CH 21

The Holy Emperor said it wasn’t actually the of time he used Aura that affected that affected the change, but an enormous amount that a person could not reach even if they worked hard for a lifetime.

-What level do you think that level is? Even if you devote your life to it, how many people will reach even the tip of it!

Suddenly, he remembered that Marthain had burst into anger at Seongjin. Did he say to abandon the idea of ​​learning anything from this guy?

When Seongjin’s expression became subtle, the Holy Emperor took that as a sign of understanding and continued talking.

“Hmm, that’s because the passage eats up more than expected, so it’s just that the amount of Aura dragged in inevitably increased. It didn’t go to such a dangerous situation.”

It seems that yesterday’s Aura storm was an accident that was not expected by the Holy Emperor. Falling down from exhaustion was probably not in his plan.

“As expected, you used the Aura directly from the outside, didn’t you? How is that possible?”

“Didn’t I tell you before? When you reach a certain level, go where you want to go……”

“Ah, yes.”

Sir Marthain was right.

He doesn’t think this will be of much help.

After that, time passed quickly as they talked about swordsmanship training and Aura training.

“Can you watch my swordsmanship next time?”

After this guy took care of him for a while, his Aura performance increased dramatically. Could swordsmanship be possible in that way?

Seongjin expected that, but the Holy Emperor’s reaction was sluggish.

“That might be difficult. I’ve never formally learned swordsmanship from the basics, so I don’t know what to teach.”

Yes? You self-study swordsmanship?

“By the time I met someone who could be called my teacher, my sword was already strayed. A sword he can neither sharpen nor teach anyone, so he said.”

Wow, you really are a guy with no common sense.

Some people wield weapons at random for decades and develop a bad habit, while others wield them at will and invent their own style of swordsmanship?

The Holy Emperor glanced at Seongjin’s bewildered face before adding.

“Still, it seems possible to clash swords for fun. After praying, let’s have a sparring session.”

So while I’m gone, practice quietly. Don’t make trouble.

That’s what the Holy Emperor was saying.

That evening, news of His Majesty’s closed prayer spread throughout the imperial palace.

And even after that night passed, the demon king’s soul did not return.

* * *

[Sniffle.]

Ah, what is it?

[Huuhuuu.]

Don’t cry. You’re not a kid, what are you doing grossly?

[Huwaaahhh.]

Please don’t cry. It’s noisy, so don’t cry but talk.

[… call… sniffle.]

What, punk?

[Call me.]

Oh, alright.

“… Ah, so noisy. Calling. I’m calling……”

Seongjin opened his eyes in surprise at his own voice.

Chirp chirp. As always, birds chirping in the garden.

After blinking a few times, Seongjin’s spirit completely returned. Faint sunlight streamed in through the curtains covering the large windows, illuminating the entire room in a dim light.

He rubbed his eyes and rose from his bed.

Did he have a dream?

He thinks he heard that stupid guy keep whining?

‘… Demon King?’

Still no answer.

Seongjin sighed and scratched his head. Now, he feels like he has to admit that the Demon King has completely disappeared.

But what was his name?

* * *

“Okay. Did you go and speak directly to His Majesty yesterday? Did you hear anything else about the closed prayer?”

Marthain, who approached with a wooden sword, asked with a slightly strange expression.

“There was nothing special about it. Why?”

“It’s because the timing is a little off.”

“Is that so?”

After morning meditation, Seongjin was doing some light stretching.

Behind them, several resident knights are circling the gymnasium in an undisturbed posture. Ever since Sir Marthain began appearing in the Pearl Palace, the resident knights were literally changing day by day.

Well, they are going to die.

“Father said it happens sometimes?”

When Seongjin turned around and said something insignificant, Marthain slightly furrowed her eyebrows.

“It’s the same as the supreme ruler of the empire is leaving the capital. Could it be that simple?”

It is said that person usually go into prayer to ask for help from the Main God when the imperial family is in trouble or the empire is facing a national crisis. The last time he went to the closed prayer two years ago, the southern front was actually at a very precarious time.

“But isn’t there no clear cause now?”

In addition, the birthday banquet of the Holy Emperor was approaching in two months.

A sensitive time when royal families, high-ranking nobles, and envoys from each kingdom and grand duchy gradually adjust their visit schedules.

Then Marthain added half-heartedly.

“Of course, since His Majesty is doing it, I guess there must have been an important reason.”

Marthain evades with a confused face.

