Children of the Holy Emperor - Chapter 440



Only Noblemtl

440. Reunion (2)

At Seongjin’s sudden shout, the coachman, who had been struck by lightning while sleeping, was startled and pulled the reins.

CLANG!

As the carriage came to a halt with a violent shake, Sir Martha, who had been sleeping in the corner, opened her eyes with a start.

“No, why are you making such a fuss all of a sudden? Kid. If we just run for one more day, we’ll get to Regina!”

The coachman, who had soon figured out the situation, began to question Sungjin harshly. Although his speech was impeccable, there was a thick Ortonian accent in his tone.

“This is enough delivery. We’re going to eat, so send us to the village now.”

“This little brat… … !”

The coachman looked embarrassed at the sudden outburst.

“That’s not right. Each special delivery has its own policy. So once you entrust yourself to the free underpass, you must follow the rules until the end!”

“Even if it’s a ‘special delivery’, it has to be done within a certain limit. How many days have you been starving us? You don’t really think of people as burdens when you treat us like luggage, do you?”

“You’re starving…? No, are you serious about that right now?”

The coachman glanced at Seongjin’s feet with a bewildered expression. There were traces of snacking scattered here and there on the floor of the wagon that could not be hidden.

But Seongjin raised his chin with a shameless face.

“Is that really your way? Do you secretly kill outsiders while protecting the organization’s secrets?”

“Speak sensibly! Asarani? Even at first glance, you and your group are still in good health.”

“What? So you’re saying that you’re not giving us the food that you’re giving to other people, but rather just checking it out?”

“No, that’s so unreasonable… …!”

The luggage, which had been quiet until now, suddenly became a super special case after eating something bad. The coachman was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t even respond properly and just opened his mouth.

Then, Marsain, who had been blankly watching their fight, asked Owen.

“Your Majesty, what is going on all of a sudden?”

But the answer I got back wasn’t very satisfying.

“Mores is very hungry, brother. I said I was trying my best to feed him… … .”

“…yes?”

“Well, listen, brother. I went and did all the daily quests that I normally don’t do, right? I thought I had fed Mores well by doing that. But… … .”

Marsain couldn’t ask him any more questions, because Owen looked more depressed than ever. The chicken feathers drooped in the night dew, looking extremely pitiful.

In the meantime, Seongjin’s arrogant and haughty behavior continued. The way he hung on to every word the coachman said was quite annoying.

Finally, the coachman, unable to bear it any longer, quietly changed the subject.

“Wasn’t this something that was already discussed in advance? I thought you already promised Giovanni that you would never invade any other strongholds in the area?”

Seongjin snorted inwardly.

I didn’t think he would entrust the special delivery to just anyone, but as expected, this coachman was told about the details of his deal with Giovanni. It must mean that he wasn’t just a low-level carrier.

‘Then they would have been ordered to watch us. They would have to be prepared for any unforeseen circumstances, so it is likely that they would be in a position where they can exercise some discretion during the transport process.’

Also, the assassins who have been following us since we parted ways with Giovanni are likely now under this author’s control.

Seongjin, who had thought that far, pretended to soften his voice and tried to appease the groom.

“Look. I’m not breaking my promise. I’m not asking you to send us to another base. We’ll procure our own food. Is it really that hard to just drop us off at a nearby town?”

“No, but… … !”

“As far as I know, there is a small town nearby called Terre.”

“… … .”

“It’s a town with a small population and even a decent inn. I know it well because I’ve visited it before when I traveled up and down the North. So I’ll go there again this time.”

Seongjin pretended not to know, but the coachman’s face showed a look of complicated agony.

Why not? No matter how secretly they operate their base, there are places where they are bound to be discovered if you think about it a little.

If there is one village where people live in a remote area, it must be the base of the Freedom Underpass. However, to say that it is not allowed there would be no different from revealing the location of the base with your own mouth.

But the coachman’s worries did not last long.

Currently, Sungjin’s group was in a special position in many ways. They were in the upper echelons of the empire, which was extremely difficult for the Blue Republic Revolutionary Front.

