Playing the Perfect Fox-Eyed Villain Chapter 272

Episode 272. The Remaining Whereabouts (4)

“He’s alive.”

Kaldrak came to my office out of the blue and told me that he was alive.

It wasn't that I couldn't guess who he was referring to, but it was a situation that was on the verge of becoming annoying.

'I was trying to go home quickly because my mana blood was hurting.'

Why do so many guests come here?

I was just talking to Pintel a moment ago.

It was an awkward question as to whether it was okay to include general church members in the plan to fill the 'land spider' personnel.

'The spider… is not needed.'

While it is okay for an individual to run a 'private military organization', 'Closed Eyes' is strictly prohibited from doing so.

Because of that, I somehow managed to send Pintel back, but now Kaldrock has come and is doing this.

“Is that so?”

“How indifferent. It was none other than the information you gave me.”

If I'm tired, I might go against the prince. I realized that if 'Kaldrak' doesn't like it, my head could be cut off in an instant.

My neck will be fine until I stop Yulsis, but my life won't end after I stop him.

“Actually, I also expected that Kikuba would not have died on the spot.”

In terms of setting, I know that 'Kikubad' has monstrous powers. However, I thought it was just a 'setting' and that he was an enemy that could be defeated.

'When we actually faced each other, it was indeed strong.'

If we were to face each other again, would I be able to win? I'm not sure about that.

Still, if we face each other again.

'It won't earthquake.'

No matter what the enemy, you should never approach them with the 'imagination of defeat'. That was a habit that 'Yurien' had, and I thought it was a good habit for a guy like him.

“Certainly, I thought about that too after hearing the information you provided.”

As he said this, Kaldrock shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the sofa in front of him.

Abisha followed Kaldrak like a shadow, but she did not sit down. She just glared at me with a look of caution.

It must be because of what happened in the snowy forest.

“By the way, did you hear about this from ‘Urhar’?”

Kaldrak opened his mouth with a dubious expression.

“No, I heard it from the Black Knight.”

“Is it really necessary to speak in such a roundabout way between us?”

Kaldrak rested his chin on one hand and looked at me intently.

“There have been several iterations. In fact, I have heard several rumors about a ‘black knight’ floating around the system.”

A look of knowing pierced through my body. Although he didn't finish speaking, it felt like he was telling me to say it with my own mouth that I was the 'Black Knight'.

“However, in the ‘repetition’ where Haydn Reich died, all rumors about the ‘Black Knights’ disappeared. From there, I was able to guess that the ‘Black Knight’ was Haydn Reich.”

“How strange. The identity of the Black Knight was Haydn Reich.”

Cold sweat began to run down my back. The fact that the 'Black Knight' was Haydn Reich was not accepted in this world.

One, Kaldrak knows the truth. I wondered if it would help me now, but it was enough to pressure me.

“I thought the rumor would disappear this time too. Haydn Reich is dead, after all. But isn’t it strange? Why is the Black Knight still strutting around?”

Abisha looked at Kaldrak with a 'what are you talking about' expression.

Even while receiving such gaze from Abisha, Kaldrak did not stop sending me his attention. On the contrary, he gave off the nuance of wanting to look inside.

“I don’t know what you want to say, Your Majesty Kaldrak.”

“Really? You’re smart.”

“Is that so? I hear that often.”

“Actually, it doesn’t matter either way.”

Kaldrak shrugged.

“Until now, I was only focused on killing Yulsis, but I changed my mind.”

Then, Kaldrak looked at me with a serious face.

“I will become the emperor, Yurian. After all, it does not suit me to stay in the north and seek safety.”

After looking at Kaldrak speaking coolly, I looked at Abisha's face.

I couldn't see well because the hood was turned over.

“To do that, your Highness the King Kaldrak must gain the upper hand in the fight for the throne.”

“That’s not hard. If I can catch Yulisse, then so can Brother Osborn.”

Kaldrak reveals his true feelings. He had become aloof through 'repetition', but his thoughts seem to have gradually changed after entering the system.

Is he obsessed with power? Or is it the obsession with usurping the throne that is engraved in his blood?

'It's always been like that.'

This iron-blooded prince has always been like that. I thought he would be a little different after going through the painful experience of 'repetition'.

“You’re so greedy for power, you know a lot of dead people.”

“Not this time.”

“He said the same thing. They all died.”

"Huh, he said with a smile. If I had spoken to Kaldrak like that, I would have been severely punished, but this was the way I wanted to speak to him now.

“I am different.”

That's the same thing.

Before I knew it, it was not 'Repeater' Kaldrak but 'Iron Prince' Kaldrak standing before my eyes.

“If you take the throne, there will be opposition from many sides. Unless you do it dramatically.”

“That’s right. Regardless of legitimacy, there is the Osborne Decree.”

“We need a scaffold to silence such people.”

Sigh, I sighed inwardly.

I know 'villains' like Yurian, but Kaldrak is a bit ambiguous when it comes to fitting into the 'villain' category.

