Ch.338112. To Live Forever.

“…….”

Kael.

You need to curb your temper a little, no, a lot.

That’s what the mothers said.

…But even that has its limits.

“You damn vermin.”

Until the ship was smashed to pieces by an unknown sea monster, Kael had been willing to accept it.

He’d thought they would arrive after just a brief journey, feeling the sea breeze and smelling the ocean.

…And now this ruins his plans?

Well, his sister would survive even if thrown into hell, so he could let that go.

“…….”

Just as he was about to let it slide, his mind suddenly changed.

While trying to think rationally, he realized this wasn’t a problem that could be solved with reason, so he took a different approach.

He simply couldn’t contain his rising anger.

Despite Kael’s cold and indifferent demeanor and appearance, he was the type who harbored a thousand flames within.

Even in the Seven Peaks Mountain Range, he always felt like his chest was sizzling with heat.

Even while walking through blizzards and hailstorms, even when monster blood froze into crimson crystals clinging to his body.

Since childhood, Kael had always felt coolness rather than cold or chill.

Existential questions.

Reason for living.

Pain, curiosity, anxiety, fear.

And… despair.

To overcome all of these, he had devoted himself to the teachings of his mother and his master and senior disciple, Adrian.

But that aside.

No matter what, being suddenly slapped in the face like this made his anger surge.

“Hoo!”

The problem was that without having done anything, their sea journey was suddenly disrupted.

His rage made him dizzy with fury.

“D-damn it all!”

No. This isn’t something to tolerate.

Kael threw himself from the wreckage of the ship he had been on, deliberately chasing the retreating sea monster deep into the water and crawling into its mouth.

Then he meticulously, thoroughly burned the monster’s innards and internal organs with great care.

He didn’t finish it quickly because he wanted it to suffer.

Killing it instantly would be too merciful, wouldn’t it?

What made it so bold as to cause such destruction?

A mere creature? A spirit? So what?

The pitch-black flames from his hands not only pierced through the monster’s openings but blazed fiercely even underwater.

The flames were so intense they made the surrounding seawater boil… When Kael surfaced, he felt refreshingly cool rather than cold in the heated seawater, giving him a sense of exhilaration.

“…….”

However.

By the time he regained his senses, he found himself alone in the vast ocean.

The wreckage and fragments of the broken ship had long disappeared.

“This bastard… where did it take me after eating me?”

Though Kael had been swallowed by the sea monster and wandered for several dozen minutes, in reality, it had been hours.

…At the time, Kael didn’t know he had been thrown dozens of kilometers away from the accident site.

And so.

As Eileen had guessed, he swam tirelessly for hours until he reached a small fishing boat where someone was fishing.

And it was the fisherman who lost the battle of wills.

“Urgh?!”

“I apologize if I startled you, but I need to ask you something.”

“M-monster?!”

“…….”

Kael silently watched the fisherman until he calmed down.

However, that gaze—appearing suddenly in the middle of the ocean, soaking wet, staring indifferently—was too sharp and fierce.

Perhaps it was because of his unique aura that cut through the fisherman like a blade through his entire body.

Though there was no actual threat or harm, the fisherman felt suffocated by just that gaze, almost wanting to faint.

He was able to endure only because of his fortitude and tenacity developed through decades of seafaring.

They say no one is more sensitive to superstition than seafarers, but conversely, their capacity to accept such superstitions as part of their livelihood showed their extraordinary resilience.

Thus, it took quite some time for the fisherman to adapt to that blade-like presence and calm down.

****

He wasn’t particularly worried about his sister’s safety.

Still, he should look for her.

Searching the vast ocean was vague. Moreover, looking for her alone in this wide world?

…The cost-benefit analysis didn’t add up.

Instead, he might as well finish his business and return to training; she would surely find her way back.

Even in the Seven Peaks Mountain Range, it was normal not to see each other for a full week if one got lost.

