Chapter 247 : Chapter 247
Chapter 247 : Between Defying the Heavens and Embers (3)
"Ah! Batz! How long has it been!"
Philinus II approached with a limping gait and grabbed his hand firmly. As if truly moved, his eyelids, protruding like lumps, trembled faintly.
"......I am sorry, Your Majesty. As you can see, since I am in the position of a helpless gatekeeper, I was unable to properly visit and offer my greetings even once. Still, I am doing my part in my own way, so please generously look upon the circumstances of this disloyal one."
Leisure lingered around his half-closed eyes and the corners of his mouth. Anyone could hear the subtle mocking tone, but Philinus II paid it no mind at all.
"Ahem, disloyal you say! The dedication you have shown in this rugged place is truly worthy of being a paragon for all subjects! Excessive modesty rather only makes my heart heavy."
"Your grace is immeasurable."
I just blinked my eyes, dumbfounded.
'An outstanding expert of the Empire is playing the role of a warden in the Kingdom?'
Just where and what went wrong?
It was when Philinus II was continuously patting Batz's shoulder with an overwhelmed expression.
In a brief moment, the sight of Batz and Zisair's gazes briefly intertwining and dropping entered my eyes.
As my body slowly stiffened at the creepy sense of incongruity once again..........
Philinus II gestured toward me as if to show off.
"Batz. Let me introduce you. This is Bihen Benkou. A sturdy youth of the Empire overflowing with spirit just like you. To the extent that there is no one who does not know his majestic appearance in this Kingdom's land these days, isn't he truly worthy of being called a precious sword that doesn't fall short even when compared to you?"
My eyes met perfectly with Batz's. Damn it, I hate to admit it, but I involuntarily flinched at the chilling sensation crawling up my spine.
It wasn't simply a matter of high or low realms. In terms of the Empire's orthodox swordsmanship lineage, he was my incredibly distant direct senior and a swordsman who had first reached the peak I needed to attain, accurately speaking, one who had leaped over the 'wall'.
His languidly relaxed eyes strangely curved the moment he looked at me.
"Hoh."
Batz approached with a nonchalant gait. Since our heights were similar, our eye levels roughly matched.
"It's you. Bihen Benkou. I really wanted to see you once. Your name was heard sporadically even here. You probably don't know what a special joy it is to hear the prestigious name of a junior in a foreign land thousands of miles away."
I wondered if it was time for me to loosen the tension in my stiff neck for the first time in a while. The moment I slightly lowered my eyes, he added.
"Speaking of the Benkou family, aren't they a family that chases after crude Phantom Swords. I know it well. But I don't want to bring shame by digging up a junior's family tree in this distant land."
"......."
"So what I mean is that it's commendable. Very admirable. Just how much arduous training you must have done to reach this position with that insignificant swordsmanship—"
"Something keeps buzzing."
"......?"
I waved my hand in the air while shifting my focus away from Batz.
"Maybe it's because it's humid, it sounds like gnats swarming from somewhere......"
"......."
"It also sounds like some specter barking."
At the same time I finished speaking, I lifted my chin and crushed Batz with my gaze. My body naturally leaned forward, and the bastard also responded with a similar posture to mine.
"U-Uh! W-What are you two doing, this! Even with me right in front of your eyes!"
"Your Majesty, he looks like scrap iron that rolled in from somewhere rather than a precious sword, I will just snap him right here for you."
I couldn't lose. I was about to retort.
"Both of you, stop right there."
Zisair approached leisurely and personally separated the two of us.
He alternately looked at Batz and me.
"Do Imperial people not know courtesy and shame?"
It was like a dignified lecture from an old man scolding the indulgence of the young.
My pride was hurt just by the fact that I heard such a thing from that bastard, and my will to provoke was completely broken, but Batz's reaction was quite different from mine.
How should I say this, it was the sight of him quickly tucking his tail like a bastard who had been scolded by a master he couldn't disobey.
Batz bowed his head to Philinus II just like that.
"Your Majesty, I apologize. Seeing a guy from my hometown after a long time, my excitement went overboard out of gladness. Please look kindly upon this disloyalty."
