RRP - 349

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Imperial Audience Chamber.

"So? The timing is uncertain, but it will definitely be moved up?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"That's welcome news. By the way, Davian won't be defeated by mere demons, will he?"

"It depends on who comes over."

Emperor Kaiser Lapaz nodded.

"Indeed, if he can't even defeat a mere demon, he can't be a match for me, Kaiser Lapaz. It's a pity to have found someone who amuses me for the first time in a while."

"Your words are wise."

"What about you, Heinz? Can you defeat the demon corps commanders?"

Again.

Last time, he tested him by asking if he could win against the brat Davian Naone of the Alkancia Kingdom.

He's testing him again.

"If I couldn't, I wouldn't have thought of using them."

"Well, I suppose so. Then, what about the Demon King? Can you win even against the Demon King?"

He's never met the Demon King, but.

There is only one being that makes Heinz Greighton, the Empire's top elder swordsman, afraid.

Only the emperor before his eyes.

"How dare I face the Demon King? Isn't he the opponent Your Majesty has decided to face directly?"

"Hahaha. Who said to actually fight? I asked if you could win if you fought."

"If it is Your Majesty's command, I will lead the army and bring you the Demon King's head."

"So you're saying you can't win one-on-one."

"That's not what I meant..."

"Enough. We'll see when we fight later. Anyway, interesting things will happen soon."

The expression of Heinz Greighton, who is kneeling and bowing his head to the Emperor, is distorted.

'Interesting things...'

How many members of the organization have risked their lives as spies to prepare for attacking the Alkancia Kingdom?

But.

To Emperor Kaiser Lapaz, it seems that it was only a preparatory process to start interesting things.

'Well, with royal blood and unbelievable power, he was born and got stronger every day just by breathing. So, ordinary things must have felt trivial.'

The Emperor asked.

"What about the information on that family?"

Intelligence Chief Heinz Greighton, who had been thinking about other things for a moment, slammed his forehead on the floor.

"Ah, not yet. They hide so well and don't leave any traces..."

Emperor Kaiser Lapaz frowned.

"Didn't you clearly say it yourself? That if our Empire wages a full-scale war with Alkancia on the Pax Continent, it is the most threatening force."

"That's if the legend is true, still exists, and has maintained that much power. But I haven't found a secret family with that much power yet. Maybe it's just a legend..."

"Does that mean your report from a year ago was false?"

Heinz Greighton, still with his forehead on the floor, replied.

"I couldn't help but report because I discovered a possible risk factor."

"And?"

"That's..."

Emperor Kaiser Lapaz's voice sank heavily.

"Who was the first emperor to completely unify the continent?"

"You, Your Majesty, the great Emperor sitting before me."

"Did I ever step forward during the unification of the continent?"

"No, you didn't."

"That's because you were there. Isn't it?"

"You flatter me, Your Majesty."

"You accurately grasped the opponent's power and carried out the work of reducing their strength as much as possible in advance, so we were able to unify the continent without much damage. That is..."

Gulp.

The sound of Intelligence Chief Heinz Greighton swallowing hard echoed in the audience chamber.

"That's why I'm keeping you alive, even though you've disappointed me several times already."

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty."

"So. Does the secret family that protects Alkancia exist or not?"

Last chance.

Heinz Greighton could instinctively sense that the Emperor's leniency ended here.

'If I say I don't know here... I'll die.'

Emperor Kaiser Lapaz.

He is someone who would immediately chop off Heinz's head if he said he didn't know.

It's the same even if he says that the family exists as he investigated a year ago.

He hasn't found any clues about the secret family, so offending the Emperor is the same thing.

Then.

There is only one answer that can keep him alive now.

'Is there only a 10% chance that I can get out of here alive today?'

Heinz Greighton, having finished contemplating, answered.

"Please forgive my incompetence. A year ago, I obtained information that there was a secret family in Alkancia and rashly reported it to Your Majesty, but seeing as there are no traces found until now, I believe that there is no secret family with that much power on the Pax Continent."

"Now you're saying there's no such family?"

"I think I was too sensitive while handling and investigating various threats. It's a legend that has been forgotten even among the people of the Pax Continent, but I hastily judged it because I found related documents. If a force with that much power was hiding, there's no way I wouldn't have found it."

He said everything he had to say.

Now, all he can do is wait for the Emperor's decision.

'Damn it. I shouldn't have made that report back then. I never thought I wouldn't find any traces for over a year...'

---

A year ago.

"Secret family?"

"Yes. It's a story that has been passed down like a legend in the Alkancia Kingdom, but I found data that the family actually exists."

"Tell me in detail."

