Side Story Episode 16 – The Empire’s Teacher…?(1)
A conference hall located inside the Imperial Palace.
Several nobles were seated first in the conference hall.
buzz buzz.
An awkward atmosphere somewhere.
Nobles were talking in pairs.
“Is it really true that a stranger cleared the Dark Forest?”
“Some say it’s not at the level of sweeping…”
“Isn’t that the level of sweeping? What does that mean?”
The main content was also related to the dark forest.
To be precise, it was about Seo-joon, a stranger who wiped out the dark forest.
Earth or Astelgiana. It seemed like rumors had already spread, as if it were the same as a horse without feet going a thousand miles.
“Kuhm.”
Arriving at the meeting place, Vettel cleared her throat slightly.
Only then did the nobles, who noticed Vettel’s existence, start to shut up one by one.
But that’s for a while.
buzz buzz.
The atmosphere, which had been quiet, began to become chaotic again.
However, unlike a moment ago, there was a little less clutter because of Vettel’s notice.
Even so, the chaotic atmosphere did not change much.
Vettel’s eyebrows furrowed involuntarily.
But that’s something you can’t say anything about.
As if expressing displeasure, Vettel moved to a designated place and took her seat.
How much time had passed like that?
“Your Highness is here!”
With a booming voice, the Crown Prince of the Empire, Cals, appeared in the conference hall.
At the same time, the buzzing noise suddenly fell silent, and all the nobles rose from their seats.
Cals crossed the aristocrats who had risen from their seats and took a proud step…
“…?”
“…?”
I don’t know why, but Carl’s face looked quite different from usual.
To be precise, his face was very shattered, as if he had been through hard labor.
At least it was that much because the uniforms were neat and the attendants hurriedly rushed in to take care of it.
I couldn’t even imagine what it would look like raw.
Perhaps because of that, the atmosphere on Carl’s face and expression was truly miserable.
Turbuck.
Another person appeared after Carls.
It was none other than Seo-joon, the person who opened this meeting.
As expected, Seo-joon looked dumbfounded, as if he had lost a screw.
It is unbelievable that he was the one who wiped out the dark forest.
And unlike the previous Carls,
Seojun’s expression was a smile.
As befits a crown prince, Carls was in the highest rank,
Seo-joon took a quick look around and settled in a suitable place.
And just then.
“Come this way.”
Carls called Seo-jun and guided him to another seat.
And the seat that Carls guided.
It was a position similar to that of the emperor, and higher than that of the crown prince, Carls.
same as last time
Doing the same thing again
Vettel didn’t want to miss this, so he went straight ahead.
“Your Highness, I think this is too much space for a stranger. And my memory is dark, so I know this story ended last time. Please consider that treating strangers on the same level as Your Majesty could be considered disrespect for Your Majesty.”
Vettel slightly lowered her head and gave a fishy smile.
He would, too, because this was literally an issue that was over the last time.
Therefore, Bethel’s words just now said, ‘I don’t know if you are an emperor, but you are not an emperor yet. But why do you act like an emperor?” and at the same time.
‘You’re not a kid, are you going to stop using the group?’ It wasn’t the same as swearing.
And it was the same as turning Carls into an expression of ‘his own memory is dark’.
Just a few words brought the first atmosphere.
Taking the initiative from the start of the meeting.
Anyway, there was no other stupid prince.
“Ah, it was.”
As expected, Carls nodded as if he had forgotten.
however.
“But isn’t that the situation then?”
“…?”
For a moment, Vettel felt like she was going crazy.
How is it different from then?
Could it be that Seo-joon will treat you like he did after clearing the dark forest?
If that was the case, it was an even more stupid idea.
To say he would treat you like an emperor just by clearing the dark forest.
Of course, it was true that clearing the dark forest was a great achievement.
However, that could not be a reason to be placed in the same position as the emperor.
In that sense, all mercenaries in the empire were emperors.
Above all, the dark forest was a scourge of the empire, but wasn’t it a crisis of the empire?
Vettel snorted and opened her mouth slowly.
No, to be precise, I tried to open my mouth.
“Kim Seo-joon is now my teacher.”
“…?”
Vettel was momentarily speechless at Carl’s words that fell like a bomb.
