Children of the Holy Emperor Chapter 4

004. Jinju Palace (1)

Once my body began to show signs of recovery, it quickly improved. Food also changed from porridge to regular food, and the range of movement began to increase.

Meanwhile, Seongjin spent his free time doing various exercises in his room.

I wanted to run outside right away and do high-intensity aerobic exercise, but I decided that it was not possible with my physical strength that had fallen to the ground after being bedridden due to illness.

‘Besides, if I move too hard right now, it looks like my joints are going to explode… … .’

Look at the knees that are trembling after just doing national gymnastics once.

Exercising while standing is also burdensome, and if you run with this much weight, your cartilage will not just wear out.

Is there a swimming pool somewhere? I want to train with the feeling of rehabilitation.

As I leaned part of my body weight on the bed and flailed my arms and legs awkwardly to avoid putting too much strain on my body as much as possible, the Demon King spoke nonsense to me in hopes of comforting me.

[Well, it’s still better than the first time, right? It seems like the outline of the face is revealed a little.]

When I looked in the mirror, a huge blond boy was staring at me with a sullen expression.

Her gray-blond hair and slightly fierce-looking eyes were very similar to Empress Lizabeth.

Even though he is overweight, he seems to have grown to a certain height for a 15-year-old, but since I don’t know the average height of people here, this is only a guess.

‘I don’t really see any changes. ‘Isn’t it just that the swelling has gone down a bit?’

[First of all, shouldn’t we encourage motivation with a positive mindset? Do you know by any chance? If you keep working hard, you might go from being a pig to being a handsome man. Now, fighting!]

That damn bastard, I wish he would just disappear. Seongjin shook her head and started doing gymnastics with her bare hands again.

* * *

The villa where Seongjin currently resides is a pretty ivory-colored building called ‘Jinju Palace’.

On the outside, it just had a subtle and neat appearance, but if you look at every nook and cranny, it was a beautiful villa filled with luxurious and colorful decorations.

It is said that the 1st Crown Princess built it especially for Mores, so it is probably not something that was put into with ordinary care.

Although small in size, it is fully equipped with all facilities for the prince’s education and social activities, including luxurious bedrooms, a dedicated study, a dedicated training hall, a dedicated greenhouse, and a dedicated banquet hall. I was planning to visit Seongjin soon and see the training hall and study room.

However, as a result of observing for several days while building up basic physical strength, Seongjin realized that this place, Jinju Palace, operates in a slightly strange way.

First, none of the humans residing or visiting Jinju Palace have divine powers.

It was truly a strange thing. The entire imperial palace is filled with divine energy, but the subject of that energy is not visible.

‘I heard that the area is overflowing with divine power to the extent that the demon lord can’t escape this body… … .’

However, in reality, since entering this body, Seongjin has never once met anyone with divine power.

Mores’ body is no exception to this. Nathaniel himself possessed unprecedented divine power, but unfortunately, Mores, the most ambitious son of the first empress, was not born with even a single ounce of divine power.

Well, it was a very fortunate thing for Seongjin and the Demon King. If Mores’ body had any divine power, the Demon King would have disappeared as soon as he entered this body.

‘… what a waste. I could have completely let it go.’

[You bastard! Do you think your child can be fine on his own? You are an evil spirit that freely entered the prince’s body! If I were to be discovered by a priest, I would be immediately exorcised, right?]

That might be a bit troublesome.

In any case, the Holy Empire Delcross has a strong theocratic unity system, and its influence extends to the entire continent. In other words, it is a place where people with divine powers from all over the continent gather.

However, since the only people inside Jinju Palace are ordinary people without divine powers, could this really be a coincidence?

Not even a common healing priest was to be seen, which was truly strange considering that the precious prince had come back from the dead.

The Demon King carefully guessed the reason.

[Maybe it’s because the original Mores doesn’t have divine power?]

‘What does that matter?’

[Think about his reputation. There are as many as sons of the Holy Emperor, but their divine power is zero. With that personality, I would have easily overlooked other people using their sacred powers. I think he just struggled with a sense of inferiority.]

That sounds good, but is that all it is?

[Hey, so let’s go here. Isn’t it good for us? Those with divine powers are particularly sensitive to magic and evil spirits. How good is it without worrying about getting caught?]

Uh, wait a minute.

‘But Mores’ father is prosperous, right? How can priests avoid their fathers all their lives when they are confined to a separate palace? ‘In the same imperial palace?’

[…] Is the final boss your father?]

Seongjin sighed as he felt the demon king tremble.

I don’t know either. Whatever happens, happens.

Second, there was something strange about the employees of Jinju Palace.

Jinju Palace is managed by a small number of employees. Excluding the minimum number of security personnel, the number of permanent residents was only a handful compared to the size of the palace.

