BXBX NOVEL Chapter 90: To the Imperial Capital (3)
Chapter 90: To the Imperial Capital (3)
"What is this idiot saying?"
I was baffled. Of course, the death of one of the Seven Great Generals of the Leonhardt Empire was a huge incident, but wasn't he being a little too shameless despite the fact that he gave an order for me to be killed just a while ago?
Celestia replied as she saw me flabbergasted, "I don't know. He must be a little out of his mind."
"..."
Louis trembled with a pale face, unable to refute. However, at that moment, the golden necklace on his neck glimmered and his figure disappeared in an instant.
"Ahhh, he ran away."
"Yeah."
I mumbled without being nervous at the sight of the Crown Prince disappearing. Of course, he would become a source of trouble if I let him run away like this, but there was nothing I could do to him here, nor did I have the ability to do so. Hawa merely protected me, but she wouldn't listen to my orders. Hence, I couldn't ask her to catch him.
'Of course, I can give it a shot, but...'
However, when I recalled the fierce resistance she showed when I tried to order her, I knew it wasn't a very good idea. She threatened to destroy everything if I tried to order her one more time, so was there really a need to test whether she meant what she said or not?
Frankly speaking, it was natural for her to resist and reject it.
Who in the world would be okay with a situation in which they were forced against their will to do the biddings of someone they had never seen their whole life with just an order? The same would apply even if the one giving the order was someone superior to their own flesh and blood -- parents.
More than anything, Hawa was an Untouchable, one of the strongest beings who possessed supreme power in the universe where the Gods had departed from. Hence, it was obvious she would feel insulted if she had to listen to my orders when I was someone who wasn't even on the level of a Low-rank transcendent.
'What if I gave it a shot in vain and she turned into an enemy?'
If things went amiss just like that, everything would be over. Her protection was the reason why I was able to be calm even though the big shot of the Imperial family, the Crown Prince, was hostile to me. So I couldn't do something stupid like making a lucky gamble of such cosmic scale because I didn't know if it would work or not.
"The, the Crown Prince-nim..."
"Uuugh…"
As I organized my thoughts, I spotted the attendants who were anxious because they were wary of me. The Crown Prince disappeared, but his aides and attendants remained. They all broke out in a cold sweat and didn't dare to take any actions.
Celestia saw that sight and said, "Get the hell out."
"Ca-, Can we really leave?"
"If not? Do you want me to do what you intended to do to us?"
"No. Thank you very much!"
They were all startled, then, they bowed their head and ran away. I watched them run momentarily before I looked back at Celestia.
"Hmm. It's kind of weird for me to say something like this, but… The Leonhardt Imperial family..."
"It's a little undignified, right?"
"Yes, it's a total mess."
At this point, I was starting to doubt the overall image of the Leonhardt Imperial family. What kind of royalty attacked people the moment at first contact? This wasn't even the Middle Ages. Was there no law? I thought this was a country with a social atmosphere that was nothing like a hierarchical society. Yet, the moment I met a member of the Imperial family, irrational things that were not understandable by any sort of common sense kept happening one after another.
"I'm sad that I can't deny it completely, but... It's quite a complicated situation, so please understand. The Leonhardt Empire has a fairly solid and strong structure, but the Imperial family that reigns over it is in quite a chaotic situation."
"Why so?"
"Well that's obviously because the First Emperor died. It has only been 300 years since the founding of our Empire, but my father is already the Ninth Emperor."
"…The imperial family members have a short life span?"
"Of course not. They would usually live for at least 200 years, and up to 500 years or more. For one thing or another, we're still a Godly species."
"..."
Just by listening to the explanation, I thought it reeks of the smell of a chaotic mess. Just then, a group of crew members made a commotion and approached us from across the hallway. Leading the group at the very front was Major General Chun Hyun-il, the Captain of the Albatross ship.
"That's a relief. I thought something bad had happened… I don't know what kind of authority that damned Crown Prince had, but he managed to shut down our systems as he pleased."
As expected, he intended to dispose of me here, but it was strange no matter how I thought about it.
'Why on earth did he go so far just to get rid of me?'
I couldn't understand. Why did he break into Albatross and create trouble? Furthermore, Albatross was under the control of Major General Chun Hyun-il and the bear wouldn't cooperate with him. If he was aiming for my life, it would've been much simpler if he sent an assassin after waiting for me to get off at the Imperial Capital.
"Hmm…! That armor…"
While I was lost in thought and pondering about this, Hyun-il discovered the lower body of Great General Norrington lying on the floor. His upper body disappeared as a whole but strangely enough, there was no blood flowing from the cross section.
"It's Norrington."
"The fact that this gangster is lying down here means…"
The bear was lost in thought for a moment before he put on a distorted expression. However, it was not a look of anger or concern.
He burst out laughing.
"Puhahahaha! That gangster met his match huh! She's probably the one who did this, isn't she?"
"Yeah."
