23 – Finding the Truth 2

The very next day, at Chaejin’s request, the palace was completely emptied.

The hero who is the key to saving the world at this moment is, in fact, absolute power.

The main members of Seongguk know that Chaejin is not a warrior at present, but even his successor, Iril, blindly follows Chaejin, so they have no choice but to listen to Chaejin’s request.

Zabak-

Walking through the dungeon once more, the woman she saw yesterday, with her hair long enough to reach the floor, followed her.

“The imperial palace must have been properly emptied, right? It can be difficult if there are people watching.”

“Maybe that fake goddess is watching us remotely from her.”

“I can’t do that. However, the guy judges the situation through the emotions that flow in. If rumors spread that the hero was doing something strange with a suspicious-looking woman, you might notice. If he knows I’ve woken up, he’ll do something about it.”

“…… If you know something suspicious, why are you acting like that?”

“This is the most concretely established form of the image of a ‘goddess’ in your head. If it bothers you, I can change it.”

That’s why it resembled what we saw in the game.

“No, no. As you said, I will go see the truth before someone sneaks into the imperial palace.”

“Okay, follow me.”

The first place she headed was a hallway next to the emperor’s throne room.

“It would be right to show you from here… ….”

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Just-

As the woman snapped her fingers, a human form began to appear in the empty hallway.

The emperor walks surrounded by her escort, and the maid stops in front of him while pulling a cart.

ㅡ What are you doing?

Ignoring the spears and swords drawn by her escorts, the handmaid carefully knelt before the emperor and bowed her head.

ㅡ Your Majesty the Emperor, I am a prophet. I hear a voice from the sky from time to time and tell me the future.

The emperor gave the order with eyes that seemed to see everything crazy.

ㅡ …… Put this away

ㅡ In a few months, Your Majesty, a star will fall from the sky and become embedded in the Lowell Plain. If this is false, you may cut my throat.

ㅡ Ho, you have great confidence. You really mean it?

The Emperor changed his order, perhaps intrigued by that confident attitude.

ㅡ Put this person in prison for a while. Don’t treat me harshly. Just wait half a year.

ㅡ Thank you.

“This Prophet woman… ….”

“Worshiper of the fake. She is like the saintess of a pseudo-religious group that arose while I was sealed. She is under mind control.”

The goddess moved her place.

This time it was the emperor’s audience room.

Again, as soon as the goddess snapped her fingers, the figures of the Emperor and the Prophet appeared and were seen conversing.

ㅡ I believe it. You are truly a prophet! How the hell do you know?

ㅡ Everything is the will of heaven. I only read the voices of heaven.

At first, I wanted to show the process of the emperor trusting the prophet, but later, a prophecy that the world would end came out.

It was this part that angered Chaejin the most.

ㅡ Emperor, the warrior has the right to freely give up everything and return.

ㅡ Huh? Does that mean we can escape without saving our world!

ㅡ Therefore, promise a huge reward and make her fall in love so that you have the purpose of protecting this world.

ㅡ How much is the reward?

ㅡ You have to say that half of the empire will be given to the warrior.

ㅡ No, half an empire isn’t too big!

‘Half of the empire is too many? The world is about to perish?’

ㅡ Don’t worry. We are as free as the warriors are free. There is no obligation to keep promises. After the hero has saved the world, it’s enough to kill or drive him out.

ㅡ Hey, can I paint the hero sent by the goddess?

ㅡ No problem. The Goddess loves the humans who live in this world. It’s not like a chess piece called from the other world.

ㅡ Umm…… Got it.

‘These bastards…… I thought I was going to use it and throw it away even before I brought it in.’

ㅡ It is better to use the people who assist the hero with moderately capable and beautiful women of the hero’s age rather than the strong.

ㅡ That’s right.

‘I didn’t just take advantage of it, I even played with my heart.’

ㅡ Refuse all support from other races. Wouldn’t it be a great justification to subdue the different races only by saving the world with only human power?

ㅡ Then what if the hero fails to save the world?

ㅡ Don’t worry. Warriors always win. I heard a voice from heaven. The Emperor just needs to listen to me.

