Chapter. 14. One Empire, Three Legends (34)
****
“Otman, Ottman! Can you hear me?”
[…-now! That deep-…thing!]
“hello! Ottoman! I wrote it to be an auror!!! Hey there, wizard team!”
[……..]
“Shit. “It’s not working.”
Even when we were outside, Otman was worried about the magic jammer, but when we entered the Empress Palace, communication was cut off to the point where we could not communicate at all. That also happened after entering the Empress’ Palace, so it’s probably safe to say that something installed in the palace itself broke the message magic.
The professor looked around the interior of the empress’ palace, which was decorated neither too much nor too little, and with difficulty dragged Gainax.
….It is a strange sight.
Let go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go fly
Knock knock knock knock-
Both the 1st Prince and I were in a state of complete physical exhaustion, so there were blood stains everywhere where we passed, and servants who came rushing out of nowhere were following behind us, wiping the long blood stains with blank eyes.
“Clothing. You are dirty. “The Empress is displeased.”
“majesty. The letter has arrived, check it. “I need you to confirm.”
A maid follows the prince, who is dragged unconscious, on his knees, wiping away his battered, blood-covered armor.
The butler sends several letters to the unresponsive prince, repeating the same words like a parrot.
“The tea tastes excellent. Ah, the level of hospitality befitting the empress’s palace. “Do you really recognize and serve noble people?”
“Long live the empire. Long live the empire. If we become the prince’s public servants, our family will rise to the top of the most powerful table. Long live the empire. Long live the empire.”
A middle-aged man sipping an empty teacup and admiring it. An old man muttering nonstop while licking the marble floor.
The first prince’s nobles, who were more ecstatic than the nobles in the castle city, were scattered here and there, expressing their own fantasies.
The professor passed through them with difficulty and climbed the stairs with exotic patterns engraved on them.
After passing through the banquet hall. A place that can be seen at a glance but is separate.
A throne room that opens up an entire floor of a huge palace.
A red carpet made a path between rows of imperial columns, and at the end of it were two ornate chairs.
One is for the emperor, the owner of everything in the empire.
The other one is his companion and mother of the nation. This is for the prince’s biological mother and the owner of this palace.
“I never thought a customer would come to visit us in this chaotic time.”
Empress, Althena Tique Matrea. She was once the head of a national tribe with the body of a woman, and she was a woman held in the arms of the emperor along with that tribe.
The Empress, with the black hair characteristic of the northern people and wearing a golden dress symbolizing the royal family, retained her beauty without fading even though she was past middle age.
“…come on in. “I will grant you an audience, especially with me.”
Kkeiik- Boom.
The throne room door closed, and her eyes finally looked down.
****
….gulp.
The Empress’s servants and servants, who must have enjoyed this kind of private treatment, scurried out at the sound of an audience being granted. There was silence inside the closed door, and the Empress’s unusual prayer made those who encountered it naturally put strength on their toes.
With Gainax’s head still at his side, the professor fumbled in his pockets.
‘The curse does not react.’
First of all, the first verification passed. However, witches have a history of eluding the verification of priests who serve God. She said she was reassured simply because there was no angry reaction to the curse.
The professor’s hands are further inside his pockets. The moment I was searching for a solution for this situation.
“…It’s uncomfortable to watch as a mother. “Why don’t you just let that child go?”
The voice of the Empress, who was quietly looking at the two, settled in front of them.
“…You are asking a difficult request. Unfortunately, my appearance is such that I have to look into the grave site right away, rather than having an audience with the royal family.”
“not. I also have eyes and ears. “Have you not seen the roar and light of your majesty digging up your land?”
Slurp.
Again. Again. Again. Sabak.
The Empress stood up from her splendid seat and, step by step, gracefully approached the Prince and me. The boldness in those eyes. Small emotions fluttering between them. shake. Resignation.
‘….no. ‘Not this person.’
The moment I faced it, the thought ‘that’s not the answer’ popped up in a corner of my mind.
Not this woman. She had no evidence to confirm anything, but she had a feeling it wasn’t her.
