Chapter 177: Puzzle Pieces (3)

༺ Puzzle Pieces (3) ༻

That single sentence broke the silence of the banquet hall.

Even though the King had personally stated that I could wish for anything, no one would have been expecting Legal Immunity to be brought up.

King David was someone who stayed faithful to his own words. He would have given me anything I desired, even if that involved a royal treasure.

However, what I asked for was an Immunity from Persecution. Asking to be pardoned for any crime I commit, was ominously similar to notifying beforehand of a crime.

To be fair, that wasn't wrong. But what they would never expect, was that it would be a crime of treason.

"Legal Immunity, huh...? Was not expecting that, Baron Lork."

The King appeared to be in a slight dilemma but soon gave permission.

"Good. Baron Korin Lork. I shall grant you a Legal Immunity guaranteed by the royal court. No matter what crime or sin you may commit, it shall be forgiven once, if you do indeed decide to use it."

The King's words had to be heavier than anything else, and they thus couldn't go against their own words. No matter the intention I had, the King could not withdraw what he said.

Don't worry, Father-in-law. This wouldn't be a bad story for you either.

"Next, Lady Marie Dunareff. We shall grant thee the staff of the Great Mage from the royal treasury—"

The main named characters of Korin Guardians each received a reward depending on their contribution. After the award ceremony was over, the banquet hall regained its noise and excitement. It was getting late, but the dishes were constantly being refilled for everyone to have their fill for the night.

"Knight Korin."

The banquet was in full festival mood when a lady came over with the help of a walking stick.

"Your Highness Elizabeth."

"Fufu. You are the academy senior, so why don't you be less formal?"

"The palace has its own set of rules, after all."

"Were you really born a commoner? How are you so knowledgeable about the rules?"

"I'm sure you've looked into it already."

Princess Miru smiled impishly before changing the topic.

"His Majesty wants to have dinner together."

"I see."

It was the same as how it went in the last iteration after I said, 'Please give me Her Highness Miruam!' Well, it shouldn't be as spicy as it was back then at the very least.

I left the banquet hall with Princess Miruam, and we were immediately greeted by a group of maids and servants who guided us to the venue. Unlike how it was back at the banquet hall which was rather open to the public, we came across more and more guards the deeper we went into the palace.

Knights and soldiers were patrolling around the palace and barriers set up by mages were prohibiting intruders.

I could still remember how it was impossible to get around the palace in secret unless you were following either the Great Mage or the Assassin skill tree.

'Everyone's busy.'

Perhaps because of the crowd of people from the banquet, the guards and servants all appeared quite busy. However, none of them were running and there weren't any loud conversations going on, as all of them were representatives of the palace.

They had to be mindful of dignity and class since the residence of the royal family was currently being visited by a bunch of nobles. Thanks to that, this place had a completely different atmosphere to the outside world, as if it was in a totally different dimension.

'I had to leave before I even got used to this place though.'

I recalled the times when I used to live here for a short period of time when Princess Miru spoke to me.

"An interesting reward you asked for."

"You mean the Legal Immunity?"

"Yes. It sounded like a declaration that you would commit something in the future that would warrant you using that Legal Immunity."

"Not wrong."

A crime of treason, that is.

"May I ask what it is going to be?"

"It will spoil the fun if you hear about it beforehand. Please wait for the surprise."

Miruam suddenly stopped her feet and turned around, and so did the surrounding maids and servants.

"I am curious about what you are going to do with that Legal Immunity. I am very intrigued."

"Thank you for being interested in me."

I looked around at the servants and the maids... All of them looked familiar - they were all people whom Miruam had persuaded into her faction.

Although Princess Miruam had lost quite a large supporter with the fall of the Tower of Mages, she was still standing strong inside the palace. There was no need to worry about our current conversation being conveyed to someone else.

Inside the secret and secluded room surrounded by the walls of maids and servants, she pulled my tie to bring me closer to her.

"My offer is still valid."

『You can do whatever you want to me.』

A shockingly sweet fragrance stimulated my nose. She didn't even bother hiding the venomous light in her eyes - those same eyes were so enchanting and captivating that she didn't even need to.

It was a sensuous seduction proving how she was like a flame, willing to sacrifice her own life to achieve her objective, however...

『Did you wake up? I was just looking at your sleeping face.』

I could still remember the warm and bright smile she had beneath that venomous face, and her defenseless side which she showed only to me.

"Let's see."

Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pulled her towards me. The maid next to her flinched but Miru held them back with a gaze.

Soon, she turned towards me, and our crimson eyes looked into one another.

"It's an attractive offer, but I would have to decline for the time being."

"Meaning?"

