Book 2: Chapter 264: So what if you are the Emperor? (4)

<So what if you are the Emperor? (4)>

“Sir, I will see you in a week.”

Wiesha said goodbye to Cale with a stiff look on her face.

Cale had held nothing back and shared all of the information he had gathered in the third floor of the basement.

“Please take care of the preparations.”

“Yes sir.”

The Elf Guardian and the top executives, all surrounding the White Snake, had determined looks on their faces.

Cale looked at them before making eye contact with Lock, standing at the edge of the group.

The Wolf tribe leader and Koukan were with Lock.

Cale’s mind recalled the information the others had gathered from the first and second floors of the basement.

‘Cale-nim, they are doing physical experiments with Beast people.’

‘It was not just to Beast people but humans as well!’

‘Ryan, this crazy son of a bitch.’

‘There was a place of prayer to worship the Dragons as gods as well.’

‘There was a prison on the second basement level. The Beast people there were still alive, but they were in terrible conditions.’

‘Children, youth, middle-aged, and the old… They were imprisoned by age and gender.’

Cale recalled how Lock’s voice had been shaking as he reported.

Once he shared Letao’s story with Lock, Cale asked him a question.

‘Do you want to go to the capital?’

Lock shook his head.

‘I want to stay here, Cale-nim.’

He then added on.

‘But I, I want to go with you next week to the final execution.’

Cale had no reason to deny that.

Only Cale and the children averaging ten-years-old were going to the capital this time.

He looked at Choi Han as he spoke.

“I contacted Sheritt-nim so everybody should gather here within the week.”

“Yes, Cale-nim.”

Cale was planning on calling over all of the Beast people on his side, such as Witira, and Archie, who were not here right now.

It was better for fellow Beast people, who understood Beasts and could go berserk, to rescue the imprisoned Beast people.

‘Furthermore, the Beast people can fight outside the domain of my Dominating Aura.’

Aipotu. They were existences that could be free without being influenced by the suppressed state of this world.

Ryan’s castle.

They were the best suited for flipping over this place that was like a large village.

“I will be waiting here, Cale-nim.”

Cale motioned to Raon with his eyes after Choi Han finished saying goodbye.

“I got it, human!”

Ooooooooong-

There was a gentle rumbling before the teleportation magic circle released a black light.

Paat!

Once the light subsided, Cale and the children averaging ten-years-old were no longer visible.

“I will see you all at the meeting in a little bit.”

Choi Han took Lock and the others and left first.

Wiesha and the top executives all remained. Their faces stiffened the longer the time passed.

“Wiesha.”

The Elf Guardian was the first to speak.

“We need to awaken the sleeping ones this time.”

The sleeping ones.

This was how they addressed the Beast people who existed from before the cataclysmic period, the ones who had yet to be hunted by the church.

They were not as strong as the White Snake, but they were all strong and capable of going berserk.

Of course, there were only a few of them, but each and every one of them were strong enough to survive against a member of the Dragon half-blood Knights Brigade. ꞦÀƝÖ𝖇Εŝ

Aipotu.

In this world, the living could be called the strong.

“…….”

Wiesha kept her mouth closed as she raised her head.

She could see the ceiling of the cave. Compared to the luxurious temple-like laboratory in the basement of Ryan’s castle, no, this place was so shabby and dirty, and empty that it could not be compared.

“Ha-”

She couldn’t help but sigh.

Her body was not good because she had her life force taken away in order to reach the foundation of this world, but…

“Yeah.”

Her eyes were burning brighter than ever before.

“If any of those idiots are still sleeping in this chaotic mess, we need to wake them all up.”

She asked the Elf Guardian.

“Do you have messengers?”

The White Snake told the Elf Guardian the message to the nodding Elf Guardian.

“Tell them all to gather in front of me.”

She then added on.

“Tell them I’ll pummel them to death if they try to avoid the summon.”

The Elf Guardian quietly nodded her head at the White Snake’s vicious demeanor.

Lock, who was following behind Choi Han, raised his head. Nia and Koukan were behind Choi Han.

Their shoulders were extremely curled in.

Gashan and Tasha were investigating different spots in the forest with members from this place. They were getting ready for what was to happen in a week and had even missed saying bye to Cale.

‘Ha, haha-’

The way Gashan had been laughing in disbelief… Lock clearly remembered the anger in his eyes.

Furthermore, he also remembered what these sullen people in front of him had said.

‘…How, how could this be-’

‘Even, even if they don’t treat Beast people humanely… To do such a thing-!’

How the tribe leader and Koukan had despaired…

Once they snapped back to their senses, they had said something else with concern.

‘The divine item is tainted…then I guess we cannot use it. It was the only remaining divine item of the Blue Wolf-nim. I guess we need to throw away any hope of going berserk properly.’

‘…We need to think more about how to save at least one extra person than the divine item.’

‘You are right, tribe leader-nim.’

The ones who had high hopes about going berserk after hearing about the divine item had their hopes crushed.

Anger and despair filled their hearts alongside the desire to save their fellow Beast people.

Lock looked at the backs of these sullen Wolves as he thought to himself.

‘Is there no way?’