Sabak.
Finally, the Empress came close enough that I had to look up after falling down from exhaustion. The professor let go of the prince’s hair as the woman approached her, bending her waist as if to ask for something that was rightfully hers.
The Empress’s dress, sitting on the floor like a woman in a woman’s house, flows down like a waterfall. The mother took off her son’s blood-stained helmet and laid his tired head on her lap, as if holding his little breath.
“Yes… my son. “Gainax has been defeated.”
Although she was inside the empress’ palace, the vivid golden light was so dazzling that it surpassed the walls of the empress’ palace, so she also had no doubt that Gainax would win.
Because it was the same light that was held in the hands of the confident man who bewitched her when she was young. Because the one person he served was the same light as the man who proved himself the master of the empire with his mere presence, without saying a word.
However, my son was defeated and fell to the ground by the man in front of him. He found something about her and arrived in front of her.
“You have a face that has something you want to ask.”
“….”
“As an outsider, it must be full of things I can’t understand. know. I was like that too. “The empire… is a country full of strangeness and complexity beyond what we think.”
The professor realized that the empress was feeling the same way as he was. Northern part of the empire. An empress from outside the realm of the empire. Likewise, those who were not citizens of the empire by birth, and therefore do not have reverence for the empire and the emperor deep in their souls.
“You don’t look… regretful.”
“What should I regret? If it happened this way, it was just decided that way.”
“What do you mean by decided…?”
“Empire. It means the Empire wants it.”
The Empress, who was wiping the blood from the prince’s face with her sleeve, faced the professor with her deep eyes.
“What did you encounter after crossing the borders of the empire?”
“…We have crossed the blue line and entered the Margrave’s territory.”
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“okay. “What did you see there?”
“…Mute and Undead.”
“next. “At Wuthering Heights.”
“Chamber maids and… Named ones.”
“and. After passing through Haunuman, he condemned those who undermined the empire, and came to the capital again. And, he defeated my son, the closest person to the throne.”
“….”
“If you follow in my footsteps, it will all be for you, but it will also be for the Empire. Do you think all of this is a coincidence? From the moment you set foot on this land, be pure. “Do you think that it was only moved by your own will?”
The professor could not easily reply to the Empress’s meaningful words. Was I manipulated? Guided by someone’s hand? Are you a witch? Or the emperor?
‘Hyde, is there any trace of something getting into my head and changing the group’s course?’
[at all. I have my eyes open and red. How can I miss something like that?]
Hyde strongly denies this as if it is absolutely nonsense. If it’s not that guy, then it’s not true. However, to dismiss the Empress’s words as lies, as she said, the journey so far has been too… convenient. From the empire’s perspective.
Amidst the confusion and doubt, the Empress’s low laughter permeated.
“Hehehe. Not even my eyes. So did I. I have seen and felt many things while living on this land as the mother of the empire and as Your Majesty’s companion. I couldn’t have known without knowing. do not worry. “All of this is not someone else’s will, but the will of this empire itself.”
“The will of the empire itself….”
“As you said. “It means that this vast land has guided your path.”
From the empress’ mouth, it sounded dreamy and resigned. The secret stories of the empire flowed out.
“my son. Gainax, the first prince who symbolizes defeat, represents the will of those who want the empire to expand its territory and recreate its past glory. ”
“The power of the first princess, who controls magic, affairs, and administration, is the will of those who want the empire to enjoy peace and maintain this prosperity, and to be free of conflict.”
“The 3rd prince, who relies on the power of various local nobles, wants conflict within the empire, and the will of those who want to gain the power of the empire in the meantime.”
“And, the second prince. The prince who joins hands with the empire’s wealth is in the darkness of the empire. An enemy of the empire who wants this country to collapse, fragment and disappear. intruder. “The will of spies and misguided groups.”
.
.
.
.
“The power of the empire divided among each person. It is nothing short of an expression of the will of all the subjects of this empire. The royal family has its abilities and origins. Even his actions were created by the power that flows throughout this empire. If Gainax was defeated, the Empire. “I can’t help but think that this gigantic creature called the ‘Baltin Empire’ wanted it.”
