83 – Dark Clouds Over the Imperial Family (1)
Aisha, who finished the treatment of her hand in an instant, asked the emperor as she gently wiped the blood with her handkerchief.
“The story I heard from Nanika is also related, right?”
“That’s right, Great Witch of the Cold.”
Because the emperor is the one who reigns over everyone, he treats Aisha, who is more than twice his age, as well as Rakkad. Of course, showing respect.
Because he is older than himself, an emperor should not bow down to others.
“From now on, I will explain the current situation of the imperial family and what my plans are, so listen carefully.”
“Yes.”
The emperor patted his beard for a while, choosing what to say.
“It must be time for Racard to interrogate the creator of this replica by now.”
I took off the rhyme with the word
.
“Even if it is an interrogation, it is only a pretense. We can’t afford to lose such a talent.”
Replica maker of artifacts!
Just by attracting such a person to your side, you can expect a tremendous increase in power. Existence itself is a bug with infinite copying of legendary items.
I also secured a lot of things for future borrowing to secure artifacts, but that and this are different.
Is there anyone who can clone artifacts that I can’t? You have to be recruited as a colleague.
This means that all of your teammates can be equipped with invisibility cloaks and armed with artifacts. Just imagining it makes my heart feel magnificent.
“Who the hell made this replica?”
Hearing my question, the emperor raised his white eyebrows and asked in a somewhat puzzled and strangely pleasant tone.
“Hmm? Didn’t you bring it?”
“…Yes?”
“Luktae Numes. Aren’t you the one who is currently working as an academy teacher?”
It felt like I had been hit in the head with a hammer. I thought he was a competent person, and I knew he was an Artifacts subject teacher.
I never thought that he would be good enough to make replicas.
“The principal of the academy discovered his ability and immediately appointed him to the academy professorship. If his ability starts to be abused, he will bring a huge disturbance to the continent.”
In fact, even if you think about the usefulness of that ability for a moment, you can draw hundreds of them.
Since he is such a person, he is kept at the academy to keep him away from politics even though he is protected by the system. It was a very reasonable move.
The emperor slightly raised the corner of his mouth and continued.
“Because this is a top-secret fact, only me, the headmaster of the academy, and very few people in the duke’s family know about it. So we were able to narrow down the range of suspects who masterminded this case.”
I was about to ask who it was, but the emperor realized that he still had something to say, and shut his mouth. Isn’t he the one who arranged the conversation with me in advance?
It is not too late to ask questions after listening to everything.
It’s a bit strange to even cut off the line while the emperor is talking.
The emperor gave a satisfied smile as if he knew my intentions. I think I finally got a proper expression for the first time.
“It will be a long story. Let me explain step by step.”
—–
Where should I start… Yes, this is the right time to start.
The story began 4 years ago, when Count So was rolling in the snow in the middle of a bloody frozen war.
I still remember the events of that day clearly.
“Erlang? Can you feel the presence of the devil?”
At the brief words of the Great Witch of Dark Cloud who visited the imperial castle, her great empress and I were terrified of her and demanded an explanation from her.
How can the presence of demons revealed through contracts be felt inside the imperial castle? Isn’t this a chaotic time when the war with the Balaur is in full swing?
Recently, reinforcements were sent to the Ice Castle, so the imperial family’s defenses were lower than usual, but at a time like this! I waited for the Archwitch’s words while reflecting on how much holy water was left in the warehouse.
The little Archwitch put on her wide-brimmed witch’s hat as always, and carried her steps in her neat circles, with her spotless, delightful smile.
“No! It’s not like it just showed up. If that’s the case, I’ll fix it right away. How can I explain this so that you, an outsider, can understand it well?”
“Hey, Acade. Don’t waste your time, tell me. You feel the presence of the devil?”
“Ah~ Nanika! I just said that. Wait. Because I am refining my words now.”
As a great witch who controls her dreams and causality, she did not tolerate her own lies.
Listening to the sound of each step she took, the Grand Empress and I swallowed her dry saliva as we waited for her Grand Witch to speak.
Finally, cheerfully, she released her limbs, refined, and smelted her words.
Of course, the content wasn’t pleasant at all.
“The demon’s body is preparing to summon its body here!”
That was the worst thing ever.
“Cell body…?”
“Yes, Nanika! Body! Like this body I have!”
Holding onto the hem of her skirt and the brim of her hat, she spun around in place, like an innocent girl proud of receiving a new outfit.
“You know that my main body is defending against demons in the ‘Cheongwol Gorge’ in the eastern part of the continent, right? It’s a piece of my soul that’s been ripped off and grafted into an imaginary body with its own magic!”
