Episode 99. 〈Black Village〉
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Rupel pleaded.
He did not express a wish to live, but only a wish to meet his mother as a child.
I could feel the desperation in Ruppel’s voice and expression.
My brother’s first and last request, even bending his pride.
I did it.
“I refuse.”
I refused.
Rupel looked at me in surprise.
“What what?”
I smiled sweetly.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have enough strength to help you, brother. Don’t you know that? First Prince Luan and White have come forward. They are so strong.”
“Couldn’t you stop them?”
I can definitely stop it.
Rupel saw it with his own eyes when he dealt with Emperor Rahamma.
But that was only the power of the artifact, and there was no reason to use it against White and Luan.
“Why should I stop them?”
Rose is the one who tried to assassinate me and the enemy who killed my mother.
If I killed her, I would have killed her. There was no reason to bring her here alive.
Rupel’s face turned pale as if he recognized that fact.
Rupel was silent for a while.
That was for a moment. He opened his tightly shut mouth.
“The Noble Phantasm of the Holy Emperor Family.”
I glanced at Rupel, who seemed to be possessed and was muttering to himself.
“I’ll give it to you. Yes, I’ll give it to you!”
“…what do you mean.”
Ruppel looked at me and said,
“Allen, I know that you are collecting all kinds of rare magical tools. As a necromancer, you must have been seduced by a powerful force!”
No, that’s not true.
In the first place, all the relics I had were everywhere I went and just came with them on their own.
Rupel continued speaking, as if he knew what I was thinking.
“The relics left behind by Ordin Olfol, the first prosperous emperor. I will tell you his whereabouts. .”
Rupel said earnestly,
“If you let me meet my mother, I will tell you the location and location. If that is all you need, Allen, you will have nothing to be afraid of.”
The treasure that the first Holy Emperor possessed?
Are you telling me about it?
Rupel asked with an expectant look on his face.
“How do you feel about helping me now?”
I looked blankly at Ruppel and said,
“No.”
* *
I got out of prison.
“Aaaahhh!”
A loud scream was heard from the prison.
Rupel is the voice.
This is also my older brother. It’s very rewarding to make fun of it.
I looked at the prison and shook my head.
Still, if you see him running around like that, he seems to be still very energetic.
I felt like I was downcast for no reason, but I don’t think I need to worry anymore.
While I was laughing, Charlotte next to me lowered her head and said.
“Well done. “There must have been some ulterior motive.”
I lightly hit Charlotte on the head as if knocking her.
Charlotte’s eyes widened and she covered her head in embarrassment.
I changed my expression.
“It wasn’t a lie.”
Charlotte’s expression hardened.
“You know how children want to see their parents.”
I saw her eyes shaking.
It reminded me of old times.
“Please retrieve all the information regarding 3rd Prince Rupel Olfolse Rose Darina. As a bonus, it would be nice to have something about the first successful Ordin All Falls.”
“No way…”
Charlotte looked worried.
She spoke cautiously.
“You have to be careful. Rupel is no longer the third prince. If you take action to help him, you will be charged with treason…”
“I know.”
I know it well enough.
So I wanted to make sure.
“It’s never too late to look at the data and make a decision.”
Yes, it’s not too late. A decision on whether to help Rupel or not.
I needed to know exactly what kind of person Rupel was.
From that day on, I stayed in the library.
All data was collected with the help of Charlotte and Harmon Ellis.
Everything from the birth and life of the 3rd Prince Rupel to the words Darina’s family uttered while being tortured was put together.
Even the stories of the servants and maids were gathered together to come to one conclusion.
“puppet.”
I felt my head throbbing.
I leaned against the backrest and tilted my head back.
My eyes were tired, so I pressed my temples.
“What a foolish brother you are.”
Third Prince Rupel has lived as Rose’s puppet.
Rose planned all kinds of secret plots to devour the royal family, and when things went wrong, she used the 3rd prince as a shield.
When Rupel tried to do something for his mother, it was done with violence rather than praise.
Rose single-handedly caused the assassination of Yulicia and the vampire incident in the royal family, and the Aslan War followed Rose’s words.
He lived his whole life trying to be accepted by his mother and was also abandoned.
A devilish mother and a foolish son who follows her to the end.
It’s truly ironic.
‘Well, is that over now?’
Rupel will be beheaded by the guillotine and Rose Darina will die at Luan’s hands.
Mother-child reunions are difficult to achieve.
While thinking about that, I turned my gaze to the side.
There are countless letters piled up.
These were letters sent to Ruppel from all over the country.
I lifted it up.
