episode_0024

Warp Portal.

It is a strange magic that can only be imagined.

The wizard leader wanted to refute that that delusion was impossible.

Numerous wizards have already made similar attempts.

Geniuses among geniuses also researched dungeon portals.

How can life emerge from nowhere?

Can we do it too?

All answers to that question were wrong.

Even the general manager is one of those geniuses who failed.

However, the leader could not say anything to Ian.

Denying the words of the prophet was the same as denying the future.

At the same time, it was an act of ignoring the prestige of the empire built on his prophecy.

“Hmm… .”

Even the emperor who had not studied magic in depth knew that those words were nonsense.

“Is it possible?”

“I don’t know when it will happen, but I have seen the results she has achieved. I also don’t know much about magic, so I don’t know much about it. However, there is no reason why mankind cannot do what the demons have also done.”

Until now, Ian’s prophecy has never been wrong.

Even if it was nonsense, everything that came out of his mouth became reality.

Wasn’t it thanks to him that the almost loss of an entire feudal lord was overshadowed?

The emperor’s thoughts did not last long.

If that warp portal were invented, the imperial family would become so overwhelming that it could devour the continent.

It is difficult to calculate how much the cost of military marching will be reduced.

Trade between cities in itself requires great costs, but the creation of a warp portal solves that problem.

Safe, secure, and fast transactions.

Even if the portal toll is set high, I will use it unconditionally.

Above all, there is nothing to lose by listening to the words of the prophet.

Even if it doesn’t work out, just go ahead and show off to the prophet.

“This is a field that many scholars have already tried and failed in.”

“I know.”

“Okay… . If it is what the prophet said, then it is correct. But what does this have to do with the first party?”

“Only grade A or higher magic stones are used in future warp portals that I have seen. So, until war comes, I think it would be a good idea to use the first party to supply A-level or higher magic stones. It would be awkward for me to convey this directly, so I would appreciate it if the royal family could do it for you.”

It was nothing short of rude to dare to leave one’s work to the royal family.

But no one, including the emperor here, could scold him.

“Yes, that will do. However, it is difficult to understand why this important issue is being brought up only now.”

“I can only see what I see. In other words, you can’t see what isn’t shown. Only at this point have I seen this future.”

The prophet says so, so who can refute that?

“Yes. I will appoint the person in charge and find out.”

The emperor also easily agreed, as he was planning to move the first party separately.

It is a loss of power to leave them alone just because they are out of Ian’s hands.

For a long time, the Emperor had been anxious about the first party being solely in Ian’s hands.

What would happen if, even if just by chance, their blades turned towards the empire?

Just imagining it gave me chills.

“However, the name Philip would be valid. Would it be okay if I used that name to persuade Penny, the manager of the first party?”

If possible, the emperor wanted to bring the first party.

Even Ian was kicked out, so I don’t have to be hopeful that it would be possible.

“It’s okay.”

Ian also doesn’t know the emperor’s intentions.

The first party is a monster born to hunt monsters.

“One last thing, late fall before the war. A sea dragon will appear on the western beach.”

“For… ?!”

Not only the emperor, but also the ministers who heard the story were astonished.

“Do you mean a dragon will appear?”

The wizard leader suddenly intervened without me knowing.

He belatedly noticed the emperor’s thoughts, but he was too embarrassed to pay attention.

“Dragon… Not sure if it is. The only results I’ve seen are many people talking about ‘sea dragons’. It is said that many monsters appeared on the western beach and devastated the port.”

The western part of the empire, with its dry and mild climate, is an important location both strategically and economically.

The mountain range that curves in a gentle ‘ㄱ’ shape from the northwest of the continent to the south is like a natural barrier in front of the border with the demons.

There are also port cities that trade with other continents across the sea.

If there had been no prophet, a war would have broken out in the winter while the port city was destroyed, and the empire would have had to retreat significantly.

The emperor once again realized how great and important the ability to advise the future was.

“… I understand. Let me talk to the officials. However, I have one question. Isn’t it unfair?”

The emperor was truly curious.

