The Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 186 – The Underground Throne Room (1)

“Your Majesty, please take my hand.”

“Ah, yes.”

Juan, who had transferred his spirit into Ivy’s body, grabbed the hand Lenly had extended toward him without much thought. Then, Lenly politely and gently pulled Juan up the stairs that were higher than even his knees.

While Juan didn’t feel weird about this situation at all, Sina and Haild seemed to think otherwise.

“That kind of looks like…”

“Um, yeah… you think so too, right?”

The way that Lenly took care of Ivy was different from the typical escort that Sina and Haild had seen before.

‘If anyone thinks that’s normal, I bet they have read way too much romance.’

Lenly’s every move as he took care of Ivy was meticulous, and filled with caution and consideration—he did not neglect her for even a single moment.

But the problem was that it was the emperor who was inside Ivy’s body right now. Sina felt strange just thinking about the fact that inside this delicate and slender woman’s body was the spirit of the emperor who shook the entire empire. Lenly Loen treating such a woman with such caution and consideration as if she was a tiny and delicate hamster made this situation all the more strange.

“Do you think that the Saintess and the Captain of the Imperial Guards are an item?” Haild asked Sina cautiously.

“An item? That’s something only a child would say… If you’re asking me if I think that they are in a relationship, then I can only tell you that there is no law that prohibits the Captain of the Imperial Guards from having personal feelings toward the Saintess. But the Imperial Guards usually pledge to never get married, so it will be difficult for them to get together.”

“But… um, the Saintess is actually His Majesty right now. The Captain of the Imperial Guards knows that as well, but why is he treating her so carefully, even to such an extent?”

Haild asked as if he was confused.

In response, Sina could only smile with a perplexed expression.

“Actually, that may be why he’s so excited right now.”

“...Excited? Why?”

“I heard that Lenly Loen is tremendously loyal toward His Majesty, to the extent that his loyalty was one of the reasons why his relationship with the Pope fell apart. I don’t know much about Captain Lenly’s feelings for the Saintess, but it does seem like he thinks of her as more than just someone who he has to protect. But now that the emperor who he loves and respects is inside the Saintess who he likes as well, so…”

Haild looked at Sina with a shocked expression upon hearing her words. He hesitated for a long time before opening his mouth again.

“Are you saying that the Captain of the Imperial Guards thinks of His Majesty as a lover?”

“The usual relationship between any boss and their subordinate is definitely not very healthy,” Sina shrugged.

“Well, that’s not the problem…”

“There is also a huge age difference between them as well. We can’t see it now, but they may even experience cultural conflicts if they stay together for a long time.”

“What I was trying to say was…”

“Is there any problem?”

“I’m concerned that Captain Lenly’s feelings will go away when His Majesty eventually returns to his own body. After all, the fundamental question of whether Captain Lenly loves either of the two is…”

“Cheating is definitely a big problem. His Majesty should also be firm and determined.”

At that moment, Haild’s head tilted back with a snapping sound.

When Sina looked forward, Juan was glaring at her and Haild while a distorted expression covered Ivy’s delicate face.

“Stop the unnecessary chats and just follow me.”

Haild nodded silently.

Sina and Haild suddenly felt that they should restrain themselves a little bit. Even so, Haild whispered in Sina’s ear one more time while quietly following Juan.

“I guess we did not consider His Majesty’s feelings. That’s the most important thing.”

Then, Haild’s head once again tilted forward with an even louder snapping sound.

After a while, their party came to a stop in front of a long corridor. Lenly looked at the corridor for a while, then turned back to ask a question.

“There is a high probability that there’s a trap here. I think we should either hurry up to break through it or take a break. What are your thoughts?”

“Let’s take a break.”

Juan was the first to answer. His face was full of irritation and annoyance.

“I’m hungry, cold, and my legs are sore,” Juan complained further.

Sina suddenly felt that she was very unfamiliar with the scene of Juan complaining, since she had never seen him say anything like this before. She felt like she was seeing many different aspects of Juan for the first time.

