Chapter 142
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: The First Emperor's Hoard
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“I gave you the demon’s flesh. You should have trusted me! What kind of Vile Breed brings you a piece of a demon!”
Unable to contain his fury, Abel Kalens’s face flushed red.
“There’s one right in front of me.”
As if he no longer intended to hide it, magi began to seep from his body.
“Do you have any idea how much I had to prepare myself to plant that there!”
“Should I?”
“You should. Pernyan Fallenberg, you’ve ruined more than one or two of my plans.”
He growled low in his throat.
“According to the original plan, the academy should have been a complete wreck. The Continental Academic Conference should have ended in disaster, isolating the Vienderks, and the northern legion should have grown even stronger!”
The continent should have fallen into chaos.
Amidst the turmoil, Vile Breeds were supposed to run rampant, summoning demons one by one to turn the world into another hell.
“Thank you for the high praise, confirming I’ve been doing an excellent job.”
“That’s right. From a human perspective, you did too good a job. Do you know how surprised I was? You, who should have been completely ruined and driven the Fallenbergs to their downfall, were instead acting as Aint’s benefactor!”
“……”
A bitter smile played on Pernyan’s lips.
That was it. The mere thought of how much he’d suffered because of the Vile Breeds’ damned schemes made him grind his teeth.
But it was fine now. The outcome was a better future, and he could now watch the Vile Breeds stew in their frustration in real-time.
Most importantly, the Vile Breed himself had just confessed in front of Aint that all the past troubles were their doing.
With this, the chance of him and Aint ever being on opposing sides had dwindled to nearly zero.
“So I infiltrated to learn a little more about you…”
“For that, you were far too careless.”
Surprisingly, Abel nodded in agreement.
“My mistake. I admit it. I was only wary of Aint Armian, but you came out of nowhere and made me rush.”
That’s why his plan had been so sloppy.
“No, actually, that’s not it.”
As if his rage had been a lie, the anger vanished from Abel’s face.
He clutched his stomach, chuckling.
“Surprise! In fact, this was all part of my plan.”
“Your plan?”
“Yes. A plan. I became certain that I needed to be more wary of you than Aint. That was enough.”
Losing an eye was a shame, but it wasn’t a huge loss for the price of learning that fact early.
“You gave up too much for that to be the case. No need to pretend you’re fine.”
Besides, shouldn’t they have noticed me long ago?
He had clashed with Vile Breeds alongside Aint several times already. It didn’t make sense that they had no awareness of Pernyan until now.
“What’s your real objective?”
“You think I’d tell you? And honestly, it’s such a waste! After I gave you that much, you should’ve just trusted me! You suspicious bastard!”
His face twisted like a demon’s, Abel held a book in one hand and a staff in the other.
Blades of wind rained down on Pernyan, but a sturdy back blocked his path.
Clang—
The wind could not get past Aint’s sword.
“Armian, you cursed bloodline!”
“You’re the ones who are cursed. Filthy Vile Breeds who sold out humanity!”
Aint charged. He closed the distance in a single step, his sword already piercing toward Abel’s chest.
“Kuh…!”
The staff met the sword. A barrier enveloped Abel.
Crack—!
But the barrier shattered with ease. With a sharp crack, the staff was sent flying.
Abel twisted his body just in time, sacrificing his shoulder to avoid a fatal blow to the chest, and shouted.
“Ugh…! Armian, that cursed power!”
He grabbed Aint’s blade with both hands.
Hiss—! Smoke erupted as magi and light clashed. The momentary struggle ended with Aint as the victor.
Abel screamed and stumbled backward.
“This is cheating! How can you grow so fast!”
“That’s the power of money, you foolish Vile Breed.”
“Shut up! What’s so great about a useless hunk of pretty metal!”
“It is everything!”
“I said shut up!”
Magi exploded toward Pernyan, but Aint stood like an iron wall, blocking everything.
Abel unleashed another spell.
