Chapter 32 – The Hero Had an Audience With the Emperor
“Gh, I can’t help it. Marian, at least you should guide the hero to the imperial palace.”
In the end, the High Priest, who realized my intention, said so to Marian.
It seemed that he noticed that even if he insisted on going with me, it wouldn’t work, and he would only be insulted by me.
“Are you really okay?”
“… Okay. Well, the person in question says I’m uncomfortable, is there a way?”
Looking at Marian, who was surprised, the high priest replied with a disapproving expression.
I knew why the high priest wanted to enter the palace with me.
The current emperor was a madman on par with Aaron, and he was quite interested in the existence of a hero.
So, whether it was Thomas or Tomato, this inspiration was intended to make me a spectacle for the emperor as if I were a rare animal.
And in the first playthrough, I fell for that ulterior motive.
Even so, the reason why Thomas handed over the task to Marianne now was probably because he had already announced that he would take me to the imperial palace.
“That, then. I will do my best without making any mistakes.”
Marian said that with a happy face at the high priest’s words.
Marian was quite concerned about her political standing, so this seemed like a pretty good opportunity.
I felt a little sorry for Marian, who was happy even over trivial things.
Not because of her situation, but because of what is about to happen.
‘If I become a monkey at the zoo again, it’s better to just stab my head and die.’
I had no intention of becoming a spectacle for the emperor, as I was twice in a row.
**
“The hero has arrived!”
A soldier who was guarding the front of the main palace of the imperial palace ran inside and shouted like that.
I was looking at Daejeon with a calm face, but her saintess, Marianne, couldn’t.
“You know? Never, never say anything useless.”
“I got it.”
“Please, I beg you. Not to anyone else, but to His Majesty, the Emperor of the Lorraine Empire.”
Marian was repeating the same thing to me with a rather awkward look on her face.
Well, since she had been dealing with her thoughts ever since she arrived in Lydea, the ecliptic, it was not understandable that Marianne was anxious.
“Ha, okay, stop it. Otherwise, as soon as I see the emperor, I will stick the bamboo stick first.”
“I’m sorry.”
But to understand is to understand, and irritation is another matter.
How good it was to meet the emperor, Marian’s excited look was enough to go against my heart.
“Listen to the warrior!”
“Heroes, go to Daejeon!”
At the voice I heard from inside, the soldier standing in front of me opened the way.
The gates of the Great Hall opened, and I walked in front of the emperor with a confident gait.
An ornate chair on top of a few steps.
I saw a wretched old man, out of place with the splendor, wearing a gleaming crown and looking down at me.
Patrick Leicester.
That powerless, shabby-looking old man was the absolute monarch of the Lorraine Empire.
“Are you that hero?”
I slowly bowed my back and answered as I looked at the king, who was radiating a strange light.
“It is. Your majesty.”
At my answer, not only the emperor, but also the nobles who had gathered to watch the hero looked surprised.
That would also be the case, in their opinion, simply because the warrior from the countryside was answering the emperor’s questions in perfect imperial manners.
And the one who was most surprised by my actions was none other than Marian.
**
“You know how to keep the etiquette.”
“The goddess has made many arrangements.”
I attributed my knowledge of imperial etiquette to the goddess.
Arrangement?
In fact, of course, there was nothing else.
I had to suffer all sorts of humiliation and suffering thanks to the goddess who just gave me the ability of immortality and told me to defeat the demon king, and one of them was a conversation with nobles.
I didn’t know anything about etiquette except that I had to eat the ghetto first when eating, so I was treated like a savage by the aristocrats.
However, people naturally learn anything by swearing.
I overcame all the contempt and ridicule of the nobles and later rose to the level where I could imitate imperial etiquette quite convincingly.
Of course, every time I followed that beggar manners, I got goosebumps.
“Right. Thanks to the goddess, she is quite happy to converse with you.”
Emperor Patrick said that to me, wrinkles on his face.
As can be seen from his words his, the emperor of the empire did not particularly respect the goddess.
Just because a large number of people believed and followed him, it was about tolerating it.
I glanced back at Marian, but she also did not object to the Emperor’s arrogant tone of her.
No, it would have been the same even if the Pope had been here, not just Marian.
“Yes, she has an immortal body, right?”
The Emperor asked me such a question, like a monkey in a zoo asking if he could ride a bicycle.
