C509
But the person whose mind had gone the blankest at that moment was Alberu Crossman.
'Did I just say...?'
What did I just say?
"Father"?
He could not hide his dismay at the word that had escaped him without realizing it.
'Ah, Alberu-'
But the way he called me.
Suddenly, I remembered Zed Crossman, my father.
'His face and voice are completely different-'
Why, upon seeing his eyes and hearing his tone when calling me, did I immediately think of Father?
From the moment that elderly Grand General stuttered saying "Ah, ah-" while looking at Alberu, he strangely felt Father in his gaze.
'What is this?'
It was simply inexplicable.
Even King Zed Crossman had never called him with such a desperate voice.
'But, that look-'
King Zed Crossman, looking at the young Alberu with an indescribable expression.
Alberu, seeing the old man in that instant, suddenly recalled his father's gaze that he had seen in his childhood and had forgotten.
The affection towards his son.
The compassion towards the son who had lost his mother.
That look that was nothing, but could not be described in words.
A look that young Alberu could never understand, laden with too many overlapping emotions.
And now, the adult Alberu could finally understand the true meaning of that look he saw in his childhood.
The true intentions hidden behind so many emotions.
'...Miserable.'
And.
'...Despair.'
Ha~
A deep sigh escaped Alberu's lips.
Suddenly, he felt short of breath. After losing his mother, Father visited him several times. But then, he was abandoned.
If it hadn't been for the Dark Elf Tasha, he really wouldn't know how he would have lived.
For a moment, Alberu remembered his childhood, when he stayed up late, alone in the palace that seemed empty.
That emptiness.
The coldness emanating from the space where warmth had disappeared.
He was cold even under the blankets, even next to the fireplace.
Whenever that happened, Alberu read.
That was how he endured.
Because he believed that someday, this night that scared him would be replaced by a morning with dazzling sunlight that would warm him.
But since he realized that, because he carried the blood of a Dark Elf, he could not stand proudly before the sun, even that light of dawn ceased to be an easy support.
'Yes, there was a time when I-'
Tok.
Alberu felt a hand land on his shoulder.
The moment he saw that hand gripping his shoulder tightly without him realizing it.
"......"
Cale Henituse was looking at him without saying anything.
"Ah."
A sound of surprise escaped Alberu's lips.
"Phew."
Cale let out a sigh, then took out the handkerchief that the servant Ron had prepared for him, roughly wiped the sweat from Alberu's forehead and face, and put the handkerchief in Alberu's hand.
"Right now you looked even weaker than me."
Saying that, he gave another strong pat on Alberu's shoulder and stood in front of him.
When Alberu looked at Cale's back, he could finally hear the voices around him.
"Alberu? Father? What does all this mean?"
The Grand General's youngest son, Ashifrang, was approaching Alberu with long strides and a rather agitated face.
"What is going on?"
General Perry watched them with a gentle tone but without hiding her expression full of caution.
"Grand General!"
"Your Excellency Grand General, are you regaining consciousness?"
The doctors and servants got busy.
No matter how much they tried to speak to him,
"Ugh, ugh-"
The elderly Grand General was trembling violently, unable to control himself. His pupils were moving aimlessly and saliva was dripping from his mouth, but he seemed unaware of even that.
Suddenly, the old man's condition seemed to have become grave.
'Ah.'
Amidst that, Alberu realized.
It wasn't worry about this chaotic situation. Rather, he could see his own self that had not yet freed itself from the memories of the past, the weak part that still remained inside him.
"What is going on now!"
Ashifrang's voice was heard, but Alberu paid no attention to him and concentrated on composing himself.
Because-
"Do you know why we came to Island 1, where the Grand General resides?"
Now there was someone by his side to whom he could entrust the future.
"Are you okay?"
At the cautious question of Choi Han, who had approached, Alberu nodded and closed his eyes.
Step, step.
Meanwhile, Cale Henituse was heard taking a step forward.
"His Royal Highness, Prince Alberu Crossman, who is here. This person's Father is currently missing."
Addressing Ashifrang and General Perry, Cale continued speaking calmly.
'Wow. Is it really His Majesty King Zed?'
But Cale's internal thoughts were quite complicated.
And urgent.
"King? Crown Prince? Why?"
Ashifrang frowned, unable to contain his impatience.