It was different from before. The fierce storm, now mixed with magi, was rougher and sharper.
“Can you win?”
“Of course.”
Aint ran into the storm.
A small point of light grew larger, soon swallowing the darkness.
Rumble—!
With a deafening roar, the world shook as if an earthquake had struck. Pernyan raised walls of rock to protect himself from the shockwave.
“This will be heard throughout the entire academy.”
The Headmaster is going to be furious.
‘No matter how you look at it, this isn’t the level of a first-year.’
It must be because he was a Vile Breed. That was why Jace Baintz, who should have been at the top of the class, was pushed to second place.
A moment later, the light faded. At its end stood Abel, his heart pierced.
“Khehehehehe…!”
His eyes were bloodshot, and the veins all over his body bulged, giving him a grotesque appearance.
A bizarre sound, impossible to tell if it was laughter or a sob, sent a chill down the spine.
“As I thought, beating an Armian in my current state is impossible…”
Cough. He vomited a gush of black blood.
“Are those your last words?”
“Wait a moment, Aint.”
Pernyan stopped Aint as he was about to deliver the final blow.
“Just in case, I’ll ask. Are you willing to tell me who’s behind you?”
“There’s a saying, isn’t there? ‘Just in case’ usually turns into ‘just as I thought’?”
“I see.”
“If I had been just a little more patient, it might have worked. A shame, a real shame.”
The man mocked himself. But then his laughter abruptly stopped.
“Still.”
He met Pernyan’s eyes.
“It’s true that it went according to plan. Unlike the others, I may be impatient, but I’m not incompetent. You can look forward to what comes next, Pernyan Fallenberg.”
With those final words.
Abel’s body exploded.
* * *
He had seen Vile Breeds explode so many times now it was getting cliché.
Aint and Pernyan had been prepared and suffered no harm.
However, there was one strange thing.
“…There’s no body left.”
Even after an explosion, some fragments usually remained, but Abel’s remains had turned to dust and scattered.
“…A demon?”
And as far as Pernyan knew, the only beings in this world that left no corpse were demons.
“A demon wouldn’t be this weak, though.”
“That’s true. Then perhaps a special kind of Vile Breed. I suppose if they receive more power from a demon, they might become a similar existence.”
“That seems most plausible.”
- Was there a demon like this? I haven't seen all of them, so I can't say for sure.
- The war was fought across the entire continent, and it’s not like I faced all 72 demons by myself.
In the end, they had no choice but to let it go.
“By the way, what did he mean by that last remark?”
“There’s no need to worry about it.”
Abel’s claim of achieving his objective was likely true. That objective was almost certainly to confirm something about Pernyan.
“Isn’t it strange to deliberately say his plan succeeded?”
“It’s a threat. A warning that not only you, but I as well, are now in their sights, so we won’t be able to act as freely as before.”
To put it more bluntly, it meant ‘watch your back.’
It was a ploy to confuse Pernyan, and while some might be intimidated by it, he certainly wasn’t one of them.
“He probably wants me to back off. Not a chance.”
He, who feared nothing more than losing money, was not so petty as to be scared by a Vile Breed’s threat.
Above all, now that it was clear those bastards treated money as a worthless piece of metal, he had one more reason not to side with the demons.
“Let’s head back for today. Everyone in the academy must be awake by now.”
“Ah, what should we do about this?”
The surrounding area was a complete ruin from the battle. Sneaking in at night and causing such a commotion would undoubtedly be a problem, probably ten times over.
Unless the opponent was a Vile Breed.
“I’ve already recorded everything with a recording sphere, so it won’t be an issue.”
“When on earth did you do that?”
“From the very beginning.”
Activating the artifact with a built-in recording sphere at the slightest hint of suspicion.
It was a habit he had developed after learning he would be framed by Vile Breeds and excommunicated.
“Let’s go before people start showing up.”
“Yes, sir.”
Late at night, the two figures vanished.
* * *
“This matter will be buried.”
The Headmaster said as he poured milk into his black tea.