One dedicated maid, two maids, a resident councilor, a chef, and one low-level administrative official.

Even Empress Lizabeth, who occasionally visits Seongjin, is accompanied by maids, guard knights, and more than 20 people when she goes on her way. Even though she is a bastard prince given away by the palace, I wondered if this is really what a normal prince’s palace looks like.

Moreover, there was something unusual about these very few users.

First of all, for example, there is Edith, the one and only maid.

She was a young lady with short bobbed hair and a pretty face, but she walked around the palace with a blunt expression that was unbecoming of an imperial palace maid.

Since he always went in and out of Seongjin’s room alone, at first I thought that he must have suffered a lot at a young age in a poor working environment.

Even if it’s a town with no labor laws, shouldn’t there be a minimum number of shift workers?

But this woman was no ordinary person.

It’s a shame that Seongjin flies into the room at the slightest sign, or carries a huge amount of food by himself.

How surprised I was when she lifted Mores’ large body in her slender arms, offering to change his sweat-soaked sheets while he was lying down with no energy. She initially suspected it was an assassin disguised as her maid.

The hunter’s intuition, strengthened by decades of fighting against monsters, said this.

Maybe this woman can be on par with quite a few knights.

I wondered if the people here were like that, but that wasn’t the case. If you look at her as the first empress, she is just a beautifully grown and delicate lady, and the same goes for the maids who accompany her when she comes. Although they were skilled housekeeping experts, they were all just women with extremely ordinary bodies.

Why is Mores’ dedicated maid so special?

“Edith, how is Edith so strong?”

Well, if you’re curious, just ask yourself.

Edith, who was opening the curtains to ventilate, quickly bowed her head and answered Seongjin’s question.

“Yes, sir. That’s because I’m an Auror user.”

Perhaps because the empress’s influence was so strong, she maintained a relatively polite attitude even in front of the prince, a bastard with a dirty reputation.

It could be said that he had the attitude of a professional who knows how to exclude emotions when working.

[He just said, ‘What is this pig prince doing to bother people this morning?’ I thought.]

Of course, it was meaningless to someone who had a talkative and gossip-loving devil next to them.

Seongjin, feeling embarrassed for no reason, cleared his throat.

“Hmm, Auror user?”

“Yes, sir. ‘Auror’ is said to be the fundamental force of life that spreads evenly throughout the world. Those who consciously collect and use this in their bodies are called ‘Auror users.’”

Perhaps due to the excuse that her memory was not perfect, Edith obediently explained without any doubts in response to Seongjin’s basic questions.

“As long as you enter Auror initiation and are recognized as a proper Auror user, you will be eligible to take the exam to join the Imperial Palace Knights.”

“Uh, you mean Edith too?”

“Yes, I first came to the imperial palace as a squire, aspiring to join the Royal Guard.”

“Squire? So, apprentice engineer?”

Seongjin’s doubts deepened.

Why is a decent aspiring knight doing this at Jinju Palace?

“That is… … .”

Edith took a quick look at Seongjin and spoke carefully.

“that… In the past, you treated your employees harshly… … .”

In short, as Mores’ viciousness became more severe, injuries and complaints from employees continued.

The First Empress tried her best to crack down on the incident, but there was no way she could quietly cover it up as people were getting injured day after day.

And the news eventually reached the ears of the Emperor.

-I can’t control it at all? Then the prince can hire someone he can’t mess around with.

In this way, Seonghwang liquidated many of Jinju Palace’s servants to other palaces and recruited a small number of new, highly paid servants.

A large salary was offered to those with Squire or higher ability to relatively skillfully control the Aurors in their bodies.

At first people thought there would be no applicants. No matter how high the salary is, is it really possible to become a maid or valet to the fresh-faced wannabes who come to Seoul with dreams of becoming a wealthy imperial knight?

However, Seonghwang spoke without any sign of concern.

-There must be at least one person.

Sure enough, there were exceptions everywhere.

At that time, Edith, who had decided to become a successful Auror user without any connections, entered the imperial capital around that time.

“First of all, I took the entrance exam, but it’s a bit difficult to start from the bottom in the knighthood.”

“… … .”

In this way, the strongest maid was born, who catches a plate thrown with quick agility, easily flies and dodges a weapon when swung, and peels fish bones with a knife filled with aura.

The more Seongjin listened to her explanation, the more confused he became.

‘Where did this go wrong?’

[Well… … .]

Mores, who was so vicious that his users had to be Auror experts to survive, was a bastard, but I also thought that Seonghwang, who came up with the idea of ​​replacing all the people and hiring Auror users, was not a sane person.

Of course, the strangest one seems to be Edith, who was lured there and is now serving as an exclusive maid.

“… “My dear.”

Suddenly Edith looked up at Seongjin and tilted her head.

