Became the youngest prince in the novel Episode 72
Chapter 19: An unexpected guest (2)
Imperial Knights of Agnes.
When choosing the strongest military group in the empire, many names come up, but the first one among them is the Knights of Agnes.
Each and every one of them were monsters that surpassed the category of humans, and the condition for joining was that they had to have the skills of a leader of another knight order within the castle.
A sword that exists only for the emperor and the pinnacle of all knights in the world.
One of the captains of the Knights of Agnes was now sitting in front of Zion.
“It’s been a while, Your Highness Zion.”
Sion looked at Alstein Ascalon, a middle-aged man with a blunt face.
He was a person who appeared briefly only once in the chronicle, so no information exists about him.
All we know is that his family is the Ascalon family, Zion’s own maternal family.
Ascalon, Heavenly Sword House.
It was a place that could be said to be the best when it came to swords, to the extent that it was said that if the Ozrima family existed in the magic side, this family existed in the sword side.
Like Ozrima, a family that produced one of the Seven Heavens and is one of the five most powerful families in the empire.
“What’s going on?”
Although they were maternal relatives, the Zion and Ascalon families had not had any exchanges in the meantime.
However, it was surprising even to Zion that Alstein came first.
“… … “It seems like you’ve changed a lot over the years.”
Alstein answers with a surprised expression towards Zion who looks straight into his eyes and asks.
In his mind, an image of Zion lowering her head, unable to even make eye contact with him ten years ago, appeared.
How many times have you been disappointed by that sight?
However, the current Zion has changed to the point that it can be said that he is a completely different person from then.
“Has Agnes’ blood awakened belatedly? or not… … “Have you been hiding your powers all this time?”
A question pops out of his mouth.
But Zion did not answer that question.
“I don’t like saying the same thing twice.”
Zion speaks while looking directly at Alstein with languid eyes.
There were no particularly bad feelings towards the Ascalon family.
Even Shion himself would have done the same.
But that didn’t mean I had any good feelings, so there was no time to waste with useless words.
“… … .”
Alstein’s eyes shook without realizing it as he sensed an unknown ominous feeling from something that existed within Zion’s eyes.
How long was the silence?
“The head of the family invited His Highness Zion to the family.”
As if he had decided on something, he slowly closed his eyes and then opened them, and a low voice came out of his mouth.
“The reason is that?”
“… … Because I saw the qualifications.”
Qualifications of an emperor.
Something that was never seen in the old Zion.
But it is something that is clearly visible in Zion now.
“So we want to test it. About whether the qualifications are really what we want. And if it’s right… … “I wonder if you can join us.”
These are extremely outrageous words for a noble to say to a member of the royal family.
But at the same time, it was something he could say because he was from the Ascalon family, known as the best swordsman in the empire.
‘It turned out to be fun.’
Shion secretly smiled at that.
Heavenly Swordsman Ascalon.
Zion was a place you had to visit at least once anyway, and it was one of the powers you had to gain.
But since he approached me like this first, Zion had no choice but to be glad.
The past relationship established in the chronicle happened before Zion himself entered this body, so there were no particular emotions.
but.
‘The initiative should be brought this way.’
From the mouth of Shion, who concluded his thoughts like that.
“I want to ask you something.”
A cold voice came out.
“Why did you think I would need your power?”
At those words, Alstein’s expression hardened.
Because no one has ever said something like that.
Even if it is a direct royal family member.
A family that is one of the five pillars that support the empire and is said to be the best sword among them.
Everyone had no choice but to covet that power.
However, Prince Sion was speaking as if he was rejecting that.
“Twenty-four times.”
“… … ?”
“That’s how many times I’ve almost died so far. “There were actually a lot more assassination attempts, and if you add up all the little details, it’s impossible to count them.”
This was information I obtained by asking Fredo, who had been by my side since birth.
“What on earth have you, my mother’s family, been doing all these years? Have you ever prevented an attack? Or did you ever mention that it was unfair? “On the contrary, I completely ignored it.”
