Chapter 106: Words I’d Never Heard (5)

[106] 16. Words I’d Never Heard (5)

Anger is a useful tool.

Especially when it’s someone else’s.

When people are consumed by rage, they will, in some way, try to express their dominance. It’s because they want the other person to feel that they’ve crossed a line they shouldn’t have.

Status, weapons, blood relations, friends, volume of voice, physical strength…

They will use every means possible to make the other person submit.

In other words, they’ll reveal all their cards.

As the enraged Adolf waved his hand, knights who had been hidden in the stable revealed themselves.

Seven behind him, twelve on either side. Archers were positioned on the roof, and mages who had been concealed by invisibility magic also made their appearance.

A total of forty-eight, including the knights who had been openly guarding him. If Dorn’s prediction was correct, then this was the majority of the prince’s forces.

Rem whistled and muttered.

“You really did hide quite a few, didn’t you. It seems your mother taught you well how to hide your assets. As you know, the pimps take quite a cut…”

“Shut up!!”

Adolf’s eyes were bloodshot. He looked so consumed by rage that he could barely distinguish reason.

“Knights! Cut off the rest of that bastard’s limbs right now and feed them to the pigs…!!”

“Don’t move.”

Rem slightly lifted his clothes.

And half the knights present surrounded Adolf, while the other half surrounded Rem.

Magic is a rather distant concept for most of the Empire. Unlike magic tools, which could be found rather easily, mages were rare.

However, for knights, it was a different story.

They knew what mages were capable of. They had witnessed, and sometimes fought against, the miracles they could create.

So, the moment they saw the magic circles covering Rem’s entire body, they couldn’t help but freeze.

In the stunned silence, Rem’s cold voice echoed.

“It’s an explosion spell. A very powerful one at that.”

Rem pulled out a small magic stone from his pocket.

“If I crush this, it’ll detonate. If I die, it’ll detonate. If something happens to my body, it’ll detonate.”

Rem made a gesture mimicking an explosion with his hands.

“So, why don’t we all put our swords away and cool our heads. It wouldn’t be right for our future emperor to be turned into a pile of ashes before he even ascends to the throne, would it?”

A growl escaped Adolf’s lips. But his distorted face soon turned into a vicious smile.

“How amusing. Did you think I wouldn’t be prepared for such lowly threats?”

Adolf glared at Rem with eyes burning with hatred.

“With this many mages present, such a thing…!”

“Take a look at those mages’ faces.”

Rem smiled broadly while glancing at one mage.

“…”

“Mallis?”

Mallis, the Prince’s personal mage.

The man who graduated from the Magic Tower as the top student was pale and sweating profusely.

It was the same with the other mages present.

They looked at Rem’s magic circles with terror and shock in their eyes.

The smile disappeared from the Prince’s face.

“Mallis, aren’t you listening?”

“Y-Yes, Your Highness…”

“Your protective magic is more than capable of protecting me, is it not?”

Another long silence followed.

Blood vessels bulged on the prince’s hand.

“Mallis!”

“I-I’m sorry…!”

Mallis prostrated himself on the floor. He cried out.

“I-If I had time, I could dispel that magic circle, but with my magic…!”

Adolf’s face turned bright red. And then, it was inevitable that the wine glass would fly towards Mallis’s head.

“Haah… Haah… None of you! Is there no one among you who can do anything!”

Adolf, his shoulders heaving, looked at the other mages.

But none of them dared to raise their heads. They all simply stared at the ground with pale faces.

Only then did Adolf’s complexion turn deathly white.

“And just so you know, even if you try to run away, I’ll detonate it.”

Adolf’s gaze turned to Rem. Rem, now sitting on a chair, was grinning.

“It won’t matter how far you run. I’ve set the blast radius rather wide.”

Rem pulled out a biscuit from his clothes. After smugly popping it into his mouth, he furrowed his brow.

“And besides, isn’t it rude to not offer your guest some tea? For someone whose mother made a living entertaining guests, your hospitality is lacking.”

Adolf’s face was now almost purple. He spoke through gritted teeth.

“You think I’m going to give in to such a pathetic threat?”

“Then would you rather be turned into a pile of soot after falling for such a pathetic provocation?”

Rem retorted mockingly.

“You seem to have forgotten, but our ultimate goal is for you to just drop dead. Even If I die here with you in the explosion, our goal is still achieved.”

“Then why didn’t you do that from the beginning?”

“You can’t become a martyr, can you?”

Rem grinned.

“And besides, I still have quite a lot of life left to live.”

“You vile wretch…!”

“That’s a bit rich coming from someone who hid knights in a stable while claiming to negotiate. Your mother in the afterlife must be weeping. She may have sold her body, but at least she had a conscience.”

Adolf’s head was starting to spin. It felt as if all the blood and heat in his body was rushing to his head.

In such a situation, reason is quick to evaporate.

But Adolf was a man who had risen from beggar to prince.

Through the layers of anger, realization dawns.

“…Rosalia, where did that whore go?”

Rem’s smile falters. Adolf asked again with a twisted face.

“Where is that woman who’s using you as a sacrificial pawn?”

Rem was silent. But silence, too, is an answer.

Most of his forces concentrated here for protection,

Rem coming alone to the negotiation site,

And the situation where no one could move due to the explosion magic.

The puzzle pieces easily came together.

Adolf finally managed a vicious grin.

“A diversion tactic, you’ve put in some effort. But it’s all for naught.”

Adolf glared at Rem with cold eyes.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t leave any forces in the city? Or that the lord of Essier wouldn’t be on my side?”