‘If you are a coward and a coward, you will live like that for the rest of your life.’
“…Has there been a conclusion?”
I closed the materials and stood up.
Charlotte and Harmon Ellis’ eyes were focused on me.
I smiled at them and said.
“Let me meet my brother.”
* *
I went to the prison to see Ruppel again.
I couldn’t help but be surprised by Rupel’s appearance in prison.
“Hey brother! “Something… doesn’t make sense.”
Ruppel’s mouth is covered with a cloth and his eyes are covered.
The shackles were tightly binding his entire body.
I heard that they started a riot after I left.
It must have been suppressed because of the pain it caused.
It’s like a patient detained in a mental hospital.
“Ugh!”
Rupel shouted.
He let out a resentful voice.
He must have hated me because I refused after begging him so hard.
I smiled heartily and whispered in his ear.
“I’m sorry, brother. No matter how much I think about it, I can’t save Rose Darina. doesn’t exist.”
“Ugh!”
“She has sinned too much. She will die. “He will be killed by Luan and White.”
Rupel trembled.
He will have no more dreams or hopes.
Only despair and frustration.
It wouldn’t be surprising if he went crazy.
What should I do?
“If it were just that, I wouldn’t have come here like this.”
I put the letters I brought with me on the floor.
The letters fell and made a small sound.
“This is the voice of the people supporting you from all over the country.”
Rupel was startled and lowered his head. I headed to the place where the dropped letters were.
“I don’t know if this is a lie or a true appearance.”
I took out one of them and said,
“They said they were grateful to their brother.”
He told me the sender of the letter.
“Iveline, director of Benikin Church.”
It was an orphanage established by Rupel.
I held up another letter.
“Sain and 23 other children from the Benia Church, the Janna Gastian Monastery, the Histon Bezan Church, etc.”
I read through the letters one by one.
It is the name of an orphanage created throughout the Holy Kingdom.
Ruppel treated those who were injured or diseased free of charge under his authority and also established an orphanage to provide support.
According to the priest’s words, there was speculation that he may have received the affection he did not receive from his mother through them.
Rupel continued to bow his head in silence.
“I can’t help you, brother.”
“…”
“I also have a bad feeling about Rose. After all, didn’t she try to assassinate me?”
I curled up the corners of my mouth and said to Ruppel in a devilish whisper,
“So, I think I’ll take revenge.”
Only now did he react.
Rupel’s body was bent. He
was suppressed by the restraints and could not move.
Without the restraints, he would have attacked me.
“I want her.”
I looked at Ruppel and said,
“I have decided to execute him through formal procedures.”
Rupel’s body stopped and he turned his head towards me.
He couldn’t see in front of him, so he was trying to find the direction with his voice.
“Then you never know. I wonder if I can meet you or Rose at least once before I die.”
I stretched out my hand.
I removed the cloth covering Rupel’s mouth and sat down.
“Ah, Allen, are you really helping me?”
“It’s revenge, not help. Also, you owe me several debts. I hope you pay for it.”
“Great price?”
I narrowed my eyes and looked at Rupel.
“The relic of Ordin, the First Holy Emperor. Where is it?”
* *
I left the prison.
Charlotte, who was waiting, bowed her head and said,
“What do you want to do?”
“Because we made a deal.”
Rupel agreed to tell me the relics of Ordin, the first Holy Emperor.
In return, I would only put Rose on the execution platform through formal procedures.
“Let’s prepare for the trip.”
“Are you going to the Kingdom of Rome?”
“okay.”
“But you don’t know where the Second Crown Princess is, do you?”
“Not everyone knows. But I got a hint.”
I recalled my last conversation with Rupel.
He talked about ‘Rose and the maid’ and finally mentioned where the 2nd Crown Princess was. -I’ll tell you where
my mother is.
As much as he followed the 2nd Crown Princess, Rupel was around Rose. I knew the person well.
-The person who can help my mother is Varus Victoria, the 1st prince of the Rom Kingdom.
He is the leader of the rebel group that assassinated the current king of the Rom Kingdom.
-The 1st prince continues to lose the war. There is only one path left for the 1st prince. There’s nothing outside.
Rupel took a breath and continued speaking.
-Lost Village. Raiden, the dragon slayer who is said to have killed the dragon, the best knight in the palace, lives there. The first prince and his mother would ask him for help. So if it’s there… ..
Maybe we can meet.
I said to Charlotte,
“We’re leaving. The goal is.”
* *
Lost Village.
It was a small village located in the northern part of the Rom Kingdom.
I heard that it was a lively village with farms, but the young man who came there had a different feeling.
