NOTICE: Many of the novels have been removed because they might cause violations, which we were not aware of earlier.
(189)
The fact that a monster that could unleash a mental wave at any moment was secretly active in the capital where the great nobles had come from drove Valencian mad.
But as always, it was not the hot head but the cold heart that solved the problem.
Jaylilith called in the nobles of Sanggyeong one by one and continued preliminary negotiations before the oath of loyalty.
Sometimes he went forward himself, and other times he sent the Minister of the Interior or the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“I will do my best in my position. If I come this far and hesitate over this little thing, the world will laugh at me. Just act as if nothing happened.”
Valencian knew that was true.
He brought out all the experience he had accumulated over his 59 years of life, including his return, and prepared to capture the Corruptor who controlled the green flame.
The first thing I did was apologize.
“I’m sorry for insulting you in front of your subordinates. I apologize for my harsh words and actions.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The chief of police was surprised by the apology, which he had not expected at all.
The opponent was the scoundrel Valencian, believed to be the kidnapper of saints and the mastermind behind the red-light district's red-light district masks.
I also thought that maybe he would take back his orders to cover up information about the Encroachers' appearance.
“So… … do your best to control the rumors. This story must never reach the newspapers or the members of the National Assembly.”
But the apology was a prelude to further emphasizing the command.
Valencian was absent from the front lines for several days.
Instead, he focused on gathering together Barbatos, the Chief Inspector General, the Captain of the Guard, the Captain of the Guard, Hadritan, and Celerazi to plan operations, discuss them, and work on synergy among them.
“I think the magic tool can arrive by tomorrow.”
“Today, plainclothes police officers followed the bastard. He can use both invisibility and etherealization, so he’s good at hiding.”
“We need to figure out how many times we can use it.”
The police chiefs were armed with the magical tools that Sereraji had created, and the Black Iron Knights moved according to the police chiefs' signals, and Hardritan and the administrators handled the budget for this.
“Little brother. I made five more devourer detection magic tools. And this is a lightning-enhancing scroll that can attack spirits. I didn’t make it myself, I just scraped together a good one from the market.”
“The encirclement has been completed. However, as all personnel are being deployed here, suspicious movements are being observed in the back alleys of various places.”
“I’ll take care of that part.”
The back alleys were managed by Valencian's personally mobilized student council of the Street of Learning, vigilantes from the old slums, and red-light district thugs.
“Jin. Throw some money away.”
“Cornell. Release the wolves.”
“Red Mask. Don’t you want to expand your power?”
Their job was not to chase the eroders, but to chase those who chased the eroders.
The Chief of Police and Barbatos lamented the absurdity of a thug protecting the citizens.
“Does it make sense that it wouldn’t take long for the invader to enter the palace?”
In this world where magic and miracles were common, there was no such thing as absurdity.
* * *
August.
“Come here, you little brother. This wizard has done something crazy.”
Sereraji glanced at the old wizard in the back alley of Magic Street and pointed to the books and summoning circles he had.
“What did you do?”
“It seems like the old Aini is what gave this invader its power.”
“Yes. The one with the green torch.”
“So it seems that there are some ignorant and brave people who think that by tracing Aini’s energy, they can find the Encroachers who received power from Aini.”
"world!"
Valencian spat out the six-letter words without even looking at the faces of the student council members who came with him.
The Old One is a being in which the spirit and flesh are not distinct, and receiving the power of the Old One means receiving a part of the Old One's body.
So, if you summoned a 'little' bit of an old thing and then used blood magic and light magic to cast a spell to track down the owner of the blood drop, you could theoretically find the eroder.
“There’s a reason they say ‘in theory’.”
Sereraji looked around the house.
“Did you think you could summon ‘just a little’ at your will?”
In her eyes, the house was filled with the spirit of the past.
The old wizard was no longer in his right mind.
The green light in his eyes flickered and burned ominously.
“Little brother. If things continue like this, a demon realm might open here.”
Valencian nodded and killed the old wizard, then lit the flames of the dragon's tongue to completely burn his house, laboratory, and corpse.
Afterwards, he heard reports that Jin and the student council were dealing with the ignorant and brave ones one by one and locking them up in the punishment cell inside the academy.
He again borrowed Angelus' hand to capture the seminarian girl.
Afterwards, he emphasized to Cornell the mission of the vigilantes once more.
Valencian was not particularly angry about this incident.
He knew that killing without hostility was more effective, and he had done similar things more than ten times already.
So he went to find Helena of the Brass Knights.
“In particular, there are frequent instances of strange rumors spreading around the academy.”
“It’s not a rumor, it’s the truth… isn’t it?”
“I plan to enlist all those who spread such rumors. Perhaps a recently commissioned knight and officer will take them in, train them, and form his own unit. What do you think, Sister Helena?”
He said he would give me direct control.
Helena reacted like a girl in love, like a dragon before gold.
“For those who spread rumors and disrupt the peace of the capital, we should give them a real-life experience that will make them wake up! That’s a very good idea.”
“Okay. Then the Student Union will send the kids soon. Don’t kill them, but use them without mercy and make them into elites. It would be good for us to have semi-knight-level heavy infantry or heavy cavalry.”
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Valencianus smiled leisurely, and on his way to meet Jerilis, Tentia asked.
“Surprisingly, you don’t look that different.”
“Surprised?”
Tentia nodded, and Valencianus spoke through parted lips.
“Actually… … it’s not easy to come up with completely new strategies or attacks. Of course, when you meet a new enemy, you need a new way to respond, but in the end, we have no choice but to modify the existing way to create that new way.”
