chapter 23
6. Emperor and Seonghwang (1)
When he heard from a man named Penny that Ian had been kicked out, the emperor quietly flinched.
When I heard that Ian had returned to the capital without saying anything and was throwing a new party, I was taken aback.
Shameless or insensitive?
Probably both.
The shameless and insensitive attitude of Ian disturbed the emperor.
I couldn’t ask Penny or the 1st warrior party for the inside story.
The fact that Ian was the legendary Philip was a secret that only a few knew, so I had to hear it only through Ian’s mouth.
“Ian.”
Although he was taken aback, and his sudden action made him laugh, the emperor was not angry.
Anger only flows upwards.
Therefore, an emperor who reigned over all people was a person who did not get angry.
“… Yes.”
He simply listens, grasps, and directs.
Emotions were unnecessary in determining the course of the empire.
“Explain.”
What happened to the first party?
why didn’t you tell yourself
what are you going to do in the future
It was a question that contained many questions.
To the short question, Ian also gave a short answer.
“I was kicked out.”
A little explanation has been added.
“I don’t know the exact reason. There have been many misunderstandings and frictions that inevitably arise between people. However, I am certain that a woman named Penny would have framed me against them without my knowledge.”
penny.
It was the name of the woman who had sent an erratic reply to a letter sent to Ian.
“I believed that the trust between you and the warriors is solid.”
“I was like that too, but it seems that the inside of a person is deeper than the sea and is unknown.”
“Hmm… .”
Sylvia, Aria, Beatrice, and Kylie.
The emperor clearly remembers the process of Ian taking the four of them and raising them.
It was around the time that the first party didn’t have the status it had until now, and Ian wasn’t a very great person either.
It was hard to believe, yet convincing, that they kicked out Ian, who was no different from my own parents, even at a young age.
It is human to stick a knife into the back of a benefactor.
Stealing the pockets of saints is human.
The emperor had nothing new about that side of humanity.
I didn’t criticize him for not coming back and persuading me.
Trust between people is the most important factor.
It is close to impossible to undo broken trust.
Trust that is as important as that is broken for very trivial or incomprehensible reasons and misunderstandings.
“Are you okay?”
What’s okay, I didn’t ask specifically.
Ian explained.
“The wide front at the border has stabilized. The minor disturbances that will occur until the demons’ great advance in winter can be wiped out with only the soldiers stationed at the general. Or, if necessary, requesting a request from the official warrior party is sufficient.”
The emperor hoped that Ian would say something like ‘I’m fine’.
However, Ian only talked about public matters.
I wondered if he had no feelings, even pure curiosity.
If someone else had said Ian’s words, they would have taken it as an excuse.
However, the prophet’s words carried a weight that could never be ignored.
“Yeah, if you say so, that would be it… . By the way, is being exiled also something that was foreseen?”
“It’s not like that. I see only what I see.”
True to his name as a prophet, he does not say ‘know’ the future, but only ‘sees’ it.
They only see and talk about certain results in the flow of cause and effect, and claim that they don’t know what they don’t know.
It was a very simple excuse for Ian, but those who do not know the inside story have no choice but to believe it.
“The reason I didn’t inform His Majesty earlier is also in line with him. My exile is a future I haven’t seen. I must say that there was no rush. For the future war, I decided that I had to quickly organize a party to be commanded by me.”
To put it simply, I was busy and couldn’t inform you.
It was true.
Ian never thought he would be like that, and had to quickly find a new talent to kill the demon king.
‘If I find out naturally, I’ll summon them then, I had that thought.’
Although his arrogance was over the limit, even the emperor could not rebuke the prophet who spoke of the future.
Already thanks to his prophecies, the Empire has averted many great and feared transgressions.
“If so, what are you going to do next?”
“We will grow a new party. No matter how strong the first party is, it is only 4 people. It is self-evident that it will be difficult for the four of us to cover that wide front when war becomes visible. So, we are looking for other talent.”
“Can you find talent that is only the first party?”