‘It would have been much better if I had received the arms from the dwarves and the support from the elves. I’ll leave all the responsibility to me, and I’ll get a justification.’

Kwaaak-

After hearing all of that, Chaejin chewed it several times before clenching her fists with her stiff face.

From the beginning, there was no intention of giving any compensation.

An order issued by the Empire to the party members.

I knew everything, but watching the conspiracy in person like this, it felt like my inner rage was boiling.

I also realized why the emperor was suspiciously confident in the face of destruction, such as refusing all support from other races.

To put the name of the emperor of the unified continent to shame, he trusted and relied on a prophet who whispered only sweet words.

“To be stupid… ….”

In a way, it could be said that even the emperor was taken advantage of.

But that didn’t make it extenuating or abate his anger.

Isn’t it that he had to suffer like this because of those stupid choices?

Rather, it only made me more angry.

“Now, move. This is after you saved the world.”

The next place he moved to was a place that Chaejin was very familiar with.

Corridor where the warrior party members are staying.

That was also the way to Elua’s room.

“I don’t think there is a need for a mock scene. Is it to induce other personnel to leave the imperial palace?”

“…… Yes.”

Chaejin was extremely nervous.

She gave a brief reply as if telling her to show me whatever it was, and then stopped.

“Good.”

The first thing that appeared was the figure of Elua.

ㅡ Whoa, ha….

She walked towards her room with a nervous expression on her face.

And the moment you pass a corner.

ㅡ Mind break.

Three wizards, including Rondo, appeared and cast mental collapse magic on Elua.

ㅡ Ehh!?

Overpowered in an instant, Elua sat down with empty eyes like her doll.

Mind Break is magic that temporarily destroys the mental world unique to wizards and causes them to lose consciousness.

This is a tactic that only works for wizards of 3rd class or higher. In order to succeed properly, the level of the casting wizard must be significantly higher than that of the wizard being attacked, or multiple players must use it at the same time.

In this case, Rondo, who was much more skilled as a mage than Elua, cast it, and other mages also assisted him.

Thoroughly planned crime that completely eliminated the possibility of failure.

The wizards quickly dragged Elua into the room, and Chae-jin followed her inside as if possessed.

The prophet was already waiting in Elua’s room.

ㅡ Success, Manager. There will be nothing to disturb you now.

Before anyone knew it, the prophet officially became the deputy of the goddess, and had the power next to the emperor.

The Prophet laughed lightly after hearing Rondo’s report.

ㅡ Then let’s run it right away.

The sorcerers clung to Elua and stabbed her daggers into her palms, filling the flasks with blood.

Then, he completely healed the wound with a potion so that no evidence was left behind.

A wizard with a different atmosphere from other wizards took out the corpses of a man and a woman with their faces peeled off from a large bag. .

Then, she began to chant various spells while massaging her body.

‘No way… ….’

Unbelievably, the appearance of the corpse changed terribly.

A woman with beautiful sunset-colored hair…….

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Judging by her outward appearance, she was Elua in every way.

“Black, magic… ….”

“They prepared quite thoroughly. If it was just a hallucination, you would have noticed. Now, keep watching.”

The black magician poured blood on the other corpse as well, massaged it and chanted a spell, and the corpse soon became a young man of Elua’s age.

Seeing that, Chaejin couldn’t say anything.

She soon lost her mind.

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Just watching things move in front of her eyes.

ㅡ The doll is ready. Now, when the time comes, I will manipulate and deceive the warrior.

Marionette is a dark magic that uses corpses to create puppets.

He mainly made his own puppet and used it to deceive others or to delay time in front of his enemies.

That was used to trick Chaejin back then.

ㅡ Hmm, let’s try it.

ㅡ Good.

Rondo gave the order to the warlock, wondering exactly how it works.

Immediately after that, the things that were obviously corpses moved and took the posture of having sexual intercourse without fail.

ㅡ Oh, please, at least close the door…… !

ㅡ Be quiet if you don’t want to be caught.

The wizards laughed at it.

ㅡ It’s really good. Even if I say that I am a warrior, I will be deceived.

ㅡ Did you make that up?