And not just Vettel, but all the nobles gathered in the conference hall.
Silence between moments.
“·······!!!”
“·······!!!”
“·······!!!”
The nobles in the meeting room opened their eyes for an instant.
“So it’s only natural that you sit in a higher seat than me. Surely it doesn’t mean that my teacher should be in a lower position than me?”
The nobles were speechless.
Because everything Carl said was true.
Right then.
“That is nonsense!”
Vettel’s shout was heard as if to refute Carl’s words.
Vettel was looking at Carls with a furrowed eyebrow.
Vettel could never admit this.
Even if he seemed stupid, Carls was none other than the crown prince.
A person who will later become the emperor who will rule the empire.
And it was safe to say that being such a teacher of Carls meant that the position of Grand Master was virtually guaranteed.
Taishi (太師) is the only person who can be placed above the emperor.
In other words, the one who is above everyone in the empire.
Giving such a noble place to a stranger over there?
Even for such a stupid bastard?
“To think that such a major matter was decided by Your Highness alone! Absolutely not!”
“What’s wrong with me saying I’m going to serve my teacher?”
Vettel shouted with a face full of shame.
“Your Highness is the person who will become the father of the empire in the future! Being the teacher of such a highness is the same as being the teacher of the empire. No matter how much you are your teacher, this is a matter that cannot be decided by your own judgment!”
At Vettel’s firm words, Carls shut his mouth.
And Vettel let out a small laugh at the sight of Karls.
also.
I thought I would only act hastily, but I still had no idea.
Right then.
“good night. So, let’s decide the matter now and go.”
Suddenly, Carls opened his mouth with a confident face.
Then Carls looked straight at Vettel and asked.
“I will ask Sir Bethel. Why can’t Kim Seo-joon be my teacher?”
“·······”
Vettel was momentarily at a loss for words.
It was because he had never expected that Carl would come out like that.
“Didn’t I ask you now? Or are you ignoring me?”
An attitude full of dignity.
Vettel gritted her teeth and opened her mouth.
“As I said before, being the Grand Master of the Empire is like being the teacher of the Empire. So, he must have the ability and qualifications to match him—.”
“Ability and qualifications. You spoke well.”
Carls cut off Vettel.
Then he looked at the nobles seated in the conference hall and said.
“As the ministers must have heard, Master cleared the Dark Forest alone. This is something I have seen and experienced with my own two eyes. I guarantee it on my honor.”
That moment.
“Your Highness said you were with me? That dangerous place?”
“Oh no wait. Rather, you cleared the dark forest by yourself?”
“What nonsense…”
The meeting room started to shake.
Cals looked at those ministers and said to Vettel.
“I think that Master’s ability has been proven, but what about Sir Bethel?”
Vettel had nothing to say.
The fact that he swept the dark forest alone.
Because that fact alone was enough to prove his ability.
“Yes, but there is no guarantee that it is true…”
“I must have said that I would risk my honor.”
“·······”
Vettel kept her mouth shut.
More than Carls directly staked his honor. To refute that was tantamount to denying the imperial family.
“Then, it might be possible that Your Highness wipes it out and gives credit to that stranger…”
“Do you think that makes sense now?”
The look on Carl’s expression as he looked at it was literally, ‘Is he saying something that doesn’t sound like a word?’ It looked like he was saying.
“·······”
And Vettel didn’t know that either.
Unbeknownst to me, I lost my sense of balance.
In times like this, you need to be calm.
Carl’s voice came over Vettel again.
“Even Master is a close friend of the current Taesa Aren, and a person whom Aren recognized enough to write a letter of recommendation. If you do this, I think you are qualified.”
“However, that person does not accept strangers. To have a stranger as a grand master is…”
“Does that mean that you are disqualified by the fact that you are only a stranger?”
“The Gentiles are those whose roots are unclear. You never know when or where you’re going to do something.”
“Because you are a stranger, you cannot know when, where, or what to do…”
Carls laughed and continued.
“Then I guess I’ll have to kill all the foreigners residing in the empire. Because they are all potential rebels.”
“·······”
Vettel was again at a loss for words.
And the look of Carls I saw.
Something has changed.
Vettel was able to realize at once.
Normally, Carls couldn’t even say this.
