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Chapter 280: Unwanted plan (4)

‘It was inevitable.’

‘No. It is not a problem to end with rationalizing that it is inevitable. Maybe there was another way. I should have looked for another way. Yes, I should’ve.’

‘It was a decision made for the imperial people.’

‘I killed another innocent imperial citizen with my own hands for those imperial people.’

‘If you hadn’t done that, more people would have died. The knights and soldiers who defend the Empire, and many good people looking only at Your Majesty, would all have died. That plague…’

‘I know. I know. I already know that there was no other way to save the contaminated land, that there was no other way because it was polluted through the air, and that I had to deal with it before the symptoms occurred. But Count, they weren’t undead yet. I’m sure they were human. Their painful screams weren’t the sound of the undead. It seems I can still hear the children crying. No, I can hear it clearly.’

‘What…’

‘I hear them talking to me. I hear the imperial people blaming me after dying for being betrayed by this stupid Empress.’

‘You seem to be very tired, Your Majesty.’

‘No. I’m not. I am definitely fine.’

‘Your Majesty…’

‘When I was very young…’

‘Yes.’

‘When I was very young… I remember what my mother said when it was before her death.’

‘… …’

‘She told me not to be harsh. She told me to quietly live a normal life and enjoy the moment. She told me to live apart from the imperial family, peacefully outside the center, and like others. When she died, I remember that she also said something similar. I was very young at that time.’

‘Your Majesty…’

‘I saw all the hardships my mother had suffered here. I felt more keenly than anyone how the powerless, not the privileged class, were treated in the Empire. So I wanted to change the Empire. Yes. That’s why I wanted to become an Empress. I got rid of my sister with my hand, betrayed my father’s expectations, and I even have blood in my hands. I have fought with the Pope’s side, and also with foreigners like the Count. That’s how I became the ruler of this Empire.’

‘… …’

‘And after I got to this position like that, in the end, I thought I was the same human as them. No. From the beginning, I was no different from them. I got blood in my hand once again to keep my position, and I have lived that way for several years. I have lived that way… because I was afraid of losing my power. The commitment to create an Empire for the imperial people was overwhelmed by fatigue and pressure, and my childhood dreams were worn out by reality. Suddenly, when I looked in the mirror, it seemed that the face of my sister, who I hated so much, was reflected.’

‘No, Your Majesty.’

‘This position doesn’t suit me. I only realize it now. I’m someone who cannot bear the weight of the crown and cannot wash away sins. It’s hard. Yes… It’s so hard. As my sister said before… in the end, it seems that poor blood can’t bear this weight.’

‘Your Majesty…’

‘If I were born again… If I were born again, I would like to live as my mother said, like everyone else. Meet loved ones, laugh and chat, have many children, and start a family… like others… I want to live like that.’

‘You will be able to do that.’

‘Haha. Of course, I have never thought about marriage, but if I’d met someone like the Count, I would be very happy to live such a life… anyway, let’s stop with the chitchat. I have to get up again.’

‘I think it would be better to take a rest. You don’t even have to go out.’

‘I’m fine. I have to finish the remaining work quickly. I have to protect the Empire by burning the imperial people.’

‘Charlotte-nim.’

‘Today… tomorrow … and also, the next day, I have to protect… the Empire by killing… ha… hahaha. The imperial people.’

I opened my closed eyes for a moment and grabbed the sand on the floor.

It must have been in this place.

It was here where I had the conversation with Charlotte, and the innocent imperial people died. It was the place where the plague had spread, transforming common people into the undead.

It was the first area where the disease, which killed a quarter of the continent’s population, came into being.

When I opened my hand, the wind blew away the sand I had been holding.

As I looked at it blankly, a person in front of me suddenly came into my view. I realized that I had spent a lot of time lost in emotions.

“W… Why are you here…”

“So, you know me.”

“… …”

“The rumor seems to have reached this place. A common person wouldn’t recognize me.”

“No. No. How can people like us not recognize someone important like you? R-Rather than that… what … brings you here? Do you have any business in this small town…?”

“I came to do an investigation. I got information that an association uses magic that is not allowed in the Empire, so I came to see if by any chance… but looking at your reaction and the current situation, it seems that what I was worried about was true. Who would have imagined that there would be a place like this in a basement like this?”

“E-Excuse me, but I don’t understand w-what you’re talking about.”

“Saladin the Secret Society. A Black Wizard Alliance within the Empire. It has been established for 24 years, has about 670 people, and it is distributed evenly in the outer regions of the Empire. The purpose of its creation and its significance is the eternal life of the clan members. Did I say something wrong?”

“I-I don’t know what you’re… t-talking about.”

“I will first ask you a few questions.”

“What?”

“Have you ever met a masked man and woman?”

“I don’t know… what you mean.”

“It’s an expressionless, dull black mask. The mask has a spell on it, and it is difficult to dispel unless you are a high-ranking wizard. The man is of average height, and the woman is a bit smaller. They call each other best friends, and they’re actually very close. Oh, and the man is a Black Wizard like you guys. If he’d come here, you would have recognized him right away. Perhaps he’s a clan member from Saladin.”

“Black Wizard?”

