Imperial Guard - Chapter 34



Only Noblemtl

Episode 34

Heavenly Emperor

Rain of the Rain Knights.

He liked people’s attention.

Even though I had reached the level of a beginner sword master, that thought still remained.

‘This festival will be fun too.’

In particular, the Celestial Festival was one of his favorite events.

Because you can get along with people under the pretense of arresting suspicious people.

‘They say there’s a monster at the Academy… I’m especially looking forward to that guy. Will I ever get a chance to meet him?’

Lane was particularly fond of the new strongman.

He thought the empire needed a breath of fresh air.

That was also the reason why all the promising seedlings were accepted into the Knights of Rain.

“Anyone is fine! If my sword is pushed back even a little, I will give you one imperial gold coin!”

This kind of event was also a process of finding the strong.

It’s true that they wanted attention, but the Knights of Rain needed to become stronger.

To do that, we had to bring talented people to the Knights of Rain.

“In a sword vs. sword duel…! Oh, are you a participant?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“The entry fee is one dong coin. Please put it in the basket in front of you.”

Rain smiled as he watched the contestants come up on stage.

He was a man wearing a strange mask, but I didn’t feel any particularly strong magical power.

‘Your posture is not good either… Are you a beggar passing by?’

Judging by his rough gait, he was definitely not a nobleman.

I thought maybe it was a beggar or a commoner wearing a mask and coming up from a festival.

Soon the masked man raised his sword.

Until then, Lane had not been wary of the man in front of her at all.

Woojikkeun-

“uh?”

However, when his center of gravity foot cracked the stage.

Rain instinctively tightened his grip on the wooden sword.

“Wait, you didn’t use magic power···!”

Rain watched the sword swing down from above, drawing up his magical power.

If I was hit directly by that sword, my head would definitely shatter.

Rain thought the other person used magic first.

In his common sense, it was impossible to achieve that speed without horsepower.

Kwaaaaang-!

A thick blade rose from Rain’s wooden sword.

It was a sudden surprise attack, but Rain focused and blocked the wooden sword.

Fortunately, I didn’t take a single step back, but a tingling pain remained in my hand.

Because I pulled out my magic power in a hurry, I wasn’t able to defend properly.

“evil!”

And the next moment, the top of the broken wooden sword struck Rain’s head.

He looked straight ahead, squinting his eyes.

“What the hell. If you use magic! … Where did it go?”

Rain looked around, summoning up his magic.

The man who had been in front of me until just now was no longer visible.

All that remained in that place was a broken wooden sword.

‘What the heck···.’

Rain picked up the broken wooden sword with a dumbfounded expression.

He judged that his opponent was at least graduate level.

If someone you know is playing a prank, you can figure out who it is by reading the magical patterns contained in the wooden sword.

However, the expression on Rain’s face as he held the wooden sword was crumpled.

“You said it didn’t contain any magic power?”

It was strange when I thought about it.

The fact that the opponent used magic power means that it was a clash of swords of the same strength, but only the opponent’s sword broke while Rain’s sword was intact.

“That’s such a ridiculous thing···.”

Lane clenched and unclenched his fists, still feeling the pain in his cold wrists.

If he can be that strong with just his physical body… how strong would he be if he used magic power?

“Captain. Are you okay?”

Rain, who had been standing there blankly, shouted at the knights around him.

“just now···.”

“Yes, yep!”

“I just found that guy.”

Rain smiled brightly, looking at his cold wrist.

We have finally found the person who will bring a new wind to the empire.

*

Lael hid in an alley in District 2, wearing a mask.

As a captain who patrols District 2, Rael knows the places that are hard to find.

“··· I almost got screwed.”

The magic tool that Tia made was effective, as expected.

As soon as I breathed in the magic power, the disappearance and stealth were activated, allowing me to escape the stage.

It would have been difficult if Rain had been concentrating the whole time, but fortunately he was flustered by Rael’s attack.

“But why are you so weak when you’re just a beginner Sword Master?”

Rael peeked his head outside and looked at the cracked stage.

Even though Rael admitted that his life was fucked up, he still had thoughts.

I didn’t mean to attract that much attention.

‘Should I have adjusted my strength a bit? No, my opponent is a beginner Sword Master?’

Rael just wanted to test how strong he was.

I had no intention of destroying the stage.

“Find the white mask! The first impression is that it’s wearing black leather clothes!”

Rael looked at the Knights of Rain scattering around him and put the mask into his bosom.

“Please give me just a penny…”

And then he approached a beggar who was begging in an alley corner.

It was a guy I remembered seeing at Bagus.

“Hey. Do you know my face?”

“Huh? Oh, I know that, but···.”

“Give me some clothes.”

Rael snatched the clothes of a beggar who looked somewhat decent and put them on.

It did smell a little, but I wouldn’t be suspicious at this level.

Rael rejoined Reina with a natural look on his face.

She was waiting with chicken skewers a little way from the stage in Rain.

“Hey! Where have you been? I was waiting for you.”

