Side Story 21. Spider Trap (10)
A beautiful melody flowed through the imperial banquet room, and all kinds of delicacies were displaying their appetizing appearance.
Behind where the emperor was sitting, Bloody hid and pinched his nose. "Uwack. It smells bad.”
It was one of the most spectacular banquet rooms in the world, but the smell of perfume from hundreds of nobles was mixing together and creating a disgusting scent. It was as if the hideous greed and stubbornness within these nobles gathered to take an intangible form.
At Bloody's grumbling, the emperor used ventriloquism to soothe Bloody while staring at the nobles in front of him. "Haha, sorry about that. I told him it was fine, but Arcanta said we needed to strengthen the escort from now on.”
The emperor naturally put the accountability for this matter on Arcanta. In fact, Arcanta's words were not wrong. Currently, the emperor’s authority and power were at an unprecedented high due to the Blood Emperor. The stronger the imperial power, the more power others were bound to lose. As such, it was inevitable that the dark forces seeking to end the emperor's life were abundant.
"Well, I know. That's why I’m hiding my presence as much as I can."
Bloody concealed himself so well that it would be hard to notice him even if he was in front of you. As he stood by the emperor, even the head of the guard division was afraid of the skill that seemed to make Bloody integrate with the air. If Bloody assassinated the emperor at this moment without a word, the head of the guard division would not be able to stop him, let alone catch him.
"Are all Crows at this level? Or is it just Your Excellence?” The head of the guard division asked in a small voice, not opening his mouth as much as possible.
It was as loud as a mosquito buzzing, but Bloody heard and laughed lightly. "Haha, it's the first time you have asked something personal.”
"If it's rude, I apologize.”
At the head of the guard division’s apology, Bloody shook his head even though he knew the other would not be able to see it. "No, it's not that rude. I'm a bit outstanding at concealment. If I decide to hide, even my older brother and sister won't be able to find me. Still, most of the people in my hometown are good at stealth skills."
"Oho, is that so? That's surprising. I thought that the Crows don't do anything like sneaking around.”
Bloody chuckled when the emperor expressed his surprise with ventriloquism as he stared solemnly at the banquet hall. "Well, everyone is a battle maniac, so that image is right. However, since my hometown is a little dangerous, children are at risk when walking around the forest."
Crow children learned how to hide immediately after learning how to clench their fists so that they could walk safely around the forest. The Crows liked fighting, not committing suicide. Therefore, their stealth skills were often better than their swordsmanship skills.
"When you say your older sister, do you mean that woman that's called ‘The Fierce Rakshasa?’"
The emperor knew that Talaria was Big Mama. However, he referred to her using her widely known nickname because her identity was a secret to everyone aside from Bloody, the prime minister, and Duke Asteria.
"Yes, well, that's right."
Hearing his older sister’s name, Bloody smiled bitterly. At least, it sounded better than Doomstone's nicknames such as "Crow of Death" or "The Disaster from Heaven."
"Congratulations on your birthday, Your Majesty."
The emperor raised his hand with a stern look and greeted the nobles congratulating the celebration of his birthday. At the same time, at a volume that Bloody could barely hear, he used ventriloquism to ask in a soft voice, "By the way, how strong is she compared to you? I heard before that she is powerful enough to fight with your older brother to be the chief of the Crow Tribe."
The emperor was excited as if he were a child listening to a story. It was a hundred, even a thousand times better to listen to such interesting stories than these annoying nobles.
"They definitely had a fight. That is, to determine who was not going to be chief."
"Haha!"
At Bloody's unexpected answer, the emperor couldn't remain subtle, and his laughter leaked out. When the emperor unexpectedly laughed, the nobles who took turns congratulating him were puzzled.
"It's nothing. I was so happy that everyone attended the banquet that I laughed for a moment."
At the emperor's excuse, the nobles bowed their heads and answered, "That His Grace, the Emperor is happy; we are grateful to hear that.”
