Ch.2019. Historical Distortion (1)

# 19. Historical Distortion (1)

April 3, 675.

About a month from now.

An assassin from the Babylon Kingdom will assassinate the Empress of the Kainis Empire.

Enraged by this incident, the Emperor of the Empire will wage war against the Babylon Kingdom.

Although the Kainis Empire boasted the greatest national power, the Babylon Kingdom was no pushover either.

Thus, the war continues for a long time without end.

And in the process, the Emperor passes away.

Rumors circulated that he died in battle, but the truth was different.

He suffered from depression due to his wife’s death and the ongoing war.

And on July 1, 687, he ultimately makes an extreme choice.

All these events stem from the initial death of the Empress.

No matter what, I must prevent the Empress’s death.

But…

‘Can I stop it?’

The assassin who killed the Empress was skilled enough to penetrate the palace’s tight security, succeed in the assassination, and escape afterward.

Of course, I know where he entered from and how he assassinated the Empress.

Still, I was anxious.

Since it was obvious others wouldn’t believe me if I told them, I had to face the assassin alone.

I couldn’t defeat him, so I needed to at least buy time…

‘Is that even possible? How do I get into the palace in the first place? Should I ask Her Majesty for help?’

Unlike my usual confidence, I could only muster weak thoughts.

As I was sighing deeply, someone approached me.

And it was someone who could give me hope in this matter.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

That voice, which usually annoyed me so much, was now a welcome sound.

“Hey, good timing. Come with me.”

“Huh? What the hell… Wait! Let go of me!”

I left my meal unfinished and dragged Ellin by the hand to a secluded place.

Chris, Raicle, and her friends watched us with puzzled expressions.

“Hey! You crazy bastard!”

She was furiously angry.

“Look, I’m sorry, but just hear me out.”

“What is it? Let’s hear it.”

She glared at me with murderous eyes.

Though she wasn’t saying it, her face and eyes seemed to warn, ‘If this isn’t important, I’ll kill you.’

I spoke with some intimidation.

“I need your help.”

“With what?”

“It’s a long story…”

“Explain it.”

***

I explained everything to her and asked for her help.

She listened attentively to what I had to say.

“So we wait at the entrance of the library in the palace where the Empress is, and then take down the assassin when he comes out, right?”

“That’s right.”

“When is this happening?”

“April 3rd.”

“April 3rd!? Why are you only telling me now?”

She was quite surprised.

“I forgot about it.”

“But why are you asking me?”

“Why ask such an obvious question? You’re the only one who would believe me.”

Not only that, but she’s also a reliable ally in terms of skill.

With her, we’d have a much better chance of success.

“But how are we going to get into the palace?”

Ah, she doesn’t know that Senior Diana is the princess.

“I have a good idea.”

“A good idea?”

“Yeah, but I need some money.”

“And?”

When I looked at her, she frowned.

“Lend me some money. You’re rich, aren’t you?”

“Ah… really, you’re making it impossible for me to refuse.”

“Thanks.”

“So what do we need to do until then?”

“We need to get as strong as possible. You should work hard too.”

We returned to the cafeteria.

They were still waiting for us there.

Raicle asked me:

“What were you two doing?”

“Having a sincere conversation with my sister.”

“Bullshit. We just had something to talk about.”

Chris showed interest in Ellin’s response.

“Something to talk about?”

Ellin replied in a calm voice.

“He asked to borrow money.”

I burst out laughing at her words.

‘Well, that’s not wrong.’

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“Is there something you want to buy?”

“There is, but it’s a secret.”

“How boring.”

Chris was looking at me with disinterested eyes.

“Our next class is dungeon. Let’s go.”

“Alright.”

We went to the dungeon conquest room for class.

Since it wasn’t class time yet, there weren’t many people around.

Chris checked the time on his phone and said:

“Should we clear one? We have time left. We could do an easy one, right?”

There were about 20 minutes left until class started.

To clear a dungeon in 20 minutes, it would have to be a really easy F-rank dungeon or something similar.

‘Still, it’s better than doing nothing.’

I agreed with Chris’s suggestion.

Raicle said he was tired and sat on a bench to rest.

“Let’s go, just us.”

Chris said.

“F-rank?”

