Ch.115EP.29 – King Kong and the Hybrid Clash (3)

“It’s been a while.”

“……”

“Hmm, this cake is quite delicious. Perhaps it’s age, but I find myself craving sweet things more often, heh heh.”

“…Why are you here… Ah, what a foolish question that was.”

“Recognizing your own obtuseness is certainly commendable.”

“……”

“Your gaze is disrespectful.”

A high-class café located in the royal capital.

It was a café primarily frequented by nobles, and if desired, one could use a private room.

Meaning one could have time alone or avoid the eyes of others.

Thus, it was quite popular with many people, and as such, it was always fully booked.

…And yet in such a place.

“Let me ask differently. Why are you here in the capital instead of in the north, Grand Duke?”

A certain “father and son” had encountered each other.

Roen furrowed his brow, while the young man who had been enjoying his cake…

No, though he appeared young, he was nearly in his sixties and was the ruler who governed the vast northern territory, or rather, an entire nation.

“Still as impertinent as ever. Calling your father ‘Grand Duke’ and ‘you’… I must have failed in raising you properly, tsk…”

Magnus Julian de Lionel.

He was none other than the current Grand Duke of Lionel.

“Ha! When did you ever raise me…!”

Roen, uncharacteristically, did not hesitate to flare up.

This was unlike his usual self who always tried to maintain a cool demeanor.

It was clear he harbored considerable resentment and accumulated grievances toward the Grand Duke.

To this, the Grand Duke…

“Hmm, still whining like a mere youngster. Your skills as a knight are excellent, but as a ruler, you’re barely scraping past 60 points… Inadequate, quite inadequate.”

“……”

Simply delivered a rebuke.

As if lamenting his son’s qualities.

Despite being called the greatest genius among all Lionels in history, Roen received quite a harsh evaluation from Grand Duke Magnus.

But even with such provocative scolding, Roen remained relatively calm.

As if he had long ago realized what his qualities were.

“I know as well. That I lack the qualities of a ruler. I gave up on the position of Grand Duke long ago. Perhaps you should pass it on to your other children who desire the position more than I do.”

“Most regrettably, the rest of my bloodline are all of similar mediocre caliber. If you barely reach the average, the rest fall below it. Meaning they fail. Therefore, you must inherit it.”

“……”

“Besides, among the current lions, you’re the only one acknowledged by the Dark King… Perhaps thanks to ‘that thing’ you’re hiding.”

“…!”

Roen’s body jerked.

Could it be…!

‘Ah, does he know?’

Indeed, this was someone he should never let his guard down around.

Grand Duke Magnus.

Even for someone who had personally experienced the miracle of turning back time, he was clearly still a formidable and difficult opponent.

‘…Damn it.’

Roen gritted his teeth, finding it difficult to control his emotions today.

He might be able to stay calm with others, but in front of this man, it was always challenging.

Why?

Because he was an infinitely cold and heartless person?

Or despite his rough edges, because he was his father?

…Or perhaps…

Tak.

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

“……”

The sound of a teacup hitting the table rang in his ears, cutting off his complicated thoughts.

“This coffee and cake were quite excellent. You’ve created a fine establishment.”

“Ha… You knew about that too?”

“Of course, as a father, would I not know about a shop owned by my son?”

“……”

…Truly a fearsome person.

He had thoroughly concealed his involvement when establishing this café.

“Common rabble might not know, but those who have lived twice as long as you would generally notice. That there’s a separate owner. So be careful. It’s fine to gather information from nobles, but if your tail is too long, it will get stepped on.”

“…I know that without you telling me.”

“…Such insolence. I wonder if the previous head of the family felt this way about me.”

The previous head of the family—Grand Duke Magnus had deposed his own father, and realizing he had no right to criticize Roen, he shrugged his shoulders.

One might call this karma.

And then.

“I came just to see your face. I realized I hadn’t seen my child’s face once since coming to the royal capital.”

“…You came for such a ridiculous reason?”

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

“……”

“…Well, that certainly doesn’t sound like me. Anyway, I’m glad to see you’re doing well, my son.”