At the first party, Sylvia, who had been with Ian the longest, had been with him for a whopping four years.

Even the short Kylie is two and a half years old.

They are not just colleagues.

Ian changed their lives and made them into heroes who were talked about as if they were gods.

Those people were unilaterally kicked out.

Ordinary people are unable to control their emotions.

“Injustice… I’m not sure yet. It’s not that I don’t have feelings, but I just move on for the greater good.”

The emperor’s cause is the well-being of the empire.

The prophet’s cause was said to be the future of killing the devil.

These are truly special words for a prophet to say.

Rather than seeing a future where the Demon King dies, he speaks as if he has received a revelation that he must create such a future.

“Time goes by regardless of my will, so I can’t stop walking.”

“It might have been a little better if you had revealed your achievements.”

“Your Majesty the Emperor. There are two types of people in the world. There are those who act and those who make them act. The latter must exist like a haze without appearing in the world. When people realize that there are people who make the world act, those who act will begin to question their own agency.”

“Again. Don’t you know that a warrior is not called a hero because he is a hero? They are idols created to be consumed in this day and age, for the greater good and for peace. The world’s attention should be theirs. Humans cannot live on dreams. They need some compensation.”

“I am a person who makes things happen, but I am an incompetent person who cannot act. It would be presumptuous of me to dare to share in that achievement. But.”

“I think it is also presumptuous for heroes who cannot rise to their positions without me to cast me out. It’s not unfair, but it’s just absurd. The fact that I was betrayed by those I trusted in a future I did not see.”

The emperor swallowed his saliva without anyone noticing.

The hand holding the armrest of the throne also tightened slightly and then relaxed.

‘He’s a creepy guy.’

The prestige of the empire was built on his prophecies.

Those who know the existence of prophets say so.

The truth the emperor thinks is more fundamental and unpleasant than that.

The current imperial authority itself was given by a prophet.

Taking it to the extreme, what would it have been like if that prophet had sided with the Allied Powers, who were the rebel forces?

The emperor would have been on the scaffold rather than the throne.

It is as if the prophet chose Julian as emperor.

‘… ‘Are you asking me this?’

Although it is about the first party, there is a thorn hidden in the prophet’s words.

The prophet who handed over the imperial authority asks:

‘Are you going to betray yourself?’

It is a sharp question that penetrates the fact that the emperor both fears and covets the first party.

Ian was kneeling down there and looking up, but the hidden force was not like that.

He faces the emperor on equal footing and shakes his hand under the table.

I don’t know what he hides under his sleeves.

‘What I just said may not be the whole reason. The dedication he gave to the first party cannot be interpreted simply in terms of calculation. But, I can’t ask any more than this.’

Heroes who are too great threaten the power structure.

So, what about the person who created that hero?

‘… We don’t know yet.’

Until the need runs out.

There is no way the emperor would betray Ian.

And vice versa.

‘But what will happen when each other’s needs run out… .’

It’s still time to hold his hand.

With a stinger hidden under his sleeve.

“… Right. You can just walk away. I look forward to it in the future.”

“I am very sorry.”

After finishing his story, Ian left the throne room.

Although he was formal and polite until the end, he was a man who gave no sense of respect.

‘It would be even stranger if you still showed respect even after knowing all the secrets of the imperial family.’

I was surprised by Ian’s intentions, but it doesn’t mean there is no harvest.

‘It’s not like you don’t have feelings.’

He tried to hide his feelings with long-winded answers.

Like the emperor, his position is not emotionally congenial.

‘Still, I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not that I feel emotions like a human.’

Whether they like it or not, they will have to turn against each other in the end.

How much emotion was left for each other at that time?

What direction will those remaining emotions lead?

The emperor, who was not a prophet, did not dare to predict.

Just as Ian was betrayed by the first party.

Emotions do not allow for prediction in the first place.

‘You’ll find out then… . I wonder what the end will be for him and me.’

In the end, the two are just using each other out of necessity.

Ian can predict the future thanks to regression, but he cannot move the empire.

