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Chapter: 72

Caw, caw...

Gon was cawing from above. It was a bit unsettling, considering it was a crow. It must know what its cawing meant, so why was he doing that now? It was bad luck. I wasn\'t dead.

Was it doing that because the monster was dead? If so, I could understand.

The Wolhan Fortress Lord, who had been staring at me blankly with a dumbfounded look, soon seemed to come back to his senses and approached. His expression hardened as drops of blood fell from my arm.

"A physician, at once..."

Was it a serious injury? I moved my arm around, and it moved fine. The bones were fine. The muscles were fine. It was just a flesh wound. It might leave a scar once it healed, but that wasn\'t something a swordsman should be concerned about.

But I wasn\'t going to tell him I was fine.

"Indeed. It hurts like hell, so I need to see a physician quickly."

"My apologies. I\'ll take you there immediately."

The Wolhan Fortress Lord ripped his sleeve and tried to wrap it around my arm.

Hmm...?

"Ow!"

I winced and cried out as soon as the piece of his sleeve touched my arm. It wasn\'t that painful; I was exaggerating. But the Wolhan Fortress Lord\'s face turned pale. It was thanks to the fact that there was quite a bit of blood flowing, so the injury looked quite serious on the surface.

The Wolhan Fortress Lord hurriedly apologized.

"I apologize."

I didn\'t stop there and deliberately groaned. I couldn\'t miss this opportunity to make him feel indebted to me.

"...The wound seems quite deep. Please see a physician quickly."

He didn\'t show much agitation due to his cautious nature, but I could see traces of anxiety. Well, good. This should be enough to weigh on his mind.

Just then, I heard the sound of a crowd rushing towards us from afar.

"Your Highness!"

A familiar voice reached my ears, and footsteps approached. Only then did the people appear.

It was unexpected that Heo Seokgyeom was at the forefront of the group. It seemed they had rushed over after hearing the commotion, but unfortunately, I had already dealt with the monster. I had already swallowed and digested the opportunity to gain merit.

"Your Highness! Are you alright?" Heo Seokgyeom asked urgently as he approached. However, after taking only a few steps closer, his face hardened.

His gaze fell on my blood-soaked arm. It was wrapped in the Wolhan Fortress Lord\'s sleeve, but the bleeding hadn\'t stopped yet, and the blood was soaking through the fabric. I didn\'t think it was all my blood, but someone who had just arrived wouldn\'t be able to tell the difference.

"What is the meaning of this...!"

For a moment, fury flashed on Heo Seokgyeom\'s face. Just as I wondered why he was angry, his expression returned to its usual sternness.

I glanced at the crowd that had gathered. Heo Seokgyeom was the only one from the capital.

Of course, the rest of my entourage would be in the inner fortress.

But I didn\'t know what that guy had been doing that he found me here so quickly. He definitely wasn\'t at the pavilion we were using as temporary lodgings.

Anyway...

"I\'m fine, so there\'s no need to fuss."

I lowered my gaze to my arm.

"As you can see, only my arm is a bit worse for wear."

"You are injured! How can this be alright?!" Heo Seok-gyeom yelled.

Hey, why was he yelling at me?

Meanwhile, tension hung in the air among the others. Perhaps this thought was foremost in their minds: \'We\'re screwed.\' Or something like that.

I looked back at the Wolhan Fortress Lord.

"But isn\'t it strange that the wall suddenly crumbled and a monster appeared? That\'s what my common sense tells me."

"Yes, it is certainly no ordinary occurrence..."

The Wolhan Fortress Lord glanced at my arm. He seemed quite concerned about it.

If I wanted to pretend to be seriously injured, I couldn\'t drag it out for too long, so I should wrap this up and see a physician.

"An investigation will be necessary. Fortress Lord, organize a team to investigate the details."

"Yes, Your Highness."

I looked back at Heo Seokgyeom, and his face was full of displeasure. He seemed extremely displeased. Was this the pride of the capital?

I wiped the cold sweat that had trickled down my temple and headed to the physician.

* * *

The physician said, "You could’ve been in grave danger."

Gasps arose from those around me.

I didn\'t know why there were so many onlookers crammed into this small room. There was me and the physician, his two assistants, Heo Seok-gyeom, the Wolhan Fortress Lord, the head administrator of the inner fortress whose name I didn\'t know, the old woman who managed the pavilion where I was staying, and three other people I didn\'t even know.

"You could have lost the use of your arm."

Didn\'t that mean I was luckily alright? Then it was fine. There was no need to dwell on the past.

But Heo Seokgyeom didn\'t seem to think so.

"That was reckless."

Oh my. Look at this. Was he trying to scold me?

Was I a child?

I scoffed to show my disbelief, but Heo Seokgyeom didn\'t back down.

"Preserving your well-being is also your duty, Your Highness. Do not disregard your safety."

"I never disregarded it, and it wasn\'t dangerous enough for me to die. I stepped in because I could."

Why was he lecturing me about safety?

Even our Fortress Lord didn\'t nag in his later years.

