Chapter 916: The Greatest Evil
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 916: The Greatest Evil
"Your newspapers certainly have... many uses."
Muen’s lips twitched as he gave the little brat a strange, scrutinizing look.
The boy looked to be in his early teens, wearing a tattered gray vest and shirt. His outfit was different from their last encounter, but it was still far too large for his scrawny frame—likely a hand-me-down from some adult.
His face was dusted with prominent freckles, and a missing front tooth was clearly visible whenever he grinned. Yet, these minor flaws couldn't hide the cunning in his eyes, a sharp wit that didn't belong to someone his age.
"Of course! All the vagrants on the street use this same model of newspaper. It’s got a top-notch reputation, I tell you, top-notch..."
The brat puffed out his chest with pride. It was hard to tell if this was a sales tactic or if the newspapers truly were a hit among the homeless for insulation.
Having scrambled for survival in the foul dye-vat of society far too early, this tender youth had already learned how to size people up and play to his audience.
Muen, however, didn't have the energy to parse the boy's motives. He just stared at the child, his thoughts a tangled mess.
After all, it wasn't long ago that he had seen this boy’s corpse with his own eyes. That charred body, along with countless other poor children, had been consumed by a fire that seemed intent on reducing the entire city to ash.
Yet in the blink of an eye, the world had shifted. The fire was gone without a trace, and the boy stood before him, perfectly whole.
The sheer absurdity of it made Muen wonder if he had somehow stumbled into a time loop.
It was like a video game—dying only to restart from a checkpoint.
...But clearly, that wasn't the case.
The residual agony racking Muen’s body and his shredded trench coat were proof enough. Not long ago, he had come within a hair’s breadth of dying at the hands of the Repentant Witch.
Ancient texts, the experiences of countless predecessors, and all mainstream knowledge told Muen the same thing: the gulf of a Crown Bearer was insurmountable. It was a massive leap beyond any previous level, a true sublimation of one's very existence.
He had previously thought that in a "Soaring Phoenix-style" story, there would be an exception to this rule.
But evidently, such a tiny, miraculous "exception" was not something he could grasp yet.
He was still too weak.
He had to keep getting stronger...
Steeling his resolve, Muen wiped his face and stood up. He ran a hand along the nearby wall and looked out toward the distant districts.
Saint Bran Phazesia, this ancient city of art, was as quiet and peaceful as ever.
Everything that had just happened felt like a dream—a nightmare.
"Heh. Before, I thought this peace felt like a dream. Now, I feel like that disaster was the dream. I came here to find the truth, but now I can't even tell what's a dream and what's reality, what's true and what's false."
Muen let out a self-deprecating laugh.
After that brush with death, his questions hadn't been answered; they had only multiplied.
What exactly was that Saint Bran Phazesia that had stepped into destruction? Was it real? If it was, then what was this city?
The real Saint Bran Phazesia perished in flames, while the fake Royal Capital enjoyed its "quiet years"... Could the Salvation Society truly fabricate all of this so flawlessly?
And then there was the burning city, the descending calamity, the Crown Bearer who personally intervened, the Cathedral in the midst of the disaster...
And most importantly, how exactly did he survive the Repentant Witch? These mysteries piled up one after another, yet none had a solution.
Perhaps...
Muen closed his eyes and summoned the Black Book, flipping through the recent entries.
【Muen Campbell was struck by the Repentant Witch's killing blow.】
【Muen Campbell returned from Saint Bran Phazesia to Saint Bran Phazesia.】
...There were only two brief lines on the page. There was no record of the details of what happened in that split second.
"I guess it really isn't that simple."
Muen sighed.
Since even his greatest trump card offered no breakthrough, then his next move should be...
"Big brother, big brother..."
Muen opened his eyes to find the brat still lingering there.
"Are you buying a paper or not? Once I leave this spot, you won't find another deal like this!"
"Why are you so obsessed with selling me a newspaper?"
"Because..."
The brat scrutinized Muen and said earnestly, "Big brother, you always give off a familiar vibe of a total suck—I mean, a wealthy gentleman. I don't know why... have we met before?"
You were definitely going to say "sucker," weren't you!
"Maybe you saw me when I was even more handsome."
Muen, still in disguise, kept a straight face. After a moment's thought, he said, "Fine, give me a paper. You can never have too much information at a time like this."
"Coming right up!"
The boy beamed instantly. He reached under his clothes and carefully pulled out a stack of newspapers he had kept well-protected from the rain.
Because they were wrapped so tightly, his movements were a bit slow. To prevent his customer from losing patience and leaving, the boy skillfully began to "spoiler" some of the content.
"Today's paper has some really heavy-hitting news!"
"Heavy-hitting?"
Muen perked up. "What kind of news? Did that King of yours cause another scene?"
"It’s got nothing to do with His Majesty the King."
