Children of the Holy Emperor - Chapter 460



Only Noblemtl

460. Kaya’s Breath (9)

“… So, here, the evil spirit of the night… continues.”

Slurred speech leaks out from between swollen lips.

Olivier was currently kneeling on the floor, bowing his head to Prince Mores and struggling to make excuses.

The assassination squad she brought along was annihilated without even offering a single proper resistance. It was a desperate situation where she was the only one who barely survived.

“It is a pleasure for Ui to gather here, but it is almost impossible for them to stand against the Empire… … .”

But before he could finish speaking, a screeching roar was heard from the side. It was the ghost of a warrior wielding a huge club.

[You rascal! Why can’t you just tell the truth?! You should be ashamed of yourself for trying to cover up your mistakes, you apostate!]

“See… … .”

Olivier reflexively glared at the demon. After all, it was the battle with that warrior that had led to her being like this.

No, it was more of a one-sided assault than a battle. If you attack from this side, you become a spirit and scatter into the air, and if you attack from the other side, you receive a strong physical force back. Where in the world is there such an unfair fight!

‘Damn it! If that thing was a real person, I wouldn’t be getting beaten up like this!’

As Olivier was internally grumbling, Prince Mores, who had been quietly listening in front, opened his mouth.

“That doesn’t make sense.”

Compared to his young face, the aura radiating from him was full of a dignity that did not match his age.

“When we used the express carriage, you were just guarding Giovanni. You kept us under surveillance afterward, but I guess it was to ensure that we passed through the Freedom Underpass without any trouble.”

“Yeah… … .”

“But after we changed our schedule and arrived at Terre, you suddenly turned around and tried to kill us. Are you going to say that it was all a misunderstanding?”

“Ang, that’s-”

Just as Olivier was about to protest, a sinister evil spirit in black priestly attire suddenly appeared before her eyes.

‘Fuck, surprise!’

As Olivier stepped back in horror, the demon glared at her with wide, piercing eyes and gnashing its teeth.

Suddenly.

[This mortal dares to harm my master? A sin that can never be repaid with one death! Master! If you permit, your faithful servant will personally drag this to hell and collect the debt for a long time!]

“Eek!”

Olivier’s spine tingled. No wonder, that evil spirit was the one responsible for enveloping the entire assassination squad in black smoke and killing them all.

It seemed as if the madness and shrieks he would let out alternately back then were still ringing in her ears.

“Haze.”

Fortunately, when the prince stopped him, Olivier sweated and cleared his throat. If he couldn’t make a proper excuse now, he felt a sense of crisis that he would end up dying like this.

“I, I am just a subordinate following orders from above. It was just while I was carrying out my mission that information from the night shift got mixed up… … .”

* * *

In fact, the order Olivier first received was to capture the person whom Giovanni’s son was guarding, the Holy Emperor, and bring him to the headquarters.

-To be exact, it is a ‘doll’ of Seonghwang. Please collect it without damaging it, and deliver it to the wizard’s laboratory in the basement.

Safely obtain the homunculus, the culmination of the soul transfer technology possessed by the Kornsim clan.

It was worth the slight loss. Currently, ‘Kaya’s Breath’ was barely maintaining its power based on a head tower made of soul stones and a bio-doll with a salt crystal inserted.

By enslaving the souls of the already famous assassins of the previous generation to the head tower, and providing them with new bodies that have undergone a ‘ritual’, the time and cost of training personnel are drastically reduced.

That was the only secret to their maintaining their former power in Ortona, where there was not a single decent employer left.

However, as it is still an imperfect technology, its limitations are also clear.

Their bionic dolls replicated the soul’s fighting abilities, but were noticeably impaired in other areas of intellectual ability, including communication.

Also, because the connection with the head tower was so weak, even a slight spiritual shock would often cause the soul to be thrown far away.

It was perhaps natural that the leadership would make desperate efforts to supplement this.

-Do you understand? Olivier. The Holy Emperor’s doll, the Homunculus, has entered our sphere of influence for the first time. If we miss it this time, the next opportunity to obtain it may be lost forever.

A masterpiece of the Kornsim clan.

