< Chapter 102 - Encounter >
Chapter 102 – Encounter
After crossing Asain Pass, the group continued east toward the academy city of Manaple, where the Imperial Academy was located.
It wasn’t easy to enter a completely unfamiliar foreign country and visit a city they had never been to before, but for Uther and Cordelia, the rotten waters of Hero Chronicles 2, the Empire was as familiar as a kingdom.
Moreover, the empire, like the kingdom, used the continent’s common language, so there were no linguistic difficulties.
“Still, I’m a bit reluctant to talk about it. Isn’t your pronunciation a bit different from ours?”
As he got into the carriage, Caesar shrugged his shoulders as if he had let go of his worries.
Although she was usually a generous person, after entering the empire, she acted surprisingly quietly and cautiously, perhaps because she was intimidated by the unfamiliar atmosphere of the foreign country.
Lucas couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Kaisha fanning herself with her hand, seemingly relieved from the sweat.
“What, why are you laughing?”
“No, um… it’s a little unexpected.”
Until they crossed Asain Pass, Kaisa had been telling Lucas to look over there and saying all sorts of things like how the shape of the mountain was different from the kingdom, but as soon as they crossed the pass – that is, when the imperialists started to really come into view – she completely shut her mouth.
“Lucas, you’ve grown a lot, haven’t you? Are you teasing me too?”
Although Caesar spoke with a slightly threatening tone, it was quite different from usual, perhaps because it was the Empire, even though it was inside a carriage.
First of all, my face turned red with embarrassment.
“Um, yes, I understand.”
“What do you know?”
Lucas smiled leisurely instead of saying anything specific, and Kaisha muttered something with her lips pursed.
And Cordelia, who was watching the scene, quickly grabbed Yuder’s sleeve.
[Hey, Hey. Is that you? Hoxy?]
[···Could it be Lucas Kaisa this time?]
[Could it be Caesar Lucas?]
[What kind of car is that?]
Didn’t you just change the order of the names?
[No? There’s a huge difference. This is something that could even lead to war?]
[I don’t know what you mean. Anyway, it seems to suit you quite well.]
[Right? Right? Right? Kaisa’s gap moe is cute, and Lucas is secretly versatile. He can be paired with anyone. Should I say he’s versatile?]
[Excuse me, are they all real people now?]
[What? Anyway, I hope it goes well.]
[Didn’t you push Scarlett before?]
Before that it was the red wind.
[Actually, there’s something I’m slightly looking forward to. Now that it’s the Empire, I can meet Scarlett, right? No, since I’m going to meet her, there’s going to be a love triangle or something······.]
[Do you like love triangles?]
[I just like looking. Just looking.]
Cordelia spoke with a smile on her lips, and Uther nodded after looking back at the crumpled hem of his sleeve that was starting to become tangled.
And that was when it happened.
“What, are you two having a secret meeting again?”
When Caesar, who was feeling embarrassed by his conversation with Lucas, tried to change the subject, Cordelia smiled and said.
“Yeah, just like that. Are you saying that you’re always on Lucas’ side? You can understand who Lucas brings.”
“What are you saying?”
“Hehe.”
Cordelia laughed again, then looked at Lucas and Kaisa again and said.
“Come to think of it, aren’t you both uncomfortable with the empire?”
“Not really, I’m a little nervous, but we can communicate… I guess that’s how people live?”
When Caesar answered first, Lucas nodded and spoke with a serious face.
“It’s still a remote area, but fortunately, I don’t feel any signs of war. At least, it doesn’t feel like war is imminent.”
They were laughing and chatting, but now that the border closure order had been issued, the Empire was effectively an enemy country. Furthermore, the party had entered the enemy country illegally.
“Yes, that’s good.”
Although Uder answered safely, it was still too early to feel at ease.
To begin with, Asain Pass was the outskirts of the empire, and this area did not properly border the kingdom.
It was not until we entered the vicinity of the islands or the border areas that we could get a feel for the true atmosphere of the empire.
‘Still, it’s not entirely wrong.’
If war was truly imminent, then even in remote areas, war clouds would have gathered.
‘I really didn’t know Kaplan would be such a lifeline.’
In a time when there was no proper connection with the Holy Cross Guardians within the Empire, the presence of Kaplan, a trustworthy collaborator within the Empire, was invaluable.
‘I hope you are doing well?’
Either way, bad luck is strong for a person.
It was at that moment that Yuder unconsciously smiled as he recalled Kaplan’s face, smiling kindly even in the midst of severe pain.
dripping.
There was a knock on the carriage door, and soon the door opened wide and Kirara appeared.
“Master! Master! The carriage will depart now!”
As Caesar said, there were some differences in pronunciation between the western part of the empire and the kingdom, even though they used the same common language.
Therefore, the one who was in charge of various transactions with the imperial people, including the procurement of carriages, was Kirara, who could be considered a local.
