novelraw Chapter 121 : Wait a Minute, this is an Opportunity!
Chapter 121 : Wait a Minute, this is an Opportunity!
Wait a Minute, this is an Opportunity!
Kerval Royal Family's Necklace
Grade: Common
【Refinement】 1
Listening to Serena's words, I appraised the necklace of the fallen man, and this is what came up.
Kerval Royal Family's necklace.
There's no reason for a commoner to walk around wearing this. Not even a noble.
In other words, the man who had a "conversation" with Barkal was, beyond a doubt, a member of the royal family.
"Barkal."
Calling out Barkal's name, I looked at him. What entered my gaze was the imposing barbarian on his knees, both hands raised.
"Wh-why, brother!"
"When this man came, did he have companions?"
A guard, perhaps.
A guard, perhaps.
I mean a guard.
"N-no, he didn't."
Under continuous pressure, Barkal, apparently feeling guilty, trembled a little as he answered.
"Truly?"
Were the others knocked out in one blow and just saying, "No one was following!"
Is that what's going on?
"Truly! I do not lie, sage!"
Barkal, looking aggrieved, waved his hands around.
Just as he said, Barkal doesn't lie. He only states what he believes to be "true" by his standards.
But talking with him, it genuinely appeared the man came alone.
Why?
A question arose.
Even nobles have guards, so how could a royal walk around without an attendant?
"Could this necklace be a fake?"
I asked Serena, but she shook her head.
"Well, it's possible, but I can't say for certain..."
"That's definitely the Kerval Royal Family's necklace."
As my heart wavered for lack of solid confirmation, miriam appeared.
"... Miriam?"
I looked over at the returning Miriam. She'd claimed not to care about the festival, yet her hands were full of festival food.
What's with you? If you were going to do that, why didn't you go with us?
"This isn't the time to worry about that."
Noticing my gaze, miriam spoke as she ate.
"That's the genuine Kerval Royal Family's necklace."
Miriam gave a merciless confirmation.
"I'm sure. I've seen it before."
An information-gathering organization, disguiser.
It was even more convincing since the owner there vouched for it.
"You understand what that means, right?"
Miriam bowed her head politely to me as she spoke.
"I think this is where we part ways!"
Miriam tried to run. I grabbed her by the hand.
"Where are you going, miriam?"
"Let go! I'm not even part of the Dungeon God adventurer party anyway!"
Weren't you acting all friendly just a moment ago?
If you run away alone, how'll you handle things! In this situation, we need every hand we can get.
"I—I don't want to be sent to the guillotine!"
"There's still a way to resolve this!"
"A-and what would that be?"
"If we think together, we'll come up with something!"
"So you don't have a solution!"
Did you have to say it like that? This is a first for me, too.
"U-ugh..."
Just as I was about to talk things over with Miriam, gripping her wrist—
A groan escaped from the royal's lips.
In that moment, my heart froze.
We're dead.
For the crime of hitting a royal.
No, for grinding him into mush, we're all going to be executed.
"I— I'm leaving!"
Miriam struggled to shake off my hand, looking desperate to avoid meeting the prince's eyes as he woke.
Honestly, I felt the same way.
*【Dullahan, I summon Chunsik.】*
Before he could open his eyes, I summoned Chunsik and shoved him on my head.
― M-master?"
Chunsik seemed panicked at my sudden action.
Meanwhile, miriam hurriedly escaped, and I told Serena, since she had no way to hide her face, to leave with her.
"Ugh..."
The royal rose, cold sweat trickling down my back.
Damn it.
It was Barkal!
I just wanted to scream that and run away, but for now, I should try to talk.
And if it goes wrong?
If it really goes wrong, I have no choice but to harbor some bad intentions.
"Y-you all..."
The man looked around at us.
Barkal and me.
Both of us wearing strange masks, so we must've looked suspicious.
"I apologize to you."
Best to apologize first, right? I apologized to the boy, but he just tilted his head.
"T-to me?"
But then, I noticed something odd. The man looked around in confusion, panicked.
