Episode 189 The Imperial Palace (3)
After the hero party and Hesperon brought Fifth Princess Riley to the imperial palace,
Even though the troublesome procedures were omitted at Heinrich's request, that didn't mean the Empire's treatment was lacking.
Apart from the fact that the party's leader was a Saint, treating the benefactors who rescued a member of the imperial family was directly related to the imperial family's prestige.
And how much more so when the princess was the most likely successor to the throne and had even received the current Emperor's tacit support?
Naturally, the treatment they received couldn't help but be luxurious.
Their massive guest quarters were filled with expensive items, any one of which could cover a commoner's annual living expenses,
The kitchen was staffed with imperial chefs who were on standby 24 hours a day, ready to fulfill any culinary request,
And veteran maids were stationed everywhere, meticulously checking everything as if they wouldn't tolerate any inconvenience.
‘Incredible. Do imperial maids receive separate stealth training? They seem quite skilled, they could even be used as guards in emergencies.’
But unfortunately, they couldn’t afford to stay and rest in these luxurious quarters for long.
Naturally, the hero party didn’t have the time to leisurely enjoy themselves.
“Hahaha! As expected of the Empire, they’re very generous!”
“Oh— The gold coins are sparkling.”
Of course, the imperial family didn’t just try to pay them off with hospitality.
They also offered additional, more direct and material rewards.
They presented all the members with custom-made, top-of-the-line equipment and provided them with a massive amount of funds as activity expenses.
They weren’t short on money because they were sponsored by the Main God Church, but it was always good to have more!
“I like this too. What do you think, Heron?”
“Wow~ You look even more dignified, brother! The wildness that feels like you’re about to bite someone is chilling!”
And they even thoughtfully made a ‘Monster Head Helmet Cloak’ for Harley, using the hide of a ‘Saber Lion’, a high-ranking monster that would normally be used as a decorative wall hanging…
As expected of an imperial craftsman, it wasn’t an ordinary piece of equipment.
‘To think they would make this into a magic tool in such a short time and give it to me as a gift.’
It wasn’t just a sturdy item, but a magic tool imbued with special abilities.
It was an excellent piece of equipment that not only enhanced physical and magical defense but also had the effect of ‘intimidating’ those around him.
‘It seems like it was made with the collaboration of a top-class leather craftsman and an enchantment mage.’
Harley subtly raised his energy and examined the inside of the helmet, clicking his tongue.
He could feel the magic stones densely packed inside the leather lining and the meticulously constructed magic circuit.
‘Even if they started making it when I sent news of rescuing Riley from the Rohan Duchy, they would have only had three or four days. Or maybe even less… Is this the power of the imperial family?’
It seemed like they couldn’t add complex functions because the circuit itself was simple, as it was made in a hurry, but anyway, it was much more suitable for Harley’s fighting style to prioritize stability over complexity, even if it was simple.
It was a very satisfying item.
‘…Hmm, as expected.’
Harley’s gaze, which had been focused on the helmet, turned to Hesperon, who was standing in front of him with a blank expression.
‘Okay, let’s go with this too.’
It was the moment when Hesperon’s path, which had started from being a summoning mage, extended to a full-fledged mage, a battle mage, and even an enchantment mage.
Howard, who was currently learning the secrets of Dwarves while burning World Tree branches, would also be able to create items imbued with abilities, but wouldn’t the effect be even greater if enchantments were added?
‘That’s something even Hans can’t do.’
Of course, Hans could also make magic tools.
The problem was that they weren’t ordinary items, but sinister and evil cursed items that operated with dark magic power.
‘…That can’t be helped, considering his nature.’
But there was no need for one person to be good at everything.
Everyone had different talents.
This world was a place where people lived together, so they could just focus on their strengths and cooperate!
‘Howard can create items using the World Tree branches Harris brought, and Hesperon can engrave enchantments on them, with advice from Hans.’
And Hubert could supply the other materials, and Harley could acquire monster byproducts.
‘If we add Heinrich’s holy flames to the crafting process, could we create a pseudo-holy sword? Conversely, if we use Hans’s abyss, it might create the ultimate cursed sword.’
And if they quenched it with Heinz the Second’s blood, they could even create weapons using blood magic power.
There were endless possibilities if they joined forces!
‘As expected, a life of cooperation is beautiful.’
And so, right before the hero party left the imperial palace,
Harley smiled sinisterly, the corners of his lips curving upwards,
A frivolous smile spread across Hesperon’s face, and a gentle smile appeared on Heinrich’s lips.
And at that moment, coincidentally…
Similar smiles were also gracing the lips of several people far, far away.
____________________
Although Oath of Heaven’s Defiance was an organization created by the Revolutionary, the apostle of the ‘God of Humans’, that didn’t mean that all its members had the same goal.
He had secretly recruited the executives using some method and gathered forces in the shadows by appealing to their desires, but it was essentially a coalition formed for their own benefits.
Thanks to that, they had excellent security as a cell organization and each member could work more efficiently with autonomy in their respective areas…
But naturally, there were also disadvantages.
Whoosh—
Purple flames blazed in the dark space.
And at the same time…
[Come out right now! Revolutionary, you bastard! I’ll tear you to shreds!]
A furious shout filled with anger echoed through the surroundings.
[You’re noisy…]
[Hehehe! That’s right~ Calling out so desperately, did he run off with their money? Hehehe!]