“Yeah, okay. Thanks for your hard work. Come over here and sit down.”
“Yes, master!”
As Cordelia smiled brightly and waved, Kirara quickly climbed onto the carriage and sat down next to Cordelia, smiling.
Praise me with both eyes, did I do well? I love you so much, Master! It was so cute because it contained the same emotions.
“Yeah, yeah, you did a great job.”
“Hehehe.”
At Cordelia’s compliment, Kirara smiled shyly and wagged her tail, secretly nudging her head towards Cordelia.
That’s what it means.
Cordelia, who recognized it right away as the original beast woman, although not as much as Kaisa, patted Kirara’s head, and Kirara waggled her tail with a very happy face.
‘The power of money is truly amazing.’
That’s the traitor Kirara.
A conman knows how to spot a conman.
But even in Yuder’s eyes, he didn’t feel any particular selfishness towards Kirara at the moment.
In other words, it wasn’t smoke.
‘Well, it’s not just because of the money, though.’
Kirara was practically an orphan.
Furthermore, she had never received proper affection in her life because she was treated as the village’s common property and was abused by the village chief.
A son of a dirty thief, a liar, a traitor.
Besides, until recently, hadn’t he been working under none other than the King?
As a result, Kirara ended up in a state of chronic affection deprivation.
But right now, someone had appeared who could relieve that lack of affection.
“Oh, she’s pretty. She’s kind. She’s good at work. She’s competent.”
“Joe, a little more.”
“huh?”
“Just a little more praise······.”
“Yeah, of course. Because you did really well. Because I’m doing a good job. And because I’ll continue to do a good job in the future.”
As Cordelia said that and hugged Kirara tightly, tears welled up in Kirara’s eyes.
Isn’t this what my mother’s arms, which I can’t even remember properly now, must have been like?
Moreover, since Kirara was quick-witted, she could see it even more clearly.
Cordelia’s affection was unconditional.
There was no conflict of interest in using Kirara, manipulating her, or building up favor with the intention of betraying her later. She simply loved her purely.
Of course, this wasn’t the first time she had experienced this kind of kindness. However, it was the first time that someone had treated her like this, even though they knew everything about her and what she had done in the past.
So Kirara hugged Cordelia tightly. Instead of trying to put into words the feelings that were difficult to concretize, she simply yearned for Cordelia’s warmth.
And at that sight, Uder smiled bitterly.
Because it was something that was absolutely impossible for Uther himself.
[Is it really impossible?]
‘Velencia?’
It was when Yuder expressed his bewilderment at the question that came out of the blue.
As Kirara had said, the carriage began to run, and late the next afternoon, the group arrived at the Academy City Manaplu, where Kaplan was waiting.
&
“But why is it a school city? Is the entire city an academy?”
“No, it’s an academy city because it developed around the academy. Manaple Academy is a prestigious school with a long history and tradition, although it is smaller than the other academies.”
It was a conversation between Caesar and Lucas, not Cordelia and Juder.
This is because, unlike Caesar, who hated reading, Lucas had been studying various things related to the empire since he was in the kingdom.
“Hey, really? Then what’s delicious?”
“Yes? Um… the specialty is······.”
It was while Lucas was rolling his head like that.
“Master, just trust Kirara. I will guide you to the fastest shortcut.”
Within the Academy City, carriages were not permitted to be ridden unless specifically permitted.
Because of this, I had to walk on foot, but as soon as I saw Kaplan’s address, Kirara offered to show me the way.
Before being captured by the Mountain King, Kirarara had been wandering around the western part of the continent, committing petty theft, so she seemed to be confident in geography.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll just trust Kirara.”
“Hehehe.”
Now, Kirara would burst out laughing just from Cordelia’s reaction.
It was an appearance that was hard to imagine for Kirara, who in the original work had a prickly appearance to the point of being called a hedgehog.
“This way!”
“I’m going to fall, let’s go slowly. Should we hold hands?”
“Me, really?”
“Yeah, really.”
When Cordelia held out her hand, Kirara hesitated for a moment, then quickly reached out her hand in return. Judging by her tail, which was now fluttering, it seemed like she was in a really good mood.
“But Prince Yuder. Wasn’t Professor Kaplan from the System Academy, not the Manaple Academy?”
“Yes, I am still a member of the Imperial Academy. However, the Imperial Academy is located in the Imperial Academy, as the name suggests. For now, we decided to meet at the Manaple Academy in the western part of the Empire, where it is easy to contact.”
Kaplan didn’t change affiliations at all; he simply took a vacation and came down to rest.
“Anyway, let’s go too. They’ve already gone that far.”
As Caesar spoke and took the lead, Yuder and Lucas looked around and walked forward.
