Side Story 22. Spider Trap (11)
The emperor's birthday celebration festival was one of the few events in which the emperor made a public appearance. A majority of the occurrences where the emperor left the imperial palace were memorial services due to natural disasters like terrible droughts, floods, or a plague. More rarely, the emperor would also show up if there was an irregular incident, such as the death of an elder in the imperial family.
Therefore, for those seeking the emperor's life, the emperor's birthday was a rare chance. However, as the saying goes, crisis followed alongside every opportunity, and there were battle races guarding the emperor. It was nearly impossible to break through the battle tribes’ escort and stab the emperor with a dagger.
"Hehe, it seems like it’s started."
That is unless the individual wielding the dagger was also part of a battle race. Cancer, wearing a blue-green mask, smiled as he finished eating the tanghulu in his hand. "But it's a shame that there are no Crows. Was it Bloody? The one whose name is known even in our tribe.”
A few years ago, a small-scale local war broke out over Zaharam, the holy land. At that time, Bloody had slaughtered six Hunter Tribe warriors and defeated a thousand knights. Those who liked to make a fuss chatted and said that Bloody was a warrior comparable to the Crow of Death, but Cancer did not believe this.
Doomstone was a monster that defeated 30,000 troops with his bare hands. The chief of the Crow Tribe should be seen as a kind of natural disaster beyond the category of a mere soldier or warrior.
When Cancer smacked his lips as if it were a pity, his older brother, Capricorn, snorted. "Hmph! He’s just a hound with a leash. Bloody's fame is all from Glont's tactics. Even if he’s here, he’s not one you need to pay attention to."
Capricorn thought that Bloody's reputation all stemmed from Glont’s chessboard. No matter how skilled a knight is at capturing the king, in the end, it's the chess player that did well, not the piece.
Capricorn judged that it was Glont, not Bloody, who they had to be wary of, and he lightly tapped his younger brother’s back. "There will be a chance in the future. We can even go to the Crow Tribe village in Olympus Forest later."
"Aha! I see! Since we’re already in the Empire, let's go there immediately after we’re done here!"
After speaking excitedly, Cancer looked at Caesar and said, "Oh, will you come with us, Taurus? If you're a warrior, you must be curious, too.”
"You mean me?" Caesar asked in surprise at the sudden recommendation.
"Yeah. You promised to visit our village after work.”
"No, I said I'd ask my teacher. When did I say I'd go?!"
"Hey~ That's that. You can't be under your teacher forever. You're an adult, so you have to live independently."
Caesar was not an adult.
"Uh... I'll think about it." Caesar judged that there was no need to announce his age, and he chose to ask his own question instead. "But when will it start...”
As soon as he changed the subject, he heard the sound of an explosion from afar.
"Oh! It seems like it's starting! Let's go, hyung!”
"Call me Capricorn when we're working! Let's go!"
The two brothers kicked the ground and quickly ran on the walls of the buildings. When Caesar saw them, he got his fighting spirit in order and flew off in a different direction from the two.
* * *
"It hurts…! It hurts, Director-nims…!”
The surrounding area was covered with black soot and blood from those who were caught in the explosion magic that flew toward the emperor's parade.
"Don't speak! I will! I'll save you somehow!” Pelgrant put pressure on the woman's bloody abdomen to stem the bleeding, hurriedly injecting analgesics.
The woman, whose face had been distorted by pain, looked comfortable. However, the pain was only temporarily blocked, and the wound had not been treated, so it was still an emergency. "Heh… heh... As Director-nim said, cough! I should have… stayed at home.”
"I said don't speak!"
"Director-nim… Your arm must hurt… I’ll hurry….” The woman reached out at Pelgrant's injured arm.
"Idiot! Worry about yourself!"
There was a huge explosion, but the citizens stood around with blank expressions as if they were hypnotized. At the start of the parade, the citizens were encouraged to stay away from the procession, so none of the ordinary citizens were injured.
"Yodelayhee~ Oh, my. It was loud and disorderly and didn’t fit my aesthetics, so I hypnotized them, but it's still noisy," said Gemini as he shook his head.
Scorpio smiled and replied, "Then, we can just make them quiet, right?”
Scorpio aimed her magic wand at Pelgrant and immediately fired dozens of magic bullets.
"Who dares!" Orphina cut down magic bullets as she stood between Pelgrant and the magic.
William had been disguised as the emperor, and he threw away the veil covering his face and ran to the patient Pelgrant was holding.
"Wi, William-nim! Please save her!"
"I'm healing her right now."
William was pouring his mana into her, but for a serious injury like this, it wouldn’t be strange if the wounded died immediately. Without a catalyst or a recovery potion, there was a limit to the extent that William could heal her. Even if there were a recovery potion, the fragile body of an ordinary citizen would not be able to handle the vitality used to heal such a severe wound.
"It's co, cold... Director-nim.”
"Daisy! Wake up! Daisy von Mark! Didn't you say you wanted to work for people like your grandfather, who was a knight?!"
"Ah... I don’t… want to die..."
After speaking those words, she breathed her last. William confirmed that her heart had stopped, and he stopped pushing mana into her, standing up.
"William-nim! The tr, treatment!" Pelgrant, in a panic, was flustered when he saw William suddenly stop the healing magic.
William shook his head, looking at Pelgrant with pity as he had yet to accept reality. "It’s too late. She has already died."
"U-hu-hu-hu!"
At that time, Gemini laughed, grabbing his belly as he flew in the sky, "U-hu-hu-hu! I didn't know that the Butterfly Tribe I thought was in the Demon's Territory would be disguised as the emperor. This is so funny!”
William pointed the magic wand at Gemini and asked, "Are you the one who made ordinary citizens commit suicide using black magic?"