“More than anything, I’m in a rush to use the washroom. I transferred my spirit into the Saintess’ body because I thought it would be better to get all the hard work done while she is asleep, since I’m borrowing her body, but there’s nothing I can do about the physiological phenomenon. I wish she had a stronger body.”

“I’ll take care of the Saintess. You two can go back,” Sina said.

Sina hurriedly stepped forward and held the Saintess’ shoulders. As soon as Sina held Ivy, Ivy’s body trembled. She flinched and gasped for a moment as if the unexpected muscle pain came to her all at once.

Lenly quickly approached Ivy.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, um. Yes, it’s just that my legs are too shaky. But more than that…” Ivy stammered.

Sina nodded and took Ivy to somewhere dark and away from the rest of the party.

Haild and Lenly, who were left alone in front of the corridor, looked at each other for a while then soon turned their heads toward different directions.

Haild used this break to look more closely into the style of the underground structure. Their journey had been unexpectedly smooth so far, but he had still felt an unknown presence around them. It was certain that the presence was not that of a person’s, since no person could move so quietly.

It would be fortunate if it were a bat or a mouse, but they were not creatures who could live in such dry and cold conditions.

‘And I wish I was mistaken about this, but…’

Haild pondered as he touched the intaglio on the wall. The strange patterns that he had never seen before looked quite chaotic. However, looking closely into it revealed that some of the patterns were similar here and there. This meant that the pattern wasn’t a drawing but some sort of text.

It was a script that had never been seen in the empire. Such a script could only be found beyond the Crack.

‘Unless the Church separately created their own language with this script.’

Haild couldn’t tell the intention behind these markings or whether the script really was related to the Crack.

‘Where is the beginning and the end of this text?’

Haild wondered if these letters were engraved throughout the entire underground structure. He felt that it was a possibility, since the patterns on the walls had never disappeared once until now.

‘If it really is a text, then it must be a massive epic.’

If it was written with an intention, there was a chance of it being a massive spell. Haild inadvertently felt horrified and decided that he should report his findings to Juan as soon as he returned to the Saintess’ body. If Juan could read the text, he might be able to find out more about the beginning and the end of the text to better figure out the shape of the underground structure.

It was then.

A scream broke out from the direction where Sina and Ivy had gone.

***

Lenly moved even before Haild opened his mouth.

Haild had no choice but to hastily follow Lenly who ran out like the rushing wind.

“That’s the wrong direction you are headed to!” Haild urgently shouted to Lenly who ran forward at an incredible speed.

Lenly came to a stop before a fork.

“What do you mean?” Lenly asked.

“I saw Dame Sina turning to the right earlier. We have to go this way to…”

Then another scream broke out. This time, the voice seemed to belong to Ivy.

“Then why is there a scream coming from this way?”

“It’s either an echo since we are in the underground, or…”

Lenly anxiously looked back and forth between Haild and the left side of the fork where the scream had come from, then eventually ran toward the direction where Ivy’s scream came from.

Haild muttered some profanities to himself and hesitated before following Lenly.

The direction Sina had gone toward earlier was clearly the right, but there was a chance that she might have gone back to the left when he was paying attention to the patterns engraved on the walls due to the right side being an inappropriate place.

‘Perhaps the opponent is imitating a scream to separate us from each other.’

Haild decided to believe in Sina’s ability, since he figured that the most important thing in this situation was to stick together. But right when Haild was about to follow Lenly, a voice calling for him came from the right side.

It was Sina.

“Haild!”

Haild sighed in relief and quickly approached Sina.

“What was that scream just now?” Sina asked.

“Dame Sina, we must go after Captain Lenly. Right now…”

Then one thought passed through Haild’s head. Ivy’s scream just now had come from the direction Lenly ran toward, but Sina was not the type to leave behind someone she had to protect— then there may be something in the underground structure that mimics the voices of people.

Haild’s judgment was a step too late. As soon as he slowed down, a black shadow jumped out of the darkness and stabbed him in the side.

Haild groaned as he found a slimy monster in the form of a shadow amidst the dim purple light.

‘There’s monsters in this direction as well? Did Captain Lenly go the right way? Or were both of them going toward traps?’