The boy shook his head. "This time, the front page is all about a most heinous villain!"
"A villain?"
Muen was puzzled. "What kind of villain is more popular than your King's antics? Did this villain do something to the King?"
Could it be the Salvation Society?
But the Salvation Society wasn't stupid enough to show their faces in the newspapers.
"How could that be! His Majesty is so powerful, how could a mere villain hurt him? But even so, this villain is something else."
The boy’s expression turned solemn. He adopted a tone usually reserved for ghost stories and said theatrically:
"They say he is the Empire's greatest criminal, the culprit behind this entire war! He's a lecherous demon who has stretched his claws toward countless innocent young girls, an ultimate evil who has committed so many sins he's practically begging for divine punishment! Even the Goddess would find his filthy soul disgusting!"
"That's a bit much, isn't it?"
Muen was taken aback. The image of the Goddess promoted by the Church was one of mercy and compassion. If even the Goddess found someone's crimes disgusting... Muen thought carefully about who in the Empire could possibly provoke such universal outrage and still be worthy of a Kingdom headline...
There seemed to be only one answer...
Pink Bear!
It had to be that pathetic guy!
After hiding for so long, had he finally exposed his perverted fetters?
Serves him right!
"That's right! This man is a bona fide murderer! A warmonger! A lecher! A total scumbag! He used his decent-looking face to seduce countless women from good families, two-timing—no, hundred-timing—and his list even includes the Imperial Empress! He is the ultimate degenerate!!"
"He is—"
The boy was getting more worked up as he spoke. By the end, he even forgot about the customer in front of him and snapped the newspaper open, revealing the prominent "villain" photo on the front page:
"Muen Campbell!"
"???"
Muen’s face was a mask of pure confusion. It took him a long while to process what he was seeing.
"Who?"
"Muen Campbell!"
The boy pointed at the photo. It was a very well-shot picture; if one ignored the string of shocking titles, the handsome blonde man in the photo was definitely the type to make a crowd of innocent girls swoon. The boy said indignantly:
"This bastard who has nothing going for him except his face!"
"..."
Endure it.
I must endure.
I absolutely must endure.
This was just enemy slander. If he got angry now, he’d be falling right into their trap.
He had come this far; what kind of stereotypes hadn't he faced?
Prosperity. Democracy. Equality. Freedom.
Liya is an Extra Large.
Senior Sister and An are Large.
Celicia is a Medium.
Ariel... Ariel... Ariel is a 'Cute' size...
...
Muen took several deep breaths to suppress the fury in his heart. Only then did he manage a peaceful smile as he picked up the newspaper.
It was indeed a detailed report about him. It covered everything from his birth to deeds already known to the public, and even included gossip about him "stepping on an entire fleet of boats."
To a certain extent, the "meticulous detail" made the character of Muen Campbell perfectly fit the image of a worthless playboy.
However, this image had undergone a world-shaking transformation after the death of the Kingdom's Seventeenth Prince.
From that point on, Muen Campbell wasn't just a playboy; he was a ruthless thug, a conspirator brewing evil plans in the shadows, and a supervillain intending to use his charms to bewitch the Imperial Empress to seize control of the Empire and spread the flames of war across the entire continent.
In short, Muen Campbell was the true criminal of this war. His crimes even surpassed those of the Empress. The Kingdom’s decision to start this war was, on one hand, to seek justice for their prince, and on the other, "to a large extent," to nip this seed of evil in the bud.
In conclusion: they were a righteous army, the powerful guarantors of continental peace. Their invasion was legal, reasonable, and common sense. The citizens of the Kingdom should enthusiastically express their support...
"Dammit."
Muen cursed under his breath.
He had been turned into a goddamn scapegoat.
How the Seventeenth Prince died—didn't the Kingdom know better than anyone?
Of course they knew. The whole thing had been their plan from the start.
However, while a dead prince could spark the people's rage, he couldn't be the target for them to vent that rage upon.
As for the target... making the Imperial Empress the target was too "indecent."
And picking some random nobody wouldn't carry enough weight.
So, after looking around, the son of a Duke who, in the eyes of outsiders, had personally killed the Seventeenth Prince and was also the future husband of the Empress... wasn't he just perfect?
Yeah, this scapegoat suit isn't too big or too small; it’s just right. It’s practically tailor-made for you, Young Master Campbell... Hurry up and put it on!
"Motherfucker..."
Muen pressed a hand to his forehead, sighing with a mix of tears and laughter.
"There goes my reputation, just when it was starting to improve!"
He had thought that without Pink Bear’s secret sabotage, his excellent qualities of devotion, truth, and beauty would gradually become known to the public. He never expected that compared to that bastard Pink Bear, the Kingdom would be his biggest "anti-fan"!
Watch out, or I'll hit you with a lawyer's letter! You goddamn haters!