ALL NOVEL chapter 14
14 – Emperor 7
“So, this was with Lord Ashe.”
The emperor, looking at the bottle containing blue powder that I handed over, said. The emperor’s expression upon seeing the bottle was as if he were looking at filthy mud.
“Do you know what this is?”
“Yes, I do.”
This is a drug.
More addictive and dangerous than drugs in reality.
Naturally, the empire prohibited the possession of drugs, and there had never been a case of drugs appearing in the empire since the current emperor became the emperor.
Lord Ash claimed to the rogue cardinal that nothing had been stolen from him. The reason for this is precisely this: how could the rogue cardinal confess to stealing something when it would involve admitting to stealing drugs?
“Was what Lord Ash had only this one bottle?”
“No. There’s more.”
I pulled out about 30 bottles from the inventory. The emperor’s golden eyes glinted sharply. It was evident to anyone that he was furious.
“Tsk. Did you bring everything from Lord Ash’s possession?”
“Yes. I brought everything from the lord’s house without leaving a single thing behind.”
I infiltrated the lord’s house secretly and cleaned it out thoroughly. I revealed my identity as the rogue cardinal only after I had emptied all the drugs from the lord’s house.
“That’s really fortunate. Did it seem to you, as you observed, that Lord Ash was addicted?”
“No. Rather than being addicted, Lord Ash seemed to have never used drugs at all.”
“Even more rubbish.”
As the emperor said, it was truly rubbish.
The reason there were drugs in the lord’s house even though he didn’t use them was simple: the lord intended to make other people addicted to drugs for profit.
“It seemed like he wanted to make other people addicted to drugs to make money.”
People addicted to drugs would do anything to get their hands on them.
“When you looked, were there already people addicted?”
“I checked all the servants in the lord’s house, but none of them seemed to be addicted. I tried to check everyone in the territory, but it was a failure.”
I confirmed all the servants when I invaded the lord’s house. No one seemed to be addicted to drugs yet. I just didn’t have enough time to check the people in the territory.
“That’s enough. You’ve done well. Leave the rest to the luggage.”
When the emperor tapped the chair, several people appeared out of thin air. They were all covered in black robes, making it impossible to distinguish whether they were men or women.
“Find out where Lord Ash got the drugs and check if the people in the territory are not addicted.”
“Glory to the Empire”
They left only those words and disappeared.
It was only natural for the viscount Ash to end his term when the emperor himself took action. Suddenly, Croaker’s quest came to mind.
[The people of the village have all become addicted to drugs because of Viscount Ash. It was too late to treat them.]
[To obtain drugs, they deceived and killed adventurers who traveled to the village and obtained money to purchase drugs.]
[Not only that, they killed their lovers, children, parents, and friends, taking each other’s money and drugs. The village, once small and harmonious, with laughter that never ceased, is no longer there.]
[The villain, Viscount Ash, who is responsible for the drug addiction, is living a prosperous life without caring for the people in the village.]
“Loki, please bring peace to this village.”
There won’t be such a damn quest popping up now.
There’s no need to kill the villagers anymore to advance the story.
“I’m pondering what reward to give you.”
I snapped out of it at the emperor’s voice and looked at him. There was a peculiar emotion in his gaze as he looked at me.
It made sense for the emperor to look at me with such eyes. If it weren’t for me, it would have taken a while for him to notice the drugs.
I had originally intended to demand an elixir, but I changed my mind. With my current strength, it’s difficult to completely resolve what will happen in the future.
“Your Highness, please teach me the Shadow Walk.”
The emperor looked at me with surprise, as if he hadn’t expected my request. After all, who would ask the emperor to teach them how to fight?
“Oh~.”
The surprise in the emperor’s eyes disappeared, replaced by pleasure.
“Although I am here talking with you, I have a busier schedule than anyone.”
As expected, it was a refusal. In fact, what I said was quite rude.
“But if you roll the dice, you’ll have a little bit of time left.”
What does that mean?
“From now on, I’ll teach you how to use the shadow step.”
The emperor looked at me with a puzzled look and said. As he got up from his chair and walked towards me, the emperor seemed somehow pleased.
“You asked me how you could become stronger last time. Do you remember the answer I gave you then?”
How could I forget that answer?
It was an unexpected, romantic answer from the emperor.