Gemini shrugged at William's question. "Yodelayhee~ And if I am?"
"You're going to die here today!"
At the shout full of killing intent, Gemini clapped in amusement. "U-hu-hu-hu! Great! Try killing me!"
As he said this, William and Gemini began to cast magic at each other. Scorpio looked at them before putting her attention on Orphina, who was radiating killing intent toward her. "Are you going to fight, too? Well, I don't really like the fact that you used a fake emperor."
"Shut up and hand over your life!" Orphina shot a strong aura at Scorpio and mounted up.
"Oh my, my, my! I hate dragon knights! They don't respond well to spirit magic, and they’re so persistent!” Scorpio made a fuss and summoned small spirits around her.
Knights and magicians escorting the procession also recovered from the aftermath of the explosion and raised their weapons against Scorpio and Gemini. While this occurred, the soldiers evacuated the surrounding residents who were still under the effects of Gemini’s magic.
The road where the procession was occurring, between the nobles’ street and the market, turned into a battlefield.
* * *
Sitting on the roof of a mansion in the nobles' street, Bloody licked his lips when he heard the explosion from afar. "In the end, it seems like something happened."
Glont was wearing a mask as he sat on a terrace just under the roof, and he said, "I guess the intelligence was right."
This operation was established because they had received a tip on the Twelve Zodiacs’ surprise attack. In the sky, the Red Dragon Knights and imperial court magicians had set up magic circles, and the capital was surrounded by troops led by Bloody as well as the two great dukes, Asteria and Arthemius. Operation Spider Trap sought to minimize the harm that ordinary citizens would take while also preventing the enemies from leaving the capital alive.
"Hmm, it's dangerous here, so let's go back to the palace,” Bloody suggested/
The emperor was drinking tea at a table close to the window, and he nodded. "Let’s do as you say."
The reason why the emperor was here instead of the safe imperial palace was simple. There were times when the emperor had to personally appear due to the schedule of the procession. However, William couldn't perfectly mimic the emperor even though he could magically imitate the emperor’s appearance and voice.
Therefore, the emperor left the secure imperial palace to watch William from afar and direct his body language and way of speaking. However, the enemy's surprise attack had begun, and William had already revealed himself, so the emperor did not have to be here anymore.
Bloody told the masked man lying next to him, "Let's go back now, Mr. Alliance Head."
“Say ‘nim’ instead of ‘Mr.’ I'm much older than you." Eranto, the head of the Mercenary Alliance, stood up and stretched.
To make sure they deceived the enemy, the head of the guard division escorted William, so Eranto was escorting the emperor on his behalf. He was a free-spirited mercenary, so he was far from acting formal, but his skills were strong enough to be comparable to those of the battle race.
“Ayy, what’s the problem? I have a higher position. Hurry and escort His Majesty safely with Glont hyung.”
Eranto was puzzled by Bloody's words. "What? What about you?"
Bloody smiled. "It seems we’ve been discovered."
He could see men wearing a yellow-green mask and a blue-green mask running here from afar, and he drew his sword.
"H, how?!”
"I don't know. Hurry and go!" Bloody shouted as he shot a strong aura at the two masked men.
The men avoided Bloody's strong aura with agile movements, and the strong aura smashed into a large mansion.
"Ah, that's Count Druval's house." Eranto shook his head and sympathized with the prime minister. It was obvious how much Bloody would destroy the nobles’ street while he fought.
"Then I will escort you, Your Majesty." Eranto entered the mansion, carried the emperor on his back, and ran toward a secret passage that connected the mansion to the outer palace.
"I'll return immediately after escorting His Majesty."
At Glont's words, Bloody laughed cheerfully. "Ahahaha! Isn’t it fine? By the time you arrive at the palace, both of them will be dead, so go towards William!"
“Ohohohoho. All right, then work hard!" Glont followed Eranto and the emperor, promptly collapsing the secret passage’s entrance as he did so. When the entrance was broken like this, the secret passage was designed to break down step by step as magic was procedurally activated.
Bloody fired sword auras at the two masked men and kept them in check. "Let's introduce ourselves. I'm Bloody."
The two men smirked.
"Call me Capricorn."
"I'm Cancer. Oh, I'm not a puppy, so please pay attention to the pronunciation." [1]
At Cancer’s request, Bloody nodded. "Yes, puppy."
"Woossi! I'm not a puppy; I’m Cancer! No matter how good my nose is, I'm not a dog!" [2]
When Cancer grew incensed, Capricorn clicked his tongue and warned his brother. "Calm down, Cancer."
There was no need to allow their opponent to infer their identity by telling him that they had a good sense of smell. If it was discovered that the two located the emperor by tracking Bloody and Glont’s scent, then it would be difficult to chase after the emperor after taking Bloody down. Most of the Hunter Tribe’s members had an acute sense of smell, so this tracking was only possible because they remembered the scent of the general who they’d met on the battlefield.
"Okay."
Cancer nodded at Capricorn's warning. Then, Bloody abruptly laughed and shouted, "3, 2, 1! Time's up!"
After counting down, he stomped down and completely collapsed the mansion. As a result, the entrance to the secret passage was entirely covered. Glont had already collapsed the entrance, but there was a chance that one of the two would hinder Bloody while the other cleaned up the collapsed entrance and pursued the emperor. Bloody had stalled for time because of such danger.
"Let's have a fun fight!"
At Bloody's cry, Capricorn and Cancer rushed at Bloody at the same time.
1. The word for ‘dog’ and ‘crab’/ ‘Cancer’ is pronounced essentially the same in Korean. Then Cancer said don’t call me a ‘puppy,’ which is a different word from ‘dog.’ ?
2. Woossi is a sound people make when they are angry. ?
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