Published at 30th of October 2020 02:06:37 PM
Chapter 268
Chapter 268
“Are you the guest who came here with Yongyun’s gold plaque?” The emperor, an old man sitting on his throne, threw a question at Hyeonu .
‘Old man . . . ’ Hyeonu thought .
That’s right . The emperor was an old man . He had white hair, white eyebrows, and a white beard . They were all white . His dignity as an emperor couldn’t be seen at all .
‘Of course, I thought the third imperial prince was fairly old, so I was mentally prepared . But . . . ’
Still, this was the only emperor of the East Continent . He could eat meals that were good for his body and learn the best magic power application method in the East Continent . Then why was he so old? Hyeonu couldn’t understand it at all . Nevertheless, he was polite to the emperor .
“Yes, I am Gang Hyeonu . ”
“I’ve already heard about it . You came from beyond Mount Cheon? An adventurer and a viscount . . . You are great . . . ”
The emperor was genial and more like a neighborhood elder than the emperor . He didn’t give off the air of an emperor at all .
‘He feels like the village chief of Aslan . ’
“You're overpraising me . I was lucky enough to come to the East Continent . Ah, this . . . My emperor sent it . ” Hyeonu pulled out the emperor’s pre-arranged message .
The attendant that was standing without any presence behind the emperor moved . He stood in front of Hyeonu and reached out politely . Then Hyeonu carefully placed the message in the attendant’s hand . The attendant bowed slightly before stepping back and returning to his original position .
The emperor received the letter from the attendant and opened it . “Hmm . . . ”
There was no change in his expression while reading it . In fact, it was exactly the same from beginning to end .
‘What is written in it?’
Hyeonu hadn’t seen the letter, so he was curious . If he were asked about why he didn’t read it, Hyeonu had only one answer .
‘The emperor told me not to look . ’
Hyeonu might be the only one hired, but he had no intention of risking failure . Consequently, he chose the so-called ‘safe route’ . It wasn’t long before the emperor’s gaze shifted from the letter to Hyeonu . “Do you know what is written here?”
Hyeonu shook his head . “I don't know . How could I read the correspondence of His Majesty at will?”
“Then I will read it exactly as it is written . ‘The person carrying this letter is very talented . There will be a place to use him at least once . However, he won’t act if there are no rewards . Be careful . In addition, if you want to sign an exchange treaty between continents, just give him a reply . ’ Do you agree with the emperor?”
Hyeonu nodded . The fact that the emperor of the West Continent knew him so well gave him goosebumps . After all, he was a player . He never did a job without any compensation . Every time he moved, tangible and intangible rewards always followed .
“That is correct, but it isn’t just me . Most adventurers are like that . We will go back and forth if it is profitable . ”
“For the sake of profit, you aren’t picky . . . It is nice and neat . This is better than feeling dubious about your intentions . ”
The eyes of the East Continent’s emperor lit up for a moment . Then the light disappeared as quickly as it had appeared .
‘He isn’t just an old man . ’
However, Hyeonu didn’t miss it . He noticed that the emperor was indeed an emperor after all .
“An exchange . . . It is a good idea . Hmm . . . A good idea . I’ll write my reply,” the emperor said and raised his hand .
The attendant pulled out a brush that he got from an unknown place and handed it politely to the emperor .
“So Gang Hyeonu, can you cross Mount Cheon at any time?” The emperor asked as he placed the brush on white paper .
His eyes weren’t on Hyeonu though .
“Of course, I can cross Mount Cheon . It just takes a long time . If you give me a return amulet, I can come back faster . ”
“When can other adventurers come here?”
“I expect it to take half a month at the earliest . The number will be around 40 or so . It is necessary for them to cross the mountain range, but it is a tricky task . Therefore, it will take time for the number of adventurers to increase . ”
“Quality is more important than quantity . Of course, the relationship with me is important for that ‘quality’ . ”
Hyeonu found the emperor’s words strange . It was as if he knew something and was asking Hyeonu about it .
‘I think his words have a different meaning from before?’
It was worrisome .
The relationship with the emperor himself… What did this mean?
Hyeonu was troubled for a moment . Just then, a thought flashed through Hyeonu’s mind: ‘Why is the emperor trying to look like an old man?’
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“I have a question . Can I ask it? Your Majesty?” Hyeonu prepared numerous baits to be used with the question he wanted to ask .
“Go ahead and ask me . You are a guest of the imperial family, so you can ask as much as you want . ” The emperor didn’t know anything and happily accepted Hyeonu’s request .
“There are many wonders in Yuxin . Its characteristics are amazing, and the culture is unique . ”
“I guess so . The West Continent and East Continent are separated, so they will be different . ” The emperor nodded at Hyeonu’s words .
It was obvious . Even within the empire, the cultures of the north and the south were different . The culture of Taeyang was different from other cities, let alone the culture of another continent .
“That’s the strange thing . For example, Buncheonru here in Taeyang . There are many stores and even places to sleep in the huge building . ”
“Buncheonru can be called the pride of Yuxin . ”
The emperor liked hearing Hyeonu’s continuous praise and even clapped . There was no one who wouldn’t like hearing praises for their nation . This was even more so if they felt love and pride for their nation . Behind the mask, Hyeonu’s face had a strange smile as he asked, “So who is the owner of Buncheonru?”
