Chapter 77: The Royal Family’s Call

[…Therefore, Muno Drasen is commanded to appear before the royal family as a witness.]

The communication from some count, who seemed to be a royal official, was extremely rude.

He had unilaterally delivered the order without even giving a proper reason.

But he dared not refuse a royal command.

Immediately after, he tried to connect a communication to Trian, but.

[Directly? Hoho, they must be in a real hurry. Well, there’s no longer any justification to block it.What can I do if they ask if Trian’s situation is more important than the royal family’s? I am sorry. Ryan, Muno.]

“It is nothing, Your Excellency.”

[And when the two of you are talking, I told you to call me father-in-law.]

“How could I dare…”

[You’re really something, you are…]

Even that Enoch Trian said he couldn’t help it.

Muno’s trip to the capital had already been decided, regardless of his own will.

“They want to compare because they’re not sure if it’s a method developed by the Temple or the royal family…”

“Nothing bad will happen if I go, right?”

He asked out of an uneasy feeling, but his father just gave a bitter smile.

“Our royal family is not so devoid of honor. And they’re not without power either.”

“But I still feel uneasy.”

“It would be a problem if your ability was a lie, but it isn’t, is it?”

“You trust the royal family so well, even though they’re so rude.”

“Because those with power have no reason to play tricks.”

“……Is it that much?”

“Yes. Even if you combine the power of all the noble families except the royal family, it can’t match the royal family’s.

That’s why the Aslan family, even though they’re the best among the nobles, can’t dare to oppose the royal family.”

“Hmm…. And yet, the kingdom maintains the feudal system, the system of lords?”

At what could be considered a rude question, his father nodded with a subtle smile.

“Most of the prime land in the kingdom is under the direct control of the royal family.

From the perspective of the royal family, the Iron family, it’s like entrusting troublesome land to other families and collecting taxes.

Like Trian, which has to stop the monsters of the northern mountain range.”

“Ah…”

Only after hearing the answer could he understand.

The reason why the Bulwark of the North, Enoch Trian, who had promised him a vacation, couldn’t stall for long.

But seeing him, his father smiled again.

“I’m glad to see you’re taking an interest in the world.

But remember one thing.

If you ever get invited to a party hosted by a prince, never accept.”

“Yes? Which prince?”

“Any prince! If you get involved in the succession war, you’ll be literally X’d.”

X’d, a lord…

Before he could comment on the undignified word, a question came to mind first.

“Do I even have the right to refuse?

If a prince invites me?”

“That’s why you have to make up an excuse, tactfully! Tactfully!”

“That’s easier said than done…”

“If you can’t avoid it, then attend all the princes’ parties.”

“Ah…. But Father, aren’t you forgetting something?”

“What?”

“The fact that Lady Roanna is already engaged to the third prince.”

“Ah…”

As if he had really forgotten, his father frowned and let out a sigh.

But even so.

“……Damn it. Right, that’s right.

His Excellency must be worried. But still, remember my words.”

“Yes?”

“If you get wrongly involved in the succession war, the family could be ruined.

Depending on the character of the next king, they might embrace those who followed their rivals, but they might also eliminate them all.”

“So. Anyway…”

“In the worst-case scenario, the Trian family could be shattered, but not its subordinate families.

It could end with just a change of lord.”

“……You’re being cold.”

“I’m telling you the reality.

Of course, I’m also saying this because it’s unlikely that whoever becomes king will just get rid of the Bulwark of the North.

But the fact that fatal checks could be put in place remains unchanged, so Lady Roanna has practically put her life on the line.”

After hearing that, a fundamental question came to mind again.

“From what I hear, it’s like the princes are at war with each other.

Can the royal family maintain its power even after such an event?”

“It’s not a war.

Well, there is a similar ‘contest,’ but that’s between the noble families that support the princes.

It has nothing to do with the royal family.”

A contest?

“What exactly is that succession war?”

“That is…”

* * *

“This is my life…”

Teobeok teobeok.

A knight in black armor walking down the main road with a single backpack.

Complaints were constantly pouring out of Muno’s mouth.

And for good reason.

The road to the capital was nothing but a path of hardship for him.

[Arrive in the capital within two weeks.]

Since the matter was what it was, the royal family must have set the deadline based on riding a horse without rest.

But he didn't have a horse to ride.

“Ah, X-ba…. I’m going to die…”

While complaining, as soon as Muno felt that he had recovered enough while walking, he put strength into his legs again and kicked the ground.

Kwang.

The dirt under his feet was dug deep and exploded backwards.

Muno’s body began to sprint south along the main road like an arrow.

If there was a silver lining, it was that he now had a knack, no, a technique, for long-distance sprinting.

- Space Slicer with your body…?

Heh, right.

That could be a branch of the lost secret arts.

A perfect evasion or rushing technique.

Hmm…. Thank you, son. But then, how about thinking in another direction?

- Yes?

- Space Slicer consumes too much power, so instead, if you ride the grain of the air with the knack of Wind Slicer…. This might work?

‘Yes, it does. Too well.’

Pabababak.

Paaaaaaang!

The wind in front of him split and pushed his sprinting body as if wrapping around it.

It consumed a little bit of stamina and mana, but considering the actual speed and distance, the efficiency was several times better this way.

Of course, he couldn't maintain even that for long.

“Haak, haak.”

I should rest here for today.

Muno looked at the setting sun and looked for a forest or a clearing near the main road.

Goreureureuk.

‘There should be some prey.’

As befitting a Drasen secret art, it was a bit of a problem that it was constantly draining his body, and now he had to procure food for himself.

