219
ventriloquism
“He was connected all the way to the Central Management Director. How far did he see? Was his ignorance just an act?”
First, the five elders’ faces crumpled at Balhar Khan’s astonished monologue.
Balhar Khan had been in that state since a while ago. He was talking nonsense like, “What kind of genius is the third one? He got caught up in his scheme.”
“That guy is really ignorant.”
The five elders shook their heads in displeasure and spoke firmly.
The guy was ignorant, that was for sure.
“You still don’t know.”
Balhar Khan muttered with a mocking voice. It was disgusting to see him like that.
‘But why does this guy keep acting like this…’
I couldn’t understand why someone who wasn’t even the eldest son kept nagging me. However, since it was the palace, I tried to hold back.
“The reason he did this at the Eastern Management Office.”
Balhar Khan said with an arrogant face. Why don’t you know the reason?
“You must be angry.”
The five elders nodded to my words. They were probably very angry.
“You still don’t know him. He designed it to look like that on the surface, but it wasn’t something he did simply out of anger. Didn’t you see that all the personnel guarding the Demon of Despair were missing because of the alarm? The seed of the West was his goal from the beginning. He did it for him.”
“hmm······.”
The five elders let out a sigh at Balhar Khan’s confident words. They wanted to refute him, but they had no basis for it. After hearing him, it seemed like that was the case.
“And you even borrowed the hand of the Central Management Director. The Central Management Director is famous for not holding anyone’s hand, so how on earth did you do it?”
Balhar Khan was talking as if it were a done deal. It seemed as if he was praising him for being smart, which made the five elders feel uncomfortable.
However, this time there was no room for refutation.
Certainly, from the moment he entered the palace, he moved without a moment’s hesitation. Strangely enough, there wasn’t even a single blockage.
Haven’t you entered the western seed now? The western seed is guarded tightly, so you can’t even approach it from the first side.
“But why did he turn to the Demon of Despair?”
The five elders’ faces turned red at Balhar Khan’s muttering.
‘Why does this guy keep acting friendly?’
The five eldest sons were dumbfounded by the guy who was so obsessed with them.
The guy and himself were completely different. Balhar Khan was being dragged around by the third guy, but he was just acting together because he had the same goal as the guy.
I was never scared of the guy.
‘By the way, you want to eat the western seeds···.’
He said he would eat the seed of the west. From what he said, it seems like he didn’t even know that the devil of despair was the seed of the west…
‘As expected of an ignorant person, he doesn’t hesitate to commit dangerous acts.’
Of course, there were those who consumed other tokens.
After all, if you eat a token, you can gain some of the power contained within it, so you can grow stronger at a rapid pace. In the past, they would often eat each other.
However, no matter how weak he was, it was a sign of God. It was impossible for him to indiscriminately eat the signs of other gods.
Those who ate the tokens at will soon lose their sense of reason and become nothing more than monsters, losing consciousness.
Even receiving a divine gift in one’s body was so dangerous, so it was impossible to eat the tokens indiscriminately.
That’s why everyone is gradually increasing their strength with pure blood.
However, the third one was consuming the tokens without any particular concern.
‘That’s why you got strong so quickly.’
The fifth eldest son chewed his lip. When he first saw the guy at Plato Castle, he was more like a child.
At that time, the reason the five eldest sons did not kill the bastard was because of their guilt towards the third eldest son. At that time, they could have killed the bastard.
That guy was now single-handedly taking down ten of the royal knights, and now he was even overwhelming them.
Ah, of course, he was still weaker than himself. The five elders nodded. The bastard was still lacking compared to himself.
Anyway, the reason he got stronger so quickly was probably because he consumed the token.
At that time, even at Flitton Castle, the bastard swallowed the token without hesitation as soon as he caught it.
‘If it were anyone else, it would have collapsed already. Even though he’s strange… he’s still conscious.’
The fifth eldest son thought that the guy might not be showing signs because he was originally crazy. It was quite credible.
