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Chapter 1
Returning to an earlier point in time, the stage this time was the capital of the Galgan Empire, Luos—the greatest human city. In this country, only the strong ruled, harboring countless other races alongside humans, and the population is said to be 500,000, but not even the Empire itself knew the exact number. Usually, the streets were bristling with people left and right, and yet it was now wrapped in an eerie silence.
Or more accurately, everyone was holding their breath. It resembled the situation of the Kingdom of Zilgus as their ruler Remonas died, but in this case, the air was filled with tension. The reason for that was the fact that the closest successor to the seat of the Emperor, the first prince Eldorand, had suddenly passed away five days ago, and Princess Angela had gone missing a bit before that. The public was told that Eldorand’s death was sudden and without any warning, but immediately after, the army suddenly surrounded the capital, only allowing a certain number of people entry. Through that, people have been assuming that Eldorand was actually assassinated, and they wanted to keep whoever did it inside the capital. And this rumor spread to all of humanfolk in the blink of an eye.
The imperial capital Luos was surrounded by three layers of thick walls, and the large gate that was furthest on the outside usually saw at least thousands of people passing through it each day. Right now, these walls were surrounded by businessmen, travelers, and other people camping as they couldn’t enter the city. Not being able to sell their goods was practically a death sentence for the traders, but this was out of their control. The traders inside the capital were basically locked in, already finished with all their business.
And the vicinity wasn’t just guarded by regular city guards, but by heavily-armed soldiers of the Imperial Army. As if they wanted to show off that not a single rat could escape, they sharply surveyed the area to ensure that nothing could escape. And amidst this dire situation, a group of what looked like traders appeared in front of the gate. They seemed to be delivering important goods, or something you’d rarely see because the carriage was pulled by four-horned cows. The carriage was guarded heavily, too, with guards and adventurers numbering at least one hundred.
“Entry and exit of the imperial capital are currently prohibited. Stop at once.”
The guard standing at the gate stepped in front of the carriage and repeated the same phrase he must have recited the past 100s and even 1000s of times. The horse carriage obliged and stopped, as one of the traders got off.
“Thanks for your hard work. I’m Klaus from the Marco Business Association,” the man introduced himself, as he deeply bowed to the guard.
“Wha…Klaus?”
Meeting the individual who stood at the top of the business world, the guard was evidently baffled. And with the appearance of such a crucial VIP, the people around them grew noisy, too.
“I’m painfully aware of this, but the goods I have brought with me are crucial and high-quality items I brought from the Oberos Mountain Range…So please, won’t you let this pass? I rarely get such a fine share of goods,” He spoke with a clear voice, to which one of Klaus’ employees pulled off the cloth.
What appeared were beautiful and quite large decoration stones that possessed exquisite cleanliness even an amateur could tell these weren’t anything average.
“You may know, but these are building materials for Asmelia-sama’s mausoleum, and they will be put at the front of it, so they have been handled with absolute care.”
Three years ago, the great Queen Asmelia, who was regarded as the mother of the Empire, had passed away, and they were now building a mausoleum inside the center of the Imperial capital. And Klaus was carrying crucial building materials for the most important part of such. And as that name popped up, the guards panicked.
“I-I get how severe your request is, but only a few individuals are allowed inside the capital…”
Klaus continued as he saw the guard faltering.
“His Emperor has ordered for construction to finish before the promised time…And I even have a written text with me,” Klaus took out a luxurious-looking letter equipped with the seal of the golden serpent clinging to a shield, as well as Emperor Benedix signature.
“If the delivery were to be delayed and the completion of the mausoleum was to be halted, then my head will roll…And I don’t think he would be too happy with you, either.”
Realizing that the guard’s life could very well be on the line, he felt a cold shiver run down his spine. And as they have been spotted by the onlookers, there was no talking their way out of this.
“P-Please wait a moment.” The guard walked off, clearly realizing this was out of his control, as Klaus sighed.
Behind him, a servant approached.
“Will that work?”
Needless to say, this wasn’t the choice of words a servant would direct at this boss, but this case was special—as the servant was none other than Kyle.
“Should work. With this much leverage, even his superior won’t be able to press us down. And during any regular time and place, a bit of bribery would have done the trick, too. However, we are speaking of the Imperial Capital, after all,” Klaus showed a bitter smile. “That being said, to think they put everything under complete lockdown. They are not holding back.”
Kyle agreed with that statement. Thanks to the guards’ strict management and their food distribution, there didn’t seem to be any serious rebellion just yet. With such a large population, they must have been prepared in case a serious war broke out so that they could stay in lockdown for at least a year. However, that was only incorporating the idea that nothing but the bare minimum was handed out, and now that the residents were robbed of their wealthy lives, they must be feeling anxious.