‘Still, unfamiliarity is truly inconvenient.’

His mother had politely said that adventures expand one’s capacity and make one exceptional…

‘How does that help build strength?’

Well, it might not be bad for accumulating knowledge.

His father also began wandering alone when he was young, so anyway.

Still, when he could barely devote enough time to training, what was the point of all this?

…In that sense, his anger intensified.

He had been meditating peacefully on the ship, refining his mind in that brief moment when the sea monster struck.

If he had been alert, he would have destroyed it before it even approached…

‘I let my guard down.’

Is this also learning? Or a bitter lesson?

To even detect presences deep in the sea—that was quite unfamiliar to the current Kael.

Yet because of this incident, he began to expand his consciousness to account for such things.

As a result.

Even while napping on the roof of a tavern, let alone inside it.

He became aware of all the surrounding voices.

“…….”

He could even sense the presence of creatures crawling in the ground beneath the tavern.

He hadn’t considered this level of awareness before.

“…….”

Grumble—he apparently hadn’t anticipated the parasites crying in his own stomach.

He needed to eat something, but eating was troublesome.

It took three days to reach the royal capital where the Queen of Lutania resided, riding on the fisherman’s boat.

Even traveling by horse and camping would barely be enough time, but for someone like him who had zero interest in sightseeing or scenery, it was just another checkpoint to pass.

“Hmm.”

The reason he remained quiet here was…

Because he was contemplating how to formally cross the city gates.

‘The Queen is absent, and the Crown Prince is managing in her place, right?’

Approaching the main gate and declaring his identity and purpose might be problematic.

…His thoughtless sister would probably just barge in without a second thought…

“…?”

By the way, would his sister know this was the destination?

He thought she might come here, but since he didn’t know when, Kael decided it would be better to go meet her.

Eventually…

…He infiltrated the inner castle walls and the inner palace after nightfall.

The security within the royal castle was strict, but Kael climbed over walls as if it were nothing.

The question was where the Queen and Prince were located.

“…Hmm.”

Asking would be best, but that was difficult while sneaking in.

So Kael began to meticulously scan the internal layout by sensing presences.

And very discreetly at that.

He took great care, in case someone might detect his energy or magical power.

“Structurally… it must be there.”

A particularly lavish private room within the castle.

And its surroundings, from the outside to the interior corridors and passages, seemed to have concentrated security compared to other areas.

And a young man buried among piles of documents and books, as if in his own home.

The energy emanating from his body was somewhat dim and even murky, but Kael didn’t mind much.

Most living beings, including humans, tended to have turbid, sticky energy.

In that sense, compared to their seniors and residences in the Seven Peaks Mountain Range…

‘Filthy and turbid.’

Even breathing the same air was cumbersome.

You know how it is.

Like how the lingering smell of excrement makes you wrinkle your nose and step back.

Anyway, Kael skillfully and silently climbed the castle wall.

Eventually, he reached a closed wooden window.

“…….”

From inside, a presence seemed to shrink back in tension.

‘I’ve been detected?’

How strange.

So Kael deliberately knocked on the wooden window.

Knock knock!

…….

……….

Eventually, the window opened.

Kael leisurely entered.

The room’s owner asked the uninvited guest:

“Who are you to enter here, knowing what this place is?”

“I’ve come to meet my sibling.”

Kael got straight to the point.

“Sibling? Why here…?”

Showing he had no malice or hostility, Kael raised both hands and examined the young man before him.

With a somewhat dignified expression and narrowed teal eyes.

His wine-colored top and navy pants seemed relatively loose, perhaps indoor attire.

“Are you the prince of this country?”

“…….”

“Are you Queen’s firstborn, Crown Prince Gunther?”

Looking at the handsome young man with blonde hair and teal eyes, Kael felt something off.

What is it? Something, something is different.

Was it below expectations?

Or…

“So you didn’t know before coming?”

