#187
The Imperial Palace of the Empire (1)
‘Ha, hahahaha. Wow—this is really strange, isn’t it? I guess I really did go through a lot after all. As if auditory hallucinations weren’t enough, now I’ve got aphasia too? I should probably go to a hospital. How much money did I have saved up again? No, with my abilities now, I can earn as much money as I want anyway, so maybe it doesn’t matter?’
As the thinking power that had been pointlessly strengthened by his Unique Skill ran wild, countless thoughts flashed through Andrew’s mind in an instant.
Unable to accept the reality before him, he desperately tried to “deny” it and turn his thoughts elsewhere, but…
[Hmm, is this location America? And in the western region at that… California, then.]
The voice that continued to shake his mind made it impossible for him to ignore the situation.
‘No, why? Why is the Immortal King here?! What kind of bullshit is this? This isn’t some joke. How did that monster from Auterica cross over to Earth?!’
The next stage was “anger.”
In truth, though he had vented his rage, the question of what the Immortal King’s true identity was and how he could exist on Earth was not particularly important right now.
Knowing it wouldn’t change Andrew’s situation anyway.
‘Please… Do you know how much I’ve suffered all this time? This can’t be happening right after I finally thought I’d regained a peaceful life. At least give me a little time…!’
The next stage was “bargaining.”
It was his final struggle after accepting that the situation was already beyond his control.
[Now then—Andrew Weaver, here is your first mission. Clean up your surroundings immediately and come to Korea. Once you arrive, I’ll send someone from this side.]
“Ah.”
The prohibition that had sealed his speech loosened, and a low exclamation escaped Andrew’s mouth.
But to him, already sunk in “depression,” such a trivial matter no longer mattered.
‘…Yeah, well. Still, it’ll be better than working under that ghost Olivia. I don’t think Korea was that poor of a country either. If they have pizza and cola, and I can even watch TV… then I guess I couldn’t ask for more.’
Finally reaching “acceptance” of everything, he nodded calmly with a hollow expression.
“Yes… I will obey your command. Lord Immortal King.”
Thinking about it, he would be directly under the always-busy Immortal King, so the workload probably wouldn’t be as tight as it had been before under his fussy superior.
And compared to an environment swarming with undead, filled with dark mana and the aura of death, a city’s exhaust fumes would be no different from perfume.
‘Now that I think about it, maybe it won’t be so bad? If my working environment improves… it might actually be better to attach myself to someone powerful like this. Then maybe some crumbs will fall my way?’
After being swept through a violent torrent of thoughts and having some of his negative emotions stripped away, the happiness circuit hidden deep inside him began to spin fiercely.
Thus, while Andrew Weaver in America was maturing through the five stages of death…
[Kuhuhut—I thought this would happen someday, but it came sooner than expected. And I unexpectedly obtained coordinates for America as well. That should save me time when I need to move there later.]
In Japan, Hans maintained the barrier covering the area on all sides and slowly nodded as he watched Salma busily harvest death.
Kuuung—!
“Gaaah!”
“Damn it! What is this black thing? How is it so fast… Kheok!”
After that, it took only about thirty minutes for the yakuza organization, which included quite a few fairly skilled Awakened, to be annihilated.
It was an extremely satisfying result, as Salma’s martial arts and the “Abyss” seemed to have far better synergy than expected.
At this level, it looked as though there was hardly any difference from when he had been alive.
‘As expected, since Salma mainly relies on martial arts, losing his Unique Skill didn’t hurt him much. The other minor skills still remain, too.’
Unfortunately, the Unique Skill granted upon Awakening disappeared the moment its owner died, so undead could not use it.
Considering that most Awakened relied heavily on those skills, it was truly regrettable.
In any case, the demonstration of the Abyss Revenant Salma, who used demonic arts, had been very successful.
With this data as a basis, and after improving the process, he would be able to create increasingly efficient individuals in the future.
Hans watched the undead begin the cleanup, then leisurely swept his gaze over the surrounding chaos.
As the situation entered its final stage, thoughts of Andrew crossed his mind again.
‘With that ability, I should be able to move more efficiently from now on, right? I can leave management to Heterosis, so I won’t need to pay much attention to him separately.’
