Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Grand Duke's Castle
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#88
“……Disney?”
Seo Woojin unwittingly blurted out his thoughts.
“What’s that?”
“Oh, nothing.”
Seo Woojin hurriedly shook his head.
The castle that Eirin was pointing to evoked the image of a massive entertainment company’s symbol back on Earth.
But its scale was several times greater.
“It’s the Grand Duke’s Castle. It’s inscribed with a grand magic defense array bestowed directly by the Magic Duke, and it’s also a fortress garrisoned by two thousand soldiers and a hundred knights even in peacetime.”
It was a story he had already heard.
But seeing it with his own eyes made it feel far more real than when he’d heard it.
“Tell me a bit about the Grand Duke.”
He had encountered the Sword Sage and the Magic Duke.
But he knew nothing about the other three.
What their specialties were, what their personalities were like.
Somehow sensing that he’d end up tangled with all of them at some point, Seo Woojin wanted to gather some information now.
“The Grand Duke is a member of the imperial family.”
“Imperial family?”
“To be precise, she’s the current Emperor’s one and only sibling.”
Hearing something he hadn’t known, Seo Woojin’s eyes widened.
Now that he heard it, that massive, imposing castle made sense.
“Her personal martial prowess is powerful enough to be called one of the Five Guardians, and her influence over the Empire is unimaginably vast.”
As the Emperor’s sibling, she would naturally wield considerable political power as well.
“What abilities does the Grand Duke have?”
He couldn’t guess from the title alone.
Sword Sage suggested swordsmanship, Magic Duke suggested magic, but Grand Duke?
‘Not Big Head King or something.’
He chuckled to himself.
Eirin tilted her head curiously at Seo Woojin’s odd behavior and continued.
“The Grand Duke’s abilities are not publicly known.”
“What? Then how did she become one of the Guardians?”
“That’s why some say she was made a Guardian purely for symbolic reasons as the Emperor’s sibling.”
It was a reasonable point.
Having imperial blood as a Guardian would elevate the imperial family’s prestige.
But Eirin didn’t seem to believe that.
“From what the lord said, it seems the Grand Duke wields异能.”
“异能?”
He had no idea what that meant.
Honestly, whether it was magic, aura, or skills.
By Earth’s common sense, they all fell under the realm of异能.
“I don’t know the details myself, but since it came from the lord…… it means she’s no mere symbolic figurehead.”
Old man Van Slane wouldn’t spout nonsense.
Seo Woojin nodded.
“Well, I’ll find out when I meet her.”
He had no desire to get deeply involved.
Judging from Martes’s tone, it didn’t seem like a difficult request.
He just wanted to quickly handle the favor, return to the Sky Tower tomorrow, and get the ‘Summoning Stone.’
“Let’s hurry.”
“It’s farther than it looks, so we should rent a carriage.”
Its sheer size made it seem much farther than it appeared from afar.
Eirin rented a carriage near the station, and they boarded together.
They slowly traveled the main road, taking in the city’s scenery.
It felt like arriving at a prosperous southern European resort.
In fact, not far from the city, there was an emerald coast like the Mediterranean.
Perhaps because of that.
The passersby all had relaxed, bright expressions.
“Mernotain is the wealthiest city in the Empire. Of course the citizens look happy.”
Eirin said it casually.
But a trace of bitterness lingered on her face.
‘Thinking of Massive Guardian?’
The antithesis of Mernotain.
Impoverished, barren, and dangerous.
It held annual life-risking subjugations where countless soldiers lost their lives.
For Eirin, a knight of that place, Mernotain’s abundance might feel uncomfortable.
Knowing that, Seo Woojin quietly kept his mouth shut and gazed out the window.
A short while later.
The carriage arrived at the Grand Duke’s Castle.
* * *
“Gerald, sir.”
In an extravagantly spacious area.
In this enigmatic place too vast to call a room, Gerald opened his eyes at the voice calling him.
“Speak.”
“By the envoy’s command, the children who will serve as your hands and feet have arrived.”
His black eyes scanned behind the speaker.
Ten in total.
Gerald spoke upon seeing them prostrated, unable even to lift their heads.
“This will suffice. Report back.”
“Understood.”
With a slither, the speaker’s form dissolved into shadow and vanished.
“You.”
Gerald pointed at one of the ten.
“Command me.”
“What is your name?”
“Just call me No. 12.”
They had no names.
They were consumables anyway.
No need to waste words naming them.
“Good, No. 12. From now on, you are their leader.”
Even becoming the group’s leader elicited no change in his emotions.
“Lead your subordinates and cause a disturbance.”
“To what degree, sir?”
No. 12 asked in an endlessly polite tone.
A smile crept across Gerald’s face.
“As cruel and flashy as possible. Draw the eyes of the Grand Duke and her dogs to you.”
“I shall obey.”
No. 12 bowed his head even lower.
“I will convey the timeline later. Dismissed.”
“Take care.”
The ten shadows, including No. 12, melted away.
Only then did Gerald close his eyes again.
“Briana…….”
