Chapter 115: A Clash Between a King-Kong and a Hybrid Species (3)

“It’s been a while.”

“…”

“Hmm, this cake is pretty tasty. I guess I’ve grown old. I find myself craving sweets, haha.”

“…Why are you here…? Haa, never mind. That was a stupid question.”

“I’m amazed that you have the capacity to realize your own stupidity.”

“…”

“What a rude gaze.”

In the royal capital, there was a high-class cafe. It was a cafe that was mainly visited by nobles, and one could reserve a private room if they wanted to. Being able to use a private room meant they could have time to themselves, or avoid the gaze of others, hence why the cafe was popular among the people. As a consequence of that, it was always fully booked.

And, in such a place…

“Then, let me ask you a different question. What are you doing here in the capital when you should be in the north, Archduke?”

A pair of ‘father and son’ was talking to each other.

Roen narrowed his eyebrows at the young man who was enjoying his cake—No, he just had the appearance of a young man. The man was actually an old man in his 60s, and he ruled over the vast territory of the north—a place that was as vast as a whole country.

“Your arrogant mouth is still there, I see. To think that you are calling me Archduke instead of father… Was my discipline training back at home that bad? Tsk…”

Magnus Julian de Lionel.

He was none other than the current archduke of Lionel.

“Ha! As if you’ve ever given me such a thing—!”

Meanwhile, Roen didn’t miss a beat to snap at him. Seeing how he always tried to maintain a cool attitude, it was quite out of character for him, but it just showed how much resentment and animosity he had towards the archduke.

As for the archduke himself…

“You’re still whining like a child, just like before, huh? Your skill as a knight is excellent, but your quality as a monarch is barely above 60 points… It’s lacking.”

“…”

He just criticized Roen, expressing his regret over his son’s lacking qualifications.

Although Roen was called the greatest genius among all Lionels, Archduke Magnus had such a harsh evaluation of him. However, Roen was relatively indifferent to his provocative scolding, as if he had already realized this fact a long time ago.

“I know that I lack the qualifications, that’s why I gave up the position of an heir a long time ago. You should just pass it on to one of your childrens who wants the position instead of insisting on passing it on to me.”

“It’s regrettable. The rest of my bloodline are all mediocre. If you barely reach the average, the rest of them are all below average. In other words, they’re failures. That’s why it could only be you who should inherit the seat.”

“…”

“Also, among all the lions of your era, you’re the only one who was acknowledged by The [Black King]… Perhaps it’s related to the ‘thing’ you’re hiding.”

“…!”

Hearing those words, Roen’s whole body stiffened.

No way…!

D-Did he find out?

I really can’t let my guard around him…!

Archduke Magnus.

Even though Roen had personally experienced the miracle of returning to the past, he still found him as a difficult opponent to deal with.

…Damn it.

Roen gritted his teeth, finding it difficult to control his emotions. He didn’t know about others, but it was always hard for him to stay calm in front of this person.

But why was that the case?

Was it because he was such a cold and ruthless person?

Or was it because no matter how much Roen hated him, he was still his father, and that fact wouldn’t change?

Or…

Thud-!

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of controlling you right now. Just do what you have to do. I’ll do the same.”

“…”

The sound of the teacup hitting the table cut off his complicated thoughts.

“This coffee and cake thing… They’re good. You opened quite a good shop.”

“Haa… You even know that?”

“Of course. How can a father not know the fact that his son owns the shop.”

“…”

…What a scary person.

I even made sure to hide my identity thoroughly when I started this cafe…

“The Tom, Dick, and Harry might not know anything, but those who are twice as good as you would have noticed that this shop has another owner. So be careful. It’s good to gather information about nobles, but if your tail is too long, it’s bound to be stepped on.”

“…I know that even without you telling me.”

“How rude. Now I’m wondering if the previous head of the family who raised me also felt this way when raising me.”

When he realized that he had no right to say anything about Roen’s attitude, the archduke shrugged his shoulders in resignation. After all, he was someone who climbed into the seat of archduke after dethroning his father, the late head of the family.

At the same time, he also thought that maybe this was his retribution.

So…

“In any case, I came here to see your face. I realized I haven’t seen my child’s face since the first time I came to the capital.”

“…You came here for such an absurd reason?”

“What’s wrong with a father wanting to see his child’s face?”

“…”

“…I know this is so uncharacteristic of me. Anyway, I’m glad to see you doing well, Son.”

“…I’d rather you refer to me as ‘you’ or ‘brat’. It makes me sick when you call me that.”