Soon, the two were absorbed in class.

The standard swordsmanship of the Imperial Knights entered the movement 5.

It was definitely fun to learn a new movement, but he also wondered if it was a bit rushed. When he questioned Marthain, he looked at Seongjin with a very proud face and smiled.

“You already know how important it is to lay a solid foundation. That’s wonderful. However, once you make it to the third layer of the Aura, you can only practice movement 1 and 2 for a while after initiation. You’ll get bored enough, so let’s slow down for now.”

Is that so.

Seongjin moved the wooden sword countless times following the newly learned movement and fell into a trance.

There is a definite difference between wielding a weapon against monsters at random and sophisticated swordsmanship with human combat in mind. It was fun.

The resident knights who were training at the gymnasium were watching his movements one by one, but Seongjin didn’t notice it.

The morning training time passed in the blink of an eye.

“By the way, Your Highness. The Aura around your body has become really active. That’s just how fast the stamina increases. At this rate, I think you will be able to come and build the second layer sooner or later.”

“Huh?”

Seongjin blinked at Marthain’s words.

“Oh, didn’t I tell you? Sorry. Actually, I made the second layer last night.”

“… Yes?”

It was a pity that the afternoon training was cut short because he went on a visit yesterday. So, he meditated a little longer than usual before going to bed at night, and the second layer was created.

As he explained that, Marthain’s expression changed to something worth seeing.

“Feeling an Aura, the second layer in one day……”

“Yeah, now if I build one more layer, I can come and start the exercises in earnest, right?”

The minimum standard for draining a sufficient amount of aura from the short circuit to both limbs is the third layer of Aura. When you build those three layers, you can start practicing weaving Aura in swordsmanship movements.

If you start initiation like that, then you can officially call yourself an Aura user.

Unlike Seongjin, who was very excited, Marthain seemed a little shocked.

“No, why did someone who can do this well, up until now……”

Seongjin shrugged at Marthain, who was muttering blankly.

He made up his mind to pull it, and the Aura in the air came into his body more easily than he thought. It’s a huge improvement compared to the previous times when he couldn’t even detect Aura.

Perhaps being caught up in an Aura storm has made him a little more Aura-friendly. Or, because he had a habit of using monster energy, it was relatively easy to use Aura.

Anyway, at this speed, it seemed like he could become stronger than he thought.

Seongjin, who happily wrapped up his wooden sword and turned to the Pearl Palace for lunch, paused for a moment and looked at the fence of the gymnasium.

“… Huh?”

Is it because of the mood? Something feels wrong?

It was a strange feeling that he had never felt before.

“Why are you doing that, Your Highness?”

Marthain approached, puzzled, but Seongjin calmed down a little more without answering.

Even when he was originally a hunter, he was praised for having a different sense than other colleagues.

Even now, it’s nothing compared to when he was in his prime. However, some of the senses that had been sharpened to the limit were still intact, and somehow, in a hurry, they caught the eyes looking toward the gymnasium.

“Sir Marthain. Who is over there?”

“Yes?”

Marthain blinked his eyes for a moment, not knowing why. However, his complexion soon changed and he shouted in a low voice to one of the resident knights standing nearest to him.

“Sir Kurt! There is someone spying on the Pearl Palace!”

“Yes? Spying?”

A mature knight called Kurt asked with a dumbfounded face.

“Can you feel anything?”

“It’s faint, but it’s definitely nearby. They’re a person who controls their aura quite skillfully. It just seems like they’re not used to completely erasing their presence.”

“… Are you saying they’re not an assassin?”

“I think it’s close to a knight, but I’m not sure yet.”

Sir Marthain instructed him with a determined face.

“Right now, search the area around the gymnasium. Divide into two groups and create an encirclement from the entrance of the gymnasium to the back gate of the Pearl Palace without any gaps.”

Sir Kurt was still dubious, but he didn’t particularly dispute the words of the knight commander, who was known for his skill.

As if he was accustomed to leading the resident knights, he quickly divided the number of people and led one of them and ran out. Soon all the knights, except for the minimum number of escorts, left and the gymnasium was empty.

“I think they already noticed……”

Seongjin looked towards the back gate of the Pearl Palace in the distance, estimating the presence quickly moving away.

Was it necessary to start the search so conspicuously? Look. That hurriedly running away figure.

“It seems like a formidable opponent, wouldn’t it have been better if the Sir, the strongest knight, had hit the back alone?”

“Because it’s formidable, I can’t leave the side of Your Highness.”

