Chapter 59

"It's interesting."

The person in the carriage turned his head toward Latil and looked at him as if he were an interesting object. However, his gaze was not that of someone looking at a person, so Tashir remained on guard, ready to intervene at any moment. He had seen many such people during his time running the caravan and knew that those who looked at others with such eyes were very dangerous. How long had this been going on? The masked man, who had been smiling even with a knife at his temple, pointed at Latil with his finger and asked,

"If this map is the price of my life, what is the price of yours?"

Tashir thought Latil would get angry, but Latil, who did not waste his anger on trivial matters, calmly repeated his demand.

"Hand over the map."

The man was the same. He laughed even more deeply, wiping his lips with his thumb and muttering,

"An arrogant beast that needs to be tamed is fun to catch."

However, the moment the masked man let out a meaningless sound, Latil quickly turned the dagger in his hand and lightly struck the man's head with the tip of the dagger. The sound of a thud echoed, and the man's smile froze. His face showed confusion as if asking, "What just happened?" Tashir, startled, called out to Latil in a small voice.

"Why do you always act first and talk later!"

There might be people who think they can act recklessly in an illegal auction, but it was absolutely not the case. The larger the scale of the illegal auction, the stronger the power of the organization that runs it, and they would never tolerate anyone acting recklessly in their territory. Tashir was afraid that the owner of this auction would appear because Latil had openly used violence. It wasn't out of fear, but because Latil had many things to hide.

"It can't be helped. My patience is only for the law-abiding."

Tashir wanted to ask, "Do you even have any conscience and patience?" but given the situation, he kept his mouth shut. Meanwhile, Latil struck the man's head again. When the man tried to stand up without passing out, Latil hit him even harder this time. The dagger in his hand only assisted slightly; it was essentially a punch with his knuckles. Despite growing up with the luxury of being the current emperor and former princess, his determination was intense. Finally, when the masked man passed out, his subordinates, who had been watching from a distance, approached with grim expressions. It was unclear what orders they had received to stand by while their master was hit several times.

"Drive them away."

Latil gave Tashir a simple and clear instruction, then began searching the man's jacket for the map. His calm demeanor, even as several people rushed at him, was filled with trust in Tashir. There was no choice but to follow such a command. Tashir sighed and quickly dealt with the subordinates. The real problem wasn't these people, but the auction managers who would come upon hearing the commotion. There was no way to avoid it. While Latil and the man in the carriage were bickering, it was one thing, but fighting to this extent would definitely bring the managers. It was impossible not to fight in the meantime.

"Are you far?"

Feeling a bit anxious, Tashir kicked the wrist of an opponent who was swinging a sword and asked. There was no response.

"Hey?"

In the midst of this, Tashir couldn't call him "Your Majesty," so he subtly called the emperor as if he were calling his wife, and after calling him "honey" and smiling, he turned to kick another enemy when there was no response, and looked back at the carriage.

"!"

Why is Your Majesty in there! But as soon as he turned, the words "Your Majesty" almost slipped out. Latil, who had been rummaging through the man's clothes by only putting his hand through the window, was now struggling to climb over the window. He couldn't even climb over cleanly and was hanging by his feet.

"Push me!"

Ignoring Tashir's surprise, Latil demanded, and Tashir pushed Latil's legs with his back. But his eyes were still spinning. What is this? Why is Your Majesty getting in there?

"Haah!"

Tashir, who had taken a spear from an enemy and stabbed the enemy's lung with the handle of the spear, then took the spear again and struck another enemy, quickly grabbed the carriage window and checked on Latil during a brief moment of respite. It was unclear why he had gone in there...

"Honey! We need to go!"

Latil, who hadn't heard "honey" earlier, now lifted his head sharply and glared at Tashir. But it was Tashir who screamed.

"Aah! What are you doing!"

"I'm taking off his pants!"

"Why are you taking them off!"

"They're not in the top! They must be hidden in the pants!"

"Wait, why are you taking off a stranger's pants and not mine!"

"There's nothing I'm looking for in yours!"

"How can you be so sure when you haven't even looked!"

"Is there a treasure map in yours?!"

"There's no map, but there is treasure, no, damn it!"

Tashir, who had struck the abdomen of an enemy trying to attack from behind with his elbow, spat out a short curse.

"Drug addict! Did you just curse me?"

"It wasn't me, it was that guy... Damn it!"

"It sounds like you cursed me?"

"The auction managers are coming!"

Tashir quickly dealt with the two enemies rushing at him and jumped into the driver's seat to grab the reins.

"Because of this!"

He snapped the reins, and the horses, which had been standing still, started running. Latil, who was searching the man's pants for the map, was thrown to one side and hit his head on the partition when the carriage suddenly moved.

"Tashir!"

"The auction managers are coming. We need to leave before we get caught."

Auction managers are coming? Latil stuck his head out the window and saw a group of people on horses chasing them. One of them shot an arrow, which grazed his cheek.