“…Please call me ‘you’ or ‘that one’ instead. When you address me so affectionately, it makes me nauseous.”

“…I felt a bit strange saying it myself.”

…Looking at them like this, the father and son seemed similar.

Not in appearance, but in personality and atmosphere.

Whether they were unaccustomed to expressing affection, or their personalities had always been twisted, it was clear they weren’t particularly close.

Thud, thud.

With that, Grand Duke Magnus finally stood up and moved to leave.

As if seeing his face once had truly been his only purpose.

Watching him…

“Where is Uncle Max? I know he usually accompanies you, but he’s not by your side today.”

“…So I’m ‘you’ but Max is ‘uncle’?”

“I owe Uncle a lot. But not you.”

“…I can’t refute that since it’s true.”

Grand Duke Magnus showed his first sign of grumbling.

A somewhat pitiful tone.

But that too must be an act.

How could such a man feel hurt by something like this?

Then.

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

“Doesn’t suit him?”

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

“…??”

Roen gave him a look that said “Are you crazy?”

Who was supposedly acting as a spy?

“You mean Uncle?”

“…Don’t look at me like that. I tried to stop him too.”

“……”

“Ahem.”

Grand Duke Magnus looked embarrassed, and Roen couldn’t find words for a while.

That’s how absurd the story was.

‘A spy? …That conspicuous uncle?’

…You might as well ask a lion to perform tricks—Roen shook his head thinking of his uncle who could never hide his presence.

‘He’d definitely be considered suspicious, not someone who could conceal his existence.’

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

While he was evaluated as a knight among knights, a generous and excellent character…

‘…The problem is he’s too oblivious.’

Roen held back a bitter smile.

He could clearly imagine what situation his uncle might be in right now.

—Sure enough.

“There he is!”

“That suspicious man! Catch him right now!!”

A group of suspicious people were chasing Maximus Iron de Lionel as if they wanted to kill him.

It felt like a hunting drive, but the man was moving slowly while dealing with them, and on the other hand, he tilted his head as if questioning the situation itself.

“…Why was I discovered?”

He expressed bewilderment at being identified as a suspicious person.

He had merely…

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

He had only asked if their god was evil because they were doing evil things, but was that question so wrong?

Maximus simply couldn’t comprehend their reaction.

*

*

*

Since ancient times, the power of religion has been strong.

Especially in the medieval era.

Particularly in an age without internet or newspapers.

Why?

Some say it’s because there were many intellectuals among religious people, creating respect and reverence for them.

Others say it’s because many commoners wanted to forget their hard lives through faith in god.

Whatever the reason, the power of religion has always been formidable.

But this religious strength remained the same even in the information age.

No, as times advanced, religions became more cunning and some more vicious, with people exploiting religious power, the most representative being ‘cults’.

“When I was a student, three out of ten people on the street would ask ‘Do you know the Way?’ and five out of ten would threaten ‘You’ll go to hell if you don’t believe!'”

“…Haha, that’s better than me. I saw and was solicited even more.”

“They usually target innocent kids.”

“Were you innocent too, Instructor?”

“I was somewhat innocent back then. No, I was weak.”

“……”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Oh, nothing. It just doesn’t suit you at all, Instructor…”

“I wasn’t always strong from the beginning.”

Ihan shrugged his shoulders.

Sometimes this kid evaluates him too highly.

“Everyone has a time when they’re weak.”

“Haha…”

“But this is really crazy. I never thought I’d have to fight cults in this world too…”

“…It’s a terrible thing.”

As mentioned earlier, the power of religion is mighty.

Even in their world, which was called the information age, cults were rampant, and the phenomenon of countless people following as if bewitched was not uncommon with these cults.

In that sense, what about this world?

Isn’t it a world where [mysteries] like magic and knights actually exist?

Rather, because it’s such a world, cults can flourish even more.

Because they have power.

And there are numerous people who exploit even gods for their ambitions and power.

…Like this.

