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Set eventually left without dealing with Reckless and the remaining knights. Reckless kept looking at Set with a suspicious face until the end, but Set and Chronos were already no longer paying attention to them.
Scrape… Scrape…
Yeon Ji-ho turned around at the sound coming at regular intervals. He saw Chronos dragging Baal along, with one of Baal’s arms over his shoulder.
Seeing how overwhelming it looked for the short-statured Chronos to drag Baal, Yeon Ji-ho cautiously spoke up.
“…Should I help you a bit?”
“Hahah, no need. And it’s not particularly heavy. Just big, that’s all.”
Chronos laughed heartily, saying it wasn’t him who was hurting from being dragged, but this guy Baal. Indeed, there wasn’t even a single drop of sweat on Chronos’s forehead.
Chronos picked up his pace a bit more in dragging Baal and came right up next to Set and Yeon Ji-ho. Then, looking around quickly, he said in a low voice.
“By the way, the imperial palace is frighteningly quiet.”
“I guess it’s not usually like this?”
“The number of guards, knights, and servants in the imperial palace alone must exceed a thousand. For it to be this quiet is strange.”
Hmm…
A sigh-like sound escaped from Chronos. He adjusted Baal’s arm on his shoulder once more and continued speaking.
“I can’t even guess Emperor Hadad’s intentions. Leaving us alone when he could capture us right now…”
“Chronos. Don’t speak unnecessary words.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
Set walked without hesitation, as if he already knew all the paths in the imperial palace. Of course, this was natural since he had visited the imperial palace many times as the adopted son of a duke’s family.
Walking through the silent corridors of the imperial palace without a single sound was somehow a strange feeling. Just like walking through school corridors late after class, even the sound of their own footsteps seemed incredibly loud.
“Finding the gate is our priority. Since only the royal family can use it, it must be hidden deep in the inner palace.”
“What about Apophis, Shango, and Isquis?”
“They’re the type to move on their own without being told. Once Isquis’s wings are taken care of, they’ll come right away.”
Set spoke calmly while continuing towards the depths of the inner palace. Meanwhile, Yeon Ji-ho was mulling over the latter part of “The Star of Hadad” story.
Unlike the early parts of the 12-volume epic novel “The Star of Hadad,” which progressed at a snail’s pace, the latter half was often rushed. It wasn’t uncommon for a character alive on one page to be dead on the next.
It wasn’t easy to recall all the rushed content now. Nevertheless, Yeon Ji-ho tried to remember at least a bit about the star that Hadad had finally found.
To cut to the chase, “The Star of Hadad” was ultimately about Hadad’s journey to find his star.
Although it was categorized as a romance fantasy in its sub-genre, its essence was like a fantasy genre, “The Star of Hadad” was no different from Hadad’s coming-of-age story. And the star he finally found.
“What was that star again…”
It’s certain that it had some great power, but he strangely couldn’t remember exactly what the star looked like or what kind of power it had.
Why on earth? It was the most crucial object in that novel.
“…Star? Ji-ho, why suddenly about a star?”
“Ah, well. I can’t remember what the ‘star’ Hadad was looking for was.”
It was certain that the star was important since Hadad had searched so desperately for it, but that was the only thing he couldn’t remember. Yeon Ji-ho thought Set might know something, so he started explaining in detail.
“That star was also the reason why Hadad wanted to become emperor. Deep in the imperial palace… to be exact, he heard from his mother before she died that it was hidden in the gate.”
“A star… Is it a metaphorical expression, or does it literally mean a star?”
“I don’t remember that part well either. It was such a long story.”
Is it natural not to remember because the story was long, and because it was so complicated?
It was when his thoughts had drifted that far. Chronos, walking down the corridor, widened his eyes.
“Your Excellency, I sense an energy similar to the Village of Time!”
Set also changed his posture at Chronos’s words. Of course, the Village of Time, which always moved locations, had a gate for the little people, and it was similar to the gate owned by the imperial family. That’s why Chronos could detect the gate’s energy.
Set was the first to head towards where the gate’s energy was flowing from. Watching this, Yeon Ji-ho suddenly had a thought.
Somehow, things are working out easily.
Everything was progressing smoothly, to the point where he wondered if it was okay. There were hardships like Isquis and Baal getting hurt and Apophis being captured, but still, this much…
Wait a minute, isn’t this like a protagonist’s buff?
At that moment, the space above Yeon Ji-ho’s head opened up as if collapsing. Simultaneously, Apophis, along with Isquis and even Shango, fell from there.
“Ugh, urgh…”
However, among the three, only Shango looked relatively fine. Isquis, who had lost his wings, was being carried on Shango’s back with his eyes closed, and Apophis was being supported by Shango. Among them, Apophis vomited a handful of blood as soon as he set foot on the ground.
While Apophis was wiping his mouth with his sleeve, a surprised Chronos approached them.
“Hey, Apophis. What happened?”
“Haa… How am I supposed to handle two burdens when I already have a kid attached to me?”
For the sake of Shango, who was handling both Apophis and Isquis, Yeon Ji-ho first took over supporting Apophis. As he grabbed the waist of Apophis, who was slightly shorter than him, Apophis exhaled with relief and spoke.
“Oh, Ji-ho, thank you. Ah… And I sent that wolf kid back home safely.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
“It’s nothing, ugh!”
Apophis vomited blood on the floor again. While a startled Yeon Ji-ho didn’t know what to do, Set approached and handed Apophis a potion from his possession.
“Drink this.”
“Haa… Thank you, Your Excellency.”
“How much mana do you have left now, Apophis?”
Apophis, who had been gulping down the potion after opening the lid himself, wiped his mouth and replied to Set’s question.
“None at all. Even though it was just a blink, moving three people drained even the mana I had saved for emergencies.”
Apophis’s blood vomiting was probably due to the aftermath of forcibly using mana.
“Apophis. We’re leaving this place soon.”
“By ‘this place,’ you mean…”
“Yes. Didn’t I say we’d go back together?”
Set slowly looked around at everyone, starting with Apophis. He took in the sight of the unconscious Baal and Isquis as well.
“…Is it possible? With so many people, and my mana all depleted.”
“I plan to use the imperial palace’s gate.”
“…!”
Apophis’s eyes widened. His complexion brightened somewhat, and he nodded.
“If it’s that…! Yes, that should be entirely possible.”
“The gate isn’t far from here. We need to move quickly before Hadad catches up.”
“Yes, understood!”
With a breakthrough in sight, even the coughing Apophis was filled with vitality. Finally, the group began to move forward with Shango carrying Isquis, Chronos carrying Baal, and Yeon Ji-ho supporting Apophis. Set took the lead, with his sword drawn.
Everyone was in a state of extreme tension. In the midst of this, Yeon Ji-ho asked Apophis with a worried expression.
“Um, Apophis. Can we really use the gate without any problems?”
“Huh? Yes, of course. Three conditions are needed to operate the gate: one is the gate itself, one is mana, and the last one is coordinates. The first two are certainly possible with the imperial palace’s gate.”
It made sense that they would use the imperial palace’s gate, and the mana stored in the gate. And for the last coordinates…
Apophis, looking at Yeon Ji-ho, smiled gently and finished speaking.
“Our coordinate is you, isn’t it, Ji-ho?”
Those words seemed to say that as long as you’re with us, we can go anywhere.