And thus, they probably want to find the criminal as quickly as possible…or maybe they need to deal with another problem first.
That thought raced through Kyle’s mind as he waited, only to spot a gathering of guards, feeling that something bad was about to happen.
“This looks bad, no?” Seran asked Kyle under the disguise of an adventurer standing guard for the carriage.
“I don’t know. They should be cautious of people trying to escape, so it makes no sense why they would be this harsh on people trying to get inside. Just stay down, I don’t want to cause any unnecessary fighting.”
“Aye, aye. Well, we can deal with it in the worst-case scenario…” Seran said and looked at the stone material, stepping back.
After a bit more time passed, a middle-aged man with a stern gaze arrived with a few guards after him. Judging from his armor, it was one of the five generals of the Empire.
“That is bad…It’s General Dargof.”
Seeing Dargof heading towards them with a sharp glare, Klaus flashed a wry smile. Kyle saw this and realized that their plan must have failed.
General Dargof…He’s well-known enough for the neighboring countries to know of his existence.
Kyle wanted to use Klaus as his ace in the hole in order to get into the capital, but if this doesn’t work, then he’ll have to try a different way, or possibly use his final method as a last resort. And as he thought about that, Dargof arrived in front of them.
“If it isn’t General Dargof. I hope you’ve been well,” Klaus greeted him, seemingly having met him before.
“Keep your greetings. Even if it’s for the sake of Asmelia’s mausoleum, we cannot—”
Dargof remained calm and rational as he probably intended to send Kyle and the others their merry way when a guard came running up to him and whispered into his ear. Hearing this, Dargof went pale for a moment, as he tried to protest about something, but eventually shook his head and clicked his tongue.
“This is special. Go on through.”
Dargof definitely didn’t like the thought of letting them pass, but still offered a permit.
“My, oh my…Thank you very much,” Klaus seemed surprised as he lowered his head in gratitude, to which the front door opened with a dull but hefty noise.
Klaus felt the disgruntled gazes of the other people waiting in front of the gate as he signaled his followers to pass through. And thus, the carriage moved inside the capital, seen off by Dargof’s bitter glare.
“Phew…We, quite literally, cleared the first gate, huh?”
While passing through the large gate, Urza sighed as she wore a similar disguise to Seran. By wearing a large cloth around her head, she could hide her pointy ears, and by adding some dirt to her face, she could hide her clear white skin.
“But, is this really okay? Using these crucial materials for such a reason, I mean.” Lieze looked similar to Urza as she voiced one of the questions she had for a while, as she looked up at the large stone.
“She would always look at things on a greater scale, so she will surely forgive us this much,” a voice came from inside the rock material.
“Please keep it down, okay?” Kyle rushed back and warned the person frantically.
Realizing that the other Imperial guards around them didn’t catch on, he sighed in relief.
“Hee hee, I’m sorry. I was just a bit bored…But, I never would have imagined I’d have to one day sneak inside my own home country like this.”
This voice, needless to say, belonged to Princess Angela, who was regarded to have gone missing. She was using a small hollow spot inside the stone as a means of hiding from the guards. At first, she seemed energetic and almost enjoying the situation, but towards the end, her voice held a certain loneliness and pain. She was also the main reason they had to sneak inside the Empire like this.
Naturally, she could just walk inside the capital if she so pleased. However, there was an important reason she shouldn’t—namely, about a month ago, someone plotted her assassination. Unable to figure out who the mastermind could be, Angela opted to do the impossible and ran away to join up with Kyle and the others. In the event that the people who aimed for Angela’s life were also responsible for the death of Eldorand, then she would put a huge target on herself by returning in the open. For that, they had to get her back secretly.
And now we succeeded in that…but what should we do next?
Kyle hadn’t exactly cooked up a solid plan just yet. Even in the previous timeline that Kyle knew, Eldorand was assassinated. But back then, the mastermind was King Remonas from the Kingdom of Zilgus, and the perpetrator was Minagi. Granted, Kyle didn’t have definitive proof, but he was fairly certain of that. That’s why he had assumed Eldorand’s assassination had been avoided. King Remonas has died, and Minagi was acting together with them, too.
And yet, it still happened. And even three months earlier than last time…Who did this? And for what reason?
But no matter how much Kyle thought about it, no answer popped up. And quickly enough they reached the palace in the center of the capital. As expected of the Galgan Empire, who boasted itself in power and strength, the palace may look boorish but still quite dignified, and it emitted great pressure even from afar. Just wondering what would happen from now on, a storm of anxiety blew through Kyle’s chest.
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