Of course, since he had learned a secret no one should know, it was essential to meticulously layer prohibitions on him again.
He probably hadn’t even begun to guess Hans’s greatest secret—his true identity—but the fact that “Hahoe Mask” could travel between Earth and another world was already extremely significant information.
‘Come to think of it, if I want him gathering information in Korea, won’t I have to teach him Korean too?’
The telepathy just now had not been a problem, since it conveyed intent through the prohibition, but if Andrew couldn’t understand the language, his efficiency in gathering information would inevitably be severely limited.
Even if he saw or heard something, it would be useless if he didn’t know what it meant.
And it wasn’t as if Hans would only use him in Korea, so he would have to teach him other countries’ languages as well, such as Japanese and Chinese…
‘…I’ll have to look into whether there are any magic tools related to language. Just because Auterica doesn’t have one doesn’t mean other worlds don’t. Of course, judging from the fact that I haven’t heard of one until now, they must be quite rare.’
Still, if he searched in earnest, wouldn’t one turn up somewhere?
It would be troublesome, but until then, Andrew would have no choice but to put in more effort and learn the languages.
Of course, Hans felt not the slightest guilt over the hardships Andrew would have to endure.
He was offering to provide, for free, an education others paid dearly for and turn him into a multilingual talent—if anything, Andrew should be thanking him!
It was the moment when, without Andrew himself knowing it, the shadow of K-education fell over his peaceful future.
***
“An otherworlder…”
Geos Kalkin, who had been tending to his spear in his lodgings, stopped for a moment and muttered quietly to himself.
A single phrase he had heard from the unfamiliar man named Hesperon had lodged itself in his mind and refused to leave.
‘It didn’t seem like… a joke. Could it really be true?’
Considering various factors, the chances that his words had been idle nonsense were quite low.
In fact, the atmosphere around him had also felt as though everyone already knew something.
Which meant…
“I thought it was obviously a joke, but then that was real?”
This time, he wasn’t talking about Hesperon.
Long before that, far, far earlier—
There had been someone who had said the same thing, claiming to be an otherworlder.
A friend and mentor to Geos, and also the master who had passed on this spear and even secret techniques to him.
Thoughts of that person would not leave his mind.
‘…Just in case, I should go visit him sometime. If it’s true, I might also gain more clues about that man Hesperon’s ability. Perhaps I should at least bring it up when the Saint arrives.’
Having settled his thoughts for the moment, he finished tending to the spear he had paused over and slowly approached the window to look outside.
He could not take in the entire cityscape from here, but what was immediately visible was enough to understand Rohan’s situation.
Soldiers, armed and busily moving from place to place, and refugees sprawled like trash here and there on the filthy streets.
Not a single one of their faces showed any trace of hope.
Confusion, despair, grief, resentment, resignation…
Such a gloomy atmosphere permeated the capital of a nation that had once flourished, and all of them were barely enduring each day.
‘…The Immortal King Hans.’
All of this had been caused by that being.
Not only these people, but countless others in places unseen must also be groaning in pain and dying.
‘As expected, this isn’t the time to be picky about methods. The best course is to deal with him as quickly as possible, before he causes another major incident.’
Just as Geos reaffirmed his resolve, his gaze suddenly fell upon a couple in a corner of an alley, holding a grimy child in their arms.
They were a family with haggard complexions, hardly in good circumstances, but as they huddled together and leaned on one another, he found himself unable to look away for some time.
“Whew—.”
After silently looking down at them for a while, he turned his head with difficulty, letting out a deep sigh.
At a time when everyone was struggling, there would be no end if he felt pity for each person in hardship.
Above all, as someone who was now nothing more than a mere spearman, he had no ability to take responsibility for them all.
‘What I can give them… is only revenge.’
All he could do was swing, in their stead, the spearhead that carried their anger and resentment.
He could only hope that its tip would pierce the Immortal King’s heart.
***
From the start, there had not been much for the hero party to do in the Duchy of Rohan.
In the first place, sending them there had merely been a move to pick up the princess and Hesperon, so now that their objective had been accomplished, there was no longer any need to spend time there.
