Chapter 148
Chapter 148
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 148
Chapter Title: A Fatal Miscalculation
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*He was looking for the prince!*
It was like a bolt of lightning struck Lee Shin’s mind.
In that single moment, many of his lingering questions were answered.
He’d wondered why the duchy was running so smoothly despite the duke’s notorious reputation. The truth was, he was also someone who wished for the kingdom's revival!
Thinking about it, it never made sense for the prince to have only one supporter, Gillaim.
Few would deny that Gillaim was a knight of exceptional skill…
But that was all he was.
He had neither the funds nor the forces necessary for war.
The idea of overthrowing the kingdom's leadership with just a single knight was far too unrealistic.
Conversely, for the revival of the Eteun Kingdom to be a realistic possibility, there had to be other supporters besides Gillaim.
*And that was the duke.*
He had never expected that person to be the duke, but it didn't matter now.
Whatever the process, he had found him.
Lee Shin immediately changed his course of action.
*I’ll abandon the quest.*
He decided to bring the duke over to his side.
He would be missing a golden opportunity to gain the royal family's trust and rescue Count Aaron, but what he could gain by giving that up was far greater.
Duke Martinez was, after all, one of the five most powerful figures in this kingdom.
As such, the benefits of having him as an ally were beyond imagination.
Putting everything else aside, just considering the soldiers and funds he had secretly amassed was enough.
Frankly, even if it meant abandoning Count Aaron, gaining Duke Martinez would be a net profit.
*Of course, there’s no need for that.*
Rather than sacrificing one, he could just find another way to deal with Count Aaron’s situation.
There was plenty of time.
The count's purge hadn't been decided on just yet.
Perhaps he could even use Duke Martinez, with his close ties to the royal family, to resolve this issue easily.
In the end, there was only one thing Lee Shin had to do.
Convince the duke!
Just as Lee Shin took a step out of the office to find the duke, a voice rang out.
“…What!? Who are you?!”
A middle-aged man's shrill voice came from outside.
It was likely the duke himself.
He must have rushed out upon hearing news of the fire in his territory and returned to find his familiar knights gone, replaced by a strange intruder guarding his office. It was only natural for him to be startled.
“I’ll call the guards at once… Gak!?”
Before Lee Shin could say a word, Gillaim acted swiftly.
He swept the duke’s legs out from under him and clapped a hand over his mouth before he could scream.
“Mmph! Mmmph!!”
“Sir Arthur. What should I do?”
[Using a Sound-Dampening Scroll.]
[For a certain period, no sound will escape.]
Gillaim asked for his orders.
Lee Shin activated the scroll inside the room, then poked his head out and replied.
“Bring him in.”
“Are we not killing him? If we find definitive proof, we should be able to kill him without issue.”
“!?!?”
“I know that. Something’s come up that I need to talk to him about before we kill him.”
“…Understood.”
Gillaim handed over the duke.
Lee Shin took the duke and led him inside the office.
He didn't forcibly gag or restrain him during the process.
It was the proper way to treat someone who would soon become an ally and pledge his loyalty.
“Come in.”
“……?”
Of course, the duke, still unaware of Lee Shin’s intentions, wore a puzzled expression.
He asked, his voice a mixture of slight relief and deep suspicion.
“……What are you planning?”
“I want to talk.”
“Talk? No, who are you people in the first place! How dare you invade a duke’s mansion!”
[The duke’s strong mental fortitude allows him to break free from the Confused state.]
[The duke is enraged.]
“I don’t know who sent you, but you will pay for this!”
“No. Won’t you be the one paying the price?”
“……What did you say?”
“I found something like this….”
Lee Shin rustled a stack of papers in front of the duke’s eyes.
It was the file filled with detailed notes on the prince's whereabouts.
The duke’s face turned pale in an instant.
“No… way.”
“You should have hidden something so important.”
“……”
“Setting fire to the territory, killing the territory's soldiers and knights, and trespassing in the lord's mansion? All of that is perfectly justifiable if it’s for the sake of capturing a traitor, isn’t it?”
