Chapter 116
Chapter 116
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP. 29: King Kong and the Hybrid Collide (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"-It's been a while."
"……."
"Hmm, this cake is quite delicious. As I get older, I find myself craving sweets more and more, heh heh."
"…Why are you here…? Sigh, that was a stupid question."
"Realizing your own foolishness is commendable in itself."
"……."
"Your eyes are so insolent."
A high-end café located in the capital.
It was a place frequented by nobles, and one where you could rent a private room if desired.
A space for solitude or to avoid prying eyes.
That made it popular with quite a few people, and as such, reservations were always booked solid.
…Yet in such a place.
"Let me rephrase the question. What brings you from the North to here, Grand Duke?"
A certain 'father and son' had run into each other.
Roan narrowed his brow, while the young man happily devouring cake…
No, the man who looked young but was nearing sixty ruled the vast northern territories—not to mention an entire nation.
"You're as impertinent as ever. Calling your father 'Grand Duke' and 'you'—did I fail in your upbringing? Tsk…."
Magnus Yulia de Lionel.
None other than the Grand Duke of Lionel of this generation.
"Ha! Since when did you ever raise me…!"
Roan didn't hesitate to snap back, uncharacteristically heated.
A state unlike his usual composure.
It revealed the depth of his resentment and pent-up grudges toward the Grand Duke.
In response, the Grand Duke…
"Hm, still whining like a brat. Your skills as a knight are excellent, but as a ruler, you're barely scraping past sixty points…. Lacking, utterly lacking."
"……."
…merely scolded him.
As if Roan's talents were sorely disappointing.
Even Roan, hailed as the greatest genius in Lionel's history, received such harsh judgment from Grand Duke Magnus.
But despite the provocative reprimand, Roan remained relatively unfazed.
As if he'd long accepted his own shortcomings.
"I know full well. That I lack the qualities of a ruler. I've long since given up on the Grand Duke's seat. Why not pass it to your other children who actually want it?"
"Sadly, the rest of the bloodline is just as mediocre. If you're barely average, the others are below it. Failing grade. So, it has to be you."
"……."
"Besides, you're the only one of this era's lions acknowledged by the [Black King]. …Though I suppose it might be thanks to that 'thing' you're hiding."
"…!"
Roan's body twitched.
No way…!
'Ah, so he knows?'
Truly, one couldn't let their guard down around him.
Grand Duke Magnus.
Even for someone who had personally experienced the miracle of defying time, he remained a formidable and tricky opponent.
'…Damn it.'
Roan gritted his teeth, struggling to control his emotions more than usual.
Anyone else, he could manage, but in front of this man, staying calm was always difficult.
Why?
Because he was so ruthlessly cold?
Or because, no matter how prickly, he was still his father?
…Or perhaps.
Tap.
"Don't worry. For now, I have no intention of controlling you. Do what you must, and I'll do the same."
"……."
The clink of a teacup on the table cut through his tangled thoughts like a bell in his ear.
"This coffee and cake were splendid. You've built a fine establishment."
"Ha… You even knew about that?"
"Of course. What kind of father wouldn't know the shop his son owns?"
"……."
…Truly a terrifying man.
He'd kept his involvement in starting this café completely hidden.
"The rabble won't notice, but those twice your age likely have. That the owner is someone else. Be careful. Gathering nobles' intel is fine, but a long tail gets stepped on."
"…I know that without you telling me."
"……Brat, so rude. I wonder if the previous family head felt the same raising me."
The previous head—the man Grand Duke Magnus had personally dethroned, his own father. Realizing he had no right to criticize Roan, he shrugged.
Wondering if this was karma.
And then.
"I just came to see your face. Realized I was in the capital and hadn't checked on my own child."
"…You came here for such a ridiculous reason?"
"What's wrong with a father seeing his son?"
"……."
"…Hm, that does sound unlike me. Anyway, glad to see you're doing well, son."
"……Just call me 'you' or 'that thing.' Hearing you say it so warmly makes me nauseous."
"…Yeah, even saying it felt off."
…In this light, the father and son seemed alike.
Not in looks, but in personality and demeanor.
Whether unaccustomed to affection or their natures twisted from the start, it was clear they weren't close.
Step, step.
With that, Grand Duke Magnus finally rose to leave.
As if seeing his face had been his sole purpose.
Watching him…
"Where's Uncle Max? You're always together, but he's not here today."
"…I'm 'you,' and Max is 'uncle'?"
"I owe Uncle a lot. Not you."
"……Can't argue with the truth."
For the first time, Grand Duke Magnus grumbled.
A tone somehow pitiful.
But that was probably an act too.
As if this man would feel hurt by such things.
Then.
"…Max is off doing something utterly unsuited to him."
"Unsuited?"
"Said he wanted to try being a spy."
"…??"
Roan shot him a 'are you insane?' look.
Who was playing spy?
"Uncle?"
"…Don't look at me like that. I tried to stop him."
"……."
"Ahem."
Grand Duke Magnus looked awkward, and Roan was speechless for a while.
It was that absurd.
'Spy? …That flashy uncle?'
…Better to have him perform for lions than send someone who couldn't hide to spy. Roan shook his head thinking of him.