“Yes. He’s a Black Wizard. If you’ve ever seen him, you will definitely…”

“I have never heard of him. R-Rather, I’m not sure… what you’re talking about.”

“I guess you’re not lying.”

“Of course. I don’t know anything about Saladin or b-black magic, sir.”

“No. What I meant was that you didn’t know about the masked people. We’ve already confirmed that the people gathered here are Black Wizards, so you don’t have to hide it. I have met other Saladin Black Wizards. Gartel in the north, Valla in the south, Hebbel in the east, you are already the fourth.”

“This c… crazy…”

“I will change the question. If you’ve never seen the masked man and woman… Where is your clan master?”

Silence descended upon the entire room.

He still kept his face saying that he didn’t know anything, but at the same time, I tried to speak up again. I heard the sound of a spell being cast.

“D… Die!”

Black and green spheres and arrows struck in an instant.

As I leaned over and swung my sword, the large orb that was approaching split in half.

‘Poison.’

This was an uncommon magic.

When an unknown substance from the shrapnel splashed on my clothes, smoke rose with a squealing sound. I held my breath with magic and moved instantly.

As soon as the sword was pulled out and I rushed, a huge monster rose up from the summoner and struck me.

It was a low-grade demon I had seen before.

After I cleared it by putting magic into the sword and wielding it, the black wizard’s arm in front of me was thrown, and the body of the black wizard who was chanting the curse was cut off.

‘One devil summoner and one necromancer.’

Skeleton soldiers poured out from all sides, but I swung my sword, the soldiers collapsed, and the necromancer fell with blood.

This was the same as last time.

‘Their level is low.’

It was not that I got too strong.

It felt like there was definitely a level difference from the ones I had seen in the first round.

It was hard to imagine it was the same Saladin that drove the entire continent into fear then. There was no demon summoner to summon named demons, and at best, low-grade demons and intermediate-grade demons were all that there was.

It was difficult to find those who completed the 4th class change in the first place.

‘Was there a trigger?’

It was correct to think that the masked man, who had declared himself to be the head of these people a few years later, had done something.

‘They haven’t met yet.’

I didn’t know exactly when he would be active, but it was not at this time.

When I saw that he was not moving, even when the struggle for the imperial power had been revealed, it meant that he’d be active a little later than now.

In the first place, this was not the time when the man would usually be active.

It wasn’t too bad since I wasn’t looking for the man from the beginning. However, it was a bit hard to understand that the woman wasn’t showing up, either.

I remembered that the masked woman was clearly active in the Imperial Palace at this time.

Of course, I hadn’t spent much time in the imperial city in the first round, but I think I had seen her move with the influential nobles of Charlotte’s camp when I once entered the capital.

‘Is she hiding? Or has the future changed? If she were active, she wouldn’t have a reason to hide…’

Seeing that she didn’t show up even when the Second Empress was politically threatened meant that the future might have changed for a certain reason.

Considering the fact that the woman in the mask spent a long time with the murderous brigade, including the demon swordsman Jung Jinho… perhaps, after Jung Jinho’s death, she had lost her place.

If this speculation was really correct, the masked woman wouldn’t be lured after driving the Second Princess to the brink. The masked woman would not show up in the second round.

I could think of this as a positive butterfly effect created by Jung Jin-ho’s death in the tutorial dungeon.

As I slowly went down to the underground, I began to see Saladin’s findings.

I could not recognize many things, but considering that the plague began based on these studies, these were objects that should not exist on the continent.

As expected, it was still in its early stage.

When I generated magic power from my hand, a small flame sprang up, and the flame that fell on the research data began to burn.

I kept thinking of the imperial people burning and screaming painfully and the face of Charlotte, who had gone mad while screaming, but I shook my head and erased the bad memories.

However, her voice continued to come to mind.

‘I want to wake up in a quiet forest listening to the birds singing. It will be difficult, but I want to live without maids, too. I want to listen to a troubadour’s song from a bar. Yes. I want to live like that. I think I liked you a little. It seems like that when I think about it now. I’ve never loved someone, so I’m not sure what my feelings are, but it’s probably similar to what my mother talked about. Please be happy, Count. In the next life, let’s run into each other a little more ordinary. Let’s face each other while smiling.’

I bit my lips, and then I went back right away.

After going up the long basement, I saw the town with nothing different than usual.

‘Huh?’

It was then that I found a very familiar face on one side of the town square.

‘What the?’

He disguised himself poorly with magic, but he couldn’t hide that big size—the original member of the Blue, whose face I long have seen.

‘Deokgu?’

The reason why Park Deokgu was here on the outskirts of the continent, far from Lindel or the capital, was unknown, but Kiyoung-ssi must have sent him on an errand.

By now, he would be busy calming public opinion.

‘Why is he here?’

Naturally, I was curious. I think he had already received orders from the fact that he was on the outskirts.

The crowd was nodding and cheering at the big man’s speech. It was when I moved in curiosity and put magic into my ears.

The contents I heard from the strangely drawn voice completely overturned my expectations.

“Imperial people! By the imperial people! A country for the imperial people! The owner of the Empire is not the imperial family! It’s the imperial people!!”

“W-what… is that…?”

This certainly didn’t happen in the first round.

“With a burning thirst! With a burning thirst! Democracy! Hurray!”

“What is this…?”