Seeing that the atmosphere had been restored, Bloody smiled and answered the emperor's question. "When they had the competition to decide the chief, I couldn't join because I was only nine years old. At that time, I was very weak, but now there would only be a small difference in our skill levels. Probably."
Talaria was neck-and-neck in the match against Doomstone, and Talaria's skills were outstanding, but Doomstone also didn’t go all out because he did not want to be the chief. And considering that Doomstone ran away from home because he thought he would be the chief, it was reasonable.
"Oho, is that so?"
The emperor wanted to hear more from Bloody but stood up from his seat. This was because a familiar person had just walked proudly through the central doors of the banquet room.
"It's been a while since I’ve seen you, Your Majesty, the Former Emperor."
The fierce-eyed old man laughed loudly as he walked in with pride. "Ahahaha! I'm glad you seem healthy. Have you been in good health, Your Majesty the Emperor?"
The Blood Emperor, the emperor's father, and the former emperor had just appeared.
The banquet hall, which had the atmosphere of ‘haha-hoho’ in a pretense, quickly turned into a political dispute on thin ice. Here, one could easily become the subject of a bloody purge for misusing one’s tongue.
* * *
Caesar wore a brown mask as he watched the carriage which bore the Blood Emperor’s insignia leave the imperial palace.
"Blood Emperor."
He wanted to draw his sword right away and charge in, but he managed to hold himself back. Even if he attacked the Blood Emperor at this moment, he wasn't sure that he could kill him. Whether or not he was able to kill the Blood Emperor, he would certainly be killed in turn. And for him, the enemy was not only the Blood Emperor.
"Wait for me. I'll send you to hell with the prime minister soon.” Caesar tried to hide his killing intent and hid in the back alleys.
* * *
Glont headed to the imperial palace with a cheerful gait.
"Long time no see."
Orphina was on patrol and was just about to enter the inner palace where the emperor lived when she saw Glont. She smiled and greeted him. "You look happy today."
"Yeah. No, should I say ‘yes,’ General Orphina-nim?"
At Glont's answer, Orphina waved her hand. "Honorifics are burdensome. Please be comfortable with me."
"Ohohoho! If you want me to, then I will. I feel good today. Very."
Orphina felt the subtle killing intent hidden beyond Glont's wide smile. She recalled a conversation between Bloody and the prime minister a few days ago. Since the Dragon Tribe began to interact with the empire after the Crow Tribe and Butterfly Tribe, Orphina did not know of Glont's past as she had arrived at the empire late.
When she thought that he seemed a little angry, Glont asked, "Is His Majesty okay?"
Orphina smiled bitterly. "His Majesty was exhausted after the banquet and is resting."
He was now an old man in the backroom, but he was also the Blood Emperor, once called the lion of politics. Since the emperor had a battle of nerves with such a political monster, it was natural to be tired. In terms of political power alone, the mild-tempered current emperor was a few steps below the Blood Emperor, the incarnation of a violent desire for power.
"Ohhoho, that's understandable. Then since His Majesty has called for me, I’ll head over first. Work hard~!" Glont opened a fan with a pink frill, covering his mouth as he entered the inner palace with a smile.
Orphina sighed softly as she watched Glont's back. "I should've done it instead of Bloody."
She knew that it couldn't be helped because she didn’t know anything about hiding skills, but it was a pity that she couldn’t move with Glont.
After greeting Orphina, Glont faced the chief attendant at the entrance of the inner palace.
"Welcome, Adventurers’ Guild Director."
"Long time no see, Chief Attendant. Sorry about before."
It had been almost five years since he last met the chief attendant. At Glont's apology, the chief attendant smiled lightly. "No, Guild Director-nim does not need to apologize. Rather, I should be the one to do so.”
Upon receiving Glont's apology, the chief attendant took the lead and headed to the room where the emperor stayed. The emperor's room was changed every day according to astrology, and very few people knew the location of his room. Two of these people included the chief attendant and the head of the guard division.