An emperor who can move the empire, but has no choice but to agonize over every choice at every moment.

The emperor decided to first understand the wizard named Iris.

“Leader, first of all… .”

That moment.

-Kongkongkongkong!

Something kicked down the throne room door and rushed in.

“Apppa-!”

“That, Grace?!”

“Princess… !”

The emperor was so tired that he got up in a huff and greeted his daughter.

I put aside all the serious worries I had just now and opened my arms to Grace.

“No! Not that!”

However, Princess Grace did not hug him.

“You don’t even hug your father just because you’re all grown up…? . I don’t know how many times I’ve done this already.”

“What about Philip? I heard Philip is here!”

“You don’t even answer.”

“Philip!”

“He already left.”

“Already? why? Without even meeting me?”

“Grace. The Prophet is very busy and important… .”

“Oh, I don’t know! You were supposed to let me know when Philip came! Why didn’t you tell me earlier-!”

The emperor first had to deal with the ministers and then spend a longer time appeasing Grace with the chamberlain than when he met Ian.

‘I’m glad Ian left before Grace came… .’

Ian also participated in the preparations for the assassination of Grace.

At that time, Ian saved Grace right in front of her eyes, and from that day on, Grace has been like this ever since.

She became a new headache for the Emperor and Ian.

The Emperor can’t forget the expression Ian made every time he met Grace.

The calm and even stoic prophet begged the emperor with his eyes to please take it away.

“When did you leave-!”

“… It’s been quite a while. You must have gone very far by now.”

“Ahh really! They don’t let me send letters, they don’t let me visit them, and even if they come, they don’t let me see them! I love it so much!”

I was really glad that I didn’t see Grace actively courting Ian with my own eyes.

Since becoming an adult this year, I have been carrying around a marriage contract with me.

It is not an official document based on a format.

It’s just a pledge that looks like children’s scribbles that Grace randomly scribbled.

Of course she is infinitely serious.

The foolish emperor had a hard time holding back tears every time he remembered that fact.

It still seems like just yesterday that we were hugging each other while saying “apppa” and “apppa” with our tongues softly… .

The tongue is still a bit short, but it doesn’t hug anymore.

‘… I guess I shouldn’t tell you next time I come.’

Of course, the emperor has no intention of betraying Ian of his own accord.

How could he do that when he is the benefactor of such a lovely daughter?

However, sometimes the name of the emperor becomes meaningless.

Because of political reasons and pressure, the future of the empire and the position of the imperial family, it is time to kill those who should not be killed.

Rather than betrayal, it would be better to call it flow.

‘What was your intention in leaving me with such a question? Is it a warning? Or, did it give us time to think or prepare for the last moments… .’

The Emperor just hopes that that moment will never come.

Therefore, we will not stop at just wishing.

An emperor is not a person who prays.

Establishing the foundation of the pre-war empire through warp portal and first party operation.

Through the solid foundation, we will devise policies and measures to capture public sentiment, which was bound to be shaken after the war.

No matter how much Ian’s prestige rises, we must focus on strengthening the imperial power so that he is not threatened and is not swayed by justification or encouragement.

I have also thought about the marriage between the princess and Ian.

Just thinking about it makes me sad, just like I had to swallow tears of blood in the past when I got engaged to gain strength.

However, if it is possible to maintain the imperial power and accept Ian, it is worth doing.

It’s not like Grace doesn’t like it.

The problem is that Ian pushes Grace away.

‘Our Grace can’t help herself… .’

The bigger problem is that Ian is ultimately a scarecrow.

Only those in the know know about his achievements.

As can be seen from the fact that he wants to give all his achievements to the warrior, he is extremely reluctant to reveal himself.

In other words, it is bound to be suspicious that the manager, who is just a scarecrow for the first party, would marry the princess.

Marriage with the princess could break the separation between Ian and Philip.

Therefore, the only solution is to become so overwhelmingly strong that the imperial power cannot be shaken.

Unbecoming of that position, the emperor sympathizes with the prophet.