Just like the area around Asain Pass, it certainly seemed that even in this Manaple Academy City, there was still no sign of war, so it seemed unlikely that a war would suddenly break out within a few days.
I think I walked like that for about twenty minutes.
Arriving at a small mansion on the outskirts of the city, the group was greeted by welcoming faces as soon as they knocked on the door.
“Mr. Yuder! Miss Cordelia!”
“It’s been a while, Kaplan.”
“I’m glad to see you’re feeling well. I was really worried about what happened at the sanctuary.”
I heard from Lena that she was safe, but I still hadn’t seen her in person.
Kaplan laughed at Cordelia’s words.
“I’m not the type of person who can withstand bad luck. I’m glad that you both look healthy.”
As they exchanged warm words, Cordelia pointed to the group lined up one after another and said:
“This is my friends, Kaisha, Lucas, and Kirara.”
“This is Caesar Orfund.”
“This is Lucas Hresvelg.”
“It’s Kirara!”
Unlike Kaissa and Lucas, who showed their respect with slightly wary expressions, Kirara was very excited. This was because Cordelia had told her that she was her friend.
“Oh. This is Indiana Kaplan. Everyone, please come inside.”
It wasn’t like there were only two or three of us, so it was pointless to stand in the hallway and talk.
Kaplan’s house was small and simple, reflecting his personality, but it was very well organized. Should we say that it broke the stereotype that scholars’ houses are usually messy?
Anyway, after guiding the group to the reception room and serving them simple refreshments, Kaplan took a deep breath and spoke to Yuder in a subtly low voice.
“Mr. Yuder, I have something important to tell you.”
Since he didn’t just lower his voice, but called Yuder out of the reception room and said those words, Yuder couldn’t help but become serious.
“What’s going on?”
Is it possible that there was a problem with the documents related to the Academy that Hoki was supposed to prepare?
Or maybe there was an emergency.
“Actually… there is a guest who arrived before you two. He arrived this morning and came to see you two, not me.”
At Kaplan’s words, Yuder’s eyes sharpened.
Only a very small number of people knew that they were entering the empire illegally.
No, from the beginning, only Kaplan knew that he would meet Kaplan in Academy City Manaplu.
But is there anyone who knew in advance and came looking for me?
“I was also very surprised. Moreover, those who came······.”
Kaplan, whose words had been trailing off, swallowed dry saliva again and continued speaking while looking at Yuder.
“Anyway, I didn’t set a trap or anything. Those who came to see you weren’t hostile to you two. Rather, it seemed like they wanted your help.”
The more I listened to it, the more difficult it became to understand the story.
So instead of beating around the bush, Uder asked directly.
“Who on earth has come to find you?”
Judging from Kaplan’s gestures, they were obviously the first guests to arrive on the second floor.
Kaplan took a deep breath before answering, then answered with a slightly shaky voice.
“These are the imperial knights.”
&
The royal guard unit that protects the imperial family.
Also known as Royal Knight.
When it comes to Royal Knights, the first ones that come to mind for Uder are Maximilian de Abyss and Leon Gadriel.
Since both of them were officially active as Royal Knights around this time, it was possible that they had come to see me.
‘The question is how.’
If it really was Maximilian and Leon, what on earth happened?
It was a bit of luck that the two people who were planning to meet somehow ended up meeting at this point, but I still felt uneasy because I couldn’t figure out what was going on.
‘For now, one of them seems to be Leon.’
One of them was wearing a helmet even in the house so I couldn’t see his face, but the other one was a very young man with long black hair tied back in a ponytail and blue eyes, so it was most likely Leon.
‘Leon, Leon Gadriel.’
A swordsman who has reached the same level as Maximilian in the field of swordsmanship.
Even if he had not died in Heroes Chronicles 3, he would have been one of the four great swordsmen representing Pleiades.
‘Are you twenty-three now?’
Excluding the old Keynes, he was the oldest of the playable characters, and as such, he was a figure with great skills from the beginning. Even if he had grown up normally, he would have reached at least the strength of Gale before he consumed the essence of the moon.
‘Depending on how you raise it, it can be close to the level of a swordsman.’
That was when the rotten waters were determined to play and drive, so it would be reasonable to see it as being somewhere between Gale and Shipgeomho.
‘Well, as expected. Brother Gale and Ten Swordsmen are combat power measuring devices.’
The measure of strength, the S-class discriminator.
After a moment of distracting thoughts, Uder looked around. Cordelia looked at the door with a determined expression, then swallowed dry saliva and nodded.
‘Let’s open it.’
‘okay.’
Kaplan, Lucas, Kaisa, and Kirara were waiting in the reception room on the first floor.
This is because the Royal Knights only wanted to meet Uther and Cordelia.
In fact, from Uther and Cordelia’s perspective, it was a situation where they could have just said “fuck it” and walked away, but since there was no reason to rush in from the first meeting, they decided to grant the request.
