Chapter 123
Chapter 123
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 123
Chapter Title: I Saw It
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I saw it.
There were three direct descendants in the Cyrus Imperial Family.
The first among them—and the one closest to the imperial throne—was Joaquin Cyrus.
The man standing right in front of me now.
Because of the signature red hair of the imperial family, the imperial princes and princesses always had "the Red" prefixed to their epithets.
If Alicia was the Red Scales, then this one was a red lion in the truest sense.
I knelt on one knee before that lion and paid my respects.
"It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness. I am Haribal Belder."
Luna knelt beside me, and Adelin gave a slight nod of silent greeting.
With my head bowed to the ground, I rolled my eyes just enough to observe Joaquin.
His face screamed hot-tempered to anyone who saw it.
Just looking at him, you'd think he'd turn the world into a sea of blood at any moment—but that wasn't the reality.
If Alicia was the radical advocating for dungeon raids, Joaquin was the moderate insisting on maintaining the status quo.
Of course, his moderation didn't mean pacifism.
It meant he'd use anything for the sake of the empire's stability—the very incarnation of imperialism.
Since Alicia was a playable character, Joaquin, who opposed her, was inevitably the villain.
Sure, the original story had human villain characters too, like Victor or Yustra.
But Joaquin was treated like absolute trash among them.
He was the only human who openly sided with the Evil God.
Right before the final act, as the Evil God began spreading demonic energy across the world and the empire's public order completely collapsed.
This so-called stability advocate chose to side with the Church.
All for the simple reason of "for the empire."
In the middle of the final dungeon, he barged in claiming the Evil God had promised the empire's survival, turning himself into a demonic beast to block Aren’s path.
Of course, the Evil God hadn't lied.
In the final act, every boss defeat showed a brief bad ending.
After losing to Joaquin, the cutscene depicted an ending where every citizen of the empire became a demonic beast, yet the empire endured.
After you kill him, he curses Aren for failing to defeat the Evil God, whines that he was right, and turns to dust as he exits.
No redemption arc even in the ending.
Unlike Victor, who at least sacrificed himself, Joaquin was inevitably despised by players.
But that was all in the future.
At this point in time, Joaquin had no ties to the Evil God yet.
So.
‘Why is he here?’
"The rat my worthless little sister wouldn't shut up about... I didn't expect you'd be doing something as lowly as cleaning out this sewer."
"...It's more like pest extermination, Your Highness."
From the way he spoke, it was clear he'd come targeting me.
His gaze shifted from me to the warehouse that had just burst into flames.
"Not wrong. They're all vermin gnawing at the empire's order, one and all."
He even seemed to know exactly what we'd done—and that the Church had laid eggs here.
So why had he let it happen?
In the original story, Joaquin was the type to burn down his own garden to kill bugs laying eggs in it.
Then rebuild the garden on top of the ashes.
By replacing all the gardeners.
"Follow me."
Joaquin gave me a curt order and turned his back.
‘Shit.’
I glanced at Adelin just in case, but she just shrugged with a wry smile.
Luna's anxious eyes said the same.
‘Dead end.’
With the crown prince stepping in personally, no one could help me.
Unless the emperor himself intervened, this was a declaration that he'd take me by force.
There was nothing to gain from making an enemy of him now, so I had no choice but to follow Joaquin.
Joaquin led us to the Cyrus Express stopped at the station.
He must've come on that—I hadn't noticed.
The Cyrus Express used exclusive imperial routes, staying out of sight.
But oddly, the train's tail was pointed toward Grabner, not Luft.
‘Did he stop by Grabner?’
A regular train from Grabner to Rainfort took about three days.
The Cyrus Express could do it in one. Or maybe he'd arrived early and been waiting.
Either way, it meant he knew we'd raided the entrance to Grabner's dungeon.
And that we were heading to Rainfort.
What the hell was his goal, making a lazy prince like him go out of his way to find me?
Before I could finish calculating, Joaquin nodded toward Adelin's bag.
"Bring it."
At his command, soldiers snatched the bag, pulled out the ledger, and presented it to Joaquin.
Joaquin skimmed it for a while, then passed it to Killien, who skimmed it again before handing it to his adjutant.
Watching the ledger pass so pointlessly made my gut twist, but I couldn't show it.
The ledger wasn't what mattered now.
I steadied my breathing so he wouldn't sense the Abyss Fragment tucked in my bosom.
Whatever his goal, I couldn't let him discover the fragment.
"Get on."
Joaquin boarded the train first.
As I followed, Adelin naturally tried to come along.
Killien blocked her.
"Lady Adelin Windsor. His Highness wishes a private audience with Sir Haribal."
"You're asking me to send my disciple into danger without protection?"
"It's the empire's embrace, not a death trap. The empire will protect Sir Haribal, so refrain from unnecessary worries."
Here, "the empire" meant Joaquin himself.
Adelin glanced at me and nodded.
The signal for ‘Should I flip this?’
Flip what? Drawing a sword here would get me branded a rebel and straight to the execution block.
Even if Adelin could handle Killien, Luna and I couldn't manage the rest of the soldiers.
I shook my head, and Adelin snorted, lowering her hand.
