95 – Post-war Processing – 1
When we returned to the imperial palace, the Royal Guard was waiting, as if the Sword Saint had given us word in advance.
“The Sword Saint asked me to guide you to the basement as soon as you arrive.”
The Royal Guard politely showed me the way.
Considering the fact that there is no need to do so because the status of those over there is generally much higher than that of academy students, it is safe to say that the rumor about healing magic has spread.
The source of the rumor is probably one of the three archmages who participated in the Wizards Association. Since you are the only human capable of using healing magic, he must have told you to protect him at all costs.
“This is the innermost prison here.”
After the Royal Guard arrived in the basement, they went inside for a long time.
A prison located in the innermost part of the imperial palace basement. This was the room where the murderer Karna was once imprisoned.
“We have arrived. The Sword Saint—suck.”
As soon as I opened the double doors of the prison, a feeling of death pricked my skin. Even though it wasn’t directed at this direction, it was a brutal killing that made even the Royal Guard hesitate.
It was completely different from what I felt when I first encountered Geomseong. If it feels like you are being forced to choose between fighting back or dying, then this is a feeling that is purely weighing down your body and mind.
Well, from my perspective, it was much easier to endure than it was then. Right now, all I could feel was that I felt alive. At that time, I had a hard time suppressing the desire to fight back by pulling out Youngwon right away.
“Are you here?”
As Karna approached with a smile, the royal guard standing next to her stiffly raised a salute with her stiff body. She tried to tell Karna that she didn’t have to do that since she wasn’t the leader anymore, but she remained firm.
Geomseong was still glaring at the people imprisoned in the deepest part of the prison with cold eyes. Then, only after turning his head and looking this way did he relax.
“Thank you for your hard work. “Go out.”
“Yes!”
The Royal Guard, who had struggled to gather themselves, saluted and left the basement. As the sound of clanking footsteps disappeared into the distance, Geomseong sighed deeply.
“I’m sorry for showing such indecency.”
“It’s okay. But what about this…… ?”
It was the first time that the Sword Saint showed such strong emotions, except for the moment when Karna returned to her human form. She wasn’t at that level when she came to see me in person, telling me that Brünnhild and I were almost dead.
“In the past, that person said harsh things to me, who was a murderer.”
“Stop, Karna. Don’t put those dirty memories of her in her mouth. “I will do it for you.”
The swordsman, who closed Karna’s mouth like her sword, spoke her words.
“Do you remember that I locked this child up for a long time?”
“Yes.”
“I was repeating failures endlessly that day, and somehow it knew and came here.”
The eyes that were looking at the abandoned crown prince calmed down.
“When I asked her what she was looking for, she said she had never been with a murderer before and asked to be allowed to be with her just once.”
“Uh… ….”
“She also said nonsense that if she felt better, she might come back to her senses.”
“Why didn’t you kill her then and keep her alive until now?”
I looked at Igor, who was trapped in prison and trembling under the pressure of life, with the same eyes as the Sword Saint.
I thought he was crazy about women from the first time I saw him, but he was even crazier than I thought. I wonder what kind of confidence he had to say such a thing to the student he cherished so much.
“…… Long ago, I made a promise to the emperor. As long as I live, I will only grant the wishes of those in the direct lineage of the royal family once in a lifetime. “It was the price that saved my life one day.”
Geomseong frowned and massaged his right arm under his clothes, as if a phantom tong had come to visit. That promise seemed to be related to an incident in the past when I attacked the devil and was destroyed.
“Couldn’t you have just ignored it and killed it? “If I had killed all the guys who came with me, no one would have found out.”
“Don’t I know it myself?”
There was depth in his eyes. The corners of his eyes were fluttering as if the phantom pain was getting worse. Light beads of sweat leaked out from my forehead and cheeks.
“Although it has been a long time since she held a sword, the essence of Rachel is that she is ultimately unmanned. Denying the promise I made to my sword is ultimately the same as denying the path I have lived. Isn’t there one line that even children should never cross? “Think of the oath to the sword as being like a child’s line to me.”
I heard that from Priscilla. After Geomseong became unable to hold a sword due to PTSD from the Demon King, he began to become even more obsessed with the concept of martial arts.
It is probably a kind of self-defense mechanism. If a swordsman who cannot hold a sword is denied even his own essence, in the end there will be nothing left.
