ALL NOVEL Chapter 74
1st Prince Gunter resides in the Sun Palace.
Reflecting his personality, the building is so simple that it hardly feels like an Imperial Palace.
―Haaah!!
Due to the screams that resonate every evening nowadays, the Sun Palace has earned a reputation for being haunted.
“Today, I’ve successfully defeated the demon once again. The blessing of the Goddess is with us.”
As Simon closed the holy book and made the sign of the cross, Gunter, who was sprawled on the bed, protested violently.
“What blessing? My shoulders and back are hurting everywhere!”
“Health comes at a price. Look, I’ve extracted this much unclean energy again today.”
Simon confidently displayed the dark mass he had pulled from Gunter’s body.
It was all from Gunter himself.
It was true that after receiving his exorcism massage, he felt lighter to some degree, so Gunter couldn’t voice his complaints.
The problem was that his exorcism spells were so painful to endure during the process.
Of course, the attending physician obeys his lord’s orders, but timid Gunter always worried about what others thought.
“Can’t we skip it this time? It feels like I’m receiving this way too often…”
“What are you talking about? The date set by Your Majesty is right around the corner. To demonstrate that Your Highness is greater than the 3rd Princess, we must continue with the exorcist healing.”
As Simon argued, Gunter zipped his lips shut.
As he got up, he asked his secretary.
“How’s the Moonlight Palace? Can we win?”
“Well…”
The secretary, who had been observing the Moonlight Palace’s movements, explained the situation to Gunter.
Simon became skeptical about what he had heard.
“Just using food to organize the mana circuit? What kind of unheard-of method is that?”
“They say it’s showing considerable effects.”
“Even if it works, how much…”
―Kugugugung!!
At that moment, a tremendous noise inundated Simon’s ears.
Startled, he opened the window to see a massive mountain of ice rising from the magical training ground.
“What, what’s that?”
“That’s Acella’s magic! She’s gotten much stronger than before. Simon, how can we beat something like that!”
Gunter stomped his feet.
Seeing the rise in magic, it was clear Acella’s mana circuit had been organized much better than before.
Grinding his teeth, Simon immediately set his legs in motion.
“Simon, where are you going?”
Simon headed straight back to the Inner Palace to gather information on Gothberg and the Moonlight Palace.
‘At this rate, there’s no chance of winning.’
Simon nervously bit his nails.
‘I even failed to subdue the 2nd Prince faction. Falkenhayn doesn’t even listen to me.’
It was all Gunter’s weakness that caused this.
Despite being the Crown Prince, Gunter was ignorant of the Imperial Family’s politics and lacked influence.
As a result, Simon’s standing in the Inner Palace naturally decreased. Simon believed that Gunter’s weakness was also the reason why Falkenhayn lost to Gothberg.
Even Gunter, who was physically weak, couldn’t endure his exorcism spells and screamed like a girl.
If he had been the attending physician for George or Heike, he would have achieved much better results.
‘Gothberg, that devil.’
Simon stared at the bottle that contained the black plague extracted from Gunter.
Suddenly, he had a great idea, picked up the bottle, and began to cast a spell.
Shadow Walk. This was the technique used for stealth to track heretics.
As Simon slipped into the shadows, he quietly moved his feet.
Entering the Imperial kitchen without anyone noticing.
The faint smell of oil tickled his nose in the dark kitchen.
Simon entered the supply room, quickly finding his target and removing his hood.
‘Moonlight Palace exclusive. So that’s it.’
Opening the box, he found high-quality meats and a variety of vegetables among the ingredients for tomorrow’s meals.
Simon opened the cap of the bottle he had brought.
‘This is Gunter’s unclean energy. If the 3rd Princess eats food mixed with this, her condition will surely worsen.’
If Gothberg’s strategy failed, victory would naturally come to him.
At the moment Simon tilted the bottle to pour the thick black contents over the ingredients…
―Thud!
“Uh?!”
Simon stopped moving at the sensation of his wrist being grabbed.
Turning his head, he saw a cheeky-looking face approaching him.
“Hey, brother, no matter how rushed you are, doing this is bad. This is treason against the royals, you know?”
Lars Gothberg pulled a lollipop from his pocket and smiled slyly.
“Gothberg, how did you know?!”
Even if Simon was touted as the best in the continent at stealth, there should have been no reason for him to get caught by anyone.
Being a solo act, there shouldn’t have been any gaps for information to leak.
“How did I know? That’s a trade secret.”
Lars skirted the status window and replied. Of course, Simon had no way of understanding the meaning behind that gesture.
Lars looked at the numbers displayed on the pushed-away status window.
‘With probabilities shifting like this, it was inevitable that Simon would do something reckless.’
―――――――――――
No. 012: Empire’s downfall 24% → 36%
No. 062: Black Death 23% → 62%
No. 101: Magic Explosion 7% → 34%
―――――――――――
‘The Black Death ending occurs when Acella releases a plague on the continent. So it should arise once the thought of injecting the black plague into food is reached.’
Lars inferred Simon’s actions based on the bad ending details as he reached the dining room.
“Gothberg… you devil!!”
Simon sprang up from his seat and cast an exorcism spell.
‘If I can defeat him, I can avoid the mess!’