Cale, who noticed the concerns of the Beast people, said that he would look for a way to purify the divine item. The others as well.

However, Lock was thinking that there may be other right answers as well.

‘I-

Even I managed to go berserk!’

There had been a time when he had not been able to go berserk properly because of fear.

The Gorge of Death.

Lock was temporarily unable to go berserk at that place.

However, he eventually managed to succeed in going berserk.

His berserk state had even gotten stronger.

‘Even a timid coward like me managed to go berserk in the end.

That should mean that they could do it too.’

Lock recalled when he was able to go berserk again.

It was not because he made a request to a god or someone else.

Cale and Raon…

It was at a moment when the only thought on his mind was to save these two people who meant so much to him.

Of course, the Beast people here were in a different situation than he had been in. Their world and their way of life were different as well.

‘I’m sure there is a way.

Using a divine item is the only way to properly go berserk?

In that case-

Maybe that god is not a good god?’

It could be considered insolent, but… If that god truly cherished the Beast people, that would not have been the only method left for them.

‘The Blue Wolf does not seem like a bad god.’

Lock had heard some of the stories about the Blue Wolf god.

Lock, who had chatted a lot with the Wolves while Cale and the others were busy, naturally knew the most about the Blue Wolf in Cale’s group.

‘The Blue Wolf-nim pitied the pain the Beast people went through to go berserk as well as the fact that we lost our rationality.

There are talks of that sir being the first King of this world.’

‘There was a time when the Beast people were ostracized by both humans and animals. They say that the Blue Wolf-nim was the one who stepped up to protect them at that time.’

‘The Blue Wolf even helped nonbelievers to go berserk properly.’

Lock stopped his thinking from getting deeper.

‘Let’s only think about a week from now for the time being.’

Ryan’s Castle.

The final execution that is to take place there… He decided to focus on stopping that for now.

Lock’s steps slowly became heavier as he walked in the back.

However, his body and his body did not curl up. Instead, it was big enough to cover the sullen Wolves and Choi Han.

* * *

Alt, the Emperor of the Holy Empire, opened his mouth as he walked to the meeting location.

“In your opinion, what are the Haru King’s intentions?”

His trusted subordinate, who was by his side like a shadow, opened his mouth.

“This lowly one is not smart enough to clearly know, your Majesty, but it seems clear that he is here with ill intentions.”

“Most likely.

Heh.”

Emperor Alt chuckled. However, the emotions underneath it were not very good.

“He is suddenly coming to the capital?”

The Haru Kingdom.

He called it a destroyed kingdom and didn’t hesitate to demean it, but… In all honesty, he did not look down on the Haru Kingdom.

‘We would pay them no attention if they really were a destroyed kingdom.’

Although it would not be weird for the Haru Kingdom to completely disappear at any moment, it would also not be weird for them to suddenly rise up either.

They were originally an Empire and survived through the pressure from the Dragons and the church.

‘While that was going on, they also never dragged in their guardian, the White Snake.’

The Haru Kingdom probably still had a lot of hidden cards.

‘We can’t look down on them because we got rid of their visible powers like the Archduke’s House of Snow.’

Alt stopped walking.

“…Your Majesty?”

He didn’t look at his confused trusted subordinate and only looked forward.

“You said that the temple had no contact with the Haru King since he entered the capital?”

“Yes, your Majesty. None at all.”

The Haru King’s visit to the Empire had been arranged quite stealthily.

This was at the request of the Haru Kingdom.

‘It is to be expected.’

He was still the king of a nation.

The Haru Kingdom’s reputation as a nation would fall significantly if others heard that he immediately went to the Empire’s capital after being summoned by the Emperor.

That explained why he wanted it to be a secret and the Empire had accepted it, but…

‘It’s not a complete secret.’

It would eventually be found out.

As long as the Empire was the center of the continent and the core of the church that ruled over the entire continent was located here… Numerous gazes were gathered here and the Empire had quietly revealed the visit by the Haru King and his people.

Because of that, regardless of the result of this meeting, the Haru Kingdom’s reputation would fall even more once it was over.

Alt was aiming for that, but-

“He’s not contacting the temple at all…”

He purposely kept the guards lax around the Haru Kingdom’s envoy.

‘I was certain that the church was behind the Haru Kingdom’s actions.’

To be more specific, it was not the church but the Pope and the bishops.

He thought that the Dragon half-bloods were behind it.

‘But there is no contact.’

Were they being wary of the Empire?

‘No. That bitch of a Pope would not be wary of me.

In fact, she is the type who would look down on me for not being a Dragon half-blood.

She’s one of those motherfuckers with Dragon blood.’

“You said they are waiting?”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

The Haru Kingdom’s King Dennis and his aides were already waiting for the Emperor in the meeting room.

Alt had purposely shown up late to put more pressure on them.

“Is the group the same as we were told?”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

They had confirmed the identities of everybody entering the Imperial Palace.

Inside the meeting room at the end of the hallway were the King, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and two aides.

The people protecting the King were not in this hallway but in another hallway connected to the meeting room.

“Hmm.”

Alt was heading to the meeting room with only one trusted subordinate.