“Ah, ahh……”
The duke clutched his face in his hands as if in agony.
The shock was so great that he muttered things like, ‘How on earth did the royal family find out?’, and, ‘I’m sure I made no mistakes…’
Some time passed like that.
“……Ha.”
The duke let out a short breath.
His expression had become one of resignation.
He spoke calmly.
“……Kill me.”
“What?”
“I said, kill me. I wore a mask and devoted everything to the revival of the kingdom, but I have failed. It’s better to just die. Kill me.”
Rather than live in disgrace, I’d rather die!
It was a statement filled with the duke's firm resolve, but Lee Shin shook his head decisively.
He then adopted a deliberately serious demeanor and retorted angrily.
“Duke. Is that all you amount to?”
“What?”
“Giving up so easily! I asked if this is the extent of your devotion to your kingdom’s revival.”
“……? You’re the one who invaded, what is this nonsense……”
“Silence!”
“!?”
[The duke is flustered.]
“This is who I am.”
Lee Shin lifted his chin and presented the ring to the duke.
It was the same ring he had used to win over Gillaim and Count Aaron.
The duke’s reaction was immediate.
“Gasp!! Th-This is!”
“You, of all people, should know what this is, right?”
“A royal treasure…! Why do you have this… No, don’t tell me!?”
The duke's eyes widened.
He was a man who knew even about the existence of the illegitimate child the king had desperately tried to hide.
As such, he naturally understood the meaning of the ring Lee Shin presented.
He stared, his eyes wide with disbelief, and shouted.
“Don’t tell me! You’re the prince!?”
“I am.”
“It can’t be…!”
[The duke is greatly flustered.]
[The duke is in a state of confusion.]
Lee Shin nodded in satisfaction.
Since the duke already knew about the illegitimate son and the royal treasure, he thought the explanation would be easy.
…However,
“…No, wait a moment.”
“?”
“The prince? You are?”
“Are you saying I’m not? Even after seeing the proof right before your eyes?”
“The ring is certainly authentic… but if my memory serves me right, he definitely had red hair, didn't he?”
The duke knew far more than Lee Shin had anticipated.
This was thanks to his unwavering loyalty to the former royal family and his desire for the Eteun Kingdom's revival, which had driven him to search for the prince in various ways, but…
[The duke is suspicious of you!]
[Warning!]
[If it is revealed that you are impersonating the prince…]
“……!!!!!”
Now, the duke's diligence had become a poison.
Gillaim and Count Aaron didn't know Lee Shin was impersonating the prince.
In fact, it wasn't just impersonation; they didn't know that Lee Shin was the one who had actually killed the prince.
It was because they were ignorant of the truth that Lee Shin had been able to secure their loyalty.
If they were to find out the truth now, their reaction was predictable.
Therefore, the moment suspicion filled the duke’s eyes, Lee Shin made a decision.
He had to kill him, right now.
Lee Shin swung his sword.
*Stab!*
“…Gah?!”
*Stab! Stab-stab!!*
[Critical Hit!]
[The duke has died.]
The duke had died an anticlimactic death!
It was partly due to the effect of Lee Shin's `<Noble Killer>` title and the fact that, like most nobles, his own combat prowess was not particularly high.
However, contrary to his insignificant death, the repercussions it brought were by no means small.
After a slight delay, a flood of system messages poured in before Lee Shin’s eyes.
*Ting.*
[Duke Martinez has died.]
[Your Infamy has increased significantly.]
[You have acquired a large amount of experience.]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
First, Lee Shin's level and infamy rose sharply.
[You have reached Level 233.]
[You have become sufficiently strong and wicked.]
[You can now find your counterpart. The class skill, <Path of the Salseong>, will guide you.]
Perhaps because of that, a new unique class skill was unlocked along with an enigmatic description.
[You have slain the duke of a nation.]
[This is a great achievement! The effect of the <Noble Killer> title has been greatly enhanced.]
[You have slain a noble who was secretly working for the revival of the kingdom!]
[The <National Quest – The Collaborator> has been destroyed!]
[The <National Quest – Faction Expansion> has been destroyed!]
