Chapter 111 – The Long Spear
Before starting the operation, we decided to check each other’s positions once again.
“I’m the dealer.”
Once you point your thumb at yourself.
“You’re the dealer too.”
Next, he pointed at Dorothea with his index finger.
“He’s a dealer too.”
Finally, he pointed at Vanessa next to him.
We didn’t need tanks, healers, or buffers in our party.
Just push it like a bulldozer, well.
Master, the only hope of the Kingdom of Oz, has also declared neutrality, so what is left for the current king is the Royal Guard and the 1st Division.
Since the 2nd and 3rd divisions went out to support the eastern front, the protection of the surrounding area except for the capital was reduced to the extent of pretending.
Among them, the Royal Guard was particularly difficult, and the knight commander there was a sword master like Vanessa.
Well, even though Vanessa is a dignified figure who has been a sword master for 300 years.
Finally, after the final inspection, we exchanged glances with each other.
“Right after assassinating the king, I’ll give you a separate signal. You can move after seeing that.”
“What’s the signal?”
“Once you see it, you won’t be able to tell. We’re going to have a very grand fireworks display.”
After saying that, I took out one of the warrior’s three gods, the Circlet, from my chest.
It is a luxurious specification made of platinum.
Originally, there was a large ruby, Unlimited Power, in the center, but it was empty because I had converted it into a necklace.
By inserting a fake jewel made with alchemy into it, the preparations to deceive the king were over.
“Let’s go.”
I left the house with my colleagues with a sad face.
***
King of Oz.
Needless to say, this place was guarded under stricter boundaries than other buildings.
It is also the place where the king and his family live.
In case of emergency, it was surrounded by a wall that was as high as the outer wall surrounding the city because it was a place that had to function as a shelter for citizens as well as nobles.
It’s a landscape I haven’t seen in a long time.
The last time I visited this place was to have an audience with the king with a party of warriors, so old memories came to my mind.
I shouldn’t have joined then.
Wearing oversized robes, Vanessa and Dorothea silently followed behind me.
Because I am the only one who knows the way best here.
Guards were checking each and every one of the drawbridges into the castle, and two people without any connections could not enter together.
“Go into a nearby bar and wait.”
“Good luck.”
“Hurry up and get over it.”
After punching the two of them, I headed for the drawbridge alone.
In front of the gate, the soldiers were standing guard in pairs, but the blade stood tight, perhaps because of the vicious public sentiment.
“Stop! Reveal the purpose and identity of your visit!”
In front of them, I slowly took off the hat I was putting on my head.
Because being too clean could lead to suspicion, he had dust all over his body and changed into old clothes.
I breathed in and exhaled and shouted with a volume that even those standing far away could hear.
“I am the wizard who worked with the hero Artorius! I have returned with the hero’s belongings, so hurry up and tell His Majesty the news!”
Then the people around and the soldiers started whispering.
It was because it was already widely known that the hero Artorius’ subjugation of the demon king had failed, and that the party members’ lives and deaths were unknown.
Perhaps because it was a serious matter, one of the guards hurriedly ran into the gate.
It seemed that he was probably trying to call in a superior, but it seemed that this guess was correct, and soon he ran out with a knight.
He asked me as he gasped for breath, probably because he was running in a hurry.
“Are you sure you are Kaldrash-nim?”
“Yes.”
I nodded and took out a golden medallion to prove my identity.
He alternately checked the name written on the medal and my face, then swallowed and said:
“Let’s go inside first. Since the word has been sent to the upper level, you will be able to meet with His Majesty the King soon.”
“Thank you.”
Under the guidance of a kind knight, I was able to easily infiltrate the castle.
***
The castle of Oz was completely demolished once in the early days of the country’s founding, and was newly built by greatly expanding it.
During its short history of only 300 years, it was like changing the castle twice.
Passing through the long aisle where the maids and attendants walk, they enter the guest room.
The driver who guided me to this place left first with the words to please wait a moment.
Thanks to that, I was left alone in the splendid room, and I had time to leisurely look around.
“Not much has changed from before.”
It’s boring because I’m going to do nothing until someone comes.
I began to contemplate my inner self through meditation to make use of my spare time.
He rose to the 7th rank just this morning, and there are still more things he doesn’t know than he knows.
Why I didn’t go through the metamorphosis process like the teacher, and what I gained by becoming the 7th tier, have yet to be clearly sorted out.
I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly.
