Chapter 242
Chapter 242
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 242
Chapter Title: A Battle of Wits with the Emperor
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Sirius, the Emperor.
He gazed at the boy before him with half-lidded eyes.
Dark blue hair and the name Valheim the boy had given.
Clearly, he was the youngest direct descendant of the Valheim family, whose name had been ringing out far and wide lately.
And the very one Ixion was after.
The Empire and Staron had always shared a deeply ambiguous relationship.
If their borders weren't so close, the Empire might not have cared much at all.
But Staron had the Valheims.
What kind of bloodline could they possibly hail from?
A family that produced the finest talents of the age, the likes of which the entire world had never seen.
Valheim.
Just having the Valheims alone allowed Staron to keep the Empire in check.
As a result, the Empire could never improve relations with Staron, no matter how much they wanted to.
The Valheims were always a latent threat to the Empire.
And right now.
A Valheim boy had entered the chamber of the Epania Emperor himself.
Did this boy even realize?
That no one who bore the Valheim name had ever stood before the Emperor—not even the imperial family.
Whether he knew it or not, Krash stared at the Emperor with his translucent blue eyes.
Even at his young age, the thoughts swirling in those eyes were impossible to read.
He was a boy who gave off an oddly eerie vibe.
"Dalphiron, explain."
Sirius hadn't heard the full story from Dalphiron in advance.
It had been right when Sirius was wracked with pain and sleeping, so Dalphiron couldn't relay a long message.
All Sirius knew was one thing.
The Fourth Princess had discovered a new treatment method and suggested trying it.
He hadn't heard that it came from a Valheim boy.
So when he asked, Dalphiron bowed his head and replied.
"Krash Valheim attends Raheln Academy with the Fourth Princess. I learned of the treatment method through him and arranged this audience at his direct request."
Sirius turned his head to look at Sizli.
She was bowed low in the same posture as Dalphiron, nodding in agreement.
Sirius's gaze on Sizli was utterly emotionless.
He didn't particularly dislike her.
Quite the opposite—he held her intellect in very high regard.
But her position as the youngest and her frail constitution held her back.
She could never become Emperor.
The path was far too treacherous, and she simply didn't have the strength for it.
She had realized this long ago and given up on the throne.
And Sirius respected her decision by treating her with deliberate detachment.
Showing her any warmth or affection might only draw unwanted attention.
Yet the Sizli he had always treated so impassively had brought him a cure.
A pang of pity mixed with pride softened Sirius's expression ever so slightly.
Even an Emperor couldn't help but go easy on his sensible youngest daughter.
"I see. So that's how it is."
Sirius turned back to Krash.
He decided to question the boy directly, even as he remained prostrated beside Sizli.
"What is this treatment method?"
White Stone Disease was a hereditary affliction passed down in the imperial line.
A illness no doctor or priest had ever managed to cure.
The Epania imperial family had kept its existence hidden all this time.
But with Emperors dying during every succession.
The nobles weren't entirely ignorant of it.
However, without the imperial family admitting it outright.
The nobles never dared breathe a word of the disease.
It was simply accepted as fact that imperial kin never lived past sixty.
And now.
The secret had come to light for a Valheim boy of all people.
Yet Sirius's expression remained impassive.
Because Dalphiron had brought him here personally.
If the boy could cure it, a fitting reward would suffice.
The Empire would owe a debt to a Valheim boy.
But curing an imperial disease was value enough in itself.
If successful, the throne could pass without contest, uniting the Empire.
If he failed, Dalphiron would handle erasing the memory.
Either way, it was a win for Sirius.
"Your Majesty, may I use a skill for a moment?"
Krash sought permission to activate his skill before Sirius.
Valheims typically evoked images of arrogant, unrivaled prodigies.
Yet Krash was impeccably polite.
At an age where his fame could easily inflate his ego.
Nothing of the sort showed in his demeanor now.
'He knows how to rein himself in.'