“I promise you the position of Royal Knight. If you want a higher position, I don’t mind.”

“Your Majesty Kaldrak, there is only one thing I desire in this world.”

"what?"

“Having both feet on the ground.”

Kaldrak looked at me with suspicious eyes.

“If you could fly, would you wish to keep your feet on the ground?”

I burst out laughing.

“It hurts when you fall.”

***

I had a few more conversations with Kaldrak after that.

There's a story about how he obtained the horn of the demon from Fullgorn's mansion, and how things went too easily.

'Shouldn't we have started with that story?'

The top priority right now was to deal with the 'horn of the demon'. However, there was some truth to what he said.

'You got your horns back too easily.'

If Yulsis is also using the 'Horn of the Demon God' to do something, then no, with the 'witch' Abigail by his side, he would know the importance of the 'Horn of the Demon God'.

But, for something like that, I felt like it was recovered too easily.

Even if we proceeded secretly, we expected that it would be difficult to retrieve the 'Mashin's Horn' from the collapsed Pulgorn's mansion.

'no way.'

Suddenly, doubts arose in the flow that was so easy.

Until now, I thought that Yulsis wanted the 'resurrection of the Demon God' because he was the 'vessel of the Demon King'.

If that was the 'player', it was a natural course of action. In the game, all the 'Demon Kings' did not hesitate to use any means necessary to revive the 'Mashin'.

'Isn't Yulsis's purpose the resurrection of Mashin?'

Anyway, I expected that they would use the 'Magic God' to destroy the 'Empire', but when I thought about it, if they had the 'Magic God's Horn', there would be a way to destroy the Empire without having to revive the Magic God.

'Land pollution.'

A ritual that melts the 'horn of the demon god' and instills its magic into the earth. If this method is used, the entire area will become a place seething with the remnants of the demon god's thoughts.

In other words, this place is no different from the 'Northern Front'.

'hmm.'

If that happens, I don't know what will happen in the future, but I don't think anything as fatal as the 'resurrection of the demon' will happen.

The situation on the continent will change. The structure of the three powers, the Empire, the Holy Nation, and the Allied Powers, will be broken, and there will be a period of chaos.

'The world will not end.'

Thinking about it that way, I started to feel a little relieved.

'I guess it's okay to look for a way to escape.'

Anything but the empire is fine, right?

Of course, he won't just sit back and watch what Yules does while focusing solely on his exile. After all, the 'Empire' has accumulated wealth.

***

Urhar, who originally felt skeptical about the position of Royal Knight, realized one thing through his conversation with Yurian.

'I guess it's best to quit Royal Knights.'

It is no longer possible to do this work with 'belief'. Rather, it would be better to get out of this position where you have to strictly follow the rules of the 'royal family' and take on a new identity.

Urhar thought that if he helped the 'Black Knight', he would be able to relieve his unnecessary guilt.

So, with his resignation letter in hand, Urhar went to the imperial palace. When he arrived at the Royal Knights’ department, he was greeted by none other than the Royal Knights.

“You’re here.”

It is Kikubad, who was thought to be buried in the mansion of Fullgorn.

As he stood there as if it were natural for him to be dead, Urhar's ears began to ring.

“Huh? Why are you just standing there blankly? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

At Kikubad's words, Urhar pretended to be as calm as possible and handed him the resignation letter he had brought.

“What is this?”

“This is a resignation letter.”

“Hmm.”

Kikuba sighed.

“Why do you want to quit? There’s no other job that pays as well and offers as many benefits as the Royal Knights.”

Rather than initially expressing loyalty to the 'Imperial House', Kikubad spoke of the worldly benefits that the 'Royal Knights' had.

“I recently realized that I don’t share the same ideals as the Royal Knights.”

“Hmm, I see.”

Kikubad glanced at the resignation letter and looked at Urhar with a grin.

“If it were me, I would have kept my place as a Royal Knight until the end.”

Kikubad pushed the resignation letter he had received back towards Urhar.

“Wouldn’t that be helpful to the Black Knight?”

As soon as the name 'Black Knight' came out of his mouth, tension began to spread throughout Urhar's body.

The wounds inflicted on Kikubaad also began to ache.

'… … Did you notice?'

Even though he had his hood turned over and was trying to come up, he didn't use it. Urhar swallowed hard.

“If we report every single thing we do to the Black Knight… wouldn’t things be a little easier?”

“Where did you notice that?”

Urhar's words came out informally because of the stinging wound and tension. However, Kikubad continued speaking without paying any attention to that.

“I didn’t know at first. I just thought he was a skilled prosecutor.”

“But, how?”

“With that level of swordsmanship, he could have used Aura, but I was suspicious because he didn’t bother to use ‘Aura’.”

“Hmm,” said Kikuba, trailing off, as if he had just remembered something.

“So, there’s one thing I want to know.”

Kikubad slowly got up from his seat. Urhart stiffened as the murderous aura swept over his body like a snake, but soon he channeled 'mana' to allow his body to move.

“Are you the real Black Knight, or is the second one the real one?”