Chapter 873 – 873. God’S Atlantis
“You know the Monster Hunting Tournament? There’s going to be a terrorist attack there to kill the Third Prince.”
Elena’s face hardened.
Terrorism.
The weight of that word was different for her than it was for me. I was an exile, banished from another world and brought to Atlantis. But Elena was a native of Atlantis, and the Justia Empire was her country.
The Empire’s Five Pillars.
It wasn’t for nothing that they were called the five pillars supporting the empire. They fundamentally acted for the sake of the empire.
“…Tell me more. As far as I know, the Monster Hunting Tournament is held near the capital. Who is this madman who dares to target the empire’s prince near the empire?”
Unlike Elena, I was calm. This was something that Kang Min-jin, who would be participating in the hunting tournament, would resolve even if I didn’t get involved. No, even if Kang Min-jin didn’t participate in the hunting tournament, it wouldn’t matter.
“That madman? The Third Prince.”
“What?”
Elena, who had been frowning, soon relaxed her face. She had been agitated, but she quickly regained her composure.
“……So, it’s the Third Prince’s own doing? Indeed. It’s just like the Third Prince.”
The Third Prince’s goal was to draw attention at the Decennial Festival. And to subtly shift the blame for the assassination onto the Crown Prince.
The reason he was going this far was because the Crown Prince was the most likely candidate to become emperor in the current situation. He had already obtained the position of Crown Prince, so if time passed without incident, the emperor’s seat would naturally go to the Crown Prince.
“Haa.”
Elena leaned back in her chair and massaged her temples. From her perspective, the Third Prince’s sudden actions would not be welcome. They were enough to become a variable.
“Couldn’t you have told me about such an important matter sooner?”
“Who was it that said they weren’t interested in my future knowledge?”
“……”
Elena had no reply and closed her mouth. At first, she had confidently said that she didn’t need information about the future, but after tasting the sweetness of future information through me, she occasionally asked about it. Although those instances were very rare.
‘If you know the future, you can easily gain benefits with little effort.’
Of course, Elena had paid the price for it. The fact that I was able to grow stronger so quickly was also thanks to Elena.
“If it’s the Third Prince’s own doing, it’ll end without any harm.”
“Yeah. So, there’s no need to worry.”
Elena quietly fell into thought. Her index finger tapped on the desk in her office.
“Yujin. Can you be 100% sure that the future you know won’t change?”
“Most things don’t change. If you leave things alone without trying to change them, what’s supposed to happen will happen. …Though, I can’t be 100% sure.”
“Let me ask a different question. In the future before you regressed, how did I act at this point in time?”
I recalled the original God’s Atlantis. Elena didn’t appear until much later. At least, as far as I knew, Elena didn’t do anything at this point in time.
“You didn’t do anything. I don’t think you even participated in the Decennial Festival?”
“The future you know and the present are different. I’m going to make moves behind the scenes. The repercussions of that are likely to change the original future. What if an accident occurs during the Third Prince’s self-made drama, and the Third Prince actually dies? …Haa. Just thinking about it is terrible.”
To keep the Crown Prince in check, the Second and Third Princes were necessary. The Second Prince alone was too small to face the Crown Prince.
“It seems like you’re planning to make a move. Are you going to plant someone?”
“Currently, there are no hands available. More than anything, they’re all unreliable. It might be okay for a mediocre task, but this is related to a prince. It would be great if I had someone capable like Yuria under me….”
“……”
I smiled awkwardly without saying anything.
Elena continuously mentioned Yuria. The meaning was obvious. She wanted to use Yuria. Of course, I had no intention of sending or lending Yuria to her. It was also impossible to summon Yuria.
And I didn’t take Elena’s words at face value.
The Valdert Duchy was large. There would be people suitable for this task, even if they weren’t as capable as Yuria. But Elena didn’t trust them. She fundamentally distrusted people, and she especially distrusted members of the Valdert family.
‘She seems to trust me on the surface…. But maybe not.’