“If we compare it to the development of swordsmanship… … it seems like that.”
“The enemy is alone, and I have hundreds of police officers and thousands of thugs at my command. So I’m going to push him forward fair and square. No. If I say it like that, it’s an insult to fair and square. There’s no need to resort to trickery to draw him out. A great army doesn’t need tactics.”
Valencian glanced at the papers one last time and spoke in a hushed tone.
“Perhaps they have learned to conceal the power of the Old Ones through their study of relics. When you meet them, you may feel the aura of a normal human or even a priest.”
Tentia was astonished.
“Yes? No, Your Majesty.”
Valencian calmly went up to Jaerilis' office.
* * *
Valencianus often had private meetings with Jerilis.
This was a very unusual occurrence, as originally, a one-on-one meeting between an emperor and an older sibling did not occur unless the emperor attempted to kill the older sibling, or the older sibling attempted to kill the emperor.
However, even if the sun rose in the west, there was no way Valencian could defeat Jaerilis, and no one would think it strange if Jaerilis, who had already purged her half-siblings, killed one more person, so neither the servants nor the knights paid much attention.
Hardritan was a little different.
By reason of his lineage and office, he was often next in line to see Jerilis after Valencianus.
It meant that he would beat all the other officials who were waiting and report first.
It was not necessary for the Minister of Finance and other high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Finance to report through him.
“Ahem.”
In any case, he found Valencian's frequent visits to him strange in many ways.
If there were many officials waiting and it seemed like time would be limited, he would insist on a private meeting even if it meant waiting until the evening.
It wasn't like he was reporting anything particularly grand, secret, brutal, or dirty.
The contents of the document held by the Vice-Captain of the Silver Knights, who was now standing behind Hardritan, were as follows.
– A demonic realm appeared in Mo Yeongji, 30,000 people died, and with the help of the Cheong Eun Knights and the surrounding lords, the demonic realm was closed.
-The surrounding lords started a war over territory, demanding 'compensation', and the one who instigated it was the Imperial Minister of Foreign Affairs.
– They stole the mine that was a specialty of the mother land, and the mine had a contract with the Ivory Tower, so they could keep the Ivory Tower in check by negotiating an extension of the contract.
Hadritan did not know Valencian's private life, did not want to know, and did not care even if it was true.
It seemed as if they were fixated on the form of the face-to-face meeting itself rather than the content, as if they were obsessed with the fact that even content that could be submitted in writing had to be reported in person.
'I said it once as a joke, but I'm not the kind of older brother who wants to see his younger sibling's face. That kind of person can't make that kind of expression.'
Hadritan carefully adjusted his buffalo horn glasses and looked at Valencianus.
Although the whole world judged him arrogant, sadistic, and frivolous, Valencianus, who was waiting to stand before Jerilis, was quite different.
Those sparkling golden eyes, that cheerful smile that naturally hung on her bleeding lips, and that serious, pulled-in chin were clearly those of the knight in front of the lady.
'It's like I'm constantly telling you that I'm honest and loyal to you.'
Hadritan entered the office with Valencianus.
Valencianus sat down in front of Jayrillis as usual and began his report.
He was originally a torturer, but was now tasked with tracking down the Encroacher, known as the Mad Wizard.
“… … I am concerned that there has been no further movement since then. His goal must be to disrupt the oath of loyalty. However, His Majesty is currently meeting with several counts and marquises and is steadily making progress on the imperial road. In order to destroy this well-organized stability, an even stronger explosion is needed.”
“Are you wary of that?”
“I haven’t figured out who sent him. Maybe he has no connection to the nobles.”
“It sounds like something that could happen in the future.”
Hardritan looked at the somewhat unfamiliar report with interest.
Jaylilis responded succinctly to most reports.
After hearing a three-hour-long announcement of a large-scale canal project, I waved him off, saying only, "Good. Go ahead and do it."
It was a matter of trusting the administrators and the court nobles, who had in fact been tacitly accepting only a small amount of rebates and bribes from the time of the accession of Jerilis, and the Emperor's commendations to the officials were mostly given in the form of bonuses and letters written by his maids.
Anyway, the emperor just listened to most of the reports quietly.
It was truly unusual for him to look me in the eye with those golden eyes, sometimes making a face, sometimes nodding his head respectfully, sometimes interrupting or turning the conversation around, and sometimes asking me questions in return.
“… … Therefore, I am uneasy. He may join hands with the great lords, and the great lords may exert political pressure on Your Majesty through his presence. Your merciful Majesty… … .”
“No. Valen. That’s enough. I like flattery, but I’m too embarrassed to accept mercy.”
“Then, Your Majesty the Beautiful… … .”
“Yeah. Good!”
Hadritan almost gasped when he saw the Emperor laughing brightly, revealing his white teeth.
If it weren't for the apparent momentum, I would have thought they were a stand-in and called the knights.
The Emperor grasped the back of Valencian's hand with his ringed hand.
“My dear, don’t worry too much. I heard you haven’t slept in over ten days. I’m very worried that your health will be damaged. I’m also trying to console and discipline the great lords. Besides, haven’t you all come up already? If you try to turn back, I’ll just draw my sword and that’ll be it.”
Hadritan was so shocked that he forgot that he was in the presence of the king.
'You receive emotional comfort from the Emperor?'
It was a miracle that no one screamed at that moment.
He looked at the inhuman twins in bewilderment and dismay.
They smile as if they are only looking at each other.