Price of Management

Chapter 8. Face to Face (2)

In the palace of Isabella, dozens of worshipers stood to the left and to the right, and on the throne sat Emperor Kars, thin and pale. Behind the Emperor's back, Earl Halstein endures like a shadow.

But the only difference was, the nervous expression was the face of Emperor Kars.

Earl Halstein said.

“Don't be nervous. ”

“Yes, old times. ”

The young man in charge of the role of Emperor Kars, or Emperor, struggled to find peace. As I barely practiced, I returned to my expressionless face.

Even the followers who plunged from side to side were not ordinary people. Wizards from the Magic Corps and knights from Emperor Knights.

There was tension in the battle. They were all ready for the Caroc ligand. It was never going to be easy.

But it was then.

Glug-ug-

Something golden slowly rises from the ground.

The wizards and knights who were caught in the sudden tension of the explosion flicker.

The erl of Halstein took his right hand with the handle of the sword without my knowledge. His successor barely kept his silent expression.

A golden object completely reveals itself.

She was a 14-year-old girl with a big helmet and a shovel the size of a shovel.

The look on the Marquis of Halstein's face distorted.

- Hey.

Norm said with a naïve look in his eyes.

“What the hell.”

Earl Halstein grunts.

- My father wants me to see if there's an emperor here.

“I don't know if you can tell. Do not be disrespectful in His Majesty's temple. ”

Norm glances at Emperor Kars' successor.

The curious child, Prince Halstein, became anxious.

The appearance is perfect.

The Magic Troops made the same modification without a slight error.

The real Emperor Kars has been staying in an abandoned palace since Caroc Ligand arrived at Isabella Palace. And the late Halstein followed the Emperor's lead for nearly 24 hours.

You wouldn't notice if you were to judge it by its appearance.

But this spirit in front of me was not an ordinary spirit. When I was an intermediate spirit, I noticed at a glance that Earl Halstein was the Master of the Arrival.

"Fool. Fool. ’

The Grand Duke of Halstein remembers in his heart.

As he examined the Emperor's role, he tilted his head.

- Is that the Emperor?

"Fooled!"

The Grand Duke of Halstein, as well as the wizards and knights impersonating him, rejoiced.

But then Norm said,

- Well, let me try one.

"What?"

It was then.

A great flame rises from the air.

Dry firewood!

Unprecedented evil voice!

“Hehe!”

Even the Grand Marquis of Halstein is surprised and draws his sword in half.

“Ah, the Devil? ”

“Attack!”

The wizards and knights were surprised.

And above all…….

“Huff!”

The emperor's successor winces loudly with a grunt. In front of the spirits.

Fake! Fake!

The salamander disappears, grumbling.

When he realizes that he was wrong, he glances at an emperor's role and smiles faintly.

- You're not the emperor.

‘Damn it.'

Earl Halstein's face was filled with the color of corruption. The plan to deceive him in his place has returned to nothing.

- But you already knew that from the start.

“What?"

Norm said to Earl Halstein, who frowned.

- The Emperor is in the North Side Palace. They just pretended not to know because they were prepared. Heheheh heh.

Everyone stopped falling apart.

You've been wasting your time since the beginning.

In particular, the magicians seemed to have tasted the futility of their lives.

The Magic Squad's efforts in preparing for the Emperor's succession were substantial. I have put a great deal of effort into redeeming my failure to come up with a different sharp counter-antesthetic. Not to mention the muscles and the color of his eyes, his nails, his hair, his eyebrows. I did my best to deceive the spirit's precision.

Such difficult tasks were useless from the beginning.

"You underestimate the aesthetic of Caroc ligand. ’

Halstein realizes what he's up to.

The palace in which Emperor Kars is located is more than three kilometers from here.

Until then, the spiritual sensation was as crazy as the whole of Isabella's palace on the palm of your hand. It was hard to cheat from the start.

- Anyway, I'm gonna go find out. Hi, there.

The gnome waves and seeps into the ground.

"Going to learn?!" ’

Immediately, the Grand Duke of Halstein panicked and ran out of the war. I also followed the wizards and knights who knew the situation later. Only the emperor's acting as a fool remains.

* * *

In the northern part of Isabella's palace, there is a solitary palace. I didn't know what name was attached to this palace. Emperor Kars was here.

I flew up to the top of the Star Palace.

There was Emperor Kars in a garden full of flowers.

I wander around thinking alone, and the knights who appear to be bodyguards lurk far away, trying not to disturb him.

Emperor Kars is walking around with a distinctive, expressionless face.

But somehow it wasn't like that. It was strange to look around while walking around without feeling any emotion. It's like a doll imitating a person.

There's no way you can be more emotional than a human...

It must have been repressed by the painful past experiences.

He became accustomed to such oppression and became what he is now.

The environment in which he lives is also a factor in exacerbating such mental problems.

Emperor of the Horn Empire!

Since we are in a world where there can be no equal, we must have fewer emotional exchanges.

The present emperor Kars was likely the result of a combination of that birth and the shocking misfortune he had experienced in the past and the surroundings.

It's a pity.

