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Side Story Chapter 270

“What? Did you forget that you slit the emperor of Hubalt’s throat? Don’t tell me you’re chickening out after coming all the way over here, my baby.”

“I’m not your baby. And I’m talking about you, not me.” Kireua pointed at Anna.

“...Me?”

“All of Swallow’s knights, mages, and soldiers will be focused on you. Of course I’m worried more about you.”

To Kireua’s surprise, Anna smiled. “My, you’re worried about me?”

“...You’re too immature for your age, so I can’t help myself.”

“Hahaha, it’s so adorable how you pretend not to care about me. Anyhow, don’t worry about me. Just focus on the mission. If you fail, both of us will die.”

“I’m not going to fail. Obviously.” Kireua grinned confidently.

“Did you memorize the map of the palace I drew for you? You’re the reason I came back to this fucking country, so I’m trusting you to do a fantastic job.”

Only then did Kireua recall that the surname of bel Grace belonged to the Imperial Family of Swallow, like Sanders and ben Britten of Avalon.

* * *

Thanks to Anna, Kireua had safely infiltrated Swallow’s palace.

“I’m really lucky to have the generation’s best assassin as one of my teachers...” Kireua muttered. If that weren’t for Aisha, Kireua wouldn’t have been able to move around in the Palace like he owned it. He had recently realized that conducting such a reckless mission was only possible because he wasn’t a gifted spearman. If he was, he would have been obsessed with the spear like Selim was.

“I’m good in many areas, so aren’t I a better candidate for the next emperor?” Kireua mumbled.

The thought immediately brought a bitter smile to his lips. Kireua himself knew that it was the opposite in reality. No symbol could be more significant to Avalon than the Martial God, and a spear was a key component of that symbol.

“Doesn’t Selim also look like a replica of His Majesty? That bothers me even if he doesn\'t... Anyhow, Anna is right. The inside of the palace hasn’t changed much.”

Kireua took a look around. All kinds of passages riddled buildings like palaces or mansions—the residences of the privileged—there were emergency escape passages for royalty like the one in Hubalt.

On top of that, there were passages for more mundane people, like cooks, servants, and cleaners, because of the nobles’ pride. In fact, some nobles loathed breathing the same air as a commoner.

All passages, however, were kept under utmost secrecy.

‘Well, creating new passages in an existing building isn’t easy.’

To prevent trespass, architects designed the buildings with numerous passages, and guards regularly changed the passages they used. However, that didn’t eliminate all the risks. That was why unused passages had all sorts of magic traps installed, even though this practice caused many incidents where people accidentally used the old passages and died. To prevent such accidents, guards were placed near blocked passages.

‘...But I see no guards, and the artifact that Her Majesty Iceline gave me isn’t responding... I must have guessed correctly.’

Anna had told Kireua about seven passages she knew of, and, given that nothing had happened as he walked down the one he’d picked, he had picked the right one.

‘It’s incredible that she still remembers these passages. Anna has been a big help in the recent missions. Maybe I should ask the Queen Consorts to give her a big reward...’

Kireua saw a metal gate at the end of the passage.

‘There are two guards at the gate,’ Kireua noted as he stretched his senses outward to get a picture of what lay beyond.

According to Anna, once Kireua exited the passage, he would be in a huge room located at the end of the first floor. The room served as a waiting room and a checkpoint. In other words, Kireua had to pass through the room in order to search the palace.

‘I have to open the gate anyway, so I’m going to tackle it head-on.’

Kireua didn’t hesitate. He shoved the gate open and immediately parried away the daggers that flew at him from both sides. The knights were very well-trained, judging from their unhesitating attack when Kireua entered without using the appropriate signal. However, they couldn’t have met a worse opponent.

“—Ugh!”

Kireua struck the knights on their temples with the pommel of his sword, rendering them unconscious before he exited the passage completely. He had already caused a commotion, so there was no point in continuing to use his stealth technique.

‘Royalty and nobles like being somewhere high, so I’ll head straight to the stairs in the lobby.’

