Chapter 73
Chapter: 73
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 073
>Chapter Title: Flame Image Decision (4)
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Brilliant lights and boisterous chatter.
Sungjin hesitated for a moment, realizing it wasn't the best situation to sneak in and borrow something, but his deliberation didn't last long.
'Still, I can't go out looking like this.'
After approaching near the knights' quarters, Sungjin spoke to the Demon King.
'Hey, check if Sir Maria or Sir Kurt is in there.'
If there happened to be a high-ranking knight, even his makeshift aura concealment could be seen through in an instant.
Fortunately, the Demon King, who had vanished from his mind with a pop, soon returned.
[Neither of them is anywhere inside the quarters.]
'Great!'
Sungjin activated aura concealment and swiftly slipped into the knights' quarters.
The first floor of the knights' quarters had a large lounge area where four knights were gathered, drinking.
Seeing not just empty bottles but a massive oak barrel rolling on the floor, Sungjin inwardly clicked his tongue.
Well, most of the resident knights had volunteered for booze money, so this kind of scene on their day off was probably par for the course.
He wondered how far he needed to look around, but fortunately, near the lounge entrance were piles of worn cloaks that looked like supplies.
Sungjin stealthily reached in, snatched a relatively clean cloak, and quickly pulled back.
He could have just slipped away like that.
If someone hadn't come charging down the hallway with thudding footsteps and flung open the lounge door.
Bang!
"Sir Karmen still hasn't come back? Where the hell is he?"
Caught off guard with his escape blocked, Sungjin hurriedly ducked into the opposite hallway.
Oh no. Stay calm, stay calm.
"Oh, Lady Claudia. Want a drink?"
"No thanks. Anyway, why hasn't Sir Karmen come in? He swapped shifts with me for tomorrow."
"That guy's off duty today. He probably hasn't gotten the updated roster yet. If you're busy, want me to cover for him?"
"Sober up first before offering, senior."
Lady Claudia grumbled for a bit before joining the drinking group.
"Ah, guess I'll have to fill in tomorrow after all. Just give me one glass."
"Sure. Down it. Worry about tomorrow when it comes."
Confirming the lounge growing noisy again, Sungjin draped the cloak over himself and prepared to move carefully.
But then came the scrape of a chair, and one of the drinking knights stepped out into the hallway.
He wobbled straight toward the single entrance, leaned against the outer wall, and started fiddling with his pants.
Damn it. If you're gonna pee outside, at least go far away!
"Take good care of the junior, senior. You're in the same 4th Knight Division as Sir Karmen, right?"
"Hey, you think I don't want to? You know how he's been acting distant lately."
"Distant?"
"Yeah. He was always awkward with the 2nd Knight Division, but lately he's standoffish with everyone else too."
"...Really? Why?"
To Lady Claudia's question, the knight addressed as senior replied in a low voice.
"Ah, you didn't know? It's all because of the 3rd Prince."
"What did His Highness do?"
"Whoa, you're one of those 'our prince' types too. What's with everyone lately?"
Meanwhile, the knight who'd gone out returned and reentered the lounge.
But Sungjin didn't leave; he leaned against the hallway wall, quietly listening to their conversation.
"Call a spade a spade. Isn't the atmosphere in the dispatches weird lately? Just the other day everyone was ripping into that pig bastard over drinks, and now he's suddenly the genius prince, our prince? Huh?"
"Yeah, true."
"Karmen still can't show his face around the 2nd Knight Division because of that incident back then, but now even those 2nd Division guys are fawning over the prince, calling him a genius nonstop. Man..."
"It's Sir Kurt that's the problem. He's ex-2nd Division too, but he's quietly favoring the prince."
"Everyone's lost their minds. When's that worthless scum gonna start acting up again?"
Lady Claudia snapped angrily.
"Don't talk like that so carelessly! You don't even know what kind of person His Highness is!"
"And you do? Do you even know what happened between the 2nd Knight Division and the 3rd Prince back then?"
"Well..."
"If you don't know, shut up. Even if Sir Masayn became captain and the vibe changed, back then the old 2nd Division guys wouldn't even pee toward Pearl Palace."
