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Chapter 379

“When did you two arrive in Arcadia?”

“Don’t ask. We would have arrived sooner if she hadn’t dawdled…” Cain grumbled.

“Huh?” Icarus gave Cain a death glare. “Where is your conscience?”

“I sold it off, so I only have one heart now.”

“Do you really want to talk nonsense now?” Icarus growled.

“I’m not lying, you know. We could have used a warp gate, but you insisted on getting to Arcadia by foot. That’s why we’re late.”

“I told you that suspicious movements have been detected in every warp gate. The state of affairs around the continent is unusual, and a lot of people are after us.”

“You’re with me, so why are you worried about getting ambushed?”

“Getting ambushed is the least of our problems. If the fact that we’re away right now becomes known, what would happen to Sir Ulabis? He’s already working hard on his own! Our enemies would have so much fun!” Icarus said sarcastically.

“You’re quite sarcastic to a person who is older than you.”

“Forget it.” Icarus turned around.

Charles smiled. “You two still get along well.”

“No way!” Icarus and Cain shouted in perfect synch, as if they had planned it in advance.

“Hahahaha!” Charles laughed out loud.

Icarus realized her mistake and immediately apologized. “I-I’m sorry, Lady Charles.”

“Don’t be. Anyhow, we also arrived just now.”

Icarus quietly heaved a sigh of relief and took a look around.“I’m sorry to everyone else too.”

“In that case, why don’t you have a drink with the Reserve Battalion knights someday?” Ranger smiled mischievously.

“Pardon? Drink?” Icarus opened her eyes wide.

“It’s always good to have a drink with a beautiful woman. Much of the Auxiliary Battalion are actually bachelors.”

“No way!” Cain shouted.

“…Huh?”

“No way in hell. Over my dead body.”

Ranger stared at him in disbelief.

Icarus’ reaction wasn’t different. “Why do you get to decide that, Sir Cain?”

“Ah, I don’t know. You just can’t.” Cain looked away.

Icarus tilted her head in confusion. “You really are a weirdo.”

Charles realized that their conversation was never going to end at this rate.

“Icarus,” she interrupted.

“Yes, Lady Charles.”

“What can we do to help smoothen Joshua’s path to becoming the emperor?”

Once Charles mentioned Joshua, Cain and Icarus instantly turned serious; they thought the world of Joshua.

“As you already know,” Charles said, “the biggest problem is the Twelve Families.”

“…Yes, my master has already shown enough of his power, but the nobles from the Twelve Families likely think that they’ll be executed if my master ascends the throne,” Icarus said.

“Yeah,” Charles agreed. “Besides, the princes might have made an agreement between themselves, but the law is clear: the only one who can choose the next emperor is the current emperor. Since there is no crown prince in Avalon right now, the nobles have a justifiable cause to oppose him.”

“It’s more than possible for them to throw a tantrum…” Ranger added. “That was why you were worried about them fighting until the end.”

“That is right.” Charles nodded.

“Mmmm…” Ranger grunted. He couldn’t see a way through the situation.

“You have a solution, right?” Charles asked Icarus.

Everyone inside the room turned to look at her hopefully.

“We really don’t have many options if we can’t persuade them,” Icarus bluntly replied.

“Do-don’t have many options…? Do you mean we have more than one option?” Ranger asked.

Without saying yes or no, Icarus turned elsewhere. “In order to do so… we need your help, Lady Charles.”

“…Huh? Me?” Charles pointed at herself.

Icarus beamed. “Yes, you, Lady Charles.”

“What do you mean, you need my help…?”

“If someone doesn’t listen, then take it up with their superior.”

Charles was even more confused.

“Our operation is named ‘Honeytrap’,” Icarus declared.

* * *

“Wild King,” Joshua called.

The death knight gave him a questioning look.

“What would you do if I became the emperor of Avalon? You weren’t just an ordinary noble of the Swallow Empire, you were the head of a respected noble family. A knight can’t serve two masters, so can you really become a part of an enemy country?” Joshua asked. Having resolved to consider other people’s feelings, he had been worrying about this.

However, his worry about tainting the Wild King’s honor or dignity was useless.

-From the day I decided to be reborn, I abandoned my country and my name. Right now, I’m not a duke of the Swallow Empire nor “Wild King” Altsma. I’m just Joshua Sander’s knight. All else aside, I genuinely admire you, my one and only master.

The Wild King’s answer made the last trace of hesitation in Joshua’s heart disappear.

“…I’ll become a master who lives up to your expectations so I can repay your trust.”

-I trust you.