The 4 members of the 1st party are the strong ones who the Prophet assured them of the future.
I was wondering if something like that could happen again.
“Yes.”
Ian couldn’t be sure, but Ian answered that.
No one knew the true meaning of it.
‘Anyway, there are very few things I can do in my life. I had to do more.’
The emperor shook his head, and the scribe eagerly wrote down Ian’s words.
“Shall I leave the first party alone?”
“I’ve been thinking about that, but… .”
After thinking for a while, Ian responded with a question.
“By any chance, have there been any people recently hired by the Imperial Magicians?”
Not all superhumans become warriors.
Among them, there are two options for superhumans who are born with the qualities to become wizards, except for warriors.
Either lock yourself in the Magic Tower and focus on your personal research, or join the Imperial Magician’s Order and devote yourself to the Empire and humanity.
Other than that, there are people who study or wander on their own, but they are rare.
Instead of answering, the emperor looked at the mage commander who was here.
The captain replied.
“… That’s right.”
Ian nodded and continued.
“There must be a woman named ‘Iris’ among them.”
The mage leader instantly got goosebumps.
In fact, among those who joined this time, there was a woman named Iris.
However, Ian had never been provided with the information that Iris had hired in the first place, let alone Iris.
His attitude of knowing everything for granted was appalling.
How far do you know?
There are times when the prophet’s words are creepy even if they are not evil.
“I hope you will fully support the wizard.”
“The reason is?”
“He will invent a new magic called ‘warp portal’.”
“Warp Portal… ? Isn’t that the one in the dungeon?”
The emperor cast his gaze at the mage leader.
The leader looked at me as if he didn’t know.
The identity of the dungeon portal has not been revealed.
Only the superficial fact that it is a mana aggregate that produces or moves demons is known.
There is still a difference of opinion in the academic world as to whether it produces or moves.
After checking the reaction of the two, Ian calmly explained.
“I don’t know the detailed principle, but it’s correct that it functions the same as a portal in a dungeon. It is to install a ‘door’ made of mana that connects random spaces.”
In the second round, there was a magic that everyone regretted because it was invented too late.
There was also a wizard who discovered the principle of the portal alone, which many others, including Ian, could not.
She didn’t completely figure out the identity of the portal.
I just understood the principle and invented a magic that works similarly.
“If you use that door, you can come and go at once wherever the door is installed.”
Ian also had little information about the wizard ‘Iris’, so he couldn’t tell him in advance.
However, when I entered the palace earlier, there were several imperial mages I saw in the second playthrough.
Overhearing their conversation, Iris was there.
I can only say that I was lucky to have come to see the emperor today.
“For example, you can move from the entrance of this imperial palace to the first barrier on the northern front in one step.”
One of the most important elements of this 3rd round.
The magic that everyone said in unison that if it had been invented just a little earlier, we don’t know what the war would have been like.
Ian wanted to invent the ‘warp portal’ before the war.
‘It’s not something I would do.’
*
While Ian meets the Emperor.
Katie went out to the monastery backyard after dinner.
It was a wide meadow with wild flowers blooming haphazardly.
It was also a place where the children sometimes came out to play.
So far, Ian hasn’t been contacted, and Kati hasn’t even sent a call.
Still, Kati looked at the ring whenever she had a chance.
Then, because the ring was burdensome, he said he would run away, and he didn’t care even when Mercy scolded him.
“… !”
Kati trembled as she stretched her arms outstretched toward the high moon.
A black ring glowed softly in the moonlight.
What is Ian doing?
Her owner, who was always busy, felt ironic for no reason.
Even when he belonged to the 1st party, he split his sleeping time.
After leaving the place, I wondered if we could be together comfortably.
He immediately started looking for other warriors and making a party.
What is it that keeps him busy?
Seeing him living like he’s being chased by life, I wish I could give him a break.
He had neither the strength nor the qualifications to do so.
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Just like the name of the ring, she is nothing more than a subject subject to him.
Although he has been training for a long time, he is not strong enough to protect him from the first party.
Above all, she is a Mine.