“Is this really Lost Village?”
Varus Victoria, the first prince of the Kingdom of Rom, who turned 20 this year, was standing at the entrance to the village with his guard knight.
Even though it was late in the evening, the entire village was quite dark.
He looked away. He
saw farmers staggering through the golden wheat fields at sunset. One of the guards shouted at the farmer,
“Hey, farmer over there
. “I want to ask you something!”
The farmer, who was staggering, reacted to the sound and turned his head towards the knight.
“Is this really Lost Village?”
The farmer opened his mouth and closed it at the knight’s words.
There was no sound.
Rather, it was quiet, and Varus had a strange feeling.
Instead of speaking, the farmer raised his finger and pointed towards the village in a slow motion.
The knight frowned at that sight.
“Rude guy. “How dare you point a finger at what safety is…!”
When it looked as if he was going to pull out his sword and attack at any moment, Varus shook his head as he placed his hand on the knight’s shoulder.
“That’s it. It’s late evening. “You can’t cause trouble for people who work late because of foreigners.”
The knight gave the farmer a mischievous look and bowed his head to Varus.
Varus said ‘Thank you!’ to the farmer and walked away.
The farmer rolled his narrow eyes and looked at Varus and the guards.
Varus looked around the village.
It was a village of about 300 people, but it didn’t seem popular anymore.
He knocked on the village hut door.
“Excuse me. “Is there anyone inside?”
There is no sound or reaction.
Empty house?
Are all the hundreds of homes empty?
As Varus frowned, water fell on his head.
I looked up at the sky and saw dark clouds eating up the moonlight.
The rain fell one by one and fell heavily.
“What should I do?”
Varus groaned at the knight’s question.
“First, let’s go to the inn. There would be people there. It’s better to ask where Raiden lives.”
Varus and the knights headed to the village inn.
Fortunately, the lights were on in the inn.
Varus was relieved and opened the door.
When he entered the spacious inn, Varus narrowed his eyes. The inn was
also there . There were no people in sight.
Only candles were blooming in abundance.
Varus shouted,
“Employee!”
Silence.
No one came out, whether it was a waiter or an innkeeper.
Varus looked at the escort driver.
The escort driver took a step. He
went toward the inn’s kitchen, climbed the stairs, and searched the room.
Someone spoke to Varus, who was feeling uneasy. He walked in.
“It’s no use.”
Varus turned his head.
At the entrance of the inn, there was a boy and a girl soaking wet from the rain.
The boy in the robe took a step forward.
He casually sat down at the table, shaking a bottle of alcohol that he didn’t know where he got it from, and said,
“I just arrived here too and looked around. “I looked around, but there was no one.”
Just as the guard knights were about to shout at the boy’s words and actions, Varus stopped them.
Varus moved away.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
He sat across from the boy.
Varus observed the two people in front of him.
One was a 178-year-old boy.
He was wearing a luxurious robe.
Who was the companion next to him?
‘He must be a knight.’
The girl is 189 years old.
It is highly likely that she is an apprentice knight.
Although she is covered with a robe, she is wearing white armor that looks quite luxurious.
So, is the boy the child of a noble family?
Having a girl knight next to her who is not even an experienced knight. Taste. It was unique.
I thought it might be the refrain of an immature nobleman who ran away from home.
“There are no villagers here. What do you mean?”
In response to Varus’ question, the boy poured a drink into his glass with a puzzled expression.
“Ah, you mean here? Actually, I don’t know. I just arrived. I heard that this place is full of life, wheat is a special product, and it is famous for its beautiful scenery. So. “I came here to do some sightseeing and to do a favor for my brother, but now…”
The boy shrugged.
The village had fallen.
That’s what Varus thought.
“Do you know why?”
“Maybe it’s because of the war.”
Varus gritted his teeth at the boy’s words.
Never would he have thought that the aftermath of war would spill over to such a remote area.
“But that seems artificial.”
Varus couldn’t help but wonder at the boy’s next words:
“This place has become a zombie town. It’s also a town with a terrible stench.”
“what?”
“Prince!”
Varus was startled by the knight’s shout and turned his head.
The knights pulled out their swords.
Their eyes turned outside the inn.
They saw villagers staggering around.
However, their faces were torn off and some of their bodies were rotted and had holes in them.
Red. His eyes flashed and he opened his mouth so much that his cheeks were torn.
Varus looked at them and muttered in fascination.
“Zombie…?”
“Barus Victoria.”
Varus turned his head when his name was mentioned.
The boy, Allen Allfols, raised his head and smiled brightly.
“I was looking for you.”