Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I Proposed While Drunk and Now the Princesses are Obsessed.

Episode 3: The Road To The Imperial Palace (2).

Clatter, clatter.

Sitting at the front of the rattling carriage, the Imperial Administrator Anes was deep in thought. Her sharp gaze naturally fell on the completely frozen cube.

‘This is not an ordinary cube.’

Though not a holy relic, it was considered an artifact. Just by fiddling with it, the user’s energy would be restored.

But Jaekiel had frozen it. Without any warning.

This meant he had profound knowledge of ice magic. Anes couldn’t help but wonder who exactly was being transported to the Imperial family.

A magician? Well, magicians were so rare.

“What on earth is he?”

Anes pondered over the appearance of the person riding behind.

White hair grown to the shoulders, a particularly unruly impression, and the casual way he chewed on Sun Grass.

…He was far from the dignity that magicians usually pursue.

Her gaze turned to the soldier driving the carriage.

“The person we are currently transporting, he is not a criminal, right?”

“Yes. He is definitely not a criminal.”

“But he is not a guest either.”

“…That’s true. Anyway, isn’t this the first time His Majesty has specifically summoned someone? It’s really surprising.”

“Could he be a magician?”

“…I really don’t know. There is no information at all.”

Could he have used a magic scroll?

“Did he use a magic scroll inside the carriage?”

“That’s impossible. This carriage blocks scroll activation.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

Jaekiel seemed to be a pure magician. And quite a high-level one at that.

Anes’s number one treasure. There were no clues, even when she opened her notebook.

[ Special Notes for This Mission ]─Do not understand it with common sense.─Do not engage unless absolutely necessary.

“Hmm.”

Anes, who was full of confidence in following the rules to the letter, had never encountered such abstract rules before. Asking Anes, who valued common sense and reason, to abandon common sense.

She didn’t know. The more questions she had, the more question marks seemed to increase.

“How much longer until we reach Fatal?”

“We are almost there. But, by the way…”

The soldier glanced at Anes.

“Speak.”

“If you look at the fact that they specifically included Fatal in the route… it seems they don’t intend to bring him to the Imperial family alive. Don’t you think so?”

“You have a point.”

Danger zone, lawless area, Fatal.

The Imperial family specifically ordered this area to be included in the transport route. It was a place where even sending soldiers immediately would be insufficient.

“Well, we’ll have to see.”

Anes spun the cube, now thawed in the sunset. She wasn’t usually curious about the higher-ups’ intentions. Her job was just to carry out and report on the situation.

Click.

At that moment, a snapping sound came from inside the carriage.

“Ah.”

Anes glared back with a fierce look.

…He had frozen the cube again.

“…Annoying.”

What the hell was he?

When the crescent moon hung in the night sky, the carriage finally stopped.

“Get out.”

Anes opened the door.

I got out of the carriage and looked around. It looked like an ordinary city but had an unmistakably eerie atmosphere. Thanks to that, I could immediately tell where this place was.

“Fatal? Did the Imperial family move here without me noticing?”

“We will stay here for the day.”

“Why? Did the high-ranking nobleman order that too?”

“Do not refer to His Majesty the Emperor like that.”

“I never said the emperor.”

“…”

Anes frowned, as if dealing with something trivial.

“Don’t play word games.”

“So, why are we staying here for the day?”

When traveling from my hometown to the Imperial family, Fatal was an unnecessary detour. I was curious about the reason for this long journey.

“It is His Majesty the Emperor’s will. And you alone will stay here.”

“Aha.”

The fact that the Emperor ordered a detour through Fatal made his intentions clear.

Every region usually had its own specialty.

So what was Fatal known for? Prisons? Criminals?

This was Fatal, a place where criminals were left to kill each other. Most of those who committed serious crimes were exiled here.

“Well, they’re making me clean up trash before I even see them.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

Come back alive. That short phrase meant this. The intention was to either kill the criminals and survive or be weeded out and die.

Even in a lawless area, there were basic buildings. I followed Anes into a large inn with a restaurant.

“Yes. Here’s our order.”

Anes ordered the food without even asking my opinion.

The food in this city of criminals was as expected. Just hot and thin porridge with barely seasoned corn kernels.

Anes picked up the utensils first. She pushed the unappetizing food into her mouth without any hesitation.

I took out the Sun Grass and asked.

“How does it taste?”

“I don’t know. I’m just eating because it’s mealtime.”

“It’s not easy living on a salary, is it? Having to eat stuff like this.”

“You’re not a VIP either, are you? Considering how you’ll be treated in the future, you’d better get used to meals like this.”