But it was not a matter of pity.

It's not just a personal level of mental illness. The comfort of the very continent has gone mad at a dangerous level.

Emperor Kars firmly believed he was the rebirth of Grand Duke Crocente Bezalius, and in fact had the ability to replicate his actions and accomplishments.

We have to convince him.

He tries to conquer the continent to gain his identity. I will never give up

I knew that and came to see him.

If anyone can convince Emperor Kars, it's me.

I descended slowly.

When Emperor Kars saw my shadow, he looked up at me. I also looked down at him as I fell to the ground.

The eyes of the two meet.

The man I feared the most was the cause of the disaster, and my emotions were confusing to see the person who was the source of everything.

With my eyes filled with such complex judgments, Emperor Kars accepts them as empty eyes.

Like an echo that never returns.

Like an abyss where you can't get out once you fall.

He gazes at me like the eyes of an Abyssal puppet.

For a short time, from the height of the sky to the ground, I remembered encountering Emperor Kars.

“What were you thinking just now? I can't read your face. ”

“ ……. ”

I couldn't keep my mouth shut.

“Tell me.”

Emperor Kars insisted.

“No matter what you say, I won't ask for your sins. Tell me.”

I opened my mouth during the winter.

“I didn't think vengeance and vengeance were appropriate for the king. ”

“Why?”

“Your Majesty……. ”

“Tell me.”

Push it again.

I told you.

“It was because you didn't seem to feel anything. ”

And the emperor smiled naturally for the first time.

“That's right.”

“ ……?! ”

“Surprise me. It's been a long time. Praise be to you.You 're the first one to recognize me at a glance. ”

On the evening of our first encounter, I realized at a glance the heart of Emperor Kars.

“I'll give you a compliment. I've been greatly surprised for a long time. I have never been so surprised since my mother and sister were assassinated. Feels good.”

“Why... are you surprised?" ”

“You're the first one who's ever really seen me like this. You said you were talented enough to be an equal in the Kingdom of Leaden, which is quite an insight. ”

Yes, he said. I was the first one to fully penetrate myself.

“I used to walk here with my mother as a child. ”

He said to me while walking in the backwoods garden together.

“I don't have a memory before I was five. I heard that the food you ate was poisonous, so you had to desecrate it. Until then, he was a child who laughed and cried well. ”

“My mother used to give me sweet candy while walking here. When I ate it, my mother smiled at me widely. Then I laughed like my mother. I learned to smile like that again... I can't remember anymore. I don't know how to smile. ”

Emperor Kars smiles. Your lips twist strangely at the expressionless face. A doll's smile.

“I was embarrassed when my mother and brother were assassinated by another brother. I lost my precious mother and brother, but I couldn't feel any grief. So I climbed to the top and killed all my brothers. I couldn't feel anger, I couldn't feel cheerfulness, so my loss grew even bigger. ”

“ ……. ”

“I blamed my destiny for giving me this tragedy. And fate taught me. ”

Emperor Kars said in a firm tone.

“I don't need joy or sadness or love or despair. I was only reborn to complete an incomplete task. I am Crost. Bezalius. That's how I woke up. ”

I was nervous about the fact that I met Emperor Kars at the time, and I was also shocked and neglected by his shock. I should have thought of that sooner.

Emperor Kars.

Why did you tell me about yourself that you didn't have to keep your mouth shut at the time?

I should have known that sooner.

“Very well. I give you my special immunity. ”

“Waiver?”

“Do you remember your first meeting? ”

“I'll never forget it. ”

“Just like then. From now on, you will forgive no matter what you say about me. You can talk back to me or you can curse me. Forever.”

“It's a little overwhelming. ”

“It doesn't matter. Now tell me. What are you thinking? ”

“I was thinking about wanting to kill you. ”

When I finished negotiating passage between the Baden River and Emperor Kars, I said so. Thanks to you, Earl Halstein looks at me like I'm about to be eaten. And emperor cars,

“Heave-ho... ”

He laughs out loud. It was not a distorted weird smile, but a real smile. The puppet Emperor Kars.

I should have known then.

Now I know.

Emperor Kars regarded me as special.

The expressionless man was surprised and smiled, and only I showed emotion.

So he gave me some kind of weird immunity privilege. He wanted me to approach without hesitation.

I left the door of my mind tightly locked, very slightly open.

I wanted him to know that I was really hiding in his heart, far away.

Isn't that right?

Am I right, Kars Hunt?

“It's been a while.”

Emperor Kars greets me on the ground. But I thought for some reason he liked it.

“I'd like to take you back to the Horn Empire in a carriage like this. ”

“You've got to be kidding me. ”

“I'm not kidding. ”

I suddenly remembered a smile. Of course you do. I met someone I wanted to take to the Horn Empire again.

Okay. Okay.

I'll do whatever you want.

I will approach you without hesitation.

That's why I'm here.

I smiled and was at his words.

“I see. It's been a long time.”

Emperor Kars has a bizarre crooked smile. I used to hate that it was a really weird laugh, but it's not anymore.

At least he's expressing that he tried to smile.