novelraw Chapter 56 : The Emperor and the Elf (4)
Chapter 56 : The Emperor and the Elf (4)
Chapter 56: The Emperor and the Elf (4)
Leon did not take this request lightly.
It was a journey involving the movement of the Emperor of the Empire. If anything were to go wrong, he could very well lose his head.
‘Even as a warrior of Elphrel, I’m not an exception.’
A sense of responsibility pressed upon him.
Leon looked at the faces of his comrades. Every one of them seemed carefree, utterly relaxed. There wasn’t even a trace of tension to be found.
It seemed that no one except him had realized the Emperor’s presence.
‘What a damnable situation.’
A famous sage known for reading the heavens had once said this: knowledge that only oneself possesses is akin to a curse.
He hadn’t understood those words back then, but now, he did.
At least one small comfort was that the journey wouldn’t be long.
Aurel was not far from the Empire—at most, a month’s distance by carriage. He only had to endure for that long.
The Elven delegation was thorough. Scouts had been dispatched ahead in the direction the carriage was headed.
They continuously reported every circumstance within a one-kilometer radius around the carriage.
Yet the journey had not been delayed even once. It spoke volumes about the Elves’ capabilities.
“That’s strange.”
A quiet murmur broke the rhythm of travel. It was from Amon, the Emperor’s aide.
Amon was the only one besides Leon who knew of the Emperor’s presence.
Leon fixed his gaze on him. From what he had observed so far, Amon was not a man to speak carelessly. Everything he did had a reason.
Even a murmur that seemed trivial could not be ignored.
At that sound, Garan also turned to look at Amon. His eyes flickered slightly—he seemed confused as to why the man was still here.
Then Garan’s face turned pale. His eyes widened in shock as he stared at the carriage.
It appeared he had realized it—the presence of another being within the carriage.
‘So someone else has noticed.’
A joyous occasion, in a sense. At least now, there was another who could share in his mental burden.
Leon quietly smiled to himself as he watched Amon.
Contrary to his earlier worries, the journey went smoothly. They were told the area swarmed with demonic beasts, yet even after one day, then two, they hadn’t encountered a single one.
‘Was it just needless worry?’
He couldn’t possibly know what Amon was thinking. Perhaps he had simply been mistaken.
If all worries turned out to be like this, they were welcome anytime.
Leon let out a silent sigh of relief.
Grrrrrr—!!
It was then.
An unpleasant growl pierced his ears—a sound no human could make. Not even a beast’s. It was something deeper, primal, instinctively repulsive.
“Tch.”
So much for peace.
The source of the sound was an ogre.
A massive creature easily over seven feet tall, with a pair of horns sprouting from its head—something that looked like it had stepped straight out of folklore.
‘I heard creatures like that are only handled by intermediate-level warriors in Elphrel.’
And yet, such a creature was blocking their path.
Leon felt a subtle sense of relief. It was only an ogre, after all—something he could easily defeat. The others wouldn’t have much trouble either.
Thud! Thud!
The ogre began to stride forward, each step heavy, the sound deep. Its massive frame lived up to its size.
Grrrrrroar—!
But in the next moment, the ogre let out a pained groan and collapsed.
Boom—!
“Huh?”
Leon frowned. Collapsed? The ogre?
He looked more closely at the creature’s body.
It was every bit as gruesome as the tales described—a form that could tear apart a human’s limbs without effort. Under normal circumstances, it would have made anyone’s knees weak.
And yet, Leon saw it.
The ogre’s body—half of it was gone.
‘What in the world…?’
It looked as though something had bitten it clean off. An impossible sight.
Ogres were beings strong enough to rip apart tigers or bears with their bare hands. There was no way a mere animal could have bitten one.
‘More than that, the size of that hole… it’s far too large. Even a tiger’s jaws couldn’t make that.’
The Elves’ expressions weren’t pleasant either.
Being called the race of the forest, Elves were naturally attuned to nature—they would have encountered demonic beasts often.
Yet confusion filled their faces. It meant even they didn’t recognize the type of wound on the ogre’s body.
‘So it wasn’t killed by another demonic beast?’
Leon glanced at Amon—the man who, among them, seemed unquestionably the strongest. Perhaps he knew something.
But as Leon looked, his face stiffened.
Amon, who hadn’t shown a hint of unease even when standing before Ira, one of the Demon King’s Seven Apostles, now stared at the ogre’s corpse with trembling eyes.
The carriage didn’t stop. An ogre sighting alone wasn’t enough reason to halt—they treated it as a mere demonic beast encounter.
A few Elven scouts received warnings, and that was it.
However, their vigilance grew sharper.
The Elven scouts were anything but incompetent. They were handpicked members of the delegation, tasked with escorting royalty. Incompetence was unthinkable.
Yet a demonic beast had managed to slip past their watchful eyes. Only a fool would fail to grasp how grave that was.
Above all, Amon’s face had hardened. Leon heightened his own alertness.
“Leon, I need a word.”
That night, just before bed, Garan approached him. With a jerk of his chin, he pointed toward the forest—clearly wanting to speak somewhere out of earshot.
Leon followed silently. Garan was a comrade who knew of the Emperor’s presence. Leon could already guess what he wanted to discuss.
“I’ve heard from the others. Superbia, Ira… You’re familiar with those demons, aren’t you? I’ll get straight to the point—tell me what you know.”
It wasn’t the question Leon had expected. His expression grew strange.
“Weren’t you going to speak about the Emperor?”
“You noticed His Majesty’s presence too? Impressive. But why bring up the Emperor all of a sudden?”