'He'd just scream 'suspicious' and never blend in.'
His uncle, the valiant Black Lion of the North.
A knight among knights, jovial and noble.
'…But too oblivious by half.'
Roan gave a wry smile.
He could picture exactly what mess he was in now.
─And sure enough.
"There he is!"
"Suspicious bastard! Grab him!!"
A shady group was chasing Maximus Iron de Lionel like they wanted to kill him.
It felt like a fox hunt, but the man moved leisurely, fending them off while tilting his head at the situation itself.
"…Why'd they spot me?"
He voiced honest bafflement at being pegged as suspicious.
He'd only…
"Asked if your god was an 'evil god'… Why are they so mad?"
Seeing evil god-like deeds, he merely asked if it was an evil god— was that so wrong?
Maximus couldn't fathom their reaction.
*
*
*
Since ancient times, the power of religion has been formidable.
Especially in the medieval era.
Even more so in times without internet or newspapers.
Why?
Some say respect for the literate class among the faithful bred admiration.
Others claim the masses sought escape from harsh lives through faith.
Whatever the reason, religion's might was ever potent.
And that strength persisted into the information age.
If anything, as society advanced, religions grew more cunning and vicious, with abusers exploiting it—most notoriously the cults.
"Back in school, every three out of ten guys on the street would ask 'Do you know the Way?' And five out of ten threatened 'No religion, straight to hell!'"
"…Haha, better than me. I got proselytized way more."
"They always target the innocent ones."
"Were you innocent back then, Instructor?"
"I was, in my way. Weak, really."
"……."
"Why the look?"
"Ah, no. Just doesn't suit you…."
"I wasn't always strong."
Lee Han shrugged.
Sometimes this guy overestimated him.
"Everyone has weak times."
"Haha…."
"Anyway, what a pain. Never thought I'd fight cults in this world too…."
"…A nightmare."
As mentioned earlier, religion's power is immense.
Even in their information-age world, cults thrived, ensnaring countless followers routinely.
So what about this world?
One where magic and knights—true [mysteries]—existed.
That very mysticism let cults flourish more.
With real power at stake, and those willing to exploit even gods for ambition and control.
……Like this.
"-The world is rotten. The powerful squeeze the people's blood, leaving the weak to suffer endless sorrow! Do we choose weakness? No! The elite hoard everything, forcing us down! It's wrong! …But our cries fall on deaf ears. Because we're weak! The powerless mean nothing to them!!"
"-Britannia's fall? The elite manipulated everyone at whim, wasting talents like yours as mere fodder. That's why your homeland vanished."
"-Crave power? Want to change the world? Join us! We'll give it—our god will!!"
[[[Waaaaah!!!!]]]
The prisoners erupted at the speech's end.
Some wept, others laughed maniacally.
A nauseating sight, utterly alien and stomach-churning madness.
Lee Han's take:
"These guys high? Mass hypnosis? What the hell?"
"Maybe both drugs and brainwashing."
"…Yeah, has to be."
……No way this was normal.
Lee Han scowled at the opium-den-like assembly in the tunnel's heart.
Just looking made him sick.
* * *
The guards called the tunnels a [labyrinth].
Even with maps, wyrm shifts blocked paths constantly, new ones forming.
Even the managing soldiers had given up mapping it fully.
But one thing was certain.
Only [two] entrances.
Guarded by some three hundred soldiers armed with spears, armor, and matchlocks—prisoners couldn't escape.
They'd forsaken full control but vowed to contain them.
No escapes in tunnel history!
The guards' pride.
……Or so.
"Tunnel guards all blind? No way they hauled construction gear here."
"Y-Yeah, impossible materials…."
In the ironclad depths boasted secure.
At least fifteen floors underground, air thin, a 'village' thrived.
One where…
"Well, well?"
"P-People live here…."
Folks huddled in shanties of wood planks and dirt.
Plus.
"Bright. Damn, they're loaded."
"Haha…."
Normally pitch black, yet glaringly lit.
"Artifact."
Magic's treasures of astronomical value.
A light-emitting one shone like a moon, banishing subterranean dark.
"…Kingdom incompetent, or them too clever?"
"……."
"Sigh, both?"
…Derek could only smile awkwardly.
While Derek grinned nervously, Lee Han felt uneasy.
'Hm, seen it somewhere?'
Gazing at the moon-shaped artifact lighting the ceiling, déjà vu hit.
Moon ornaments were common in the capital, but this felt different.
A dull, waning moon hue.
And numbers 1 to 12 etched on its crescent edge.
Not a clock—what gimmick? But he'd seen this moon motif before.
In early childhood.
And suddenly…
"…Ah."
He recalled a long-forgotten childhood memory.
[Black Moon].
Lee Han blinked at the artifact matching the emblem of the assassin group he'd been kidnapped into as a child.
Seemed like.
"These bastards didn't vanish—they merged?"
Or.
……They were one all along.
'Wait, if so…?'
Lee Han realized something grave.
If his old 'workplace' was originally a cult…
'W-Was I a cultist too…?'
…Ah, no way. Couldn't be.
'Hah, must've been a merger! Yeah! Has to be…!'
Lee Han shook his head, dismissing the overthinking.
……Leaving a sliver of unease in his heart.