When Vettel refutes, father, go away
All I could do was bite my teeth.
It was really hard to refute item by item so openly.
He knew that Carl’s talent was excellent, but only ‘talent’ was outstanding.
In addition, as much as his status was his, he was raised as a newbie who doesn’t know the world.
As usual, it was a bonus that there was no cheapness.
That’s why, in the imperial palace, where battles were fought, battles, and air battles were held, they were just prey.
But in the past few days, I have become a completely different person.
To be exact, since I was with a stranger.
Vettel’s gaze naturally turned to Seo-joon.
Seo-joon was still smiling, wondering what was so enjoyable.
that’s the guy
That appearance convinced Vettel.
That guy made Carls like that.
I’ve seen it in an awkward atmosphere, but
He was a more meticulous bastard than I thought.
Because of that, there was no justification or basis to refute right now.
But that doesn’t mean there will be no future.
At any time, this matter can be publicized again.
So take a step back for now.
Because this place wasn’t meant for this in the first place.
And if you withdraw like this now, you will have a reason to fight back.
I’ll take a step back now
You, too, take a step back in the next one.
“… I will obey Your Highness’ will.”
Vettel lowered her head slightly and stepped back.
Unknowingly, my eyebrows are twisted.
It was a feeling of taking one step back in order to take two steps forward,
It wasn’t that I didn’t feel bad.
“Please take a seat.”
Carls offered a seat to Seo-joon with a satisfied expression.
Seo-joon was naturally placed in the most prestigious position.
That’s how Seojun is located.
“Since the story just came out, let’s start the meeting right away.”
Carls continued talking.
“As I said earlier, Master has cleared the Dark Forest, the bane of the Empire. Exactly what I saw…”
Carls continued to talk about this.
Exactly what happened in the dark forest.
More precisely, it was about how Seo-jun cleared the dark forest.
“No, that’s ridiculous…”
“I-that was really true…?”
“Even your Majesty wouldn’t be able to do something like that…!”
The faces of the aristocrats who heard the story were gradually stained with astonishment.
The long story of Carl’s ended like that.
“Therefore, I would like to give Master the promised 100 billion gold as compensation.”
It was just when Carls came to his conclusion.
“Your Highness, Bethel. Can I just say one word?”
Vettel shouted softly through the astonished atmosphere of the conference hall.
It was as if he had been waiting for Carl’s words.
“What else?”
Carls raised his eyebrows and asked, and Vettel answered right away.
“As Your Highness said, it is only natural that we keep our promises. However, I don’t think it’s an unreasonable decision to keep that promise right now.”
“Are you in trouble right now?”
Vettel lowered her head slightly and said.
“100 billion gold is an enormous amount. Although it is not to the extent that the empire’s budget cannot be spent… I believe that His Majesty’s permission must be used to spend a budget of this size.”
“Your Majesty Yunhe?”
“It is.”
Vettel nodded.
To put it simply, ‘Kals, aren’t you just a prince? It meant ‘don’t use your budget on your own’.
and at the same time.
“But now that His Majesty is missing…”
It was like saying that he would not give money to Seo-joon until he came to the emperor.
In the first place, Seo-jun had two conditions.
To clear the darkness and find clues about the missing emperor.
So, if you want to get paid, go see the emperor.
‘But I can’t find the missing emperor.’
Vettel let out a bitter laugh.
At the same time, Vettel felt as if he could hear the rage of Carls biting his teeth.
Right then.
“From here on out, let me tell you.”
Seo-joon, who had been still for a moment, began to step out.
focused gaze.
Vettel could feel Seo-jun’s gaze looking at her.
At that moment, Seojun suddenly smiled and smiled.
<I don’t know… I don’t know…!>
And a small voice from somewhere.
It was the voice he used to say about himself.
But why today?
<I really don’t know…!>
The voice just kept repeating that it didn’t know.
Something… I started to have a foreboding feeling.
At that moment, Seo-joon began to take something out of his pocket.
“That, that…?”
“Your Majesty, aren’t you His Majesty’s staff!”
It was none other than the sword the emperor used.
“As expected, everyone knows it well! Yes, this is the staff used by His Majesty. It was found in none other than Bogus Wilderness!
