episode_0038

‘Leonius Bell’, the current emperor of the Borus Empire.

On the outside, he appeared to be a very spontaneous person, but in reality, those who knew the true nature of the emperor knew that he was by no means a spontaneous person.

A representative example was the war with the kingdom of Sylvania, a neighboring country, that broke out a few years ago due to the emperor’s arbitrary judgment.

There were only a few people who knew that it was actually a war that started as a warning against the power of the nobility growing stronger as the period of peace prolonged after the unification of the empire.

However, there were things that did not go as planned even for such a planned emperor.

It was the issue of successor.

The empire originally had a principle of eldest son succession, and this was a law that was observed more strictly in the imperial family than in noble families.

If a fight breaks out in a noble family over the succession issue, it is just a family fight, but if a fight breaks out in the imperial family over the succession issue, it could turn into a civil war.

So, based on primogeniture succession, the eldest son, Alex, was appointed crown prince.

The problem was that Alex’s younger sisters, Princess Iolin and Third Prince Edric, were too talented.

Not only were they both very intelligent, but their personalities were also flawless, so many people followed them.

Is that it?

Third Prince Edric showed outstanding talent in swordsmanship, to the point where even Kallen, the empire’s swordsman and teacher, was impressed.

On the other hand, Prince Alex was not bad, but he was not outstanding either.

In fact, it was okay if that was the case.

Originally, being the eldest son was a huge advantage, so that alone was enough.

However, after the Empress died when he was young, he started to stray.

Now, it was more common to whisper about him using the derogatory title “f***ing fool” rather than the title “crown prince.”

At first, the emperor tried to understand. The sorrow of a child losing his mother will bring about a great sense of loss.

But even that was now reaching its limit.

Lately, my decision has been to be jealous of my younger brother’s achievements and try to disparage them.

In the emperor’s view, the princess immediately declared that she was not interested in the position of princess.

How can you behave in such an indecent manner towards a princess who is not even your competition?

Even though it was narrow, it was too narrow.

“Please come in.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Justaf Heindel and Harun Coelho, please enter the palace!”

At least recently, I was sent on a tour of the region to cool off. Did you feel anything there?

The crown prince has become quite quiet recently.

So, this time, I wanted to give him a chance and asked him to observe the meeting being held at the royal palace.

Normally, I would have been unable to endure such a serious situation and would have done something else, but today I was satisfied with the fact that I was watching the meeting with considerable concentration.

“Your Majesty, have you been well?”

“Long time no see, Sir Eustaph. Since you said you were looking for me in a hurry, I felt nervous for the first time in a while.”

A small laugh spreads throughout the palace at the emperor’s joke.

That’s because the last time Justaf Heindel visited the imperial palace, he said that he wanted to step down from his position as the lord of the Magic Tower.

The position of the head of the Magic Tower was determined through the election of members from generation to generation, so even the imperial family could not intervene.

Since none of the members were willing to vote for anyone other than Yustav, no one came forward as a candidate, and the Matapju position remained the same for over 20 years.

So, Yustaf, who wanted to step down from his position as the lord of the Mage Tower, came to the imperial court and asked that he be appointed as the principal of the Imperial Academy.

No matter how magical the tower was, it could not stop Yustaf, who had been appointed directly by the emperor as the academy principal, from leaving his position as the tower owner.

At that time, I remember that even the emperor had to sweat a lot to suddenly appoint Yustav as the academy’s principal.

I meant it as a joke this time.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. This time, it may not be a personal matter, but a matter for the safety of the empire.”

“… What does that mean?”

The atmosphere in the palace, which had been poisoned by the emperor’s jokes, turned cold in an instant.

Not to mention the servants, the emperor’s expression also became cold.

“It’s still speculation, but it seems like the warlocks have acted again.”

“Warlock? Are there still remnants left?”

“Aren’t those originally infected with the devil bound to reappear even if they are uprooted?”

The emperor’s hand goes to his temple.

I was worried that since the crown prince was quiet, the warlock might have acted this time.

I felt the headache that had subsided for a while again.

“If you mentioned a warlock, I think there must be a reason.”

Hearing the emperor’s words, Yustav looked at Harun, who had come with him.

Then Harun unfolded the scroll he had brought with him, and inside it was a circle filled with strange shapes and letters.

“What is that? Is it Yeonseongjin? No, it looks like a magic circle.”

“This is the newly created Yeonseongjin.”

“Newly created Yeonseongjin?”

“Yes. This is a combination of magic and alchemy, and from what guild leader Harun and I interpreted, it was a Yeonseongjin that creates something.”

Everyone’s attention was focused on Yustav’s words.

The new Yeonseongjin is also amazing because it is combined with magic.

This was a fact that would be an incredibly surprising discovery if announced.