If we study homunculi, which are incomparably stable in terms of ‘soul settlement’, we will probably be able to sufficiently compensate for the weaknesses of bio-dolls.

So, in ‘Kaya’s Breath’, as an exception, a large number of people were dispatched to strongholds other than the capital city Brindisi, even building temporary towers.

– If that doesn’t work, you can just bring the homunculus’ head. The core technology for fixing the soul to the doll is definitely in the Dachion inserted into the head. Perhaps our magician teacher, who is crazy about research, will be able to figure out its function properly.

Olivier couldn’t help but wonder this.

-But is that really okay? Even if it’s just a doll, isn’t it directly harming the Emperor himself?

-I guess so.

-Wouldn’t that end up making you the wrath of the empire?

Although they were diligently recruiting assassins who were free from death, they were nothing more than a group of assassins. If they were to incur a grudge against the emperor of the most powerful empire on the continent, the end would be obvious.

But surprisingly, the leadership didn’t seem to care much.

-Don’t worry about that, Olivier. The Holy Emperor is bound by more restrictions than you can even imagine. So it’s likely that he won’t take it too seriously when it comes to things that happen to him. It’s not like it’s unprecedented.

-…Restrictions? Precedents?

-Yes. But that doesn’t mean he’ll just hand over the homunculus to us. We’ll probably have to do everything we can to completely subdue him.

The leader of ‘Kaya’s Breath’ declared so, and entrusted Olivier with as many puppets as he could mobilize. At this rate, there would be enough power to not fail even if they fell backwards.

So, until then, Olivier didn’t think much about the success or failure of this mission.

-Just keep in mind, Olivier. In the course of your mission, you must never, ever touch anyone other than the Holy Emperor.

-Oh, of course I will leave Giovanni’s son alive. I have that much discernment.

-Don’t listen to me carelessly! If you ever encounter the children of the Holy Emperor, especially the ‘prepared ones’, never… …!

-Yes, yes~ I said I understand. I was going to do it foolishly.

But what the heck. Once things start to get tangled up, it only takes a moment for everything to get completely messed up.

The first change occurred with the Seonghwang party. They were expected to move to Regina via the Benso Marquisate, but they suddenly abandoned their carriage and turned sharply north.

‘… Are you thinking of going to Terero? Why on earth?’

Thanks to this, Olivier had no choice but to change his mind about attacking them right away and watch their movements carefully for a while.

‘There are many people in the Free Underground who are anti-Empire. If we move rashly, their identities may be revealed, and problems may arise in capturing the homunculi.’

However, in the meantime, a big change occurred in the Free Underground. Prince Mores and his party, who were thought to be staying in Regina, suddenly appeared in the old brewery city of Verdron and made some kind of deal with Giovanni, the head of the Free Underground.

And that wasn’t the end of it. The prince and his party, who should have been safely sent to Regina, suddenly turned around and joined the Seonghwang and his party!

Of course, Olivier, who had been following Seong-hwang diligently, was completely unaware of this fact at first. Because of ‘Sabrina’ who suddenly appeared among them, there was great confusion in information for a while.

So, when Olivier, who had just finished preparing to attack Terre, found out too late that there was a ‘reserve’ there, he couldn’t help but be shocked.

‘Damn it! This is how things can go wrong! What do I do now?’

A difficult situation where you have to secure something at all costs, but are in the company of people you absolutely must not touch.

However, when it came to reporting to headquarters and asking for opinions, the presence of ‘Sabrina’, who was interfering with the information, became a huge obstacle.

Olivier, who had been worrying for a long time, finally came to this conclusion.

‘Let’s attack Tereh first. After we completely subdue them, we can just take out the homunculi and let the rest go unharmed.’

If you die while subduing, then that can’t be helped.

Olivier, who did not know the seriousness of the situation, simply thought that way.

‘If that doesn’t work out, there’s also a way to shift the blame to the Repentance Church.’

But things never go as she wants. Those who were sent to scout out were living their lives so clumsily that they would never have thought that the ‘one who was supposed to be’ would invite them to the secret base!

It may not seem like such a big deal that it took longer than expected to catch Sabrina.

As a result, Olivier had lost all his power and was sweating profusely, having to desperately come up with an excuse.