It wasn't simply because Barkal and I were wearing masks.
"U-ugh, my head!"
Grimacing in confusion, the man clutched his head.
"I... Who am I?"
For a moment, the world seemed to stop.
Who am I?
That means—
Amnesia.
Barkal had pummeled the royal, and from the shock, the prince had lost his memory.
I was speechless for a while.
Is this a crisis, or an opportunity?
The fact that this guy lost his memory means he forgot that Barkal smacked him.
"Hm..."
I glanced at the royal. I thought about asking Barkal, "Where exactly did you hit him?"
But spotting the welts all over his head, I didn't need to ask.
"Brother."
Barkal also seemed to vaguely understand the situation.
He spoke to me quietly.
"If you wish, I can make him a complete memory blank."
A complete memory blank.
I thought for a moment about what that meant.
He's saying he could beat him up even more and erase his memory completely.
What a scary guy.
I slowly approached the man.
Only then did he look at me in surprise.
"M-mask!?"
Looking now, maybe because it was dark, he hadn't noticed the top of my head before.
"What is your name?"
"Name...name..."
He thought for a long time, then shook his head.
"I don't know. I can't remember."
"Do you remember this?"
I pointed to the necklace around his neck—the one bearing the Kerval royal crest. If he was wearing this, the odds were high he was a "prince".
"Is this my necklace?"
"It is."
"It doesn't feel unfamiliar..."
The prince frowned as if trying to remember something, staring at the necklace.
But soon, he groaned again.
"I still can't remember much."
Huh.
Should I feel relieved or unsettled about this?
"T-then why does my body hurt so much?"
Looking over his body, the prince grimaced in pain.
"You were attacked by unknown assailants."
"A-assailants?"
"Yes."
I nodded.
"We saved you. From the assailants."
"I see... You're strangers to me, but thank you so much. But it seems I don't have anything to offer as a reward..."
"That's fine."
As long as you just forget.
For the rest of your life.
Or at least, never remember the "conversation" with Barkal.
"For now, let's go inside and talk."
Can't keep discussing this in the backyard.
The Inn called "The Great Haven" lived up to its luxury reputation—the backyard was beautifully landscaped.
Fountains, gardens, and splendid statues.
But that also meant we were quite conspicuous.
For now, it was quiet, but anyone could show up at any moment.
Wait.
Wouldn't it be even riskier to go into a room?
Mysterious people taking an amnesiac prince into a room.
That's asking for a misunderstanding.
Just then—
Fzzzt.
The nearest street lamp began to flicker.
"Hm?"
I looked up.
Fzzzt, fzzzt.
More and more flickering streetlights.
One by one.
The flickering lamps began losing power and went out.
"Brother, this is..."
Barkal's voice was laced with caution.
This isn't good.
As anxiety raced down my spine, the backyard was suddenly plunged into darkness.
All I could hear was water flowing from the fountain.
"This is strange."
This was "The Great Haven"—a premium Inn in Belhaim, the capital of Kerval kingdom.
Management should be strict here—how could all the lights go out at once?
"Ah—aaaaaah!"
In the darkness, I reached out and grabbed the amnesiac prince by the scruff, pulling him to my side.
"Is this his guard!?"
Just in case, that's why I grabbed him.
It couldn't be a coincidence that all the backyard lights went out. Considering our current situation, the "prince"
I was now holding was surely involved.
Which meant: maybe a "guard" was behind this.
Maybe the lights had been killed to protect the prince and subdue us.
That's how special units act. That's why blackout tactics are crucial.
"There seems to be a misunderstanding, so I'll say it: we did not harm this person!"
If this really was a "guard", we needed to prove our innocence.
Though technically, it was Barkal's doing, but we had to get through this somehow.
I furtively rolled my eyes to scan the area without raising my head.
I couldn't see much in the dark, but faintly, I saw a moving shadow.
And that shadow—
Threw a dagger at us.
Brimming with clear killing intent.
As if not caring if the prince died too.