“Sorry. I saw people walking around all of a sudden, so I came over to take a quick look around.”

“Aha. Some crazy guy beat up the leader of the Rain Knights and ran away. The Rain Knights are in chaos. He’ll probably get beaten up if he gets caught.”

“··· What a guy. He’s so fearless.”

Rael shook his head as if he didn’t understand and picked up the chicken skewers that Reina had given him.

The chicken skewers were delicious, as expected from a medieval restaurant.

“But why did you change your clothes?”

“··· A change of mood.”

Let’s walk a little further, and this time we see another event with a lot of people.

This was a dagger-throwing event run by a large mercenary group in District 2, where you had to hit a mark.

‘I saw this in the original too.’

These guys are scammers who make things more difficult than they appear.

However, it is a short, educational episode where the main character wins all the prizes with an absurd accuracy rate.

“··· Reina. I’ll give you money, so buy another chicken skewer. Keep the change.”

Rael handed Reyna a silver coin.

“You clearly told me to take the remaining money?!”

While I was going to buy chicken skewers because Reina said they were good.

Rael put on his mask again.

The Rain Knights haven’t arrived yet, so we have to finish them off before they do.

‘Just one more time. Let’s test it just one more time.’

There are more than 10 events that the protagonist enjoys in the heavenly realm.

Since it wasn’t an important episode, I didn’t think touching on two of them would have a butterfly effect.

‘I would never have done this a year ago···.’

Anyway, the butterfly effect can happen anywhere as long as Rael is alive.

However, the only way to objectively compare the power of the protagonist and Rael is through one or two light events.

“Welcome! The entry fee is 1 donghwa···.”

Rael threw the fairy tale without even listening to the mercenary’s full words.

Then, he picked up the dagger and threw it at the target in the center.

Kwaaaaang-!

The target hit by the dagger sounded like a bomb had exploded.

Not only did the target break, but the wall behind it also collapsed.

“What, what! You kid! Hey, hey. Where did you go?”

“Huh? This kid! I rigged the target!”

“That’s not it···!”

The people who had paid the mercenaries approached with angry expressions.

The mercenary whose wall had collapsed looked around with a bewildered expression, but the masked madman had already disappeared.

*

Reina, holding chicken skewers in both hands, tilted her head at Rael.

“I bought chicken skewers… Huh? Your clothes changed again?”

“··· Oh. I bought a new one because something got on it.”

“It does smell a bit, considering it’s mountainous… Well, that’s how all clothes made by humans are.”

Rael thought as he received the chicken skewers that Reina gave him.

‘Was I this strong?’

Of course, physical strength and fighting power are different.

If there is no sword energy, you cannot penetrate the sword energy, and if there is no sword cavity, you cannot penetrate the sword cavity.

There is a reason why people put in the effort to learn magic.

However, it was unimaginable that even simple physical abilities would surpass the protagonist.

‘There was a reason why Tia was so excited.’

I knew Rael was pretty strong.

He wasn’t the kind of person who would kill a lieutenant demon single-handedly and think of himself as weak.

I was just taken aback because it was stronger than I thought.

“But those clothes really don’t suit you. Can’t you just change into what you were wearing?”

“···.”

Rael ignored Reina’s words and walked away.

He himself did not want to wear beggar’s clothes.

I looked around feeling embarrassed for no reason, and I saw a familiar figure.

“Hey. Reina.”

“Yeah, you made a good choice. But apart from the chicken skewers, you have to buy the clothes with your own money.”

“Stop talking nonsense. Isn’t that Ghent?”

“huh?”

Reina looked into the corner at Rael’s words.

A giant was seen hiding behind a large wall, watching the humans.

Ghent was looking at the people on the street with a focused face.

‘Something feels off.’

Lael looked at Ghent with trembling eyes.

What is it about that big thing looking at humans from behind the wall?

I feel like a pervert uncle.

“It feels a little bad, doesn’t it?”

“··· Don’t say it out loud.”

Well, I guess you have a hobby like that too.

It’s not illegal, and even giants have the right to like humans.

Lael left Ghent behind and walked back towards the Blue Tower event.

“Get out of the way! The Second Princess is passing by!”

At that moment, a loud voice was heard from behind.

When I turned my head, I saw the Knights of Kamen walking towards me in formation.

‘Are you protecting the royal family and high-ranking nobles?’

I thought you were going to be out and about from the second day, but it looks like your schedule has changed.

Rael stared at the people guarded by the Knights.

And then I found a familiar face.

‘Ms. Yuri.’

After meeting Rael’s eyes, she lowered her head as if nothing had happened.

Dressed in luxurious attire and protected by the Knights Templar, Yuri looked completely different from the special guards.

It definitely exuded a royal air.

“Ra, Rael. Let’s go quickly to the blue tower you wanted to see.”

Reina looked at Rael and pulled his arm.

If he happened to recognize Yuri, it would be a big problem.

The fact that Yuri is a member of the royal family is a secret that the general public cannot know.

“Come quickly. Hurry up. You’ll be late.”

