chapter 41
Chapter 11 Dragon Heart (1)
imperial palace.
The center of the Terst Empire, the capital city of Silester.
If you go inside and go further north, you will see a huge outer wall that can be seen from afar.
That is the outer wall of the Imperial Palace.
The length of one wall was at least 20 km.
When you go inside the huge square outer wall that makes up exactly four sides, each of the inner walls is displayed in front of your eyes.
You must pass through all of those castles to reach the deepest part of the castle, and what you see is the castle where the emperor lives.
All those who live within the outer wall are made possible to live within it.
Not only marts, but also restaurants, beauty salons, laundry, hospitals, and entertainment facilities such as bars and karaoke rooms.
Would you say it is a castle version of a residential and commercial complex?
Soon, I was met with a dazzling introspection.
The lofty majesty just stands there enormously.
As if a designer designed it without thinking, on an absurd scale.
The car stopped in front of him, and I and Philly got off.
“From here on, you have to cover your eyes. pardon.”
I nodded and the driver came and put a cloth over my eyes.
I just wrapped my hair in a layer of fabric and tied my hair, but I couldn’t see anything in front of me.
I am only a driver, but the pressure I feel is considerable.
Do you also act as a bodyguard in case of emergency?
I turned around at Philly’s instructions and walked towards somewhere.
At every fork in the road, I had to turn around and walk again.
At that point, you lose your sense of direction as well as how you got there.
… … Of course, I know everything about the structure of the Imperial Palace.
Philly’s efforts not to reveal the insides to me are imaginary, but it doesn’t mean much.
I’m not talking because I don’t have anything good to say.
“Come on, you can release it now.”
At Philly’s horse, he untied the cloth and looked around, and there were all kinds of weapons and shields.
It was the royal arsenal.
“First, I will satisfy your condition. I’ll get the info later. That would be the right order.”
I nodded and looked around.
Pretending to find a suitable weapon, he puts everything inside the weaving workshop.
Of course, how many of the things I have here can be used properly with my skills, but there are a lot of weapons in the workshop, so there’s nothing wrong with that.
And I stopped at one place.
Philly said as he looked at my gaze.
“Ah, I’ll tell you in advance, but that weapon doesn’t work.”
“I know.”
One with a different display from other weapons.
It floats solidly in the air with strict magical devices and equipment.
A hammer with a short handle.
Square steel with exactly the same shape on both sides of the handle.
The strongest weapon possessed by the Terst Empire.
The god of Thor, Mjolnir.
‘It reminds me of the old days.’
A topic that comes up every day when doing community related to Etius in the old world.
‘Which is stronger, Thor’s Mjolnir or Zeus’ lightning?’
It was like a childish thesis about who would win if a lion and a tiger were fighting.
The reason this topic is not over is that the main character, Aster, cannot use both of them.
As you can see, Mjölnir is enshrined in the deepest part of the empire, and is used by the emperor in an emergency.
No one has ever seen Zeus’ lightning, ‘Astrafe’.
Just because Etius is a game in which gods exist, it is a guess that there will be no lightning from Zeus.
‘But I can write.’
After you have already put it in the workshop.
But it’s not available right now.
Even the legendary weapon ‘Gram’ can maintain weaving in 5 seconds.
Mjölnir is probably impossible to cast itself.
‘… … Someday.’
For now, I just keep them in the workshop.
One day I will write
I picked up a suitable sword nearby.
Since I roughly checked the contents while putting it in the workshop, it is a top-notch product among the items here.
“… … I have eyes to see.”
“thank you.”
“Then let’s go next.”
And again it is blindfolded, spins round and round, and moves.
After a while, following Philly’s instructions, I took off the cloth, and this time I saw a long staircase.
“Be careful from here. I’m going down the stairs. It was built in a hurry later, so the facilities are incomplete.”
I followed Philly towards the dark stairs.
how far down
As Philly said, this place was definitely unfinished.
They dug up the ground and didn’t put up a wall.
It’s just a stone wall.
If you count by floors, when you think that the 10th floor has gone down.
reached flat ground.
“Wait for the door to open.”
Philly walked towards the door.
Then, it suddenly stopped.
Tung!
A fairly large stone fell in front of her.
“Hey, hey!”
Philly staggered back, startled.
The place was not properly repaired, so it looked like a rockfall.
If you were hit, you could be injured even if you didn’t die.
──But that scene.
It’s not just the mood that makes it look so weird.
‘What just happened?’
Philly stopped before the stone fell.
as if you knew
But as soon as the stone falls, he is startled and trembles.
‘Can you see me? What?’
If it was just acting, I have no choice but to think of every expression Philly makes as acting.
Even if it’s acting, there’s no reason for me to act like that.
How did Philly know the stone would fall?
If you knew, why are you so surprised?
“Uh, uhm. Well then. Will you open it?”
Philly coughed in embarrassment and grabbed the doorknob.
As if magic had been activated by that, there was a clicking sound of the lock being released.
