160 – Fog-7

I got an offer that was too big. It was something I couldn’t help but shake.

However, it didn’t change what I had to do.

“You went in and brought the evidence yourself, you’re a warrior after all.”

It was a bit ironic, but the only person I could trust at all right now was Christina.

The Emperor seemed to know something, but he didn’t open his mouth, and if he had that attitude, asking Eleanor wouldn’t change anything.

Celia and Nerwen didn’t really seem to know anything. The rest would probably be Parseer, but it wasn’t easy to ask her. It was true that I was somehow involved in this case, and I could have obtained distorted information from her.

“But, if that happened, you should have called us. It wouldn’t be enough to help the hero’s fight, but it would have been useful for investigation and securing evidence.”

In the end, she was the only person left to discuss matters with. I wasn’t someone who knew everything, and strictly speaking, I wasn’t someone who could say that I was on my side, but I couldn’t help it right now.

“If I think it’s necessary, I’ll call you.”

However, I couldn’t show off my relationship with her any more than necessary. The reason why he felt sorry for not calling the Altdore family was because he secured her influence.

It’s just an incident for the hero to find out and question the Mage Tower’s crimes, but it’s even more meaningful if Altdoor’s soldiers and nobles are involved in it.

I had no intention of being swayed by her thoughts.

“…You don’t look good. Are you tired?”

“That’s not it.”

It’s probably true that my face looks tired, but I can see Christina’s face looking more impatient than that.

“I heard that you were taken to a place you didn’t want to be. I feel sorry for you. You must still have some anger left.”

“It wasn’t a difficult position to be concerned about.”

“But, I don’t think His Majesty the Emperor was interested in such a thing, right?”

Swearing at the same person can go a long way in improving a relationship. Perhaps that was the situation Christina was aiming for.

“This should be said with caution, but… the work the hero is doing may not be in vain.”

“yes?”

Cristina muffled her voice, as if she was about to say something important. I couldn’t help but pay attention to her mouth.

“It was said that His Majesty the Emperor… was looking for an heir.”

“ah.”

He talked about something important, something he already knew.

I couldn’t hear the detailed reason or the condition of the emperor, but I knew that he was in such an extreme condition that he had to invite me, a stranger, to become the emperor.

“Hero-nim, didn’t you want that too?”

“yes?”

The smile on Christina’s lips didn’t look very positive.

“If we knew everything about the situation, we wouldn’t know, but it was just a case where a few serfs went missing, right?

“…”

“By the way, did you dare to come down to the capital to solve a case like that? And then, you met me right away… I’m not an idiot either. I’m good enough to notice what the hero wants.”

Cristina, who shrugged confidently, didn’t look too good.

no one wants to understand me No, they look at me from the wrong perspective and interpret it as they please.

“The hero shows off his presence in the capital, and while making good stories, he makes connections with nobles like us.

Seeing my expression harden, she paused cautiously. I shook my head.

“Let’s keep talking.”

“The next… to be.”

No matter how much she was an aristocratic person who disobeyed the emperor’s orders and tried to interpret them arbitrarily, there were lines that had to be followed.

The position of the emperor and his successor was so important that people living in the empire were afraid to mention it.

“He’s someone who can receive the protection of the imperial family, and since he successfully exterminated the demon king, he already has the qualifications.”

Even when I heard this from the emperor, I couldn’t say it was pleasant, but the story of the emperor I heard from her was terribly disgusting.

At least, the emperor seemed desperate. Rather than his own greed, he may have been someone else, but he put his heart in front of him and hid it.

“Well, His Majesty the current Emperor… loves his daughter so much that he doesn’t even think of handing down an heir unless it’s that cowardly swindler.”

It didn’t bother me. Unbeknownst to her, I had already rejected the emperor’s offer.

What made me even more uncomfortable was the fact that she had no interest in the things I valued.

“Rather than that, how is the investigation going?”

