◈ Episode 332. I’ll Pass on Shackles
Yong Seongrak spoke with his head bowed.
“……
There is also something I must tell you. As you suspected, I am affiliated with Cheonhatongil. And at present, my field of vision is being shared with Ryu O Jun Chun. It is the effect of the contract for which I offered these eyes as the price.”
His finger pointed toward the eyepatch.
‘I thought he just had unusual tastes, like someone else.’
So Ryu O Jun Chun was the culprit.
A history of going around doing shady things was not something one could simply leave behind. Even so, who would have thought he would offer the eyes of his own guild member as a sacrifice to monitor the situation on the Arcana Continent?
“I see neither initiative nor pride in this.”
There was no way anything kind could emerge from my mouth.
Yong Seongrak seemed quick-witted.
That must have been why he had said such things on the battlefield as well.
Of course, this did not mean Yong Seongrak had noticed that I was fidgeting at the thought of mentioning his full name. The fact that he had voluntarily confessed everything without even being asked meant that he was not trying to scheme with clever little tricks.
Yong Seongrak continued speaking.
“The ostensible purpose of entering the continent was to expand Cheonhatongil’s influence to the Arcana Continent, but…… after breaking free from Ryu O Jun Chun’s brainwashing, I realized that was not the case. Ryu O Jun Chun merely intended to monopolize everything.”
Tremble─Yong Seongrak clenched his fist tightly with his head still lowered.
Did he have a lot bottled up against his superior? How very much like an office worker.
“He is no longer a lord, but a tyrant.”
A tyrant, huh.
To briefly summarize the specific details that followed…… it seemed that Ryu O Jun Chun had changed classes through a class quest, from [Lord]
to [Tyrant].
“I was being toyed with, yet I never realized it. I thought that if my worthless life could be of use to my lord, I could offer it up as many times as necessary.”
In other words, Tyrant was a class like a leech that sucked the blood of others even more ruthlessly than a Lord.
To suck that blood efficiently, Ryu O Jun Chun had thrown his guild members, including Yong Seongrak, into the deathtrap known as the Arcana Continent.
‘He’s really possessed by a demon.’
Grandfell was, by nature, infinitely merciful toward human beings.
Why, could it not be seen just by looking at how he had dealt with Ignite Maxima a little while ago?
Whatever the process, the Four Families had ultimately been forgiven.
Yet there were humans whom even merciful Grandfell could not forgive.
The first of them was Raymond Sean.
Of course.
‘Even I can’t forgive that bastard.’
Because of whom else would I be so restless over a single full name?
The ones after Raymond Sean were those who had committed atrocities no different from a demon’s. The same sort as the demon worshippers who had met their end in the Infinite.
My mouth uttered icy words.
“It is thanks to you.”
Indeed.
Taking another person’s life for the sake of one’s own growth was no different from a demon’s actions. And not even the life of some stranger, but that of a subordinate who trusted and followed him—deceiving them and offering them as a sacrifice?
“……
What do you mean, thanks to me?”
I answered Yong Seongrak’s question.
“I have one more prey to hunt. Is that not thanks to you?”
Congratulations, Ryu O Jun Chun.
You have now officially been recognized as my second prey, after Raymond Sean.
Now, how should I convey this joyous news to you?
As I pondered, I spoke calmly.
“Therefore, raise your head.”
“……
Pardon?”
Yong Seongrak flinched, but did not raise his head.
“No, I cannot do that. I have sworn to give Commander-in-Chief Lee Hoyeol of the Holy War Alliance everything I know about Cheonhatongil……! I know that is the only way I can survive!”
……
Huh?
No, anyone listening would think I had been trying to kill him.
I may hunt demons as if I were catching rats.
But I do not go around killing perfectly ordinary people, you know?
The sound of teeth grinding followed.
“But if I raise my head and he learns that I am speaking with Commander-in-Chief Lee Hoyeol alone…… he will take measures to make the information I possess meaningless. Ryu O Jun Chun is a meticulous man precisely because he is so vile.”
After hearing that much.
I thought I understood why Yong Seongrak had been avoiding my gaze all this time. Indeed, if the man was as underhanded as Ryu O Jun Chun, he might use the leaked information against us and devise a scheme.
However.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Thank you for understanding—”
“Even so, you must stand tall.”
“……!”
What was so ordinary about Grandfell’s pride?
Once Ryu O Jun Chun had been deemed prey.
It was only natural that his pride would flare up—not bend before a demon, but grow even more lofty.
Eventually, unable to resist my firm attitude, Yong Seongrak raised his head.
I met his eyes.