[An additional 1,008,898 related quests have been destroyed!]
“……!”
Lee Shin’s eyes widened.
It was a situation he had experienced before!
This was what happened when he killed someone deeply connected to the main quest.
However, unlike when he killed the prince, the duke's death wasn't impactful enough to completely derail the main quest.
[A change has occurred in the flow of the Main Quest.]
[Pay close attention to the changing situation in the kingdom.]
The flow had merely been altered slightly.
Of course, even this was a massive event for the players.
A system message suddenly appeared before every single player, and soon, every Avala Online community exploded.
***
-What was that just now? That was a server-wide message, right?
-Yeah, I got it too.
-Me too.
-It says to pay close attention to the changing situation in the kingdom. Does anyone know what that means?
-It means you should pay close attention to the changing situation in the kingdom lol
-Ah, screw off;
-Doesn’t it just mean something big is about to happen? It’s been a while since the main quest started, and nothing major has happened yet. It’s about time something did.
-Ah, maybe?
-Breaking) All the rankers are ending their streams.
-Looks like they don’t know what’s going on either? lolololol
-But is that possible? An event of this scale must have been caused by one of the rankers.
-So someone knows but is keeping their mouth shut?
-Isn’t that obvious? What ranker would go around blabbing about something like this?
-Oh, right……?
All sorts of speculations ran wild in the communities.
These speculations grew, spawning various rumors and throwing the players into confusion.
Meanwhile, as the communities were in an uproar, Lee Shin safely escaped the mansion.
Outside, it was still chaotic.
“Over there! There are still flames!”
“Pour water and sand on it!”
Soldiers and residents moved about busily.
Thanks to their efforts, however, the flames were finally starting to die down.
As Lee Shin silently watched, Gillaim asked.
“Did you end up killing the duke after all?”
“Yes.”
“You said you were going to talk to him….”
“He was unreasonable. You were right; he was wicked to the core.”
Lee Shin lied without batting an eye.
However, Gillaim, who didn't know what had happened inside, believed him completely.
“I knew it. You did well. By the way, did you find the evidence?”
“I found it.”
“Then we can report it to the royal family immediately.”
“That’s the plan, but let’s think about the details later. There’s about to be a commotion. We need to escape first……”
*Whoosh!*
As Lee Shin passed near the site of the fire, he took advantage of the chaos to discreetly toss in some more gunpowder.
His movements were so stealthy that no one noticed what he had done.
*FWOOOOSH!!!*
“Huh? …Wh-What the!”
“The fire’s started up again over here!”
“Get all the soldiers! …Wait, I’m sure we put that part out!?”
The soldiers fell into chaos once again.
This would give them the time they needed to escape.
*Yu Han-seong is a problem… but I’ll have to send Arthur for that.*
It was sending him to his death again not long after he had been revived, but looking at it differently, it might be more efficient for one person to take all the deaths.
Lee Shin finished rationalizing his decision.
“Status window.”
A short while later, after getting away from the commotion, Lee Shin opened his status window.
He wanted to check the messages that had appeared after he killed the duke.
[You have become sufficiently strong and wicked. You can now find your counterpart.]
[The class skill, <Path of the Salseong>, will guide you.]
`<Path of the Salseong>`
The will of the previous Salseong illuminates the path you must walk.
*What does this mean?*
Lee Shin tilted his head.
A counterpart? Did he have something like that?
Fortunately, a system message soon provided an answer to his question.
*Ting.*
[The Path of the Salseong guides you. A quest is automatically generated.]
`<Job Quest – Eliminating a Rival>`
Just as water and fire cannot coexist, so too can evil and divinity not exist together.
If they cannot coexist, one must either evaporate and vanish or be extinguished.
The path of a legend is a history of proof and survival. This is no different for you, the successor of the Salseong.
Kill the Seongja (Saint)!
Kill him to break the <Path of the Saint> he walks and prove that your path is the correct one!
• Quest Success Reward: Class Skill
• If you are killed by your opponent first, the quest will fail, and you will receive a permanent penalty.
“!!!!”