041. Predator (5)
Enrique, or rather the man who called himself Number 21, had already finished preparing the group to cross the Carthaginian gate.
He hid a small wagon in the bushes a little away from the meeting place, and it was filled with various trade goods and foodstuffs that peddlers usually carry. We have prepared clothes for the group to change into and even an official identification card issued by Asin.
And, eerily, there was a coffin in a corner of the carriage.
While Aslan and Old Man Max were changing their clothes, No. 21 silently gestured toward the coffin to Bart, who was standing blankly.
“… “Does that mean that’s my place?”
“Then did you think it would be possible to pass through the gate normally with the stigma of a devil worshiper, Your Majesty?”
If you have any complaints, just say it out loud. Why are you and Justin like this these days?
Aren’t you good at imitating corpses? Just try holding your breath for a few hours.
The two argued for a while, but Bart eventually surrendered to No. 21, who gritted his teeth, saying, “It would have been great if they had been given more time to prepare.”
Closer, closer. Before we know it, No. 21, wearing a stylish mustache and a bread hat typical of Asean merchants, begins driving the cart.
Aslan and Old Man Max were sitting comfortably in the carriage, eating dried fruit and seasoned beef jerky from sacks, relieving the fatigue of their long forced march.
The journey continued peacefully for a while, with only Bart crouching silently in the open coffin feeling depressed.
It was when we almost arrived at the gates of Carthage that something strange happened.
“… “Something is wrong, Enrique.”
Bart, who had been sitting quietly for a while, suddenly opened his mouth.
He was still staring into space with his chin resting on his knees, but Aslan, seeing that strange sparkle in his eyes, tensed and stood up.
Number 21 also must have sensed something unusual, and this time it stopped the carriage without replying, “It’s number 21.”
“Turn the carriage around.”
Number 21’s eyebrows slightly rose.
“We will encounter a tracking party.”
“It doesn’t seem likely that they will be very suspicious of us heading in the opposite direction. “It would be better to turn back and take the highway leading to the Asin Gate.”
“… … .”
At his words, the group was silent for a while. According to what he said, the idea was to go back along the road almost to the area near the slash-and-burn village. It will take a full day.
Just over that hill was the gateway to Carthage. How did we get here… … .
“The destination is just around the corner, Your Majesty.”
But Bart dismissed his opinion with just one word.
“I don’t have a good feeling.”
“… … .”
Number 21 chewed his lips for a moment, then obediently drove his horse and entered the forest road next to the passage. She seemed to be trying to take a slight detour as it was difficult to turn right around the narrow passage.
“No, what on earth is this…?” … .”
Old Max, who didn’t know the English language, tried to say something, but Aslan quickly stopped him. Based on my experience so far, I thought there was no way Bart would do that for no reason.
They soon left the bumpy forest road and returned to the road. I started going back exactly the way I came.
And not long after, the party came across a group of men riding hastily towards them from afar. This is a tracking team from the slash-and-burn village.
Although he had considered the possibility of running through the passage all night, Aslan’s heart sank as he had not expected the tracking party to catch up with him so quickly. Aslan and Old Man Max quickly pretended to sleep and covered themselves with their hats. In an instant, his throat becomes dry.
The tracking party consisted of seven people in total, and they clearly seemed to be in a hurry. Aslan and his group were passing by their wagon, the person in the lead glanced back at the wagon.
However, they did not seem to have even imagined that they would be riding in a wagon driven by a driver they had never seen, and even more so in a peddler’s wagon coming from the opposite direction loaded with groceries. They quickly turned away from the carriage and urged their horses toward the gate.
Tap, tap, tap. The chase team quickly moved away.
Whoa. Aslan let out the breath he had been holding only after the pursuer had completely disappeared from sight. The tension that had dried my blood slowly fades away.
Old Max whispered.
“You were just Rodrigo, right?”
Aslan nodded. It may have been a coincidence, but it strangely struck me that the person who had led the tracking party was the one who had started the rumor about the Asean punitive force.
“Enrique.”
Bart, who didn’t even hide in the coffin, probably because he guessed that the tracking party wouldn’t be paying attention to the carriage, ordered No. 21 while still staring somewhere.