“…I also feel the same way.”

…Looking at them like that, one could say that the pair of father and son were quite similar. Not in their appearances, but their personalities and atmospheres.

In any case, probably it was because they weren’t used to expressing their affection or because their personalities were just twisted from the beginning, anyone could easily tell that they weren’t that close.

Step-! Step-!

After that exchange, Archduke Magnus finally got up and tried to leave the room. As if reinforcing his words that his only purpose was to see his son’s face.

Seeing him standing up, Roen…

“Where is Uncle Max? Aren’t you two always together? Why isn’t he here?”

“…You call me ‘you’, but you call that rascal Max ‘uncle’?”

“I owe him a lot, and I owe you nothing.”

“…Good point. I can’t even refute that.”

Archduke Magnus grumbled for the first time.

His tone was somewhat sad, however, in Roen’s eyes, this was nothing but an act. He just couldn’t see the man getting upset over something like this.

At that moment…

“…Max is doing something that doesn’t fit him at all.”

“Doesn’t fit him?”

“He said he wanted to try to be a spy.”

“…??”

Hearing that, Roen gave the archduke a look that seemed to say, ‘Have you finally lost your mind?’.

What spy? Who?

“Uncle did what?”

“…Don’t give me that look. I told him not to do it.”

“…”

“Ahem.”

An embarrassed expression appeared on the archduke’s face, while Roen was left dumbstruck for a while. That story was just that absurd, after all.

A spy? That conspicuous uncle?

Roen would rather believe that a lion could learn a trick or two than believing those words. As his uncle—someone who could never hide his presence—came to his mind, he shook his head.

They’ll immediately think that he’s suspicious the moment they lay their eyes on him. He couldn’t even hide his presence to save his life…

His uncle, the brave knight known as the Black Lion of the North.

Although he was an excellent person who was deemed as the knight amongst knights.

He’s just…not too bright…

Roen let out a bitter smile.

He could tell what kind of situation that uncle of his got himself into right now.

And as he expected…

“There he is!”

“That’s the suspicious guy! Catch him right now!!”

A suspicious group was chasing Maximus Iron de Lionel as if they were going to kill him.

It seemed like a hunt, but the man just moved slowly and dealt with the upcoming pursuers while tilting his head, as if he didn’t know why everything turned out this way at all.

“…How did I get caught?”

He expressed his doubts as he got outed as a suspicious guy by them.

After all, he hadn’t done anything that warranted it in his eyes. He was just…

“I just asked if your god was an ‘evil god’… Why are you so angry?”

Asked if their god was an evil god because it acted like an evil god would act. He didn’t think that his question was wrong at all.

Maximus couldn’t wrap his head on their reaction.

Since ancient times, religion’s influence on society had always been strong. Especially in the Middle Age—the era when there was no internet or newspapers.

How so?

Some said that it was because there were many intellectuals among religious people, and that made people respect and admire them. There were also some that said it was because there were many people who wanted to forget their difficult lives through their faith in God.

Whichever the reason was, religion’s influence had always been strong. It was also the case even when humanity entered the Information Age.

If anything, as the era developed, religion became more cunning and vicious. Those who were willing to abuse the power of religion itself emerged, and the representative group among them were none other than the ‘cult’.

“Back when I was a student, three out of ten people on the street would stop and ask me. ‘Do you know the way?’ and five out of ten would threaten me ‘If you don’t believe in religion, you’ll go to hell!’.”

“…Hahaha, you got it better than me. I’ve seen and been recommended more than that…”

“Well, they tend to pick on innocent kids.”

“Were you innocent too, back then, Instructor?”

“I was. Or rather, I was weak back then.”

“…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“N-Nothing. It’s just… That’s not a word that fits you, Instructor…”

“What? It isn’t like I was born strong…”

Lee Han shrugged.

Sometimes he thought that the guy beside him overestimated him way too much.

“Everyone has times when they’re weak.”

“Haha…”

“Anyway, what a weird development we got here. Who would’ve thought that I’d be up against a cult in this world too…”

“…Right? It’s horrible.”

As stated earlier, the influence of religion was strong. Even back in their previous world, which had entered the so-called Information Age, cults were still running rampant, and countless people followed those cults as if they were possessed.

If that was the case in that world, what about this world then?

A world where [mystical ability], magic, and knights exist?

Obviously, they’d run even wilder in this world.

After all, they had sufficient power to do so. There were many who’d use gods to fulfill their own ambitions for power.

