Children of the Holy Emperor - Chapter 415



Only Noblemtl

415. Lee Seong-jin’s Exploration Journal (4)

The group is staying at the largest inn in Regina.

Naturally, the restaurant was crowded with people who had come for breakfast, but among them, Mores stood out.

As always, his chubby face seemed to be enveloped in a particularly mysterious charisma today. The exorcist’s livery, which is not uncommon in Regina, also seemed to look more luxurious when worn on Mores’ body.

‘…Mores really is a bad guy.’

As Owen sits down with that thought in his mind, Mores scolds him as if he had been waiting for it.

“It’s late. If you haven’t slept, you should at least eat quickly. Surely you’re not going to complain about food as well as going to bed, are you?”

As his mouth opened, I felt the people eating around me prick up their ears as if they weren’t listening.

Just sitting there sipping tea, he was able to capture everyone’s attention, which was truly an incredible presence.

Moreover, wherever Mores went, there was a small flame that brightly lit up his head.

“Wow. That’s the rumored fairy… … .”

“Shhh! I can hear you. Lower your voice.”

The red flames moved briskly around Mores, occasionally munching on the snacks he threw at them. The completely tamed creature looked more like a pet bird he was raising than an ancient fairy.

Owen thought.

‘Come to think of it, didn’t Newbie do something like that once? There was a time when he suddenly summoned a small flame in the restaurant where our party was gathered. It was just that small in size, but the flame was so strong that one of the group’s legs got caught in it and disappeared in an instant.’

Then Sir Kurt approached them, bowed briefly to them, and asked.

“Your Majesty. Are you staying in Regina today as planned?”

“Yes, Sir Kurt. I have some business to attend to, so you can take the resident knights on a tour of the city.”

“If you tell me your destination, I will accompany you.”

“Oh, it’s okay. Sir Marsain will be with you the whole time. There will be a lot of camping days ahead, so while you’re in Regina, enjoy what you can.”

“Yes, I understand. Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Sir Kurt takes the example calmly and steps aside. He seems quite accustomed to taking orders from Mores.

“Oh, and Sir Robert?”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

“When you have time, stop by the church in the suburbs.”

Regina’s church is a place where exorcists and inquisitors traveling around the North must pass by at least once. Naturally, it becomes a place where the information they gather is gathered.

“I was going to tell you something from my side anyway. What would you like me to focus on?”

“First of all, I’m curious about the atmosphere of the Benso Marquisate. I’d also like to know the overall trend of the Repentance Church.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Lord Liber also naturally bows and leaves.

Owen looked at the sight and thought again.

‘Come to think of it, back in the day, newbies used to do that too. Before anyone knew it, they’d become everyone’s leader and give out orders as if it were a given. That little guy was so confident and intimidating, it’s still amazing to think about.’

Strictly speaking, Mores was truly the leader of this group. It was his natural position to give orders to everyone, but Owen easily dismissed that fact from his mind.

‘Is Mores really Lee Seong-jin…? … .’

Why didn’t I realize it until now? The more I look at it, the more I see that Mores has many similarities to a newbie.

The human heart is so deceitful. Up until yesterday, I had denied it with all my might, but now that I have finally acknowledged the possibility, doesn’t it seem as if I can see reason in all of Mores’ actions, as if they were lies?

“Oh, and Owen.”

“…huh?”

He was deep in thought, so his reply was a beat late. Then, Mores, who had finished giving his subordinates some general instructions, took a sip of Horok and Melbourn.

“You come with me to the logistics relay station today.”

“Logistics relay station?”

“Yeah. You have some spare cash, right? I have a really good investment product. Would you like to do business with me?”

“…business?”

“Oh. I guarantee you that this is a business that can easily earn you double, or even triple, the investment. If you give your permission, Branch Manager Schmidt will immediately prepare the contract for you.”

To Owen, who was just blinking blankly, Mores explained the general situation. He said that he was currently running a small and medium-sized company called ‘Bertran & Lee’ and was struggling to develop a northern distribution network from the bottom.