“Are you associated with a warlock to create something?”

“Its identity was unknown. Until it’s actually converted, it’s just something with enormous power.”

“Then it’s just the new Yeon Seongjin, so why are we being so cautious?”

In response to the emperor’s question, Yustav was silent for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“Unlike existing Yeonseongjin, this Yeonseongjin requires a huge amount of sacrifice. It’s like an equivalent exchange.”

-Equivalent exchange?!

The answer to Yustav’s words unexpectedly turned out to be where the crown prince was.

As everyone’s eyes turned to that direction, the crown prince held out his palm and motioned for them to continue.

“By offering a huge sacrifice, something with enormous power is created.”

If it is an offering, is it gold and silver treasure? Or special ores or plants?

A candidate for sacrifice passed through the emperor’s mind, and for a moment he felt an eerie feeling.

“No way… .”

“It’s just as your Majesty guessed. This Yeonseongjin is a Yeonseongjin that offers human life as a sacrifice!”

At Yustav’s words, the palace was met with silence.

Offering up a human life as a sacrifice.

Certainly, the only organization capable of doing such a thing was the Warlock.

“Is that true?!”

Even the emperor could not hide his surprise and spoke in a trembling voice.

“This is the result of a few days of analysis between me and guild leader Harun. At least tens of thousands of lives were needed to activate this Yeonseongjin.”

“Where on earth did you find this?”

Yustav suddenly becomes silent in response to the emperor’s question.

“Hurry up and say it!”

“That’s… .”

***

Alex has recently refrained from acting like a fool.

It’s not that I want to become someone suitable for the duties of the crown prince now.

After seeing with my own eyes that someone in the same situation as me existed in this world, I couldn’t help but change my mindset a little.

There must be people in the world who have gone through much harsher things than you, but it occurred to me that I was too caught up in my own tragedy to look around me.

I stopped taking out my anger for no reason.

However, he still harbors antipathy toward his father, the emperor.

I hated participating in royal meetings like today.

The only positive thing was that I became more interested in what was going on in the world than before and was less bored.

While I was observing the meeting.

Alex’s interest was piqued when Justaf Heindel and Harun Coelho appeared.

The empire’s greatest wizard and alchemist entered the royal palace together.

It was by no means common.

And then a report of shocking content follows.

When the phrase ‘equivalent exchange’ came up in the middle, I couldn’t help but shout out in joy because it was a word from a comic book I had read.

What Yustav said was extremely serious.

Yeonseongjin, where tens of thousands of people sacrifice their lives. It was truly terrifying to hear.

“Where on earth did you find this?”

“That’s… .”

“Hurry up and say it!”

Yustav is distracted and the Emperor is urging him on.

The crown prince suddenly felt that the new appearance of Yeonseongjin depicted on the scroll held by Harun looked familiar.

“Found in a book called Iron Blooded Alchemist.”

“Iron-blooded Alchemist?”

At Yustav’s answer, the royal palace begins to murmur.

The name of the book seemed unknown to the emperor, but all his ministers seemed to know.

“Who on earth published that book?”

“Not a book… It’s a comic book.”

“If it were a comic book… Are you talking about the book that was made for children to learn letters?”

Alex noticed his father’s expression distort.

An expression he often showed when he was reprimanding himself.

“Sir Eustaf! I trusted you, but are you really telling me the results of your research based on that?”

“Your Majesty, please fix it. I’m sure it’s hard for you to accept, but this book is definitely… .”

“No matter what, I can’t believe you talk so seriously about what you researched based on such a book.”

The emperor’s irritated expression and Yustav’s expression, not knowing what to say, came into view.

‘That’s not just a comic book. Rupert is talking about his own autobiographical experiences!’

For some reason, Alex was taking Yustav’s side.

“Ha, Yustav and Lord Harun, is there any other evidence?”

The emperor asks the two, who still claim to be certain despite being reprimanded, if there is any other evidence.

But their answer betrayed the emperor’s expectations.

“ In order to test and prepare Yeonseongjin, people must have been sacrificed.”

“So?”

“With the cooperation of the Imperial Intelligence Department and the security forces, we can definitely find evidence by investigating the area where the missing person occurred or if there are any suspicious signs.”

The Emperor pondered Yustav’s answer.

This is because the before and after have completely changed. I wonder if there is any evidence.

Please let me mobilize the administrative power of the empire to find evidence.

If you listen to the story, it is clearly not a small scale, so if the facts were wrong, it would have been a huge loss.

The administrative power of the empire must never be used in vain.

Not only warlocks but many other places threaten the safety of the empire.

As the emperor’s worries deepened, the expressions on Yustav’s and Harun’s faces darkened.

Because they thought it was absurd to make a claim based on a comic book.

But then someone who no one expected came forward.