However, General Perry, with a strange expression, remained silent and waited for Cale to continue.
'It was strange.'
Actually, Perry could not completely understand why Cale's group wanted to help the Grand General and herself. Because, if their goal was to take over the Ocean Alliance, their course of action was quite moderate.
Cale's voice continued.
"So we have been gathering information all over the continent to find His Majesty the King."
It was what the God of Death said.
King Zed accessed the virtual reality game 'RMPAG' periodically and appeared here, but apart from that, it was impossible to pinpoint him accurately, as if he were traveling between multiple dimensions.
"And then we obtained information that His Majesty the King was on Island 1, where the Grand General resides."
That is why they postponed even the confrontation with the Clear Blood Family in District 3 and came here first.
"So we had to come to Island 1 without fail and, taking the opportunity, we wanted to help calm the current chaos in the Ocean Alliance and establish a cooperative relationship with them."
"That, what does that mean-"
Ashifrang, seeing Cale's serious expression, realized he wasn't lying. He opened his mouth, dismayed, but Cale continued first with what he had to say.
"The life of King Zed, whom we are looking for, has not even 7 days left, to be exact, not even 5 days. Knowing that, we had to find him urgently."
"!"
"...Ah!"
At his words, Ashifrang's pupils shook rapidly. Furthermore, a doctor held his breath.
"...Why are you acting like that?"
General Perry looked at Ashifrang with an expression that seemed to have guessed something.
"...Doctor."
Ashifrang called the doctor, and he, looking away for a moment from the Grand General who was trembling violently, opened his mouth with a grim face.
"In fact, the time his heart stopped had been gradually increasing."
Half a day his heart stopped and half a day he was awake.
That was false.
The time his heart stopped was gradually increasing.
"Analyzing that pattern, we determined that in a week, the Grand General's heart would stop forever."
Unlike Ashifrang's depressed face, the doctor conveyed the information in a rather professional and serene manner.
"So, if we don't cure the madness within that time-"
But his words could not continue.
Step, step.
Cale was approaching the elderly Grand General.
While the servants tried to hold down the old man's body, whose tremors were so severe they bordered on convulsion, Ashifrang grabbed Cale's arm when he got close.
"What are you doing-"
"Doesn't something occur to you?"
At Cale's words, Ashifrang could not answer.
"Mr. Ashifrang. Do you think I am lying?"
At Cale's words, Ashifrang was left speechless. There were many things he could ask if he wanted to know what country they were from or what that country's king was like.
But at least he knew that Cale's look was not that of someone lying.
"There is no time."
With those words, he moved again, and Ashifrang could no longer stop him.
Because, instinctively, he understood that in this situation, uncovering at least one more small piece of the truth was the correct answer.
"Ugh, ah-"
The old man suffering convulsions.
Cale, who had approached him, held his face.
The old man, whose body was held by the servants, did not try to break free from Cale's touch. Rather, he tried to look at Cale somehow.
Therefore, Cale opened his mouth.
"His Majesty King Zed."
If he had heard Cale's voice, he surely would have also understood Cale's words about the King dying soon.
However, in the old man's eyes, there was no sign of such a thing.
Simply, he wanted to speak.
"Ugh, ah-"
But he couldn't speak properly.
As if something was binding him.
It was then.
"Cale. Step aside for a moment."
Alberu had approached without them noticing.
Seeing him, Cale stepped back. The only word the man before them, whom it could not yet be confirmed if he was King Zed, had managed to utter, was "Alberu".
"Father."
Alberu knelt on one knee and took the hand of the old man convulsing on the bed.
"Ugh, ah, ah-"
The old man tried to look at Alberu, and even after Cale let go of his hand, he tried to keep his head fixed in that direction.
Alberu, without realizing it, squeezed the old man's hand tightly.
To the old man with the unknown face and voice, Alberu asked.
"Father. Who is it?"
Who is responsible for all this?
Who the hell did something like this?
He didn't ask if he had little time left to live, if he knew a way to save him.
"Ugh, ah, aah-"
The old man moved his lips.
To him, Alberu drew out the words that would make King Zed move somehow.
To whom he had shown misery and despair.
"We will hunt down all the hunters. We can do it."
"......!"
"Father. Trust this son."
Alberu showed his characteristic smile, as if Raon were scamming.