Valheim names cropped up often enough that it was no surprise.
But this boy might be worth paying closer attention to.
"Permission granted."
Dalphiron was right there in the adjacent courtyard.
No Valheim direct descendant would dare act out here.
With the Emperor's ready approval, Krash rose from his prostration.
"My skill steals something the target possesses."
"Steals what they possess."
Sirius took an interest in the unfamiliar skill.
But he didn't press for details.
No one spilled the intricacies of their own skills.
"So, you're going to steal my disease with it?"
"Yes, exactly."
Krash stated it plainly, even before the Emperor.
Confidence and conviction laced his words.
'Steal a disease with a skill.'
Skills were powers bestowed by the gods.
They could accomplish the impossible.
Skills created what hadn't existed before—that was their nature.
But even among such skills, one that could steal an illness?
Sirius had never heard of anything like it.
He shifted his gaze to Dalphiron.
Dalphiron's bowed head suggested it was true.
"A remarkable skill."
"Yes, I think so too."
The way he spoke without a trace of tension spoke volumes of his self-assurance.
He trusted his skill implicitly.
"Very well, then one question."
But before permitting the theft of his disease, there was something he had to ask.
"Where does the disease I lose go?"
Krash had said "steal," not "erase."
To steal was to take possession of another's belonging.
Sirius couldn't help but question it.
"If you're planning to take it yourself, Valheim boy, then you're underestimating White Stone Disease."
White Stone Disease turned one's organs to white stone, leading to a gruesome death.
If Krash took it on, he wouldn't survive either.
Sirius was asking if he knew that and had come anyway.
Krash fell silent for a moment.
Of course, he had no intention of sacrificing himself.
He was simply pondering how to respond.
Krash knew the imperial family's secret.
And he knew the true origin of the White Stone Disease that plagued them relentlessly.
The imperial family was no doubt aware of it as well.
Krash's deliberation didn't last long.
"Your Majesty, as you know, I possess the power to incinerate curses like World Erosion."
Sirius fell silent at those words.
And soon, a smile slowly spread across his face.
It was a smile that sent chills down the spine of any who saw it.
As the wrinkles etched deeper than his years creased around his eyes and smile bloomed across his face, the air around them shifted.
As if his bedridden state had been a lie.
The White Dragon's aura seeped from his body, pervading the space as the temperature plummeted.
The overwhelming presence unique to the imperial descendants, heirs of the White Dragon.
Krash's skin prickled with goosebumps as he faced it head-on.
Even a rotten fish was once a herring.
True to the saying, Sirius had lain abed for so long, yet he hadn't lost an ounce of his prime majesty.
He too had cut down countless foes with his own hands to claim the throne.
An Emperor of both martial prowess and wisdom.
That was Sirius Epania.
"So you knew I was colluding with Ixion to cure my disease."
Even as forbidden words left the Emperor's mouth, Sirius remained utterly at ease.
He had risen from the bed at some point and perched on its edge.
That simple motion felt like a colossal beast stirring.
"This is the first time I've laid eyes on you, Valheim boy, but I know you possess a skill called Ignis."
Sirius had allied with Ixion to cure his illness.
And so he knew Ixion was targeting Krash.
The Ignis skill he wielded was essential to Ixion's goals.
"But you're in no position to judge others. You're colluding with World Erosion entities yourself."
Crimson Garden and Evelask.
Sirius, who already knew of the two World Erosion beings, smiled slowly.
The reason he brought it up was simple.
Krash was colluding with World Erosion entities too.
It was a shackle to ensure he wouldn't expose Sirius's dealings with Ixion.
Krash accepted the shackle willingly.
Mutual leverage would only solidify their bond.
"By revealing that you have Ignis despite all that, it means you want me to sever ties with Ixion once the disease is cured?"
"Yes, that's part of it."
The White Dragon aura emanating from his body gradually receded.
Releasing that aura had been a test of sorts.
A test to see if he could handle the words he'd spoken.