In addition, they have a troublesome demon contractor who may erode at any moment. They probably want to quickly shake Sungjin and his party out of the free underground passage.

That’s why they go to such great lengths to deliver super express. Even though they take turns in between, driving the carriages nonstop must be hard for them too.

“Okay. Then the special delivery ends here.”

Finally, the coachman sighed deeply as if surrendering.

“You may come down, child. I will tell Master Giovanni. Remember to keep the strongholds secret, and don’t forget to take care of that devil contractor.”

But after making the difficult decision, the boy who heard those words slumped down on the carriage floor again and leaned back comfortably!

Seongjin nodded his chin at the bewildered coachman.

“Why are we getting off here? Give us a lift to the village.”

“…what?”

“Why are you greeting us like you’re going to let us go? Weren’t you planning to follow us secretly for surveillance even after you dropped us off anyway?”

The astonished coachman’s jaw dropped, but Sungjin’s attitude as he stared up at him was utterly confident.

“So let’s not waste each other’s energy. Since we’re going anyway, why don’t we take it with us? Hurry up.”

“… … .”

“What? Why? What? Did I say something wrong?”

The groom’s gaze grew increasingly gloomy, but Seongjin ignored him and hugged the Demon King’s lamp, which was now warm.

* * *

Meanwhile, there were those who decided to walk instead of riding a perfectly good carriage. Number 21 changed its original plan to head to Regina and decided to head north with Seonghwang.

“It would be best to walk from now on. It would be too conspicuous to drive around in a carriage like this at a time when the harvest is almost over. Our party is clearly not a merchant.”

Fortunately, there was no significant backlash.

One of the party members is a Barsha barbarian who cannot understand speech, and the other is a woman who has no thoughts at all. Needless to say, the homunculus that contains the soul of the Holy Emperor is the culprit behind this.

Before leaving the canyon completely, No. 21 carefully hid the wagon at the entrance to the canyon. Then he took out a small, soundless flute from his bosom and blew it to signal his fellow informants to take over the wagon.

“Oh, it’s so loud. My ears are about to fall off!”

Of course, if you have trained your hearing with Auror, there are rare cases where you can detect this sound. 21 looked back at Edith with a puzzled face.

“Can you hear this? It’s probably not in the range that humans can hear well.”

“I know. I used it a lot when I was hunting in the mountains back in the day. When the wyverns hear this, they get really scared.”

“… … .”

No. 21 took a closer look at this strange woman. He knew that she was the Third Prince’s maid, but compared to her pretty appearance, her actions were extremely vicious. On top of that, she was a stronger aura user than he thought, and she even went hunting? He had no idea what her true identity was.

But Edith, knowing or not knowing his complicated mind, innocently handed him a small bundle of handkerchiefs. It was a strange, unpleasant object that was oozing red liquid, wrapped in something.

“…What is this?”

She is a woman who has slaughtered horse meat with her bare hands. When I frowned with instinctive aversion, Edith smiled innocently.

“Ink strawberries. Oh, don’t get me wrong. They’re so juicy that they’re called that, but they don’t actually make ink out of them. They’re edible.”

“I know. That’s not what I was asking.”

As I listened, it seemed like there was a rather sweet scent coming from the dripping red water.

“Where did this suddenly come from?”

“Oh, I just picked some from the bushes when I went to gather firewood. There weren’t many left, so I swept them all up. It’s rare for ink strawberries to remain this season, so I got lucky.”

Edith added, roughly running her reddened fingers along the hem of her skirt.

“This is something I really like, and as a thank you for helping us, I’ll give it to you, No. 21, as a special gift.”

“… … .”

Looking at that messy sight made me lose my appetite, but I couldn’t refuse such a pure favor. In the end, No. 21 cautiously accepted the bundle of handkerchiefs with a trembling face.

“Okay, then let’s go now.”

In any case, there was no more time to dawdle. I had to hurry now to get to the base of the free underground passage, ‘Tere’, before the sun set.