“-The current world is going wrong. The powerful squeeze the blood of the common people, and the people always have to experience sorrow from the position of the weak! Do we want to be weak? No! It’s because the powerful, the so-called privileged class, take everything that we have no choice but to remain weak!! This is wrong! …But no matter how much we shout, they don’t listen to our words, why? Because we are weak! The cries of the powerless have no meaning to them!!”

“-If you look closely at why Britten collapsed, it’s actually because the privileged class manipulated people as they pleased. Your homeland disappeared 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 give it to you!!”

[[[WAAAAAAAAAH!!]]]

As soon as the speech ended, the prisoners went wild.

Some even shed tears, while others laughed maniacally.

A sight that makes one’s stomach turn.

An extremely alien and nauseating scene of frenzy.

Ihan’s impression of this…

“Are these bastards on drugs? Or mass brainwashing? Why are they all so crazy?”

“Maybe they’ve done both the brainwashing and drugs you mentioned.”

“…Indeed, otherwise…”

…This couldn’t possibly be normal.

Ihan frowned as he watched the gathering that resembled an opium den created in the middle of the tunnel.

He said it was utterly disgusting just to look at.

* * *

According to a soldier guarding the tunnel, the tunnel is like a [labyrinth].

Even if maps are made, passages and paths get blocked monthly due to worm movements, and new paths are constantly being created.

Thus, even the soldiers managing the tunnel have all but given up on trying to grasp the entire tunnel.

But one thing is clear.

There are only [two] entrances to the tunnel.

And the number of soldiers guarding these two places is as many as 300, all armed with spears, armor, and matchlock guns, so prisoners can never escape from the tunnel.

While they may have given up on completely understanding the tunnel, they have an unwavering determination to somehow prevent prisoners from escaping.

That’s why there has never been a history of prisoners escaping from the tunnel!

This must be the pride of the soldiers guarding the tunnel.

…That must certainly be the case.

“Are the soldiers guarding the tunnel all blind with open eyes? No, there’s no way they could have gotten the equipment to build such facilities here?”

“Y-yes, definitely materials that couldn’t be obtained here…”

Deep in the tunnel with its iron-clad security.

In a place at least 15 floors underground where even oxygen is scarce, a ‘village’ had formed.

And.

“Well, well?”

“P-people are living here…”

People were living together in clusters.

Houses roughly built with wooden boards and soil.

Additionally.

“It’s bright, so bright. These bastards must be rich.”

“Haha…”

Normally, at this depth underground, it should be dark, but it was incredibly bright.

“Artifact.”

An [artifact], a treasure of the magical world said to have astronomical value regardless of its purpose.

An artifact that seemed to be used for emitting light was illuminating the underground darkness like the moon brightening the night.

“…Is the kingdom incompetent, or are these guys competent?”

“……”

“Sigh, both?”

…Derrick couldn’t give any answer.

When Derrick showed an awkward smile, Ihan felt somehow uneasy.

‘Hmm, where have I seen this?’

Ihan felt a sense of déjà vu looking at the moon-shaped artifact illuminating the underground ceiling.

Moon-shaped decorations were common in the royal capital, so he might be feeling déjà vu because of that, but Ihan felt it wasn’t just that.

It was a moon, but with the dull color resembling a waning crescent moon.

And numbers 1 to 12 engraved on the edge of the waning crescent.

It’s not a clock, and one might wonder what it’s supposed to be, but Ihan had seen such a moon pattern somewhere before.

And that was quite early in his childhood.

Then suddenly…

– From today, you’re Number 8. Understand?

“…Ah.”

He succeeded in recalling a forgotten childhood memory.

[Black Moon].

Confirming the artifact that looked exactly like the emblem of the assassination organization he had once belonged to—or rather, been kidnapped by—in his childhood, Ihan blinked.

It seems like this.

“These bastards weren’t gone, they were merged?”

Or else.

…They were one from the beginning.

‘Wait, if that’s the case…?’

Ihan realized one significant fact.

If his former workplace was originally one with this cult…

‘Am I… also a cult follower?’

…No, that can’t be, surely not.

‘It must have been merged! Yes! That’s definitely it…!’

Ihan shook his head, thinking he had gone too far with his thoughts.

…Leaving a trace of unease in one corner of his mind.