However, this time things were a little different. Unlike the small fry he had eaten, the ‘Despair Demon’ was so thick that it could be called a seed.
I heard that the Demon of Despair had consumed over a thousand bloods in the West alone, and that the Imperial Family had been force-feeding the demons as they came to the capital.
The guy was nothing more than a monster who lost his reason as a result of forced injection, but the power concentrated within him would be incomparable to that of the elders.
The third one’s condition also looked somewhat unstable. It felt like it might collapse at any moment.
Even though he was usually a hasty guy, he had a subtle sense of composure, but now it was nowhere to be seen. He didn’t stop, as if he was an extremely excited monster.
From the Eastern Management Office, it seemed as if they were barely holding on to their senses, so it wouldn’t have been surprising if they collapsed at any moment.
If he were to eat such a thick token in that state, it was clear that he would collapse.
‘Then the true king of demons will be born.’
The fifth eldest son chewed his lips and muttered. If the bastard consumed the Demon of Despair and collapsed, it would be just one of the branches of the Great Undertaking.
‘Still, if that guy is there, things will work out pretty well···.’
The five elders muttered softly and shook their heads. Personal feelings were of no help in a great undertaking.
The five eldest sons who had vowed to destroy the empire on the day they lost their kingdom.
“But why is it taking so long? Didn’t it work?”
Balhar Khan muttered, glancing inward.
Come to think of it, there was also the option of him being eaten by the Demon of Despair.
That ignorant bastard’s strength was slightly lower than his own, so he couldn’t lose to the Demon of Despair, who was no different from a monster, but his condition wasn’t good.
Judging from the way he was limping, it looks like he was badly injured while fighting with the royal knights.
‘···What if he gets eaten? Will the demon of despair sprout?’
The five elders who had been muttering quietly became strangely anxious.
The third was also a concentrated evidence that was not easy. If the seed of the West eats him, then eventually, the seed will germinate, but…
What would become of me, who had decided to do business with that bastard today? I had endured the humiliation of wearing the armor of a hypocrite, so I couldn’t let it fall through like this.
“That would definitely be difficult.”
“I agree.”
The fifth eldest son nodded, exchanging glances with the eldest.
Although Balhar Khan was not the eldest son, he was superior to the fourth eldest son.
The five eldest sons turned their gaze straight ahead. They looked at the faces of the eight imperial knights guarding the gate.
Third, he single-handedly captured twelve imperial knights. Of course, he used petty methods…
Anyway, I was stronger than him, so I could easily deal with eight or so imperial knights.
At that moment, heavy footsteps were heard from behind. The eyes of the five elders who turned their heads to him grew wide.
“It’s a shift.”
Eight more imperial knights appeared. Balhar Khan and the five eldest sons, who were about to confidently step forward, stopped dead in their tracks. Without saying a word, the two of them turned around slowly.
‘···Because it’s a shift. I’ll be there soon. This is a clear decision.’
“It’s a shift, so just wait a moment. There’s no need to make a big deal out of it.”
The five elders felt very bad because of Balhar Khan’s mutterings that were similar to theirs.
“Wait here.”
The enemy knight who had glanced this way gave an order. Then the knights stood in a line, alert.
The pressure exerted by the sixteen imperial knights was considerable. Moreover, some of them were of the rank of marshal.
‘Sixteen is more than twelve. I can handle twelve, but this guy won’t be able to catch four···.’
The fifth eldest son coughed slightly as he looked at the eldest son. The boy’s lack of ability caused trouble.
At that moment, heavy footsteps were heard from inside.
It was just the sound of heavy footsteps, but strangely enough, it had a strange power to make me focus.
Everyone’s eyes turned to the closed stone.
Knock, knock. A heavy knock was heard from across the stone.
“what?”
The Marshal-level knight asked, sending a signal to the other knights. All the imperial knights drew their swords and surrounded the stone.
“Oh, I need something.”
It was a calm voice that made me relax. The knight of the rank of enemy gestured to him.
As the stone opened with a loud noise, the figure of the beast came into view.