"Ouch."

Latil quickly pulled his head back inside and searched the man's clothes again, trying to go faster.

"Damn it. Where did he hide it?"

At that moment, the man, who was thought to be unconscious, grabbed Latil's wrist. Latil, startled, looked up to see the man staring at him with a confused look, as if asking, "What is this?" His eyes slowly moved to the pants Latil was holding.

"!"

* * *

"So, Your Majesty rushed to the High Priest."

Gesta muttered weakly, and his attendant and bodyguard, Tri, felt depressed.

"Don't worry too much, young master."

But the signs of depression did not leave Gesta's face. Tri, feeling sad for no reason, stomped his feet and squatted in front of a tree, tearing at withered grass with his fingernails.

"Your Majesty is too much. The other concubines are all here for power, wealth, or family. Only our young master came here purely to love Your Majesty. How can you leave him like this?"

"He's busy."

"He's not busy! I heard he went out with Tashir today!"

Tri, who had shouted without realizing it, bowed his head deeply after checking Gesta's expression.

"I'm sorry. You must be the most hurt."

After a while, Tri's expression turned grim.

"Tashir is a sly and cunning fox. I don't understand what he sees in him."

Then, Tri, seeing Gesta continuously rolling a vial in his hand, asked curiously.

"What is that, young master?"

"Huh?"

Gesta, startled by Tri's question, blushed and muttered, "Father... the Chancellor..."

"Why the Chancellor?"

When Tri asked again, Gesta bit his lips.

"Young master? Is it something the Chancellor sent you yesterday?"

Yesterday, the Chancellor and the Duke of Atraxi had brought in five large boxes filled with items, competing with each other. Gesta had slowly started to organize them, but had only managed to sort two of them. Could it be in one of those boxes? Gesta, looking down, hesitated and answered in a low voice.

"It's a drug that makes men impotent."

Tri, who had been waiting for an answer, was startled and waved his hands in the air.

"Aah, why do you have such a dangerous thing in your hands! Put it away!"

"It's in the vial."

"Still! It's dangerous!"

Tri quickly snatched the vial from Gesta's hand, placed it far away, and quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe Gesta's hands. But as his shock subsided, curiosity about the terrifying item began to rise.

"Is it permanent or temporary?"

"Temporary. It's supposed to last about a year."

"Does it stop the production of sperm? Or does it completely...?"

"It completely stops the function."

After a short explanation, Gesta, looking frightened, covered his cheeks with both hands.

"I don't know why he sent this. I don't even know how to dispose of it. What if someone takes it by mistake?"

Tri blamed the Chancellor for his heartless action. It seemed to be for palace intrigue. How could he send such a thing to the innocent young master? If he had given it to Tri, he could have carried it around and found a use for it...

'Yes, that's it!'

As soon as he thought of it, Tri quickly wrapped the vial in a handkerchief and asked Gesta.

"Young master. Will you give this to me?"

"Why do you need it?"

Gesta, surprised, asked, and Tri waved his hand, smiling as if it was nothing.

"As you said, we can't just throw it away. I'll keep it and 'dispose' of it in an appropriate place."

For example, in the High Priest's mouth or Prince Klein's stomach. Tri didn't say the rest. His kind young master would be shocked and try to stop him if he heard such a story. Fortunately, Gesta, unaware of Tri's thoughts, smiled brightly in relief.

"That's good. I've been worried. No one should take it."

"Of course."

Tri smiled and quickly put the wrapped vial in his inner pocket. * * * At that moment. The commander of the Holy Knight Order, Baihua, was pacing inside the harem, deep in thought after hearing that a suspected black mage had been captured in a small village with poor transportation. The Emperor Latrasil seemed to think that a group of black mages had entered the palace. He was unsure whether to report this or handle it himself. Suddenly, Baihua stopped, noticing someone.

'That person?'

There was a beautifully dressed man, who looked like a concubine. But Baihua had stopped not because of the man's beauty.

'Wasn't it at the temple before...?'

It was said that an adversary, born at the same time as the Lord who resurrects every 500 years with the forces of darkness, would be born to stop him. The time and date of the adversary's birth were prophesied, and the temple had once sent for all the girls and boys born at that time. However, once the children were gathered, a problem arose. They had brought them, but they had no way of knowing who the adversary was. If the temple's power had been strong, they could have kept the children until they found a way to identify the adversary. Unfortunately, the temple's status had changed significantly since the prophecy was made, and they had to return most of the children after three months. This man was one of the children who had come to the temple at that time. He was also the only boy who had stayed for a month before leaving.

'His personality was really unlucky.'

A lot of time had passed, but he couldn't forget that face. At that moment, as if he had heard his own story, the beautiful concubine turned his head slightly toward Baihua.

'His name was just like him... Ah, that's right.'

Baihua recalled the concubine's name. Lanawen. The eldest son of the Atraxi family, Lanawen. That was definitely his name.