A week had passed since Ern left the Princess’s Palace for a business trip.
During this time, Haron, who was assisting Epherna, had been incredibly busy with no respite.
“A religious group calling themselves Evergreen has revealed their name. Although they have only just disclosed it, it is presumed that they have been operating in secret for the past three years…”
“There has been a protest against religious repression in the eastern Count Rodron’s territory. Although Count Rodron has suppressed it, the protesters have announced another demonstration…”
And then.
“…”
Rustle.
As Haron became busier, Epherna’s tasks naturally increased.
The newly active religious group Evergreen seemed to have been waiting for the right moment, as they launched a massive missionary campaign, and Epherna had to continue meetings and paperwork day and night to devise countermeasures.
Creating a religion is not prohibited in the Grandeum Empire.
Especially organizations that praise and revere the divine kings of the Mythical Era have existed under countless names for a very long time.
Therefore, it would be normal to not interfere with Evergreen’s establishment of a religion.
However, they have committed dreadful acts in secrecy, unknown to ordinary people.
An example of this is the curse inflicted in the northern Closed Sector.
[Contractor.]
Shir, who calls out to Epherna.
[Another one is lying in wait nearby.]
“Take care of it.”
[Understood.]
At Epherna’s request, Shir disappeared with golden dust and vanished somewhere.
Moments later, two figures in black masks appeared before Epherna, lying on the ground.
“Is this the ninth one?”
[Actually, it’s ten.]
“Quite a lot.”
Since Ern went on his business trip, there had been more infiltration attempts through the palace.
When he was present, there was at most one attempt a month. Additionally, since they were dealt with before being noticed, she barely knew about their existence.
“What’s going on with the security of the imperial palace? Why is it so easily breached?”
When she asked Haron, she received a response that there was nothing that could be done.
“For the past week, the palace mages have been supplementing the barrier around the imperial palace, which has created a continuous small gap.”
“Investigate the person in charge.”
“Yes.”
After finishing their conversation, they continued their work.
Besides dealing with Evergreen, they had their originally assigned duties.
The numerous small tasks that went on for hours showed no signs of ending easily.
This was not only due to Evergreen’s emergence but also involved economic issues and more.
The biggest problem was that cults impersonating Evergreen rapidly increased, causing innocent citizens to suffer.
This, in turn, created problems with taxation and public order, and securing these led to financial strain on the national treasury.
The imperial treasury is the face and pride of the royal family.
Preventing its leakage was a matter of intense effort and brainpower.
‘…So frustrating.’
Epherna was thoroughly fed up with the situation that had persisted for a week.
Whenever one issue was addressed, two more would arise; when two were resolved, three would come up.
With the time frame until the incident escalates to the imperial palace, she felt like her head would burst.
And that wasn’t all.
Recently, when the Inspectorate seemed to be doing well, the head of the Inspectorate was injured during duties and took a leave, so Epherna had to take over his responsibilities. Meanwhile, assassination attempts continued to unsettle her, and without an outlet to relieve her stress, her burden was growing heavier.
Haron, who had been spending more than half of each day with her recently, could feel it.
Epherna was becoming increasingly irritable over time.
It wasn’t that she was explicitly expressing irritation in her words; it was more about the general atmosphere.
Previously unnoticed, Epherna, with her sharpened nerves, now had an aura that made it hard for anyone to approach her.
‘Scary…’
Epherna, who originally had charisma as royalty, now also had an aura of sharp thorns, making her presence almost physically uncomfortable.
‘If only Astra were here…’
Things might have been different.
He felt acutely how much his presence affected her.
If Ern were present, Epherna might not have had to worry about assassination attempts and would have been able to relieve the stress from the heavy administrative work. Although it seemed like a minor difference with one of the two personal guards being away, the staff at the Imperial Princess’s palace, including Haron, wished that this storm would pass as quickly as possible.
*****
The claim that I could not leave this place for less than a week did not seem like an exaggeration, as even after three days, I had not found a way to escape.
Even with the use of the Wall Eyes ability, I saw and felt nothing.
I attempted to break through with force, but the structure was too sturdy for ordinary techniques to penetrate, and with my utmost effort, I felt like I would be swept away and die.
I eventually sat down on the floor, half giving up.
“Haah…”
I took out some beef jerky from my pocket.
Even without eating something, I could survive a week easily, but for my condition, it was better to replenish water and nutrients.
Who knew what kind of enemies might be lying in wait outside when I finally escaped.
After realizing that I could not escape from this space, I focused on maintaining my physical condition as best as possible.
I could leave after a week anyway.
It would be a lie to say that I wasn’t worried about Epherna, but there was nothing I could do. I had no choice but to trust her.
I glanced at the corpse lying beside me.
Though three days had passed since the life had left it, the corpse had not decayed and was well-preserved.
I attributed this to the energy of the Demon King it carried and examined the body.
Since the man’s death, I had been able to use mana.
When I channeled mana into the corpse and touched the Demon King’s aura, it was met with crackling black sparks, and the mana I poured in was annihilated.
Was it resistance? No, it was more like outright rejection.
The Demon King’s aura rejected the natural mana as if it were not worthy of its attention, even annihilating it.
‘Could it really be the same as the Demon King’s own energy?’
I remembered the time when we defeated the Demon King alongside the six heroes.
Mana-based attacks were nearly ineffective against the Demon King; no matter how powerful the attack, the Demon King’s energy would swallow the mana itself.
‘I thought it was just a makeshift version.’
If the aura I felt from the corpse was truly the Demon King’s own, the situation would be even more dire.
If a discarded pawn had such an aura, it meant that those above him likely possessed a similar or even greater level of power.
‘Let’s see if it resists this.’
I used the remaining energy from the Summer Seal and Wind Seal in my hands. These seals were not only for the contract with Epherna but also had additional functions. The engraved seal turned its bearer into the master’s apostle.
Having been granted the seals by Temur and Epherna, I was now an apostle of Summer and Wind.
Through the seals, I could wield a portion of the energy I had been given.
Sun and Wind.
These two types of energy faced off against the Demon King’s Winter that remained in the corpse.
Winter seemed to be momentarily stunned, halting its movement.
Encounters with such a powerful aura were rare, and to face two different kinds at once was even more unusual.
Perhaps feeling outnumbered, Winter retreated.
No chance.
Summer and Wind moved along separate paths to encircle Winter. As time passed, their plan succeeded, and Winter was surrounded from all sides.
Caught it.
Summer and Wind held onto Winter’s arms and legs from either side, sending the energy through the circuit back to me. Despite Winter’s apparent anger and resistance, the situation was under control.
To withstand the remaining period, I combined the energies of Sun and Wind to create a small sphere and confined Winter within it.
*****
Two days later, in the alternative room of the Imperial Princess’s palace.
This room was primarily used by Epherna for private meetings with military officers.
Discussions related to military secrets should not be mixed carelessly with political or economic matters.
“It has been a while since you called me, Your Highness.”
The man sitting across from Epherna was none other than Schneider, the loyal retainer of Second Prince Elius.
Having learned that the Second Prince intended to cede the throne to Epherna, Schneider had effectively become Epherna’s loyal retainer as well. Today was the first time he had met Epherna in the alternative room.
The woman to whom Second Prince Elius had entrusted everything. Perhaps because of this, Schneider couldn’t shake the feeling that he was looking at the Second Prince through Epherna’s eyes.
“Sir Schneider.”
“Yes.”
As soon as she spoke, Schneider adopted a serious expression and listened intently.
He did not know what kind of expression he might make in three seconds.
