Chapter 111

[Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Esten]

“This way.”

Following the soldiers’ lead, Woojin walked down a palace corridor.

‘Somehow I’ve ended up in a royal palace.’

Amused by this unexpected turn of events, his lips twitched despite himself.

‘Still, this place is incredibly lavish.’

It felt distinctly different from the Kingdom of Tekan. While Tekan’s palace had almost no decorations and contained only the bare necessities, Esten’s was the very height of extravagance.

‘I don’t know how capable the king is, but...’

A puppet king pushed around by his ministers, or a vain one. It was hard to say which was better.

‘Looks like the kings are the problem in both kingdoms.’

He had yet to see the last kingdom, but if things were much the same there, he thought the Federation was ultimately destined to fall prey to the five great kingdoms.

RUMBLE

The doors to the royal chamber opened, revealing a room so lavish it was dazzling.

“Hrrm... Are you... the en... voy from the Kingdom of Tekan?”

A man with a bulging belly reclined on a heavily gilded throne, watching Woojin with an utterly languid expression.

“I hold no such grand office. I am merely a guest of House Balan.”

“Hmm... Is that so? Your house?”

“... I have none.”

The king’s expression changed at Woojin’s answer. He gave a contemptuous snort, his eyes seeming to say that further conversation was not worth his time.

‘Anyone would think he was an emperor.’

Woojin found his reaction absurd.

“So... you are say... ing that our King... dom of Esten... attacked... Tekan?”

“That is correct. The eastern border garrison was wiped out, and we found soldiers’ corpses in an alchemists’ building in the part of the Great Forest within Esten’s territory.”

“Hmm... And...?”

“They were commanding soldiers made from corpses. There was also a monster assembled from bodies.”

“How... shocking... To think they would... do such... things.”

The king of Esten answered with a twitch of his cheek.

‘Why does he talk like that?’

Something about the king’s slow, slurred speech did not seem normal.

“The Kingdom of Tekan demands appropriate compensation for this incident.”

“I am... sor... ry, but Es... ten has nothing to do with this. We did not even know... the alche... mists were conducting such ex... periments.”

“Is that really true?”

“Of... course.”

“But you were the one who took these alchemists in, Your Majesty. Failing to properly investigate what sort of people they were was clearly Esten’s mistake.”

“Well... Taking... them in was merely a bus... iness arrangement.”

“... Business?”

“A little while ago, the alche... mists came with a large sum... of money, saying... they were looking for somewhere to con... duct their research. We... had no reason... to refuse.”

The king answered Woojin with an indifferent expression.

“We have no intention... of going to war. We never... imagined the alche... mists would attack... Tekan. So... seek your compensation from... them, not us.”

“... This happened within your own territory. How can you say something so irresponsible!”

CLACK

At that moment, the knights surrounding the king leveled their swords at Woojin.

“Insolence! How dare you raise your voice in His Majesty’s presence!”

“A mere adventurer without even a house to his name dares...!”

“...”

‘Stay calm. One wrong move could give them a pretext to start an actual war.’

Their reaction was ridiculous, but if even this was planned, he could not let himself be so easily played.

“... Understood. Then, as you suggest, I will settle this matter with the alchemists. Where are they now?”

“They’re gone.”

Woojin clenched his fists tightly.

‘These bastards... Are they playing games with me?’

He desperately wanted to lash out at them, but decided to hold back once more.

“What do you mean? The alchemists have disappeared?”

“Just... yesterday at dawn, all the alchemists... in the capital vanished without... a trace. Well... if you... wish, I can tell you where they were... staying.”

“Then are you truly saying that the Kingdom of Esten will provide no compensation whatsoever for this incident?”

“What happened... at the border... saddens... me, but we have no reason... to restrain the alchemists. They... were not... our sub... jects to begin with.”

“Understood. Then please tell me where they were staying.”

“Han... sen.”

At Woojin’s reply, the king called to the steward standing in the corridor, as though he had been waiting for it.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Show this man... to the gal... lery...”

“As you wish.”

The man called Hansen jerked his head at Woojin, signaling him to follow.

‘Every last one of them... What is wrong with the way they treat people?’

He could not understand it. After all, he had the Sword Emperor behind him. The man hailed as the continent’s greatest swordsman could come storming in at any moment, and yet they were this hostile...

Unless they were mad,

‘They must have something they’re counting on.’

He could not tell what it was yet, but he could not shake the feeling that something shady was going on.

THUD

The doors closed, and Woojin followed Hansen down the corridor.

“Heh... hehehe...”

“Did... that hap... pen?”

“Ha... haha!”

Nobles were conversing in the corridor. For some reason, their speech sounded as slurred as the king’s.

* * *

“Here we are.”

They had passed through the inner citadel and gone beyond even the outer city where ordinary citizens lived. Arriving at a dilapidated mansion, Hansen spoke with undisguised distaste, looking as though he wanted to leave immediately.