"Please wait patiently. I will come back with another offer."

"Hmm..."

Princess Miru scrutinized my face as if trying to discern my intentions.

"Well, fine. But you better not be too late."

With that, we resumed walking down the palace until we were at the entrance of the hall where the royal family shared their meals.

"Do you need me to tell you about the royal etiquette?"

"It's fine. I've learned them all."

"I wonder who taught you the royal etiquette. Was it Estelle?"

'It's you.'

The dining room inside still looked familiar, because nothing had changed since the last iteration.

Underneath the brilliant chandelier was a large dining table, covered by a white tablecloth. Three people were sitting down next to the table filled with all sorts of dishes.

King David, Queen Asher, and Estelle the 1st Princess...

The King offered me a seat.

"Take a seat, Baron Lork. You too, Princess Miruam."

I already greeted him at the banquet hall so I sat down without any formalities. On the other side of the seat was Estelle, who gave a faint wave after seeing me sit down.

'Hello~'

She seemed to have regained some of her energy and looked a lot better than how she did before the banquet.

"Thank you for the invitation, Your Majesty."

"Right. I heard you are a vassal noble of the Dunareff Dukedom."

"It was thanks to a small connection we had."

"Saving the young lady of the dukedom is more than just a small connection, I would say."

As expected, the King was aware of Marie's vampire awakening incident.

"The Dunareff is a long ally of the royal court and an important family in charge of the Kingdom's lifeline. Helping them is no different from saving the Kingdom."

"I am flattered, Your Majesty."

I replied with a slight bow to his compliment. Hearing that, King David smiled and said while shaking his hand.

"There's no need to be so formal, Knight Korin. You are a benefactor who has saved my daughter, and a hero that subjugated the wicked Tower. I am indebted to you both as a father of a child and as the Kng of a Kingdom."

"It's an honor."

"Haha. Like I said, don't be so formal. I still find the heroic tale of your infiltration into the Steel Archipelago impressive to this date. Estelle was talking about it all the time."

Just like the princesses, King David was a blunt and straightforward King. Even in the last iteration, he didn't treat me with prejudice even though I visited him with the pregnant Miruam.

『Miru has found herself a good man.』

Although I did get violated, I was still a commoner that impregnated the princess, and yet he glossed over it without making a big deal out of it. Instead, he sincerely requested while grabbing onto my hand.

『Please take good care of my daughter. Be a warm home and a place to return to for that girl. She's a pitiful child.』

He was genuinely concerned about Miru and entrusted her to me but...

...Sorry Father-in-law. What I did in the last iteration... wasn't enough.

"Ah. Look at me talk the whole time with food on the table. Let us eat first."

King David picked up his cutleries first so that I could start eating whenever. That was when Estelle cut off a large leg of a turkey to place onto my plate.

"Here you go, Dongsaeng~"

Estelle said with a wide smile and a sparkling set of eyes, which did not go unnoticed by Queen Asher.

"Oh my, Estelle. You are being very considerate of Knight Korin, aren't you?"

"He is the one who saved my life after all~"

The Queen teased but Estelle replied mischievously without concealing her goodwill.

"Ah, Korin-dongsaeng will now be my 'Dongsaeng' so please treat him like a son. Father. Mother~."

"Oh my."

"Hoh?"

Queen Asher covered her mouth in surprise whereas King David... had a look in his eyes that was in complete contrast to Duke Marde's.

"Don't make it embarrassing for Knight Korin, Estelle. There's no way he would feel comfortable if you do that as the higher-up, right?"

Princess Miru commented against her but Estelle continued without stopping.

"For others, maybe, but he will be alright around me. Right, Dongsaeng?"

"Kuhum... Let's stop there, Saintess."

"Come on~. You can't do that after taking my first kiss?"

Wait, Missy!? You can't say that here!

"Oh wow...!"

"Hmm... So that's how it is."

The King and the Queen were now giving me looks that were much more intense compared to before. I was chewing on turkey, but I couldn't even tell how it tasted anymore. Even Princess Miru was looking at me with squinted eyes!

"Hmm..."

Ahh, that look, those eyes... I could understand what they meant. 'Is that why you turned me down?' was the look on her face...

It's a misunderstanding.

"Also, I have heard you slept with my daughter, is that correct?"

"Kuhum...!"

Did you say everything? Estelle! Hide some stuff from your parents please!

"Your Majesty. The thing is..."

"For several days with your bare body at that..."

I turned to Estelle with a flick, asking her to say something, and she commented while covering her heated cheeks with her hands.

"I told you that's not the case. Korin-dongsaeng was about to freeze to death so I had to warm him up."

