LIGHTNOVELSTORY chapter 25
25
The contents of the scroll were quite lengthy.
However, it could be summarized in just two sentences.
1. Kudalkang, the king of Lake Melbeck, was killed by an unknown being.
2. The being that killed Kudalkang is probably a dragon.
It all started with Kudalkang’s excrement.
Normally, to obtain Kudalkang’s excrement, one had to enter his territory.
Of course, this was a dangerous task that could cost you your life.
That’s why Kudalkang’s excrement was more expensive than gold of the same weight.
However, at some point, Kudalkang’s excrement began to circulate in large quantities in Melbeck Castle.
One of the tax collectors found this phenomenon strange and reported it to his superiors, and eventually it reached the ears of the Lord of Melbeck.
The lord also intuitively felt that this was something that should not be overlooked and ordered his men to investigate.
As a result, they learned that Kudalkang was dead.
Someone had found Kudalkang’s body and removed a large amount of excrement from his intestines and brought it to the castle, which was the cause of the mass distribution.
The Lord of Melbeck immediately dispatched experts to the scene to investigate the cause of Kudalkang’s death.
And the provisional conclusion was that he had been killed by a dragon, not by natural causes.
In fact, even without being an expert, anyone could have guessed that.
Only a dragon could hunt a beast the size of a koodakang.
And there was only one reason a dragon would hunt a koodakang:
To absorb the mana gem inside its body.
“There is no guarantee that the dragon that hunted the koodakang won’t come here and hunt the teydon!” the princess told the emperor.
The dragon’s territory was vast.
If it moved to Asdel, killed the teydon, and ate its heart, the princess’s plan to use the heart to infuse the Altar of Protection with mana would be over before it even began.
“So we must act before the dragon does!”
Hmm.
Unlike the agitated princess, the emperor remained calm.
The emperor thought for a moment before speaking.
“This is not a matter we can decide on our own. We must call for Raymon.”
The emperor and princess left the underground chamber and returned to the conference room.
The emperor immediately called for Professor Raymon.
He came running from the imperial library, out of breath.
“You called, Your Majesty!”
The princess handed Raymon a piece of paper.
It was a copy of the scroll, written down word for word.
Raymon’s expression was grave after he read it.
“My word.”
The emperor asked Raymon, “What do you think? Do you really think a dragon killed the koodakang?”
“I am certain of it! And the dragon’s hunting of the koodakang is not an isolated incident, but a cataclysmic event, as serious as the Deluge!”
“A cataclysmic event! Don’t exaggerate. Tell me exactly what you mean!”
The emperor knew that Raymon was prone to exaggeration.
But when it came to matters like this, there was no greater expert than Raymon.
“I am not exaggerating! It is the first time in a thousand years that a dragon has hunted a sovereign!”
In ancient texts, beasts like the koodakang and teydon were referred to as sovereigns.
“And the last time dragons hunted sovereigns, a thousand years ago, it was to increase their population!”
“Increase their population?”
“Yes, to prepare for laying eggs.”
He meant that they hunted sovereigns to obtain the mana necessary for reproduction.
“If the dragon hunted the koodakang for the same reason this time, the mana from one will not be enough. After resting for a while, it will surely target another sovereign nearby!”
In the end, Raymon’s opinion was no different from the princess’s.
It was highly likely that the dragon would come to Asdel and hunt the teydon.
The princess implored the emperor once more.
“Your Majesty, please make a decision! There is no time! If the dragon takes the teydon’s heart, there will be no other chance for us!”
The emperor was troubled.
Infusing the Altar of Protection with mana to protect the people of the empire was important, but the safety of his only daughter was equally so.
“Assemble the expeditionary force, but Christina, you must not remain in the fortress.”
“You know that is impossible.”
Hmm-
The Emperor closed his eyes tightly, lost in thought, then opened them and spoke to the Princess.
“Bring that red-haired man to me. Was it Michael? I will meet him and decide.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The Princess hurried out of the Imperial Palace to fetch Minhyuk.
***
As Minhyuk walked through the forest, he suddenly stopped.
At his feet bloomed a single flower.
It was a yellow flower with a black pistil.
＜Tiger Lily discovered.＞
It was one of the herbs Luna had asked for, along with Marsh Frogbit.
‘She only asked for the flower.’
Minhyuk left the stem and picked only the flower bud.
Then he looked up at the sky.
The sun was setting.
He had promised General Drake that he would take swordsmanship lessons in the evening.
He should return to the fortress now, as he needed to stop by the alchemy shop.
Plop, plop-
He crossed the marsh and arrived at the fortress gate.
But something familiar caught his eye.
‘Is that···.’
The Princess’ carriage was there.
And next to it was General Drake on horseback.
The General saw Minhyuk and called out.
“Are you just returning now?”
At the sound of his voice, the Princess emerged from the carriage.
Minhyuk walked towards them and asked.
“Why are you all here? What’s going on?”
The Princess had mixed feelings about seeing Minhyuk again.
She recalled how she had declared in front of her father that she would marry him, and her face flushed.
She replied to Minhyuk.
“We were waiting for you.”
“Why me?”
“His Majesty the Emperor seeks you. Come with me to the Imperial Palace.”
“What for?”
“It concerns the expedition I told you about.”
Minhyuk wanted to hurry the expedition anyway.
He had no reason to refuse.