“… … .”
“So, if you come now and talk about your qualifications and all that, did you think I would kneel down and say what I’m doing and like it?”
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Such poignant words.
But it was all true.
“You said you were testing my qualifications. That’s really funny. “Shouldn’t you first think about whether you are qualified before that?”
Zion’s eyes are devoid of any emotion.
“If I go to Ascalon, you will have to explain to me first.”
At that moment, Alstein knew.
The identity of something that exists within Prince Shion’s eyes.
“Why should I need you?”
It was dark.
No, something deeper and more foreign than darkness.
Yes, the abyss.
The abyss was weighing down Altstein’s very existence and eerily stimulating the depths of his heart.
“… … .”
In the end, no words came out of his mouth.
* * *
“I didn’t want to see it often, but I keep seeing it.”
“Right.”
A man with a face as emotionless as a stone statue responded to the words of a woman in monastic robes.
“The 3rd prince suffered.”
“Know.”
“I never expected it would end up like this.”
The woman in monastic robes who said that clicked her tongue and looked toward Chimseong Palace, where Zion was staying.
“Did you know?”
“what?”
“That we are trying to kill him using the Third Prince.”
“That can’t be possible.”
The man shook his head in denial.
In fact, the woman also knew that it made no sense.
However, the timing of Prince Sion’s move was very unfortunate.
It was as if they were aware of their every move, and they came in precisely targeting that gap.
‘No, it would be correct to say that Prince Sion created the gap itself.’
I couldn’t even imagine that they would create an opening by using the battle ceremony and then join hands with the 5th princess to attack the 3rd prince.
Moreover, I couldn’t understand even more how on earth Prince Shion was able to take the 3rd prince’s life alone.
Because it was absolutely impossible with Prince Sion’s power that they understood.
Zion Agnes.
The name was becoming increasingly heavy.
“Still, we can say that it is fortunate that it was not revealed that they were related to us.”
“That’s right, you said that the human testing site was also concluded to be the work of warlocks, right? I think Diral handled that part well… … “But where on earth did he go?”
“I do not know.”
The man shook his head in response to the woman’s question.
Even he couldn’t figure out Diral’s whereabouts at all.
The night the Jeokseong Palace attack occurred.
Diral just disappeared.
To humans and to ourselves.
“I know he’s a weirdo, but isn’t this crossing the line?”
“Maybe he suffered a serious injury and is recovering.”
“what?”
“They say that when the attack on Jeokseong Palace occurred, a battle also took place on the outskirts of the castle. “It is possible that it was Diral that fought that battle.”
“If Diral can be defeated, does that mean his opponent could be one of the Seven Heavens?”
“… … .”
The man remained silent without answering.
In terms of probability, it was close to zero, but considering what had happened so far, it could not be said that it was non-existent.
“Ha, things are going wrong in many ways.”
A woman muttering with her eyebrows furrowed.
If things continued to go wrong like this, there could be a major setback in future plans.
“Should we hurry up with our plans a little more?”
“If you agree, I will try moving the other side.”
“The other side?”
A voice slowly begins to flow from the man’s mouth in response to the woman’s question.
As the man’s words continued, Lee Chae began to look younger in the woman’s eyes.
* * *
Late evening with the crescent moon rising in the exact center of the sky.
Shion was leaving the castle while riding a horse-powered carriage.
Because it was not an official outing, there were no attendants, and the movements of the horse-powered carriage were also secretive.
It rattled.
The back gate of the imperial castle opens as soon as you approach, as if it had already been promised.
The horse-powered car carrying Zion passed through the back gate without hesitation and began to run through the streets of the capital.
“Your Highness, you will reach your destination in 10 minutes. “We have prepared the items you instructed next to your seat, so please take them with you when you get off.”
“okay.”
Zion nodded and looked out the window at the words of the driver who was in the shadow of eternity.