-You damn brat. Did I not do it? I gave up!

Why was I hearing things?

"Focus all your efforts on treating His Highness. I won\'t call for you for any other reason for the time being," the Wolhan Fortress Lord said.

"Yes, Fortress Lord," the old physician replied and glanced at Heo Seokgyeom.

Our CommanderHeo was glaring at the physician as if he wanted to kill him.

Geez. I understand wanting to support fellow capital residents, but what did this physician do wrong?

Anyway... tsk tsk. Heo Seokgyeom was the embodiment of the downsides of excessive loyalty.

"Then, would you all please leave so that His Highness can rest?" the physician said.

The Wolhan Fortress Lord nodded. Heo Seokgyeom still looked extremely displeased, but he nodded and left the infirmary with the others.

Sleepiness washed over me as the surroundings became quiet. I let out a long yawn and closed my eyes.

And how much time had passed? When I opened my eyes again, it was already dark outside.

I was hungry. It seemed to be dinner time.

"You should have woken me up for dinner. No loyalty at all."

Grumbling, I got up and opened the door of the room where I had been lying. The smell of medicine that had been lingering in the hallway wafted in. The physician was nowhere to be seen.

"...As expected, Eunuch Han is the best."

Eunuch Han was the only one who consistently brought me meals on time. He was the only one who cared about me.

With such pointless thoughts in mind, I left the infirmary in search of food. As expected, it was dark outside.

I headed to my quarters, but there weren\'t many people there. A few of my entourage who had remained at the pavilion greeted me, but Heo Seokgyeom and Yoo Geung, the highest-ranking among them, were absent. When I asked, I was told they were in a meeting with the Fortress Lord and the elders.

"Where is that?"

And so, still without having eaten dinner, I set off again. I was worried that a fight might break out. Because from what I saw last, Heo Seokgyeom didn\'t seem like he would let things slide easily.

Upon reaching the pavilion where the Fortress Lord\'s office was located, I grabbed a passing servant girl and asked for directions.

"It\'s this way."

A heated conversation was already underway beyond the door I finally found.

"If the cause is negligence, it is proper to report this matter to the Ministry of the Interior immediately."

The voice that drifted from beyond the door was polite enough, but the tone was ice cold. It was Heo Seokgyeom.

I immediately threw the door open.

"Talking about my affairs without me?"

All the important people were gathered here. I swept my gaze across the room and strode over to an empty seat.

"Greetings, Your Highness."

"Greetings, Your Highness."

The elders greeted me a moment later. I responded casually and waved my hand.

"Continue your discussion. I\'ll just sit here and listen. You can treat me like a folding screen."

Yes, I was a folding screen.

Just a folding screen with a mouth and an empty stomach.

The conversation resumed under the watchful eye of this folding screen.

However, contrary to my expectations, no one treated me like a folding screen.

"The testimonies of those who were present at the scene all differ, so it is impossible to know the truth. Your Highness must have seen what happened... May I ask you a question?"

Son Gye-du, who was among the elders, pointed at me. What did he mean, the testimonies were all different? How many people could there have been at the scene that their accounts would differ? Unless they were doing it on purpose, it didn\'t make sense... But before I could voice my doubts, Son Gye-du continued.

"The gates must have been closed, so how did you encounter a monster from outside the walls? It could have been a disaster. Surely the gates were firmly shut at night..."

Son Gye-du trailed off and grinned. He had a suspicious look on his face.

My instincts were tingling. That was definitely the look of someone trying to use me for something.

In times like these, I needed to use my head. Work, brain.

I glared at Son Gye-du for a moment and thought.

I quickly reached a conclusion.

It seemed like he was trying to use the lapse in security as an excuse to get rid of someone.

In Wolhan Fortress, which was already struggling because of the monsters, a lapse in gate security wouldn\'t be a small matter.

But who was he trying to get rid of?

He wouldn\'t go through all this trouble just to fire a gatekeeper.

...Was this a setup?

Damn it. I shouldn\'t have agreed to that suggestion.

Now everything looked like a vile conspiracy.

"We must find the person who opened the north gate and punish them severely," Yoo Geung suddenly interjected.

Why was this guy butting in? Even Commander Heo was staying quiet.

No, wait. Yoo Geung was one of the few military officials I was close to, so I shouldn\'t curse him.

But today, Yoo Geung was being a real pain today.

"Your Highness could have been seriously injured."

Aggghhhhh!

Stop ittttttt!

I gritted my teeth and said, "Yoo Geung."

Yoo Geung turned to me.

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Shut uuuup..."

I forced a smile, thinking that if he interfered one more time, I would break his back.

"...Pardon?"

Fortunately, Yoo Geung shut his mouth after my single word. It seemed my sincere smile got through to him. Thankfully, I was able to save my subordinate\'s back. That was a relief.

Anyway, when would I get to eat dinner

We were doing all this to survive, weren\'t we?

"The wall just suddenly crumbled, and a monster appeared. That\'s all there is to it."