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The best territory designer of all time - Episode 95

95fury. stained crown (1)

“Phew. Did I drink too much?.”

Again, again.

The sound of shoe heels echoing throughout the hallway.

In it, King Alicia smiled bitterly..

‘I just drank it the same as usual..’

For some reason, I felt a little uncomfortable..

My heart beat a little faster too..

‘Maybe it's because I've been pushing myself too hard lately..’

As she walked down the hallway, she reflected on her recent schedule..

It was a clear and obvious day of hard work..

‘The damage from floods during the spring rainy season was greater than expected. Moreover, the movement across the Eastern Wasteland was unusual..’

The kingdom's enemies were everywhere..

Even now, there are many forces who want this side to fall..

Among them, the sultanate 'Isfahan' across the eastern mountain range and across the wasteland could be said to be a traditional enemy, having fought two major wars in the past..

‘I guess it feels strange.’

Spies planted in Isfahan.

I remembered the intelligence they relayed to me..

It has been said that military expenditures have been actively increased recently..

In particular, it was said that they were concentrating their troops in their western region, which faces us..

The scale itself was different from simple military training..

‘Invasion? But that's not it. There is a vast wilderness between us and that side. If they were really attempting an invasion, they would have concentrated their troops in the north, near the border. Then for what purpose??’

It was a question that had been troubling her for the past few months..

But the answer was still unclear..

It was even more so now that I was drunk..

‘Tsk. Let's forget for a moment.’

The bitter smile deepens..

It's not something that can be solved by worrying about it now..

It only adds to unnecessary fatigue..

So for now, let’s focus on the present..

Let's calm down and go back to the banquet hall..

With that thought in mind, the King entered the private lounge..

I leaned back on the soft sofa..

I drank cool water and caught my breath..

But somehow the alcohol didn't subside..

I still felt a little uncomfortable..

My heart pounding didn't subside either..

My breathing became a little shallower and faster than usual..

‘It's strange.’

King Alicia frowned..

You know your body best.

Moreover, she was a swordsman who reached the level of sword master..

I was able to calm down a little bit of alcohol by controlling the mana in my body..

But now it doesn't work out so well.

No, on the contrary, my eyes were becoming dizzy..

‘something is wrong.’

Exciting, Exciting.

heart beating faster and faster.

For some reason, sweat started to seep out..

The king, feeling an ominous premonition, got down from the sofa..

I took off my shoes and sat down on the floor..

I sat cross-legged and kept my back straight..

I started breathing in earnest..

awakened the heart.

The mighty Manahat moved at her call..

‘First, check every corner of your body..’

She poured the mana filled with Mana Heart into all her veins. Soon, a surge of mana began to run like a gale along the blood vessels of her entire body..

At that moment, she had to unconsciously clutch her chest..

Cooung!

“……!”

A shock that seems to break my back.

Heart-exploding pain.

“Big!”

King Alicia experienced the sensation of her eyes turning completely white..

I barely managed to lose my mind..

I quickly put both hands on the floor..

I clenched my molars and stood up..

‘poison? no way.’

I hoped not.

But the pain that started in the heart quickly spread throughout the body..

The flow of mana in the bloodstream was hitting every corner of the intestines..

What it meant was clear..

‘It's poison. How on earth?’

Alicia ground her teeth..

All food and drinks consumed are inspected by attendants..

Each food and drink is tasted by the attendants..

And wait four days.

No servant should die or show any abnormal symptoms until four days have passed..

Only after going through all of these processes does food that has been stored at low temperatures for four days reach your table..

‘It was the same today too.’

Food and alcohol consumed at the banquet.

They all went through the same testing procedures as usual..

Of course, no servant collapsed or died during the four days..

‘But why?’

Are you addicted?.

I couldn't figure it out.

However, I had a guess..

It was assumed that there must have been a trick during the food inspection process..

‘for now… … need to call someone…….’

need help.

The poison was still spreading in real time..

The more I tried to suppress it using mana, the more it spread like wildfire..

King Alicia shouted with all her might.

“outside… … Is there anyone?!”

But no answer came back.

That was also very suspicious..

‘shit.’

Before entering the lounge, I bit the servants to get some rest..

