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The palace itself was as large as a small city, and was some distance from the Platinum Knights' training grounds and the main palace of Jaylilith.
Large evergreen trees and sacred streetlights lined both sides of the wide paved road.
The evergreen trees received the hot afternoon sunlight with their large height, and the sacred streetlights accumulated the grace of light with their entire bodies.
It was a crazy heat.
I think there will be a lot of people collapsing from the heat, so I will have to have Hadritan issue an official document.
Please refrain from any outside construction between noon and 4 p.m.
“……It was the fault of the Ivory Tower, but since the reason was provided by the Grand Duke of Sereraji, I left it unanswered. Also, in order to obtain information about the old things that the Grand Duke of Sereraji and I witnessed, the Grand Duke of Sereraji obtained the grimoire in the form of a loan.”
On a peaceful summer afternoon, my emperor was speechless for a moment after hearing my report.
“……There are fewer casualties than I thought. As expected, it’s the ivory tower. Is the Grand Duke of Sereraji safe?”
“We all went through additional purification using holy water. She was fine, but I felt very stung.”
“What?”
“I am slowly becoming less and less biologically human… so please understand.”
Jaylilith looked for a moment as if she didn't know what to say.
Eventually, she seemed to have decided not to say anything because she didn't know what to say, so she pretended not to hear me and continued talking.
“Did you say that the door opened and you saw a crack in the world?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Her white cheeks trembled slightly and she let out a sigh of disbelief.
“It’s strange. It’s not something I should be saying, but I’m speechless when I think about how dangerous a world I’m ruling.”
I wagged my tongue to ensure that this logic did not lead to useless control and a wasteful surveillance regime.
“Each person is insignificant. However, from among these ordinary citizens, heroes will emerge to save the empire, and invaders will emerge to shake the empire. And it is Your Majesty who rules over hundreds of millions of subjects who harbor such great potential.”
“But to Jim’s eyes and ears, he seems to see and hear more invaders than heroes.”
“It means that the suppression operation is progressing well.”
The Encroachers, disguised as either the top or adventurers, roam the empire causing trouble, and when they are uprooted from one territory, they return to build up their power in another territory.
So, it was only through imperial oppression that they could be defeated.
The suppression operation was being carried out successfully under the charisma of the Holy Emperor.
Jaylilith spoke listlessly, counting on her fingers.
“35,000 in the West, 138,000 in the South, 42,000 in the East, 56,000 in the North… Yes. The numbers are going up because we caught a lot. It’s like increasing the police presence, and the crime rate and arrest rate both go down.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
It wasn't that the number of invaders increased due to the suppression operation, but rather that they were able to catch and burn all those who had been missed before.
A long, wide staircase and the magnificent main palace began to appear before me.
The guards standing in front of the stairs straightened their postures when they saw me, and frowned when they saw Jaylilith.
They made trumpets and shouted.
“Your Highness! Who is that woman in plain clothes?”
“If you are thinking of taking me to Your Majesty-.”
I looked back at her urgently and pleaded.
“Your Majesty, this distance is too far to see the color of their hair or their eyes. Please understand that they are not superhumans.”
Jaylilith nodded, smiling lazily.
“Yes. They probably didn’t know that the Emperor would be walking around the palace dressed like this.”
* * *
"your majesty!?"
"your majesty?!"
After a while, the two guards recognized the emperor and buried their heads in the stone steps.
You must have felt like the main character of a dragon tale.
Jaylilith forgave them and magically created ice on the spot.
“You must be working hard on this hot day.”
They were drenched in sweat and bowed their heads repeatedly in gratitude for the emperor's grace.
“Your Majesty, I am so grateful!”
As soon as we entered the main palace, the maids came rushing to us again.
I went up to her office.
After waiting for about 30 minutes, Jaylilith came in.
She was wearing a gorgeous dress with gold embroidery on a black background, her hair slightly wet as if she had just washed it.
My eyes felt at ease as I returned to my familiar attire.
She said in a slightly playful voice.
“Why are you looking at me with such irreverent eyes?”
“I didn’t know that Your Majesty would wear a blouse and cotton trousers under a gambyson.”
She nodded theatrically.
“I know what you’re saying. Jim wears a dress when he fights. But that’s just to prepare for the situation where he has to fight in a dress. If Jim were to go to war, he’d wear a gambiton under his plate armor.”
“Then why during the last Demonic Realm subjugation-”
“I did that because I had to show my dignity to the two counts at that time.”
Theatrics and majesty to create excitement have always been important.
It wasn't for nothing that knights and nobles wore flashy armor and had flowing cloaks.
I just nodded without asking any further questions.
Jaylilith frowned as she looked towards the training ground.
“Hmm. Originally, I was supposed to come and do meditation practice with you.”
In the early stages of training, mana is naturally accumulated in the body through physical training, but sword users who can clearly feel and handle mana increase their mana through meditation training.
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I had neglected it because I hardly felt the need for it after Yongchan, but it was an essential process for growing Mana Rod and Mana Hole.
“It is true that you will feel refreshed if you meditate after moving your body.”
Since Lorelai and Sayaya Yendo both valued meditation and contemplation, I too was planning to make time for it in the future.
Jaylilith looked me up and down slowly, her expression slightly pleased and slightly worried.
“Yeah. You should do some meditation practice too.”
"yes."
“You shouldn’t just rely on magic. It takes time to use powerful magic. At the very least, you need to have swordsmanship skills that can protect your body. For that, meditation training is essential.”
“Your Majesty. I am a sword expert. I believe I have the swordsmanship to protect myself…….”
Jaylilith gave a lazy laugh.
“Anyone below Sword Master is not even capable of protecting themselves.”