The outlook was bright. However, it was still a time when more initial capital was needed than profits, so they were looking for new investors with ample time.

“Logan has already invested most of his allowance into the top. He is the true top representative, with the largest stake.”

Owen wrinkled his nose unconsciously as he put the cooled stew into his mouth.

He is the best representative at the top, and is also the best sucker in Delcross. With Logan as the representative, is the top really okay?

Mores, noticing Owen’s hesitance, quickly added an explanation.

“Of course, I have a pretty big stake. And although it’s a relatively small amount, Sister Amelia and Sisley have already invested some of their allowance.”

“…Amelia and the youngest?”

“Yeah. Have you ever seen your sister do anything stupid?”

Well, I guess Amelia is trustworthy. Only then did Owen nod.

“That sounds pretty good. But I don’t have any money. You know, I’ve been tied up on the Southern Front so far and haven’t really had a chance to save any money.”

Then Mores looked extremely dumbfounded.

“What do you mean? I heard that every penny of your allowance is deposited in Hayden Bank every month, without a single penny left over.”

“…pin money?”

“Yes. Since you didn’t use it at all, it just kept accumulating interest for years. Now, it’s become a considerable amount.”

Oh, I see. Now that I think about it, I think I heard from the attendant that my father gave me a lot of money every month. I completely forgot about it because I never used it.

“… … .”

Owen stopped eating and felt a strange sense of sentimentality. Foolishly, he had thought that all he had up until now was the stuff he had collected from the [Pangaea Chronicle]. That was why he had been struggling to earn cash by buying gifts or something.

‘But come to think of it, I haven’t felt the need for money once in the past few years.’

This means that he was relatively well off even on the battlefield. This is a passage that lets us guess how many benefits he enjoyed as the prince of the empire.

‘And whether I forgot about the money or ignored it, my father just silently continued to support me. He must have thought it was my due.’

Suddenly Owen realized that he was thinking these thoughts with a much more relaxed mind than before.

Yes. Owen no longer considers what he has been given as too much. He knows that only by enjoying what he has in his hands is the fullest return for the love and care that has been bestowed upon him.

And he doesn’t think it’s a waste to pour all those precious gifts on his family. After all, isn’t everything he does for his family?

So he responded lightly to Mores.

“I see. I have a lot of money. Then there’s no need to explain in detail about investments and profits, which I don’t understand well. Anyway, Mores, you’re saying you need money now, right?”

“what……?”

“Okay, how much should I give you? Should I just go to the logistics relay station with you and sign the contract?”

Then, Mores suddenly frowned and glared at Owen. He seemed to be very dissatisfied with his answer.

“… You, have you never heard the saying not to sign carelessly?”

“Huh? Well… … .”

Feeling a vague sense of foreboding, Owen tilted his head to the side for a moment.

“Was it? I don’t remember very well. Why? Why did it have to be like that?”

Then whoosh-!

Mores, who was quickly raising his arms as if he was going to do something, suddenly stopped moving and clenched his fists!

“Oh, this idiot!”

Owen was quite taken aback by the sudden personal attack.

“What? What’s the problem! Why are you calling a sane person an idiot again?”

“Who in this world would just give you money just because you were told to invest? Don’t you think about doing some proper research? Didn’t I tell you to get your head together and live a proper life? Huh?”

Owen was dumbfounded.

“What, that’s why you’re angry? I don’t understand! Then you shouldn’t have asked for money in the first place!”

“You, Inma, don’t you understand at all right now! The problem isn’t that I asked for money, but that you give it away without thinking! Don’t you understand that yet?”

“No, what kind of nonsense is that… …!”

Owen, who had been getting angry without giving in, felt a shock as if he had been hit in the back of the head by the sudden realization.

Hey? Look at this.

Even if you do everything he asks, he still gets irritated out of the blue. Doesn’t Mores really resemble Newbie a lot?

* * *

The early morning sunlight casts a faint halo over her disheveled silver hair.

As time passed, the sunlight began to move, gently caressing the little girl’s white cheeks and the pink blindfold around her neck.

