72 episodes
19 An Unexpected Guest (2)
Agnes Empire Knights.
When choosing the most powerful force in the Empire, many names come out, but the first among them was the Knights of Agnes.
There are only monsters that go beyond the category of human beings, and the condition for joining is to have the skills of a leader of other knights in the Imperial Castle.
A sword that exists only for the emperor and the apex of all knights in the world.
One of the captains of the Agnes Knights was sitting in front of Zion now.
“ It’s been a while, Your Majesty Zion.”
Shion looked at Alstein Ascalon, a middle-aged man with a blunt face.
He was a person who appeared only once in the chronicle, so there was no information.
All he knows is that his family is the Ascalon family, Zion’s own maternal family.
Heavenly swordsman Ascalon.
It was a place that could be said to be the best in terms of swords to the extent that if the Ozurima family existed on the magic side, this family existed on the sword side.
Like Ozurima, a family that produced one of the seven heavens and whose power is also within the five fingers of the empire.
“ What’s going on?”
No matter how close they were, the Shion and Ascalon families had not had any interaction.
However, it was surprising for Zion to come to Alstein first.
“… … You seem to have changed a lot in that time.”
Looking straight into his own eyes, Alstein answers with a surprised expression toward Shion who asks.
In his mind, the image of Shion with his head bowed without even making eye contact with him from ten years ago came to mind.
How disappointed were you with that look?
However, Zion today was different enough to be called a completely different person than it was then.
“ Have you awakened even the blood of Agnes too late? if not… … Have you been hiding your power all this time?”
The question came out of his mouth.
But Zion did not answer that question.
“ I don’t like to say the same thing twice.”
Zion looked at Alstein with drowsy eyes and spoke.
The Ascalon family did not have any particularly bad feelings.
Even Zion himself would have done the same.
But that didn’t mean I had any good feelings, so I didn’t have time to waste on useless words.
“… … .”
Alstein’s eyes fluttered unknowingly, feeling an unknown ominous feeling from something that existed in Shion’s eyes.
How much silence had passed?
“ The Lord has invited His Majesty Zion to the family.”
As if he had made a decision, he slowly closed his eyes once, and a low voice came out of his mouth.
“ Why?”
“… … Because I saw the qualifications.”
King’s Qualifications.
It was something I had never seen in Zion before.
But in the present Zion, it was clearly visible.
“ So we’re going to try it. As for whether the qualification is really what we want. And if that’s right… … As to whether you can join us.”
It is too broad a word for a nobleman to say to the immediate imperial family.
But at the same time, it was a word that could be uttered because he was the Ascalon family, who is called the best swordsman in the empire.
‘It was fun.’
At that, Zion smiled softly inwardly.
Celestial Swordsman Ascalon.
It was a place that Zion had to visit at least once anyway, and it was one of the strengths he had to acquire.
But when he came to me like this first, as Zion, I had no choice but to be happy.
The past relationship set in the chronicle was also before Zion himself entered this body, so there was no particular emotion.
However.
‘The initiative must be brought here.’
From the mouth of Zion who finished thinking like that.
“ I want to ask you something.”
A cold voice came out.
“ Why did you think I needed your strength?”
Alstein’s expression hardened at those words.
Because no one has ever said anything like that.
Even the immediate royal family.
One of the five pillars that support the empire, and the family called the best sword among them.
No one could but covet that power.
However, Prince Zion was speaking as if he was refusing to do so.
“ Twenty-four times.”
“… … ?”
“ That’s the number of times I almost died. Actual assassination attempts were far more numerous, and I can’t even count them down to the smallest detail.”
It was information obtained by asking Fredo, who had been by his side since birth.
“ What have you guys been doing all this while? Have you ever stopped an attack? Or have you ever mentioned that it was unfair? Rather than that, I completely ignored it.”
“… … .”
“ But did you think you would like me when you came to me and talked about your qualifications?”
Unbelievable words.
But it was all true.
“ You said you were testing my qualifications. That’s really funny. Aren’t you supposed to think about whether you’re qualified before that?”
The eyes of Zion without any emotions.
“ If I go to Ascalon, you will have to explain to me first.”
At that moment, Alstein knew.
The identity of something that exists in the eyes of such Prince Zion.
“ Why do I need you?”
It was dark.
No, something deeper and more alien than darkness.
Yes, the abyss.
The abyss suppressed the very existence of Alstein, and eeriely stimulated the depths of his heart.
“… … .”
In the end, no words came out of his mouth.
* * *
“ I didn’t want to see you often, but I keep seeing you.”
“That ’s right.”
To the words of the woman in a monk’s robe, a man with an expressionless face like a stone statue answered.
“The 3 princes were beaten.”
“ I know.”
“ I never expected it to be like this.”
Having said that, the woman in the monk’s robe clicked her tongue and looked towards the Chimseonggung Palace where Zion was staying.
“ Did you know?”
“ What?”
“That we are trying to kill ourselves using the third prince.”
“ It can’t be.”
The man shook his head and denied it.
In fact, the woman also knew that it didn’t make sense.
However, the timing of Prince Zion’s movement was very coincidental.
It was because they were aiming for precisely that gap, as if they had seen through their movements.
‘ No, it would be correct to say that the chasm itself was made by Prince Zion.’
I couldn’t even imagine that I would hold hands with the 5th princess and hit the 3rd prince after making a gap using the four-row ceremony.
Besides, I couldn’t understand how Prince Zion was able to take the life of the 3rd Prince by himself.
It was absolutely impossible with the power of Prince Zion, who they had grasped.
Zion Agnes.
Gradually, the name was getting heavier.
” It’s fortunate that it didn’t turn out that we were involved, though.”