Working with Elena, I had learned her ways. When Elena made someone do something, she prepared double and triple backups.
“The Monster Hunting Tournament starts tomorrow and lasts for two days. Time is tight. It’s also ambiguous to pick out a suitable person and deploy them.”
Elena stared at me intently. There was no way I wouldn’t know what that meant.
“…I have plans tomorrow.”
I was planning to care for Lee Min-jung with Yoo Seo-hee. Lee Min-jung was currently very attached to Yoo Seo-hee, so I was planning to take advantage of Kang Min-jin’s absence to increase our intimacy.
“Cancel them. It’s probably something related to a woman anyway. This matter is more important.”
“Haa. Elena, this is troublesome. There are things that I can’t concede on either.”
“Does that include harassing the maids in the mansion? The maids are complaining a lot right now. They say that a guest is looking at them lewdly.”
I was taken aback and immediately denied it.
“I was just having a conversation.”
Since they were also Elena’s maids, I tried to seduce them by having a gentlemanly conversation. In the process, I might have accidentally sexually harassed them a little. I was wary of Elena’s eyes to rape them, and there was no need to rape them when Joo Seo-hyun, Lilsne, and Yoo Seo-hee were around.
“You’re more stubborn than I thought. You wanted to go on a date with me, didn’t you? I’ll give you a chance this time. How about it?”
“A reward with a date attached. Not bad.”
I seriously considered it. First of all, the date location should be far away from the Justia Empire. For example, the City of Lights, Etin. It was an area with little influence from the Justia Empire, and it had a modern setting, so it would have a strong sense of escapism.
Even Elena would fall into escapism and the atmosphere would loosen, and I would gently seduce her and take her to a hotel and knock her down.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was a satisfactory plan.
“All I have to do is make sure the Third Prince doesn’t die, right? When would be a good time for a date? A month after the Decennial Festival?”
“You’re misunderstanding something. The date is tomorrow.”
My body froze.
Tomorrow was the day the Monster Hunting Tournament started.
“Elena, you’re going to move yourself?”
“I’ve finished all my tasks, so I’m free for a while. And… there’s something that personally bothers me.”
Even though she said that, I realized that it was because Elena didn’t completely trust me. It wasn’t like I was disappointed about this now.
“If you participate in the hunting tournament, things will get bigger. The Third Prince will modify his plan just because of that. …Ah. Is that what you’re aiming for?”
“I have no intention of interfering with the Third Prince. It’s possible to bring a retainer to the Monster Hunting Tournament. I’ll participate as your retainer.”
Retainer.
It was a handyman. They did things like moving monster corpses. In the case of nobles, they were brought as bodyguards in case of emergencies. However, they were not involved in the hunt at all.
This was because the Monster Hunting Tournament was originally a traditional tournament for knights. What about the unfair act of a retainer hunting? The system wasn’t just for show. However, it didn’t prevent the retainer from giving advice.
“You’re going to participate as my retainer? That was quite a novel joke.”
“Is my appearance and status a problem? It’s fine. I can just hide my status and change my appearance. Like this.”
Snap.
Elena snapped her fingers. A blue butterfly fluttered and disappeared. It was Elena’s unique illusion magic, the Illusion Butterfly Technique.
At the same time, her appearance changed.
Her blue hair turned dark brown and grew longer, and her height decreased. Her face also changed. Her clean and sculpted face became plain, like a girl you could see anywhere in the city.
I opened my mouth and rubbed my eyes, confirming her change again.
“How did you do that? A special item that changes your appearance?”
“I don’t have such an item. This is illusion magic.”
“Illusion magic? There’s no way I’d fall for illusion magic….”
I had Absolute Mentality. Mental attacks, including illusion magic, didn’t work on me.
“It’s not just illusion magic that affects the mind. In the case of advanced illusion magic, it’s basic to crush the opponent’s mind and control them as you please, but it’s also possible to deceive the eyes like this. Simply put, it’s like a mirage.”