The fact that a Minister of Foreign Affairs or Prime Minister was not with him was also a means to look down on the Haru Kingdom, but it was also normal that there were no knights with him.

Emperor Alt…

He himself was a great and mighty sword master.

He could be called the strongest swordsman among the humans of the continent.

“Open the door.”

Alt resumed walking and arrived in front of the door. His trusted subordinate slowly opened the door at his command.

Screeeech-

He could see inside the door.

The meeting room was not that fancy for a place to meet the king of a nation.

However, it still had all things necessary for formality. A person, who seemed to be a tweener, stood up.

King Dennis.

The young boy had grown quite a bit.

He had not seen his face for a while.

Step, step.

Alt walked in and did not even care about the people behind King Dennis greeting him.

‘What are you thinking?’

His dream of pushing the Pope and her group out… Then slowly building his power until he could push the Dragons out… Until Emperor Alt became the greatest individual on the entire continent…

He chose the Haru Kingdom, the place where two subjugation squads went missing, as the target to pressure the Pope.

Screeech- boom.

The door closed.

“I greet his Majesty.”

“It’s been a long time.”

King Dennis and Emperor Alt…

The two of them exchanged light greetings without even sitting down.

They didn’t do any grand gestures to show respect.

The Emperor said they should do away with such formalities when Dennis first ascended the throne.

That was how much Alt hated complicated procedures.

“So-”

He was acting as his usual self.

“What happened to the subjugation squads?”

He got down to business without even sitting down.

As a sword master, Alt had a sword on his waist.

Dennis calmly opened his mouth.

“We do not know what happened to the subjugation squads either.”

“No.”

Alt shook his head.

“Let’s not make things complicated.”

He looked right at Dennis.

This Emperor specialized in physicality more than politics. He was large enough to squash Dennis and his face, which clearly showed his personality, looked threatening even when he was not doing anything.

“What happened to the subjugation squads?”

He asked the same question again.

He then added on.

“I will not ask a third time.”

Silence filled the area for a moment.

‘Hmm?’

Alt’s eyebrow slightly raised.

Dennis still looked calm.

“We do not know what happened to the subjugation squads either.”

“Ha.”

Alt let out a short chuckle.

‘He’s not an easy prey.’

Dennis, who grew up with the same gaze he had as a kid in the past, had a strong and firm personality.

He thought that things might have changed a bit because Dennis agreed to come to the capital right away, but-

‘He’s the same as before.’

But he could not withdraw.

Alt was the one who had straightened the throne that had become a puppet for the church since growing into an Empire after the cataclysmic period.

“I made myself clear. I will not ask the same question a third time.”

His voice was also calm.

However, the mood was slowly getting more vicious.

He had no reason to happily continue this conversation.

‘No tiger will let go of a weak deer that walked right into its den.’

Alt put on a threatening smile.

‘Hmm?’

However, Dennis remained just as calm.

“I also do not wish to give you the same answer three times.”

As Alt scowled in response….

“I clearly stated that we do not know either, your Majesty.”

‘…What is going on?’

Alt felt an odd sense of déjà vu at that answer.

King Dennis spoke leisurely at that moment.

“That is why I escorted someone who does know.”

‘What?’

Alt’s gaze moved.

Dennis pointed at the person standing behind him.

A handsome man with brown hair was standing there.

– Human, I’m releasing the spell!

Alt’s eyes opened wide.

‘It’s mana!’

Mana suddenly appeared in the air.

Alt’s eyes started to shake at what he saw as soon as he noticed the mana.

“!”

The brown hair turned red.

Red hair.

This red was not too bright, it was a bit dark red that reminded him of wine or blood.

He had heard about such a color before.

The sword of the Haru Kingdom.

“…Snow-”

Alt immediately pulled out his sword once he realized that.

Mana and red hair…

There was no reason for him to not pull his sword out.

Clang!

The red-haired man, Cale, opened his mouth.

“Oh dear. Isn’t a sword a bit much for a first greeting?”

Oooooo-

The air rumbled.

The presence flowing out of this man that filled the entire meeting room…

The moment Alt sensed this aura, which was gentle and not strong yet gave him the chills…

Clang.

Someone pulled out a sword.

It was only then that Emperor Alt noticed the other person.

The white-haired man.

He had a gentle and dignified smile on his face as he pointed the sword at the Emperor.

‘Ah’

He realized it the moment he saw the white aura smoke gently rising from this man’s sword.

The sword was not covered in aura yet, but…

‘This presence, that posture-

This person is also a sword master.’

A sword master like me.

The white-haired man, Clopeh Sekka, started speaking as soon as Alt’s face stiffened.

“Please withdraw your sword that is pointed at my lord.”

Withdraw the sword pointed at Cale.

Clopeh Sekka said the obvious thing that needed to be said and smiled handsomely even brighter.

– Human, Clopeh Sekka really does smile weirdly.

‘I know, right?’

Cale truly agreed as he did his best to not look at Clopeh Sekka.

He felt oddly leery whenever the two of them made eye contact these days.

—

Translator’s Comments

Clopeh giving Cale the feeeeeelz.

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