Klad diagnosed that the priest wouldn’t wake up for a while. It was because the body that had been becoming demonized accelerated in that state upon contact with the trap magic, and unfortunately holy water was sprinkled on top of that, causing the demonic energy to struggle not to disappear, putting considerable strain on the body.
Since the priest would likely take the Duke’s side when he woke up, the later he regained consciousness, the better news it was for Jake’s party.
Jake hoped the priest wouldn’t wake up at least until they finished talking with the Emperor and safely escaped the capital.
“It’s okay, no explosion occurred. It was just lightning striking.”
“What do you mean lightning from a clear sky! There’s no rain and the sky is clear, yet you say lightning!”
“Please calm down, the city is safe!”
Outside the room was still chaotic. The priests who completed their situation assessment tried hard to soothe the murmuring people, and some territorial residents who judged the city wasn’t safe were leaving the temple with their families, having resolved to depart.
Jake and Klad slipped into that group and left the city together.
After that was according to plan.
The two who arrived at the capital waited until the sun set, then attacked the imperial palace aiming for the time when everyone except a few knights would be asleep.
KWAAAAANG—!
Klad had explained he needed to attack twice in succession, but perhaps because the gap between attacks was too short, only one roar of pounding on the imperial palace was heard. As discussed, the imperial palace didn’t collapse, perhaps because he focused only on stopping the magic circles rather than destroying the building. Instead, it shook as if it would crumble.
The sound of knights running in unison could be heard from far away.
“Quick reaction.”
“Shouldn’t we hurry and move too, Klad?”
“The Emperor hasn’t moved yet.”
Whether giving instructions to the knights or gathering important documents, the Emperor only started moving several minutes after the roar occurred.
“Let’s go.”
Klad embraced Jake’s waist with one arm and used magic.
With a short whooshing sound of wind, the scenery changed.
“Ugh,”
“Shh.”
When startled Jake tried to scream involuntarily, Klad covered his mouth. Jake blinked in an awkward position, caught by Klad with even his mouth blocked.
‘Wh-what a shock….’
He said he’d teleport inside when the Emperor moved, so Jake thought he’d use a scroll like they’d been doing. But for Klad to directly use teleportation magic!
No matter how ignorant about magic, he knew that teleportation magic wasn’t something just anyone could do. Moreover, moving with another person without the help of magic stones or magic circles was difficult even for archmages.
‘What is your identity, Klad?’
Though he muttered that inwardly, he couldn’t ask directly. It would be terrible if Klad answered that question even by mistake and then left him.
“Is this His Majesty the Emperor’s bedroom?”
“Right. Inside this room is a passage leading to a secret space.”
It was his first time seeing the Emperor’s bedroom. Even as a Duke, let alone as the Duke West’s heir, entry here wouldn’t be permitted. Jake looked around as if seeing something remarkable.
There wasn’t anything particularly special.
“Can’t you find the passage with magic?”
“I could, but there’s one mage beside the Emperor. If they notice from that side, they could escape or hide somewhere untraceable, so we need to be careful.”
“I see. If it’s His Majesty’s mage, they’d be one with skills ranking among mages, so it won’t hurt to be careful. What should I do?”
“Move things like carpets or bookcases and check if there’s anything suspicious. Usually secret passages the Emperor uses don’t have magical processing, so it’s hard for me to track them.”
“To prevent enemies from reading the flow of magical power and following.”
“Exactly. Even if you find something like a passage, don’t go in. There will be several traps mixed in too.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Jake searched the Emperor’s bedroom, recalling his experience of ransacking his father’s room.
When Jake discovered something that looked like a passage or door, Klad confirmed whether movement could be felt beyond it. Among them were places with traps installed that would explode or shoot up flames if stepped on.
“Found it.”
Klad found the real secret passage in less than ten minutes after infiltrating the imperial palace.
“Are you certain His Majesty headed this way?”
“Yeah. I can feel four presences at the end of this path. One is the Emperor, one is a mage. The other two are knights who’ve reached at least the realm of Sword Master.”
“How do you know that without even meeting them?”
“No matter how much you hide your presence, you can’t hide the magical power pooled in your heart. With that, I can grasp both location and realm.”