And as always, I added one more word.
“When conversing, it is proper etiquette to meet the other person’s gaze.”
“I, I merely…….”
“Furthermore, if he is watching, would that not mean he has gone to needless trouble?”
“……
What do you mean by trouble?”
This was not baseless confidence.
“The prey will come to understand its situation.”
We should both have a proper grasp of our positions, should we not?
I was the hunter, not the prey being pursued.
There was no need to go to the trouble of gathering information from prey.
Click─I tilted my teacup while looking at Yong Seongrak.
More precisely, I looked at Ryu O Jun Chun, who must have been beyond Yong Seongrak’s pupils.
‘I’ve been through it all myself, you know.’
The Tower, the Holy War Alliance, the AAU Yusra Branch, Akshan…….
I had ended up shouldering countless positions.
Thanks to that, I knew very well.
‘It won’t be easy.’
How could he set a countertrap without knowing what information had leaked?
It was easier said than done. It would not be an ordinary task.
Yes, I intended to use my experience to make a fool of Ryu O Jun Chun.
‘Anyway, spread your wings of imagination as far as you like.’
Go ahead and misunderstand to your heart’s content. Imagine that while I tilted my teacup with Yong Seongrak, I was listening in on Cheonhatongil’s classified information and devising a plan to exploit its weaknesses. Dig whatever dirty tricks or traps you like and wait.
‘Just watch me walk into one.’
All that effort would be wasted.
You know how Grandfell dealt with prey by now, do you not?
A frontal breakthrough.
Traps or whatever else—
it was enough to blow them all away at once.
Therefore, only one topic remained for me to discuss with Yong Seongrak.
Fortunately.
Yong Seongrak accepted the teacup, hesitated, then opened his mouth.
“If that is what you say, I shall remain silent. Until the time Commander-in-Chief Lee Hoyeol needs me again. I will not reveal Cheonhatongil’s secrets, nor what I witnessed today, to anyone.”
……
Of course, that included my full name, right?
‘He’d better not blab about what he heard, either.’
I desperately wanted to obtain a firm promise from Yong Seongrak.
But revealing such petty thoughts was also unbecoming, as always.
So I merely tilted the innocent teacup.
……
The green tea tasted especially bitter today….
It was one uncomfortable occasion after another.
Of course, thanks to this damned thick skin of mine.
Even in such a place, I held my head high, which allowed me to see everything clearly. The heads of the Four Families, excluding Ignite Maxima, whose mind had yet to fully recover.
And the face of the emperor they had tried to pull down.
Only silence flowed…….
Judging by appearances, they all seemed uncomfortable with one another. The Four Families were traitors who had failed in their rebellion, so it was understandable that they had nothing to say. But the emperor, too, could not exactly act triumphant simply because he had won.
‘Considering the relationship between the Seric Rose Imperial Family and the Four Families, it’s only natural.’
As a third party.
And as a working adult incapable of enduring uncomfortable silence.
I thought that perhaps I should say something, anything. Even if it was a mouth fond of babbling, it was an expensive mouth that did not move merely because it was swayed by other people’s reactions.
In the end, it was the emperor who first broke the silence.
“……
I have no words.”
At first, I thought it was merely an expression of gratitude.
Whatever the circumstances of the Claudi Family.
I had, after all, saved the empire yet again.
But the emperor’s face was far more serious than I had expected.
“While the Black Dragon was speaking with the adventurer, I was told the circumstances before and after by the heads of the Four Families. I had no idea that you were carrying such a burden……. This foolish one knows only one thing and could not even begin to imagine anything beyond it. On behalf of the Seric Rose Imperial Family, I offer my sincerest apology.”
……
No, they told you all that already?!
It was understandable that the heads of the families would act that way. Even if they had rebelled for a moment, the Four Families had ultimately served Claudi with genuine devotion.
‘Even if their intentions were good, wasn’t that a bit sudden?’
I could roughly guess what they had told the emperor without asking.
Yes, whatever else they might have said, there was one fact that mattered most.
That the Claudi Family was the master of the Four Families.
They would certainly have made that clear.
‘……
Wait a moment, then how does the genealogy work?’
If the Seric Rose Imperial Family, master of the empire, served the Four Families.
And if those Four Families served the Claudi Family.
Then Seric Rose was the Claudi Family’s……?
While I was turning this over in my mind, the emperor spoke at precisely the right moment.
“The Black Dragon himself must be the true master of the empire.”
I was the true master of the empire?!
I was truly sorry, but I had no intention of taking on something like that.
Yet that did not seem to be enough.
