NOVEL NEXT chapter 25
25 – 24.
My body doesn’t move at will.
A feeling of intangible pressure weighing down your entire body.
It feels like the world is trying to stop me from moving.
My body only felt heavy, as if I was wearing shackles, as if I was wearing heavy armor that didn’t fit.
In other words, that was it.
The duke’s sword, which paused for a moment, once again drew its trajectory and once again decapitated Lordaeron.
It was a slower and duller sword than before, but it was enough to decapitate Lordaeron.
“Hmm… It worked against Bern, but can a Master who has passed a certain level resist?”
“What was that?”
“It wasn’t a lie to be the head of the continent’s best swordsman.”
As if this attack was unexpected, Lordaeron, a little taken aback, appeared unharmed once again and murmured.
“Is it because I am imperfect, or if not, was it not a perfect power in the first place?”
“Tsk, don’t you have any intention of answering?”
As Lordaeron made a small gesture, the same jewel as before appeared in the air, and the Duke of Pale saw it and swung his sword once more.
“Sword attacks no longer damage me.
I can’t.”
Bang.
Duke Pale’s sword bounced out of the air without drawing its trajectory to the end, and Lordaeron was not even hurt.
“No way, is that a dragon word?”
“Did you notice now? It’s so stupid.”
Because I was Lone Fail, the duke of the Arhan Empire, I had heard about the dragon’s power, the Dragon’s Word.
However, dragon words are literally the power of dragons, and except for the 3rd and 7th emperors, even people from the Arhan family, who inherited dragon blood, could not use them.
“How do you use that power?”
Contrary to Lordaeron’s words, the reason Duke Pale noticed the dragon so late wasn’t because he was dull or stupid.
It’s just because it’s unimaginably blasphemous for Lordaeron to use dragon words.
When you look back on the history of the continent, those who used dragon words were either dragons or those who inherited dragon blood without a single exception.
And the only human who has inherited dragon blood is Arhan.
“Answer me!”
Crying desperately, Fail once again swung the sword, but this time Lordaeron didn’t even get a single small wound.
“My name is Edelwein of Lordaeron.”
Lordaeron continued by creating dozens of jewels that glowed in various colors such as red, blue, and green.
“The son of Fleur Edelwein and Siya Arhan.”
Dozens of jewels shattered at once, and at the same time, the great magic that was manifested hit the Duke of Pale.
———————————————————————————
“So, Your Majesty, the damage I suffered this time… !”
After…
I let out a light sigh as I looked at Duke Rose Triel, who was talking about how much he had suffered in front of me.
“Just go and ask them.”
Recently, anti-Danhan sentiment within the empire has become extremely intense, and seeing Duke Rosé crying, saying that the losses of the top merchants who traded with Daman were enormous, I couldn’t help but think, ‘Why are you telling me that?’
“Well, that’s all. But if not for Your Majesty, where would I go to complain like this?”
No, don’t do it to me either. I barely held back the words coming out of my mouth.
The woman in front of me is a friendly duke.
After repeating these words three or four times in my mind, I managed to pretend to listen to the duke’s words.
“So Your Majesty, won’t you tell me too?”
“What do you mean?”
“War, why not.”
As expected, was that why you came here?
“Did you know that there is a lot of talk among the nobles of the fortress? You don’t know how much I laughed when I heard the other day that His Majesty is actually a very gentle person, but in the past, she was forced to act radically because of the war.”
“Oh, I got caught. Jim is actually a very gentle person.”
After replying casually, I calculated in my mind whether I should tell Duke Roget the truth and, if so, how far I would tell him.
Is Duke Roget on my side?
Yes.
I’ve known Fried since childhood, and apart from the fact that our personalities don’t match, there was nothing to call it a feud.
It’s for my own ambition, but I’ve assassinated my father for me when the power struggle with the predecessor Triel was in full swing, and he immediately informed me when the Lute guys contacted me, so the fact that Duke Roget is on my side There is no need to doubt.
In that case, how much should I tell you?
The fact that Edelwein inherited Arhan’s blood must be hidden.