"Yeah, I heard there were tons of crazy stories."
"......"
Lady Claudia let out a hiss, then started gulping something down.
With constant oohs and aahs from the side, she was clearly downing booze out of frustration.
Thwack!
She slammed her glass down hard, her voice rising emotionally as she shouted.
"Yeah, sure, I'm a newbie and don't know the old stories. But one thing I know for damn sure: you judge people by what you see with your own eyes!"
"Well, that's not wrong."
"Aren't you seniors just trash-talking based on rumors too? The current 2nd Division guys aren't saying much, right?"
"Hey, you know how rotten that pig bastard was until recently..."
"Not anymore! He's not a pig! Not a worthless scum!"
"Whoa, she's getting drunk already?"
"Please look at His Highness properly. Our prince is subtly profound and mature!"
"Yeah, yeah, got it. Stop drinking now."
The knights spent a while soothing Lady Claudia, and soon the topic shifted.
Idle chit-chat and some dirty jokes flew around, and the awkward mood heated up again.
Sungjin left the scene a little later.
As his limited aura showed signs of depletion, he hurried out of the knights' quarters and released the concealment.
"Hoo..."
Catching his breath, Sungjin sorted through the info he'd just heard.
There'd been some big incident between Mores and the 2nd Knight Division in the past, and Sir Karmen was involved. Because of it, he was still on bad terms with them.
Given Mores' old reputation, it was probably mostly that bastard's fault.
That explained why Karmen had been openly rude to Sungjin until recently.
[Does it bother you?]
'...A bit.'
It'd be a lie to say it didn't.
Since he was in Mores' body, Sungjin could never fully escape the guy's past misdeeds.
He was brushing it off with amnesia excuses, but some knots wouldn't untie that easily.
The people around him had been unusually kind so far.
'...Amelia really was an angel.'
[Oh boy, you hopeless romantic.]
Suddenly, he recalled Karmen's blunt retort.
-Why? Do you remember if I tell you?
Whatever happened, Karmen's current dispatch to Pearl Palace meant he'd sorted his feelings to some degree.
The Holy Emperor wouldn't allow anyone problematic around Mores to enter Pearl Palace.
Maybe Karmen just couldn't stand seeing the prince leisurely wandering around, having forgotten all his own screw-ups.
[So, what now?]
'What can I do?'
He had no intention of digging into Mores' past rights and wrongs now.
No need to stir up settled matters, and Sungjin had no loyalty for that anyway.
Still, considering the context, he'd overlook Karmen being a bit cheeky going forward.
Feeling his depleted aura refill rapidly, Sungjin began walking slowly.
Then, from afar came Lady Claudia's drunken bellow.
"Your Highneeeess! No matter what anyone says, I'll follow you foreveeer!"
A smile crept onto Sungjin's lips unbidden.
Lady Claudia, you had such loyal thoughts?
Good. If there were performance reviews, he'd factor that in positively.
[Haven hated it that much, though?]
Eh, not him.
* * *
Sungjin's haul from the knights' quarters wasn't just the cloak.
Amid the useless banter, he'd learned about a backdoor the knights used.
Not a secret tunnel for sneaking in and out of the palace, though.
It was just a route with fewer checks and laxer procedures. Even wasted knights could pass without much hassle.
[You're gonna use aura concealment and sneak out anyway, right?]
'Still, fewer guards to bump into is nothing to sneeze at.'
So Sungjin headed toward the [2nd East Gate] next to the greenhouse garden that the knights mentioned.
The walls encircling the inner palace of Delcross Palace were tall barriers of gleaming white stone.
Intimidating height for climbing, but that was it.
'One hit from a giant monster and it'd crumble...'
Sungjin thought the archaic look didn't account much for invasions or sieges. Probably confidence no one would dare attack.
The 2nd East Gate was the same.
A thin, ornate wrought-iron gate with just two palace knights standing on either side as guards.
'Some backdoor. Security's a joke.'
Patrolling guards with lanterns and palace knights passed occasionally, but not frequently.
Confirming two guard teams cross paths and head off in opposite directions, Sungjin maintained aura concealment, stepped back a few paces, and decided to scale the wall instead of using the gate with the two knights.