It’s fingerprint magic.
It was also in the hut, which is an outbuilding of Roach, but it must be a much higher level of locking magic here.
I left behind the discomfort I had with Philly and went inside with her.
Inside, a blue shiny object was placed in the center.
Its shape reminds me of a triangle.
A very thin, small triangle.
It is shaped as if thick circular bars were connected in a triangle.
The Dragon Heart is in front of me.
‘… … wait.’
Then I think I’ll try this too.
I inadvertently put a dragon heart into the workshop.
It’s not even a weapon, so I don’t think there’s any use for it.
‘But what if I woven this and eat it?’
… … I feel like something is dangerous.
“Okay, have you checked? Now it’s Mr. Frontier’s turn.”
“It was about Dragon Heart.”
“Yes.”
Philly waved her hand and cast a spell.
It’s a ‘whisper of the wind’.
I’ve also used this magic on Queenie before to keep conversations from leaking.
I’d love to hear from anyone like this, but it’s really thorough.
“Is the information you have about Dragon Heart really worth it?”
This question is not really Philly.
You wouldn’t have any credit for me, asking someone selling the value of the information.
Does that mean Philly is desperate?
“I can only say yes.”
“… … It would be.”
Philly’s red eyes looked around me.
As if trying to pierce through me, as if trying to see through my bluff.
What would change something like that?
‘Fili Terst, if you can, I want you to be my ally.’
Philly is an infinitely gray figure in the game Etius.
Depending on the style of play, Philly can be either an enemy or an ally of the protagonist.
I want Philly to be my ally.
However, blind favor only breeds suspicion.
And as long as I don’t know Philly’s true intentions, a reckless kindness can strangle me.
“… … Philly.”
I called her.
Even though she is called the Empress, she doesn’t even attach the nim character.
Philly’s eyes narrowed.
“Huh? What is it all of a sudden?”
“Why do you need a Dragon Heart?”
“You don’t know about that. Wouldn’t that have been included in the deal?”
Yes.
I wouldn’t even want to say it in the first place.
It’s a fact that the imperial family also hides, but there’s no way you can tell me.
“Mr. Philly.”
“I’ll take a look, no, it’s too worthy to cut your throat even once, but the second time,”
“What did you do to Aten?”
Philly’s eyes widened at my words.
In the game, Philly is smart, capable, and nimble in politics and calculations.
After all, the number one priority is her daughters.
Elysia, Saleh, Aten.
And among them, Aten is ranked 0.
It can be said that the reason Philly exerts influence in politics, and all the reasons for rescuing the crisis of the Terst Empire and acting are for Aten.
Therefore, if Philly is to become an ally, she must first be trusted by Aten.
But for some reason, when Aster and Aten meet for the first time, Aten treats Aster very coldly.
Up until now, I thought it was Aten’s ‘personality’, but when I look at it with Frontier, it appears in a different way.
Aten hates Aster.
I hate people I’ve never met.
Even though there are no problems with Aster’s reputation, conduct, or appearance.
Rather, it is all about blindly hating Aster, who is running at the top.
‘… … Magic.’
That’s all I can think of.
Aten is under some kind of magic.
Perhaps that kind of magic that felt disgusted by the target it was designated for.
However, magic that affects people’s minds in that way does not simply activate.
The effect is only seen through continuous infusion over a long period of time.
It is similar to brainwashing.
Besides, the process would have to be more complicated and meticulous in order not to get caught.
… … Someone who can do that to Aten.
It’s just Philly.
“What do you mean?”
Philly stumbled out of nowhere.
Does not matter.
Aten is such a big weakness for Philly.
“I know you love Aten. That you are living for her, even if you give your all.”
“… … .”
Phil didn’t answer.
“It’s hard to guess why you, like that, cast a spell that made Aten hate Aster.”
“You even know that.”
Philly didn’t deny it any more.
In denial, if I go and tell Aten this story now, it means nothing.
At the time Philly brought me here, she doesn’t have much to write.
Kill me for silence?
Even though I don’t see much myself, I am the son of the Roach family.
It is not a problem that can be simply ignored and passed on.
In that case, there is a risk that even the contents of the secretly moving Dragon Heart will be exposed.
A magic that makes Aster feel disgusted.
In other words, Philly doesn’t want Aten and Aster to get too close.
But Philly’s love for Aten is absolute.
In other words, the magic must also be for Aten.
However, as the game progresses, Aten becomes Aster’s ally in almost all cases.
Philly’s magic is finally broken.
And when that happens, Aten fights with Aster in the end——
‘Now I know.’
Avoid falling rocks in front of you,
A sense of incongruity in Philly who is surprised by avoiding it.
There, the cruel ending of this game that only I know.
I said.
“Mr. Philly, can you see the ‘future’?”
At my words, Philly wiped out all the expressions on that face.
But soon he regained his gentle face,
She answered with a clumsy smile like the most natural and most hers ever.
“… … A little.”