It was unclear what they were doing inside. It seemed like they had just had a light conversation.
However, the smell coming from him was extremely bad. No, it couldn’t even be called a smell anymore. The type of energy that leaked out from him filled the surroundings.
The knights didn’t seem to notice him, but the five elders took a step back without realizing it.
Then I bumped into something and turned my head, and Balhar Khan was already there.
“Do you need anything?”
The chief knight asked in a trembling tone.
“Does anyone have any potions? I will buy them at double the market price.”
The words coming from him were somewhat unexpected.
Why do you need a potion?
‘The condition is not good.’
Certainly, the armor on the lower half of his body wasn’t in good condition. There were holes all over it, and there were traces of black blood wiped off here and there.
It seemed like it was meant to heal him, but it was somewhat surprising that he survived.
“Potion?”
Others reacted similarly. However, a few people were excited when they heard that they would be paid twice the market price.
“I told you to be as comfortable as possible… Those who want to dispose of potions of intermediate level or lower, gather here. Hey, you do it.”
The chief knight pointed out one person. The rest of the knights still maintained their formation. It was likely to become somewhat noisy, but there was no room.
I’ve collected about twenty potions. I wondered if I really needed that many potions.
“Here it is.”
The bastard politely paid the price, took everything, and went back inside.
‘What on earth are you doing inside-.’
I wanted to ask him, but I swallowed it because I felt a strong sense of eeriness.
The stone, which had returned to its place, was firmly shut. Although somewhat suspicious, the knights did not raise any questions about the bastard.
Rather, he just looked at me with caution and glared at me.
It was a long time before he came out again.
The bastard’s condition was even worse than before. He had taken so many potions, but I couldn’t understand where they were used.
However, the smell he was giving off was getting stronger.
The five elders held on desperately, to the point where they could no longer look straight in the eye… feeling as if their knees would bend if they let go.
‘Did you really eat the devil of despair?’
Because his face was covered by his helmet, I couldn’t see his condition, but judging from the way he was walking straight towards me, he seemed to still be of sound mind.
How could that be possible? I couldn’t believe that I could actually eat seeds from the west and still be whole.
The guy who passed through the knights easily approached me. The closer he got, the more pressure he put on me. I had to exert strength to keep from kneeling before him.
“I’ve kept you waiting for a long time.”
The man who finally arrived right in front spoke softly.
His voice was lower than before, but it was definitely clear. Unlike his messy body, his voice sounded refreshing. He seemed to be in a good mood.
Contrary to the expectations of the five elders, the bastard seemed unfazed.
‘···Is he really the king of demons?’
The presence of a guy pressing down on my shoulder as if telling me to kneel down right now. And on top of that, he was still fine even after consuming the Demon of Despair.
The five elders bit their lips at the irrefutable evidence.
It was a situation where I had no choice but to admit that he was the king of demons.
at that time-.
“Do you want to eat these too? They look delicious.”
The guy muttered in a subtly low voice. It sounded like a swamp. His intonation was also strangely awkward.
The five elders bit their lips at the murderous content, and Balhar Khan quickly ran away.
‘Even us…? If he really is the king of demons, I’d gladly-.’
While the five elders were pondering, the third one spoke up again.
“It’s noisy.”
The eyes of the five elders widened at the sudden, harsh words. He hadn’t said anything yet.
“Why aren’t you eating?”
Then the bastard spoke again in a clumsy accent, as if answering.
Only then did the five elders feel something was strange.
“Be quiet.”
“That stupid Young-ae too. You’re picky.”
“It’s noisy.”
The guy was talking to me. He even yelled at me.
Because the voices had different vibes and intonations, it really felt like they were having a conversation.
The grotesque sight gave me a different kind of fear.
The five eldest sons quietly joined Balhar Khan.
***
“They’re not as good as the one before, but I think these ones will taste pretty good too.”
My mouth opened on its own. The five eldest sons and the eldest son in front of me flinched noticeably.
‘This is fucking crazy.’
I barely managed to hold back my lips from quivering.