Minhyuk and the princess set off for the imperial palace in a carriage.
Inside the carriage, the princess told Minhyuk about the news from Melbeck.
A dragon might come to Asdel, aiming for Teidon’s heart.
‘So it really was about a dragon after all.’
The Melbeck envoy’s words flashed through Minhyuk’s mind.
“There’s a new competitor aiming for Teidon’s heart.”
“That’s right. The problem is that this competitor is too strong. We have to finish things before he gets to Asdel.”
Before they knew it, they arrived at the palace.
Minhyuk followed the princess into the council chamber.
The emperor was sitting on his throne.
While waiting for the red-haired man, the emperor kept thinking about what questions to ask him.
Whether he really was capable of completing this great undertaking,
Whether he would be able to protect the princess in a crisis,
What his true intentions were,
He wanted to ask Minhyuk many questions to confirm these things.
However,
‘No way!’
The moment he saw Minhyuk’s red hair, the emperor was shocked.
‘It’s flames!’
It was exactly the same color as the flames he had seen in his dream a few days ago.
In his dream, he had been overjoyed as he watched the flames engulf Asdel Castle.
At the time, he had not understood the meaning of that dream.
He had thought it was just a strange dream caused by his exhausted mind and body.
But that was not the case.
That dream had been a sign from heaven.
Whoosh-
In the emperor’s eyes, Minhyuk’s hair blazed like flames, reaching up to the ceiling of the palace.
‘It wasn’t flames of destruction, but flames of prosperity! That’s why I was so happy!’
A man had appeared who would open up Asdel’s future with flames of prosperity.
And such a man would be able to protect the princess in any dangerous situation.
The emperor did not ask Minhyuk any of the questions he had prepared after much deliberation.
He immediately called out to the princess.
“I grant you permission for your expedition!”
The princess was puzzled.
She was relieved to have been granted permission for the expedition, but she did not understand why the emperor had made his decision without asking any questions and simply looking at Minhyuk’s face.
“And.”
The emperor continued, looking at Minhyuk.
“I will entrust you with command of the expeditionary force.”
The princess’s eyes widened at the emperor’s words that he would entrust Minhyuk with all command and control of the expeditionary force.
Her proposal to make Minhyuk the central figure of the expeditionary force was different from giving him command.
She immediately told the emperor her opinion.
“Although Michael is extraordinary, it’ll be difficult to command the army with only his authority and no connections. How about dividing the overall command between me and General Drake, and having Michael lead an independent unit that will carry out the most important missions?”
After hearing the princess’s words, the emperor asked Min-hyuk.
“Is that so? As the princess says, is it burdensome for you to lead the entire expedition?”
Min-hyuk didn’t answer the emperor right away, and instead asked the princess.
“What size force are you thinking of for the expedition?”
“Around 4,000 men would be ideal. It’s not necessarily advantageous to have a large number.”
Compared to Asdel’s total forces, 4,000 men wasn’t a large number.
However, the mission of the expedition was different in nature from waging war against another country.
They had to reach Theidon’s territory by passing through dangerous areas crawling with monsters.
If they were to increase their numbers without reason, they would only increase their unnecessary casualties.
It was the same principle as how a large surface area receives more rain.
It was best to quickly complete the mission with an elite force of 4,000 men.
“What about the independent unit?”
“I’m thinking around 200 men.”
Min-hyuk had another reason for asking about the number of soldiers.
This message had been floating before his eyes since earlier.
＜You have been offered command of the expedition by the emperor of Asdel.＞
＜If you accept the emperor’s offer, you will command all the soldiers in the expedition.＞
＜You will accumulate return time when the soldiers under your command kill monsters.＞
If he commanded someone, he would accumulate return time even if they succeeded in hunting.
For example, if a soldier under his command killed a wolf or a goblin, Min-hyuk’s return time would accumulate by 10 seconds.
‘That’s how it is!’
Just as a conglomerate earns astronomical amounts of money from other people’s labor,
return time could also be accumulated in the same way.
If he were to lead the independent unit, he would only command 200 men.
However, if he were to take command of the entire expedition, he could command all 4,000 men.
Of course, he should take command of the entire expedition.
If each of the 4,000 soldiers were to kill just 10 monsters each on their way to the expedition,
‘Four hundred thousand seconds!’
Converted to hours, that was 111 hours, or over 4 days.
Furthermore, if he succeeded in killing Theidon and extracting its heart, he could accumulate an additional 24 hours,
‘A total of 5 days!’
Even at the very least, he could accumulate at least 5 days of return time from this expedition alone.
That was enough time to move into a new, spacious officetel with a refrigerator.
He pictured himself in a high-rise officetel, looking down at the night view of Seoul through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
‘I’m escaping from the goshiwon!’
And now that he knew the method, it would be much easier to accumulate return time even after the expedition was over.
‘I need to lead an organization. A really, really large organization!’
In any case, accumulating return time was Min-hyuk’s personal reward.
Separate negotiations were needed with the emperor.
Minhyuk asked the emperor.
“If I lead the entire expedition and succeed in the mission, what will you give me?”
Then, the princess intervened.
“I already told you I’d give you a fief.”
Minhyuk looked straight at the emperor and said,
“I want to hear it directly from the emperor.”
Then, the emperor opened his mouth with a serious expression.
“I shall give you the Asdel Empire.”