Chapter 165
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 165
Chapter Title: People Living in Hiding
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The procession itself proceeded smoothly.
In every city they visited, grand welcomes were held, and the local leaders rushed out to shower praise on the imperial princes.
There were plenty of watchful eyes around, and above all, the knights providing tight, unseen protection for the two princes prevented even the slightest incident from occurring.
'They even have an artifact that detects poison in food.'
Artifacts like that varied wildly in price based on their performance alone.
It was only natural.
Not all poisons were the same, and embedding an artifact with data on every poison in existence was no easy feat.
'Did the emperor lend them that artifact himself?'
An artifact of that caliber was undoubtedly one crafted by Shylock in the past.
'Thanks to it, there haven't been any major incidents.'
But that was nothing more than Jun's misconception.
"A total of fifteen times."
"What do you mean?"
"The number of times poison was found in Javier's food during our stay in Blackout."
"...!"
Late at night, Javier had gone to speak with Aiden, leaving Jun alone with Dexter in his carriage for a conversation.
"...Does the Third Prince not know about this?"
"He doesn't. He's still unaware of the situation he's in."
Indeed.
Javier had no idea about the carriage accident he'd been caught in or the true purpose of this tour.
"Why keep it from him?"
"He's a sensitive boy. If he knew, he'd probably fast through the entire rest of the tour."
And that wouldn't fit the 'advertisement' the imperial family wanted to project.
If his face was stiff everywhere they went, or if he seemed secretly terrified, the image of 'close brothers' would crumble.
"But the bigger issue is that we still haven't identified who's poisoning the food."
"When did the poison start appearing?"
"From the moment we first arrived in Blackout. The only time it was absent was during the Fairy Queen raid."
"Hmm..."
At that point, a certain figure popped into Jun's mind.
'Could be that bastard.'
The shallow prick who mainly used poison even in the game.
The problem was how annoyingly slippery the guy was.
'He's so good at escaping that catching him takes every trick in the book...'
But right now, they had zero countermeasures prepared for him.
Still, they couldn't just sit idle.
Especially since if Javier's mother, Venes, heard about it... all hell would break loose.
To Venes, who trusted no one in the imperial family, the fact that Dexter was personally filtering out every poison aimed at Javier wouldn't matter one bit.
"Would it be alright if I handled this issue separately?"
"Oh, can you solve it with magic?"
"Not exactly. But I know another method... though it will take some time."
"That's fine. As long as it's resolved before the tour ends."
Jun had bought himself some time. In the next city they reached, he immediately sent a letter to Cloi, receiving a reply by the time the second-layer banquet ended.
'As expected, these are tricky items to procure. It'll take a bit, but with money on my side, I should have it sorted within a month.'
He began preparations as quickly as he could, and soon the group arrived at the third layer.
"Whoa... there sure are a lot of people."
"Still, compared to other places, it feels a bit lacking, doesn't it?"
The Voltain ore district came into view before long.
One of the checkpoints directly managed by the imperial family, it reportedly supplied thirty percent of Blackout's total annual consumption just from its output.
The mining volume was staggering, but the issue was that the Voltain ore district was a city built for laborers, not mercenaries or adventurers.
As a result, the city's appearance differed greatly from the others they'd seen so far... and the welcoming crowd was covered head to toe in dust and grime.
"It's a pleasure to meet you like this. Our imperial family will always remember your hard work."
In contrast, Javier's expression as he looked upon the laborers felt much lighter than before.
He shook their calloused hands without hesitation, his smile genuine.
"I didn't know he had this side to him."
Dexter, watching from nearby, smiled subtly at his younger brother.
And then.
"We meet the empire's rightful heirs."
Jinovan, whom they hadn't seen in a year.
Now the marshal of the third layer, he stood before the group.
Jun, facing him, couldn't shake off a pang of regret deep inside.
'Too late.'
Jun had realized Jinovan was entangled with the Heavenly Church.
With irrefutable evidence, no less.
* * *
The Heavenly Church was evil.
This was an indisputable truth.
It wasn't just from his experiences in this world. He'd known it long before, back in his Lee Jung-jun days.
'When was it again?'
Jun had loved playing the game <Blackout>.
It was the first game he'd ever gotten into, practically his sole escape.