And Krash had met it with the perfect response.
'His White Dragon aura feels oddly familiar.'
Most people froze under its pressure, no matter their level.
Yet Krash wasn't fazed by Sirius's at all.
It was only natural.
Krash had faced Sigrin's White Dragon aura plenty of times—and hers dwarfed this one.
But Sirius, unaware of that, found Krash utterly fascinating.
"Is there another reason you brought it up besides cutting ties?"
Sirius asked, his face brimming with intrigue.
A young hero.
The possessor of the skill Ixion coveted.
The boy, once seen in such simple terms, now captivated even the Emperor.
"The 'disease' I sense from Your Majesty feels more like a curse than an illness."
Curse.
At the word, Sirius's brow twitched subtly.
"No, it's a disease. One passed down through our imperial line for generations."
A warning not to cross the line.
"Yes, I don't deny that it's a disease."
Krash readily agreed.
"I simply mean that even if I steal it, Ignis ensures it won't be an issue for me."
A subtle gleam entered Sirius's eyes.
"...Mind if I ask one more thing?"
"Of course."
"Is what you're saying based on information from Crimson Garden August?"
The Undying One.
And Crimson Garden August of the Dragon King Clan.
The imperial family had long known of her existence, and she knew plenty about them in turn.
If she'd told him, Krash might have learned the imperial secret.
And if so, Sirius couldn't simply let him leave.
"It's true that Crimson Garden taught me many things, but nothing about the imperial family."
Sirius's gaze shifted to Dalphiron.
With his divine sight, he could pierce any lie.
And Dalphiron nodded, confirming it was the truth.
Krash truly hadn't heard it from her.
Which meant Sirius had just revealed the imperial family's connection to Crimson Garden himself.
"I was instructed in knowledge by Beltua Racklord, the world's greatest diagnostician. That's how I assessed Your Majesty's condition."
"You can tell just by looking, then."
"I have that much insight."
Sirius clicked his tongue briefly.
The more they talked, the more inscrutable the boy became.
'What does this boy know?'
Unshaken by the Emperor's own aura, bold enough to voice his opinions.
Power and skills beyond his years, mature conduct and proficiency.
And Valheim blood to top it off.
Everything about him raised questions.
"Very well."
Sirius decided to end the conversation there.
"Valheim boy, if you can cure me and bear the consequences, it's no loss for me. I'll even sever ties with Ixion if that's what you want."
He had no intention of maintaining the alliance after the cure anyway.
So he promised to cut them off readily.
"And if there's anything else you desire, I'll grant it. You can ask now or later. As the one who cures the imperial disease, I'll do whatever I can."
True to form as the Empire's Emperor, who vied for the world itself, Sirius spoke as if he could hand over the world.
"In that case, I request the Diana family's reinstatement in the political sphere."
Krash made a demand Sirius had never anticipated.
"The Diana family?"
The Diana family, renowned for their spear mastery.
But their name had plummeted into the abyss after the scandal with Princess Sihae.
Asking to bring them back into politics.
Even Sirius couldn't fathom the reasoning.
Sirius glanced at Sizli.
She had nearly been the victim, so perhaps she'd react—but she remained impassive.
"Hmm. Fine."
It was within the Emperor's purview.
As long as Sizli herself had no issue, it was a simple matter for him to approve.
Sirius had never intended to utterly discard the spear experts of Diana anyway.
The daughter of the Diana family had committed the blunder with Princess Sihae.
But Sirius knew the truth: it stemmed from infighting among the imperial siblings.
He had simply used Diana to cover it up without exposing the imperial squabble.
With the Sihae incident long faded.
Reinstating them now posed no problem.
"My thanks for Your Majesty's mercy."
With that, all deals were sealed.
Now then.
Time to cure this Emperor card.
And royally screw over Third Princess Sigrin, who coveted the throne.
And that Red Witch, Abella, off doing who-knows-what somewhere.