"Whatever the case, it is true that he has seen the bare body of a marriageable lady. How is it, Knight Korin? She's a lacking daughter, but would you be happy to live with her?"

"Oh come on. We are not in that kind of relationship yet. It's just a matter of time, though."

Matter of time? What is? Hello? Estelle-noona?

"You weren't interested in any of the promising young nobles of the Kingdom, but it's a different story for the hero, huh? This too I suppose is fate."

Both in the last iteration and now, for some reason, I had this feeling that this old man couldn't wait to send his daughters off for marriage.

I guess it did make sense, considering how neither Estelle nor Miruam had fiances let alone any prospects for marriage. There weren't any successors either, so maybe that was why he loved it so much when Miru was pregnant.

"Father."

That was when Princess Miru opened her mouth after a long silence.

"Although Knight Korin has been granted Legal Immunity, that alone won't be enough to save face for the royal court. How does it sound, that you give him another different reward?"

"Hmm?"

King David had a surprised look on his face, as if he wasn't expecting Princess Miru to show goodwill towards me.

"Another reward apart from Legal Immunity... Knight Korin did indeed contribute enough for another reward."

"I am flattered."

"However, there is one thing I need to ask beforehand. Where are you planning to use the Legal Immunity?"

"...Apologies, Your Majesty."

I refused to answer his question in a roundabout way, and the King seemed slightly troubled by it.

"How concerning. A crime that would warrant the hero of the Kingdom to rely on Legal Immunity... I cannot imagine what you are trying to do using it."

Treason, Father-in-law.

Just a little... act of treason and betrayal.

"Let me ask one question then. What is the direction of that crime?"

After giving up on asking about the content, the king now asked about the direction and ultimate objective of the crime. This much was something I could tell him.

"There is one very important lesson I have learned from my Master."

All the puzzle pieces were in place. The completion of the puzzle was for one sole purpose.

"Justice. Justice. Justice. You are to seek only justice."

Both in the past and now, all I want is a happy ending.

.........

......

...

The meal ended with relative comfort despite being in the company of the royal family. After the meal, maids cleaned up the plates and brought cups of tea.

King David took a sip of the tea, placed the cup down and said with a smile.

"Right. I do agree that we need to give another reward apart from the Legal Immunity. You have the right to receive more."

"Thanks for your kindness, Your Majesty."

"I wondered what I should give you, but you would already have many of your wants fulfilled. The Dunareff Dukedom is being generous with their sponsorship, are they not?"

"..."

"Young Lady Marie. I know that she is harboring serious feelings for you, and the financial support of the Dunareff means you wouldn't need the royal treasures or peerages."

"Your words alone are enough, Your Majesty."

"I can see you are not disagreeing with me either."

"..."

"As such, I thought about what you would need and have come to a decision."

What would it be, I wondered. Judging based on his words, it didn't seem to be a treasure or a noble peerage.

"Thy request for Legal Immunity must have been for an extraordinary and greater good. Thus, I shall promise thee, a noble knight pursuing justice."

King David reflected his trust in me with his kind yet solemn tone of voice.

"Ask me for anything you wish. Like Legal Immunity, I will grant thy wish once no matter what it may be."

"...!"

A double reward and a tremendous promise at that.

Only one wish had been given to the player until now, and yet here I was being granted another one. The unbelievable declaration of the King instead made me hesitant on accepting his offer.

"Your Majesty. But..."

"Do not refuse it. I know thee and thy actions. I have heard of thy righteousness and magnanimity, guaranteed by the Saintess and I have confirmed it with my very eyes upon this encounter.

"Thou art a compassionate hero. The financial supporters of Dunareff, reinforcements of Arden and Merkarva Academy are all aware of this. I have not a single doubt that thou art treading down the path of justice and good.

"An unusual movement is swaying the continent. A traitor has come out of Merkarva and the Tower of Mages have done incomprehensible evil. There will be more coming."

For a moment, King David's eyes scanned past Princess Miru, who floated a sly smile that concealed her intentions even from her own father.

"Winter is coming. It will be a harsh season for all of us, and the Kingdom must prepare for it."

『Please take good care of my daughter. Be a warm home and a place to return to for that girl. She's a pitiful child.』

The King was someone who was the most concerned about Miruam, while at the same time being the most conscious and vigilant about her madness, fury and hatred.

***

"You weren't expecting him to promise something like that, were you?"

After the dinner, Miruam returned to her palace.

She was aware that the King was vigilant of her. He was worried about where her hatred and fury would bounce off to, and kept an eye out on the factions that got along with her.

Tower of Mages and the Old Faith. Upon seeing the highest authority groups of the world taking irrational and absurd actions, he appeared to have sensed something coming.

