Chapter 58: The Knight Who Does Not Remove His Helmet (1)

"I plan to tell them we are the special task force of Sumuk. We need to keep a tight lid on this."

Sumuk was the kingdom to which this village belonged.

We intended to say that we had come upon hearing the news that a sinister group had unleashed a plague upon the kingdom.

The authority of a special task force, acting under royal command, is formidable.

A warning that no word should leak out, along with an order to disperse to other villages, would be sufficient.

Our contact in the task force has likely lost communication, so it's certain that the demon worshippers will come here.

These people will surely all die, and in the process, our information will be sold.

‘Even though we put on a disguise, it’s dangerous.’

The best way to silence people is through death, but I don’t want to create innocent victims.

Of course, the shelf life of fear is short. Over time, more people will start to speak up, but...

This should be enough.

With the passage of time, the scattered words of individuals will lose their credibility.

And by then, it won’t be an issue anymore.

The continent will be in such chaos that this incident won’t even be a topic of conversation.

‘The future might change.’

If there’s a problem with the plague experiment, it might differ from the future I know.

In fact, the moment I entered Bendoche, it became an irreversible event.

Still, it’s not bad.

In exchange for the risk of the future changing, I met Ines, who can see the future, even if only in fragments.

"And we’ll leave the village before dawn."

"Sounds good. It’s not perfect, but it’s fine."

After a brief explanation, Toun agreed without a word. He must have asked for the sake of the villagers.

In fact, even if we kill them all, there will still be talk, so it’s not a bad method.

"What about the natives? You said you heard about this incident roughly."

"Oh, they’re fine. They think Toun is a Sword Master."

"What?"

Toun’s eyes widened in surprise. He looked confused. I shrugged.

"They immediately realized I wasn’t a doctor. I changed the direction a bit. I heard about the plague from Toun."

Toun let out a hollow laugh.

"Ha, well. Then I’d better not go in."

"Yes. Meddling with a shaman candidate will just cause trouble. I’ll go in and wrap things up."

"Then I’ll play with this guy. Should I take him to Haisen?"

Toun adjusted the gloves he was wearing. I could already guess how he would play with him.

I shrugged.

"I’ll leave it to Toun’s judgment. He doesn’t seem to know much, but you never know."

Toun responded with a deep smile.

"Right. This is my specialty. Toby, Vasko!"

Toun gathered the agents as if he were about to share a secret. I turned to take care of the details.

After meeting the eagle, we could say that we had turned a bad omen into a good one.

The night sky suddenly came into view.

Though the eagle was not visible, a crescent moon was shining among countless stars.

Under the bright moonlight, I felt a sense of regret. The battle, which I hadn’t had in a long time, ended too easily.

It felt like my blood had only just started to boil.

‘Tch.’

Unlike when I first arrived, I’ve now adapted to this body.

It seems I’m better suited to running around in the field like Toun rather than sitting at a desk.

I recited the Moonlight Spell to calm the moon inside me.

* * *

-Even if you are a doctor, it’s too early in the morning...

The village chief, who had been woken up in the early morning, looked uncomfortable.

He immediately changed his attitude when we threw the demon worshippers’ heads at him and claimed to be the special task force of Sumuk.

Still, he had a suspicious look. It was natural. That’s why we brought the heads.

I solved the problem by using the wind to move my sword in front of the chief’s neck and levitating the heads in the air.

He would think it was magic rather than wind.

‘You have to see it to believe it.’

After that, he didn’t even make eye contact. He answered the trembling questions well.

The demon worshippers were people who had come to this place 1-2 years ago. They had been preparing since then.

-If you want to live, abandon the village and don’t tell anyone about this incident.

If any noise is heard, not only the special task force but also other malicious forces will target you. He nodded in fear.

I wanted to gather all the villagers and tell them, but the drawbacks outweighed the benefits.

Considering the bad reputation of the special task force in this country, this was enough.

After that, I went straight to Ines. Unlike the nervous guards, she had a calm face.

She said that the matter was resolved, but she couldn’t identify the culprits.

‘Well... It didn’t seem like she believed me completely.’

In fact, knowing about the plague means she had some idea of who the culprits were.

The conversation during the day had also been somewhat vague.

Still, since she was in our debt, she didn’t press for more details.

I conveyed the general situation and told her that we would leave this place now.

At that moment, I felt the giant’s collapse through the wind and realized the interrogation was over.

It was faster than expected.

Either the wind blew quickly, or they judged there was nothing to gain. I think the latter is more likely.

"Then I’ll go first. Everyone, move quickly. The moon is bright, but it’s still deep night. The village will soon be in chaos."

As I stood up without hesitation, a guard asked urgently.

"Where are you going? If we’re heading in the same direction, it would be better to move together..."

His eyes were filled with desperation. Having only heard the situation one-sidedly, he must still feel uneasy.

Moreover, since there were only two of us, standing guard or camping would be a burden.

He might also be looking forward to meeting Toun, whom he considers a Sword Master or someone of similar caliber.

"My teacher doesn’t like people..."

"A pity, but there’s nothing we can do."