“I trust I don’t need to explain why.”
Not once, but twice. And this Vile Breed incident had occurred again after the Headmaster himself had ordered a massive search.
Even if the Vile Breed was a new student, it didn’t erase the academy’s incompetence.
For the Headmaster’s sake, and for the academy’s prestige, it was best for this incident to be quietly swept under the rug.
“I understand.”
“For that, I’ll need the recording sphere you used.”
“I’ve already given it to you.”
“I don’t trust the likes of merchants. They may be gracious patrons who donate a great deal of money to the academy, but they are also the type to look for any opportunity to swindle you.”
As he stirred with a teaspoon, the milk and tea mixed together.
“Are you certain what you gave me is the original?”
“It is.”
“Can you then guarantee that there are no additional copies?”
Pernyan did not avoid the Headmaster’s sharp gaze.
“If I said there were, would you believe me?”
“I wouldn’t believe you; I would take it by force.”
“That is why there are none. I have no desire to be on bad terms with an Archmage over something so trivial. Please consider it repayment for not keeping my promise last time.”
“You never intend to take even the slightest loss. Very much like you.”
The promise had been to keep Andromalius’s summoning a secret.
But Pernyan had revealed that fact to the Duke of Vienderk and the Pope of the Dragon God Cult during the Continental Academic Conference.
Although it had been a necessary action, he had acted without the Headmaster’s consent.
Fortunately, the Headmaster had understood the situation and let it slide, but it was still an intangible debt.
A debt that Pernyan did not miss the opportunity to clear.
“I will accept that.”
The Headmaster accepted his terms.
“Thank you.”
“I should be the one thanking you. Thanks to you, we’ve caught a small spark before it could burn down the whole mountain. In fact, if there’s anything you desire, I’m willing to grant it.”
“Having my mistake in this matter overlooked is enough. More importantly, what are your plans?”
“Now that it’s clear Vile Breeds are still active within the academy, what other choice is there?”
I intend to find every last one of them myself.
The Headmaster gave a benevolent smile. A smile that was warm to humanity, but not at all to demons and Vile Breeds.
* * *
After his meeting with the Headmaster, Pernyan boarded his carriage.
“Did your discussion go well?”
“Yes. It was handled very well.”
“Then what will happen to Abel?”
“The Headmaster will take care of it.”
It wasn’t hard to guess what would happen.
“If it were me, I would visit Abel’s family home and silence them.”
By showing them the recording of their son as a Vile Breed.
“I’d tell them to follow my orders if they don’t want this rumor to spread.”
Abel would be immediately expelled, and on his way home, he would die in an unfortunate accident.
The most common scenario would be his ship sinking in a storm.
Losing the ship was a pity, but it was far better than tarnishing the honor of the academy and the Royal Knights.
“His parents will cooperate.”
“I made it sound like a threat, but this is the best outcome for both sides. If it were revealed that Abel was a Vile Breed, his family would be torn apart.”
With the descent of a demon in Bercefe, the alert level for Vile Breeds had been raised to its highest.
There were even rumors of Vile Breed hunts taking place in several kingdoms already.
“The biggest problem would be if his parents are also Vile Breeds…”
Pernyan shook his head.
“The Headmaster will handle it, so it’s not my problem to worry about.”
“That’s true. Where shall we go now?”
“To the La Vie Douce Dormitory.”
“Yes, sir.”
The carriage set off.
Pernyan rested his chin on the windowsill, lost in thought.
‘The Vile Breeds have started to notice me. I’ll have to be more careful from now on.’
Moving around without Wooden at a time like this would be taking a huge risk.
‘I have to do something about that Silver fellow. Is there any way… Ah, it’s starting again.’
Pernyan stopped his train of thought and closed his eyes as the now-familiar headache began.
The contents of the Prophecy Book unfolded.
[- First Andromalius, and now Seere. The demons’ invasion is becoming more serious. We need to prepare.