“This incident is regrettable, but we too inspected various locations after receiving reports that the alchemists had suddenly disappeared.”

CREEEAK

Opening the heavily rusted door, Hansen continued.

“There was nothing. We heard that some alchemists still remained at the laboratory in the Great Forest, so we left the matter alone...”

Hansen turned his head.

“They are all unharmed, I trust? His Majesty will summon them when he investigates this incident.”

Despite asking after their safety, he gave the impression that he believed the alchemists were dead.

“...”

“Provided you have nothing to hide.”

Woojin felt that any further conversation would be a waste of time.

“Simply close the door when you leave.”

Apparently somewhat offended by Woojin’s last remark, Hansen answered stiffly and turned away.

‘I’m only grateful you’re leaving on your own.’

Left alone, Woojin entered the mansion.

“Phew!”

Setsuna promptly poked her head out of his pouch. Having stayed inside since the border, her cheeks were flushed red.

“It was stuffy in there, wasn’t it?”

“Hehe, I’m fine! But what was that back there? Honestly, this happened in their own kingdom! How can they act like it’s none of their business?”

Setsuna, who had heard the entire conversation with Esten’s king, fumed as she punched the air like a boxer.

“Most people who act that way know exactly what’s going on. They’re just pretending not to.”

Woojin ran a finger over the mantelpiece in the mansion’s sitting room as he spoke.

“Are you saying the king and the alchemists planned this together?”

“Probably. The question is whether we can find evidence. They must be acting that way because they’re confident we won’t.”

“How despicable.”

Setsuna folded her arms, her lips twitching.

“Exactly. And overconfidence always comes back to bite you.”

There was not a speck of dust on the mantelpiece. It likely meant they had meticulously erased every trace.

‘They must think we’ll never find anything by ordinary means...’

“But we’re not ordinary.”

[Using Walking Trail.]

▶ Searches for lingering traces nearby.

As the breeze rising around Setsuna spread throughout the mansion, all manner of marks miraculously appeared inside the previously spotless house.

“Let’s have a look.”

One corner of Woojin’s mouth slowly lifted.

* * *

“How was the interview?”

Waiting in the parking lot, David waved to Do Gyeonghun as he came down from the exit.

“Well... Same as usual.”

“Really? You look pretty unhappy about it.”

CLICK

Do Gyeonghun reclined his seat until he was almost lying flat and laid the back of his hand over his forehead.

“Most of the questions were about that guy Khan.”

“So that’s what’s got you annoyed?”

David chuckled at his answer.

“That’s inevitable. It wasn’t an interview with our people—it was Game Station. That host is also the administrator of In Game Star, right?”

The comprehensive portal [In Game Star] was the largest gaming portal currently in existence.

“Right.”

“From the way she was acting, it looked like she was trying to set him up as your rival... What a joke.”

David snorted.

“How does she expect some rookie who’s only just reached the central continent to measure up to you...? We should’ve just gone to S Media in the first place.”

S Media sponsored the [Phoenix Corps], and they had done all their broadcasts through it until now. Naturally, they had turned down every invitation to appear on [Game Station], which aired on its rival, N Media.

But this time, Do Gyeonghun had agreed to the interview.

‘I don’t see what he stands to gain from going out of his way to do it...’

David still did not understand. If S Media found out about this, they certainly would not be pleased.

“It would look like I was avoiding him. Until now, they only wanted to talk about the Labyrinth Tower, so it didn’t matter.”

David nodded at his words.

Like it or not, Khan was a hot topic in [Evil Tale]. People still seemed undecided about whether to welcome this new major player or be wary of him.

“A lot of our sponsors have been making suspicious moves, too. Looks like they’re looking into Khan.”

They wanted a star. Their purpose in investing was to make a profit, and public attention was paramount to that.

“For fuck’s sake... Do they think we’re already yesterday’s news? Who’s going to clear the Labyrinth Tower if not us? Which bastards are they? We’ll terminate their contracts first.”

“That’s all the more reason to show them. We have to clear the Labyrinth Tower’s eleventh floor on our first attempt, no matter what.”

Do Gyeonghun chuckled at David, who seemed to understand how he felt and was getting even angrier on his behalf.

“There’s a lot of talk, but clearing the Labyrinth Tower is still the biggest goal.”

“Right. There’s no need to worry about it. People’s attention will have to return to the tower in the end.”

David nodded at his words.

“The Black Dragon put him in the spotlight for a little while, but that was just luck.”

VROOOM

David accelerated as he continued.

“No need to worry. What else could possibly happen now? Right?”

* * *

“Achoo!”

“Are you all right?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Where did that sneeze come from?”

Woojin rubbed the tip of his nose with the back of his hand and waved it off as nothing. Setsuna nodded and entered the last room.

“Master!”

Then it happened.

“I found it!”

At her urgent cry, Woojin hurried over to her.

“...!”

The moment he entered the room, his eyes widened.

“... This is going to cause an uproar.”

He had stumbled upon something enormous.