He could try to think about it later.

For the time being, Haild didn’t hesitate to draw Elkiehl.

***

As the surroundings brightened up again, Sina knew that Ivy had finished her business. She was surrounded by just walls with frustrating and bizarre patterns, but she was somehow relieved when the light returned, since she had been able to sense some unknown movements—something was constantly rustling around beyond the walls.

“Are you okay, Dame Sina?” Ivy asked.

“Yes, I’m all right. By the way, that’s a much more useful magic item than I thought. I’ve seen a lot of magic lanterns before, but I’ve never seen one that’s this small, but still gives off such a bright light,” Sina said as she looked at the necklace on Ivy’s neck.

Ivy fiddled with the necklace.

“The Captain of the Imperial Guards gave this to me. He said that there was a powerful Grace placed on it. Not only does it emit a bright light but it also has the power to drive out the impure.”

In fact, magic and Grace meant the same thing, so Ivy was basically repeating the same words. But Sina didn’t bother to point it out. The Church had been teaching everyone that all magic was created and permitted only by the emperor, so it was no wonder that the Saintess was mistaken.

“Then let’s get going, shall we? Everyone is waiting for…”

At that moment, a scream of a man broke out. They couldn’t tell if it was Lenly or Haild who had screamed, but it was such a terrible sound that an ominous feeling swept over them. Sina immediately drew her sword and brought Ivy close to her side. Ivy’s face was pale with fear.

“Is Captain Lenly the type to scream out loud?” Sina asked Ivy right away.

“N-no. But I’m not too sure if that was his voice, since he doesn’t talk much…”

“Haild isn’t the type to scream out loud either, though he may ask for help. Stick close to me and watch out.”

Sina moved slowly and cautiously. There was no problem in securing a good view, thanks to Ivy’s necklace brightening the surroundings. Sina and Ivy’s shadows were mixed and shook under the light, but it wasn’t to the extent of bothering them.

Then Sina quickly swung her sword and stabbed it into the shadow.

“D-Dame Sina?!”

At the same time when Ivy called out Sina’s name in a perplexed voice, the shadows scattered in all directions, as if they were being torn by Sina’s sword.

Ivy gasped when she saw that the shadow had gotten much fainter and lighter than before.

“I’d noticed that the shadow was moving a little slower than it should have been,” Sina muttered in a nervous voice. “Maybe these bastards are the presences we had felt earlier. It seems like they were hiding right under our noses. We’ll have to hurry and get out of here just in case they might have the ability to imitate voices. Miss Ivy, please shake your necklace as hard as you can from time to time.”

Ivy nodded with a pale expression upon realizing Sina’s intention to track the movements of the shadows.

Sina quickly advanced forward as she walked just fast enough to make sure that Ivy didn’t run out of breath.

Then Sina inadvertently felt that the structure of this place was a little strange. Sina and Ivy weren’t too far away from Lenly and Haild, yet not only did the sounds feel like they were coming from a distance, but the way back to where they came from felt absurdly long.

‘So far away…? No, the sound is coming from beyond the walls.’

Sina noticed that a faint sound of footsteps was coming from beyond the wall next to her. Sina kicked the wall with all her might. Of course, she didn’t think it would easily collapse, but she planned to give it some shock to let the person beyond the walls know of their existence.

However, the wall collapsed too easily, unlike Sina expected. At the same time that Sina lost her balance and stumbled, the wall disappeared and Lenly appeared.

Lenly tried to swing his sword at Sina who had suddenly appeared, but quickly stopped as he flinched upon realizing her identity.

“Saintess!”

The shadows that scattered everywhere as the wall cracked rushed toward Ivy.

Ivy was so startled that she shook her necklace just as she had been doing until now. The shadows momentarily shook as if they were swayed by the movement of lights, but they did not stop moving.

A shadow brushed against Ivy’s right arm, and red blood dripped down as her skin was cut.

Lenly’s eyes sparked with anger upon seeing the Saintess getting injured.

At that moment, Ivy’s eyes turned black in an instant.

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