Chapter 323: PROCLAMATION (3)

I’m back. I’m still not a 100% fine, so expect this week’s chapter releases to be slow.

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EPISODE 314 – PROCLAMATION (3)

The next morning, Jude and Cordelia requested for an audience with the emperor and empress dowager.

The two were technically neither citizens of the empire nor the emperor’s vassals, so they had no reason to ask for permission from the emperor, but they still had to talk directly to the emperor.

‘As I expected, their looks aren’t good.’

After all, the elves had betrayed them after the Chancellor.

It was very hard to trust nobles from the Sälen Kingdom, a country they were hostile with, as they could not even trust those who were in the same country as them.

Moreover, the two were not just nobles.

It was natural to be wary since it was a Grand Sword Master and an Archwizard, or as what the empire called it, a Grand Wizard.

‘Where are you going?’

‘Are you trying to do something behind the scenes?’

‘It’s just two people, but they’re the Grand Sword Master and Grand Wizard…’

‘Their cooperation so far may be a trick to betray us in the future. We must not let our guard down.’

It felt like the two could hear the chaotic thoughts from the eyes of the others.

Among those people, the most alarmed one was Marquis Buckingham, who seemed like he was going to shout at any moment to detain Jude and Cordelia.

But no one could hastily open their mouths.

Even Marquis Buckingham could only fiercely stare at them, but did not say a single word of disagreement.

‘Because we’re a Grand Sword Master and Grand Wizard.’

They would be in trouble if they acted wrongly.

Moreover, there was clearly no Grand Sword Master in the emperor’s camp now.

Absolute Knight Galahad had been captured by the enemy, and Elune had not once in her life ever left the Shadow Forest, the land of the elves.

In the case of Sword God, it was impossible to even know where he was, and it was also questionable if he would take the side of the emperor in a civil war as it was not a war with a foreign country.

‘The last Grand Sword Master of the empire is Beast King Crassus who is on the side of the Chancellor.’

In other words, there was no one in the current emperor’s camp who could beat Jude on a one-on-one basis.

And what if Cordelia, a Grand Wizard, was added here?

There was no need to think about it.

It was recklessness in itself to pick a fight with them.

‘To begin with, we’re allies. There is no need to turn us into enemies for no reason.’

Marquis Buckingham was a man who had long protected and developed a barren yet vast estate for a long time.

He was naturally hot-tempered but also very patient, and had accumulated a lot of experience in his life that he did not let his emotions cloud his judgment.

‘We’re not enemies. They honestly want to control us, but now is not the time yet.’

Jude was a monster less than 20 years old who was on equal footing with Grand Sword Master Elune.

But Jude was only one person.

If the Sword Masters loyal to the emperor and a sufficient number of wizards gathered in one place, it would be possible to fight back somehow.

So he had to be patient now.

He must not turn into enemies those who might become their faithful allies due to his unnecessary suspicion.

‘He’ll overlook it to some extent.’

A person from the kingdom, and not the empire, had said that he would go to another place other than helping the emperor.

Moreover, it was not peacetime.

It was right before a civil war – no, they were pretty much in a civil war already.

So it was normal to stop a suspicious move, but Marquis Buckingham decided to take a step back.

It was what Jude had expected.

‘Marquis Buckingham is just like what I have thought.’

Because Jude had profiled even the insignificant mid-ranking demonic humans.

Marquis Buckingham was a fairly important figure on the empire’s side, so Jude was already familiar with his character and behavioral patterns.

He was bald but had a rich beard. He was a veteran of a hundred battles but not a fool who focused on the trivial things and missed the big picture.

‘And if Marquis Buckingham allows it…’

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Jude turned to the empress dowager.

Again, her reaction was exactly as he expected.

The empress dowager exchanged glances with Marquis Buckingham before softly whispering in the emperor’s ear, and the emperor nodded with an uneasy face and said.

“I understand. I will allow it. But you two have to come back soon. Do you understand?”

“We understand.”

“Thank you for your permission.”

When Jude and Cordelia politely answered, the empress dowager’s expression brightened a little.

Although it was pathetic that they had to depend on foreigners, it was reassuring to have Jude and Cordelia as their allies when one thought of it.

“You may leave if you’re done.”

At the words of Marquis Buckingham, the emperor bit his lips and looked at Jude and Cordelia. The two once again bowed to the emperor before leaving the room.