ㅡ hahahaha, that’s right. Don’t you feel it? Even so, it was my dream to write a comedy before I was forced to become a black magician’s apprentice.

“… ….”

Tragedy left as a huge trauma for himself was just a laughing stock for others.

Chaejin’s head creaked like a rusty machine and turned to see Elua.

She was really just sitting on the sofa with unfocused eyes.

If all of this is true.

If she was deceived by a puppet or something, then El Lua…….

ㅡ Now you just have to wait for the hero to come. But what if the hero doesn’t come?

ㅡ He will definitely come. I can tell. Because he’s a prophet.

ㅡ I see…… But was it necessary to use such a grandiose method? It’s enough just to give an order and show it…….

The Prophet grinned at Rondo’s question.

ㅡ Everything has a reason. Come on, it looks like the hero is coming soon, so let’s hide.

Then the Prophet stretched out his hand and covered Elua’s eyes.

Elua begins to react to that.

ㅡ No…… Geron… Do not do that… Resistance must…… Why, the body… Strength…… Oops, what…… Warrior, warrior…….

“It is a mental distortion. You can also say that this guy’s speciality. You planted a fabricated memory by reading the feelings inside the woman you loved. …… Keep watching.”

Before long, they were talking in sign language and then disappeared among the furniture.

The hero has come, the conversation was clear.

ㅡ Oh, please, at least close the door…… !

ㅡ Be quiet if you don’t want to be caught.

The corpse puppets spoke their lines once again and blatantly moved.

And between the cracks in the slightly open door.

A single pupil was staring into the room…….

Fluff!

Seeing that, Chaejin lost all strength in her body and fell to her knees.

I don’t want to believe it.

It was a shocking sight that made me want to deny my eyes.

[ I, Hero, I……. ]

[ I, the hero, love you… Not… …. ]

I felt like I knew it now.

How did Elua feel when she said that?

[ No! No, warrior! I swear to heaven I’ve never had that thought before! ]

[ It’s true that I’m a dirty traitor, but please believe me! ]

[ I deeply respect the hero who endured and overcame all kinds of adversity to save a world that was not his own! ]

I remembered her face, which was covered in blood mixed with tears from the broken forehead.

“Whoop.”

At that moment, I was out of breath.

Chaejin stared at the floor as if she was screaming.

‘It was all fabricated. It was irresistible. She had no intention of betraying Elua. She kept her chastity for me until the end!’

Even so, she herself…….

[ Now go out and don’t appear in front of me again. ]

[ If you were going to make me so miserable and leave, you should have lived better. ]

[ You can’t be the target of your anger. No matter how you die, it doesn’t matter to me. ]

[ You are nothing to me. I don’t feel anything when I see your face like this. ]

“Keep it off.”

With her squeezing groan, her clenched hands naturally tightened.

It was an irresistible force for me too.

Those words couldn’t even suppress the sharp sensation that was gripping her chest right now.

“Then I reverse summoned you and erased the memories of those who knew the truth about your lover. He must have judged that there would be no benefit from being known to humans that he could partially manipulate his mind.”

As Chaejin struggled to catch her breath, she asked the woman looking down at her.

“Why…… !”

“What?”

“If it was just to deceive me, there would be no reason to commit such a grandiose thing, right? Why the hell!”

It was a different question, but it was the same question Rondo asked.

“I can’t fully grasp the intent. However, I can speculate on the highly probable side…… In a way, it is simple.”

The woman answered as if reciting indifferently.

“Should she actually be innocent, she will receive an irreparable blow from you who once gave up on a broken heart. Even if you do not have the protection of a hero, you are a special being from another world who is affected by the law of cause and effect. You must disappear if his purpose is to be fulfilled. However, you, who have already been forcibly reverse summoned once, have resistance against reverse summoning. He must have needed a way to destroy it.”

At least, that’s all?

Did Elua, who was innocent of any crime, have to suffer like that just because of that?

It was just used as a tool to easily reverse summon the hero, himself?!

“When this truth is revealed to you, if she had taken her own life, would you be sane enough to resist the reverse summoning? No. If you’re the one I know, you can’t.”