Ian, the human, and himself, the Mine.
It is a cider that cannot be mixed by nature.
Because they are humans and demons.
Because the relationship with the owner is only a day.
Occasionally, she felt that a bit of an over-the-top grumbling was all she was allowed to do.
Feeling the presence, Kati turned around.
There was a girl standing there, hesitant.
It was a girl named Emma.
“I, uh… . Kati?”
For some reason, it was difficult for Emma to deal with Kati.
Basically, her eyes were covered with a black cloth, so I couldn’t tell what expression she was making.
I wonder how he can see, but he didn’t even have the courage to ask.
“yes.”
His voice was cold, devoid of any emotion.
However, since Vivian described her as a good person, she probably wasn’t a bad person.
“I-that’s it… .”
As Emma approached, she suddenly saw Kati’s appearance.
Unknowingly, my eyes were drawn to Kati and I stopped walking.
Under the pale moonlight, the cool night wind blew Kati’s silver hair dazzlingly.
Even the word artistic was not enough.
It was a beauty that transcended anything like rational attraction.
As Emma watched in silence, Kati tilted her head.
“Oh, well, that… . Kati, are you strong?”
At that question, Kati looked up at the sky and shook her head.
“no.”
Might be strong for some.
At least Katie couldn’t be satisfied with herself.
It was an unexpected infidelity, and Emma was taken aback.
“Ah, that, but… . I saw you subdue the guards the other day. You must be much stronger than me.”
To that, he answered without any hesitation.
“yes.”
It was a reaction that only affirmed the fact as it was.
“I heard that you will be staying for a day or two. That’s why… , I, please train me. Please!”
Emma pleaded, bending her waist squarely.
Katy’s answer, on the other hand, was dry.
“why me?”
It wasn’t an expression of annoyance or contempt.
It was a question of pure reason.
Emma answered with clenched fists.
“A precious person… I want to protect it.”
Important person.
Those words lingered in Kati’s mind.
“Vivian unnie is now… You must be strong enough to not need my help. But, still, I want to become stronger. Vivian unnie doesn’t have to worry, even enough to protect the other children with her own hands… . It’s too hard now to just be taken away because you’re weak… .”
Katie saw Emma’s fists tremble.
I could feel the resentment and resentment accumulated within him, albeit weakly.
Kati sensed Vivian’s presence there.
Emma’s precious person.
And, even though they are far away now, Kati’s precious person connected by the ring.
When I first met Ian.
Carty was exactly the same age as Emma now.
After killing all the other Mine colleagues I was with with my own hands, and killing all of the researcher wizards and alchemists.
Ian found her sitting alone in the underground laboratory.
Originally, Ian’s goal was a subspace pouch possessed by the laboratory director.
Ian couldn’t leave her young alone.
I was going to take her on the way out and leave her somewhere, but there was no place to accept her, so I ended up accompanying her all the time.
In the past, there was no name Kati.
‘It’s number 13… .’
13 times. That’s Kati’s former name.
Hearing the name, Ian murmured bitterly.
Since then, because it resembles a cat and can transform into a cat, Ian gave it a simple name, ‘Catty’.
It was a combination of Cat and Kitty.
Ian was embarrassed that he had built it himself and said it was too rough, but Kati liked his name.
Because it is a name given to you by someone dear to you.
“If you don’t like… .”
“I will.”
“Uh, yes?”
“training. I will help you.”
Kati accepted the request very calmly.
I’ve never personally trained others, but I’ve helped or received training a few times.
I also received training from Ian from time to time.
It was also the subject of sparring for the 1st party.
In other words, she personally experienced the 1st party’s fighting style.
It was a bitter limitation that he had never won.
“Really?”
“yes.”
Kati remembered Ian’s education and did the same to Emma.
Of course, it was a level that Emma could not properly follow.
Although Emma constantly falls and misses her weapon.
“I will try again… !”
continued to challenge
Katie constantly thought of Ian’s voice.
Helping with this training was one of the ways to draw him when he was not around.