Still, I told you to wait outside the door..

But why is no one answering?.

“Ugh, ugh.……!”

She stumbled and walked towards the door, leaning against the wall..

Every time I took a step, I became dizzy..

I had to bite my lip hard to come to my senses..

Even while walking just a few steps, my mind flickered on and off..

‘too far.’

Normally, it's a light distance to move in one leap..

But now it feels distant.

The lounge was too spacious.

I was moving as hard as I could, but the remaining distance was much longer than the distance I had walked..

I couldn't help but laugh..

How did I end up in this situation?.

It was the moment when she was about to fall into such despair..

sweet.

As if by a miracle, the door opened.

The most familiar person came into the break room..

“Lord Cherny?”

The man you trust the most.

The guard captain who always stayed by my side.

On the other hand, the Sword Master is also his swordsmanship teacher..

Alicia's expression brightened at the sight of Lord Czerny..

she said, trying to keep her dignity.

“Lord Czerny, just in time… … You came. I'm glad you were by my side during these difficult times. Now, take my hand.”

He extended his hand towards his guard captain..

I smiled, hoping that you would help me..

Of course, Lord Cherny also smiled at his master..

“Yes, I am glad that I am by your side during this difficult time for you..”

But he did not take the king's outstretched hand..

Instead, he grabbed the handle of his sword..

“Once upon a time, my lord, rest in peace..”

A murderous look appeared in Lord Cherny's eyes..

♣

“It seems that His Majesty the King is in danger..”

“……yes?”

Lloyd's words whisper from nowhere.

Javiel tilted his head..

“What do you mean by that?.”

At first I thought Lloyd was telling a bad joke..

But the moment our eyes met, I realized.

What Lloyd said was sincere..

“Really. quietly. Lower your voice.”

“…….”

“The reason and details will be revealed later. Just follow me.”

“All right.”

Javiel nodded..

They say the king seems to be in danger..

If that's true, now is not the time to dilly-dally..

The reason and details will be explained later..

Let's move now.

Don't come too close together.

Naturally, a few steps away.

Lloyd instructed Javiel with his eyes..

Javiel, who is quick-witted, naturally got away from him..

And I asked with my gaze.

‘Where are you going?.’

‘there.’

Lloyd's eyes pointed to one side of the banquet hall..

This was where the king's lounge was located..

‘It's obvious. I can't see the king. If you leave during the banquet, that's the only place you can be now..’

The king is also a person.

At a banquet, there are times when you are drunk and times when you are exhausted..

The lounge was a resting area just for the king, designed to prevent others from seeing his disheveled appearance while he was shaking off alcohol or catching his breath at such moments..

‘Moreover, it is also the location where the regicide was attempted in Iron Blood Knight..’

Suddenly, something from the novel came to mind..

2 and a half years from now.

The first snow day.

King Alicia, who stops by the lounge during the year-end banquet, is in danger of being poisoned..

Demonstrates the mana management ability of a sword master to the extreme. He cuts off his left arm. barely survives.

A great event that will completely change the fate of this kingdom..

It was an attempted assassination of the king..

‘But that's today. why?’

I didn't immediately understand.

Why was the incident moved forward by more than two years?.

I made some guesses, but I couldn't come up with anything..

No, the only thing I can guess is.

‘Something has changed.’

This may be because the direction and story of the novel, which was originally supposed to proceed, has changed..

If so, Lloyd thought, he might be the cause..

‘Let's check it first..’

Don't look in a hurry.

Naturally blending in with the flow of people at the banquet hall.

Sometimes I picked up the glass and drank it gracefully..

I smiled as I passed by the attendant..

So I left the banquet hall..

I entered a long hallway..

From then on, I stood shoulder to shoulder with Haviel..

My steps also got a little faster..

The calculations in my head started spinning even more..

Actually, I was a little anxious..

‘After all, it's Lord Czerny..’

I remembered something I heard by chance earlier..

It was said that the banquet would last until the moon sets..

That simple-sounding phrase was a famous line from the novel The Knight of Iron Blood..

Password shared by assassins during the attempted assassination of the king.

In other words, he could be said to be an ambassador who changed the history of the kingdom..

So of course Lloyd remembered that line..