That’s why I dream. There are so many subjects of the empire that it is difficult to express them in numbers. The power that comes from them all in its most authentic form. Because Gainax resided in a form similar to that of an emperor.
That’s why I’m resigned. If her son was broken by someone else, it was because she believed that he was also the will of this great empire.
‘This is the power of the empire that maintained peace and prosperity for five centuries…’
God, but also shape. The essence too. A god who doesn’t even have scriptures for that belief.
As long as that status is maintained, treason is impossible. Subjects make up the absolute majority of the empire. Because more than half of them would never want war and violence.
In this way, peace is maintained, the people of the empire further hope for peace, and the origin is strengthened, leading to the peace and well-being of the empire.
If there was a territorial war, the two nobles’ territories becoming one would be the way to the prosperity of the empire, and if there was a rebellion, the disappearance of that family would be for the well-being of the empire.
A nation that strengthens itself and proliferates.
That was the identity of the enormous power involved in the emperor and the empire.
“Well… there’s something I don’t understand. Why did I defeat the first prince? I am an outsider, not a subject of the empire or even an aristocrat. Also, the current chaos is out of bounds, and if it is also the will of the empire, then what on earth is all this for…”
“okay. It’s strange. The origins of all subjects of the empire were already divided into the number of members of the royal family. What, what will, is leading you to this capital and traversing it… I want to know that much, too.”
A woman possessed by great power and swept up in the fate of the empire.
The Empress, Althena Tik Matrea, liked the strange man who appeared through the storm of fate that made even the Iron Blooded Woman who once led a powerful group give up.
Because she also felt strange. She turned the wind that should have been the frost that ushered spring into a storm. In a blizzard. Because it has grown into a fierce winter that threatens to freeze everything in the empire.
Grumbling.
She handed the professor a small decorated necklace that was hanging around her neck.
“This….”
“Go to the imperial palace. No one in the original battle for the throne. Even the royal family cannot enter the imperial palace where His Majesty resides, but if it were you. “If you have broken the empire’s path of defeat… you might be able to break through that chaos and reach His Majesty’s side.”
A decoration given by the Empress. The small lion head decoration was an item for the royal family that protected the wearer from traps, ancient magic, and witchcraft placed throughout the imperial palace.
“Go. Your Majesty the Emperor knows everything. Go answer your questions and do your job.”
The professor could see the relief in her eyes. That her son escaped from the heart of this fierce storm. A look of relief at the fact that the empire’s huge hand did not grasp her flesh and blood.
The woman once called Iron Blood was no longer here. Just that she was a woman who had finally embraced her son, free from the fate that had been imposed on her with his birth.
The professor took the symbol of the royal family from the hands of the empress and stood up.
“…Be careful. For almost 10 years. Even me and the empress, his spouse. I have never seen His Majesty the Emperor in person. “Something… something is happening in the imperial palace.”
A feeling of foreignness that even the empress, who had no idea what a witch was, could feel it.
The professor looked back at where the two were for the last time before leaving the throne room of the empress’ palace. The Empress was quietly whispering in his ear, in the same low, gentle voice as when she had last recited an old legend from the North at her young son’s bedside, decades ago.
“It’s all over. Only now, only now. It’s all over, Gainax. “My son.”
“….Fuhu, huh, uh…. Oh my…. I…. The empire wants me….”
“Let’s stop. That’s it for now. I thought the only way to be free was to climb to the top… but heaven helped me. Now, I live as Gainax, not as the 1st prince. Gainax Agdan. Finally… life has returned to being called just a name.”
A son who barely came to his senses, and an old mother sitting on the floor and stroking her grown son’s hair.
A prince who was raised from birth to be destined to become an emperor, and who escaped that bondage by being denied his entire life.
“….”
After taking in the sight, the professor left the Empress Palace, which had been disfigured by the fragments of the Aurors.
The place where his eyes are directed is the imperial palace.