She was no easy opponent.
Especially in her own domain.
But Gerald wasn’t overly worried.
No matter how strong the Grand Duke was, he bore the Demon King’s blessing.
She would suffice to have her head sent as the envoy requested.
With that thought, Gerald drifted into sleep.
To finish the job, he needed ample rest, even if just a little.
It was an incident unfolding in a certain place in Mernotain.
* * *
“…It looks even bigger up close.”
It wasn’t as colossal as the Sky Tower.
Compared to that unreal place, the Grand Duke’s Castle seemed plausibly sized.
But that didn’t mean it lacked intimidation.
‘They said two thousand garrisoned soldiers.’
Wasn’t it larger than Massive Guardian?
‘No, wait. With a hundred knights too, it’s way bigger.’
Setting skill aside, in terms of troop numbers alone, the Grand Duke’s Castle outclassed Massive Guardian.
“This is the Grand Duke’s Castle. Please state your identities.”
The gate guard approached the two and asked politely.
His manners seemed ingrained, allowing one to guess the Grand Duke’s character from the soldier’s behavior alone.
Seo Woojin was about to answer, but Eirin stepped forward first.
“I am Eirin, knight of Si’on. I visit the Grand Duke’s Castle by the Magic Duke’s order, so please inform inside.”
The soldier gave her a curious look.
But upon confirming her blue armor, he nodded.
“Please wait a moment.”
The soldier bowed properly and entered.
“I could’ve said it.”
“No need to reveal you’re the Hero. It might lead to unwanted trouble.”
“Yeah?”
Seo Woojin thought for a moment and nodded.
Recalling the reactions of ordinary people in the capital, announcing his identity would likely cause a needless uproar.
“If you say so, then it is.”
Eirin always handled things perfectly.
Better for her to step up than him, who lacked common sense in this world.
After a short wait, the same soldier emerged.
“The Grand Duke has permitted entry. This way, please.”
The soldier guided them inside.
‘The castle looks sturdy too.’
Seo Woojin knew nothing of siegecraft or defense, but even to him, the Grand Duke’s Castle walls appeared extremely solid.
Slightly impressed, he entered, where someone awaited them.
A neat suit and white gloves.
An elderly man who seemed a perfect replica of a butler from a painting.
“The Grand Duke awaits.”
He bowed politely and stepped onto a round stone nearby.
‘Magic circle?’
It resembled the teleportation circles he’d seen in the Sky Tower.
“Please step on.”
At the butler’s words, Seo Woojin and Eirin mounted the stone.
“We will now teleport. It may be disorienting, so please bear with it.”
Wooong—
The magic activated, light spreading out.
‘A mage, huh.’
Seo Woojin sensed mana flowing from the butler’s body.
Amazed that even a mere butler used magic, the scenery before him shifted in an instant.
No longer outside, but indoors.
“This way.”
The butler led them to a reception room with an antique wooden door.
“Please wait here, and the Grand Duke will come.”
After saying to call if they needed anything, the butler departed.
“…The Grand Duke seems like a decent person?”
The soldiers, the butler.
Manners were second nature to them.
As they say, you can tell the superior by the subordinates.
Seo Woojin once again guessed the Grand Duke had an outstanding character.
“Yes. Not just Mernotain, but all the Empire’s subjects praise her.”
“Doesn’t the Emperor keep her in check at that point?”
Earth’s history was full of such examples.
Ancestors who committed all sorts of atrocities out of jealousy for long-lived subordinates, and if she was imperial blood, all the more so?
But Eirin shook her head.
“It’s said the trust between the current Emperor and the Grand Duke is so profound that no one can break it.”
Even so, power could make anyone ugly.
Seo Woojin thought that but didn’t voice it.
The Empire’s politics had nothing to do with him.
He decided to kill time lounging on the plush sofa, admiring the reception room.
Asking more might restart Eirin’s lectures.
Time passed like that.
Not long after, a knock sounded at the reception room door.
Knock knock—
The door opened, revealing first a young woman with red hair.
Seo Woojin shot to his feet without thinking.
‘The Grand Duke is a woman!’
He hadn’t known.
He’d assumed a brother since she was the Emperor’s sibling.
But such a young, beautiful woman……
Grand Duke Briana stepped forward with elegant poise.
“G-Greetings, Grand Duke.”
Feeling Eirin poke his side, Seo Woojin hastily bowed.
His greeting lacked any propriety, but Briana didn’t seem to mind.
“Oh my, I was puzzled when a Si’on knight came, but the Hero is here too?”
Her gaze turned to Seo Woojin.
“…Seo Woojin.”
He hadn’t expected her to identify him at a glance, so he was a bit flustered.
“Came by Martes’s order?”
Briana smiled brightly as she sat on the sofa and asked.
Every movement exuded refined grace.
“Less an order, more a request.”
“A request?”
Briana’s eyes widened slightly at Seo Woojin’s words.
“I don’t know the details. He just told me to come here and hear from you directly.”
“Oh, that?”
A large smile spread across the Grand Duke’s lips.