Okay. Jealousy. In fact, the count used to call the boy his son to win his favor.”
“······.”
“Anyway, back to the main topic, the count’s son says this to the boy. Please beg me to show off your talents at the ‘Noble Gathering’ that will be held soon. “If I announce the secret of the celestial body on the spot, my father and the nobles will be very happy.”
The son of a count who urged him to make a ‘great invention that would surprise the world’ at a gathering of nobles.
Unfortunately, the boy begs the Count to take him to a ‘noble meeting’ without knowing anything about what that means.
And the Count, who guessed that he would have created a great invention, decided to take the boy to a noble gathering.
Because he wanted to satisfy his cheap vanity by boasting about the boy who laid the golden egg.
“····Kkkkk. As you might expect, the result is obvious. Bang! It was like a bomb. The boy’s argument was nothing short of an insult to the king and nobles. However, the boy’s argument that it would have been better if it had stopped at the level of an insult was plausible. So much so that the nobles felt ‘crisis.'”
“······.”
“···And the Count was very skilled in the art of living. That night, after assuring the boy that there was nothing to worry about, he locked the door and set it on fire. He takes it upon himself to eliminate the boy to prove his innocence.”
Oliver Cromwell said so and took off his gloves.
Hands full of makeup marks were revealed.
Pity spread across Vanessa’s face.
“I lost both my mother and father that day. I felt like my heart was breaking. But I, who was lucky enough to survive, burst out laughing at the fate that had been bestowed upon me. Yes, just as my father deceived me, I also decided to deceive him by becoming his biological son.”
“······? That means…”
“····Okay, now I’m finally introducing myself. My name is Oliver Cromwell. He is the son of Earl Hind Cromwell. Well, it was only right before Hind’s death that he realized that his biological son had been replaced.”
***
Barnessa was fascinated by Oliver Cromwell.
I was captivated by the power of his narrative.
Dazzling talent and pure curiosity.
Betrayal and a broken heart from someone you trusted.
His life resembled his own life.
Maybe that’s why I wanted to heal his hurtful days.
“·····That burn cannot be treated?”
“···As you know, healing techniques do not work well for those who are not born with mana. “Now, it has become chronic and hard to treat, and its nature cannot be changed.”
“······.”
“There’s no need to make that face. After meeting you, I finally became perfect. Follow me. “Is it your turn to hand over the lantern?”
Oliver Cromwell took Vanessa somewhere.
It was a dark space filled with pitch black.
Just as Cromwell snapped his fingers, light began to come on.
Floating – The body floated, and the dark space became the universe itself.
Sun and Earth. And the planet orbiting around it unfolded.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. I just wanted to know the truth, why my life has been filled with tragedy. “Isn’t the truth really cruel?”
“·······.”
“But take a look around this space I dedicated my life to creating. Isn’t it beautiful? I decided not to regret it. “I’m talking about all of my moments looking up at the stars and just searching for the truth.”
Oliver Cromwell said so and handed the device in his hand to Vanessa.
It was a control device that could control this space.
However, the words he spoke after giving the control device were, of course, poetic.
“Receive my star, Vanessa Agnes. You are the only one who can light the lamp of truth. “Reveal the truth in this world full of lies and deception.”
Oliver Cromwell said so and closed Vanessa’s hand.
And then Vanessa felt Oliver’s hand covering hers.
Her heart started pounding.
Mc is a rizzard.