Then he immediately held his hand out to me. The wide sleeve flowed down, revealing the iron chain restricting his wrist. Looking closely, something similar was wrapped around his neck as well.
"Nice to meet you, junior. Let's get along well as fellow bastards."
I activated the Ghost Eye, adjusting my power just enough so that the heat wouldn't rise.
Then, a line connecting from Batz's handcuffs and collar faintly appeared in the air. I casually traced that line, which was as thin as a capillary, only with my eyes.
The endpoint was Zisair's grasp. The bastard was leisurely gripping the leash like a keeper taming a wild beast.
"......Take your dirty hand away."
I immediately turned around. I held back from spitting even for Adeline's sake.
"Expecting to be treated as a senior when you're just a traitor. It's ridiculous."
Batz and I concealed our feelings toward each other as if we had promised. It was a familiar thing for swordsmen. It's like leaving hostility to ferment inside the scabbard and sharpening the blade even keener.
Anyway, like that, we focused on our respective assigned duties for the time being.
"The current number of personnel incarcerated in Grimbalt is a total of 412 people. Among them, 82 are high treason criminals directly handed over by the Imperial Capital Knight Order, and 15 are grotesque entities captured alive from the Demonic Realm Tristan. The rest are felons sent from each territory."
Batz took the lead and pushed open the giant iron door. The heavy metallic sound mixed with the fierce sound of rain outside and echoed bleakly into the moisture-filled corridor.
"All prisoners are bound by Magic Tool chains crafted from anti-magic alloy, and they are being managed by increasing the weight of the restraints the deeper the floor. In particular, even guards are forbidden from accessing the second basement floor and below, where persons of interest are accommodated, without my permission."
Was it because of the tattoos densely packed from his temples to his jawline? Strangely, Batz looked as if he had dodged the flow of time.
"In the unlikely event a prison break is attempted—"
The incident where he was subdued in the middle of the Imperial Palace and became known as 'The Martial Artist of Defying the Heavens' was roughly 20 years ago, around the time I was born.
Considering he wasn't even twenty years old at the time, it would be right for him to clearly show the signs of a middle-aged man approaching forty by now, but Warden Batz in front of my eyes looked believable even if you said he was in his early thirties.
"It is designed to immediately submerge or bury the entire section, so you can rest assured."
Whether the secret was thanks to arduous training, or because of the iron chains wrapped around his wrists and neck......, I wouldn't know, but.
CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP!
Philinus II threw away the cane he was leaning on and clapped his hands loudly like a seal. Seeing him panting with short breaths, it was obvious he was intending to soothe the exhaustion of struggling to follow behind Batz under the pretext of praising him.
"Pant, pant......! A-Amazing! I've only now realized that the sweet sleep I enjoy in the Royal Palace is all thanks to the Warden's hard work!"
Batz briefly looked down at the panting Philinus II before soon giving a short answer in an uninspired voice.
"It is an immeasurable grace."
Come to think of it, what kind of ending 'The Martial Artist of Defying the Heavens' met after that incident which shook the Empire wasn't known in detail to the public.
The official record stating he was immediately executed for high treason was dominant, but compared to the prestigious name he made for himself in life, the description regarding his final moments was excessively vain and poor.
'Turns out he was pathetically dragging out his life thanks to the Eight Demons.......'
Well, that much is fine. But for him, who was one of the top martial artists of his time and a member of the Imperial Guard, to be playing the role of a mere watchdog in the Kingdom is truly hard to accept.
'For an expert of that level to be played by something like mind control is nonsense in itself. He doesn't look like it either.'
Does that leash invisible to the naked eye contain some kind of incredible power that I don't know about?
It's impossible without completely remodeling him from the roots of his soul, going beyond the level of breaking his pride.
"Your Majesty, may I offer a word?"
Gunt, who had been following the procession, suddenly stepped forward. In an instant, everyone's attention focused on him.
"What is it?"
Philinus II furrowed his brow. Gunt casually glanced at Adeline and me once before opening his mouth.