“That ’s right, did you say that the human experimentation site was also concluded with the actions of the warlocks? I think Dir’al handled that part well… … But where the hell did he go?”
“I don’t know.”
The man shook his head at the woman’s question.
Even he couldn’t figure out Dir’al’s whereabouts at all.
The night of the attack on the Jeokseonggung Palace.
Dir’al just disappeared.
to humans and to themselves.
“ I know he’s a geek, but isn’t this crossing the line?”
“ Maybe he has a serious injury and is recovering.”
“ What?”
“ It is said that when the attack on Jeokseonggung occurred, there was also a battle on the outskirts of the Imperial Palace. It is possible that Diral was the one who waged that battle.”
“ Are you saying that if Dir’al can be defeated, the opponent is even one of the seven heavens?”
“… … .”
The man remained silent without answering him.
The probability was close to zero, but considering what had happened so far, it couldn’t be said that it didn’t exist at all.
“ Hey, things are messed up in a lot of ways.”
A woman who frowned and muttered.
If things went awry like this, the future plans could be seriously disrupted.
“ Should we hurry up our plans a little more?”
“ If you agree, I will try moving the other side.”
“ The other?”
A voice that slowly begins to flow out of the man’s mouth at the woman’s question.
The more the man continued to speak, the younger the difference in the woman’s eyes began.
* * *
Late evening with a crescent moon rising in the center of the sky.
Shion was heading out of the Imperial Castle while riding on the horse-drawn carriage.
Since it was not an official outing, the attendant did not exist, and the movement of the horsepower car was also secret.
rumble.
As if it had already been promised, the back door of the palace opens as soon as you approach.
The horsepower car carrying Zion passed through the back gate and started running through the streets of the capital.
“ Sir, we will get to our destination in ten minutes. I have prepared the instructions next to the seat, so please take it with you when you get off.”
“ Yes.”
Shion nodded and looked out the window at the words of the driver, who had been in the shadow of eternity.
Night scenery of the fast passing capital city.
The place where Zion was headed now was one of the auction houses that existed in the capital.
Of course, it wasn’t just going to buy things.
frozen night.
A disaster that blows up half of the capital Hubris in the not-too-distant future.
At the auction house where Zion is headed today, the very cause of the disaster will be revealed.
Zion intended to interfere with the cause.
Once half of the capital was blown away, it was obvious that Zion’s own progress would be greatly hindered.
And there was something I had to get separately here.
Whoa!
In the meantime, the horsepower car stopped moving as if it had arrived at its destination.
Soon after, the figure of a woman who had been waiting in advance came into Shion’s eyes when he got off the horse-drawn carriage.
“ It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, Sir Zion.”
A woman with reddish brown hair who politely greets Zion.
It was Eileen, the head of the Hubris branch of the information guild ‘Eye of the Moon’.
As usual, she was wearing a stylish dress and no glasses.
As if the original version was a beauty, her appearance was quite attractive.
“ First of all, congratulations.”
There was no subject in her subsequent words, but the meaning was fully understood.
This time, I’m talking about killing the third prince Enoch and absorbing his power.
“ A ticket?”
“ There is no one else, you can go with me. By the way… … I didn’t know your Highness was interested in the auction. Even for this kind of auction.”
The reason Eileen said this was simple.
Because the auction house that Zion is heading to now is not a typical auction house.
Plington Underground Auction House.
As the name suggests, it exists underground and deals with all kinds of illegal as well as legal items.
From stolen goods to all kinds of cursed magical items, illegal weapons, and the already abolished slave trade.
The Plington Underground Auction House was particularly famous for its slave auctions.
Countless aristocrats of the capital had already come and went, and the back money they gave was huge, so even the Empire knew its existence and closed its eyes.
“ You shouldn’t ask a VIP at such an auction house like that.”
Shion smiled and opened her mouth to Eileen.
This was the reason why Shion came to accompany her.
Shion tried to enter the auction house without revealing her identity, and in order to do so, she had to be accompanied by a VIP of the auction house.
So while I was researching about him, I just found out that Eileen has VIP qualifications.
“ I got it through a personal network by chance when I was settled in the old Hubris. Of course, I have never used it before.”
Eileen answered that, and offered Shion a white mask that could cover half of her face.
“ You have to put it on before you go inside. People participating in the auction must hide their identities from each other. Well, the auction house probably knows everything except for the case of His Majesty Zion.”
“ I do.”
“ And please note that the mask has a magic treatment to lighten the hair color.”
In the case of Shion, even if he covered his face, there was a chance that he would be exposed because of the dark gray hair characteristic of the royal family.
So she took additional steps.
“ Yes.”
As it was what she had hoped for anyway, Shion readily accepted the mask she was offering.
How far did you go after that word?
Sion finally arrived in front of the building that looked like an auction house and looked around.
‘It’s surprising.’
The surrounding streets that look very luxurious and the houses of nobles can be seen everywhere.
Since it is an illegal auction house, I thought it would exist in a dark alley on the outskirts of the city, but I never thought that it would be managed in such an area where the upper classes in the center of the capital live.
Even the building that operates the auction house was clean and magnificent.
“ After all, most of the customers who use this place are aristocrats. Besides, it’s not that you don’t know, it’s that you close your eyes knowingly, so there’s no need to set it up in a slum on the outskirts.”
Eileen, who said so as if he had guessed what Shion was thinking, showed something to the men in suits guarding the entrance to the auction house, and immediately a person jumped out from the inside.
“You are VIPs . Come this way.”
VIP status were very rare?
Sion, who followed the guide to the auction house, receiving the stinging gaze of other nobles standing around to enter, slowly began to see the scenery inside.
That moment.
‘ I didn’t expect to see you like this right away.’
A faint smile hung on Shion’s lips as he saw someone.