The origin of all the golden energy that overflows in the capital. It was the center of the empire.
****
Meanwhile. Outside Ol Amperia. As madness spreads, the castle city begins to recreate the nightmare of Teldmaier from long ago.
Wow-
He is the most powerful nobleman around, and he owns a large and tall mansion. On top of the spire of Duke de Gaulle’s residence, a girl wrapped in various bundles was pulling a rope.
“…I can’t just sit still like this. I am… I am Lucilla Aedran! She is the heroine who will lead the Gold Geyser caravan in the future, and the person who will spread the fame of the Aedran family by establishing the Golden Law throughout the world! Ouch! Wow! can do! can do!”
Lucilla, with trembling eyes, on the roof of a narrow spire where she could fall to her death if she slipped even one step, was trying to forget her fear, with tears in her eyes, slapping her cheeks vigorously.
Lucilla Aedran. She was a cautious and careful person. Even though there was a maid wandering around, smashing up rat corpses in the corner where Idrasil hid her, and the building right next to it, and cleaning it repeatedly, the elemental magic that hid her there seemed to be of an excellent level even to a non-expert. Therefore, if it were her normally, she would have hid there like a dead person until the rest of the group finished this whole thing.
but.
Hung Hung Hung Hung!
“Joe, great! Caught!”
A strange impulse. An unknown attraction. And, the light of the Aurors flashing in the night sky and the noise of battle, the worry for the group that grew out of it.
“…Aedran does not leave his dealings in the hands of others. There must be something I can do. Obviously, there is. Beyond that wall!”
And, a confidence that even one would consider strange. The confidence that came with a faint golden shimmer.
Lucilla threw a rope hook made from a broken candlestick from the high spire towards the castle wall.
Rattling.
The battle, in which aurors rained down everywhere, even damaged the walls of Ol Amperia, the masterpiece of the dwarves.
Coincidentally, the part close to the spire that Lucilla had climbed had collapsed, creating a point where the spire was higher than the castle walls.
Strange coincidence. A strange impulse. The result of a coincidence that made it seem as if she wanted to draw him into her.
“I, Lucilla Aedran, have learned to sell flowers rather than flower arrangements, and am more familiar with upper carts than carriages! I can do it…. Everyone calls me a legend and all, but I’m going to make you a proper legend!”
Buuuung-!
A castle city stained with madness and carnage, above the heads of those swept away.
The shadow of the girl whom everyone in the capital called a ‘legend’, even if it was just a joke. With that terrifying scream, it flew into All Amperia.
By chance, the 1st Prince’s knights gathered up the other knights and went to a safe place.
To the place adjacent to the passage leading to the imperial palace.
Inside the castle walls. The elf was looking for the wizard and his party on another spire. Following her battered saint, following the object of her mission given to her, to her imperial palace.
“Uh fuuuuu! Oh, Ottoman! “If this continues, we will die!”
“If you run faster than the Guard Knights on your own feet or call Miss Neria to help me, I will listen to your complaints!”
“Phew, Nell, for when she meets the witch-”
“Then just shut up and let the current flow! It looks like the Guard Knights plan to cut down anyone who approaches the imperial palace! “Notum is floating along just fine, so why are you like this?”
“Notum is a troll and a lump of fat! “I have nothing but bones!”
“Guh, fuhu! That’s rude. teacher. Notum is a beautiful female with plenty of muscle.”
“Ah Okay! Al-Puhup! Okay, so catch it! “I, I can swim – purr!”
Fuwaaaaak!
After encountering the Flower Empress, who was shaking with fear, she was on her way to the palace where the 2nd Prince’s mother, Empress Terenua, was.
Otman, Aldrich, and Notum are caught by the Guard Knights and are running away after being swept away by Ottman’s water that filled the narrow hallway.
The people who had gathered in the capital by chance and necessity were moving as if guided by some will.
Imperial palace. It is the starting point of all these forces and events, and a place filled with gloomy and dazzling energy.
Following each person’s own path created by some great will.
To where the emperor is.
****
fantasy,