Knights proficient in magical power control can hide their presence and skills, but they say it can’t be hidden before someone of an even higher realm. Jake had never once reached that level of realm, so not only had he never hidden his skills, he’d never been caught trying to hide them either. Perhaps because of that, he’d never worried about the fact that someone could track and pursue him by following his energy.
Perhaps his father’s knights were also grasping his location and pursuing him using the same method. If so, it was a big problem. Because he didn’t know how to hide that presence.
“I can guess what you’re worried about, but magical power tracking isn’t something just anyone can do.”
When Jake looked down at the floor with a worried face, Klad, who noticed the meaning of that gaze, added an explanation.
“It’s not like they’re using magical power profusely, and to track the level of magical power pooled in the heart of someone just standing there, you’d have to be at a very close distance. At this distance, even bringing all the mages in the Empire wouldn’t be able to do it.”
“Klad, aren’t you also one of all the mages in the Empire?”
“I’m not a mage.”
Using magic but not being a mage. It was a strange statement, but in a world where someone harboring demonic energy was a priest, it wasn’t incomprehensible.
“Don’t get far from me.”
“Understood.”
Upon entering the passage, a chilly energy attacked. With an ominous feeling that something would happen, Jake hunched his shoulders and grabbed Klad’s hand.
Klad also seemed to sense the ominousness, as he flinched and trembled his arm.
“It’s ominous, Klad. I don’t think we should go this way. Isn’t there a trap ahead too? I’m getting a very uncomfortable feeling.”
“It’s deliberately made to feel that way.”
“Deliberately made that way?”
“Humans believe their instincts better than you’d think. If they set foot in a passage and get an ominous feeling, nine out of ten will turn back.”
Especially the stronger they are, the more sensitive their senses become, so trusting intuition is often the right answer. The person who designed the imperial palace’s secret passage used that point to set it up so the real passage would be mistaken for a trap. That’s why Jake, who was beyond dull in senses and wouldn’t know if something was a trap even standing on one, could feel the ominousness.
“Just because this ominousness is fake doesn’t mean there are no traps. Move carefully.”
When Klad waved his hand in front of Jake’s eyes as if shooing away bugs, the ominousness that had been squeezing his heart disappeared as if washed away.
The passage was winding and branched in several directions, but Klad found the correct path without hesitation and moved forward.
Before long, one thick door appeared at the end of the long passage.
Klad sent Jake a signal to stop.
‘Whew.’
Tense Jake swallowed a sigh inwardly and stood pressed close behind Klad.
Klad brought his hand to the door.
KWANG—!
With a small explosion sound, the door made of metal was destroyed as if crumpled.
“Huk!”
Jake inhaled in confusion. The signal from earlier apparently wasn’t to stop but meant he’d break the door so don’t be surprised.
Creeak—
The door that had become a lump of scrap metal opened without resistance. Beyond it, two armed knights and one mage were collapsed. Klad had put them to sleep with sleep magic before opening the door.
What was seen next was the Emperor standing with a face drained of color.
“Who are you!”
The Emperor didn’t show fear even toward the unidentified enemy and shouted in a voice filled with dignity. He also pointed his held sword toward Klad.
Jake, who had been hiding behind Klad’s back, guessed his turn had come and revealed himself to the Emperor.
“Your Majesty.”
“You, you are…”
The Emperor immediately recognized Jake’s face, the heir of House Duke West and the Hero.
Even at the appearance of an acquaintance, the Emperor didn’t lower his guard. Because one couldn’t guarantee that just because someone was a Hero, they wouldn’t commit treason.
If the opponent was a Hero known for deceiving the world for power, they were even more untrustworthy.
“I came because I have something I wish to say.”
“How can one who says they have something to say attack the imperial palace! Did you so want to boast that the imperial palace is in the palm of your hand!”
“It’s about our Duke’s house.”
“How dare… how dare you try to intimidate me by invoking the Duke’s house name…”
The Emperor was thoroughly misunderstanding. He thought House Duke West had finally harbored ambitions to swallow the Empire and attacked the imperial palace with Jake at the forefront.
His own fault for failing to discover that Jake West had this kind of power was great. Those two eyes pretending to be good were detestable.
The cunning Jake West opened his mouth to announce that the world of the West family had begun.
“House Duke West is plotting treason.”
