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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: To the Capital (2)
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From the moment I set foot in the capital, an indescribable sense of unease, a cloying, sinister feeling, had been clinging to my entire body.
It wasn't as if there was a specific reason for it. It was a feeling closer to instinct.
Why was I so angry?
Was it really me feeling this level of rage?
No.
If I were to try and separate this anger…
It felt like the fury I felt, having possessed this body, was amplified by the fury of the body itself.
The body's fury…
The secrets surrounding this body's original owner just kept piling up, unresolved.
"Are you all right? We can't get any closer to the Imperial Palace."
Seamus asked in a low voice, his eyes fixed on my blood-dripping fist.
"This is as far as we go…"
I was filled with the urge to smash through this wall and charge into the palace right now.
I wanted to ask him why. Why he did it. Was he really that wary of me?
I had believed we were friends who had toiled together for over a decade, transforming a kingdom into an empire. Friends I could trust with my life.
So why did he poison me on our most joyous day? And through the hands of another, no less.
Didn't he even have the courage to face me himself?
Yes. Even if I couldn't ask, I felt I wouldn't be satisfied until I saw his face.
I had designed this capital, overseen its construction. Knowing a secret passage or two was child's play.
No, to be precise, I remembered every secret passage in this capital. I just wasn't sure if they had been sealed or not.
Past the district reserved for nobles, there was a hidden path that led directly to the Imperial Palace.
A place I had told no one about.
"Could you at least tell me where you're going?"
"Come if you want, don't if you don't. Our purpose of traveling to the capital together is fulfilled anyway. As for the White Mercenary Corps, I can find them myself. I know where they are and plan to visit."
"No, I mean, that's not the problem…! Ugh! Seriously! Just listen to me for once!"
With those words, Seamus quickly followed Kratos, who, as if it were a familiar routine, lifted a manhole cover and descended into the sewer.
*Tap— Tap— Tap—*
And after a few irregular taps on the sewer wall…
*Rumble—*
The wall split apart, revealing a small passage. A deep, long, dark path where not a single ray of light penetrated.
"What is this place? How do you know about something like this?"
"Quiet."
He had never heard of such a place existing beneath the capital.
While they couldn't claim to know every path in the city, he was certain they would have at least heard rumors of a passage like this.
'Just what is his identity?'
His strength, his claim to be Arsène Lupin, his knowledge of a secret underground passage in the capital…
He doubted anyone in the mercenary corps would believe him even if he told them.
After about twenty minutes of walking, Kratos stopped at the end of the narrow path and tapped on the wall.
The wall cracked open, and a faint light seeped through.
Kratos looked around the small hollow with a sense of remorse.
A small wooden desk and chair, and a bookshelf covered in a thick layer of dust, as if it had never been touched by human hands.
"Let's move."
"Where on earth are we? I've never heard of a place like this under the capital."
"We're beneath the Imperial Palace. The very deepest part. It seems no one has found this place."
"What? The Imperial Palace? Are you crazy? Under the Imperial Palace? Are you trying to find a creative way to commit suicide?"
"I have no hobby of killing myself."
Sneaking into the palace was a capital offense on a normal day. And right now, the continent was in chaos.
"You can go back if you're scared. I'm just going to take care of some business and leave."
"Hah. No one's going to believe this. Infiltrating the Imperial Palace. It's not a place you can just pop into like you're running an errand."
Despite Seamus's grumbling, Kratos simply fixed his gaze forward, as if looking at the end of the passage, or perhaps at what lay beyond.
"Be quiet from here on out. I'll use hand signals, just follow them."
Seamus briefly considered staying put, but he had come this far; he decided to follow Kratos to the end.
Honestly, when else would he get a chance to see the Imperial Palace?
Besides, if Kratos knew about a secret passage like this, the chances of getting lost or caught inside were probably low.
His biggest question was about the man Kratos himself. What on earth was he planning to do, risking his life to secretly infiltrate the palace?
In any case, if he followed and learned the truth, wouldn't it be easier to recruit him into the White Mercenary Corps?
Kratos stored all the books from the bookshelf in his inventory, then pulled a doorknob.
A spiral staircase, just wide enough for one person to pass, was revealed. A small staircase, just as dark as the previous place.
Kratos silently ascended the stairs, making no sound.
He was almost there.
***
In a castle office dimly lit by the sun.
A man with eyes as red as blood gazed down at his prostrated subordinate.
"Where did you say?"
"His last position was just a wall. It seems…"
"A wall. A wall. Heh. Is a ghost from a bygone era trying to return?"
The man smiled faintly, his eyes filled with interest.
A wall. That meant the intruder had come through a secret passage within the castle. A passage that even the intelligence agency was unaware of.
Who could possibly know of such a place? His judgment was that only the old founding contributors of the Empire could.
"Raise the security level discreetly. Focus everything on the area where His Majesty the Emperor resides. Concentrate all the shadows there."
"Understood."
"I suppose it's time I took a little stroll myself."
The man slowly rose from his chair as if stretching.
"You're going yourself, sir?"
"It's a rat that's entered the palace. Shouldn't I welcome it personally? I'm also curious as to how it got in."
