Chapter 229 |
Not long after leaving the palace of the Chersi Kingdom, a system alert sounded.
[Hero Quest Completed]
[Acquired 3,000 Hero Points]
[Acquired Large Amount of Experience!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
….
As expected, it was an alert about completing the hero quest.
A special reward was given.
[Reduced Gatren’s influence across the continent!]
[Special reward will be given!]
[Acquired 5,000 Hero Points]
[Acquired Large Amount of Experience!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
….
The Hero Points earned from completing the quest earlier was 3,000.
But they gave a whopping 5,000 points as a special reward.
This meant that the experience given as a special reward exceeded the original completion reward.
‘I wonder how much it increased.’
Choi Hyun-seok wanted to check his level right away but postponed checking his status window.
There was something he had to do before that.
“Miss Sara. Thank you.”
Choi Hyun-seok bowed his head deeply.
“And I’m sorry. For asking you to do such a messy task.”
Sara Dunphy smirked.
“Don’t worry about it. As you said, I too just did what I had to do.”
While Choi Hyun-seok might have said it out of concern, she truly didn’t mind at all.
She raised her head to look at the rising morning sun.
“This is what humans are originally like. Sometimes they’re infinitely bright like that sun, but sometimes they’re darker and gloomier than any darkness.”
Sara Dunphy, who was blankly staring at the sunrise, continued speaking.
“The brightness and darkness of human nature are inseparable, like light and shadow. We can’t always be bright. And we’re not always dark. That’s why human affairs become inevitably complicated. This too is one of those human affairs. If you’re talking about similar incidents, I’ve already experienced countless times.”
Sara Dunphy lived for 500 years during her time as a human.
Naturally, she had to experience many eventful incidents.
Because humans were beings that inevitably caused incidents.
Just listing the incidents she experienced during that time could make a whole book.
After hearing the long story, Choi Hyun-seok let out a deep sigh.
“It’s difficult.”
Choi Hyun-seok was still confused.
For him who had only lived about 30 years.
Such a damp and gloomy incident made his heart hurt and heavy.
“This isn’t particularly extraordinary. It’s just something that comes to be naturally accepted. Choi Hyun-seok, you too will understand when you get older.”
“But you know.”
Suddenly, Choi Hyun-seok smiled playfully.
“For someone who speaks like an immortal, weren’t you quite lost in sentiment yourself, Miss Sara?”
“What do you mean?”
“At the end. Didn’t you say something to Ian?”
If he had to express it specifically, should he call it advice from a senior monarch?
He was pointing out that Sara Dunphy had briefly talked to Ian about the mindset a king should have.
Sara Dunphy smirked and shook her head.
“You have a mischievous side too.”
“I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. My hearing is just very sharp.”
“I’ll admit it. Perhaps I got lost in sentiment… Remembering old times without realizing it.”
He thought that perhaps she might have overlapped her past with Ian.
Even when Abelson became king, Sara Dunphy would often make complex expressions as if recalling something from the past.
“Do you miss those times?”
At the sudden question, Sara Dunphy turned around.
Choi Hyun-seok was just waiting for an answer with a calm expression.
“Miss them… It would be a lie to say I don’t.”
During her time as a human.
There were vassals who would throw their lives away without a moment’s hesitation for her.
There were disciples who worshipped her like a god.
She established the Kingdom of Vallington.
Created the foundation for all magic systems.
During those times, Sara Dunphy shone brilliantly.
That’s why she could close her eyes without regret even in her final moments.
“But… What I miss most is something else.”
“What is it?”
“My soul.”
Choi Hyun-seok was bewildered by the incomprehensible answer.
However, he couldn’t ask what she meant by missing her soul.
Sara Dunphy’s eyes were immersed in deep sorrow.
“What am I who exists here? My soul already disappeared from this world a thousand years ago.”
“Aren’t you right here in front of me?”
“I wonder about that too… What is moving me now? My soul should have long since cycled. What kind of falsehood is moving this false shell created by magic…”
Choi Hyun-seok kept his mouth shut.
‘I think we had a similar conversation before…’
He couldn’t remember exactly when, but he remembered having such a conversation with Sara Dunphy.
At that time, Sara Dunphy brushed it off as not important so he just let it go.
But it seemed she was driven to a more serious cliff than he thought.
“Haha! Why are you making such a troubled expression?”
Sara Dunphy laughed brightly while stretching.
“Don’t worry too much about it. This is just contemplation to move forward.”
“It’s too difficult to have conversations with you, Miss Sara.”
“Haha. I hope you understand. It’s a characteristic of all old people to wrap simple stories in roundabout ways, so it can’t be helped.”
Choi Hyun-seok scratched his head with an awkward smile.
“What does age matter? Since ancient times, all pretty people have been called older sisters.”
Sara Dunphy is pretty.
For Choi Hyun-seok now, that one fact was enough.
***
The story of the Chersi Kingdom spread quickly across the continent.
It was natural since the heads of noble families supporting the kingdom were massacred.
Especially since the Chersi Kingdom was already drawing continental attention due to their treaty with the demon race, the news spread even faster.