"The Crown Prince's face must have turned deadly pale! That Royal Guard Commander bastard shouldn't have recklessly come out of the Imperial City, but for him to turn up dead here?! If you play this out well, won't we be able to drag the Crown Prince down from his position?"
"Duke Amon has his back, so things won't work out that well. But still, I'm sure he'll have a hard time. No matter what, one of the Seven Great generals is dead, so this probably won't be overlooked."
As expected, there wasn't a mourning mood even though someone was dead. Instead, considering that the atmosphere was delightful, the relationship between Hyun-il and Norrington seemed to have been quite bad.
"Hmm. So what do you want me to do with this body? Remove it?"
"Immediately if possible."
"Alright."
As the thick front paw covered with white fur extended out, a dense blue Aura swirled over and covered Norrington's lower body.
Tatatatatatak!
A shrill sound that sounded like a metal object was inserted into the shredder resonated around. Perhaps because it was a transcendent's body, or because of the characteristics of his body, Norrington's lower body held out for nearly 10 seconds even in the dense Aura storm. His body was so durable even in a corpse state, so I couldn't even begin to imagine how his body's endurance would have been like when he was alive.
'Yet, Hawa blew that off with a single hit.'
I turned my head thinking, 'As expected, I should be careful'. However, Dong-min and Bo-ram stared at the dense Aura storm, bewitched.
"What a waste."
"I know right. Ughhh, I can't believe the body of a transcendent is being grinded up like that... If that was sold on Earth, even I would buy some."
"You guys, what kind of necromancer-sounding crap are you spouting? Don't talk nonsense and guard properly."
"Uhhh. But we can't help it if we're going against a transcendent."
"I did my best."
"To be honest, it's already an amazing feat to be able to stop that Crown Prince."
"Even if we are in the Great Universe, this is too much."
"There's a limit to how much us bumpkins can do."
The two of them were yapping in perfect harmony. However, I knew because I could see them. I could see the fact that they were greatly stimulated as they continued meeting transcendental beings, and that they continued growing stronger along with that stimulation.
If they were still the same as who they were when they came to the universe in the beginning, they wouldn't have dared to block the attack of the Crown Prince who was just a level lower than a transcendent.
"By the way, bear, is something going on in the Imperial Capital?"
Cel was keeping still, and Hyun-il who was getting rid of Norrington's body turned his head at Cel's question.
"Something?"
"Yeah. Louis' not that stupid, even though he's always going around spouting bullcraps. If he went this far, there must have been a good reason for that."
Hyun-il nodded in response to Celestia's words.
"That's true."
"What do you mean that's true? You know something?"
"Of course. Sometimes, you take your influence too lightly."
After saying so, he turned around and started walking ahead. We followed after him.
"What is he talking about? Your influence?"
"Who knows, I'm not too... Ahh! My kids might come here."
"Your kids?"
"Yes, I don't have a household backing me up, so I don't receive any support like the other Imperial Princes and Imperial Princesses… But I'm still an Imperial Princess. I've created my own forces."
"Hmm. Did you create that force outside the Leonhardt Empire?"
"Ohh? I noticed when you were fooling around with Cheong Won, but as I expected, you're smart huh. That's right. They're the ones I handpicked as I went around battlefields, so they're the real deal."
"…"
Her words reminded me of the first time I saw her.
At that time, her title was like this.
Detro Galaxy Union, Fourth Corps, First Assault Squadron
Extraterrestrial Being, Celestia
In fact, I was always curious about her affiliation since the time I found out her identity. She was the Imperial Princess of the Leonhardt Empire. So how did the Detro Galaxy Union's Assault Squadron become her representative affiliation? However, I realized the reason from her lively voice.
'The sense of belonging.'
That's right, that was the reason. Among the organizations she was affiliated with (Family did not classify as an organization), she felt the greatest sense of belonging with the First Assault Squadron under Detro Galaxy Union. In one way or another, the fact that she, the Imperial Princess of an Empire, felt more attached to the Assault Squadron of another country was tantamount to prove how much the Leonhardt Imperial family mistreated her.
"Hmm. But I don't know. Even though my kids are strong, they're not enough to threaten the Imperial family."
Whether she questioned the incomprehensible situation or not, Hyun-il ignored her and kept walking before he stopped in front of a wall that had nothing.
Hyun-il said, "It's okay to be proud. I'm telling you… No one would've imagined such a situation in the Imperial court."
"What are you trying to say?"
Wiiiiingggg---
The wall on one side began to open as a whole, burying Celestia's questioning voice.
Then...
Waaaaaaah-----!!!
Cheers resonated around. I could see the blue sky, the endless golden flower garden, and the golden castle beyond that. It was something that I couldn't even imagine seeing when I saw it from the outside.
Those were not the problem.
"This is…"
"Say hello."
The white bear with a mountain-like build looked back at us and smiled as if he was having a lot of fun. Beyond his shoulder, countless spaceships and all sorts of aliens manifold of that could be seen.
He said, "They're your fans who gathered from all over the universe."