Chapter 206 : Chapter 206
Chapter 206
Föhn is the capital of Schmeizen.
As Schmeizen was particularly isolationist even among the three great nations of the West, the security in Föhn could not be fully described by the word 'strict'.
The high walls and pointed towers seemed to prove their exclusivity.
To meet their objective, the Widow Queen, they had to break through four layers of security.
The outer castle, the inner castle, the imperial palace, the queen's personal guard.
Not a single one was an easy task.
This was even more so considering that the Cordis Empire had already distributed wanted posters for Shion and Amethus through spies planted in Föhn.
However, Shion was not worried.
Leisurely, and calmly, he walked into Föhn. No one could stop him.
‘Mimic Crumb’.
The calamity of the Empire scattered upon Schmeizen.
The deadly snow that fell every day for fourteen years created a void in time.
When the golden snow began to fall, everyone hid in buildings and locked their doors.
'Everyone' included the guards and knights as well.
The golden snow fell thick and fast.
The entire street came to a halt.
Shion, Amethus, and Yulan moved through the stopped street.
Their steps were fast.
A few who looked out their windows mistook them for some kind of illusion or heat haze.
“…How……?”
A Schmeizen capital guard, Tempos, let out a groan.
He stared at Shion's departing group and muttered blankly.
“…But, it’s still snowing.”
He carefully extended a hand out the window.
He wondered if the golden snow had lost its magical power.
However, as soon as the golden snow touched Tempos's finger, it immediately bubbled and frothed.
Seeing the precursor to a replica being created, Tempos hastily pulled his hand back in.
“…Stop them!”
A knight shouted once more.
He was looking at the wanted poster with portraits of Shion and Amethus, constantly fuming.
“Those bastards are heading for the inner castle……! We can’t just let them go!”
“Sir Knight, even if you say that, there’s nothing we can do……!”
“Ugh!”
The knight scanned the guard post in anger.
He spotted a bow and arrows hanging on the wall and immediately grabbed them.
The bowstring was pulled taut and an arrow flew.
The arrow flew fiercely, aiming for Amethus’s head, but it could not pierce the jade-colored flame and turned to ash.
The knight became even more furious.
“What in the world are those guys……!”
***
By the time they reached the Schmeizen imperial castle, the snow had stopped.
It didn't matter much, as it was time for them to go under a roof anyway.
“Quite a gathering.”
Shion whistled.
The inside of the imperial castle was filled with men with drawn swords.
Their identities were obvious without even looking.
They were surely men from some-knight-order or another, who were supposedly quite renowned in Schmeizen.
In total, there were exactly one hundred men.
“Schmeizen’s famed White Knights. They might not be on the level of Maesh's Masters, but there certainly are a lot of them, right?”
He glanced sideways at Amethus.
“Shouldn't you use your sword now?”
“No. There’s no need for that.”
Amethus shook his head.
“The scabbard is enough.”
The jade-eyed man gripped the hilt of his sword.
The blade was not revealed.
Because he did not draw the sword from its scabbard. Schmeizen’s White Knights felt a deep sense of insult.
They considered Amethus’s action to be arrogant, but they were soon forced to revise their thoughts.
Amethus’s action was not based on arrogance, but on justified confidence.
A sword not drawn from its scabbard is no different from a club and Amethus was a dangerous enough man even bare-handed, without a club.
Just as Obro Denoebang had beaten down several of the underworld’s ‘Name-eaters’ with a single club, Amethus too could sufficiently beat down the White Knights.
“Dodge on your own.”
The jade-eyed man was still wearing the ‘Face of Light’.
As the power of an ancient god flowed into him, he could perform feats that far surpassed a human’s.
For instance, things like sending ten knights flying in a single blow with one swing of his sword.
“I won’t be responsible if you get hurt.”
With one swing, ten fell.
With two swings, thirty collapsed.
With three swings, a hundred lay on the floor.
After felling Schmeizen’s famed White Knights in three swings, Amethus’s breathing was not even disturbed.
He quietly tied the double-edged sword back to his waist.
Yulan gazed at Amethus as if in awe.
“Let’s keep going, Shion.”
***
The Schmeizen imperial castle, with its over 2,000 rooms, was built over a period of 35 years. The interior of the massive castle was endlessly complex.
There was even an official position for finding people who got lost inside the castle.
However, Shion was able to reach his destination without difficulty.
They wanted to meet the Widow Queen of Schmeizen.
So, all they had to do was head to the place guarded by the most troops.
Just as expected, after felling dozens more knights, an exceptionally ornate and large door came into view.
Pushing it open, he saw officials lined up on both sides.
“We came to the right place.”
Shion smiled brightly.
It was a brazen attitude, despite no one welcoming him.
Schmeizen’s high-ranking dignitaries glared at Shion and Amethus as if to kill them.
“I apologize for barging in so recklessly.”
A vast hall.
High-ranking dignitaries lined up on both sides.
A high seat that required climbing stairs, a splendid jade throne peeking from behind a thick curtain, and the feet of a woman sitting upon it.
An alluring silhouette recognizable even through the obscuring curtain.
“It’s because there was no other way to see Her Majesty the Queen.”
The dark woman beyond the curtain.
She was the Widow Queen of Schmeizen.
The last hero, Shion, had to awaken.
“So it’s your lot.”
It was an old man.