The Bogus Wilderness, like the Dark Forest, was one of Astelgia’s abandoned lands.
It was similar to the dark forest in terms of danger.
“Bogus Wilderness!”
“You mean His Majesty went there!”
Behind the astonished nobles’ words, Seo-joon shouted again.
“I searched all over the dimension to find you. And after a lot of hard work, I was able to find this one clue.”
<Lies! You’re what Aren was looking for! Kim Seo-joon just picked it up and ate it… Eup! ugh!>
An unknown voice kept ringing in Vettel’s ears.
“How much trouble did you have to find… This earns one clue about His Majesty, right? So 100 billion gold accumulated?”
The nobles had nothing to say.
Because it wasn’t wrong.
No, but even if I did, should I say it cheaply?
I was just thinking about it.
“And there are more.”
Seojun then took something out of the kibisis again.
And he continues to explain…
“Three, my God!”
“How can that be!”
As a result, the nobles are outraged.
Frankly, Vettel wasn’t listening.
<How can you be so shameless, Kim Seo-joon! Aren-sama’s hard work like this, like a robber—! town! ugh!!!>
There was only a small, incomprehensible voice lingering around.
There was only an ominous foreboding.
In that way, Seo-jun suggested a total of 3 clues.
In a word, it was 300 billion gold.
“In this short time, you’re clearing the dark forest and searching for His Majesty’s whereabouts at the same time.”
“Is this really the person Your Highness will take as your teacher…”
The nobles couldn’t help but admire Seo-jun’s actions.
exactly one person.
“so.”
Only Bettel had a displeased look on his face.
Vettel took a step forward and spoke to Seo-jun.
“In the end, I only found clues, but couldn’t find Your Majesty… isn’t it?”
Vettel gritted and bit his teeth to complete his words.
Currently, Seo-joon is Carl’s teacher, so he can no longer treat him carelessly.
But the johndae didn’t stick to his mouth.
And anyway, I just found clues like this and that.
In the end, it was just a clue.
Practically nothing has been accomplished.
“In the end, we couldn’t find His Majesty, did we? It would be different if you found His Majesty at the end, but if you do this, it’s not like you can’t receive His Majesty’s blessing.”
In a word, he had no money to give to Seo-joon.
however.
“So, are you saying that if you have His Majesty’s Yun Heo, you will acknowledge all of the above?”
For some reason, Seojun’s expression was unusual.
And just then.
<No stomach upset!!! I shouldn’t have said that!>
With an unknown voice, Seo-joon’s mouth moved from side to side.
It took a while for Vettel to grasp the situation.
“So I’m ready!”
Seojun quickly shouted.
“Please wait here for a moment!”
And let the words change,
Seo-joon hurriedly left the meeting room.
“…?”
“…?”
Seo-joon’s sudden action caused a brief uproar in the meeting room.
What did you prepare for?
It’s been a while since I thought that.
jump.
Seo-joon, who had suddenly disappeared, came carrying something on his back.
It was none other than a person, but he was hanging on Seo-joon’s shoulder as if he had passed out.
The aristocrats carefully looked at the person Seo-joon was carrying.
In addition to her slender body, her long, sagging silver hair.
A dreamy atmosphere that feels somewhere.
“Voila! Your Majesty the Emperor!”
It was none other than the missing emperor, Elian.
“・・・・・・!!!!”
“・・・・・・!!!!”
“・・・・・・!!!!”
The mouths of the nobles, including Vettel, were wide open and did not intend to close.
At the same time, an eerie silence descended.
“Well, if you do this, 300 billion gold for 3 clues per contract, 100 billion gold for finding Your Majesty, and 100 billion gold for clearing the dark forest. In all, 500 billion gold. Right?”
Literally staggering silence.
“·······”
“·······”
“·······”
Everyone present in the conference hall began to ascend to heaven one by one.
And Carls, who was watching it.
He said that he would take care of the compensation for the mental damage he received from His Majesty, so was it like this…
500 billion gold is approximately 5,000 trillion won in Korean currency.
In addition, considering the 500 trillion won per hour tutoring expenses to be spent on Seo-joon…
“ha···.”
‘Cause don’t be fooled by that
Only Carl’s deep sigh resounded in the meeting hall.