The emperor hesitated, then corrected himself.
“No, it would no longer be proper to address you by your epithet. Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo. The head of the Claudi Family is the only being capable of setting not only the empire, but the entire continent, on the right path.”
……
This is exhausting. Truly.
Yong Seongrak was not enough—now even the emperor?
Why was everyone doing this to me today?
Yet none of my inner lament escaped between my lips.
I merely looked at them.
‘They caused all this trouble and are pretending they don’t know anything.’
Yugrik, Cansel, and Acamond.
The three heads of the families were staring at me with burdensome eyes.
Those eyes were filled with such expectation. They truly wanted me to rule the empire.
To sit upon the emperor’s throne.
But did they really think I would take that on?
‘It’s painful enough as it is.’
As I had mentioned earlier.
Beginning with the Tower’s Chief, I had become the person in overall charge of the AAU Yusra Branch and the leader of the resurrected Akshan—
as its only demon hunter, I was both its lowest-ranking member and its leader—
and had ended up shouldering all those titles.
And now, the emperor?!
If this were the empire in an age of peace and prosperity…… I might generously consider it. But if I took responsibility for the empire as it was now, I would lose even the leisure to enjoy tea time, said to be more precious than gold.
Therefore, I answered.
“Regrettably, that shall not come to pass.”
“How could you……!”
The emperor trailed off, and the heads of the families all wore shocked expressions. What in the world had they expected of me? I wanted to demand an explanation, but my loose mouth continued before I could.
“To me, a throne or crown is nothing but a shackle.”
“……!!!”
I answered with a single line, but its meaning was clear.
I was the head of the Claudi Family.
I was the Black Dragon who observed everything from above.
And that made me the continent’s de facto master.
Why should I be bound to the empire, a smaller vessel?
“My word…….”
The emperor, at least, should have been accustomed to the Grandfell style of speaking.
It was not strange that he understood me immediately.
But perhaps the Four Families’ memories of the past had also returned.
Swish─The emperor and the heads of the families bowed their heads to me at the same time.
“We are ashamed. We failed to recognize your profound intentions.”
In the end, the uncomfortable meeting concluded with me receiving an uncomfortable apology.
‘At least the cleanup is more or less finished.’
In truth, with my embarrassing full name having been exposed.
I felt unfairly as though I had lost no matter what I did…….
But what could I do?
Clack─Eventually, I headed for the emperor’s terrace.
If anyone asked whether I was roaming freely through the imperial palace as a shadowy power behind the throne rather than as the emperor, the answer was simple: the terrace was the only place in the vast imperial palace that I knew.
‘And.’
Flap─As I stepped onto the terrace, my jacket fluttered in the wind.
Antonius came into view through my streaming silver hair.
The vista of Antonius, which until only moments ago had been covered in suitable mana.
I grumbled inwardly.
‘I knew this would happen.’
Knowing that pride of his, it was obvious he would be tormented by his sense of responsibility.
So could I have done anything but stop him, if only for my own sake?
Despite my sarcasm, my mouth remained silent, unlike when I had dealt with the emperor and the heads of the families.
“…….”
According to the emperor, Antonius had suffered no aftereffects worth mentioning, so perhaps that was fortunate. As I mulled over the Blackening once more, my thoughts suddenly turned to the quest that had been flickering.
Let’s see, was that not a World Quest, no less?
Its very name had been extraordinary. It was a quest whose confirmation could no longer be delayed.
I immediately checked the quest window.
[World Quest: The Saintess’s Advent]
And I flinched.
……
Wait a moment, the saintess of the Goddess Church?
Freiza?
‘No wonder she looked familiar…….’
When the sacred land of the Goddess Church, Muon, had been updated into reality.
The alias used by Nephrite, the True Name Demon who had tried to devour Muon.
The name she had used while impersonating someone.
But what was this?
That saintess had actually been a real person?
As though the Great Cataclysm were not enough.
The Arcana Continent had been overturned once more by the Omen.
So perhaps it was possible.
But why would the saintess of the Goddess Church—
─Survive the judgment of the saintess, Freiza. (In progress)
intend to judge me……?!
No matter how I looked at it, this was clearly a misunderstanding born from the Blackening.
Anyone could have guessed that.
‘The one in question’ could not tolerate even the slightest misunderstanding directed at him.
He possessed pride that was truly as sharp as a blade.
In the end.
“A goddess. It seems there was insufficient evidence. Then I shall prove it once more. My belief that no such thing as a god exists. You, too, shall prove it.”
My normally quiet mouth finally exploded.
“Of course, my verification will not be easy by any means.”