Of course, since every one of them was top-class personnel, merely staying there briefly had helped the war situation considerably, but that did not mean they could remain tied down forever in such a frontier.
They had many places to go from here on, and this was a battlefield where a large army would be more useful than a small number of strong individuals.
And so, with two members added, the group moved to their next destination only a few days after arriving in Rohan.
Since the destroyed temple’s gate had not yet been fully restored, the place they arrived at through Isea’s spatial movement magic was none other than—
“Ah…!”
Princess Riley let out a low exclamation.
It was only natural.
The scene now unfolding before her eyes, the building of overwhelming scale, was far too familiar to her.
“…At last.”
It was her home, to which she had finally managed to return after nearly two months.
The imperial palace located in Jeron, the capital of the Ajerion Empire.
“They certainly treat us differently now that Her Highness the Princess has returned. Normally, unless it’s something extremely urgent, they don’t even open coordinates inside the outer castle. I never expected they’d allow us to come straight inside the imperial palace like this, not even just the inner castle.”
Perhaps because moving a group with additional members over a long distance through space had been taxing, Isea, looking somewhat tired, nodded with a satisfied expression.
Of course, even though it was “inside,” the facility with open coordinates was itself located on the outskirts, and it was a strictly managed security zone with the headquarters of the Imperial Guard right beside it…
Still, considering that even members of the imperial family normally had to enter through procedures starting from the outer castle unless there was an important reason, their current treatment could certainly be called special.
“Well, I suppose it’s only natural, since the Saint is with us too.”
Though he was currently running around the front lines while leading the “Anti-Immortal King Special Mobile Strike Force,” the Saint of the Church of the Main God was originally a major figure who could dine at the same table as the emperor of the empire.
Even this time, it was only because Heinrich had conveyed in advance that he did not want a troublesome welcoming ceremony; otherwise, from the moment they arrived here, they would likely have experienced true state-guest treatment in full.
“We will escort you to the palace. Please follow us.”
However, as they left the security zone under the guidance of the guards who had come to greet them—
As if they had been waiting for that very moment, a group loitering outside rushed over all at once like wild beasts that had discovered prey.
“Princess Riley! Congratulations on your return. How much you must have suffered all this time!”
“Ohhh! Saint, thank you for saving our princess! Indeed, this must truly be called the grace of the Main God.”
“Ahem, Viscount Pristine? I am Viscount Malaf. There is something urgent I must tell you…”
“Everyone, please step back! These people have come a long way. Now, now, make way!”
Nobles who were all adorned from head to toe in expensive-looking things and wore servile smiles on their lips.
What they wanted was so blatant that it was hard to even pretend not to know.
‘There are quite a lot of nobles from other factions mixed in as well, not just those who were originally under the princess. Huh? That man was even in the crown prince’s faction, wasn’t he?’
The nobles who had originally belonged to the Fifth Princess’s faction were cheerfully fawning over her, while those from other factions were diligently promoting themselves in an attempt to change lines.
As expected of people for whom politics was daily life, they seemed to have quickly read the tide and judged how to conduct themselves.
“Thank you, everyone. It must be thanks to all of you worrying about me that I was able to return safely like this. Count Solain, you seem to have grown quite thin since I last saw you. No matter how busy you are, you must take care of your health.”
“It is because I spent so many sleepless nights worrying whether Your Highness was safe. Still, I am glad that I will be able to sleep soundly now. Hahaha!”
“Count Pianon? I believe it’s been two years since we last met. Have you been well?”
“Ahem, of course. I happened to come to the capital, and when I heard that Your Highness had safely returned this time, I wished to at least offer my greetings…”
With a haughty expression unlike the one she had shown until now, Riley skillfully handled and trained them.
It was a political arena that had begun the moment she set foot in the imperial palace, but for her, who had unwillingly spent two months doing nothing but anxiously waiting, this kind of opportunity was only welcome.
‘To think the palace’s power struggles, which I found so sickening, now feel almost nostalgic.’
Riley, inwardly letting out a wry laugh, coaxed and appeased the nobles as she moved toward the imperial palace with her party.
This was the battlefield she had fought on her entire life.
It was time to properly resume her own war, which had been in a temporary ceasefire.