“Hide the carriage and watch the movements of the tracking team.”
No. 21 silently turned around and drove the carriage through the bushes on the shoulder of the road. As soon as she felt she was far enough out of the way, she stopped the carriage and quickly disappeared from the coachman’s seat.
It was like that when it appeared, but it also behaved like a ghost when it disappeared.
“Hey, Bart… your majesty?”
Aslan watched for a while and then hesitantly called Bart. It was my first time calling him directly since No. 21 appeared, so I was somewhat nervous. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know, but if you know that the other person is not of ordinary status, you can only be cautious.
Bart quietly turned his head towards him, and his usual cold face didn’t look particularly unpleasant. Aslan asked him with some relief.
“I’ve been asking since yesterday… I wanted to ask, but I didn’t have the time. Are you really sending a punitive force from Assein? How did you know the punitive force was coming?”
Considering his conversation with No. 21, Bart clearly came here with a purpose, but it doesn’t seem like he infiltrated the village knowing much about the situation in the slash-and-burn village from the beginning. He nodded his head and answered obediently.
“I could feel the gaze of surveillance from inside the mountain from time to time. Since they are professional trackers who rarely leave traces, the search party in the slash-and-burn village probably did not detect them. Yesterday, several military bombs flew down the mountain. There is no way to know that military action is imminent. “It was not an area of war with Carthage in the first place, so if we were to gather an army, wouldn’t there be only one purpose?”
“Military pre-seoul… … .”
Aslan didn’t notice at all. When did you last see something like that?
“If it weren’t for the chaotic situation like yesterday, someone in the slash-and-burn village would have noticed it right away.”
Well, because of the spy disturbance and Martha’s death, the whole village was in a state of panic yesterday.
But at the bottom of the mountain?
“Surely, this is Flandor’s punitive force?”
Aren’t Jerome and Flandor’s guards secretly communicating with each other? Why are they attacking the slash-and-burn village there?
If that’s true, then why did rumors suddenly spread about Asin’s subjugation force and spies?
However, Bart tilted his head to the side and answered in an indifferent tone.
“It looks like there is no place other than Flandor where a punitive force could be organized.”
“Most of what has been robbed so far is Asean’s upper class, so why did Flandor…” … .”
“It’s a simple thing. “Grand Duke Asin, if you know what that mean old man is like, it’s easy to guess.”
His explanation was roughly as follows. The reason Grand Duke Assin allowed the merchant to be robbed for such a long time is that he was waiting for the damage to accumulate to the point where he could demand a sufficient amount of compensation. Since trade with Asean cannot be cut off, until Flandor determines that the compensation, which is expected to increase further in the future, is more than the money needed to immediately organize a punitive force.
They collect most of the compensation on behalf of the merchant, and have someone else take care of the costly task of suppressing bandits. This is packaged as a diplomatic achievement and money is collected again from the top.
What do you think? Isn’t that a complete thief?
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“… … .”
Aslan almost shouted out loud that he was a thief, but quietly kept his mouth shut.
I still had a lot of questions, but I couldn’t be hasty in asking them.
Why did you come to this slash-and-burn village? What were the meaningless words you said to Cayenne yesterday? Why do you go through the trouble of taking me and old man Max with you?
He was slowly gaining a sense of the identity of this mysterious majesty.
The elegance and natural bottom that permeates the body. A person who can say that the Archduke Asin is a mean old man. He is a man with enormous divine power that has never been seen before.
Above all, there was only one person on this continent who could be called His Majesty.
It was quite some time later that No. 21 returned to the wagon. Still, Aslan’s blunt expression had turned quite serious, and he sensed that something unusual had happened.
“The thieves were in cahoots with Carthage.”
His Majesty Bart quietly listened to the report without much agitation. The only people who were shocked were Aslan and Old Man Max. As they were looking at number 21 with wide eyes, he continued speaking with a serious expression on his face.
“It was not possible to confirm whether the entire bandit group was involved or whether only some of them were involved. However, the person at the head of the tracking team seems to have been in contact with them for quite some time. “It appears that information about His Majesty’s party has already been passed on through Jeonseo-gu.”