Most of the world’s problems can be solved by beating, but sometimes there are some that can’t be solved that way. I couldn’t hit someone because it would only hurt me and it would look funny.
It was a side effect of excessive erosion. I was fine until I healed the thing inside with the potion I had brought and played tag. It was quite an enjoyable time because the thing’s attachment was quite strong.
After repeating this several times, the guy started begging me by hitting his head, but I wasn’t expecting an apology from him in the first place.
Eventually, the fun ended when I ran out of potions. After that, I ate the guy’s devil candy and ended up like this.
After eating the large devil candy following the excessive erosion, I felt like the boundaries were blurred. At one point, the tenant was talking nonsense through my mouth.
‘This is dangerous.’
If it had simply passed the lips, it could have been dismissed as a personal skill in ventriloquism, but the mental aspect was more at risk.
If I let my guard down even a little, I feel like my body will fall to him.
The thing I ate with it seemed to be bigger than I thought, and it made my stomach bloated. It was not digested well and it piled up, so I kept burping.
“Should I go in and digest it?”
“This one is a bit big so it’ll take quite some time. Isn’t there still a lot to do?”
I clicked my tongue at his shameless answer. I felt that he was up to something, but at the moment, there was no way to know.
Anyway, as the bastard said, there’s still work to be done.
‘If it’s a central management office, security will be tight…’
I knew it well because I had visited there. The Central Administration was incomparably stricter than the East.
I asked the guards at the door just in case, but they said they hadn’t given me any specific information about it. It seemed like I had to find a way.
At that moment, I saw two guys sticking close to each other. I wonder when their relationship became so good, they looked quite close.
‘Ah, there was a firstborn son.’
I don’t know exactly who the first eldest son is, but he seemed to be in a fairly high position, so I thought I could use him.
There was a guy there who resembled the master of the sword. As someone who had business with the master of the sword, I had to meet him.
“Yes, the eldest son is calling.”
“Ahem···. Kehek!”
The eldest, who had been weighing my question, coughed harshly.
At that moment, my mouth moved on its own.
“First of all, the eldest son. Doesn’t it look delicious? All eldest sons smell sweet. Even the fifth eldest son who likes that cake. Of course, that one is not so good.”
“Shut your mouth.”
“Isn’t that what you were thinking?”
The first son’s face turned pale after hearing the tenant’s words. He took out his helmet and put it on his face. The fifth son’s face was delicate.
“Then, let’s go.”
“You look like you’re not very tasty, so take me to the eldest son.”
Since it took up quite a bit of time, I had to move quickly to finish the work before the coronation.
Ding. The elevator has arrived just in time.
However, even though the door opened, both of them just hesitated and did not get in.
Then I kicked the guys into the elevator.
The guys went to the corner and banged their heads together.
It seemed like the two had become closer.
***
First, Balhar Khan had great faith in his eldest son.
It was he who took in Balhar Khan, who had been abandoned by his family, and guided him to become an imperial knight, and showed him the way when he was discouraged by the talents of others.
If it weren’t for him, Balhar Khan would have just been a lowly knight serving the nobles.
Through him, Balhar Khan gained power and ability. Being the head of the Imperial Knights meant being one of the ten most valuable people in the Imperial family.
It wasn’t exact, but it was something like that. His weakness was that he couldn’t even properly understand himself.
Of course, he was inferior to the Master of the Sword, but the Master of the Sword was a being that was completely out of the question.
Moreover, even though he could not leave his room, he possessed enough political power to control major and minor affairs of the imperial family.
To Balhar Khan, the eldest son was like heaven.
There was nothing he couldn’t solve, and there was nothing he couldn’t overcome, except for the swordsman. He had such a strong belief.
······was there.
“Will the firstborn eat it too?”
“Situation report.”
“First, what about eating and seeing?”
“You haven’t digested it yet. You’re greedy.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to gather everything and do it all at once?”
“No, I have a use for it.”
“Are you going to write it down and eat it?”
“Well, that’s about it.”