Slowly descending from the dais, the man muttered in a light tone.
"We'll need to clean house. To think they only noticed after such a rat had already infiltrated the palace. The discipline of the Central Intelligence Agency has fallen quite a bit, hasn't it? Wouldn't you agree?"
At those words, the prostrated man flinched. The tone was light, but the content was anything but.
That single sentence meant that the palace security team would be largely disposed of.
The Central Intelligence Agency, one of the pillars of absolute power in the Empire and a direct organ of the Emperor, was that kind of place.
And the man before him was its Director, the Emperor's right hand, and the third most powerful person in the Empire.
"I will see to it."
***
There was no doubt. This rage and emotion that made my heart pound, this energy I felt on my skin.
It was sinister, dark, and sticky. The mercenary named Seamus following behind me didn't seem to feel it at all.
He was just following me, his face tense as he scanned his surroundings.
'So I'm the only one who can feel this energy.'
The highest floor of the Imperial Palace, excluding the spire.
Our destination was just ahead. Seamus was now past the point of surprise and into the realm of disbelief.
The place was filled with things that screamed 'I am expensive.' It was clearly a place where someone important stayed.
And in this palace, who could be more important than the royal family?
He felt like he was going to lose his mind. This wasn't just a matter of life and death.
If things went wrong, everyone connected to him—from the White Mercenary Corps to his family and friends—could be killed.
'Is it really this easy to break into the Imperial Palace? Is this even possible? Shouldn't there be some kind of alarm system that sets off sirens? To at least give us a chance to escape?'
Feeling the pressure, he readjusted the mask he had pulled up to the bridge of his nose.
He stuffed his closest pockets with disruption devices, ready to be used at a moment's notice.
*Thud—!*
Another maid collapsed unconscious in the hallway.
'That, that…! That crazy bastard! What the hell!'
He had no sense of caution. He just knocked them out and sprinted forward as if he didn't care about being caught.
'But why aren't there any soldiers?'
For the Imperial Palace, the security was so lax it made him wonder if this was really the place.
As he was pondering this, Kratos raised a hand and stopped.
The middle of the hallway. He had thought their destination would be the end of this hall. He carefully turned the doorknob, and the door opened to reveal a room.
Thankfully, it was empty.
"You can come out now, can't you?"
"What?"
Was there someone in this room? He hadn't sensed anything.
Before Kratos could finish his sentence…
As if the air itself shimmered, someone holding a sword in a reverse grip dropped from the ceiling.
*Wham—!*
"Did you really think I wouldn't notice when you're reeking of such a dark and sinister aura?"
Kratos's fist slammed into the temple of the descending man.
"You damn rat!"
Another man shot up from the ground, and Seamus drew his sword from his waist to block the attack.
'If I kill him, I'm in deep shit. I'm seriously fucked.'
*Stab—*
But Seamus's wish was not to be. The man Kratos swung his sword at spewed blood all over the room and died.
'Fuck.'
He had killed two people in the Imperial Palace.
"…Orange."
What on earth did that mean? With a look of understanding, Kratos simply nodded and approached one of the walls.
This time, too, he ran his hand over the wall as if stroking it, then pressed something firmly. With a *click*, a door opened.
At least this one lit up as it opened. A long, extended secret passage.
Was its direction toward the end of the hallway?
He was confident he wouldn't be surprised by anything anymore.
After infiltrating the palace and killing soldiers, what more could this man Kratos do to surprise him?
And at the end of the secret passage, Kratos, who had acted without a moment's hesitation before, paused for a moment, then took a deep breath and tapped the wall.
*Swoosh—*
The door opened.
Seamus saw a space more magnificent than any he had ever seen in his life.
Ornaments adorned with obviously expensive jewels, porcelain, and furniture.
'No way. It can't be. It has to be something else.'
The Emperor's chamber.
Who else in this palace would reside in a room like this?
"Fuck."
The curse he had been holding back finally escaped. What kind of grudge did that Kratos have to torment him like this?
But Kratos, ignoring Seamus's curse, slowly approached the bed, his gaze fixed upon it.
His face had already changed into a new one. A face he'd never seen before, that of a somewhat weary, aged, black-haired, middle-aged man.
The moment he was about to lift the bulging covers…
*Clang—!*
The blanket whipped up, obscuring his vision, and a sword shot out from behind it.
"How audacious of you to invade the chambers where His Majesty the Emperor rests."
"Cut the crap. Who's the crazy bastard launching a surprise attack from the Emperor's bed?"
Kratos shot out his fist, grabbed the wrist of the man thrusting the sword, and bent it backward against the joint.
"Kuaaaargh—!"
"Shh. How could you scream in the place where the Emperor sleeps?"
He then covered the man's mouth, grabbed his head, and twisted it so his eyes faced his back. That scream was the signal.
*Crash—!*
The door burst open, and soldiers poured in.
"Right, I didn't think meeting him would be easy. I'll just have to take you all with me."
Kratos threw himself into the center of the soldiers filling the room.
"Kuaargh—! Get back! Retreat! Retreat!"
He then began to rampage like a single, enraged beast.