Taat.
Kicking off several times to accelerate, he easily vaulted onto the smooth wall top, barely using any aura.
Crouching low atop the wall, he scanned the other side.
[Eh? What's that?]
The Demon King suddenly sounded dumbfounded.
[Something just whizzed past us.]
'......?'
Sungjin held his breath and expanded his senses, but felt nothing.
'Nothing there?'
[Weird? Something definitely zipped by...]
A chill ran down his spine.
A ghost or something?
[...Even after death, you're scared of that stuff?]
Nah, not scared. For real.
Ghosts are just annoying 'cause you can't punch them.
[It's gone now. What was it?]
Just then, a guard team passed right below on the outer side. Sungjin waited silently until they were far enough, then turned, hung from the wall, and dropped down.
Smoother than expected.
After walking further outside, easily breaching the outer walls too, Sungjin started getting concerned.
'Is palace security this lax? Anyone could waltz in.'
Of course, he was unaware of two facts.
First, even as he fretted, his [Aura Concealment] skill was improving by the minute.
Worlds apart from his first demo for Dasha. She wouldn't have doubted him now.
Second.
Palace security wasn't just physical manpower.
[...Lee Seongjin. Something's there. Feels like it's been following us.]
At the Demon King's second warning, Sungjin halted his blind march away from the palace.
But no matter how carefully he checked, his senses picked up zilch.
[Probably spiritual, so you can't sense it. But what is it? Like a soul, but not intact.]
A real ghost!
[It's circling us. Oh, another one appeared. Not hostile, but what does it want?]
'......'
[Ah, another one.]
Since he always felt the Demon King's emotional state directly, Sungjin knew it was true even if he couldn't see.
Things he'd never encountered since arriving in this world, popping up the moment he left the palace alone?
'...Can you talk to them?'
The Demon King grunted in effort, then sighed.
[Doesn't seem so. Can't read their thoughts well.]
'Then you talk to them.'
The Demon King suddenly dropped his voice to a grave tone and bellowed majestically.
[You lot! Quit circling insolently and kneel before this great one! Humbly receive Gehenna's mighty Demon King, eternal lord of apocalyptic flames!]
'......'
[They look clueless? Maybe 'cause they're fragmented soul shards, not proper souls.]
Do those even have knees to kneel?
Anyway, per the Demon King, three tiny soul fragments were circling them warily.
Fist-sized orbs, too insignificant for true consciousness.
[But they're moving like they have intent. Ignoring me completely. What the hell?]
'Hmm...'
While the Demon King was baffled, Sungjin organized his thoughts.
Not proper ghosts, just tiny soul shards.
If invisible and intangible, their influence must be minimal too.
In terms of insignificance, about on par with the Demon King in his head.
'No big deal.'
Plus, this was around the palace of God's proxy. Nothing too dangerous.
Concluding that, Sungjin resumed walking at a leisurely pace.
The path from the 2nd East Gate led to a long residential district east of the capital. Strolling slowly, dense rows of packed houses came into view.
Late hour meant empty streets, occasional distant dog barks echoing in the silence.
Not long after entering the district.
[Oh, they're gone.]
The persistent followers vanished completely.
'Good. Gave up, I guess.'
Unknown things were unsettling, even if minor.
But before Sungjin took a few more steps, the Demon King yelped in surprise.
[Whoa? Now a different one's here. Stronger... Huh? This one I can communicate with!]
It went quiet, focused, then suddenly exploded.
[What? How dare you call me 'Red'? I am Gehenna's mighty Demon King...!]
[What? Who's a brat? Hey! You wanna go?!]
"Quiet. Don't fight over nonsense, talk."
Rebuked, the Demon King grumbled to himself before whining.
[Urgh, anyway, it wants you to follow it for a bit? What do you say? Wanna go?]
'......'
[Dunno if it's trustworthy, but it says you really need to see this.]
Trust aside, curiosity piqued.
Following the Demon King's guidance for a while longer, Sungjin encountered someone unexpected.
Sir Karmen, beaten to a pulp in rags, lay collapsed on the ground.
"Why's the guy Lady Claudia was desperately looking for getting thrashed in a place like this at night?"