Chapter 270
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 270
Chapter Title: Secret
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About half a month had passed.
In that time, Jun and his companions wandered the Dream Forest, searching for the flower Monghwan had mentioned.
Of course, since Jun knew its location, it didn't take long to find it.
"Is this really safe to use...?"
"It radiates an extraordinarily potent spiritual energy."
"Ugh, why would anyone pick up something like that?"
Eleanor, Bern, and Maya all grimaced at the sight of the Tear of the God, but it was safely absorbed into Monghwan, who then fell into a deep slumber for the time being.
They wouldn't be able to borrow his power for a while.
'Still, if it becomes fully bound to me...'
Jun might be able to remove the ring sealing Monghwan and replace it with a new artifact.
In any case, time passed like that until, one day, a faint light briefly emanated from the transfer circle.
Something had come through the circle from the surface.
"A letter?"
"Ah, looks like it's from Charles."
"I've been wondering about this for a while, but is his name Charles or Chails?"
"Both."
"Aha."
After a brief joke, they read the letter's contents.
"He really gets things done fast."
The surface world was in an uproar.
"The Heavenly Dragon Knight Commander has appeared on the surface."
The Emperor.
He had personally moved to end the eastern war.
* * *
"I don't think Blackout has ever been this noisy about surface events before."
Back in the Black Forest after another half month, Jun visited the Gilenoi Merchant Guild as usual to meet Cloi, after telling his party to rest.
"For something like that, didn't you only come down to Blackout recently yourself?"
"It's just a figure of speech! And it's not wrong!"
"Fair enough."
Among the newspapers scattered around Cloi's room, one featured a prominently displayed photo.
It showed the Heavenly Dragon Knight Commander holding a massive flag as he oversaw the execution of the two eastern warlords.
And every newspaper strewn about the room had photos of that very scene.
"The Heavenly Dragon Knights moved for the first time in decades, and the long eastern war ended so abruptly. It's only natural."
"Exactly. Oh, did you read what I sent you yesterday?"
"Yeah. Their execution is no joke."
Without justification, the emperor's position made it hard to act against noble opposition, but with justification, he could bulldoze through like no one else.
Once the emperor started moving like that, no one could stop him.
"They gathered evidence meticulously."
"Right? It's caused total chaos up there."
From kidnapping children and women to using suicide troops in the war, or dosing them with special drugs to strip their minds and turn them into slaves—they'd done every atrocity imaginable for humans.
It was impressive they'd hidden it all this long.
'Of course, it was thanks to the Open Heaven Church and the central nobles tied to the east.'
The emperor's biggest issue had been securing concrete proof.
"The emperor wasn't ignorant of the eastern problems. Merchants like us just turned a blind eye. We had a rough idea of what was going on."
"Then why move now?"
"He was preparing to blow it all up at once."
"Ah, I see."
If he'd targeted just one or two spots, it would've led to scapegoating.
Worse, attacking evidence from only one of the two eastern factions might have sparked suspicions that the emperor was manipulating the war.
So he'd gathered irrefutable proof relentlessly, waiting for the moment to unleash it all.
'And that moment is now.'
It felt strange.
There'd been no such process in the game.
'Probably saw the Open Heaven Church as more urgent than the eastern war.'
But here, Jun's involvement had changed many things.
"Interesting."
"Isn't it?"
Cloi grinned over her newspaper before sighing and hiding her face again.
"Still, it's not all good. The political landscape is shaking up in all sorts of ways."
"Yeah... that's true."
Perhaps because the long eastern war had ended.
Problems they'd barely hidden were exploding like gunpowder stacked in a warehouse.
"From territorial disputes and who governs that vast land, to relief for survivors—tons of issues piling up."
It was as if enough work had flooded in to paralyze the Imperial Family.
But Jun didn't buy Cloi's words so easily.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"Put down the newspaper."
"Heh... Busted?"
She lowered it to reveal a cheeky grin.
"People are suffering, and you're smiling?"
"Whoa, don't misunderstand! I'm providing as much humanitarian aid as possible!"
"Sure... Which lets you snag all that prime 6th-layer land."
"Th-that's not the only reason! I really wanted to help!"