I understood it as a kind of well-made hologram.
“…Amazing.”
I let out an exclamation of admiration as I looked at Elena. Not only Elena’s appearance but also her atmosphere and presence had completely changed. If the person in front of me hadn’t openly used illusion magic, I probably wouldn’t have recognized that she was Elena.
“Can you even deceive the judges of the hunting tournament? As far as I know, the judges of the hunting tournament are not ordinary.”
“Unless they’re a powerhouse at the level of the Empire’s Five Pillars, there’s no way they’d see through my illusion magic. Even if they were one of the Empire’s Five Pillars, if I used illusion magic with all my heart, deceiving them would be a piece of cake.”
“But there’s one person. There’s someone who could see through it. No, there’s a possibility that they could see through it.”
“Are you talking about Kang Min-jin, the master of the A-Plan Legion? It’s fine. I can just ask for his cooperation separately.”
If it was Kang Min-jin’s Dragon Eyes (S), there was a possibility that he could see through Elena’s illusion magic. Unless it was illusion magic that Elena used with all her heart.
‘Since his rank is low, he might not be able to see through the illusion magic. In the original story, when Kang Min-jin killed Elena, his Dragon Eyes were EX rank.’
I sighed as I looked at the confident Elena.
“This isn’t the date I had in mind.”
“Don’t complain and be grateful for the date you’re having with me.”
***
Seyra, the daughter of Noite Arpis, the Foolish Sword Duke and one of the Empire’s Five Pillars, arrived at her villa in the capital in time for the start of the Decennial Festival.
As a training fanatic, she locked herself in the training room even in the capital and only swung her sword. However, she couldn’t concentrate deeply on her training. A certain man kept popping into her head.
Sung Yujin.
The knight of the Valdert family and the exile, he wouldn’t leave her mind. At the same time, whenever she thought of him, her chest felt stuffy and her body heated up.
She vaguely thought that she would get better over time. But instead of getting better, her condition was getting worse.
Of course, Seyra knew what this body’s reaction meant.
‘……I’m in love with him.’
She knew that Sung Yujin was staying at the Valdert Duchy’s villa in the capital. But Seyra couldn’t contact him. The fact that he was staying at the Valdert Duchy’s villa was also a problem, but she was also afraid and embarrassed to meet him.
Knock, knock, knock.
There was a knock on the training room door. Normally, she would have yelled. She would get annoyed if her training was disturbed. But it was different now. She couldn’t concentrate on her training at all.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and a sturdy female knight approached with stiff steps.
“I told you not to disturb my training if possible….”
“Princess. I have obtained information about Sir Yujin.”
“Hmm. Report.”
At the name Sung Yujin, Seyra’s voice, which had been filled with annoyance, changed.
“He has filled out an application to participate in the Monster Hunting Tournament that will start tomorrow.”
“……”
Seyra was silent. Her mind was working busily. It was burdensome to go to the Valdert family to meet Sung Yujin. She was a princess of the Arpis Duchy. Considering her political position, she had to be careful about every move she made.
And she wasn’t on very good terms with Elena Valdert.
But what if she happened to meet him at the Monster Hunting Tournament? There would be no need to worry about the Valdert Duchy.
“I must participate in the Monster Hunting Tournament. I will achieve good results in the hunting tournament and enhance the family’s reputation.”
“Everyone will look up to you, Princess. I will go and fill out the application for the hunting tournament.”
The female knight retreated. The female knight knew that Seyra’s goal was Sung Yujin, not the hunting tournament, but she kept her mouth shut for the sake of the shy princess.
As soon as the female knight left, Seyra swung her greatsword and began training. She was even less focused than before.
‘What clothes should I wear tomorrow? It’s a hunting tournament, so I can’t wear a dress…. It would be better to avoid masculine clothes as much as possible. I’d want to die if I smelled like sweat, so I should try not to sweat as much as possible….’
The hunting tournament was not on her mind at all.