“The current world is flawed. Those in power would squeeze the blood of the people, and the people would always have to suffer because they are weak! Are we weak because we want to be weak? No. Those in power, they have vested interest, they have everything! That left us with no choice but to remain weak! Such a flawed world, no matter how much we yell, no one would ever listen to us! Why? Because we are weak! The cries of the powerless mean nothing to them!!

“If you look closely at the reason why Britain collapsed, it is because those nobles with vested interest manipulated people as they pleased! Your country is gone because they left talented people like you as mere soldiers.

“Do you want power? Do you want to change the world? Then come with us! That power! We, our god, will bestow it to you!!”

[[[Waaaaaaaaaaaa!!]]]

As soon as the long speech ended, the prisoners went wild. Some even shed tears, while others laughed like crazy. It was a sight that would make normal people feel sick to their stomach.

It was an incredibly foreign and disgusting scene of madness.

What did Lee Han feel while watching this?

“Are they high on drugs? Or did they get brainwashed? Why are they acting like bloody lunatics?”

“Maybe it’s both.”

“…Maybe. Or else, it just won’t make sense.”

…What a crazy bunch.

Lee Han frowned as he looked at the gathering that resembled an opium den built in the middle of a tunnel.

Just looking at it repulsed him.

A certain soldier guarding the tunnel once said that the tunnel was like a [labyrinth]. Even if a map of it was made, in the very next month, the passages and paths recorded were often blocked due to the worms’ movements as they kept on creating new ones.

As a result, even the soldiers guarding the tunnel had almost given up on trying to understand the entire tunnel. Although there was one thing that would never change. The [two] passages that led into the tunnel.

There were around 300 soldiers guarding these two places. They were all armed with spears, armor and matchlock guns, so none of the prisoners could ever escape the tunnel. Even if they had given up on completely understanding the tunnel, they had a firm determination to prevent the prisoners from escaping.

That was why there had never been a case of a jailbreak in the history of the tunnel.

And that fact became the pride of the soldiers guarding the tunnel.

However…

“Are those guard soldiers blind…? Unless they are, there’s no way someone could’ve gotten all that equipment to build this kind of facility here.”

“Y-You’re right. You can’t get those things here…”

Deep inside the tunnel, there lay a facility that boasted tight security. Though the oxygen level was thin, at around the depth of at least 15 stories underground, a ‘village’ was formed there.

Moreover…

“What the fuck?”

“T-There are people living here…”

People were living in houses roughly built with wooden planks and dirt.

In addition…

“It’s bright here… Those guys spent quite a few, huh?”

“Haha…”

Normally, in this depth, one would be greeted by an endless darkness. But the place they were currently at was the opposite of that.

“An artifact, huh?”

[Artifact]. A magical treasure that was said to have astronomical value, regardless of its purpose. And now, an artifact which purpose was to emit light was illuminating the dark underground like a moon that was illuminating the night.

“…Is the kingdom just incompetent, or is it these guys who are too competent?”

“…”

“Haa… It’s probably both, huh?”

…Derrick couldn’t answer that question at all.

As the boy let out an awkward smile, a sense of uneasiness crept onto Lee Han’s heart for some reason.

This feels familiar. Where have I seen it again?

That uneasiness came from the moon-shaped artifact that was lighting up the ceiling. Moon-shaped ornaments were common even in the royal capital, so that could be the reason why he felt that way, but Lee Han felt that it wasn’t that.

Even though it looked like the moon, the color was dull, making it seem like a waning moon than anything. Moreover, the numbers 1 to 12 were engraved on its edge. It wasn’t a clock, so it was weird that they had such numbers around the moon, but he felt that he had seen this kind of thing somewhere.

Back when he was young.

Suddenly…

-Starting today, you’re number 8. Do you understand?

“…Ah.”

He recalled a childhood memory he had forgotten.

[Black Moon].

Lee Han blinked as he confirmed the artifact that looked exactly like the emblem of the assassin organization he had once been a part of, or rather, had been kidnapped by.

No matter what he thought about it…

“So those guys didn’t disappear? They merged with another organization?”

No, actually…

Maybe they were the same organization to begin with.

If that’s the case…

Lee Han realized one important fact.

If his former workplace really was originally one with a cult…

T-Then, I was also a cult member…?

N-No way, right…?

Y-Yeah, they definitely merged with the cult after I left! Yes, yes! That should be the case—!

Lee Han shook his head, thinking that he had overthinking everything.

However, there was a hint of anxiety left in the corner of his heart.