I listened to it carefully.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty has just made countless swordsmen and knights on this continent foolish.”
She had an innate ability to silence me.
“Sit over here. I’ll show you around.”
"yes?"
“You don’t like it?”
“I am in a hurry.”
It was not common to have the opportunity to receive mana from the Sword Master.
I quickly lowered my head.
Jaylilith's office had a carpet that was so soft and thick that it was a shame to step on it with shoes on.
Also, the servants of the main palace and the nobles who visit the main palace have separate shoes to wear inside the main palace, and this carpet is managed with a magic potion made by the magicians of the Imperial Magic Workshop, so it is much cleaner than human hands.
Therefore, there was no hygienic problem even if the Archduke and the Emperor sat on it.
Of course, from a common sense perspective, it became a big problem.
“There is a problem, Your Majesty. I can be Your Majesty’s footstool, but I cannot have Your Majesty sit on the floor.”
“Hmm. I don’t really want to use you as a footstool, oppa. Before I make you sit down, sit down and prepare for some meditation practice.”
“Huh? What did you just say….-”
“Your Majesty, sit down.”
Jaylilith's voice gradually became lower and lower.
I sat with my mouth shut, my eyes closed, and my legs crossed, knowing that she was the one who had torn my patience to pieces and then fed me with her drive.
* * *
After repeating the breathing in and out a few times, calm quickly came.
Mana flowed from the heart, through the blood vessels, circulated throughout the body, and then returned to the heart.
“I will begin.”
Jaylilith slowly placed her hand on my back.
I felt long, firm, yet flexible fingers running over my uniform.
Immediately afterwards, her mana seeped into my body.
It was pure and refined golden mana.
It was warm.
If my mana was like burning water, hers was like molten gold.
Sweat began to form on my forehead, which had never shed a single drop of sweat in the heat outside.
Saaaaah-.
She took control of my mana in an instant and started leading me.
Starting from the heart and returning to the heart two or three times.
Her mana spread throughout my body, and my body began to glow softly.
Jaylilith's voice rang lazily in my ears.
“There are many strange energies in your heart. Yongchan. Kuit Az. The god of the eastern grasslands. And the power taken from all sorts of foreign entities and invaders.”
“I thought it was all burned and extinguished, but wasn’t it?”
“No. Good job. If you had tried to burn it any further, it would have been difficult to absorb. I’ll pull the load up, so burn it once more with the flame now.”
Immediately afterwards, Jaylilith's energy dug deep into my heart.
Strange dregs that I hadn't even noticed were slowly gathering under my heart and hardening into a stone.
Jaylilith used the golden mana as a spear to dig it all up and let it flow down my mana rod.
“Ugh.”
I felt like there were thorns stuck in my throat.
I raised the flame and burned all the dregs.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
I felt a heat burning inside my body, and the control of the mana that Jaylilith had breathed into me was transferred to me.
Jaylilith said with a slightly surprised voice.
“You are truly a flame. You are indeed Jim’s twin.”
“You are too complimentary. Unlike Your Majesty, I have become like this because I swallowed anything. I am not ashamed…….”
I was speaking naturally when I suddenly became speechless.
The hand Jaylilith placed on her back trembled slightly.
“Aren’t you ashamed?”
It was a voice that seemed to be waiting for the next words.
“…….”
I was well aware of the stories of the grand dukes who had tried to use their blood ties to the monarch to act as regents and had their heads cut off.
Jaylilith killed hundreds of his clansmen to ascend the throne, and I was his lackey, a coward who had previously failed to stand before the administrator of the Imperial Magic Workshop.
Actually, if I could go back in time, I would want to go back to that day.
There were times when I secretly regretted why I returned as seventeen instead of nine.
A person must have a sense of shame and tact.
How can I, who sent half of me to a place of death, claim to be blood relatives?
But looking at her expression, it seemed like she was saying that it was okay to say this, no, that I should say it.
I spat out the blood that was stuck in my throat.
“I wanted to become a Hwang-hyung who is not ashamed… but I feel like I am still far from that, so I am sorry.”
Swish.
I could tell that Jaylilith was shaking her head.
She hummed brightly.
“You are on the right path.”
“…….”
“The luggage has gone too far alone, and you are the only one who has abandoned yourself to follow it.”
okay.
I could accept that to some extent.
'Your Majesty is a god.'
'Jaylilith is coming!'
'Emperor! Save us!'
The Holy Emperor Jaylilith went so far that no one could understand, and I followed her alone, struggling.
Because I wanted to make amends and be helpful.
The means were viciousness before the return, and force in this life.
Before the regression, he was even more notorious than he is now, and he was now burning and devouring all kinds of monsters.
Jaylilith slowly removed her hands from my back.
The moment the mana, like molten gold, left my body, I got goosebumps.
A warm breeze blew through the open window and caressed the back of my neck.
She whispered in my ear.
“I, as the Emperor, will gladly accept your devotion.”
I called myself Emperor, and she called herself the Emperor.
It could be the Emperor, the ruler of the empire, or it could be the Emperor, meaning we are imperial twins.
Should I give it some leeway?
Is this an over-interpretation?
Or maybe it's both?
“I am following along well, so don’t be too impatient. Just like today, come with help from Jim. I can’t say that I will wait for you. I have to keep going.”
It was an unforgettable sound.
“You are the one who is blocking those who are after Jim’s back. You will burn, forge, and eat many things in the future. Never go out, and burn endlessly.”
She whispered her last words.
“So, please take care of me in the future too, Oppa.”
This time it wasn't an auditory hallucination at all.
As the weather gets warmer, the magic realm opens, Sereraji holds his hometown accountable, and strange things happen, such as the Holy Emperor Jayrillis calling me brother.
It was summer.