But the problem was that the person who said that line was none other than Lord Cherny..

‘If Lord Cherny is really an assassin, can we stop him?.’

Sir Bergado Cerny.

captain of the royal guard.

Sword master above the king.

I was shocked that he could be an assassin..

No, before I was shocked, I was worried about whether or not I would be able to confront him..

In fact, he had thought deeply about whether he should move to save the king..

‘Because it could actually end up happening in reverse..’

I hesitated.

So I was lost in thought for a few minutes..

Saving the King and Neglecting the Case.

We thoroughly weighed the benefits and losses between the two options..

and concluded.

‘Even if you take some risk, it is much more profitable to save the king..’

Actually, there was no need to think deeply..

Currently, King Alicia has great confidence in him. Moreover, he is showing an undeserved amount of favor..

But if she faces the same crisis today as in the novel,?

If I lose one arm at the end?

If you finally become a tyrant?

‘I'm the only one who loses a lot.’

A king who trusts and cherishes him extremely.

A king who will give you fiefs and titles whenever you want..

The king who treats himself with such sincerity and sincerity.

It was literally a situation where the king, the most powerful person in the country, became the sponsor..

But what if the sponsor gets poisoned and loses an arm??

If he degenerates into a tyrant who commits massacres,?

‘I don't even want to imagine that.’

Not only will you lose your best sponsor, but you may also end up becoming an object of anger..

You may be accused of an unwarranted crime, your family will be ruined, your property and title may be confiscated, and you may even end up with your head blown off..

‘So you can't not save it..’

Even if Lord Cerny is your opponent, no matter what,.

Trust in Haviel who is with you and hurry before it is too late..

Crack, thump, thump.!

Suddenly, Lloyd and Javiel's steps changed to become closer to running..

But it was a strange thing.

I couldn't see anyone the entire time I was running down the long hallway..

The usual servants, maids, and nose-blowing were not visible..

The same happened while turning a corner three times and going up and down the stairs..

“There's definitely something suspicious.”

Haviel's voice subsided coldly..

Lloyd asked, suppressing his anxiety..

“But will it be okay?.”

“yes?”

“Without a sword.”

“It'll be okay.”

Kaang!

As soon as he answered, Javiel swung his right hand..

The blade of his hand broke the candlestick hanging on the hallway wall..

The broken candlestick reflected the light and whirled in the air..

Javiel's hand grabbed the lower part..

percussion!

“This is pretty much enough.”

The issue of being unarmed to attend a banquet has been resolved..

The next moment, the two turned the last corner before the break room..

And I saw a terrible scene..

The floor in front of the break room door was a sea of ​​blood..

Six people were lying in a pool of blood..

Everyone was out of breath..

What it meant was clear..

Kwaang!

Without even knowing who would go first, the two kicked in the break room door at the same time..

I jumped through the broken door fragments..

There were two people inside.

Lord Cherny holding down the sword.

The king is holding his sword with difficulty.

Javiel saw that and reacted first..

Skak!

The candlestick in Javiel's hand cut through the space with a cool sword energy. swept away A series of attacks that were invisible to the eye rained down fiercely..

Lord Czerny's swords moved towards each other..

Kakakakakaka-Kang!

The candlestick and the sword clashed one after another..

A bloody flame was embroidered in the air..

Tendons sprouted on Javiel's wrists..

Lord Cherny's brow furrowed..

The eyes of two ferocious beasts are intertwined.

Meanwhile, Lloyd quickly passed by the scene of the fierce battle..

He ran straight towards the king..

“……Lloyd, Frontera?”

“sorry. Please keep your mouth shut now..”

“what… … town?”

Lloyd's large hand covered the King's mouth..

The king laid him gently on the floor without any time to resist..

It was something I could never imagine or even possible..

However, he was a king whose entire body was consumed by extreme poison..

Knowing that, Lloyd threw away all the little etiquette and etiquette..

Instead, I focused only on the first aid needed now..

“I'll take the poison out first. Relax. Relax and relax.”

Kiiiiing!

Lloyd's palm touched the king's solar plexus..

Three circles rotated at limit speed.

Began to absorb the king's mana.

“……!”

King Alicia's eyes widened in shock..