And twenty minutes later.

After saying their goodbyes to Lucas and the others who were waiting outside, Jude and Cordelia got on their horses.

Jude by himself, and Cordelia with Kirara.

[Didn’t the emperor look a little down?]

[It seems like he has grown attached to us.]

It was natural when one thought about it.

From the young emperor’s perspective, Jude and Cordelia were his benefactors who had saved his life several times.

[And because my beast is so pretty? Young children like pretty people.]

[Hmm, well… my scammer also has a good-looking face.]

Cordelia answered with a grin, and Jude slightly tilted his head and asked with a sly smile.

[Only the face is good-looking?]

[Huh?]

[Only the face is good-looking?]

At Jude’s question, Cordelia smirked as if she found it absurd, and soon said with a hmph.

[I haven’t seen other places yet, so I don’t know.]

[Ahem, you’re right.]

Cordelia’s cheeks turned red as Jude grinned.

For some reason, she felt like she would be embarrassed again if she continued their present conversation.

“Anyway, let’s go.”

She deliberately raised her voice, and Jude accepted it instead of dawdling further.

[Yes, let’s go. Let’s go have a fun trip.]

He had to reply with <Message> magic because of Kirara.

As a child who grew up unwelcomed, even words like this might sound depressing for Kirara.

‘Frankly, I wanted to go with Cordelia alone.’

He wanted to ride a horse together and stay close to her.

But it had already been decided.

So instead of grumbling in vain, Jude cheerfully smiled while Cordelia was pleased with his looks again, and said as she hugged Kirara’s waist.

“Then let’s go, Kirara.”

“Yes, Master!”

“Okay, okay. Let’s go!”

“Let’s go!”

Kirara shouted with a flushed face, and Cordelia laughed before she spurred the horse.

‘Well, good things are good.’

They knew well that a civil war would soon begin wherein the fate of the world as well as the empire was at stake, but that did not mean they should keep a frowning face.

“Let’s go.”

Jude silently spoke and spurred his horse too.

***

Not long after Jude and Cordelia’s group left, the emperor’s group and Marquis Buckingham also prepared to move again.

Their destination was Grand Penn, the most fertile land in the Buckingham March and a big city where vassals from all over his territory had gathered.

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After Marquis Buckingham joined them, the emperor’s group grew larger and the number of escorts exceeded a hundred.

As a natural result, Lucas, Kajsa, and Scarlet’s positions in the group became ambiguous.

They were neither Royal Knights like Leon and Sarah, nor absolutely strong people one would not even dare to recklessly fight like Jude and Cordelia.

They were outsiders in an ambiguous position.

But Lucas did not pay much attention to the surrounding gazes.

He drank the elixirs made from various medicinal ingredients that Jude and Cordelia took from the Breeze Fairies, and focused on training whenever they had spare time.

‘I’m getting stronger.’

The effect of the elixirs made by Jude was clear.

After their battle against the Demon Prince, his power grew so rapidly that it became hard to control, so he thought that there would be no growth for a while, but he was mistaken.

Jude made various kinds of elixirs to prevent the efficacy of the elixirs from weakening, so Lucas was able to feel the rapid growth of his body and soul every day.

And it was not only Lucas.

Kajsa and Scarlet also continued to grow.

The two grew stronger and more beautiful day by day.

‘B-beautiful?’

But that was not wrong either.

As a result of absorbing the good energy of the elixirs, Kajsa and Scarlet’s skin and hair were much better than before.

Furthermore, their constitution and body shape were also improved, so as Lucas had said, they had become more beautiful as they grew stronger.

And this was something that applied to Lucas as well.

The three became stronger and more good-looking with each passing day.

In fact, this was the result of Jude and Cordelia’s choice and focus.

‘I’m sorry for Leon and Sarah, but we don’t have enough time and resources to raise them now.’ (Jude)

Leon and Sarah were not lacking in talent as they were playable characters, but Jude and Cordelia had met them too late.

Therefore, instead of raising the levels of five people evenly by 5, Jude and Cordelia chose to raise the levels of three people by 10, choosing to neglect one while focusing on the other.

And Jude was right this time.

The three were showing growth beyond expectations.

Lucas practiced hard to improve himself instead of being envious or harboring wicked thoughts.

Kajsa and Scarlet had a strange rivalry with each other ever since they met in the south.