Thanks to that, what Miruam had said in order to buy the goodwill of Korin, ended up granting him another pair of wings aside from the Legal Immunity.

"Fufu..."

『Father, oh Father. Do you think this would be enough to stop me? This is partly your responsibility as well. The moment you buried my mother, you have lost all rights to dissuade me of my revenge.』

Those who knew of Miruam all said that she was like a venomous serpent.

However, they were only half-right. She was indeed a serpent with a lethal dose of poison, but what they did not see was that her tail was on fire.

Her body was on fire - she was on flames that would scorch the disgusting dogs at the end of her destined journey. Even if that would end up scorching herself in the process, Miruam could not stop half-way.

That had been her lifelong wish for the past 10 years.

"No one can stop me. No one."

"If you say so."

"..."

This was her palace and her bedroom which should be safe from anyone... and yet there was a guest who had come in before she did.

"To think you would enter the room of a lady without permission. You lack the etiquette of a gentleman."

"I hope for your understandanding, Princess. There were too many people roaming around outside."

He was saying that despite hiding from the eyes of all those people with ease. Miruam tried to pour him a glass of wine, but the man was already drinking it from the bottle.

"It has been a while, Danann of Light. Sir Tates Valtazar."

Tates Valtazar, the usurper of the world aiming to seize the throne, had been waiting for Miruam in her room.

"Right."

He was the same as always. Just like a middle-aged man strolling around the streets, he was leisurely and relaxed.

However, Miruam knew him; the grand goals he had in mind and his sense of justice which laid on the border of madness.

Most importantly, she knew his otherworldly power that would rightfully let him call himself the King of Gods.

"You have been suffering a lot of losses these days, haven't you? To a disappointing degree. At this rate, is there meaning in me sponsoring you anymore?"

She said in a rather insolent manner to the man who could single-handedly destroy the entire palace. It was only possible because she wasn't working under him - the two of them were more like allies than a master and subordinate.

Recently, the actions of her ally were disappointing to say the least. They failed to retrieve the Primal Rune through Fermack, and also failed at controlling the media through the awakening of the living jiangshi.

The greatest failure of them all was the dumbfoundingly pathetic downfall of the Tower of Mages and their failed attempts. The fall of the Tower of Mages would have been a big hit even to Tates Valtazar and yet he remained as nonchalant as ever.

"Don't worry about it. It's just as usual."

"...?"

He looked used to it, which Miruam could not understand.

"This accursed world hates me too much. I suppose it can't be helped as I'm the usurper."

Despite lamenting his position, he drank from the bottle with the most relaxed expression on his face.

"Well, fine. I'm hoping you won't fall until I achieve my goal."

Miruam wasn't interested in the new world or whatever that Tates was going to create as long as she could achieve her own objective.

He had the power to obtain his wish, had a large faction supporting him as well as the fate to change his 'destiny'... but things of the future did not matter to her in the slightest.

Whether he succeeded or failed did not matter.

"Anyway, here. As per the contract."

He threw something at Miruam, and a 'snake' slithered out of her dress to bite it.

"..."

The treasure that the snake bit onto was the greatest treasure in the world, Lia Fail, the Stone of Destiny.

Treating such a treasure like a pebble on the streets... Miruam was baffled by his carelessness but was at the same time endlessly drawn into the beautiful gem.

"Read your destiny, your undetermined fate."

One of the conditions of the contract that he had forged with her 5 years ago included the temporary use of Lia Fail once a year, which would allow Miruam to read her destiny and—

Using that, she read her fate.

"Haak...!"

Gasping for breath, she even dropped the walking stick that was supporting her body. Her aching legs couldn't support her weight and she ended up falling onto the ground.

She, who cared the most about dignity and status in the entire palace, collapsed miserably and couldn't even try to stand back up. It wasn't because of her exhausted body, nor the shock that came from reading her destiny.

"Fufu, fufufufu...! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

Like a madman, she laughed.

In joy and ecstasy.

"Hoh~"

Tates looked intrigued by that shift and her reaction, because it was his first time seeing her laugh like that.

"Has destiny been modified?"

"Yes. It has. Fufu. That damned destiny has finally changed. I found myself, not as a dead failure, but smiling happily and joyously more than anyone else in the world."

Her fate had changed.

The flame called Miruam let out a genuine laughter.

At last.

The small change that happened last year, had finally come to fruition and showed a full result this year.

She saw a son of a bitch screaming in pain in death, proving of her success, and standing next to her was her destined knight.

'I knew it. It was you, Korin Lork. You're the one who changed it.'

My hero.

My prince.

My destiny.

He is the one who will fulfill my lifelong wish.