And then, soon, he crawls with difficulty to the feet of the Sword Master who has been staying up all night with the girl.

“… … .”

Logan sat motionless until daybreak, one hand on Arjuna’s handle, the other clutching a flat stone.

How much time has passed like that?

dripping.

“Your Majesty. Sir Otto would like to see you for a moment.”

With a small knock, a young Inquisitor entered the room. It was Ser Boris, who had been guarding Sisley recently.

“I have something urgent to report to the council. I will now stay by the saint’s side, so please go without worrying.”

“… … .”

Logan looked at the seemingly innocent face of the Inquisitor. He was still a member of the Inquisitors’ court, not one to be easily communicated with.

But lately, Boris’s attitude towards Sisley has always felt deeply sincere, so Logan was able to get up from his seat without any trouble.

“Yes, please take good care of Sisley, Sir Boris.”

And yet, Logan stood by Sisley’s side for a moment, reconfirming that his sleeping brother’s Auror was in perfect peace before finally leaving the room.

“Your Majesty, it looks like the council is finally making a decision.”

As soon as Sir Otto gave Logan an example, he opened his mouth urgently.

“What is decision?”

“We are setting sail. General Lysander, the Commander-in-Chief, has just ordered the assembly of the troops.”

“… I see.”

It was worth moving Valerie to hasten the church audit.

Logan strode forward, engaging in a quick exchange of words with Sir Otto.

“The organization of each knight order will be as previously discussed. It would be good to divide Lilium into three teams accordingly.”

“What about the stability problem of [ancient fire]?”

“General Lysander seems to be planning to load them in the center of the formation. Our punitive force will be stationed mainly on the outskirts, so they probably won’t have to deal directly with those tricky chemical weapons.”

As they were crossing the council courtyard, Logan’s keen senses detected an unusual commotion in the air in the distance.

“…lowering?”

When the prince suddenly stopped walking, Sir Otto looked back with a puzzled look. However, Logan gave him a small wave of his hand and then quietly focused his senses somewhere.

Just outside the council building, beneath a high wall overlooking the beach.

“… … .”

There happened to be a few laborers gathered there, in the middle of dumping the stones they had carried on their shoulders onto the ground.

Urrrrrr… … .

“What are all these?”

“Ah, this is what Councilor Ambrosius asked me to do. I see he’s suddenly starting repairs on the head tower.”

“Repair work? Why all of a sudden?”

“These days, there’s a famous story about a tower that brings about the curse of the sea breeze, right? So, before the punitive force sets sail, they cleanly reorganize the tower and call in priests to bless it.”

Ambrosius.

When his name was mentioned, Logan’s face hardened coldly.

“I see. But why did you bring all the dismantled stones here?”

“What did he say? He ordered us to bring all the stones from the lower part of the southeastern part of the tower. He said they were valuable for preservation as historical materials.”

“What a mess. If you’re going to preserve it, you’re going to preserve it all. Why are you only picking on the southeast?”

Logan, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, unconsciously felt around inside his uniform coat.

Hidden inside was a flat rock that Mores’ wolfdog had brought the night before.

* * *

The demon Glumgoss, or rather, Branch Manager Schmidt, was dumbfounded as soon as he greeted the prince and his party that he had been waiting for. He was so shocked that he didn’t even have the presence of mind to show proper manners.

It was because of the ominous flames hovering right above Prince Mores’ head.

“Your Majesty, what the hell is ‘that’…?”

Then, red flames began to circle around Branch Manager Schmidt as if threatening him. It was clear that he was strongly protesting the designation of ‘it’.

“That’s it, please be polite, Branch Manager. She is the ancient fairy who gave me the trials and blessings I have been given.”

“…Ancient… Fairy?”

In response to Prince Mores’s question, Branch Manager Schmidt opened his mouth stupidly, unable to continue speaking.

No, you’re joking, your Majesty. Isn’t that a great demon with magical powers, by any measure?

But why is the demon flying around in front of people with a sacred barrier?