"You sure? We don't know their intentions."
"I'm fine. I had to meet him eventually anyway."
"If anything goes wrong... prioritize what's best for you. Empire, academy, me—none of it matters. Got it?"
This time, I looked at Luna.
"I... I'm on Haribal's side."
"I know."
"B-be careful..."
I nodded and boarded the train.
Hiss!
With the sound of steam, the door closed, and the rain's patter vanished like a lie.
This was my second time on the Cyrus Express.
Riding with Alicia, there'd been a faint floral scent, but this time, aside from the thick metallic smell, nothing stood out.
Joaquin settled into the seat of honor, crossed his legs, and stared at me.
The soldiers set the ledger before him and withdrew, plunging the compartment into silence.
I approached and stood opposite him.
"Why are you standing?"
"You didn't order me to sit."
"Quicker on the uptake than I expected."
Joaquin gestured to the chair with his chin.
As I sat, he tapped the ledger on the table.
"Pity to lose this?"
"It'd be a lie to say it isn't."
"Refreshing honesty."
Joaquin smirked, then casually shoved the ledger aside.
"Don't misunderstand. I didn't come just to seize something like this."
"Then...?"
"To warn you, Haribal Belder."
A warning? Not recruitment?
Question marks popped up in my head.
One for it not being recruitment, and another for the crown prince moving personally just to warn me.
"The empire's board is shaking lately. From the second Abyss raid to this Grabner incident."
"..."
"And you're at the center. Hiding behind Alicia, slyly shaking the board like a rat."
Ah. So the "rat" comment earlier wasn't about the Church—it was me.
I couldn't deny it.
I really was shaking things up.
"I hate variables. Especially uncontrollable ones."
On that, we agreed completely.
Same as me.
"What exactly does this warning mean, Your Highness?"
"Why did you bolster Alicia's power?"
Answering a question with a question.
My least favorite style.
But what I hated even more was beating around the bush in a private meeting.
Adelin and Luna were probably worried outside, but I was certain he wouldn't kill me here.
Surprisingly, he was a meritocrat.
He despised casually discarding anyone who could potentially be useful. Though the reverse didn't apply in the slightest.
If I pitched my value right, I might even get his help.
And block any future betrayal scenario.
I glanced around.
This was a sealed room. If no one could hear, I could go straight for it.
It'd been raining around Rainfort for two days already.
The rain should stop soon, and when it did, we'd head straight to Baran.
Miss the timing, and we'd waste another three days twiddling thumbs. No thanks.
Since we both knew each other's hands, I decided to drop the circling from my side.
"To raid the Evil God's Dungeon. Our goals aligned with Princess Alicia's."
"That's the reason I'm asking about."
"Begging your pardon, but why aren't you raiding it, Your Highness?"
Joaquin's eyes darkened.
He looked pissed, but probably wasn't.
Like Alicia, he could control his expressions perfectly.
"Soldiers and students are dying on the front lines even now. The treasury pours out to block the demonic energy, and Grabner's workshops run nonstop."
"Continue."
"The Evil God's Dungeon and demonic energy are bombs that could go off anytime. Tomorrow, ten years from now—no one knows."
Of course, I did. Within three years.
"Why hold onto it and fret? Isn't the common sense to defuse a bomb when you have one?"
I pressed on without pause.
"Raiding the dungeon and purifying the demonic energy would reduce troop consumption at the borders. Grabner's productivity could shift from military supplies to building the empire's infrastructure."
"Continue."
"Isn't that the true stability and prosperity you desire, Your Highness?"
Even as I spoke, anticipation welled up inside me.
People in this world could change based on variables. Alicia had, so Joaquin could too.
If I could persuade him here.
Alicia and Joaquin, like water and oil. If I could unite them under the goal of dungeon raids.
‘The difficulty of future raids would drop big time.’
I kept emphasizing the need for dungeon raids, weaving in my own position appropriately.
Change your objective, and I'll gladly join your side— that kind of pitch. Not that I meant it.
Joaquin listened to the end.
"Done?"
"Yes."
"Suppose, as you say, all dungeons are raided, and even the Evil God is slain."
I nodded, and he countered.
"What next?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm asking what remains for the empire after the Evil God is gone."
I answered without hesitation.
"Peace, naturally."
The obvious outcome.
No Evil God means no demonic energy, no demonic energy means no beasts or dungeons.
People won't live in fear anymore.
I knew that ending from the start.
The epilogue after the Evil God falls and the credits roll.
Flowers bloom on former battlefields, soldiers return home to reunite with families.
The protagonists return to daily life, toasting with smiles.
A happy ending.
That was the destination I had to reach by rolling through this world.
Joaquin burst into derisive laughter at my confident reply.
"Peace."
He leaned forward, his red hair shaking like a lion's mane.
"Have you seen it?"
"...Pardon?"
"I asked if you've confirmed that 'peace' with your own eyes."
Seen it? Yes, countless times.
Through the monitor.
But I couldn't tell him, a native of this world, that I'd seen the game's ending.
As I groped for a suitable answer, Joaquin dropped an unexpected bombshell.
"For reference, I have."
My head creaked toward him.
What did he just say?