After checking his attire one last time, No. 21 reached out to the Holy Homunculus.

“Father Bart, you must be feeling a little worse than usual. Come here. I will carry you.”

But Seonghwang stared blankly at his hand for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

“It’s done. I’ll borrow the author’s hand.”

Then, she whispered something to Barshain and then really climbed onto his back!

Number 21 couldn’t hide his absurdity.

“Phew… Priest?!”

It was guessed that he had probably made some kind of threat to Barsha. Indeed, the look of disgust on Barsha’s face as he carried him was evident.

No. 21 became extremely anxious, not knowing when the author would abandon Seonghwang and run away.

“Didn’t I say I would help you? Why are you doing this?”

“Don’t you have a lot of things to worry about besides me? You should divide up the work appropriately for Iza.”

“No, what’s so hard about carrying a homunculus… … .”

Number 21, who had been mumbling like that, suddenly became serious.

Wait a minute. Are you really that much less trustworthy of me? Even more so than a barbarian like me who can’t even speak English? Huh? Is that so?

As No. 21’s expression grew increasingly grim, Seonghwang realized what he was thinking and hurriedly explained.

“It’s a misunderstanding. That’s not it, Enrique.”

“Then what is it!”

“It’s all for the safety of this Barshain. If this guy doesn’t serve me with all his heart, it’ll probably be hard to get the children’s forgiveness for a while.”

“Forgive me… okay?”

“Yes. I’m a little worried about what will happen to me later. But it wasn’t Lee Ja’s intention, so it ended badly.”

“… … .”

Although the explanation was extremely inadequate, No. 21 felt like he could understand something of what he was saying.

How much harm had that savage done to the Holy Emperor? When he first saw the blood-soaked priest’s robe, didn’t he himself almost lose his head? After pondering for a moment, No. 21 finally sighed and nodded.

So the strangely composed party of assassins, homunculi, palace maids, and Varsha barbarians began to trudge towards the northeast.

Thump thump.

No. 21, while leading the group, couldn’t focus on the guard because he was worried about the Holy Emperor and the barbarians. The barbarians, who could cause trouble at any moment, and the homunculus, who could break anywhere, were always on edge. With so many things to worry about, the bundle he was holding in his hand suddenly felt like a nuisance.

However, it was not possible to throw away the food that had been given to him. In the end, No. 21 spread out his handkerchief and picked up a red strawberry.

“… … .”

But at that moment, Seonghwang tilts his head and looks at Enrique.

His face was completely hidden by a thick hood, but 21 could instinctively tell that his gaze had briefly fallen on the hand holding the strawberry.

“… I think it would be best to stop, Enrique.”

“yes?”

“The flame created by that maid is more powerful than I thought. Perhaps that strawberry couldn’t escape the influence of the flame barrier.”

But unfortunately, it was only when he finally put one of the ink strawberries in his mouth that No. 21 realized what those words meant.

“… … ?!”

What an intense bitter taste that mercilessly tramples on the tongue and eventually shakes the brain!

“Whew!”

Number 21 quickly vomited out the ink strawberry. It was truly shocking and terrifying.

‘How can a perfectly good strawberry taste like gall?’

The only consolation was that Edith, the culprit behind this incident, also spat out the strawberry in shock. She wiped her messy mouth with her sleeve and looked at No. 21 with a dumbfounded face.

“Huh? That’s strange. Did it go bad because it was past its harvest time? Strawberries shouldn’t taste like this… … .”

Of course, No. 21 and Edith were unaware of the presence of the soul terminal circling around them and making loud noises.

[Father Seonghwang! Quickly, quickly, tell that savage to eat that too! Huh?]

[Your Majesty, Father! Hurry up, hurry up and do that, and I won’t be able to give you a little leniency!]

[Of course, this has nothing to do with Mores being angry!]

[Of course, Mores would never let this go!]

[No! We don’t need to forgive either!]

[Of course! Let’s have a blood festival together!]

Seonghwang sighed softly and slowly closed his eyes.