Joshua marched forward to the faraway palace of the Avalon Empire.

* * *

After Kaizen walked into the black hole, a pool of light surrounded him.

“Ugh!” Kaizen frowned. “Wait, there is a place like this behind the palace…?”

The only thing he could see was a cave in a very dense forest.

“Welcome, Second Prince Kaizen.”

Kaizen’s eyes widened. There were other people standing with the man that had introduced himself as Marco.

Kaizen stayed on his guard. “You’re…”

There were three people in total. One was a beautiful man with impressively long blonde hair wearing snow-white clothes.

“Thank you for accepting our invitation,” the blonde man said.

“Who… are you?” Kaizen asked.

“I’m Jabel, the second apostle.”

“What in the world are these apostles? Why don’t you explain anything—why do you keep getting on my nerves?” Kaizen growled, using bravado to shake off his own fear.

“You don’t have to be on alert,” Jabel replied. “You just need to deliver this to your sister…”

Kaizen froze as something floated in the air on its own and slowly flew toward Kaizen.

‘A mage…? No, he looks more like a knight,’ Kaizen thought.

Kaizen wasn’t a talented swordsman, but by using an endless supply of mana elixirs in the imperial palace and the most advanced mana training techniques, he had become a Class C knight long ago. Which was probably why Kaizen finally realized why something felt really off.

‘He’s at a level I can’t even imagine reaching…! Where did such monsters come from?’

A drop of sweat rolled down Kaizen’s back.

“Take it,” Jabel urged.

“What… is this?”

“We need this to execute our plan, so you need to deliver this to Princess Serciarin,” Jabel told him.

Kaizen stared, mesmerized, at the finger-sized black crystal that was floating right before his eyes. Even in Kaizen’s eyes, the crystal buzzed with extraordinary power.

‘It’s dangerous!’

Kaizen knew it instinctively, so he slowly took a few steps backward.

“I’m not good at lying, so I’ll be honest: If you take this to your sister, she’ll die without a doubt,” Jabel said.

Kaizen’s face flushed red. “Ho-how dare you—!”

He now wondered if he was dealing with a mad man right now—or else how could Jabel say he was going to kill a member of the Imperial Family right in front of Kaizen?!

“Why are you shocked? Haven’t you already done something similar to the same person?”

Jabel was talking about how Kaizen took Sersiarin to his palace on the day she was dying.

“Ho-how do you…?”

“We have eyes and ears around the entire palace,” Jable nonchalantly revealed.

“Are you… demons?” Kaizen asked.

“Demons?” Jabel repeated disbelievingly.

“I know that there is an evil group within the imperial palace that is capable of controlling the undead. Are you part of that group?”

“…Well, we did try to use the undead, but don’t you already know that he took them all away?”

“He…?” Kaizen blankly repeated.

“Joshua Sanders, that son of a bitch.”

Kaizen’s eyes widened.

“Do you know why we’re going through all this trouble when we could just kidnap the princess?” Jabel asked.

“…Why?”

“We wanted to give you a chance.”

“A chance…?”

“The man I served ordered me to not harm the princes, which means only one thing: even if we take the throne, the nobles won’t accept us since they don’t even know who we are. In other words… ” Jabel looked straight into Kaizen’s eyes. “...he decided that this country will always belong to the Britten Family.”

“Y-yes! I don’t know who you serve, but he’s smart.”

“Prove yourself by doing this. Take our hands and we’ll make you the next emperor.”

Kaizen thought hard about the offer. It wasn’t bad for him at all. Besides, he could use all the help he could get right now, but…

“How would I know you won’t betray me?” Kaizen asked.

“Betray you?”

“I don’t know who you all are or what your goal is, so how am I supposed to trust you enough to work together?” Kaizen eyed the man that was standing silently behind Jabel and Marco. “Reveal your face.”

“…I have no other choice.” The man wearing a robe sighed quietly and grabbed his hood, very slowly revealing his face.

“…Huh?”

Kaizen’s doubts had been piling up, but the man’s face blew it away like a punch in the face. He really couldn’t believe his eyes right now.

“Ho-ho-how…?” Kaizen’s voice trembled, but his body shook even harder.

“It’s been a while, Kaizen. Has it been around three years?”

“Hup!” Kaizen’s knees gave out and he collapsed to the ground.

The man’s voice seemed familiar to Kaizen, but that was all he’d thought about it because the possibility of it being the same person was too ridiculous to be true.

The man standing in front of Kaizen should never have been there. He was the worst tyrant in the history of the Avalon Empire.

Kaizen finally muttered, “Fa-father…?”