The emperor was protected by the magic circle, but there were seven battle races in the world aside from the extinct Holy Tribe and Giant Tribe. As such, it was unknown which monster might invade the imperial palace, so they had to be prepared.
As the chief attendant guided Glont, he stopped in front of a door. "Your Majesty. Glont von Asilante, the Adventurers’ Guild Director, has arrived."
After saying that, the chief attendant opened the door. "Please go in. I still have a lot of work to do, so this is as far as I will guide you.”
Glont couldn’t hear anything, so he was puzzled when the chief attendant left after opening the door.
"Why aren't you coming in?" Bloody asked as he suddenly stuck his head out the door, his presence hidden.
Glont was startled and quickly pulled out his sword, cutting at Bloody's neck.
"Aigoo!" Bloody quickly pulled back, leaned down, and avoided Glont's sword.
"Oh my, my! You surprised me!”
"Gosh, if you get surprised again, someone might get killed.” Bloody came down from the ceiling where he was hanging and grumbled.
"Is hanging on the ceiling also a Crow’s martial art?”
"Yeah. It's Enlightenment, Catching a Gecko. It's a technique that makes the body sticky with mana, and it's the perfect technique to take away or restrain an opponent's weapon when mastered."
"Just how many of those Enlightenments are there? Everything you use is always Enlightenment?”
Bloody shrugged. "I don't know. More than 100?"
"That many?"
"Ayy, considering the history of the Crow’s martial arts, it’s on the smaller side. With the development of the Crow’s martial arts, there are many skills that became excluded from Enlightenment. I use a lot of Enlightenments because they're useful, not because there are no other skills."
Enlightenment was a technique in which martial arts of the previous Crows, including the Blade family, were compiled. They were difficult to learn and difficult to use.
In fact, there were less than ten Crows who had learned all the Enlightenments. If the past Enlightenments that had been removed were included, the only one who knew all of them was Elder Weger.
"Enough small talk. Come on in. You won't be able to go home for the next week. Did you talk to Rosellis already?”
"Yeah. Officially, I made it so I’m on a business trip to Asterium.”
Glont closed the door and went inside. From now on, it was time to operate as a masked secret escort, not the director of the Adventurers’ Guild.
* * *
In contrast to a short time ago, the streets of the capital were rapidly revitalizing. The capital was not the only place that was being rejuvenated, as the imperial family had shared supplies and held various events nationwide for the emperor's birthday banquet.
However, Caesar couldn't close his mouth when he saw the large festival for the emperor’s birthday. It was incomparable to anything he had experienced so far.
"This is impressive,” Caesar murmured.
Capricorn, wearing a yellow-green mask, retorted, "Hmph, you must be a country boy. In any country's capital, any festival is at this level, so don't be too excited, Taurus."
"Really?" Caesar looked at the man wearing a blue-green mask behind Capricorn.
"Hyung! Hyung! Look at this! There's a tanghulu that was sold only in our hometown!” Between Cancer's fingers were colorful tanghulu and exotic tropical fruit skewers. In addition, the sides of his mouth were already messy with dark and reddish seasonings. It seemed as if he had already eaten a lot.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Do you want to eat it too? Here you go!”
"Brother…!" Capricorn sighed and frowned as if he had a headache.
"Ayy, what's wrong? It's a loss if you don't enjoy the festival. There's still a little while left until the time Libra gave us anyways.”
Cancer put a fruit skewer in his brother's hand and handed a tanghulu to Caesar. "Hey, Taurus. This is sweet and delicious. Try it.”
"Oh, thank you." Caesar took the tanghulu and took a bite. "Mmm! It's very sweet!"
"Right? Come to our country after today’s business. I'll buy you something that’s even more delicious.” Cancer smiled nicely and invited Caesar.
"Okay. I'll ask my teacher."
When Caesar answered, a trumpet sound began to be heard from the faraway direction of the imperial palace. On the third day of the emperor's birthday, the emperor's parade was about to begin.
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