Balhar Khan’s mind suddenly snapped to his senses at the conversation he heard nearby.
He kept asking himself questions and answering himself. His voice and intonation changed from moment to moment, so it seemed like he was actually having a conversation.
But the content was about when he would eat him. It was a ridiculous story, but his voice was full of confidence.
‘Can I really approach him?’
Of course I trusted him, but the bastard’s condition was the problem right now. Unfortunately, I had no choice.
“What are you doing if you don’t tell me quickly?”
In response to the bastard’s question, Balhar Khan hurriedly told the elevator his destination.
‘He will do it. He···. He···.’
Balhar Khan muttered, his face pressed against the wall.
The five elders quietly patted his shoulder.
***
‘Why didn’t you open the path towards me?’
I muttered softly. It was clearly Selena’s plan that I had reached the Demon of Despair.
Selena was giving me revenge.
It was also strange that Yahoo, who had been pushed back by Cassidy from the Information Guild, had taken information from Avery, the director of the Eastern Management Office. Selena must have done something.
Then came despair and the devil. It was a flow that seemed to progress in stages.
The last one would be the path to himself. Then, of course, the path to Selena should have been open, but there was no separate story.
‘No. I was the one who found the path in the first place.’
I muttered softly. There was an arrangement, but it was up to me to find my way and get there.
Even when Avery told me the location, I planned to go there.
The Demon of Despair only made a promise to the knights before him.
That part was subtle. Of course, it was obvious that leaving the Demon of Despair intact was a consideration for me, but Selena would have prepared a path in advance.
But it wasn’t like Selena to let me figure out the path on my own. There was definitely something there.
Moreover, heading to the Central Management Office was more difficult than the previous two combined.
When I asked the first one, he said that the Central Management Office had no authority at all and that I couldn’t go there. Even the enemy didn’t have the authority.
‘The first eldest son.’
There was no way the reason he wanted to see me was simply to make friends.
Perhaps there was a very impure intention. However, I also had insurance. I smiled, carefully patting my inside pocket.
“ah.”
At that moment, the first guy lifted his hand, his face still pressed against the elevator door.
“what?”
“Are you asking me to eat first?”
“It’s noisy.”
The first guy shivered greatly at the tenant’s muttering.
“My… stomach… my stomach hurts!”
The first one screamed. His face was hidden behind his helmet, but his voice was truly commanding. He also wiggled his buttocks as if he was really trying to get it.
To him I-.
“Hold on.”
He answered firmly.
“Just now······.”
“It’s noisy, should we just eat?”
The first one muttered in frustration. When the tenant spoke to him, the man quickly turned around.
The bastard’s stomach seemed to be getting better.
The elevator moved in that silence.
The elevator, which had been moving for a long time, stopped.
Ding.
The door opened slowly with a crisp sound.
Unlike before, the first one was acting strangely. Frustrated by that, I pushed the bastard’s back.
A number of stern-faced imperial knights were stationed in front of the open door.
Judging by the sweet smell, they seemed to be the royal knights of the first one.
The pressure from the twenty-plus imperial knights was considerable, though.
“There’s a lot to eat.”
I laughed coolly.
Oh, this time I said it.
***
“···Everyone is fucking around during the coronation ceremony, but is it okay to do this here?”
Gelves of the Central Administration nodded to his fellow explorer’s question.
It was strange. They suddenly called me in during the busiest time. And they didn’t even ask me to do anything special.
However, I wasn’t anxious. After all, it was the Central Management Director Selena who gave the order, so who would say anything if I was caught resting?
“I guess he’s taking care of it because he remembers what we did before.”
Gelbes answered lightly. It was just a matter of enjoying yourself. Everyone else was probably having a blast, so what was there to complain about?
“Tam, you worry too much.”
“No, I’m just feeling a bit uneasy. You’re not usually like this.”
It was Tom who was famous for causing trouble. Gelves clicked his tongue. How can you be anxious even if I give you honey to suck?
