Episode 725: Time limit (4)
Astarotta, who received a ‘request’ to bring Raven, gave instructions to other Guardian Knights outside the throne room.
In some ways, it can be seen as a subcontract of a subcontract….
“I’m staying not far away, so I’ll be there soon.”
Well, there was no reason to criticize me.
Even if a subcontractor gives a subcontract and the subcontractor’s subcontractor gives another subcontract, not only does nothing change at the top…
‘If we do this, we can talk more.’
I had no intention of wasting my spare time pointlessly, so I immediately started a household survey.
“Astarotta, what is your official position?”
“….”
“I need to know that so I can make plans for the future. But I don’t think you can disobey His Majesty’s words to cooperate unconditionally—.”
“…He is the leader of the Guardian Knights.”
Oh, I see.
So, this person is the next generation ‘King’s Knight’ after Grandpa Wang’s Knight.
“If your curiosity is answered—.”
Oh, it can’t end here.
“What is that sword you are wearing? “It looks like you’re very sharp.”
“….”
I’m rolling my eyes again.
“Knowing your abilities exactly will help me make a plan.”
“…This is a sword given to the leader of the Guardian Knights.”
“What about performance?”
“It is not inferior to the Noble Phantasm of the Creation. “Ah, you may be the tribal leader, but you don’t know much about the Noble Phantasm of Creation, do you?”
That can’t be true.
How many times have I collected all the Noble Phantasms of Creation?
Of course, we know its performance better than anyone else.
“Then how many Guardian Knights are there?”
Anyway, from then on, I slowly progressed through the levels and dug up key information about the palace.
Astarotta seemed to wonder if this was okay, but whenever I mentioned the king, she sighed and blew loudly.
“What about your children? “Is there one?”
“We, the Guardian Knights, cannot have families.”
“Oh, then I guess I should get better at birth control?”
“….”
“You can’t believe it… not even once in your life…?”
“….”
As we learn information one by one that we did not know in the game, it is no longer surprising when Raven arrives.
He listened to everything roughly and suddenly became curious.
He was purely curious.
‘How far can you go in the name of the king?’
The reason this guy became so obedient was a malfunction caused by his excessive loyalty to the king.
In other words, it is a kind of bug.
So, while doing the census, I kept to the line.
Like the life support system in the basement of the royal palace.
If you go further down there, you will find a prison.
Or something related to the king’s lifespan.
Even if he was a guy with a bit of a clueless side, it was clear that he wouldn’t answer a question like this.
You will definitely reject it, and once you say ‘rejection’, you will know.
That rejection is not that difficult.
‘Using cancer bugs is also a player’s virtue.’
For that reason, he tried to never cross the line.
Just as a broken mechanical device starts working when you hit it, I decided that if I shocked it too much and it returned to normal, I would be the only one at a loss.
but….
‘I’m curious.’
I will never reveal information about the king, but if not, how far can I go?
If I tell you to take off your pants in front of me, will you do it?
‘I’m curious, but…’
It was a bit disappointing, but fortunately, I was never able to answer that question myself.
“Hey Mr. Yandel!!”
Raven has arrived.
***
From what I heard, Raven seemed to be doing very well even though she felt stuffy and uncomfortable.
If you think about it, I wouldn’t be any different.
If this level of luxury were available in a time when war was in full swing, it would probably be ranked at the top if the entire city was searched.
“You gained weight.”
“What are you talking about…! “Did you gain weight?”
“little.”
“Ugh… It’s only natural since I’m in the room…!”
After briefly saying hello to Raven, who returned to the throne room, she spoke directly about the current situation.
As a barbarian, I didn’t explain it in detail, but is it because we spent a long time together?
Raven even summed it up in one line.
“So… we have to kill the Prime Minister…? we…?”
“It just so happened that it happened that way. And not just among ourselves. “Because there will be support from the royal family.”
“If you think about it that way, it’s a good thing… But was the Prime Minister really the instigator of the rebellion?”
“That’s right.”
Once the goal was clearly and easily set, Raven asked various questions about the current situation.
Naturally, there was nothing I could answer.
That’s because I was locked in the room the whole time.
“Elizabeth over there will tell you about the situation outside from now on. “She was waiting for you to join us in the first place.”
“Elizabeth… are you?”
“Astarotta Berun. “Call me Berun.”
“Ah… yes… Master Verun. hello….”
Astarotta began the briefing by pretending not to listen to Raven’s greetings, and for those of us who had no idea about the situation outside, we were startled by each explanation.
“yes? “Half the city was taken?”
“It’s not taken away, it’s just being occupied by traitors without permission, and it’s not half, it’s about a third. At most, there are all 13 districts, 7 districts, and 8 districts in Ravigion, and there is only one district 4 in Commelby.”
Contrary to the king’s reaction, which showed no sign of danger at all, it was insufficient to say that the situation in the city was serious.
Everyone already knows that the Prime Minister is the instigator of the war, and the Prime Minister has also gone over to the enemy camp and is leading the charge?
In fact, it would be fair to call it a civil war at this point, and even that civil war had the potential to be prolonged.
“So my colleagues are now in area 7, which has become enemy territory…”
“To be exact, it is a sacred place for the Barbarians. “If nothing has changed since the last information received.”
“This situation is more troublesome than I thought.”
“Mr. Yandel, are you thinking of joining his colleagues first?”
“okay.”
However, just getting to District 7 where my colleagues are located is not an easy task.
“To do that, you must pass by District 5 or District 8, which is adjacent to District 7…”
According to Astarotta, fierce battles seemed to continue day and night in those places, befitting the fact that they were currently the front lines.