Kook- Kook-

Rael blinked as he watched Reina tugging at his clothes.

‘You’re really bad at acting.’

To this extent, even an ignorant person would suspect that something is wrong.

Rael looked at the Knights of Carmen as he was dragged away by Reina.

The Knights of Carmen walked in the direction Rael was going, keeping a close watch on their surroundings.

“Reina. Second Princess. She’s really pretty. Isn’t she?”

“Uh, uh? Uh… Is that so?”

“Yeah. I think I’ve seen it somewhere.”

“There’s no way…? It must be an illusion. Yeah, yeah. Oh, I guess it’s because I’m hungry. Do you want to eat my chicken skewers too?”

“Swoop. Where was it···.”

“I told you to eat my chicken skewers!”

Lael walked away, teasing Reina, who was poking at the chicken skewers.

‘But why are you going south?’

But then I suddenly became curious.

The only thing in the south is the Academy, so is there any reason for the royal family to go there?

‘··· And where are the kids who would let people know that the royal family is moving?’

In the Empire, the blood of the royal family is the same as the god of the cult.

Even if there are Knights of Carmen, it makes no sense to expose them to danger like that.

‘I need to look at that carefully too.’

The golden rope of the next emperor that was finally caught cannot be broken.

Rael walked forward, glaring at the backs of the knights.

“Hey, come here!”

Reina dragged Rael along and headed to the Blue Tower event venue.

“Here, look at that. Rael. They say they’ll give you money if you solve magic puzzles.”

Lael looked at the event at the Blue Tower.

Originally, this place was an empty lot used as a garbage dump.

In Bagus, they used beggars to clean up the trash and provide it to the Blue Tower.

‘An empty lot where there was nothing changed so much overnight.’

Rael looked around curiously.

Huge tables and glittering magic tools were visible everywhere.

In the empty lot, various types of wizards, from low level wizards to high level wizards, were sitting and holding various events.

Originally a place where people could gamble and do other things, this time it was strangely large in scale.

‘Is it really because of me?’

Lael entered the Blue Tower event hall half in doubt.

“If you are here for the first time, please come this way! Solve the magic puzzle prepared by the Blue Tower and you will receive a prize!”

Lael walked to the information desk and spoke to Reina.

“Raina. Go do that and make some money. You know you still owe me money, right?”

“I see…! Don’t worry. There’s no way an elf would be defeated by a human wizard.”

“Excuse me. How do I do this?”

Upon arriving at the information center, Rael spoke to the smiling male wizard.

“Welcome! We have prepared three events at our Blue Tower…”

He began his tour with a bright smile.

“······.”

And Rael, upon seeing the male wizard, stopped in his tracks without realizing it.

For the first time in a long time, his senses were working properly.

I felt a cellular ominousness from the man in front of me, the kind you feel when you encounter a strong person.

He was stronger than the Rain I just met.

There is only one wizard in the Blue Tower who is that strong.

‘This guy… seems like Fermat?’

Rael gulped at the unexpected encounter.

*

The Knights of Carmen are a knightly order that protects the imperial family.

They pursue honor rather than power, and are loyal to the empire.

The most honorable position among them is, of course, that of Commander of the Knights.

The character of the Knight Commander who leads the Knights of Carmen was also visible in the room.

His room was far from extravagant.

Only the necessities were neatly organized, and the proud insignia of the Knights of Carmen on the wall was the only decoration.

“Let’s focus our defenses on the west side of Sector 2.”

“Yes! I understand.”

The commander of the Knights of Kamen and the strongest knight in the Empire.

Gideon Garcia.

He was looking at the heavenly plan with an expression that showed no emotion.

His proudly pinned shoulders gave off a sense of confidence and majesty, and his mere presence aroused fear and respect.

‘The demon’s movements are abnormal.’

Gideon frowned and thought.

Recently, the demon tribe beyond the ban has been increasing its activity.

It’s a runaway mess of trash that poses a threat to the empire.

‘At this rate… war will definitely break out before the next emperor is chosen.’

They were searching all over the empire as if they were looking for something.

However, only Gideon was able to detect the changes in the movements of the demons in the empire.

The Kamen Empire is not yet ready for war.

‘We can’t attract attention by having demons invade the lower areas.’

The situation was urgent now.

The Empire cannot unite quickly by sacrificing the scum of the lower sectors.

In times like these, great sacrifices are required.

“Guilford.”

“yep!”

“The Second Princess and a few nobles should be placed in the south. It seems safer there given the knights’ placement.”

Gideon thought of the lowest-ranking princess and the nobles who were occupying their places uselessly.

These were the fuels that made the empire run.

“All right.”

A crisis is needed to unite the empire.

It didn’t matter whether it was a demon or a warlock.

“Make sure to announce loudly that the princess is heading south.”

Humans maintain order when there is visible sacrifice, and nations become more united when they face a strong enemy.

The death of the royal family and nobles would enrage the Empire.

The Empire will unite and be reborn as an even stronger Empire.

Gideon had no doubts about his own thoughts.