“Have you got the person in charge? Unfortunately, we won’t be able to benefit from digging further here. After the hero achieves his goal, he will eventually need the power of the Mage Tower.”

She was talking nonsense, as if she didn’t understand what I was saying at all.

“It would have been nice if we could have put more pressure on the old wizard, but unfortunately they didn’t call us. We’d better do this.”

“Is that what it is?”

“Sure. It’s a bit disappointing, but you have to be satisfied.”

a person died I saw many corpses.

It was not the first time I had seen the corpse of a dead man. However, it was a death caused by ‘beings beyond human control’ like monsters and orcs.

Even though it was sad and painful, there was hope that it could be overcome. The journey to kill the demon king, the head of the monsters, was proceeding without any problems, and the Orc Lord eventually fell into my hands.

However, this is not the case. People kill people, and I haven’t been able to cut off the cause yet.

It is not possessed by the terrible demonic energy of monsters, nor is it a dead body crushed by the unreasonable power of an orc. A person killed another person by swinging a sword with that small and feeble force.

“Once they start cutting their tails in the Mage Tower, it’s hard to find the culprit anymore. Even if it wasn’t them, the thieves would have attacked and killed the traveler after all.”

He was a person who had been forgotten for a while because there was a very obvious enemy of mankind called monsters. For no apparent reason, people kill people.

“If the Mage Tower side asks us to prove the relationship between the dead and the Mage Tower, it will be difficult for us to pursue the crime further.”

“…It’s frustrating.”

I was in a position where I had no choice but to doubt the Farsi language, and I felt frustrated and helpless. Even if Farsi was not the cause, the Mage Tower is her power and the culprit is her ally.

I wanted to catch him and ask him why he had to do that.

“You don’t have to think too impatiently. Eventually, the hero’s time will come.”

And, she was frustrated too. As if common sense is twisted, they don’t understand my pain at all.

I didn’t expect to think of this, but I missed the warrior party a little.

Even when I set up an angle with them, the biggest cause of conflict was people. Powerless and weak people who have no choice but to die in the waves of huge monsters.

Eleanor, Farseer, and Nerwen ruthlessly abandoned them. Celia was troubled, but eventually agreed with them.

Even so, the fight was at least a battle between those who wanted to do what was right and those who wanted to do what was right.

It was a fight over whether to save the person right in front of you, or whether to defeat the demon king faster and save the person who was dying in an invisible place.

“…You look happy.”

“Isn’t that the only way to do it? If the warrior rises to the top position, the current irrational laws and the behavior of the imperial family will disappear.”

I had to swallow the disgust that flowed down my throat. If you want to pretend to be with Christina and the Altdor family, you must have a solid plan and preparation.

At least until then, I had to force myself to smile.

“Imagine. To the extent that the warrior was treated so badly, how much persecution must have happened to our aristocrats who have supported the empire? How much he likes lowly things…”

“You must have suffered a lot.”

“Well, no matter how much I say this, it’s not going to compare to the humiliation and suffering that the warrior had to endure. So, I’ve prepared a small gift for you.”

Christina’s words were more frightening than happy.

A person who didn’t know what I wanted or disliked couldn’t give me a proper gift.

“That’s what I’m looking forward to.”

“I’m sure you’ll be delighted.”

After she clapped her hands twice, the servant she had seen once entered with a small box.

“A lot of things happened… remember?”

“I do not know.”

Like she said, a lot happened. However, there were not many memories to share with her.

“The first time you came out of the imperial palace, you were an adventurer. Don’t you remember?”

“Come to think of it, it seems that there was a time like that.”

When he had just left the imperial palace, he had no plans or thoughts. He only escaped the imperial palace with the single thought of finding magic ingredients.

“There was a rude guy who didn’t recognize the hero. Well, there’s no way a lowly guy could see it, but anyway, that’s why I made him pay the price instead of the hero.”

Hearing that, I stared blankly at the box the butler had placed on the table.

Inside the square, heavy box, there was the smell of incense.