“No, thanks. I’d rather starve.”

After that, the meal continued quietly.

Anes chewed the porridge at regular intervals as if timed, and I just chewed the innocent Sun Grass. My vision blurred. Comfortable.

Surprisingly, it was Anes who broke the silence first.

“Are you a magician?”

“Didn’t you know that? You didn’t do a background check; you’re too lazy.”

Anes’s eyebrows twitched, seemingly displeased with being called lazy.

“A magician in Fatal is very good prey.”

“Magicians are like that everywhere.”

“Yes. Magic scrolls have changed many things on the continent.”

With the remarkable development of magic scrolls, professions such as magic scholars and scroll-makers emerged, and the number of magicians significantly decreased. This was only natural.

It’s now difficult to be called powerful just by using magic.

Because it’s a world where you don’t need to laboriously use magic yourself. Instead of investing time in honing magic, it’s better to develop other abilities.

Ah, there’s one more reason. The erosion phenomenon.

Just in time, Anes spoke up.

“Recently, the erosion phenomenon has become severe. Especially here in Fatal.”

“I already know that.”

“Then that saves me the effort. I’ll skip the part where those cursed by the erosion use magicians as their main food source.”

“Yes, they drool whenever they see a magician.”

“That’s right. And you happen to be a magician.”

Magic scrolls were also very popular for this reason.

If you trained in mana and became a magician, you would only become a target. But if you only used magic scrolls, how convenient and safe it would be.

Anes casually swept her hair behind her ear. She blew on the porridge on the spoon and then pushed it into her mouth again.

“Fatal is a lawless zone. It’s not strange for anything to happen. It’s full of criminals who hold grudges against the Imperial family.”

“I also have many grudges against the Imperial family. But I’m not a criminal.”

Or am I a criminal? I don’t even know which princess accepted my proposal.

“How wild will criminals become if they get cursed by the erosion? It’s an easy question. I don’t think there’s any need to think deeply about it.”

“I wondered why you were talking so much, are you trying to scare me?”

“Yes. Did you feel some fear?”

“I’m almost yawning. You need more practice.”

“Are you resigned?”

“No, it’s just that I’m quite strong.”

I exhaled a long breath of Sun Grass smoke. Anes frowned and fanned the smoke away from her nose.

Then she opened her notebook on the table and drew a cross mark.

[ Transport to Fatal ] V[ Have a meal ] V[ Scare him ] X[ Mid-mission report after observation ]

Noticing my gaze, Anes quickly closed her notebook with a snap.

“You work quite cutely. How old are you?”

“I’ll be leaving now. See you again in the morning.”

Anes left, her short hair swaying.

How much time has passed in this empty inn?

‘I’m hungry.’

I suddenly thought so. No matter how unappetizing the food, hunger always prevails. Reluctantly, I picked up the spoon.

As expected, the porridge tasted like garbage. It made me think that Anes was impressive for finishing her meal without a word.

I put my feet up on the table, twiddled the spoon with my fingers, and just stared into space while chewing a new piece of Sun Grass.

“Come to think of it… Was it like this back then too?”

It started like this when I was part of the Imperial family’s underground organization.

They locked fifteen people in a secret room and only let the last survivor out. When the survivor endured until the end, they refilled it with fourteen more people and repeated it fifteen times.

Well, compared to that, the current situation seemed infinitely cute.

Step, step.

Then footsteps began to be heard.

Someone started entering the inn’s restaurant. In an instant, a crowd of people formed a circular encirclement around me—too many to bother counting.

The guys holding weapons exchanged glances and smiled.

“He looks rich at first glance. We’ve caught a big one.”

“I have nothing. Don’t you have any discernment?”

Jaekiel responded calmly.

“We saw you getting off the imperial carriage.”

“I’m supposed to be the husband of a princess, but I’m not an imperial.”

…Though I didn’t know which princess it was.

“Really? We happen to have a grudge against the Imperial family.”

“Let’s just kill him first. We’ll get something out of it.”

The encirclement gradually tightened.

With my feet still on the table, I spat out the Sun Grass.

Spit.

“…”

The leading guy approaching me suddenly stopped. Rubbing his arm in discomfort, he found it covered in white particles.

“…Frost?”

It was definitely frost on his arm. Come to think of it, the temperature seemed to have dropped. When he exhaled, his breath was visible.

“You all should have worn warmer clothes, shouldn’t you?”

I asked with my arms crossed behind my head.

Puff. The smoke I exhaled was as mysterious as the breath of a frost dragon.

“It’s going to be quite cold from now on.”

My lips curled into a smile, exuding utmost composure.