Hearing the emperor’s words, I could feel that the other nobles were also looking at me with curious expressions.
Clearly, the goddess foresaw the appearance of the demon king army, and even though she gave an oracle about her existence her as her hero her, the emperor and nobles of the Lorraine Empire were not particularly interested in it.
That would be the case, and for over 100 years, it was the Lorraine Empire that had been the loser of the continent.
He could have swallowed all the continents if he wanted to, but he is a giant who is sleeping because he doesn’t feel the reason to do so.
Most of the imperial nobility thought that the demon army could be easily dealt with with the power of the empire, and that the hero was just a hand that was easy to use.
‘That’s why I’m enduring it too.’
Of course, that confidence was not in vain.
In line with that confidence, the number of soldiers in the empire was hard to count, and all were well-trained elite soldiers.
Of course, the Demon King’s army may not be a very friendly opponent as they expected, but it was true that I also needed the Empire’s help to avoid countless troublesome things.
“Yes. Undeservedly, the Goddess bestowed such a blessing on me. Thanks to this, she has a strong body that does not die from any wounds.”
“Hoo.”
At my answer, the emperor nodded his head with an expression of satisfaction.
No, I could read the emotions that had faded slightly in his eyes, visible through the dry skin like an old tree.
That’s nothing but greed.
Previously, I was just frozen at the thought of meeting the emperor, but now it was possible because I wasn’t a clumsy country boy.
‘It’s greed…’
It was only then that I could vaguely feel why the emperor wanted to see me.
And also why Karen Cross, the next owner of the Mage Tower, was so obsessed with my body hers.
The Emperor is now seventy-eight.
He ate all kinds of good medicine in the world, used the life support system created by the wizards of the Mage Tower, and occasionally received blessings from the high priests of the church, but even he could not overcome the time.
He was the most powerful human on earth, so much so that even the goddesses ignored him, but he could not escape the fear of aging and death.
Perhaps the emperor, looking at my immortal body, thought that there might be a way for him to escape death as well.
So, he might have tried to uncover the secret through Karen, the genius mage of the Mage Tower.
“Then, can you show me that rare scene?”
The Emperor, who had completely erased the emotions that had surfaced without even realizing it, asked me that.
And that was what the emperor had said to me before.
‘At that time, I became a monkey myself like an idiot.’
A village warrior who was a wanderer in his previous life had staged a show of self-inflicted wounds on his own body, unable to refuse one of the emperor’s orders to his.
His wounds healed quickly, but the emperor applauded joyfully as he watched the warrior suffer from the pain cutting through his body.
Come to think of it, rather than saying that the emperor was bad, I was more like an idiot for self-injuring himself without hesitation in his words.
‘Ha, I can’t do that this time.’
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but the hero feels pain too. I’ve confirmed the hero’s ability, so you can trust that part.”
The moment I was about to step forward to the emperor, I heard unexpected words from the side.
Marian, who had been nervous and only noticed that she had appeared in front of the emperor, said that to the emperor.
‘What?’
I looked at her with a puzzled look at her Marianne’s sudden behavior her, and so did her her emperor her.
No, the emperor, who wished to see with his own eyes the miracle that prevented his death, did not hesitate to show his displeasure.
“Saint! I didn’t ask you!”
Aaron, who is better than anyone else at reading the emperor’s heart, shouted with an angry expression as he looked at Marian.
At the prince’s shout, Marian shrank back and stepped back from her.
Although it was fun that the relationship between the two, who later got along quite well, was broken from the beginning, what was more surprising was Marianne’s reaction to her.
No way, it was because I never thought that she would come out to embrace her.
“I’m sorry. But the hero is also human…”
The saintess, Marian, did not bend her opinion even as she swayed.
I smiled at Marian like that.
Again, Marian wasn’t out for me.
Marianne was also paying attention to the reaction of her Emperor or Crown Prince, but she kept glancing in my direction.
So, I didn’t know what else I was going to do, so I just went ahead.
Her motives were obvious, but I took a step towards her emperor to help her Marian.
“It wouldn’t be fun to just watch. Aren’t you curious about my sword skills?”
At my words, the eyebrows of the emperor and the prince twitched at the same time.
They were rich people who hated each other terribly, but it seemed clear that the two were of the same blood.