"The bad weather has continued, so everyone's minds and bodies are exhausted. Furthermore, since this place is not suitable for relieving the fatigue of the journey, how about concluding the inspection here and hurriedly resuming the procession to return to the palace?"
A few ministers in the back subtly nodded in agreement. The murmuring voices grew louder.
"Ahem! W-What kind of noises are you all making right now!"
The commotion stopped instantly at Philinus II's roar. He soon held his index finger right in front of Gunt's face as if to poke him.
"John. As expected, you don't betray my expectations. Because I would have been quite disappointed if you bastard passed without finding fault."
"......Your Majesty, this is a public setting. I am currently Gunt—"
"Insolent! Is that all because you're my cousin?! You dare try to censor even the words of the King? Such an arrogant....... Whether I call you John or a beautiful boy, that's up to my heart!"
"Y-Your Majesty!"
"John Langdros Aleos! Who here doesn't know your real name? Ah~ Perhaps he doesn't know? If it's Bihen Benkou who completely crushed your pride, he might not know the secret of your bloodline? Bihen! Come over here!"
Watching this spectacle, I felt like I knew the reason why the Imperial Capital ministers, especially Chief Attendant Ternien's complexion, had completely turned the color of dirt over the past few days.
After asking Adeline for her understanding first, I approached Philinus II. The bastard stood on his tiptoes and put his arm around my shoulder.
"Now! Look closely, Bihen. This guy Gunt is actually royalty. And his rank is very high, too. He's none other than the son of Archduke Langdros. Archduke Langdros was pushed out of the battle for the throne by the late King and my father, Arthur VIII......"
It was all information I knew from hearing it from Adeline. Compared to my past life when I was nothing but a scoundrel mercenary scrub and an ignorant soldier, I prided myself on having developed quite a bit of resistance to the way the world turned and the various groups of humans in this life, but a King who spit in someone's ear while degrading his own blood relative....... This kind of disgust was unfamiliar again. It's truly not easy.
"Your Majesty, please calm yourself. The junior's face has turned quite yellow. Heh heh."
At Batz's sarcasm, I slowly straightened my waist that I had bent over to match his height.
Philinus II patted the lower backs of Batz and me, who stood on both sides of him.
"It seems my constitution is suited for the Empire. I hear the Emperor of the Empire is the absolute sun? How envious is it that you don't have to see others dictating where to place the persimmon or the pear at your own dining table and in your own garden? When the master decides, the servants just have to follow, but to think those who don't know their place even try to interfere with their master's fork movements."
Setting aside my personal feelings toward Gunt, the words he just brought up were the sound argument.
I can understand giving up on crossing the mountains due to the heavy rain. But did the alternative have to be Grimbalt Prison? There were plenty of more pleasant routes that took a similar amount of time to the Imperial Capital.
Forget it, let's concede a hundred times and say that's why we came here.
Then we should just pass by quietly or take a rest, is there a need to flock around like this and inspect the prison?
This was a matter of common sense.
"I,"
Philinus II stood in front of everyone as if to show off with an uncomfortable gait. He was struggling to deliberately establish dignity with his contorted face.
"Wanted to show you. No? I had to show you. To all of you who are no different from my arms and legs."
It seemed this was yet another sudden action. The sound of rolling eyes while swallowing astonishment could be heard from all over.
Philinus II giggled and scrutinized the pale faces of those nobles one by one.
"The stronger the light, the darker the shadow. If it's you all who stand closest to the throne, shouldn't you know that bottom better than anyone else? If you accidentally make a misstep!"
Along with the madness-filled shout, saliva laced with white foam flowed down beneath his misaligned jaw.
A maid who was bewildered right in front of him turned deadly pale and fell flat on her rear.
Philinus II didn't mind and squatted down to match her eye level.
"Because this very place is where you will roll and fall to."
He held out his hand, pretending to be merciful. The maid trembled and grasped that hand.
Philinus II, having barely pulled her up to stand, buried his nose into the back of the maid's hand and ravenously inhaled.
"Welcome to my hunting ground, everyone."
The corners of the mouths of Batz and Zisair, who stood side-by-side behind him, curved languidly.