It’s Rodrigo.
Aslan suddenly felt goosebumps running down his spine.
Old Max is muttering in a hushed voice next to me.
“Then, if we had just gone to the gate… … .”
He could no longer speak, but everyone could guess the outcome.
In all likelihood, he would have been summarily executed on the spot. Like the slash-and-burn family killed in Flanders last year.
Number 21 quickly knelt in front of the coffin and bowed his head.
“Our investigation was inadequate. This is the guild’s mistake. “I apologize, Your Majesty.”
“I just didn’t have time to investigate. I am well aware of the guild’s hard work. “If it weren’t for that child’s work, he wouldn’t have had the guild come all the way to the western mountains.”
“But… … .”
“I had already guessed to some extent that the Carthaginian ruler was behind me. “Don’t worry too much.”
His Majesty Bart showed great dignity and generosity by nodding his head, not caring about a small mistake that could have put his life at risk.
Of course, he was still squatting in the coffin.
Afterwards, they hurriedly drove the carriage. They just passed by once, but if the party does not come to the Carthaginian gate, the tracking party will eventually become suspicious of the wagon that passed by.
Although I took a minimum of rest to prevent the horses from getting tired, I planned to increase the distance from the pursuit party as much as possible until I entered the highway.
“I… I can’t help but wonder. “Who on earth is that gentleman?”
Old Man Max, who was driving the carriage in shifts with No. 21, secretly asked him. Number 21 glanced back at His Majesty Bart, but found him with his head half buried in his lap and his eyes closed.
Number 21, who hesitated to answer for a moment, eventually shrugged his shoulders and opened his mouth.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. The two of you are so deeply involved in His Majesty’s affairs that you are already subject to the guild’s intensive management. “I trust that you will never use your mouth carelessly anywhere.”
Aslan and Old Man Max pricked up their ears and focused on No. 21’s voice.
“This is His Majesty Nathaniel, the Most High of Delcross and the greatest monarch of the continent. From now on, there will be no shortcomings in dealing with that person.”
The old man opened his mouth wide.
castle… what? That guy with the iron shackles and the brand of a devil worshiper?
“No, then that stigma… … .”
Aslan, who had guessed his identity to some extent, was also curious about it. How is it that His Majesty the Holy Emperor, the noblest priest on the continent, has the cursed brand of a devil worshiper on his back?
“That is… Of course, His Majesty the Holy Emperor is not a devil worshiper. Due to circumstances, I tried to disguise myself as a prisoner… … .”
“Do you mean to stamp such a cursed brand on your body? No, what kind of scary things are happening?”
Old Max was fed up.
“Of course, it’s not like I took a picture of His Majesty’s body!”
“What do you mean by that? “If it’s not the original body, then what on earth is that gentleman?”
hmm. Number 21 was impressed. The more I had to explain something, the more I felt like I couldn’t control the information.
He glanced at His Majesty Bart and sighed slightly.
“Your Majesty cannot leave the capital under any circumstances. “That body is an artificial body that the soul of His Majesty comes to when there is a need to move far away. In other words, it is called a homunculus.”
For a moment, Aslan and Old Man Max’s faces turned pale.
Homunculus.
Even though they were mountain worms, they had also heard through rumors about the Delcross devil worshipers who had caused an uproar on the continent a few years ago. A mysterious group that denies the authority of the gods and seeks to discover the truth of the world borrows the power of the devil to create a cursed creature, saying that it will create life on its own. That is the homunculus.
Fortunately, it was discovered by the Inquisitors before it was completed, leading to a large-scale purge in which everyone involved was burned at the stake.
But that cursed creature still remains? Moreover, transferring one’s soul to an artificial life form that even God has turned away from is an atrocity worthy of devil worshipers.
Old Max muttered in a trembling voice.
“So, that means His Majesty the Holy Emperor, who is the representative of the Lord, is actually a devil… … .”
“… “I’m not a devil worshiper.”
Number 21 rubbed his face with one hand, looking tired.
fantasy,