The night scene of the capital city passing by quickly.
The place Zion was heading to now was one of the auction houses that existed in the capital.
Of course, I wasn’t just going to buy something.
frozen night.
A disaster that will wipe out half of the capital city of Hubris in the not-too-distant future.
At the auction house that Zion heads to today, the cause of that disaster is revealed.
Zion intended to interfere with the cause.
Once half of the capital was blown away, it was obvious that Zion’s own actions would be greatly hindered in the future.
And there were things I had to get separately from here.
Ugh!
In the meantime, the magic car stopped moving, as if it had reached its destination.
Soon after, Shion got off the horse-powered car and saw the image of a woman who had been waiting for him in advance.
“It’s been a while since I saw you, Your Highness Shion.”
A woman with reddish-brown hair greeting Shion politely.
It was Eileen, the head of the Hubris branch of the information guild ‘Moon Eyes’.
Unlike usual, she was wearing a stylish dress and was not wearing glasses.
Her appearance was quite attractive, as if she had been a beautiful woman.
“First of all, congratulations.”
There was no subject in her next words, but the meaning was clear enough.
This time, it is probably talking about killing 3rd Prince Enoch and absorbing his power.
“What about tickets?”
“There is no need, you can come with me. however… … I didn’t know your highness was interested in auctions. “And at this type of auction.”
The reason Eileen said this was simple.
Because the auction house that Zion is heading to now is not an ordinary auction house.
Flington Underground Auction House.
As you can tell from the name, it was an underground place that handled not only legal goods but also all kinds of illegal goods.
Starting with stolen goods, all kinds of cursed magical items, illegal weapons, and even the abolished slave trade.
Flelton’s underground auction house was especially famous for its slave auctions.
The capital’s great nobles were already coming and going countless times, and the kickbacks they were giving were enormous, so the empire knew about their existence but turned a blind eye.
“A VIP at an auction house like that shouldn’t ask that question.”
Shion smiled and opened his mouth towards Eileen.
This was precisely the reason why Shion accompanied her.
Zion attempted to enter the auction house without revealing his identity, and in order to do so, he had to be accompanied by a VIP from the auction house.
So, while looking into it, I found out that Eileen had VIP status.
“I happened to get it through a connection when I was settling down at Hubris. Of course, I have never used it before.”
Eileen answered like that and held out a white mask that covered half of her face to Zion.
“You have to put it on before you go inside. People participating in the auction must hide their identities from each other. Well, the auction house probably knows everything except for the case of His Highness Zion.”
“Sure.”
“And please note that the mask also has a magic treatment that lightens the hair color.”
In the case of Shion, even if he covered his face, there was a chance of being discovered because of the dark gray hair unique to the royal family.
So she had taken extra steps.
“okay.”
Since it was what he had hoped for anyway, Shion willingly accepted the mask she offered him.
How long did it take to finish those words?
Shion finally arrived in front of a building that appeared to be an auction house and looked around.
‘It’s surprising.’
The surrounding streets look very luxurious and the mansions of nobles can be seen here and there.
Since it is an illegal auction house, I thought it would exist in a dark back alley on the outskirts, but I had no idea that it would operate so boldly in an area where the upper class lives in the center of the capital.
Even the building that runs the auction house was clean and magnificent.
“Most of the customers who use this place are nobles anyway. Besides, it’s not that they don’t know, but they know and turn a blind eye to it, so there’s no need to set up shop in a slum on the outskirts.”
As Eileen said that, as if guessing what Shion was thinking, she showed something to the big men in suits guarding the entrance to the auction house, and immediately a person came out from inside.
“You are VIPs. “Please come this way.”
Were people with VIP status very rare?
As Zion followed the guide into the auction house, receiving stinging glances from the other nobles who were standing around to enter, the scenery inside slowly began to unfold.
That moment.
‘I didn’t expect to see it like this right away.’
A faint smile appeared on Shion’s lips as he spotted someone.
fantasy,