First of all, one thing is certain, it is that more mana is sucked up with a single breath than before.
Should it be said that the efficiency of mana conversion has increased?
Before, there was no great burden in extracting mana, but now it seemed that the risk itself had disappeared.
Oh oh oh ─
Master referred to this stage as the harmony-gyeong.
I don’t know what made it such a wild name, but it was probably named Jo Hwa-gyeong because there was a reason.
I had to figure that out myself.
About 30 minutes had passed since I started organizing my thoughts on my own, when I finally heard a knock outside the door.
Waking up from my meditation, I answered right away.
“Come on in.”
Then, an old man who appeared to be the chief chamberlain of the royal castle opened the door and came in, bowing in a moderation posture.
“Kaldrasch, congratulations on your safe return. His Majesty wants to hear directly about how the hero was captured and killed.”
“If it’s like that, of course I have to explain. Who dares to order it.”
“Thank you for your understanding. Then come this way.”
Originally, it was an audience with the king of a country, so there were appropriate procedures.
It must have been washed, polished, polished, and taken before the king.
However, from King Oscar’s point of view, it seems that he was quite curious about what had happened in the half year since we entered Doom Land and lost contact.
Thanks to that, I was able to go straight to the audience room, ignoring all other miscellaneous procedures.
I followed the old chamberlain down the long hallway, and before long I saw a huge door leading into the audience room.
The royal guards who stood in front of them were silently looking at the front, but when the butler approached right in front of them, they stretched out their bodies with a tense expression.
Of course, the king’s chamberlain is generally a high-ranking nobleman called a court baek.
He was even more comfortable speaking directly to the king, so it was obvious that if he hated him, the rest of his military life would be tiring.
“Notify His Highness of the King that mage Kaldrash has arrived. Very quietly.”
Then the knight, who was preparing to shout loudly, had a confused expression for a moment, but soon returned to his original face and answered with a spirited voice.
“Yes!!”
Then the chief chamberlain frowned.
“Very quiet.”
Then, the Royal Guard carefully opened the door and went inside with a slightly sullen expression.
I was watching it from behind, and it felt like it was my job, and it hurt my heart.
It will be difficult to eat and live.
Because on such a fictitious day, I was guarding the front of the audience room.
Even more so, the place where the bitterness is the most severe is the military.
Obviously, there will be unforeseen difficulties.
As I stared at the place where the head of the household’s lonely back disappeared, the door opened from the inside and the knight slightly poked his head out and said,
“I’m asking you to come in.”
Right after that, the knight came out again and opened the door to the enormous audience room left and right.
When I went inside along the red carpet, King Oscar with white hair and white beard was sitting on a throne waiting for me.
“Welcome. Kaldrash. Has it already been a year and a half since Jim met you?”
I knelt slightly in front of him and answered.
“Even though I haven’t seen him in a long time, his intelligence is still the same as the river.”
“Haha, you always whisper good things to my ear. But for today, I will have to tell you all about the end of the hero you know in detail. Depending on the case—”
“Just in case?”
“Wouldn’t there be times when you’re being charged for coming back alive alone? Haha.”
Haha.”
I made a strong commitment at this point.
I was planning to kill him from the beginning, but this bastard will kill me no matter what.
I gave him a good laugh and took out the circlet from his bosom.
“This is the letter and circlet the hero left for me when I escaped from the dungeon of the Dark Castle.
“Ohhh. You did such a commendable thing. Hurry up and bring it here.”
I stood up in front of the stairs in the same posture as offering the circlet.
He wanted to bring it directly, but he was in the terminal stages of his suspicious illness and unconditionally received the goods through the hand of the attendant.
Reluctantly handing over the letter and circlet to the chamberlain, I stood back and waited to see how the king would react.
Soon after, the king took out a letter while stroking the circlet, which looked exactly like the original, with satisfaction.
There it was written:
‘A special gift from the Wizard of Oz to a greedy fox.’
A magical stone filled with fiery mana made at the request of Dorothea.
Since the structure of the element itself is unstable, even a small impact from the outside could cause a huge explosion.
And, of course, its power was greater than that of dynamite.
“You dog…!”
Kiyiyin-
It was only then that King Oscar realized that he had been tricked and tried to curse, but the fake ruby embedded in the circlet began to shine brightly one beat faster than that.
Aaaaang!!
In the aftermath of the gigantic explosion, the ceiling of the audience room was blown off, and the blue sky came into view.
“Art is an explosion.”
It’s showtime.