The old man, who spoke, cutting in as if on behalf of the Widow Queen, was in the closest position to the queen.
“Shion and Amethus, was it?”
He was clearly the highest-ranking among the numerous dignitaries.
His white beard reached his chest, and his wrinkled face looked extremely rigid.
“The brats who are said to be stirring up the entire West. How dare you invade all the way to Her Majesty the Queen’s presence like this.”
“Stirring things up? I’ve been doing good deeds, that’s a harsh slander.”
“Hmph. Do you say that while spreading false rumors that Cordis will start a war?”
The old man scoffed.
Shion did not hide his displeasure.
“More importantly, who are you to butt in? Step aside, we came to speak with Her Majesty the Queen.”
“How could Her Majesty deign to speak with the likes of you? You cannot speak with Her Majesty without going through me, Belrsasal.”
“Aha, so you’re Belrsasal. I thought as much.”
Shion chuckled.
“Schmeizen’s Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, and Chief Secretary! A greedy old man who took on three difficult positions.”
He answered with a scoff.
That was Shion’s way.
“Why don’t you consolidate them into one title? Something like, "Traitor among traitors.”
“…Traitor among traitors?”
“A traitor among traitors.”
“You bastard!!”
Shion’s tongue effectively provoked Belrsasal’s anger.
Several officials almost burst out laughing but desperately held it in.
If they laughed at a sarcastic remark towards Prime Minister Belrsasal, their entire families would be thrown out onto the streets immediately.
“Anyway, step aside, Belrsasal. I need to speak with Her Majesty the Queen.”
“You cur! There’s a limit to looking down on Schmeizen……!”
“Schmeizen doesn’t have the power to stop me. Your famed White Knights are all lying defeated outside.”
The atmosphere turned icy at Shion’s words.
The high-ranking dignitaries felt fear.
Because they realized that if Shion and Amethus so wished, they could take their lives at any moment.
“But don’t worry. I came to give Schmeizen a gift.”
“…A gift……?”
“Even in Schmeizen, where news travels slowly, you must have heard the story of Obro Denoebang.”
A few officials nodded.
Prime Minister Belrsasal also affirmed it.
The White Lord, Obro Denoebang, had returned.
By finally descending into the underworld and rescuing eight hundred survivors.
The rumor had spread like wildfire in just a few days, so it was a story that anyone with even a slight foothold in Western high society could not have missed.
“I, Shion of Merion, was with him when he rescued the people from the underworld.”
Right, I’ve heard of that, someone muttered.
They said Obro Denoebang wouldn’t have been able to return if Shion of Merion hadn’t helped.
The hostility began to subside. Belrsasal was not pleased by this, but there was nothing he could do.
“By the way, among the people abducted to the underworld… I found someone Her Majesty the Queen would be very pleased to see.”
“……?”
“Since you’ve all gathered, you’ve saved me the trouble of introducing him one by one.”
Shion gestured to Yulan.
He still had his face completely covered.
Shion placed Yulan in front and smiled brightly.
“Her Majesty the Queen is also watching from behind the curtain, isn’t she?”
There was no answer.
But Shion paid it no mind. He grabbed the hood covering Yulan’s face.
“Now, I present to you, for the first time in fourteen years.”
The hood was pulled back, and Yulan’s bare face was revealed.
Everyone gathered in the hall was thrown into shock.
“It is Lord Yulan Etgendorher.”
***
Everyone saw Yulan’s face.
His eyes were large and his nose bridge was straight.
Most people knew that face.
It was impossible not to know.
A sigh that could not be attributed to any one person leaked out.
“…My goodness, it’s Lord Yulan.”
“That’s right, it’s Lord Yulan…….”
The queen’s husband who disappeared fourteen years ago, Yulan Etgendorher.
He had suddenly appeared.
They were bewildered, unable to understand what the situation was or what was going on.
The one most bewildered of all was Prime Minister Belrsasal.
“…Lord Yulan!?”
Belrsasal’s hands trembled.
“No, no, no… How is Lord Yulan here?”
A spark flew from the old man’s eyes.
“It’s a trick!”
He pointed a finger and spewed his anger.
“I don’t know what trick you used, but you brought a fellow who looks exactly like Lord Yulan!”
A murmur arose from among the high-ranking dignitaries.
Is that so? Maybe.
We’ve had enough of it with the ‘Mimic Crumb’, after all.
People who look identical……. The suspicion towards Shion added strength to Belrsasal.
“Yes, I knew something was strange. Saving the Bururade Peninsula alone and restoring the White Lord? You’ve been deceiving people like this all along, Shion of Merion!”
Belrsasal began to blindly condemn Shion as a fraud.
Whether his own words were true or false was not important.
No, rather, they were sharper because they were lies.
“Schmeizen is not to be taken so lightly. The crime of daring to deceive Her Majesty the Queen……”
“Belrsasal.”
It was a clear voice.
“You’re rather talkative today.”
“……Her Majesty the Queen?”
“My head hurts, so could you please be quiet?”
“……Yes, I shall.”
The murmuring subsided.
The clear voice coming from beyond the curtain belonged to the Widow Queen.
It was a distant hope even for the high-ranking dignitaries to hear her voice.
It happens perhaps three or four times a year.
“And, draw back the curtain.”
The Widow Queen continued.
“I must have a closer look at the face of that man who claims he is Yulan.”