CHAPTER 80: CHAPTER 80: THE OLD DAYS [2]

Floor 23.

In an inn where travelers often spent the night.

At a table, four men were chatting about a somewhat vulgar topic.

"Hey, have you heard this news? I heard that the Dicathen Kingdom is about to lose."

"Tsk. I told you, it’s only a matter of time."

At the next table, a man wearing a cloak suddenly gripped the fork in his hand.

As if he could crush it at any moment.

"That kingdom was just an empty shell."

"And ever since the royal family was exterminated and the only prince disappeared, that kingdom has already begun to come to an end."

"By the way, why did that prince disappear?"

One of the four men let out a mocking laugh.

"Of course he’s scared. What a coward."

Unable to bear it any longer, the cloaked man stood up, and without hesitation charged towards the man who had said that.

"What the hell!"

Being attacked by surprise, he could only scream.

"Do you know who I am!?"

The cloaked man ignored him, punching him painfully.

"Let go of me, you son of a bitch!"

A second punch.

A third punch.

"I’m the captain of the White Tiger team!"

The cloaked man did not stop, on the contrary, he punched even more vigorously than before.

The captain tried to struggle, but then stopped when he realized that he could not escape.

The difference in strength between them was petrifying.

Feeling death approaching, the captain shouted:

"Fuck! Why didn’t you guys come save me? Are you all dead?!"

Only then did the three of them recover from the shock just now.

Then, without wasting any more time, they all dashed towards the cloaked man.

"Let go of our captain, you bastard!"

But...

"I will kill whoever dares to come near."

That voice belonged to the cloaked man.

And it not only contained a thick killing intent that was hard to breathe, but was also extremely deadly.

"..."

Obviously, it was just a normal threat.

But for some reason, the three of them instantly stopped.

Even the other customers, and the innkeeper, did not dare to act rashly.

The cloaked man curled his lips in contempt.

"You were just cursing the Dicathen Kingdom so hard, why don’t you continue?"

"...Y-You, who are you!? Why did you hit me!? I don’t have any grudge against you!"

With all the strength he had left, the one being beaten shouted indignantly.

"...Who am I?"

The mysterious person stopped, then slowly took off his cloak, still sitting on the captain’s muscular body.

"I am Erza Dicathen, the cowardly prince you just mentioned."

"..."

The entire inn fell into a deadly silence.

"And you ask why I hit you?"

The prince sneered.

"Is a king supposed to just sit there and let a commoner like you humiliate his kingdom?"

His emerald eyes flashed with resentment.

"So, today, you must die."

Erza wasn’t joking.

But, just as the prince was about to strike, a hand was placed on his shoulder.

That feeling was familiar.

"Stop, my friend. Beating him to that extent, you must have calmed down by now, right?"

Sure enough, Erza paused.

"Oh, Kael? You’re right, we actually met a day later."

Kael smiled.

"Can you stop for my sake?"

"Why should I stop? I’m the future king of the Dicathen Kingdom."

"Of course I know that. It’s just... we’ll be sleeping at this inn tonight, and I don’t want to sleep with a corpse."

Not at all.

The prince paused, curled his lips, and stood up.

"You are Kael for sure."

"Thanks."

Then, he glanced at the person lying on the floor.

"You’re lucky this time. Now, get lost."

***

Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!

"Then what are we doing here?"

Kael asked, glancing around.

After completing the check-in procedure, Erza, for some reason, had dragged him to this place.

A cemetery.

And there were only the two of them.

"Urgh..."

To be honest, he didn’t like this place at all.

That was only natural.

Who would like a place where the dead sleep?

"Do you know how special this place is?"

Erza, walking in front, holding a bouquet of flowers, spoke up.

"...Um, isn’t this just a cemetery?"

"Tsk."

The prince clicked his tongue.

"I figured you would say that."

Kael scratched his head, smiling wryly.

"Then what’s so special about this cemetery?"

"Sigh. Honestly, who the hell are you? An alien? You don’t even know such basic knowledge?"

For some reason, he felt deeply humiliated.

Damn it!

Finally, the prince stopped under a tree on a hill.

"This is...?"

Around that tree, there were seven graves.

They looked quite ordinary, nothing special.

But Kael knew that he couldn’t judge a book just by looking at its cover.

After all, the mere fact that a prince of a kingdom visited these seven graves was enough to prove that they were not ordinary.

Erza did not reply immediately, but carefully placed the bouquet of flowers down.

Confirming that there were no problems with the seven graves, the prince explained:

"Do you know who lies under these seven graves?"

"Who?"

"The Seven Great Heroes."

"..."

Indeed, Kael was not mistaken.

But the Seven Great Heroes?

"Hmm..."

He rubbed his chin.

He seemed to have heard it from Darwin before.

"But what does the Seven Great Heroes have to do with you, Erza?"

The prince smiled faintly, then shrugged.

"They have nothing to do with me. But as the next king of the Dicathen Kingdom, isn’t it perfectly normal for me to do this?"

Kael nodded.

"You’re right."

After that, they didn’t say anything to each other.

Kael just stood there, watching Erza pay his respects to each grave.

But, at that moment, something caught his eye.

"Huh?"

Kael looked down, realizing it was a golden ring.

"...Why is this thing here?"

Curious, he picked it up.

And Kael didn’t regret doing so.

[You have obtained an Artifact - The Old Days.]

"...Huh?"

He blinked a few times.

What the hell just happened?

This ordinary-looking ring was an Artifact?

Then what about its effects?

[Sometimes, it’s good to sit back and reflect on the events of your life.]

[Put it on, and you’ll experience an emotional scene.]

"How strange..."

The effects of this Artifact were vague.

But that was fine.

’Who the hell hates free stuff?’

Definitely not him.

With that thought, Kael put it on, eager to see what it would do for him.

1 second passed.

2 seconds passed.

3 seconds passed.

...

Nothing changed at all.