“Funny enough, when I got angry, it looked genuinely embarrassed. “I came here without even understanding why I didn’t kill this child.”
“…… From what I hear, I think it would have been okay if you hadn’t called me. Even if you just killed him and explained that something like this happened, I would have been completely convinced. “I didn’t plan on keeping him alive anyway.”
He is a man whose circumstances cannot be extenuated by the fact that he is possessed by a succubus.
“Aren’t you two the ones who suffered the most damage? So, they were waiting in case someone said that there was a method of execution they wanted to use, or that they would kill him directly. Originally, it would have been right to ask Laura, but…… “I’m locked in my room and don’t leave the door.”
“I don’t have anything in particular in mind, so you can do whatever you want. Instead, I don’t know about the rest of the gang, but I would recommend that you postpone dealing with that guy, Igor, for just a few days.”
“Why?”
“I think the magic tower owners will be able to learn healing magic by then. “I’ve learned a new magic. Don’t you need someone to use it on?”
These are not people who cannot understand the hidden meaning in my words. Geomsung nodded his head with a brighter face. Karna looked a little nervous next to him.
“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I am very worried that my body will be damaged like this. “Would you please open the door?”
The servants crowded in the hallway were standing in front of Laura’s room, unable to do anything. I looked at it from afar.
“I beg you, Your Majesty. What’s going on? “If there is, please tell me.”
Despite the desperate pleas of the maid in front, the tightly closed door refused to open. She approached the crowd. A few people turned their eyes to the sound of footsteps, checked me, and flinched.
Has the rumor about me spread here too, or has someone given it to me in advance? No one stopped me. The maid who had been desperately knocking on the door took a few steps back.
“I came to hear that Your Majesty has awakened.”
“Yes. You certainly did. But as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw us, screamed, and kicked everyone inside out. “He has been on the run ever since.”
Somehow.
I thought I was worried because I was locked in my room for only a few hours, but if something like that had happened before I was locked in, it would have been worth worrying about. Because you don’t know what’s going to happen inside.
“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. That’s me. “Let’s open the door.”
Instead, I knocked on the door. After a short silence, a proper response finally came.
“…… If you’re going to come in, come in alone. “I won’t open the door to other people even if it kills me.”
Shocked, the servants and I looked at each other. Aside from his cracked and hoarse voice, you could never think of him as the prince’s usual way of speaking.
“I will leave this place to you. Since you have vowed never to open the door for us, staying any longer will only be a distraction. Please take care of your Majesty.”
The judgment was quick. The servants, as if confident that their stubbornness would never be broken, handed me a tray full of porridge and stomped away. Left alone, I knocked on the door again.
“Everyone left. “I’m the only one, so you can open it.”
“…… Okay. Come in.”
Creak, the door was half open. Laura stuck her head out and looked outside, and only after making sure that no one was there did she make a sign that it was okay to come in.
“… ….”
As soon as I went inside, I was shocked. The entire room was devastated, as if it had been bombed.
All the furniture was destroyed, the carpet was torn into pieces and strewn about helplessly, and the walls and floor were completely burned. Not a single place was sound.
Laura, who came to open the door, did the same. Her clothes had become little more than rags, and her hair was a mess. What did she do in that short period of time? There were dark circles under her eyes.
“Your Highness. “What is this?”
“Don’t say that! Just hearing it makes me sick…… Yo. This.”
Laura, who reflexively shouted, looked up at me, and her body trembled, adding an ambiguous politeness to me. There was really something strange about her. She didn’t seem to be the usual Laura.
Her trembling fingers grabbed my wrist and pulled me. Although she had no strength at all, she walked obediently as led. As she came in, I was burning her from all sides and stinging her nose.
Laura was still holding her notebook in her right hand.
“What on earth happened while I was gone? “Why are you speaking like that?”
Laura laughed for a moment at my question and looked down at her notebook. Her enemy, who had always been full of confidence, was half dead inside.
“This is something you can’t even imagine.”
“Whether I can imagine it or not is up to me to decide. “Tell me.”
A faint sneer appeared at the corner of her mouth. She said let’s just leave it at that.
“Would you believe that this world was created by someone else’s hands?”
“Of course it is.”
There are four people, including me, who have been dragged into this ‘created’ world, so there’s no way they wouldn’t believe it.
But even though Laura confirmed me so easily, she still did not give up a faint sneer.
“Then, I am the one who created this world?”