No matter what anyone said, the biggest winner from this mess was...
The emperor.
Bringing in a level 8 user, Randel, would be his greatest gain as he prepared for war with the Open Heaven Church.
And next was the woman right in front of him—Cloi.
She'd claimed half the 6th-layer territory held by those two eastern forces.
It was resource-rich enough to fund the entire eastern war.
"You know some of that money's falling into my pockets too."
"Of course! But seriously? I donated a ton to the east. In my name!"
"Sure, sure, I believe you."
"Hey! I even built a huge orphanage! Planning branches everywhere!"
"Oh..."
That seemed genuine.
Running an orphanage cut taxes to the Imperial Family, but it was still more loss than profit.
'Even on Earth, they're tough to sustain. This world must be worse.'
A harsh world for children.
If Cloi meant it that much, at least they'd have a shadow to grow under.
'Not bad.'
Jun hadn't contributed a single coin, but this was partly thanks to his successful mission.
Helping nameless, faceless kids made it impossible to completely hate this world.
"Wh-what's that look?"
"What about it?"
"It was... kinda saintly."
"Nonsense."
Cloi chuckled at Jun's retort, then grew serious again.
"Anyway... the situation's gotten really turbulent lately. That's what I wanted to say."
"Warning us to be careful?"
"Pretty much. Though not many could touch you recklessly now."
"Conversely, anyone who does touch us must be a big player."
"Exactly."
All eastern forces in Blackout had mobilized at once.
To deal with a mercenary corps of effectively just five people.
Anyone in the know realized the White Whale Mercenary Corps was deeply involved in the surface eastern armistice.
To the clueless, they'd look like the Imperial Family's sword.
To higher-ups, a dagger sharpened by the emperor.
In truth, they were using each other—but that was just Jun's private phrasing.
"Lobbying's ramping up through the Third Prince again. Good thing he's rejecting it smartly, but for the nobles, it's like fire on their feet."
"Hmm..."
Jun had thought about that too.
Back then, it hadn't felt real, but he knew the scale would grow.
"So, you want me to hole up in secluded training again?"
"Well, that's the best option, but..."
They couldn't just keep dodging forever.
This wasn't like before, where attention faded quickly.
"The best way is still to show overwhelming power."
"Easiest and hardest thing."
"But ta-da! Our captain saw this coming?"
Cloi grinned and handed Jun a document.
"It's finally done. You're ready for level 7."
"Good... All the requested items are gathered?"
One reason Jun had built influence in the lower layers.
Recruiting help to gather hidden pieces he lacked time for.
And fortunately, with Jun and Cloi's steady efforts, countless hidden pieces filled her secret vault.
"Word of warning: not everything's here. Time shortages, and some are permanently gone."
"Figures. With us suddenly hunting them all."
"Ugh... Just thinking about it gives me a headache."
Cloi sighed lightly, as if her guild had suffered too, and stood.
"Oh, right. Take these too."
"Letters?"
"Yeah. One's from Count Mordenaen, the others... see for yourself."
"..."
He knew why just by seeing the senders.
'Javier and Dexter...'
Letters from the Third Prince and the First Prince—no, the Crown Prince.
Cloi probably wanted no part of it.
Her line stopped at Count Mordenaen, Blackout's de facto ruler.
"They'll tell me everything anyway."
"Ugh, it's different seeing it yourself."
Jun chuckled at her feeble protest and checked the contents.
Javier's letter was thanks for the mission.
The reason for going to the Rockwind Plains.
Waking the wind spirit in Aiden was key, but publicly, it was Javier's request.
He'd asked Jun to find a way to control the spirit power in his blood, and Jun found it in the gourd.
The one that absorbed the massive typhoon, wind spirit, and Fenril on the plains could take Javier's spirit power too.
Now, with pure mana left after absorbing the spirit power, he trained to separate his mana from it.
Recent progress had led to major growth.
'Not bad at all.'
Ample reward came too, letting him finish lower-layer work.
Next, Dexter.
Now the undisputed Crown Prince.
The most authoritative figure after the emperor.
And he'd written to Jun.
With the Imperial Family's secrets... precisely, the emperor's secrets. 용사 파티의 마법사로 산다는 것 271화