“Are you okay now?”

“what?”

“Before, if you heard even a little bit about Aurors, you would get very angry… … .”

“In anger?”

“He used to throw things here and there.”

“… … .”

The more I got to know Mores, the more I realized that he was an absolute bastard. Why throw things at something that doesn’t matter? Are you a kid?

Seongjin opened his mouth, but had nothing else to say.

”… sorry.”

Edith’s eyes widened at his answer. He seemed a little surprised, probably not expecting to hear an apology.

Soon she smiled and lowered her head.

“It’s okay, my Majesty. It was quite fun catching the flying plates.”

“… … .”

Seongjin looked at Edith, who was quietly lowering her head, with somewhat pitiful eyes, and then spoke to the demon king.

‘I guess she’s a bit strange too.’

[I know yeah.]

By the way, I mean an Auror.

Seongjin was deep in thought.

Seeing that concepts that appeared only in fantasy novels, such as aurora and divine power, actually existed, Lee Seong-jin realized once again that this was a different world.

Of course, Seongjin’s world, where the demon gate was opened and there was a war with monsters, was also fantasy-like, but at least at that time, it was a clear and visible battle of power.

At that time, hunters became physically stronger by absorbing the energy of monsters, and the occasionally born superpowers only exercised physical power through psychokinesis.

The same goes for monsters. There were some who used ignitable substances to generate high heat or had corrosive poisons, but these were only a small portion of the population, and most of them were those who just hit them with force and recklessly destroy them.

So, until the Demon King attempted to burn his soul with the ‘Flame of Gehenna’, Seongjin could not even imagine that such invisible forces could exist.

[That’s because Sigurd District 34 was in such a low dimension. The fact that such powers are unfamiliar to you is proof that it was a low-level world where aurors, magic, and divine powers were not allowed.]

‘It makes me feel bad to hear that it’s low-grade. Why are you leaving out Gehenna? They say it’s the same lower dimension.’

[Do you think this is the same flame in all worlds? Gehenna is a little different! At the critical moment when I am about to take a big leap, you guys stand in my way… … .]

‘what?’

As Seongjin’s gaze became harsh, the Demon King quickly changed his stance.

[Hmm. In any case, such low-level mental worlds usually have limited spiritual abilities or mental powers. The concept itself seems to be inherited from the original world, but there is no way to actually demonstrate its power.]

‘… … .’

[So, please do not treat the demon world of Gehenna on the same level as lesser dimensions such as Sigurd’s 34th district. Because it was on the verge of being transformed into a normal world.]

Seongjin blinked.

What is the normal world?

[This guy is making a blank face again. Wow, you ignorant earthling. Dimension, huh? Big, huh? It is classified into main image, normal image, and salt image, huh? Don’t you know that?]

‘Why is this guy fighting again? ‘Whether the dimensions are classified into three or four, is that important in the current situation?’

When Seongjin gets angry, the devil’s voice creeps in.

[Not important… I don’t think so… … .]

‘Let’s get back to the point. So, how can I use an Auror?’

If he didn’t know it, Seongjin felt a strong interest when he learned about the possibility of a new power.

He was a successful hunter who used to fly around, but he was so frustrated that he was trapped in such a dull body.

There seem to be no monsters in this world, so if you can’t regain your hunter powers, how about becoming an Auror user as the next best option?

[I don’t know about that either. Our world is different from this one. If you explain it in terms of your Earth, there is a difference between hydroelectric power, thermal power, and even nuclear power. The way the world works is completely different.]

Even the devil who pretended that there was nothing he didn’t know in this world didn’t know.

The Demon King snorted at his words.

[joy! What do you know about that? This body is the devil and the ruler of one dimension. It’s strong enough even without that!]

The guy who got beaten up by Seongjin and then pretended to be proud was the best.

‘Then what do you say Mores was like in the past? ‘He was an Auror user?’

It seems like it’s already wrong to say that divine power must be born with it, but if you’re an Auror, wouldn’t it be possible to acquire it through learning?

There is no special aura-like energy felt in this body, but it is not an extremely rare ability as it is capable of skillfully controlling not only guard knights but even a single maid.

However, Mores’ garbage power far exceeded Seongjin’s expectations. The Demon King seemed to touch Edith’s soul for a moment and find out about this and that, and then he sighed.

[Well, when it comes to Auror training, there seems to be a drastic difference in achievement depending on talent. There are people who cannot even feel Auras properly no matter how much they train, while there are also talented people who can use Auras as if they are breathing from a young age. Unfortunately, it seems that Mores was the former.]

What on earth did the First Empress believe and think of making this guy the Crown Prince?

Seongjin sighed.

‘… First, let’s do some physical training.’

[cheer up. Life is inherently unfair. Fighting for our existence!]

‘shut up!’

fantasy,