[Tsk… Come to think of it, he’s not here. Lilith, I thought he was captured by the Immortal King, but…]
The dark figures that were appearing one by one grumbled.
But the large shadow didn’t care what the others said and just kept looking around, fuming.
Even though all he could see were shadows dancing erratically along with the flickering purple flames from the brazier.
And the large shadow… Baltheon, the leader of Oath of Heaven’s Defiance’s Southern Ion Continent branch and a great warrior of the Calcos Tribal Federation, eventually couldn’t control his anger and glared at the others.
[Ugh— You bastards, if you know anything about him, spill it! He backstabbed me and ran away, I’m going to tear him to shreds!]
The other three shadows subtly looked at each other at his words.
Judging by the situation, it seemed like the Revolutionary had tricked that foolish barbarian and disappeared.
Of course, they didn’t know anything either, but unlike the two who were quietly observing the situation, the remaining one burst into frivolous laughter.
[Pfft! That stiff guy did that? I wanted to have some fun with him first, but he stole my thunder!]
[What?!]
[Hahaha— Look, he’s so easy to provoke. Huh? Is he angry?]
[…I’ll rip your tongue out first!]
[Heh, try it if you can even come to the Enamel Continent! I don’t know if you’re in a position to do that, considering the current situation there!]
The conference room started to become noisy again as the two of them argued.
But since the one who usually mediated conflicts and led the atmosphere was gone, the commotion didn’t easily subside and intensified.
As it showed no signs of stopping, one of the shadows, who had been quietly watching, finally spoke in a dignified voice, as if he couldn’t help it.
[It’s pointless to fight amongst ourselves. Let’s just get to the point and finish this quickly. Anyway, is this all that’s left? They’re disappearing one by one, and now it’s come to this.]
He clicked his tongue and shook his head.
One was an emotional barbarian with a rough speech, another was a crazy clown who couldn’t help but provoke others, and the last one was a blockhead who just watched without saying a word after his first comment that it was noisy.
It was a lineup that clearly showed that he was the only sane one left.
‘Oath of Heaven’s Defiance is finished. What a shame. Wait, so the Revolutionary went into hiding?’
They had helped each other and made quite a bit of profit when they were actively working here…
It was an unfortunate situation.
And after a while,
[So, backstabbed? What exactly happened?]
They finally heard the details from Baltheon, who had calmed down, and understood why he was acting like that.
The Revolutionary had visited the south and offered to help, but then he stole the ‘Seed of Madness’ that he had been cherishing and disappeared while he was off guard.
Of course, the organization’s support had been crucial in extracting it from the abyss, so it couldn’t be considered entirely his.
But he was the one who had completed the plan and succeeded, and so it had been agreed that he had priority.
[But he ignored our agreement and took the madness, ruining our entire plan! We should have finished everything before the second Continental Summit!]
They were now in a situation where they couldn’t meet the deadline.
[Hmm— So he took action, ignoring the already agreed upon plan. That means…]
[Hehehe, he must have judged that it was meaningless! Well, it’s not like this is the first operation that’s gone wrong lately.]
[…Did he notice something and decide to go his own way…?]
The atmosphere between them became subtly tense.
Everyone could sense that this gathering was also over, as they had already lost a member.
And that member was the founder of the organization and their de facto leader, so what more could be said?
But putting that aside…
[Heh, so? Are you planning to just abandon everything we’ve prepared and go back into hiding~?]
[Don’t be ridiculous! We can’t back down now that we’ve started!]
[We’ve had a few failures, but… it’s undeniable that the current chaos on the continent is the best opportunity…]
Objectively, it was the best time to act.
[Then we have no choice. There’s only one thing ‘we’ can do now. We have to do it this way.]
Not only the lower-ranking organizations, but even the executives were disappearing one by one, and their forces had shrunk to less than half.
And judging by the current situation, the rest might collapse at any moment if they just stood there and did nothing.
[Hehehe~ Good, good! The Enamel Continent’s forces are weakened right now because of the continental allied force and all that, so let’s give them a wake-up call!]
[The south is a given! There’s been a slight delay, but information control is perfect, so it’ll be resolved with enough time.]
[The east… There are some issues, but it won’t be a big problem… We have things we’ve been preparing…]
Actually, there wasn’t much of a plan.
Unlike before, when they meticulously planned everything for maximum efficiency and even calculated synergy effects,
They were just going to unleash everything they had prepared at once.
‘The problem is that the operations we meticulously planned, anticipating variables, have all been crushed miserably. We tried to minimize our losses by focusing on efficiency, but it ended up backfiring and ruining the entire plan. We should have done this sooner.’
And after the first three answered, the dignified voice continued.
[The central region… the Empire. If we just eliminate the Fifth Princess who returned, they’ll lose their center and fall into chaos. But the problem is that we don’t have anything prepared in advance…]
Not only had the Crown Prince and the princess been kidnapped by the Immortal King, but the fact that the princess had escaped and returned alone was truly an unimaginable development.
Naturally, they didn’t have any means prepared for that.
[We’ll aim for right after the second Continental Summit and try to hurry as much as possible. …It’s a shame Lilith isn’t here. It would have been easier.]
Oath of Heaven’s Defiance, whose name wasn’t as well-known compared to the incidents and accidents they had caused, perhaps because the Immortal King with his overwhelming presence was taking most of the blame.
Their final struggle had begun its countdown.