The three people’s personalities and their slightly subtle triangular relationship created a synergistic effect that exceeded expectations.

And one more.

There was a variable that even Jude had never expected.

‘What is this? This sensation?’ (Lucas)

At certain moments, he felt something that was out of place.

Every time he swung his sword, and every time he got stronger, he experienced a familiar yet unfamiliar sensation.

Like he was going back to a place he had been to before.

There was bound to be a huge gap between aimlessly wandering around the open sea and advancing along certain milestones.

He was moving forward.

He was stepping towards that distant horizon.

He was on the road that had already been passed once.

So he knew the way.

The skills of the three began to explosively grow.

And at the same time, the feelings of the three also intensified.

***

Three days after they split with the emperor’s group.

Jude and Cordelia finally arrived at Zainan Gorge.

They were still in the vast and expansive Buckingham March, and Zainan Gorge was the most remote area of the march.

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“It’s like the Amazon.”

Cordelia nodded at Jude’s words.

The Buckingham March was generally colder as it was located in the north, but Zainan Gorge was an exception.

It was a place dominated by extreme weather as a tropical rainforest and a barren gorge coexisted there.

To be exact, it was a barren gorge surrounded by a vast tropical rainforest, so it was either hot and dry or hot and humid. In short, it was a place that was hard to live in.

“Now, all we have to do is go to the desert, right?”

“That’s right.”

As they traveled all over the continent, they had encountered all kinds of terrain.

Jude narrowed his brows as he looked at the bushes that seemed to be full of bugs and snakes.

Even though he had traveled to all sorts of places in his past life, he had strangely never been to a rainforest like this.

‘Anyway, about Zainan Gorge.’

In Legend of Heroes 2, it was not an important place.

It was more or less just a hunting ground for leveling up that had an exotic atmosphere.

The nearby Catan Mountains was much more important than Zainan Gorge because it was the place where one of the seven major calamities in the middle to late half of Legend of Heroes 2 would appear.

‘Maybe we should stop by after we finish our business in the gorge.’

The calamity in Catan Mountains would appear at least a few months later, but they had long departed from the original storyline flow.

With their good luck, it might be possible to stop the calamity before it became a complete problem, just like in the wild lands or the Forest of Eternity.

“Anyway, let’s hurry.”

“Okay!”

“Yes!”

Kirara immediately answered after Cordelia, and the group headed towards the rainforest.

And a few hours later.

As the sun went down, Jude and Cordelia began preparing the campsite, and Kirara headed out of the campground to talk to the animals in their surroundings.

‘Yes, good job. A person must be sensible.’

She began to hear a voice in her head as she moved away from Cordelia.

‘I’m sure she’ll be annoyed if you keep clinging to her. You’ve already experienced it several times, haven’t you?’

Instead of denying it, Kirara hastened her steps.

It was the voice that she began hearing when they run away from the Red Gate last time.

No, she wondered if it was even a voice in the first place.

Perhaps it was just Kirara’s own thoughts that sounded like hallucinations, or perhaps it was her thoughts that were brought about from her fear of being abandoned.

‘It’s a mistake that you’ve already followed her, but it’s fine. Cordelia is weak towards you. You just have to pretend to be a bit pitiful in front of her. You’ve done this a lot before, right?’

To betray, betray, and betray again.

Her thoughts imagined Cordelia showing her back out of trust, and her own self stabbing a knife on that back. It was a scene she could never imagine, but it strangely felt real.

Kirara sat down and caught her breath.

She slapped her own head to drive out the bad thoughts.

I will not betray her. It will be different this time. It’s not because of money. I will not betray her. I will not betray anyone either. I don’t want to betray anyone anymore.

Kirara burst into tears without realizing it, and sniffed several times before standing up again.

She held the handkerchief that Cordelia gave her and continued to walk.

‘I will help them.’

This time for sure.

I must this time.

It’s not just because I want to make time alone for the two.

I really want to sincerely listen to the animals this time.

What kind of animals are here?

Which animal should I hear from?

Only

Kirara looked around and walked. Cordelia told her to not go too far because it could be dangerous, but as she listened to the stories of the small animals, she had gone quite far from the campground.

[It’s right there.]

At the words of the giant snake looking for an opportunity to eat her, Kirara grasped the dagger and looked away.

She stopped breathing at the sight beyond the bushes.

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