“And we’ve worked with the Central Administration a lot, Director… Look at that guy over there. He’s Heleim from the Western Administration. If there’s anything we’ve done with Heleim, that’s it. That’s it.”
Gelves’s brow furrowed at Tam’s muttering. That was certainly the only thing he had in common with the Western Management Agency, Heleim.
A case of demonic despair that is banned by the Central Management Office.
Gelbes then looked at the others. There were quite a few people that Selena had gathered. However, after hearing those words, it was clear that…
‘Only those related to that matter have gathered.’
There were twelve people summoned by Selena, all of whom were involved in the matter. Even the guards and the imperial knights were familiar.
“That was a complete failure. It was also the only blemish on the Central Management Director.”
Tom whispered in a lower voice.
“So what are you trying to say?”
“Are you still angry? Why did you gather all of this together······.”
Gelves clicked his tongue at Tam’s muttering. He was a man who knew one thing and not two.
“The Western Front collapsed, so there were some problems with the harvest, but it ended well, right? To make up for it, I harvested the less ripened bloods, so the harvest would be smaller in the future, but I still managed to grow enough to bring in the Demon of Despair. What was its name…?”
“Avery? Eastern Director.”
“That’s right. He was recognized for his achievements and became the Eastern Management Director. The person who gave him that title was Selena, so what are you worried about? That was a success.”
“······You haven’t heard yet?”
Tom suddenly hardened his face and spoke in a low voice.
“I went to bed late yesterday because of the coronation preparations, so I just woke up.”
Gelves clicked his tongue at the excessively heavy tom. It must be nothing more than that. Anyway, he was a cowardly tom.
“A demon invaded the Eastern Management Office earlier. Twelve royal knights were brutally torn to pieces, and Avery was found with his limbs and throat torn. It was so horrible that those who visited there were said to not be able to eat-.”
Tam’s next words were somewhat shocking. The administration office being attacked? It was something I had never heard of. Where was the administration office? The administration office was located in the deepest part of the imperial palace.
Even though it’s the East, the administration office was attacked-.
‘It’s true that everyone was gathered for the coronation ceremony.’
Gelbes felt a strange sense of unease.
“They said that the Eastern Management Office was the Management Office’s graveyard, and it really was.”
Tom then added a joke that wasn’t even funny.
Then, the door opened gently.
Gelves’ head, which had been tense, suddenly turned around.
The tension quickly disappeared at the sight of the door opening and the person coming in. No, it melted away.
The fresh scent of grass filled the space. Her lush green hair swayed as if it was full of life. It was Selena, the director of the Central Management Office.
Selena was a pure-blooded elf, so her appearance was very famous. Even though she was a member of the Central Administration and had encountered it often, her appearance was unfamiliar.
Her already outstanding appearance looked even more vibrant today.
Selena, who is usually known for having a completely expressionless face, was now smiling brightly.
It was clear that something really good had happened. I was really curious as to what on earth had to happen to make Selena smile like that.
Selena was beautiful even when she had a blank expression, but when she smiled and became so lively, it was hard to come to my senses. It was to the point where I wondered if she had held back her laughter for fear of disrupting her work.
In addition, Selena, who usually sticks to simple formal attire, was wearing a very fancy dress. Although it was an extremely extravagant outfit to wear to work, it looked elegant because it was hidden by her appearance.
All the worries and concerns that had been building up until just now disappeared. Everyone stared blankly at Selena as if under a spell.
Selena looked around at them, moving her lips as if checking something. Soon she nodded and smiled.
“Oh, don’t eat anything today.”
Selena said with a smile in her voice.
Although she didn’t tell us why, everyone nodded blankly. There was a strange power in her voice.
Gelves vowed not to even drink water.
Even though Selena entered the inner room, it took her quite some time to come to her senses.
“You’re feeling so good, why are you angry…?”
Gelbes scolded Tam. Tam scratched his head with an awkward smile.
“But why did you tell me not to eat anything?”
“I wonder if you’ll buy me something delicious for dinner.”
Gelves and Tam looked at each other and smiled.
Today seemed like a very lucky day.