Kireua darted across the hallway and quickly reached the lobby, his first destination.

“...Seriously?” Kireua mumbled.

The lobby was packed with hundreds—no, thousands of knights. Although they had a wide garden out in front of the palace, they were all crammed into the lobby, their murderous energy nearly palpable.

“...Which means this has been their plan all along.”

Kireua’s eyes narrowed. When Swallow had announced Ulabis’s public execution, Kireua had thought it was an attempt to break Thran’s spirit, but it seemed there was more to Swallow’s plan. In fact, it looked like Swallow had anticipated the commotion going on outside.

‘Who in the world could have predicted all this...? Is it the person Grand Duke Lucifer was talking about?’

The conversation he had with Lucifer crossed his head. Lucifer had told him that a person in Swallow had given him hope.

Just then, a group of people walked downstairs, moving past the knights. Every single person in this group seemed to be the perfect example of the kind of people Anna had told Kireua to take hostage. All had grand titles and prestigious bloodlines—however, one person stood out from them all.

“You’re finally here.”

“...A fox mask?” Kireua eyed the strange person.

The masked figure knew Kireua.

“Welcome to the Swallow Empire, Second Prince of Avalon. ”

“Are you Grand Duke Lucifer’s hope?”

“...Is that what the Grand Duke said about me?” the fox-mask asked, surprised.

“How remarkable. I didn’t expect his hope to be such a young woman.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“What is it?”

“Is... the Grand Duke dead?”

Despite the question the person behind the mask sounded like she already knew the answer.

However, it wasn’t a question that Kireua could answer. He had indubitably cut off Lucifer’s head, but Lucifer had come back to life after that and threatened Kireua’s life. Kireua hadn’t seen Lucifer since he’d lost consciousness... but the right answer in this situation was already decided.

“...Yes, I killed him,” Kireua answered.

His confidence threw the nobles into a rage.

“That cocky brat!”

“He’s all pompous after defeating a dusty old Grand Duke. All of you, what are you waiting for! Bring that insolent trespasser to his knees!”

Despite his goal, Kireua was left confused by their responses for a moment.

‘I thought the person with the fox mask had the most power among them.’

But if that was true, those low-level nobles wouldn’t have come forward without the fox-mask’s instructions.

“Hold on. Can you give me a little more time?” the fox-masked person requested.

“Fox Master!”

“Please.”

The Fox Master used “please” instead of ordering them. Kireua’s confusion continued to grow.

‘How does their relationship work...?’

-Do you want to know why I’m treated like this?

The source of the telepathic message was clear: the ring on the Fox Master’s finger was gleaming.

‘That ring is a magic artifact equipped with communication magic,’ Kireua thought.

Kireua, of course, was capable of communicating in secret without such an artifact; all knights at the level of a Master could talk through telepathy.

-It’s simple. I may have been born with a high status, but I’m in no better a situation than anyone else here.

-What in the world are you talking about?

The Fox Master gently began to explain.

-It isn’t complicated. I’m sure you’ve seen countries where the nobles have more power than the monarch.

-So you mean...

-My name is Arash bel Grace.

Kireua’s face immediately hardened. The bel Grace surname marked her as a member of the imperial family of Swallow.

-Does that make your father the emperor?

-I wouldn’t be humiliated like this if he was. My father was a prince who, tragically, didn’t have much of a chance of ascending to the throne.

-Tragic? ...A prince?

-Come to think of it, he’s a lot like you. My father has a history with Avalon too.

For some reason, Kireua got the impression that Arash was sad, despite the mask.

-My father’s name is Draxia bel Grace—the War God.

“What?” Kireua exclaimed, so astonished he shouted out loud.

“Fox Master! What could possibly take so long to discuss with him?!” Voltaire interrupted; he did not like that the conversation was taking place in secret.

Arash quickly delivered one more message.

-One more thing: even if that wasn’t for my father, I have a very deep personal tie with Joshua Sanders, your father.