“Yes. This is my first time in Lutania.”

Despite showing no particular courtesy, Kael’s gestures conveyed leisure and boredom.

Of course, Kael himself was barely aware of this.

The young man, Gunther, felt an overwhelming pressure from the seemingly peer-aged youth before him.

‘What kind of person…’

Despite not being particularly tall, his presence seemed to fill the entire room, creating an overwhelming feeling.

His red hair and yellow eyes were like those of a red dragon awakening from sleep, something that made it hard to breathe.

Something. Just something.

Something beyond recognition, beyond understanding.

“You said you came for your sibling? I’ll ask again. Why here, to me?”

“The Queen of Lutania. Her child is my half-sibling.”

“…….”

“…….”

“So…”

Gunther fell into contemplation.

According to this person…

‘This unidentified person…’

Of course.

Kael was falling into similar thoughts.

Knock knock.

With a polite knock, a questioning voice came from outside the door.

“It’s nothing.”

Gunther called out to the door, dismissing the attendant.

“…Alright. It’s an absurd claim, but you must have some basis for saying such things.”

Moreover.

Gunther had received some hint from his mother before, so he didn’t treat the fact as a mere lie or deception.

Just…

“The question is how I can believe it.”

“Believe it or not, that’s up to you.”

“…….”

“…….”

The tension and expectation dissipated like bubbles in an instant.

What… insolence…?

“It was my sister who intended to visit here with expectations, not me.”

“…Then where is your sister?”

“Due to the ship sinking from a sea monster on the way, we got separated.”

“…….”

Is that something to mention so calmly as just “getting separated”?

In a sense, it’s a terrible disaster, a major accident.

“Well, she’s not one to suffer from such things, so she’ll reach here eventually.”

“…….”

…Where does that groundless confidence come from?

“If I understand correctly, you, as my half-sibling, have approached me secretly because your sister might come here, and you want to stay here in preparation for that?”

“My sister wouldn’t approach as discreetly as I did.”

“…….”

At those words, Gunther clicked his tongue softly.

The fact that the Queen had children with another man would cause tremendous waves beyond rumors… if this somehow became known in a negative way and spread as gossip?

Even if it were a false rumor, the very spread of such a rumor would be problematic.

As far as the world knew, the Queen of Lutania was married to the nation, and her children were bestowed by the blessing of the last fairy… anyway, that was the general explanation that people accepted and buried, but if this issue surfaced again… hmm.

In that sense, the young man before him seemed to understand at least that much.

But his sister…

“I have no intention whatsoever of causing problems.”

“…So that’s why you approached this way.”

It’s already bizarre that an assassin would knock and enter through a window.

…Moreover.

‘If he had such intentions…’

Would defense or response have been possible?

Right now, a guard knight secretly positioned in the room was dripping cold sweat from the ceiling.

Just his presence alone was enough.

In the Empire, knights wouldn’t conduct such covert intelligence and protection, but in Lutania, knights were multi-purpose, versatile, essentially all-around workers and superhumans.

In other words, such individuals were treated, respected, and revered as knights.

And.

The female knight assigned to protect Gunther had been raised since childhood to protect Gunther and Iriel.

Like a hunting dog or warhorse, or what a magician would call a familiar.

But even she had secretly signaled that she couldn’t handle this being.

…Gunther hadn’t let him in without reason.

And.

Even now, some magicians and sorcerers were preparing for any contingency from beyond the Crown Prince’s private office.

“Sigh.”

Gunther gave a separate signal by shaking his head.

“Mother… no. We have an incredible sibling, it seems.”

Though Gunther looked very troubled as he said this.

“…?”

At the time, Kael didn’t understand why he made such an expression.

Thus, Kael temporarily became Gunther’s subordinate.

Though very few knew externally, this unexpected result caused other variables and changes.

And.

“…….”

It took less than ten days for Kael to discover that Gunther had close ties with devil worshippers.