Alberu recreated here the image of the Crown Prince, loved and cherished by all the citizens of the Roan Kingdom.
A confident and bright smile.
Our prince, loved by everyone in Roan.
The prince spoke as if he had no shadow.
"Even the God of Sun has acknowledged me. Trust that me."
So, tell me.
Who is it?
"......!"
For a moment, the gaze focused in the old man's eyes.
He looked directly at Alberu.
But the words coming out of his mouth remained unclear.
"Ah, ugh, ee, ee-"
He tried to speak somehow.
Alberu felt the old man squeezing his hand tightly.
And finally, the old man spoke.
"Ee, ee, wang, wang-"
The pronunciation was unclear.
However,
"Iwang?" (Second Emperor?)
Cale's expression tensed.
Alberu spoke serenely.
"Is it the Second Emperor?"
Cale recalled the information he had heard from the Wanderer siblings Cho and Ryeon.
'It is widely known that the unique characteristic/Singularity of the Third Emperor is the ocean, but those of the Second and First Emperor are unknown.'
'And it is said that the Second Emperor has a special ability as a unique characteristic/Singularity, not a common natural element.'
'Only that the title she is called by is a bit peculiar: 'Soul Oath'.'
Soul Oath.
Seeing King Zed, who seemed tied to the Grand General's body, Cale's expression tensed more and more.
Was the hunting target King Zed was trying to eliminate the Second Emperor?
"Ugh, ughhh--!"
Then.
"Ugh, ugh...!"
The old man, who had managed to say that, seemed to exhaust himself, as if that was the last thing, and his whole body lost strength and collapsed.
No matter how much he tried to keep his eyes open to say something else, they soon closed.
And he fell into a deep sleep, as if he were dead.
"...I don't feel a pulse."
From the words of Alberu, who was still holding his hand, Cale could realize that the old man had not fallen into a deep sleep as if he were dead, but that his heart had truly stopped.
"Originally, according to the records, it is the time when he should fall asleep."
The doctor mentioned the waking time that was gradually shortening and reported that it was the right moment for him to fall asleep.
"Sigh."
Alberu let out a deep sigh, as if asking when he had smiled so brightly, and simply slumped over.
Cale watched him and then met the gaze of Ashifrang, who was approaching.
"...Did he say Second Emperor just now?"
Seeing Ashifrang, who seemed to have calmed down from his agitation and returned to his formality, Cale examined his expression and threw out abruptly.
"Is it a name that sounds familiar?"
"......"
Ashifrang hesitated for a moment, glanced sideways at General Perry, and finally opened his mouth.
"...I heard it once when I sneaked into my older sister's residence."
"What?! Are you referring to the Seventh General?"
General Perry, who had been silent, could not hide her surprise. Because the target she was going to ask for reinforcements was the Seventh General.
The Grand General's eldest daughter. The Seventh General was known, along with Perry, to be neutral.
"No, rather, sneaked in? Why sneaked in with the Seventh General-"
General Perry, as if she had realized something, turned paler and paler as she spoke.
Ashifrang, as if he had made a decision, clenched his fists and opened his mouth.
"The night my older sister saw our father, after that, our father collapsed."
"How? I never heard that the Grand General saw the Seventh General, only that he was suddenly found in a coma in the morning-"
"That is how it was made known. But, I! I definitely heard that our father was going to see my older sister!"
Ashifrang's voice rose. He was trembling with uneasiness. His body, which had brought to light a secret he hadn't been able to tell anyone until now, was wrapped in fear.
It was at that moment.
Buzz, buzz-
A vibration sound was heard, and General Perry and Ashifrang stopped speaking and turned their heads toward the direction the sound came from.
"?"
"......?"
Their faces showed perplexity.
Suddenly, Cale had taken out of his chest a quite elegant, antique, and beautiful mirror, and was holding it in front of his face.
He was even tapping it lightly.
Tap, tap. Even more, he was smiling.
<I'm in a hurry! Do you really not have a body for me to descend?>
<It's actually not that urgent. I'm hiding now.>
<But I think I'll be discovered in about 3 days.>
The God of Death.
He had contacted the guy who knew the most about death.
The Grand General and King Zed Crossman.
Cale looked at the old man whose heart had stopped.
It seemed that he could somehow find a solution to the current situation.