‘If you have a lover, you can become stronger than anyone else.’
“I remember. But, Your Majesty, I still don’t have anyone I love.”
“In fact, there is another way to become stronger besides that method.”
I wanted to ask what it was, but I couldn’t.
“Cough!”
The emperor’s fist had suddenly hit my neck. What’s this!
“From now on, you will die hundreds of times. If you make what you learn from those countless deaths your own, you can become stronger.”
I slumped from the shock coming from my neck.
The emperor handed me a sword as I slumped.
“You have died once now.”
I had a feeling that the time I spent learning from the emperor would not be ordinary.
“One hour a day. I won’t spare more time for you.”
That day, for one hour, I died 64 times under the emperor.
.
.
.
Shoo. Shwook.
“The essence of the shadowed footsteps lies in freedom.”
Thud!
“Cough!”
The Emperor casually evaded my staff and spoke. His knee struck my chest.
Shoo. Shwook.
The frustrating point was that the Emperor deliberately moved at the same speed as me.
Nevertheless, my attacks were in vain, and the Emperor’s attacks always succeeded.
“I, too, believe I move freely in my own way!”
Shoo. Shwook.
“No, you have not understood anything yet.”
On that day, I died 42 times by the Emperor’s hand.
.
.
.
“Originally, I wanted to teach Lucas how to fight, but unfortunately, Jim lacked confidence with a spear, you see.”
Swung. Swish.
“Your Highness, the princess is not here! Cough!”
“You’re still inexperienced. Eirika is teaching me, as she is the empress.”
“I apologize, but it seems Your Majesty lacks the talent for teaching.”
Swoosh,
“You talk a lot even while sparring. But thanks to that, haven’t you also grown stronger?”
Cheh. Unfortunately, I couldn’t deny the emperor’s words.
I tried to avoid the emperor’s sword coming towards me, but I couldn’t escape.
On this day, I died 37 times at the hands of the emperor.
.
.
.
And so, the days of continuously dying at the hands of the emperor continued.
I wanted to doubt whether I could become stronger through this ignorant method.
As the days passed, feeling the growth became more irritating.
.
.
.
“Today is the last day.”
As the emperor said, tomorrow I would enter the academy, so practically, today was the last day I could learn from the emperor.
I rushed towards the emperor, wielding my staff. Compared to the first day, my movements were much faster and more dazzling.
“Sure, now you understand what it means to move a little more freely.”
“Yes! I understand a bit now! So, please hit me at least once!”
If I recall the moment when I first swung the staff at the emperor, I could see that the emperor’s movements to dodge my staff had become more pronounced.
“It’s not dignified to see the Crown Prince suffer just because he took a hit from you.”
The emperor’s sword touched my neck.
Damn, I held out a bit longer this time.
“That makes it nine times now.”
Today, I died nine times at the hands of the emperor.
Of course, if the emperor hadn’t matched my speed, I would have died instantly.
“You’ve worked hard. Don’t neglect your efforts at the academy either.”
“Next time, please let me get hit by the staff at least once!”
The emperor laughed in response to my words. It was evidence that I had spent that much time with the emperor.
“Think about it.”
.
.
As I was about to leave the palace, I ran into Erika.
“Did you get scolded by His Majesty again today?”
“hahahaha, today wasn’t too bad!”
Coming to the palace to learn from the emperor, I had become friends with Erika. More accurately, my messed-up body had become friendly with Erika as she healed me.
“My body, battered from being hit by the emperor, was healing.”
In response to my narration-like words, Yerica took a deep breath and burst into laughter.
“Kook! What’s with that explanation-like talk? By the way, that mask will never come off. Any chance of showing your bare face?”
I raised my index finger to my lips.
“This is a secret.”
As if she had expected it, Hwangnyeo didn’t say anything more.
“Hwangnyeo, are you not going to tell me the reason for catching the rogue cardinal?”
Yerica winked and, like me, put her index finger to her lips.
“That’s a secret.”
We looked at each other and burst into laughter.
After finishing the conversation with Yerica and arriving at the inn, I threw myself onto the inn’s bed.
It was still a bit early to sleep, but since it was the first day of the academy tomorrow, I went to bed a little earlier to avoid being late.
“Early to bed, early to rise.”
And the next morning, I overslept.
Oops!