Of course, it was of no use in the face of Prince Mores’ sharp questioning.

“Although the North is outside the sphere of influence, the basic information network of the Empire still functions properly here. I haven’t heard any reports recently, but today I saw that they are gathering enough power to wipe out an entire territory.”

The prince pressed Olivier with a very serious expression on his face, even though he had single-handedly swept away that enormous power.

“That means you guys have only recently started gathering here. So there are two options to consider. Are you planning to start an all-out war with Marquis Benso?”

“to……?”

“Marquis Benso is a valuable partner who must continue to work with the Empire to rebuild the North. If you were to attack him, the Empire would not be able to sit by and watch.”

Marquis Benso? In partnership with the Empire? That can’t be… possible?

‘Wait a minute! There’s information that Branch Manager Schmidt, who is said to be a close aide to Prince Mores, has been working hard on something targeting the northern lords recently. There may be some kind of secret communication that we haven’t been able to detect!’

Olivier was half in doubt, but looking at the prince’s confident expression, it seemed like it wasn’t completely an empty promise.

Feeling anxious that things would get bigger than expected, Olivier strongly denied the prince’s words.

“Absolutely not me!”

“So then you were trying to attack Terre, not the Marquis of Benso. Are you trying to bury us all? Are you trying to kill me?”

madam!

Olivier, desperately racking his brain for an excuse.

“How could that be? As I said before, there was a big mistake!”

“misunderstanding.”

“Yes. I heard that a devil worshipper who has caused great harm to our organization is hiding in the Freedom Underpass… …!”

“… … .”

“That’s why I gathered all my strength! Haha. If the devil worshippers go wild, who knows what will happen? That’s why I prepared for it. Of course, if I had known you were here, I would have saved you in advance, somehow-”

Kieeeek!

In that moment, a sharp, ear-piercing scream rang out. It was an evil spirit wearing the usual black priestly robes.

[Watch your words!]

Beneath his sinister eyes glaring at Olivier, black tears of blood were flowing down like a waterfall. It was truly a sight I was afraid to see again in my dreams.

[This lowly thing! Who is it that is babbling such nonsense, living in someone else’s safety at will?]

Hey, what do you want me to do? If I say I planned to kill you, you’ll be mad, but if I say I actually tried to save you, you’ll be mad?

Fortunately, the Prince managed to restrain the evil spirit before Olivier could be captured by him.

“Hey, stop.”

[… I am sorry. I have overstepped my bounds. Lord of souls… … .]

As the evil spirit that seemed like it would cling to the ends of hell retreated obediently, Olivier became curious again.

What kind of person is that prince? What kind of ‘reserve’ is he, that even the boss tells him not to touch him, and that he can freely command such evil spirits?

“Then let me ask you one more thing. If you cornered us in the Free Underpass and prepared to attack us, can we assume that it was all Giovanni’s intention?”

The prince didn’t seem to believe the ‘devil worshipper’ issue she was talking about. She was like an unlovable brat.

Shudder.

At the same time, Eun-i, who was standing behind the prince, felt nervous and listened to the conversation. He seemed familiar, but Olivier couldn’t figure out why.

“Ah, Ang-i! This matter is completely separate from the Freedom Underground or the Blue Republican Revolutionary Front!”

Anyway, Olivier shook his head hurriedly.

Giovanni is one of the ‘King’s Seeds’ that ‘Kaya’s Breath’ is diligently watering. The effort invested so far was not insignificant for him to get caught up in this and lose it.

“Giovanni is a spider who knows nothing. He is just one of the clients who do business with our organization!”

Originally, a group of assassins could only increase their power by sticking close to a powerful king and becoming his lackeys.

However, there are currently only a few people left in the North who can be called ‘kings’. So, in order to create an environment where Kaya’s breath can grow naturally, we have no choice but to carefully nurture these few seeds.

“okay.”

But something strange happened. The prince, who had been expecting her to ask more detailed questions about his purpose, suddenly began to give off a cold aura.

“Then that means your plans changed after we joined up with our father.”

“… … .”

Ouch.

As Olivier trembled with foreboding, a cold, mineral-like glare passed over the Prince’s eyes as he looked down at her.

“Are you guys after your father?”