"When Erium Alkancia unified the Pax Continent and founded the Alkancia Kingdom. There were two families that contributed the most to the continental unification war. They were the families led by two people who were Erium Alkancia's closest aides and could be said to be founding contributors. One of them is the Laon Ducal House, which Your Majesty knows well."

"The Laon Ducal House? Ah. That founding contributor ducal house that you completely dealt with 8 years ago."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"You said that the Alkancia royal family directly killed all those related to the family? They seem like foolish people."

"One son, who was seventeen at the time, survived without dying, but it's nothing to worry about."

"The family was destroyed for treason, so what can one person do now? And?"

"The other family, according to the covenant with the first King Erium Alkancia, volunteered to protect the Alkancia Kingdom from unseen places."

Emperor Kaiser Lapaz, stroking his chin once, slowly nodded his head.

"That family must be real. Stronger than that Laon Ducal House."

"I don't know what it's like now, but it seems like it was probably the case back then."

"A family that protects the kingdom from unseen places... That's an interesting story. So is that secret family the biggest threat to us swallowing Alkancia?"

"I haven't been able to find out the identity of the secret family yet, so I can't be sure, but it's likely to be the case. I will thoroughly investigate and report back to you as soon as possible."

"You're saying there was a bigger threat in Alkancia than the Meridiem Ducal House, the Border Earl Espin Ellaina, the Royal Guard, or the faculty of the Elton Academy."

"That's my guess. I expect that the force that helped the Great Mage Fabian Hendricks to seal the mad dragon Insanis when it appeared hundreds of years ago was probably that family."

"Hoo, so the one who sealed the mad dragon wasn't the Royal Guard."

"There are many things that don't make sense to say that the Royal Guard alone sealed the mad dragon at the time."

Emperor Kaiser Lapaz laughed heartily.

"Good, good. I said it was too boring. Yes, put all your efforts into obtaining information about that family."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

---

A moment of silence followed.

Intelligence Chief Heinz Greighton's back was already soaked with sweat under his uniform.

'Is he hesitating whether to kill me or not.'

The secret family of the Alkancia Kingdom.

Intelligence Chief Heinz Greighton is sure that it exists.

Only if there is a secret family that protects the kingdom from unseen places, the clues to several unexplained events in the thousand-year history of the Alkancia Kingdom will be solved.

That's the case when the mad dragon Insanis appeared, and the same when there was a rebellion of the noble alliance.

Every time there was a situation where the existence of the kingdom was in danger, a force appeared somewhere that broke the balance of power.

There is definitely something.

'But the die has already been cast.'

In a situation where he hasn't obtained any information for over a year, he can't answer that he thinks the secret family exists.

He forced himself not to report and endured, but the Emperor asked him first, so the answer he could give from the beginning was already determined.

"I see. If you have nothing more to report, step back. I should take a nap."

The Emperor's voice became languid again as usual.

'I lived...'

The intelligence chief, who breathed a sigh of relief, slowly retreated.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I will step back now."

---

Slash!

Clang.

Davian succeeded in cutting down the log.

Professor Stella Cloud, who came over after hearing the sound of the log falling, said.

"You succeeded, Davian Naone."

Davian is still looking at the end of his wooden sword with a bewildered expression.

"Yes, Professor."

"Excellent."

He succeeded in cutting down a thick log with a wooden sword without using aura or internal energy.

'This is it... the swordsmanship that Professor Stella succeeded in wounding Insanis with.'

Stella Cloud, who succeeded in cutting through the dragon's scales that even Continental's top swordsman Hugo Molton couldn't wound.

After that, she was in charge of the 3rd grade and focused on teaching 'cutting with the tip of the sword without aura'.

And just before the end of the first semester.

In addition to Bonita, one more person succeeded.

It was Davian Naone.

Bonita came over and patted Davian on the back.

"I thought I had escaped just one more step, but you caught up in the meantime. No, it's been a while since I couldn't win if we fought properly, so I didn't even escape in the first place because I mastered cutting with the tip of the sword."

"If you only consider swordsmanship, there are few people in the continent who can surpass you."

Bonita tilted her head.

"Why the sudden praise?"

"It's worth praising. To have mastered this alone last year. I've only been following the professor's and your swordsmanship."

"I think that's more amazing. What do you do to copy it just by looking at it?"

"Because I'm a genius."

In fact, it's thanks to the Sword Path Vision skill.

He carefully examined the sword paths that Stella Cloud and Bonita Portis showed, and was able to find similarities that were different but the same.

As a result of taking the power out of it and swinging the wooden sword countless times.

He succeeded in cutting with the tip of the sword.

The cut surface is so smooth that it is similar to Bonita's level.

'If I incorporate this into the ice sword... Is there nothing in the world that I can't cut now?'

Demon corps commander, demon king.

Come at me anytime.

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