“Because it’s the Emperor. If we fail to protect Him, won’t there be punishment?”
“Who cares? It’s not like He told us He’d be tagging along. We can just say we didn’t know. It’s not as if the Empire punishes the innocent.”
Garan spoke bluntly—borderline irreverent words. But Leon found himself liking them.
“You’re right. I was being short-sighted. Now that I think of it, the Emperor isn’t here at all.”
“Exactly. Don’t overthink it. The Emperor’s in the palace, not in that carriage.”
Garan grinned. With his rough face, it looked almost sinister.
But this time, Leon shared the same sentiment. He nodded in agreement.
“Anyway, what I really wanted to ask about were Ira and Superbia. What are those things? Even during my years as a high-ranking warrior in Elphrel, I’d never heard of such beings.”
“Is that so?”
“Demonic beasts are foes that only knights can properly defeat. I might be able to win against one myself… but it’d cost me my life. However, that one called Ira was different. They say he killed three knights on his own. That’s no ordinary demonic beast. Am I wrong?”
Garan looked at Leon. His calm eyes didn’t waver, as if he were completely certain of his reasoning.
“You’re right.”
Leon replied quietly.
“But that knowledge isn’t something I gained through my own strength. It’s merely information I learned as the son of the Conqueror, Zeke Fritz.”
Leon began to recount all that he knew—the sealing of the Demon King, the Seven Apostles, their purpose… and naturally, he also told Garan about the events that had taken place in the North.
“So that’s what happened…”
Garan muttered. Though he tried to maintain his composure, his eyes trembled. He was clearly shaken.
“Then why did Ira target Rahan and Lenel? The Seven Apostles’ goal is to unseal the Demon King, isn’t it? Does that mean Rahan and Lenel are somehow connected to breaking the seal?”
“That’s the most likely explanation.”
The first thing that came to Leon’s mind was brainwashing.
High Elves were royalty among the Elves. It was entirely possible that Ira had tried to brainwash the royal family in order to control Aurel.
‘He must have been trying to use the Elves to unseal the Demon King.’
There were countless possible methods. The world had no shortage of malice.
That was precisely why Leon still couldn’t ignore Ira. Rahan and Lenel were essential to that creature’s plans.
Even though Ira had failed in the Empire, there would always be other opportunities. Given the chance, he could take Rahan and Lenel away at any time.
After all, Leon had seen it with his own eyes—
that new form, the horrifying transformation Ira had revealed only to Zeke.
Just the horns and wings alone had been enough to overwhelm Leon completely. All he could do back then was stand frozen in place.
‘His power… there’s no way we can stand against it. If he were to appear right now, there’s nothing we could do.’
It was a relief that Amon was here. Judging by his aura alone, he was nearly at a knight’s level. His strength was surely comparable to one.
If a miracle were to occur, perhaps he and Amon together might be able to defeat Ira.
If a miracle were to occur.
Leon gave a faint, self-mocking smile.
After sharing all their information, ten days passed.
Only five days remained before they would arrive in Aurel.
The journey, which Leon had expected to take over a month, had been shortened thanks to the absence of demonic beasts.
It was peaceful—almost disturbingly so. The others must have felt the same, for none of them let down their guard until the very end.
In fact, their vigilance grew sharper the closer they came to Aurel.
And surprisingly, throughout all that time, the Emperor had managed to remain undiscovered by the Elves.
‘Unbelievable.’
Leon thought.
‘Not once during the journey did she step outside the carriage. Does she not even wash?’
He didn’t mean it seriously. Irena was a woman before she was the Emperor. It had been more than half a month since they’d departed—surely she had used some kind of magic or artifact to cleanse herself.
He idly passed the time with such trivial thoughts. And before he knew it, the carriage had arrived at Aurel.
The Kingdom of the Elves—Aurel.
As expected of a nation built by a race so closely attuned to nature, Aurel didn’t feel like an artificial city.
It was… wondrous. Every tree and plant was unlike those of the Empire.
Even the scale was different.
In the Empire, trees rarely grew beyond ten jang, but in Aurel, they easily surpassed a hundred. Even when Leon craned his neck to the sky, he couldn’t see their tops.
‘Even in Elphrel, I’ve never seen trees like these. The oldest there barely reached thirty jang. As expected of the land of the Elves.’
It seemed the Elves lived within the enormous trees themselves, carving out hollow spaces to make their homes.
Bridges stretched between the trees—clearly built for ease of travel.
“So, we’ve arrived.”
A voice came from within the carriage.
Irena stepped out. Her tone was graceful, as if her presence here were the most natural thing in the world.
“Y-Your Majesty!?”
The Elves who saw her gasped in shock. It was only natural—someone who should have been in the Imperial Palace was now standing in Aurel. And not just anyone—the Emperor herself. Their astonishment was understandable.
The Emperor chuckled softly. Her skin was pure white, untouched by even a speck of dirt. Despite not having been seen for half a month, she was spotless—proof she must have used a magic tool to cleanse herself.
There was no other explanation for how immaculate she looked.
Everyone froze. Leon and Garan already knew the truth, of course—but they had decided to act ignorant.
So, they put on their best performances of shock.
Irena’s gaze turned to Leon and Garan. A faint smirk curved her lips.
“Pretending not to know, are you?”
Her gentle tone carried a trace of amusement.
Leon and Garan’s faces stiffened—not as an act, but for real this time.
“Lead me to your king. My patience has reached its limit. I shall speak with him directly.”
As Irena descended from the carriage, Amon naturally stepped forward to assist her.
The entire scene flowed so seamlessly that the Elves could only stare in silence, unable to react.