A vicious claw sprouted from Simon’s left hand.
He swung it directly at Lars’ face.
―Pow!!
With a dull thud, he crashed face-first into a box of ingredients.
“Are inquisitors usually this violent?”
Tanya lightly brandished her sword towards Lars and asked.
“Kind of.”
“Hmm. I’ll need to be careful in the future.”
Tanya poked Simon, who had fallen over, to check whether he was unconscious.
*
“Judge Simon has been dismissed, and considering his previous merits, he won’t face execution, but he will serve a life sentence. Thus, the victory naturally goes to the Gothberg faction.”
A month had passed since the Emperor’s decree, and Ambrosia delivered the news to me.
“Measurements of Prince Gunter and Princess Acella’s mana circuits have concluded. Even if Simon hadn’t committed such an act, this battle would overwhelmingly favor the Moonlight Palace.”
“Thank you, sister.”
“Please continue to look after the Inner Palace.”
I bowed to Ambrosia and returned to the Inner Palace.
Entering through the main gate and turning right, I soon saw the nameplate.
[Gothberg]
Ah, this is it.
“Welcome, Teacher Gothberg!”
Falkenhayn greeted me at the office entrance on tiptoes.
“You truly are remarkable, teacher. You made that fool Simon tire himself out and self-destruct! It’s a relief the 3rd Princess is okay too.”
“You’ve worked hard too, Falkenhayn.”
It was likely that not only Simon but all factions of the 2nd Prince were eyeing my faction.
It was thanks to his efforts that I could fully bring my faction under my wing.
“I’ve also completed the office relocation.”
Chloe and Hugo reported. The office was on the 1st floor, and only Tanya seemed displeased with this.
“Everyone did a great job. Now, let’s dive into our work with a fresh mindset.”
“Teacher, before that, I need directions for work here too.”
As I entered the office with Hugo’s report, an amusing sight unfolded before me.
In the waiting room, dozens of healers were seated, and they all stood up and greeted me energetically when they saw me.
“Teacher Gothberg, how do you do!”
“I’d like to introduce myself, but!”
There were a considerable number of familiar faces among them.
Turning my head, I saw Hugo explaining.
“They are healers who have joined our faction. There are some from the 1st Princess faction who volunteered together, as well as existing healers from the 2nd Prince faction and others interested in medicine.”
“Hm.”
I snapped my fingers.
“Falkenhayn, you can take charge of their training, right?”
“Of course.”
After quickly finishing the organization, I stepped into the inner room.
I sat comfortably in a spacious chair and leaned against the soft backrest.
*
“Your Majesty, this is the medicinal food prepared by Doctor Gothberg.”
As Ambrosia continued to explain, pointing at the various dishes on the Emperor’s table, he examined each one, sniffing them and smiling slightly.
“I hear Acella particularly loves this dish.”
“Indeed. In the month since the diet change, mana flow has improved by more than 20%.”
“Interesting.”
“In addition, the newly formulated medication has also arrived, but what do you wish to do?”
The Emperor stroked his chin and nodded.
“I’ll try everything.”
*
It has been about ten months since my faction firmly established itself and began to grow.
It was largely thanks to the Emperor starting to accept medicine after my match against Simon.
When the head of the country moves, the flow inevitably follows.
As a result, the 3rd Princess faction in the Inner Palace grew to thirty healers, and our scope of work continued to expand as well.
That meant that I had more responsibilities to handle, and I was slowly beginning to want to request something from Acella.
“I’d like to apply for a long vacation.”
When I presented the document, Acella made a pouty face.
“How long is long?”
“About a month?”
“That’s too long. No way.”
As expected, she rejected it outright.
Maybe it was because she had aged a year, but the Royal Princess seemed even more harsh than before.
Being a thorough subordinate, I politely bowed my head.
“Your Highness, I’ve already been in the Inner Palace for over a year. I believe this request falls within reasonable bounds.”
“That’s not acceptable.”
“I clearly mentioned from the start that I have obligations to care for my family. You acknowledged that, Your Highness.”
“…Still not allowed.”
“Come on, it’s unreasonable to say no without a reason.”
“I can say no because I’m a princess.”
“Wow, are you serious?”
“Really, say whatever you want.”
“No, I’m not doing that.”
Trying to argue would only land me in prison.
It was my place to propose a compromise.
I wanted to take my vacation for a different reason.
I had received a message from home, saying that the basis for the pharmaceutical factory was starting to take shape.
I needed to check it directly in the early stages of business.
“Where do you plan to go?”
“To the Marquis of Gothberg.”
“Hmm.”
Acella pondered for a moment before asking a strange question.
“Are the yellow roses blooming?”
“Considering the season, they should be completely absent right now. However, I do have golden roses blooming regardless of the season. Why?”
“Um….”
As Acella fiddled with the pages of the magic book she had been studying, she eventually closed it with a snap.
“I’ll allow it if I can come too.”
That’s the part I didn’t want.
If Acella comes along, it’s a vacation turned work trip, isn’t it?
I now understood how it felt to be a low-ranking employee going hiking with the manager over the weekend.
“Lucy, prepare.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
It had already been decided that I was going whether I wanted to or not.
Really, being the royal attending physician is an extreme job.