‘If it’s too much trouble, just knock him down.’
Of course, if the absolute knight Galahad, the leader of the Royal Knights and a renowned swordsman of the Empire, had come, even the current Uther and Cordelia would have had a hard time dealing with him, but that was unlikely.
‘Anyway, let’s go.’
Yuder, who winked at Cordelia once more, opened the door and immediately made eye contact with the two Royal Knights who were watching the door, perhaps because they sensed someone’s presence.
Two people sitting on a sofa.
As expected, one of them was Leon Gadriel.
A handsome young man with broad shoulders and a large build, as if he were wearing armor, despite being dressed in light clothing.
And the person sitting next to him.
As soon as Cordelia saw the Royal Knight, whose face was covered by a helmet, she opened her eyes wide and said.
Because of their body type, their dominant hand, the shape of their helmet, and the small accessory they wore on their chest, they could instinctively tell who the person was in front of them.
“Sarah?”
It was that very moment.
Sarah, who was dressed as a man with her helmet pulled down to the end of her head, was startled and tried to stand up, but Leon quickly reached out and stopped her.
‘What, why is Sarah here? Sarah became a Royal Knight?’
Sarah, protected by the drunken dragon.
A woman with bad luck and a strong resistance to misfortune, known to be in the production crew’s twisted affection.
Basically, as a character belonging to the inspector series, it wasn’t completely impossible for him to become a Royal Knight depending on his route, but it was still extremely unusual.
This was because in the Royal Knight selection, it was only possible if Sarah defeated either Maximilian or Leon.
‘What about Maximilian? Did Sarah drop Maximilian and become the Royal Knight?’
Is that possible?
Cordelia looked back at Uther in confusion, and Uther calmed himself down with a deep breath.
Didn’t Sherlock Holmes say that too?
Once you eliminate all the impossible, no matter how unbelievable it may be, it is true.
It seems that the butterfly effect was very strong.
‘Maximilian might not have even been selected for the starting lineup.’
Anyway, what was important now was Leon and Sarah, right in front of me.
Two young new recruits from the Royal Knights appeared, mentioning Uther himself and Cordelia with pinpoint accuracy.
So who sent them, and why did they come here? How did they know that they were coming to the empire?
“That’s amazing. You recognized Sarah right away. These two are truly destined to be together.”
Leon’s words made Uther and Cordelia flinch once again. It was because they heard words that were so familiar.
Two people of destiny.
A title that Princess Daphne often used to refer to herself.
‘What? Could it be Princess Daphne’s arrangement or something like that?’
It was Uther and Cordelia who had not yet heard about the ‘heavenly voice’ from Princess Daphne.
In the original work, there was no way for her to progress to Princess Daphne, so it was unknown.
So, Uder hid his confusion and said.
“This is Juder August Bayer.”
“Leon Gadriel. This is-”
“Sarah… This is Sarah Cannott.”
When Sarah spoke in a slightly rough voice, Cordelia also showed her respect, albeit briefly.
“Cordelia August Chase.”
Uther escorted Cordelia to her seat, and Uther faced Leon while Cordelia faced Sarah, remaining silent for a moment.
How should I open my mouth?
Should we ask what the two destined people are?
Or how did they know and come looking for you?
The time of hesitation was not long, because Leon spoke first.
“The voice from above has spoken. It says that only two fateful people can help save the empire from the brink of collapse.”
Uther narrowed his brows.
A heavenly voice.
Two people of destiny.
Words that are meaningful to anyone who sees them.
But there was no time to analyze it properly, because Leon kept talking again.
“Let me get straight to the point. We need to rescue the members of the Imperial Family who are being held in custody by the Prime Minister. Please help us.”
As Leon lowered his head, Sarah followed suit a beat later.
And then Uther and Cordelia looked at each other.
The atrocities of the Prime Minister and the imperial family being detained in the palace.
Two playable characters and royal knights who ask you to help rescue the royal family.
Here is a celestial voice that is clearly related to Princess Daphne.
[Let’s not overthink it. It’s a quest, after all, right?]
When you wake up, you will get a reward and the story will progress.
It was an extremely game-like story, but it wasn’t entirely wrong.
Moreover, Cordelia also felt it sensually, although she did not say it out loud.
The Prime Minister unilaterally enforced a border blockade while suppressing the royal family, creating the current atmosphere where it seemed as if war would break out with the kingdom at any moment.
In that case, rescuing the royal family could be a way out of the current situation.
“First, let’s hear the detailed story.”
Uder, who had pinched Cordelia’s cheek for no reason, quickly spoke to Leon, and thanks to that, Cordelia, who had missed the timing to get angry or throw a tantrum, looked back at Leon with her cheeks puffed out.
“The situation is this.”
Leon’s story begins.
&
< Chapter 102 - Encounter > End