The guards stepped back, slightly taken aback by the polite refusal.

"If anything happens, mention Partak’s name when you reach the southwestern region. We’ll come to your aid immediately."

I knew the name of the tribe from earlier and responded with a smile.

"I will."

The guard tapped his chest twice with his fist. It was a brief expression of gratitude.

As I took three steps away from the door, Ines followed me out. Her green eyes drew closer.

"See you again."

The girl said it with confidence. In fact, we hadn’t even decided how to contact each other.

Given our current situation, there was no regular way to communicate.

I planned to find her somehow in the future, but her unwavering confidence made me feel strange.

Did she see that future too?

"Sure. See you."

We exchanged a nod, and as I turned, the system message updated.

* * *

There were no significant events during the return to Haisen. At most, we ate a wild boar.

However, Kallin was experiencing something different.

Since meeting Ines, he had been having the same dream every night.

It was a dream of walking through a castle. Though it wasn’t clear, it felt strangely familiar.

Kallin was walking towards a certain room, but he didn’t know what it was or why he was going there.

He would wake up just as the door came into view.

It wasn’t always the same. The starting point in the castle varied.

Sometimes he didn’t see the door, and other times he even touched the doorknob.

‘Is this the effect of meeting the shaman?’

He wondered if the strange aura had affected him.

The disappearance of nightmares was a good thing, but his condition didn’t improve, and the dream itself became a source of worry.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get any useful information from Holin. The guy seemed to know nothing and was tight-lipped.

Kallin thought the brute’s silence included his mouth. He didn’t feel disappointed.

‘If Toun couldn’t do it, no one else would have made him talk either.’

The report on the mission was finished. The duke only left a short praise for the good job.

From his busy movements afterward, it seemed he was tracking more plagues.

A few days later, the duke called Kallin.

Kallin immediately realized it was an important mission for the empire.

In the office, the duke, who looked a bit tired, was sitting.

It was an unusual sight. He had gone to the kingdom yesterday and seemed to have overdrunk.

"You’re here."

Kallin greeted, and the duke pointed to the chair in front.

"Sit down. This will take a while."

The duke lit a cigarette while Kallin sat.

"As I mentioned before, you’ll soon go to the empire. However, it’s not to the imperial intelligence agency."

"Then...?"

Kallin couldn’t answer, surprised.

"You will become the royal guard of the princess."

The surprise was multiplied. Approaching the princess was one of Kallin’s goals.

However, the confusion was inevitable.

‘Did the empress recommend me?’

Kallin, frowning, tried to understand the meaning of this sudden mission.

The empress of the empire was once the princess of Haisen, the sister of the current king of Haisen.

Though she entered as the second wife, she took the empress’s position after the first empress died.

However, her position was not good.

‘There’s only the princess below her.’

The emperor has four children, and the first, second, and third princes are the children of the deceased first empress.

Naturally, they would dislike the current empress. There were even rumors of poisoning when the first empress died.

Her power in the palace was almost non-existent.

The emperor, who didn’t favor women, didn’t take good care of the empress.

‘Wait a moment.’

Suddenly, Kallin’s mind became complicated. He thought he had found the root of Haisen’s decline.

Soon, the war among the princes will begin. Haisen will know this.

Kallin thought Haisen might be trying to put the princess on the throne.

Regardless of the princess’s will.

It aligned with his plans, but it also meant he had been exposed. It was a dangerous mission.

Kallin, maintaining silence, asked.

"Are you planning to make the princess the emperor?"

The duke looked at Kallin with a calm face. Kallin couldn’t read any emotion in his eyes.

Did he expect Kallin to realize this? When Kallin thought this, the duke spoke.

"Yes."

The moment the duke called it an ‘important mission’ became clear.

"It took a long time to create that background."

The duke extinguished the cigarette on the desk.

"It will be tough. You’ll have to make all the judgments on the spot. You can refuse. We can replace you with someone else now."

Kallin had no reason to refuse or object. It aligned with his intentions.

In fact, it wasn’t bad.

The danger was obvious, but...

If he, who has the ability to avoid death, goes, he might be able to prevent things from going wrong, like in the game.

"Still, personally, I’d like you to do it. From what I see, you’re the only one who can."

Kallin agreed with this.

Just having the wind as a mystery changes what he can do in the palace.

There was a separate question.

He always emphasized the importance of life, yet he was giving such a dangerous mission.

It was about entering the heart of the empire. Disguising himself as usual was impossible.

It was a place where Sword Masters were common. Disguise would be a clear invitation to suspicion.

His face would definitely be exposed. If he fails, he must be prepared to die.

‘No. He must have judged that this was a matter of life and death, worth risking the life he valued so much.’

It was about making an emperor who would benefit Haisen.

Kallin thought that if the duke was willing to risk his own life, he would have done it himself.

"And... When you said you wanted to go to the empire, didn’t you say you wanted to see the princess?"

The duke asked with a smile. It was an old question.

The duke’s intention was to ease Kallin’s tension. Kallin smiled faintly.

"Yes. I’ll do it."

At that moment, Kallin’s vision turned black and white. It was the warning of the death avoidance ability.