That is the complete secret of the imperial family.
Duke Roget won’t spread it around, but there’s nothing good about having more people who know the secrets of the imperial family.
There’s no need to tell the Duke that much.
Then, there is a dark shadow behind the rebellion of Lute and Gyor, and it is the survivors of Edelwein or their descendants.
I can tell you that much.
“Duke, do you know the kingdom of Edelwein?”
“Edelwein? Of course I know.”
Isn’t that a country with a lot of jewels? I know, because I have quite a few jewelry made from Edelwein’s jewels.
To the duke who answered that, I gave my guess that the survivor was still there and that he was probably just sneaking behind the kingdom.
“Such a story. I don’t know what he’s up to, but I didn’t want to be swung around, so I didn’t rush into the fight.”
“Ah, then they must have been the ones who stole the Lute guys from the jail in our mansion that day, right?”
“Maybe.”
“Somehow. Ah, since that day, the mansion has been reinforced with security again. No matter how much the remnants of the ruined kingdom were behind them, how proud they were.”
I quietly added to Duke Roget’s words that he demoted all the knights who stood guard that day.
“I know. In the process, the hidden Masters were also brought back.”
At my words, the duke froze awkwardly, still holding his hand that was reaching for the teacup.
“Ha ha ha. You knew… ?”
“In the process of investigating what happened in the east, we increased the number of domestic informants, but then we got caught.”
I laughed along as I watched the duke quietly look at me and laugh awkwardly.
“hahahaha, I don’t care too much about Jim. The feudal lords are secretly raising masters. It’s not an open secret.”
Actually, if it had been a while ago, I might have reacted quite sensitively.
But the Triel family is friendly to me, and now that I’ve reached a higher level and don’t have to worry about assassination anymore, I don’t think there’s any need to make that a problem.
“Those Gior also had a hidden Master. Although he was killed by the Demon King’s Corps Commander, the Lute guys also hid their Master. In fact, if the Duke didn’t have a Master, he would have been more surprised by that.”
“… I thought it was called secretly.”
“There is no place in the empire that Arhan does not reach.”
Actually, there was some before, but it was refilled a while ago.
Is it because the level has risen?
In the midst of exchanging jokes with Duke Roget, I thought that I had become quite harmful.
As I solidified my identity as the ‘Emperor’, I realized that I no longer had to cling to authority.
Duke Roget’s friendly attitude, which would have been annoyed before, now felt quite comfortable, so he could see that he had changed a lot.
‘Ah, come to think of it, I haven’t contacted the Grand Duke since I left the North. ‘
You must have known that you have reached a higher level, but you must feel sad again.
I’ll have to bring it to Jedo soon.
As I was immersed in my thoughts, Duke Roget, who had returned to his usual form before I knew it, asked me.
“Your Majesty, what are you thinking?”
“Hmm? I was thinking about the Archduke. I’m thinking about taking it to the system sometime soon, but when that day comes, I’ll introduce you to the duke.”
“… Hmm?”
“Hmm?”
I offered to introduce myself to the Grand Duke, but the response was not very good.
I thought that the Grand Duke, who had been guarding the northern part of the Empire ever since the Empire’s guardian dragon returned to the Valley of the Dragon, would be honored as a legendary figure to the high-ranking nobles of the Empire who knew of its existence.
Do you hate dragons?
In the middle of such trivial thoughts, I heard someone knocking on the door outside the reception room.
“Your Majesty, Cindia Berger. Is it okay if I come in?”
You knock on the door when you know I’m confronting the duke?
Dia’s firm voice made me feel a sudden sense of uneasiness as I spoke.
“Come in.”
As soon as my permission was given, Dia came in and first apologized to me and the duke for interrupting the tea time, then he approached me and delivered a report in the ear.
“Your Majesty, a battle broke out between Edelwein and the Pale family in Daman Kingdom. Even including the Duke of Pale and his lieutenants, no more than 10 survivors. During the battle, the King of Daman died at the hands of the Duke of Pale, and due to that, the heir declared war on the Empire.”
What… ?