# Chapter 38
At the same time.
“Ugh!”
“Gah!”
The black-clothed attackers, taking advantage of the moment when everyone’s attention was drawn to the massacre at the market, sneaked into the palace annex where the ball had been held in broad daylight. They walked toward the deeper part of the annex that was nearly collapsed from the explosion’s aftermath.
“I don’t see anything that looks like a secret space.”
One of the men who had been scanning the area thoroughly replied indifferently. Having expected a magical door or a hidden basement entrance when he heard “secret space,” he was now asking if they were even in the right place since he couldn’t find anything despite searching extensively.
Just then.
“Found it.”
Kalvern, who was at the front, exclaimed in triumph from behind his mask.
In front of him were several circular patterns that looked like floor decorations, but upon closer inspection, they were designed to rotate individually.
Kalvern instructed the other men to keep watch while he personally turned the patterns.
‘If I complete this so each pattern represents the outline of a hexagram, then surely a new pattern in the center will… Oh, it’s really appearing.’
When he aligned the six vertices of the hexagram’s outline, a subtle new pattern appeared in the center. Kalvern memorized this pattern and then began turning the circular patterns, which resembled various unfinished drawings, once more. This time, he matched the edges of the geometric pattern that had appeared in the center with the circular patterns.
Thud—
Something resonated from the floor.
“It worked!”
At Kalvern’s small exclamation, the men all gathered around eagerly.
The six circular patterns rotated freely before sinking downward. It seemed like six holes would appear, but from one of the spaces, a black circular object rose up to fill the spot.
In the center of the plain circular object was a small handle. Kalvern grinned as he grabbed the handle and pulled with force.
The sound of stone grinding against stone was heard as a long cylindrical stone was pulled out.
“Oh… Inside this is the Former Empress’s record…”
“Are we finally going to see it?”
The men whispered with expectant eyes.
Kalvern was equally anticipating what they would find.
He clutched the black cylindrical stone to his chest and pulled hard on the handle. He had thought it was all connected, but now he realized the handle also served to open the lid.
The thick stone lid, about the size of a finger joint, opened to reveal the contents inside.
“…?”
“What…?”
However, what emerged wasn’t as impressive as they had expected.
“What’s going on?”
“What is this?”
While the men murmured in confusion, Kalvern bit his lip tightly and racked his brain.
The bombing of the palace annex happened on the night before yesterday.
Replacing one of the patrolling soldiers in the area with their own man was done more than ten days ago. During that time, while people had entered and left the main palace, no one had come to the annex. Even if someone had, the floor patterns were under the wall that was built during the expansion, so there was no way anyone could have matched them. These patterns couldn’t be aligned if even one was out of place.
‘Is the Former Empress’s record itself a lie? Or…’
“I knew this would happen.”
At the sudden voice, Kalvern and the men tensed up. They looked dismayed when they saw the Imperial Knights, who were supposed to be preoccupied elsewhere, standing there.
The one who stepped forward from among them was none other than Emperor Tis. He looked at the floor patterns with an amused expression, as if he had enjoyed watching a show.
Very few people knew about the record left by Former Empress Claudia. Even among those who knew of its existence, only a rare handful knew where it was and how to obtain it.
“I don’t know where you heard about it, but that’s been gone for a long time.”
The record left by the Former Empress, who was revered as a saint, was said to contain methods to make humans immortal and how to reverse it.
Humans are naturally captivated by the word ‘immortality.’
But…
“What is this?”
Ion, who had been exploring various parts of the palace after taking over the imperial palace, examined the expanded section of the annex. He discovered a small gap in between and realized that through this gap, he could manipulate the floor patterns without demolishing the wall.
Furthermore, when he was young, he used to play with his mother, the Former Empress, by matching puzzle pieces or setting directions for pattern outlines. One of those play patterns matched exactly with the floor pattern.
Ion, who had thus accidentally obtained the Former Empress’s record, frowned as soon as he saw its contents.
The method to make humans immortal was utterly absurd. And it was also much easier than expected.
With Tis’s permission, Ion kept the contents only in his and Tis’s minds and completely burned the Former Empress’s record.
In other words, the Former Empress’s record no longer existed in this world.
It existed only in the minds of Ion and Tis.
“Arrest them all…!”
Just as Tis was ordering the soldiers to arrest Kalvern and his men.
Swish—!
Arrows came flying from somewhere. The soldiers were busy raising shields or using their bodies to protect Tis, but most of the arrows were aimed elsewhere, as if he had never been the target.
“Gah!”
“Ugh!”
Arrows pierced the men’s bodies. Even those who were merely grazed seemed affected, as if the arrowheads were poisoned, and they soon collapsed to the floor, vomiting blood.
“This… ugh…!”
Kalvern, who had fallen after being hit by an arrow in the shoulder, raised his head while coughing up blood. At the end of his gaze was a man aiming a bow at them from atop a distant tree. He was the same man who had told Kalvern he was “speaking out of turn” the day before, one of “that man’s” people.
❖ ❖ ❖
The massacre at the street market near the imperial palace looked horrific at first glance, but it was eerily peaceful.
The deceased had died without a single external wound, their faces peaceful, and some even had smiles on their faces. Those who witnessed this bizarre phenomenon could only tremble in fear.
Ion took a deep breath when he reached the traces of the strange massacre. Although he already knew from the reports, he couldn’t believe that Levi had killed nearly fifty people. Realizing that the momentary starvation he had witnessed could take root so deeply to cause this made him unable to remain still.
He quickly looked around. Soldiers had formed ranks and begun processing the scene.
No matter how much he searched, Levi was nowhere to be seen. He had heard that quite a few soldiers had been dispatched to search for the culprit. He needed to find Levi before they did.
Ion left the crowd and began searching for Levi himself.
Since they had sealed the entrances after the incident occurred, Levi should still be within the capital city.
“Levi!”
He ran around calling desperately for Levi. He searched everywhere, whether crowded or empty, in buildings or inside wooden boxes, thoroughly looking for him.
But no matter how much he searched, Levi was nowhere to be found.
‘Where on earth are you!’
If the sun set like this, Levi might secretly escape from the capital. That would make it even harder to find him.
After hours of running around calling Levi’s name.
Just as he was feeling disappointed while watching the sunset begin.
His eyes fell on a tent house in the most secluded corner of the capital, a place with nothing but dampness. As soon as he saw it, his heart strangely began to race. Was it because it resembled the tent house in the Black Forest?
Ion approached the tent house slowly and carefully pulled aside the half-open entrance.
Wham—
Someone from inside lunged out and pushed Ion forcefully. But they were so weak that instead of pushing him away, they ended up being caught by Ion.
“Levi, wait a moment!”
“Let go!”
It was an emotional voice unlike Levi’s usual self. Though he wasn’t shedding tears, his voice sounded tearful.
“Look at me, Levi.”
“No! Go away!”
He screamed like a terrified child. The despair reflected on his pale face was so immense that it seemed to tear Ion’s heart apart.
Ion’s face contorted when he saw Levi’s clothing torn in various places and covered in blood. Though the wounds had healed, Ion could barely contain his rising anger, wondering who had done this to him and what they had done.
“Levi, who exactly…!”
“He’s over there!”
Somehow, soldiers who had been searching elsewhere were all rushing toward them. Seeing this, Levi’s face filled with dismay. He glared at Ion with a face that looked like it would burst into tears at any moment.