Yet he'd ignored the story entirely because it was so bleak.
The early parts stuck to human betrayals—clichés you'd see in movies.
But once the Heavenly Church began revealing its true power...
The story turned as dark as the game's name.
The first prince, consumed by revenge.
The third prince, scheming to destroy the empire.
The crumbling empire in their wake.
NPCs growing more treacherous, unable to trust one another.
And at the center of it all was the Heavenly Church.
Jun had watched countless NPCs fall because of them.
'The community called it the charm of <Blackout>.'
With real life already tough enough, who wanted a game's story to be depressing too?
And watching carefully nurtured player characters suffer mental breakdowns was no fun at all.
'Most of those ruined characters... had ties to the Heavenly Church in the past.'
One of the Church's most insidious tools was the Evil Spirit Orb.
It massively boosted the target's magic affinity upon absorption, turning mediocrity into genius.
But if that were all, Jun wouldn't have called the Church a 'drug-like evil.'
The Evil Spirit Orb functioned much like the 'gu poison' from wuxia novels.
Except instead of worms, it implanted a corrupted spirit inside the body.
'Countless imperial citizens fell for its allure, becoming the Church's puppets.'
Moreover, the orb acted like a seed.
Its ultimate purpose was revealed later, shocking players across the game.
So how did Jun know all this?
"It's great to see you again like this, Jun."
"...Yeah, it is."
The handshake. An unpleasant sensation emanated from the ring embedded with <Phantasm>.
It was a signal from Phantasm to Jun. Reading it, he realized.
This commander before him.
This man who might even be called a benefactor for getting him this far...
Had swallowed an Evil Spirit Orb.
* * *
Upon arriving at the checkpoint, Jun entered his assigned room and sank into deep thought.
'What should I do?'
He hadn't told Dexter about it yet.
Friendship with Jinovan?
Sure, it wasn't nothing...
'But me knowing about the Evil Spirit Orb is suspicious in itself.'
Unlike the others he'd met, his mysterious mage cosplay wouldn't fly with the imperial family.
He'd have to explain how he knew, and a flimsy lie would only make them suspicious.
'I've been walking a tightrope so far. Can't risk more.'
He knew why Cloi had gotten mad the moment he started traveling with the imperials.
But to survive going forward, he had no choice but to stick with them.
As Jun's dilemma deepened...
Sitting on the sofa by the window, he absentmindedly perked up at voices from the neighboring balcony.
"So that's why Commander Jinovan wrote that recommendation for us to join the raid."
"I see... So we—and my big brother—benefited from it. But why is someone like him stuck in a backwater like this?"
Aiden and Javier's voices drifted over.
'Aiden doesn't seem to hate him either.'
Aiden had been awkward whenever Javier grieved his friend's death or lamented his life under his mother's thumb.
But otherwise, moments like this—chatting casually—were becoming more common.
Javier's expressions brightened day by day as a result. A true blessing.
'Still, I should explain the situation to the Third Prince at some point.'
Even the gentlest soul would feel betrayed knowing they'd been used all along.
Maybe he should ask Dexter's permission first.
As that thought crossed his mind...
"Haha... well, I don't know the details."
"Everyone's got their own struggles. High chance he lost some political battle."
"Political battle?"
"Yeah. As you know, brother, the marshal at Black Forest Fortress used to be in central imperial politics. Same for the two knights flanking him. Given that, they probably didn't know how to handle him after his big achievement last year."
"So they shipped him off to a place like this...?"
Just for that, they'd discarded the knight who'd saved his life?
Aiden reacted with disbelief at the baron's choice, but Javier saw it differently.
He replied softly.
"It's a form of exile. Buying time so his two knights could rise higher. Politics is terrifying. You get no praise for good deeds—just scrutiny."
"Hits different... yeah, scary stuff."
Even Aiden's voice carried disillusionment with the imperial family now.
And then.
"I'm scared too. I'd rather they just voice their complaints outright. Why do people hide their true feelings like that?"
"Haha..."
"So, brother."
"Yeah?"
"Won't you tell me? The things you're hiding from me."
"Uh...?"
"And the real purpose of this tour."
Third Prince Javier. Frail of heart he might be, but he was no fool.
Living as the Hero Party's Mage Chapter 166