23 – Revenge-6

It was a familiar basement. can’t forget Because it was the first place I had ever seen in this world.

“You can’t go in. Well, I won’t stop you if you really want to go in, but magicians and priests are very picky.”

A clear line was drawn between the emperor and me. Although it does not contain any magical meaning in itself, it contained the meaning of warning that we cannot take responsibility for any problems that arise when ‘beyond this place’.

“If you step on one line wrong, you might have to start all over again.”

The magic circle that filled a room was almost complete, although there were empty seats here and there.

“The blood of demons, the heart of the legionnaires… The bricks of the demon castle… It took some time to transport, but most of them were able to be obtained.”

“I’m glad.”

“If you meet Eleanor, give her a compliment. If she hadn’t pulled out her sword herself, it would have taken longer. Not all of the Demon King’s territories have been stabilized yet.”

Monsters are strengthened by the demon king’s energy, but once created through him, the monsters do not disappear naturally.

There will still be countless soldiers fighting on the front. If they were put in to get this material, it could have resulted in another sacrifice.

“You can take a break now, but I’m fighting without getting tired.”

“Did she get it for me, or did you get it by order of His Majesty the Emperor?”

He said nothing. Since I wasn’t looking at his face, I could only imagine what kind of expression he would have made.

Because my eyes were pierced as if possessed by that huge magic circle.

“Seek, pierce, send, find, preserve, protect, protect, protect, hide…”

“Do you know how to read wizards’ texts?”

“Most don’t know, but I can read simple words to some extent.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t have anything to gain from coming here.

“Because there’s one person who will say shit if you can’t memorize it.”

It’s just that each of those harvests was filled with sadness.

“…”

“But it’s a bit far-fetched to say thank you to His Majesty the Emperor, so let’s just say I still believe.”

Although he hadn’t experienced much of this society, at least he knew the information related to the warrior’s party.

Swordsmanship, magic, religion, elves.

The hideous, mysterious, yet divine sense felt from the material of that magic circle was absolutely not a magic circle for ordinary magic.

At the time the goddess entered, the possibility of them striking me in the back of the head was greatly reduced.

Considering the size of that enormous magic circle, it was true that the ceremony to bring me back was being prepared.

“Enough.”

“But… the hero, what kind of orders are you running rampant with? Other than getting this material.”

“…”

“Now that we’ve met, I want to make sure that we move on.”

The hero seems to move arbitrarily, but he moves under clear principles.

The national interest of the empire and the orders of the emperor. Loyalty, patriotism and responsibility are her driving forces.

If it had been someone else, I would have suspected that the order that he should marry me might have been selfish.

If only I had been given that order the first time I came here, the day I first met her.

Falling in love with her looks and confidence, he might have pretended not to win.

“Why does she want to marry me? The warrior obviously said it was an order from His Majesty the Emperor. You’ll have to give me an explanation that will convince me.”

“…Yes, I wish you would, because I am doing it.”

“How far do you have to destroy a person to feel good inside? Marrying someone whose name you don’t want to hear. If you really need it, do it after I go, after I go!”

I wanted to stomp my feet, but I suppressed myself in case dust would splash and touch the magic circle.

Fearing that my saliva would splatter, I turned my head away from the magic circle. The emperor was feeling sorry for him.

“Do you really want me to marry her?”

“I hope so.”

The emperor answered in a calm voice, deeply sorrowful.

“Then what is this? Was it just decoration? For deception?”

“There are countless materials in this magic circle, and each one is precious. I was able to obtain the materials related to the demon tribe because you endured better than anyone else while defeating the demon king, but… other things are different.”

The emperor raised his hand and pointed to various parts of the magic circle.

“The blood of a unicorn. It’s not about catching and killing any unicorn, it’s the blood of a unicorn who has sworn to fully dedicate his corpse for the sake of the empire. Even, not for the owner, but for the empire.”

“The remains of a phoenix. What a nonsensical word. How can an immortal phoenix die an eternal death and leave behind its corpse? But it happens only occasionally, and the Empire’s most courageous adventurers have succeeded in retrieving it.”

“Dragon’s heart. If it’s just a dragon’s heart, you can get it more commonly than these materials, but this one is a bit special. It’s a heart filled with demonic energy that a dragon that has lived for a long time and has destroyed countless lives has.”

One by one, it was just materials that didn’t make sense. I couldn’t quite ascertain its authenticity, but the characteristics of the magical ingredients he described matched remarkably well with Farseer’s gossip.

“At this level…”

“Besides these, I need mountains of the most costly and precious materials. Some materials are too difficult for me to understand, and some too terrible to tell you.”

“Did you get all of these?”

“There are many items in the Imperial Family’s Vigo. Still, somehow I managed to get the materials. Now I have to train the mages and clergy. No matter how much you’re skilled, you can’t leave out this process.”

“Why?”

“If you fail once, you will never be able to try again.”

My doubts haven’t completely subsided, but at least I can tell he’s serious about this.

Since I’m just an ordinary person and he’s an emperor, I couldn’t help it if he was determined and tried to trick me.

“I’ll admit it. I want you to stay. I want you to love Eleanor and take over the Empire if need be.”

This was a bit surprising. I had never thought that he was even prepared for that.

“But apart from that, I made a promise with you. The stranger who came down to this land by the hand of the goddess. I will definitely send you back.”

After all, he too was a man weighed down by responsibility. I am afraid of what will happen if I do not send me back, so I have no choice but to let go even though I am reluctant.

“Isn’t a promise something that you can keep if you want to keep it or not keep it if you don’t want to keep it?”

After thinking about my situation for a while, I looked back at the magic circle one last time.

When I first came, there was a strange smell and it was a space I wanted to get out of as soon as possible. But, right now, I wanted to turn back the clock and move on to the day I would sit in that magic circle.

Looking at the luxurious magic ingredients, my head hurt.

“for a moment.”

As I pondered, I noticed something strange.

“Then if the hero chooses to return, did he have to prepare these materials every time?”

Since it is something that needs to be prepared every few hundred years, this much may be necessary. However, even taking that into account, it was a bit excessive.

Even if the empire was strong, it didn’t seem like it would be easy to get these things.

“According to the records…the goddess prepared these ingredients. However, it was so long ago that we cannot be sure.”

“A goddess?”

“With God’s guidance, I went to the shiny place and there was a record saying that it contained a gift from the goddess… I have ten attendants taking turns looking up at the sky, but I haven’t seen any signs of that.”

“Were you really doing that?”

“Of course. Even if it’s not ten servants, but a hundred, it’s cheap compared to the sacrifices you have to take to get this material. There are even adventurers who spend their whole lives looking for the remains of a phoenix.”

There was nothing more to say. I sighed deeply and trudged up the stairs.

“So, do you have any plans to stop her?”

“I’m sorry for you, but I can’t give up hope either. Hope for this country and for my daughter.”

“I’m not.”

Age can’t be faked, his step up the stairs looked a bit daunting. I had to keep pace to keep the conversation going.

“At the due date, I will bring you back. Just in the meantime, talk to her. Give her a chance to understand you…”

“To begin with, she doesn’t understand me either. No, I don’t know who the hero is trying to understand in the first place. Besides… I understand the hero.”

I’ve already spent several years with the warrior. In my own way, I think I understood her.

I know why she behaves the way she does, how responsibility and work oppress her, and how that oppression manifests into her courage and responsibility.

“I understand it better than anyone, so I think it’s more disgusting than anyone else.”

The emperor paused for a moment.

“Shall I call an attendant?”

“It’s okay. Go upstairs first.”

I left him and went up the remaining stairs.