Marthain put his hand on the sword at his waist and answered with a grim face. Judging by the twitching of the muscles in his forearms, he is probably holding back from wanting to jump out.

Well, even if you usually look docile, he’s still the captain of the knights. When he’s so serious, Marthain has a slightly intimidating face.

‘Swinging a wooden sword in this atmosphere is a bit much, let’s just sit and meditate.’

He was thinking such a carefree thought while everyone was rigidly stiff, but after a while, the resident knights trudged back to the gymnasium.

As expected, they were empty-handed, but the face of Sir Kurt, who had led them out, had turned serious.

“A paladin was wandering around the Pearl Palace. He noticed and ran away before we could even create a siege.”

“Did you check who it was?”

“Unfortunately, the distance is far, so to the identity… But I definitely saw the pattern of the black sword engraved on the knightly uniform.”

A black sword wrapped in a golden chain.

“Holy Knights of Marcias!”1

“Perhaps so.”

Seongjin silently listened to the conversation between the two.

‘The Holy Knights?’

Come to think of it, he remembered that the Demon King had grumbled the other day. There are five useless Holy Knights in the imperial palace.

They declare that they will inherit the names of the five great saints, and depending on their purposes, they are said to carry out their own duties in different departments.

Among them, the demon king emphasized to Seongjin that he had to be extra careful with the Holy Knights of Marcias. Probably because the department they are based in.

“… The Heresy Court.”

Sir Marthain’s face contorted.

“As if those ungodly men had been waiting for you as soon as His Majesty was gone……”

Sir Kurt spoke to Marthain in a low voice.

“With the exception of some paladins, access to the Pearl Palace is strictly restricted. If they ignored it, could it be that His Excellency Cardinal Benitus himself gave the order?”

“Looking at how quickly he ran away, it shouldn’t be like that. There is a high possibility that it’s the work of an individual, below the commander of the knights.”

“Shall we ask the Heresy Court?”

“It will be useless. Even so, it is a department with a strong closed atmosphere, and there is no way they’ll give an answer easily with that dishonest stance.”

Marthain thought for a while with a hard face, then smacked his lips with a slightly uneasy expression.

“There is no other option for now. First of all, we have no choice but to further strengthen the security of the Pearl Palace until His Majesty returns.”

And the two knights looked at Seongjin’s face at the same time as if they had planned it.

Marthain had an expression of concern, and Sir Kurt had an expression of admiration.

“Anyway, you’re really great, Your Highness.”

Sir Kurt stuck out his tongue.

“How did you know the spy was hiding? I didn’t even notice it at all.”

“Huh? well, I just felt a little strange, so I checked.”

In the past, even among hunters, he had a high reputation for searching for monsters, but he can’t say that.

Seongjin scratched his cheek while receiving the gaze of the resident knights who were a little amazed.

In fact, it’s best not to say that there was one more spy a little further away. Run far away anyway, since it seems wrong to catch it already.

* * *

A secluded garden quite far from the Pearl Palace. A man staggered down the small side road to the administration building and sat down on the ground gasping for breath.

“… Huff, huff, huff!”

The skinny middle-aged man, breathing heavily, was wearing a white priestly uniform with the Main God’s pattern engraved on it.

Originally tidy clothes are now crumpled, stained with sweat and dirt. It was because as soon as he saw the movement of the resident knights, he turned around and ran like crazy, and then even rolled a couple of times on the street.

“Cough! Cough!”

The man trembled, breathing heavily as if he were about to die.

But the expression on his face was more of joy than pain. His slender cheeks were wet with tears and sweat.

“… At last!”

After taking a deep breath, a sobbing voice escaped from the man’s mouth.

“Here at last! He is here!”

As the long years passed, his strong faith also gradually faded. Even so, when he heard rumors that the trash had turned into a completely different person, how anxious he was at the thought of just in case.

He was able to see it with his own eyes, taking advantage of the moment when the monitoring of the castle was neglected.

And he realized. His long hours of endurance were never in vain.

“To this place… He said he would come!”

The wait was long, but in the end it happened as He said.

Then.

“… In the future, everything will be done as you wish!”

After that, the man did not know how to move with his head bowed on the dirt floor in a reverent posture for a long time.

T/N:

1Previously I wrote these as [Knights of Saint X], but I decided to change it into [Holy Knights of X]. I’ll fix the previous chapters later if I have the chance but just keep in mind that they’re the same phrase.