“That seems like our only option, we don’t have much time.”

Since we were short on time, we quickly entered one of the remaining F-rank dungeons.

***

“Wow…”

We barely managed to clear the dungeon in time and came out.

Since it was an F-rank dungeon, the rewards were terrible, but it was good that we accumulated some achievements.

Though the score would be low because it was F-rank.

‘Better than nothing.’

As we came running with rough breaths, Raicle looked at us as if we were pathetic.

“Was it hard?”

“Damn hard… huff… huff…”

“Why did you do it then?”

“I leveled up.”

“That’s not because of this. You just got the last hit.”

His words were right, but I rationalized it in my own way.

I justified that this hardship was necessary.

“Young people should seek out hardship…”

“So will you do it again next time?”

“Absolutely not.”

It was necessary hardship, but I won’t do it again.

It feels like I’m going to die from exhaustion.

Someone approached us as we were struggling.

It was a middle-aged man with an impressive physique and a large greatsword at his waist.

“It’s good to see you working so hard.”

“I’m not planning to be this reckless again.”

“That’s a good choice. Everyone, class is about to start, so please gather around.”

It was the dungeon class teacher.

Once all the students gathered, the class began immediately.

The students were listening intently to every word the teacher said.

“Nice to meet you all. I’m Liam Reinhardt, and I’ll be in charge of your dungeon classes from now on.”

Unfortunately, I don’t know who he is.

“Since you’re all in A-class, I expect you’re all quite capable, but I still think it’s necessary to accurately assess your skills.”

The A-class students’ eyes sparkled at those words.

“Today, I want each of you to clear the highest difficulty dungeon you can handle alone.”

Most students expressed disappointment at the word “alone,” as they had been clearing dungeons in parties until now.

Still, since they had experience clearing dungeons alone during the entrance exam, they seemed to gain some confidence.

Raicle, who had been listening to Liam with an expressionless face, said to me:

“Lucky you, huh?”

“Yeah, fortunately.”

This is advantageous for me, even if not for other students.

“By the way, how far can you clear alone?”

“Usually D-rank. C-rank is a bit tough.”

“When you say ‘a bit tough,’ does that mean you can do it?”

“I can manage.”

Of course, if I do a C-rank, I can’t do anything else that day and need to rest.

“I guess that skill works on monsters too?”

“Of course.”

And [Mortal’s End] performs even better against monsters.

Most monsters don’t have skills to block mental attacks, and thanks to the new effect that’s added from B-rank, it gains stability.

[When killing a living being, the user’s vitality is slightly restored.]

It’s an overpowered effect, but my current rank is C+, so I can’t receive that effect yet.

From B- rank, it becomes quite difficult to rank up, so it will take a while.

“That’s so broken.”

“There’s a penalty, you know.”

“Still broken. You can cover the penalty with increased stats.”

“It feels weird hearing that from you.”

It felt a bit off hearing such words from Raicle, who also has an overpowered skill like me.

“All your stats increase.”

“My hands don’t become as sharp as swords like yours.”

“You’re both overpowered, so shut up.”

Chris expressed his displeasure, probably tired of seeing us.

I brought the conversation back to the class.

“Are you guys also going for D-rank?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s right.”

They also seem to be planning to clear D-rank dungeons like me.

“I’ll go with D-rank too.”

“Let’s go, it’s our turn.”

We selected D-rank dungeons and entered in the order of Chris, Raicle, and then me.

***

At that time, in the Babylon Kingdom, an assassin and the king were preparing for their operation.

“Redil, assassinate the Empress of the Kainis Empire.”

“The Empress? Not the Emperor?”

The assassin called Redil questioned his order.

The king replied:

“Assassinating the Emperor is impossible. The Emperor is such a powerful warrior that even I am not confident of victory in a one-on-one fight. So target the Empress.”

“Understood.”

Bael knew that even if only the Empress disappeared, the Kainis Empire would suffer a significant blow.

Especially for the Emperor, it would be a devastating blow.

“Make sure you succeed no matter what. If you can bring her back alive, do so.”

Redil nodded and left the king’s room.

The king was looking forward to the interesting events that would unfold.

“Finally, I can land a blow on that annoying bastard.”

He was watching the beautiful scenery of the city visible through the window.