Adolf smiled while fiddling with his earring.

“That whore and her band of beggars won’t even be able to set foot in the mountains. The city guard and the remnants of the Central Knights are firmly guarding the city.”

Rem remained silent. Adolf, interpreting his silence as a sign of his dominance, let out a hearty laugh.

“Moreover, how long do you think you can maintain such complex magic?”

Rem silently fidgeted with the magic stone. The magic circles within the stone glinted in the sunlight.

“I suggest you hold on for as long as possible. The moment you collapse from exhaustion, I’ll show you what hell truly is.”

“Did you know?”

Rem raised his head to look at Adolf.

“That the lord of Essier is much more loyal than you think. He has a nose for power, you see. At least, according to someone I know.”

“…What are you trying to pull?”

It was at that moment.

Adolf heard a strange sound. A mixture of metal clashing and a beast’s cry.

And right after that.

“Y-Your Highness…”

A knight, tasked with perimeter patrol, approached the prince with an urgent expression. He squeezed his eyes shut and barely managed to speak.

“It seems… a part of the city guard is approaching this direction…!”

Adolf’s jaw dropped. Then his gaze turned to Rem.

“The moment I arrived here, my companions sent a message to the lord. They told him that the crown prince was being held captive by a mage with explosion magic carved onto his body.”

Rem grinned and looked at one of the mages, whose face was pale.

“And thanks to that person diligently sending out messages requests for rescue, the lord must have realized that it was true.”

Adolf’s hateful gaze landed on the mage. The mage, sensing his impending doom, collapsed to the ground.

Rem tapped his head and laughed.

“How could a loyal subject just stand by in a situation like this?”

[Traitors, listen up!]

A middle-aged man’s voice boomed through the air, amplified by magic.

Adolf’s face was filled with confusion and rage.

[Release His Highness immediately! If you do not comply, the full wrath of Essier will be upon you!! I repeat! You are surrounded! Release His Highness this instant…]

Rem chuckled and looked at Adolf’s dumbfounded face.

“Having incompetent subordinates is a real pain, don’t you agree?”

Then, wiping tears from his eyes, he continued.

“Well then, while my companions are busy, let’s have a little chat.”

A smug smile appeared on Rem’s face. It was burned into Adolf’s retinas.

“So, how much was it really? Since she must have been a cheap whore, I doubt she charged by the hour…”

***

To be honest, it wasn’t that grand of a plan.

While someone distracts the Prince and his tin cans, the rest sneak into the city.

And how do we distract them? It’s simple. I’m going to cover myself in explosion magic and go to the negotiation place.

There’s no need to worry about being discovered or captured. He’s an arrogant bastard. He’ll probably be waiting there, smugly, believing in the protective magic cast by his mages.

Even if they do a body search, it’s fine. I’m not that incompetent that I’d be caught by those pathetic mages.

Plus, I’ve set the blast radius rather wide. I can definitely blow him away as long as he’s in sight.

Ah, of course, this is just about the magic circles I’ll be carving. Actually detonating such a spell is impossible. I don’t have enough mana. It’s all a bluff. Just a bluff.

But the mages who think magic circles are everything will believe me. And if the mages believe me, then the other tin cans will, too.

And the lord of Essier will probably be desperate to earn the Prince’s favor. A lord of a backwater city meeting the center of power, he’ll feel like a golden rope has been lowered from the heavens.

So what do you think will happen when he hears that the prince is in danger? There’s no need to explain.

Anyway, we use that opportunity to sneak into the city.

Then, we go straight to the mountains and fix the Dragon King’s essence.

Now, at this point, you’ll probably be wondering.

Then how is the person who drew all the aggro supposed to escape?

Or, even if they do fix the essence, won’t they be trapped inside the city?

The answer to both questions is this.

Do you remember how I said my magic tools were confiscated?

***

“Putting tracking magic on all the magic tools he made… is that normal among mages”

“Be quiet, brother-in-law. We’ll get caught.”

A man and a woman, hidden in a dark alley.

They watch a building while pulling their hoods down low.

A mansion guarded by knights in pure white armor standing like statues at the main gate.

It was the annex of the mansion that Baron Essier had given to Adolf…

…And where Rem’s confiscated magic tools were being kept.

[A teleportation magic tool. With just that, getting away from these guys will be a piece of cake. Of course, I’ll have to suffer a bit…]

Rosalia remembered Rem speaking carelessly about matters concerning his life. Naturally, anxiety and unease rippled in her heart.

“Let’s just go in and find it.”

“Wait, sister-in-law.”

Dorn grabbed Rosalia’s shoulder. Shaking his head, he continued,

“Before that, we need to send ‘this guy’ in first.”

Naturally, their gazes turned to the ground.

“…!!”

As if agreeing, the ‘guy’ made of bronze raised its ‘index finger’ and ‘ring finger’. Then, using its ‘middle finger’, ‘thumb’, and ‘pinky’, it walked out of the alley.

In other words, Rem’s ‘left hand’. (TL Note: In Korean, using your index and ring fingers to walk is a gesture that means you’re sending something or someone away, like shooing a fly.)

Dorn looked at it with disgust.

“I know I shouldn’t be saying this, but Rem, that young man isn’t quite right in the head either…”

“… I agree, brother-in-law.”

Rosalia smiled bitterly, then returned to her serious expression.

“Let’s stop chatting and follow him. ‘That guy’ is the only one that knows where the magic tools are.”

And so, Rosalia and Dorn slowly followed Rem’s ‘left hand.’