“How does the devil use that technology?”
The Archwitch clicked her tongue and snapped her fingers playfully.
“Strictly speaking, the unique magic of my dream was inspired by the abilities they use. So, it goes without saying that they can use the shell with a little thought.”
“Such…”
“I knew I would one day see me and copy and use it. It’s for refining the soul, so I can only make one shell. There are severe restrictions.”
The Archwitch hopped and came in front of me. Then she bared her teeth at me like a rascal and she grinned.
“The same goes for those guys.”
The Archwitch stopped, and as she did, she slapped a beetle on my forehead. Then she felt her heart drop and a faint, grotesque scream echoed in her ears.
She then repeated the same action to the Grand Empress, and the Grand Empress, amazed that she had the same sensation as me, gave the Grand Witch her gaze.
“Remember! The devil always reveals himself in dreams. Have you been having nightmares lately?”
According to her words, not only me, but most of the people residing in the imperial castle were having trouble sleeping due to nightmares.
I thought it was just because of the anxiety of war. I don’t think the devil was involved.
“Is it because the dragons have been making a fuss lately? These days, the movement is quite active.”
The Archwitch nodded her head cutely as she poked her own cheek with her index finger.
“Uhhh… I don’t know when this guy will show up, but I can’t stay here all the time. I’ll just do my best to keep you guys from falling into a dream! I patronized you!”
“Wait a minute! Academy! What can you do?”
At her Grand Empress’ earnest cry, the Great Witch stuck out her tongue and crossed her arms in front of her chest in the shape of an X.
“A bunch of people!”
“Why!”
“The devil’s body is not a virtual body like mine, but a real person’s body. That’s why I’m trying to play the people who were there before, and I’m looking for a good time… Papang~!”
Bundles of colorful paper flew from her hands that she spread playfully.
“If you use a shell, you can’t even tell it apart from holy water. You can also hide the devil’s mark as you wish. The only two times they show the mark out of necessity! When parasitic to the shell! And in the present world When it manifests!”
“Isn’t there any other way to find out?”
“If it’s a body, you guys can’t deal with it, but if you use a body, the power of the demons becomes infinitely weaker. So they only reveal themselves after weaving nightmares and creating their own dream world.”
After uttering her incomprehensible words, the Archwitch added, “In that state, I am so weak that I could die just by stabbing myself with this dagger!”
In the end, the Dark Cloud High Witch couldn’t solve our problems until the moment she left her system.
The good news is that the Dark Cloud Archwitch did everything she could to protect herself, and then she left the island.
She was able to let go of her sighs thanks to the ‘dark cloud dagger’ that could kill the demons. The difference between having and not having a weapon is not a negligible difference.
Fearing that the war situation might lead to further confusion, she only hinted at this fact to her old friend, Count Fay Rossis.
I wondered if it was too much for someone who was still waiting for her son’s good news from the war, but I didn’t have enough energy either.
If she doesn’t act immediately, the devil will arrive in the imperial family someday.
Before leaving, the Archwitch of Dark Cloud gave us three pieces of advice.
“One! The devil feeds on people’s feelings of wealth and grows! Nightmare is one of them! This guy looks like a mid-level demon, so be careful! Be careful again!”
According to her, even if she is only a mid-level demon, if she succeeds in manifesting, she will not be able to deal with it in normal ways. She said that it should also have strong priests.
So, after that, she worked tirelessly to establish a link with Seongguk. It was for this reason that Seongguk secretly allowed access to the Ice Castle.
I didn’t know that the ‘saint candidate’ would come as a result. In any case, it was Raen’s protection.
“Two! Find the demon’s body! As I said, demons seal people’s hearts and wear their shells! If you find it, find the devil’s mark with this dagger and slash it!”
In particular, he added a request not to trust those around him. The devil said that it was impossible to know from the outside because he completely acquired and mastered the personality, habits, and way of thinking of the person he sealed.
Fortunately, Count Peirosis, whom I trust the most, was guaranteed by the Archwitch that he was not a demonic body.
It was said that if you find the demon’s body in advance, it will be solved simply by stabbing the demon’s mark with the dagger of dark cloud.
But everything in the world can’t be solved that easily.
“Three! The devil can go to and from the body of a person who has accumulated a lot of wealth emotions to some extent! So be careful not to be attacked by demons riding on dreams, be careful again!”
To think that I would know the words that I didn’t understand at all at the time, the very day the Archwitch of Dark Cloud left…
I never even dreamed of it.