‘Damn it. This stamina consumption…’

Goreureureuk.

The two weeks’ worth of food he had brought when he left Drasen had all been eaten in the past two days.

Moreover, he couldn't stop by a city now.

- Don’t stop by other cities on your way to the capital.

And don’t tell anyone about the route you plan to take. In case those evil cult bastards…

“Damn it. My situation really…”

Complaints kept coming out, but it seemed that it was worth the effort of overworking his body.

While repeating the sprint and rest, the knack for ‘Wind Sprint’ had definitely accumulated, and now he felt that he would arrive faster than a decent horse even if he took a sufficient rest.

‘If I can just completely replace the body drain with mana…’

Muno muttered to himself and was lost in other thoughts.

Goreureureuk.

After receiving a signal from his instincts, he soon focused his mind on the forest to find prey.

The Demon Devourer was only sensitive to beings with demonic energy.

But he had another specialty for hunting.

‘My already useful sense of smell has become much better now.’

Keung. Keung.

And as soon as he found the gamy smell he wanted.

He forgot all his other worries.

“Heh. Meat, meat…”

He wiped the saliva that had almost dripped down without realizing it.

The Black Knight, no, the black hunter, threw himself into the darkness of the forest.

And a few hours later.

Tadaktadak.

“Keoek~. Meat is best when it’s pork.”

It would have been better if there was kimchi, but wishing for that would be just greed.

“Jjeop…. Huu…”

Muno had eaten about half of the large roasted wild boar and was patting his stomach with a satisfied expression.

Was there anything more important than working hard and eating well?

He soon looked around, checking for a place to sleep for the night.

And as he had some leisure, his thoughts suddenly turned to a unique identification plaque he had put in his pocket.

“Hmm…?”

Hwiririk.

Tak.

An identification plaque with only the name 'Reid' written on it.

- You’ll need it, brother.

It was a plaque his younger brother had given him before he left Drasen again.

- It’s a plaque the Reid Merchant Guild gave me, saying they owed me a favor.

I heard they also operate an information organization, so if you remember the ‘L’ crest and go and show the identification plaque, they said you’ll be able to find out all the news that can be obtained in the market.

Maybe even more than that…?

“When did he grow up so much?”

He didn't bother to ask where his younger brother, who would soon be thirteen, had obtained such an item.

Since the Reid Merchant Guild was Drasen’s main trading partner, it wasn’t strange for them to give such a gift to Lian, the heir of the territory, to get on his good side.

“I’ll use it well, Lian.”

Just having a way to get information in this world where the internet was a dream, a bit of a breather was opened up in his daunting trip to the capital.

Of course, the problem right in front of him was still daunting.

“The succession war…”

- In keeping with the Iron Kingdom of knights, the crown prince is decided through a contest of three parts: martial prowess, intellect, and virtue.

The succession war has practically already begun since this summer when the fourth prince came of age.

- Martial prowess literally means the prince’s martial prowess, but since the qualification is given just by learning and awakening the royal family’s secret art, the Iron Corporeal Arts, it doesn’t have much meaning.

Because it’s a fraudulent Corporeal Arts that guarantees awakening with a high probability just by learning it.

- In the past, they used to make the princes spar, but there were many accidents…. Ahem, anyway, the problem is after that.

- The contest of intellect is decided by solving one of the many problems in the royal palace, and the task is not necessarily fixed.

The princes choose it.

But you can guess, can’t you? What the most attention-grabbing problem in the capital is right now.

“The Demon Cult…”

The magicians who were hiding in the kingdom, concealing their demonic energy.

It was one of the reasons why he would receive attention if he went to the capital.

Ha.

“This is a headache. Tsk…”

The contest of intellect, the deadline was officially up to the king.

Usually, if one prince showed outstanding results, it would end immediately, and if not, it was common to give about a year of leeway and evaluate the results during that time.

- Because the princes actively try to solve the country’s problems, the people are also at ease during the contest of intellect.

But during the contest of virtue that follows…

“A contest of virtue. That kind of thing?”

Pfft.

Thinking of his father’s words, only a hollow laugh came out.

And he could fully understand why Count Enoch Trian and his father so desperately wanted him not to get involved in the succession war.

However, then a face naturally came to mind.

“That young lady, just how far is she looking?”

Roanna, an ambitious girl whose age of only eighteen was unbelievable.

What was different that she saw from her grandfather that made her bet her life on it?

Was she just blinded by ambition?

Or…

“……Was it because she was confident she would succeed?”

He had no way of knowing, but he was honestly curious.

As his thoughts continued, the female knight who would be by her side also naturally came to mind.

‘Karina…’

A beauty he had seen for the first time in his past and present lives.

Since they had fought a difficult battle together for a short time, it would be a lie to say that as a man, he hadn’t thought of her.

Still.

‘I don’t know…’

As a single man who had never been in a relationship, he couldn’t yet distinguish whether he was paying attention to Karina just because she was pretty, or if it was because a liking beyond that had sprouted.

“No, is that what that is?”

It was a meaningless worry as long as he didn’t know her heart anyway.

But thinking about what happened in Drasen, it honestly didn’t seem like she disliked him either.

‘No, is that not it? Does she dislike me?’

When he had deliberately let Roanna’s knights hit him to make an excuse to the count, the image of Karina hitting the back of his head with unusual viciousness also came to mind.

So he wanted to confirm her feelings more.

And if possible.

“I want to win the spar, and a little…”

Losing the spar to Karina was bound to leave a lingering feeling in his heart.

And that night, Muno dreamed of Karina.

To her…

He dreamed of being beaten up excitedly.