- This time, I must win the jousting tournament and claim the prize hidden by the previous emperor.
- But that seems impossible for now. I might be able to handle the others, but in a fight against Ruina Bercefe, I would lose nine times out of ten.]
This prophecy didn’t foretell a particular crisis or the appearance of a Vile Breed.
The continued appearance of demons made Gardner feel a sense of urgency, and he felt that Aint needed to get stronger faster.
But if one could grow stronger just by wishing for it, the world would never have been wary of demons.
Therefore, Gardner believed a special catalyst was needed.
[- It is time to find the previous emperor’s provision.
“What is it?”
- Swordsmanship.
“Swordsmanship? Wasn’t I already learning it?”
- What I know, what you are learning, and the secret swordsmanship passed down in the Armian family are all not the real thing.
“What?”
- To be precise, they are lower-tier versions.
Gardner explained that the first emperor had gained enlightenment in his later years and improved his swordsmanship, leaving it behind in an undersea cave beneath the academy.]
And so, Aint headed to the sea.
[“…What is that?”
In front of a door that was clearly man-made, there was a massive block of ice.
A monster was frozen within it, and perhaps because of it, a chilling cold swept through the underground space.
- Ah, I forgot to mention, there is a gatekeeper guarding the door.
- He said that if you weren’t strong enough to deal with the gatekeeper, there would be no point in learning the swordsmanship.
“Why are you telling me this now! Did you really forget?”
- There would be no point if you knew in advance and prepared for it. That is a Chimera.
- It was created by Eargrat, the first Archmage and the first Pope of the Dragon God Cult. The previous emperor believed that if one was not strong enough to defeat that Chimera alone…]
He clashed with the gatekeeper protecting the first emperor’s provision.
[The Chimera, shaped like a human knight, was strong.
Clang—!
With every clash of their swords, he found it harder to breathe.
The creature was faster than him.
Its strikes were heavier than his.
The finesse of its swordsmanship was not inferior either. It was a superior version of Aint in every way, and all he could do was barely hold on…]
Despite many hardships, Aint was ultimately victorious.
The fact that he nearly died in the process was not very important.
Because what came next…
[“‘Being strong enough to defeat the Chimera is not enough.’ What is this?”
- …Good heavens. Your Majesty. Did you deceive even me?
“Wait a minute, that’s…!”
Beyond the open door, instead of a swordsmanship manual, there was a single note and a mountain.
A colossal mountain of gold, jewels, and all sorts of treasures.
- The weapons are all high-level artifacts as well.
- Did the previous emperor raid a dragon’s lair, said to have vanished long ago? Or did the Armians have this much money?
- If that Fallenberg fellow were here, he would have lost his mind.
“…Forget Fallenberg, I think anyone would lose their mind seeing this.”
- This is perfect. We will take all of this and use it to rebuild the Armian family.
- It would also be good to lend some to the Bercefes to help them completely settle their debt with the Fallenbergs.
“Indeed…”
Aint swallowed dryly.
“With this much, I feel like I could do anything.”
He too was human, and greed before a treasure was inevitable.]
…was enough to make Pernyan’s heart feel like it would burst.
“……”
Pernyan’s heart began to beat rapidly.
Faster than when he learned of Andromalius’s descent.
Faster even than when he discovered the location of the mithril.
It pounded furiously, as if it would explode at any moment.
“…It’s mine.”
The first words he managed to utter with a ragged breath were of pure, honest desire.
He could yield most things to Aint.
That was why he had given him the Heart of a Saint Bird.
He had helped him obtain all sorts of elixirs and many other things.
But.
If it was a treasure so vast that Gardner thought it might be from the lair of a legendary dragon, that was a different story.
“It all has to be mine.”
Especially if that treasure was piled up like a mountain.
“It can only be mine.”
It was said that ownerless treasure belongs to whoever finds it first.
And right now, the only one who knew this fact was Per—
“Gismond Erdt… Hyde, turn the carriage around! Now!”
First, silence the competition.