“I heard the Holy Empire of Gatren was behind it. They sent assassins to the banquet hall to swallow up the Chersi Kingdom!?”
“Is that true?”
“Hey! You people! Speaking such blasphemy will bring divine punishment!”
The identity of who massacred the Chersi Kingdom’s nobles remained unknown.
The assassins were all unidentifiable individuals.
And only King Mollin and his daughter Ian survived.
However, the Chersi Kingdom pointed to the Holy Empire of Gatren as a suspect.
Naturally, Gatren drew a line saying they had nothing to do with it.
“You can’t say such things without evidence!”
“You fools! The divine will be angry!”
Although reduced from before, the influence of the Deusis faith was still enormous.
Therefore, while most people kept quiet about it, the damage to Gatren’s image was unavoidable.
“Kian. Are you really not going to talk?”
One day, Ian Del Chersi visited the underground of the palace.
This was the storage for royal treasures.
Here was Kian Del Chersi, who was known to the world as dead.
And he was bound in thick iron chains.
“I’ve told you many times. This incident was carried out by my own decision.”
“Please… Kian. I want to help you.”
“Kekeke… Help me? Then just kill me. Killing me without being any more annoying would be helping me.”
Kian spoke while giggling as if something was so amusing.
Ian sighed.
She looked at the palace’s chief magician who came with her.
“Can nothing be done with magic?”
The palace’s chief magician shook his head.
“There is a powerful restriction spell. Attempting to touch his mind with magic will surely kill him.”
“How…”
She tried to extract a confession using magic but even that wasn’t possible.
Ian’s expression was filled with sadness.
She truly and sincerely worried about her brother, her eyes welling up with tears.
“Kian. Stop now. The Gatren Empire cannot save you.”
“You became the crown heir but still say such things? As expected, sister, you’re not qualified.”
Kian shook his head.
“Kill me now. Otherwise, you’ll regret it again? Making the same mistake as then.”
“No. I won’t give up on you.”
“How stupid! Still saying such things…!”
At that moment, Kian flinched when his eyes met Ian’s.
His sister.
Because Ian’s pupils were strangely distorted.
“I won’t give up… I won’t lose anything anymore…”
“…What?”
Kian’s voice trembled without him realizing it.
His sister had changed significantly somewhere.
He couldn’t explain exactly, but she clearly wasn’t in a normal state.
“Have you gone mad?”
“No. I am perfectly normal.”
Suddenly Ian clapped her hands.
Then a muscular man wearing a sinister mask appeared.
“Please help Kian. He’s absolutely necessary for our kingdom. You know what I mean?”
“Yes.”
The masked man put down a heavy backpack.
When he opened the backpack, it was full of tools that gave chills just by looking at them.
They were all extraordinary torture devices with blood stubbornly caked on them.
Cold sweat ran down Kian’s back when he saw them.
“You… What are you trying to do…?”
Kian is royalty.
Although he was imprisoned in the underground dungeon, he had never been tortured before.
Ian smiled freshly.
“Kian. Don’t be too scared. I’m just trying to help you.”
“You crazy! Father! Does father know about this!? It was strange from the start. Father has been conducting the interrogations until now! So why did you suddenly come!?”
Originally, King Mollin was in charge of Kian’s interrogation.
It was something that shouldn’t be known outside.
He judged that it couldn’t be entrusted to others.
Yet for some reason, today Ian came.
“Quickly call father!”
He needed to talk with his father quickly.
Father would not allow such torture.
At that moment, Ian tilted her head.
“Ah, you don’t know yet?”
“What do you mean?”
“Father passed away yesterday. His heart suddenly became unwell.”
Kian couldn’t say anything.
Heart becoming unwell?
King Mollin was a man so healthy that he hadn’t even had minor illnesses until now.
However, the shock didn’t end there.
“Ah, mother passed away too. She took her own life. She hanged herself with the curtains. I guess she was deeply heartbroken.”
“What…?”
“So. Now I’m the king.”
The smile on Ian’s lips grew deeper.
“I, Ian Del Chersi, am the king of the Chersi Kingdom.”
“You didn’t…?”
Kian’s eyes grew wide.
At that moment, Ian brought her index finger close to Kian’s nose.
“Shh.”
As she came closer, her eyes tainted with madness became even clearer.
“So from now on, I will interrogate you.”
“Y-you’re crazy… You’re completely insane!”
“Looking forward to working with you, Kian.”
Kian writhed in overwhelming fear.
The iron chains restraining him rattled sharply.
“Release this! Release it right now, you crazy bitch!”
“Kian. Don’t be afraid. I won’t give up on you.”
Ian muttered while turning around.
“We’re family, aren’t we?”
She approached the torture technician and whispered.
“Please treat Kian now.”
“As you command.”
The torture technician picked up a large pair of tongs and approached Kian.
“You! What insolent act is this against royalty? Do you want to die? Stop! Stop…! Aaaagh!”
After that day.
Every day, terrible screams echoed through the underground prison of the palace.
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