“Buncheonru has no owner . You can open a store as long as you pay a certain amount of taxes to the imperial family . ”
Now, Hyeonu would say what he wanted to ask the most upon meeting the emperor: “Then I’ll ask specifically—who is the owner of the seventh floor? The imperial family? The nobles? Or . . . someone else?”
“ . . . . . . ” The emperor was silent .
However, silence was also an answer .
‘Huh?’ Hyeonu wondered .
Then at this moment, he felt something behind his back and quickly stretched out his fist . The Mysterious Sky Sword was placed in his inventory, but he was still wearing Memories of a Murderer . It was because it looked like a pair of normal gloves and not a weapon . Hyeonu’s fist had black magic power swirling around it like flames as it collided with someone’s sword . The man with the sword bounced away . Hyeonu followed after the man while raising his fists .
“Stop!”
At the emperor’s urgent call, Hyeonu stopped moving . His fist had stopped right in front of the eyes of the man in black .
“I’m sorry . Buncheonru is a very sensitive topic, and they don’t know you . . . ”
The emperor looked genuinely sorry, but Hyeonu didn’t believe it at all .
‘Damn old man . . . He is testing me . ’ Hyeonu couldn’t not know this .
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The developers wouldn’t have turned the emperor into a puppet unless they were idiots . The emperor was just hiding behind a nice face . Hyeonu told him, “Stop it . I will stop too . Instead, you need to answer me . The owner of the seventh floor is the Gucheon Secret Department . What is their relationship with the imperial family?”
“I will be the one to explain that slowly . ” This time, a voice rang out from behind the emperor . The owner of the voice was someone Hyeonu knew well . It was Liu Yongyun—the empire’s third prince .
‘Ah, that’s right . I’m streaming . . . That’s good . ’
Seeing Liu Yongyun made Hyeonu remember what happened a few days ago . He had also turned off the microphone when he met Liu Yongyun then . It was only now that he realized the microphone was currently still turned off as he had been too preoccupied with the idea of playing Arena alone .
Hyeonu’s back started to sweat . He couldn’t help feeling depressed at the thought of the viewers’ complaints .
‘I’m going to have to turn it on now . ’
Hyeonu quickly turned on the microphone and whispered in a very low voice, “I’m sorry . I forgot . I won’t let this happen next time . ”
It was an excuse he made every time, and Hyeonu repeated it again today . Yet, the next time this happened, Hyeonu would certainly still turn off the microphone . He made excuses but didn’t look at the chat window . Instead, Hyeonu was staring at Liu Yongyun, who was in front of him .
“Can I explain it now?” Liu Yongyun wondered .
“I was waiting for you to explain . ” Hyeonu used the fact that his expression wasn’t visible through the mask to naturally turn over the situation .
“The Gucheon Secret Department . . . They were originally created by the first emperor . It was hundreds of years ago . The original intention was to make them an instrument for easy governance . The idea was to limit the power of the nobles by impersonating a mysterious force . Then . . . ”
-What does this sound like?
-Isn’t this completely avoiding liability?
-At first glance, it is a story of a force becoming an uncontrollable monster .
-Quency’s developers should wake up . This story is too cliche . It is better to let Alley Leader do it . He will make something more novel .
Hyeonu nodded . He agreed with the viewers . It was a scenario that was too obvious, cliché, and tiring .
“Are you saying it has reached a point where you can’t control them anymore? They came from the Yuxin imperial family, but they have become uncontrollable monsters . Now you don’t know their exact size or external circumstances?” Hyeonu questioned .
Liu Yongyun couldn’t say anything and only smiled .
“So right now, the imperial family has nothing to do with Buncheonru? Do you have any recent information?” Hyeonu inquired further .
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“It doesn’t matter at all now . It sounds strange, but it is a competitive relationship . We don’t know how much of the Yuxin Empire has joined hands with them . ”
“Can you give me any information you have? I have a bit of a grudge with them . ”
At Hyeonu’s words, questions appeared on the faces of Liu Yongyun and the emperor . How did an adventurer who had just crossed into the East Continent form a grudge with the Gucheon Secret Department?
“You don’t understand, but . . . it’s true . The martial art I have learned is deeply connected to them,” Hyeonu explained the situation to Liu Yongyun who was staring at him with wide eyes .
Liu Yongyun nodded . “Of course, I will give you the information I have . Viscount, a strong man like you will be very helpful to us . ”
-Then you should’ve publicized it and attacked them for being smugglers or robbers .
-Are you stupid? Think before talking . Filter your brain .
-If this fact was known, would the nobles stay still? They will run in and try to be independent . Thus, the empire can’t openly subjugate them .
-Okay, okay . I understand now .
‘Yes, this is the reason . ’
Hyeonu understood enough . Apart from that, he still thought they were incompetent . He wouldn’t have come this far if he had even a bit of an obsession with power .
‘Then I don’t have to use the return scroll . ’
Hyeonu smiled at the situation that had gone well .
-So, Alley Leader? Shall we chat now? Why did you just turn off the chat? Where did you go at the beginning?
-This seems to have completely lost your original intention, person who talked about original intentions just an hour ago . . .
-Do you have dementia? This is a matter that requires an apology .
Hyeonu saw the chat window and started sweating again . The situation wasn’t going well at all .
‘Damn . ’
He was suffering the consequences of his own actions .
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