“It’s difficult. Even if you pass by Area 5 or Area 8, Area 7 is completely in the middle of enemy territory.”
“I guess so….”
While the two were talking, Astarotta suddenly joined in.
“Bjorn Jandel, let me give you some advice.”
“…Try it.”
“Think about what comes first.”
Well, I only heard it once because it was advice.
The advice was to give priority to the king’s orders rather than taking care of his colleagues out of fear that he might be the king’s henchman.
‘Is there something wrong with his head, not to mention the way he was behaving a while ago?’
It was advice not worth listening to.
If that had been the case in the first place, I would have been locked in the throne room for a week. Why did I agree to those conditions?
So, just coolly skip the advice.
“Rather than that… I guess I should go outside first.”
There are some things that cannot be understood just by hearing them, so we immediately made plans to go out, and as we were talking with Raven, Astarotta joined the conversation.
“If we go out like that, it will become known right away, right? “I didn’t say it earlier, but most people think that your collapse caused a big problem.”
Oh, I see.
“How about wearing a helmet and hiding yourself?”
This advice seemed to have thought of me, but my answer was ‘NO’.
In the first place, this huge body cannot be hidden by wearing a helmet, and wearing an iron mask twice in one’s life is enough.
And more than anything….
“I’ll just keep going like this.”
“Why?”
“Because the news that I am safe can also be conveyed to my colleagues.”
However, Astarotta looked like she didn’t understand my decision.
No, more accurately, it was a pathetic expression.
“Your Majesty is the one who told you to act freely, so I won’t say anything.”
“Then don’t do it.”
“But would you really be able to kill the Prime Minister with that mindset?”
A dry voice that doesn’t show any concern.
However, it was not very difficult to understand the hidden meaning of the question.
If even in the unlikely event that you fail to keep the king’s conditions, the worst situation will come, and you will be able to handle it.
However, I shook my head and spoke firmly.
“Don’t worry about that.”
Fragment Stone of Records, time travel to the past, etc.
Now I believe in destiny.
“Because the Marquis’s life has already been lost.”
It was a fate that had been decided since the Ice Rock expedition.
***
My first impression after leaving Gaebyeok Palace was that it was funny.
It was only when I headed towards the main gate that I could see the exterior of this palace for the first time.
“Wow… I’ve only heard about it, but it’s really magnificent…”
In a way, wouldn’t we be the first people in all of history to come in from the basement and go out through the front door?
“Close the windows and remain quiet until you leave the palace. “It must not be known that you came out of Gaebyeok Palace.”
“…i get it.”
Raven Astarotta and I rode in the carriage leaving Gaebyeok Palace, and the driver was one of the Guardian Knights.
“But is it okay for you to leave the palace like this?”
“I guess you were the one who asked me to go with you?”
Well, that’s right.
To be precise, when I asked if he could recruit all the Guardian Knights within Gaebyeok Palace, he said that only he could.
“Never mind. “Because it was His Majesty’s order.”
“Um… Still, is it okay for the Guardian Knight Commander to be away during the war?”
The guy smiled chicly at my question.
“It’s not an easy place to allow those traitors to set foot in.”
“Well, I like it, but….”
In fact, I’m still not sure if going with him is the right choice.
First of all, it seems like one thing is certain about combat power, but…
If I go out with him, won’t everything about my actions be reported directly to the king? There is a possibility that proactivity may decrease in unexpected situations.
‘But there’s still a lot we don’t know about the current situation. It would be much easier if I had him.’
Soon, the carriage departing from Gaebyeok Palace passed the 12 palaces located around Gaebyeok Palace and entered the imperial capital, and in the process, I was able to see the scene as well.
“It really feels like we’re at war.”
I have visited the ‘Palace of Glory’ several times for events such as title conferral ceremonies, victory ceremonies, and triumphal ceremonies, and as a result, I am the most familiar of the 12 palaces.
“this. This is thunder…”
The large and magnificent palace is nowhere to be seen, and only its remains are piled up like a mountain.
Additionally, numerous soldiers were clearing away the debris, and a corpse appeared every time a rock was lifted.
“What is your identity?”
“A detailed investigation is necessary, but the seal of Count Nartul was found on the clothes he was wearing!”
“It could be Count Nartul, so please serve him as politely as possible!”
“yes!”
As you ride the carriage through the narrow road between the wreckage, you can hear the vivid conversation of the scene.
“…Did a lot of nobles die in this incident?”
“At the time, it was a situation where many nobles gathered together, including the military headquarters and all. There seems to be a joke going around in the private sector that half of the nobles are dead.”
Half of the nobles…
Strictly speaking, this would refer to half of the titled nobles. However, there was no need to further explain how serious the current situation was.
“Maybe the Marquis calculated that and brought them all together.”
“I’m not saying it will happen, but the intelligence department is confident that it will.”
Well, then, there is another question here.
I know that the Marquis is the instigator of everything, but then why did he tell me to spend two days in prison?
From the marquis’ point of view, wouldn’t it have been better for me to get caught up in it and die?
After hearing my question, Astarotta responded as follows.
“Well, I guess the Prime Minister didn’t think you would die even if you got crushed there.”
Oh sure… I myself can’t imagine myself getting caught up in that and dying…
‘It won’t be an uproar since so many titled nobles have died. There will be some noble families that disappear completely… But will the succession ceremony be held later, after the war is over? Still, I guess I’m a bit younger.’
Raven muttered as she thought about this, looking at the collapsed palace through a slightly gaping window.
“…I guess not.”
“huh? What did you say? “I didn’t hear it.”
“It’s just… I think no matter how this war ends, it will be completely different from the world we knew.”
I nodded my head unconsciously at the voice that seemed to be filled with fear.