‘How cruel is it to be able to see the future but not be able to see the future you want when you want it? Not being able to see a future in which people were betrayed by those they trusted… .’

The emperor sometimes even feels a sense of kinship with the human prophet.

This is because the two are in a position where they cannot share their concerns with anyone.

Just as the emperor, who cannot be emotional, can only do so in front of Grace.

I hope the prophet also has someone like that.

‘Protecting him is also for the well-being of the empire.’

And, although I hate to admit it, he is the man who is loved by Grace.

When he dies, his daughter will be sad.

For various reasons, the Emperor does not want to confront Ian.

***

“Ugh… .”

As soon as I left the throne room, I turned my shoulders and relaxed.

I have to show some manners in front of the emperor, so my body feels stiff when I kneel.

Still, I said everything I wanted to say right now.

Especially important warp portals.

In the second round, this is a magic that was created long after the war had already begun.

I also had little information about the wizard named ‘Iris’ who invented that historic magic.

He was a magician belonging to the imperial family.

And, as soon as he awakened as a wizard, he applied to the imperial family.

In other words, he was a person who could not be found even if one wanted to find him in advance.

I was even more worried that he might have turned into a warrior this time.

Not everything is the same as the second time.

In that respect, I was lucky to come to see the emperor today.

As I was entering the palace, I saw several imperial wizards who had been affected by memory correction, and when I listened closely and overheard, Iris was among them.

I was wondering if I should receive a list of the Imperial Wizards on a regular basis, but things turned out well.

Warp portals will be invented by summer at the earliest, or fall at the latest.

From then on, the balance between the emperor and the Holy Emperor will gradually collapse.

Of course, the Seonghwa Church side also has a lot of work to do in the war, so it will not give in at all.

[master.]

Telepathy arrived from Kati.

‘why. What’s going on?’

[A letter has arrived at the monastery. It is said that Seonghwang is looking for his master.]

Yes, it’s time for that guy to know.

I expected it, but it was a bit annoying… .

‘okay. I won’t be back until the day after tomorrow morning.’

[yes. be careful.]

… What does he always tell me to watch out for?

This is not the child I put out on the water.

‘okay. thank you.’

[yes. me too.]

‘Why you?’

[…] … .]

‘Hey, hey! No, is this something that will happen if you pretend not to know? ‘You can hear everything.’

[…] … .]

‘Who pretends not to hear telepathy? This is ridiculous… .’

I thought this had happened more than once or twice.

After receiving a salute from the knights, I left the imperial palace.

The next destination is Seonghwangcheong.

I don’t have as much to say to the Emperor as I do to the Emperor, so I’ll finish it soon and go back.

***

It was dark in the monastery when it was time to sleep.

Vivian lay down among the children, and Mercy and Kati took a seat in the corner.

First, Katy lies down and is looking at the ring on her hand.

It’s been like that ever since I came in after training Emma.

“Kathi.”

Mercy lay down next to Kati and hugged her.

It is her habit to sleep with something in her arms.

“Yes.”

“Did you convey the message?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, yes. Then it won’t come until tomorrow.”

Mercy buried her face in Katy’s head.

Mercy, who is about the size of Ian’s chin, is taller than Katy, so she always sleeps holding her like she’s hugging a doll.

It’s the same when I sleep with Vivian.

“Go to sleep quickly. Just because you’re looking at that doesn’t mean Ian will come quickly… . When did the location change?”

The ring of dependence had already moved to the ring finger of my left hand.

It worked no matter which finger I wore, so there were no problems.

Instead of answering, Kati just moved her head slightly, as if glaring.

“… I can’t stop you.”

Mercy burst out laughing as if it was absurd, but it wasn’t all that funny.

‘Poor thing… .’

“Yes.”

Even after answering, Kati continued to look at the ring.

Ian is on his way to Seonghwangcheong without even sleeping.

Katy wanted to talk more, but she didn’t because he ordered her to go to bed quickly.

After looking at it for a while, Kati also put down her hands and fell asleep.

The reality that he would still not be there when I woke up was disappointing.