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Chapter 113: Win and(1)

After the subjugation army retreated, Herarion started the bloody purge that he had been thinking about during the subjugation. A lot of people died, but it was a punishment according to the law and not personal.

The subjugation army left Shahatra and reached the imperial palace within a month, where they were praised for their achievements.

“As expected, I’m proud of the Patrician Family members. Thanks to your bravery, I will be able to sleep peacefully today.”

“We’re flattered, Your Majesty.”

The emperor was very satisfied because the subjugation ended sooner than expected and the fact that none other than Eisen had the greatest achievements made him even happier.

“Eisen, you always seem to show the same amount of spirit as the counts who are younger than you and it makes me very happy.”

“Your Majesty, I just hope you know that although I\'m old, my loyalty to the empire is greater than anyone else’s.”

“Hahaha! Of course, I know! Because I agree, I believe that you should be the next marquis. What do the rest of you guys think? Shahatra’s king also sent a letter of recommendation for Count Eisen, so is there anything that’s more certain than this?”

“You’re right, Your Majesty.”

Duke Arthus and Marquis Alfred, who stood next to the emperor, did not dare to question him.

Arthus was smiling, but it seemed that there was resentment behind the smile.

“What do you think?”

This time, the question was addressed to the two counts who had also participated in the subjugation. Their expressions hardened a little, but they smiled in the end.

“I also agree, Your Majesty.”

“I think that Count Eisen should be promoted to the rank of a marquis.”

“It seems like you all competed in good faith. Sounds good! As a token of appreciation for all your hard work, I will host a banquet for all of you today!”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Celebrating their hard work was just an excuse; the emperor just wanted to have an excuse to throw a grand feast.

The expressions of the counts grew stiff since they just wanted to quickly return to their mansions and rest after the long war. However, they could not ruin the mood of the tyrant who was already excited for the party.

“Thank you… Your Majesty.”

They planned the banquet right after sending off a messenger with the news of victory. The nobles who were invited gathered at the imperial palace.

Eisen had left the palace to get dressed. He said, “Henry.”

“Yes, count.”

“This must be your first time attending an imperial palace party, right?”

“Yes, count.”

“Hehe, in that case, let me pick out your outfit. Trust me.”

“...Alright, thank you, count.”

It was a pointless show of kindness. Even before Henry’s death, it was well known that the count wanted to be noticed by society, made even worse by the fact that Count Eisen was a typical nouveau riche old man.

Normally, Henry would have refused to go to the imperial palace party. They were usually boring. ‘But it\'s something that I need to attend at least once.’

After Henry died, the power structure changed a lot. He needed to confirm which new figures had taken control of the regions after the State Contributors collapsed.

The counts that had participated in the subjugation were given the right to use Teleportation at the Magical Spire for a round trip thanks to the emperor’s consideration.

After arriving at the Shonan region, Henry discussed his outfit with Eisen to avoid looking ridiculous.

* * *

The party started.

After the emperor’s grand toast was over, everyone gathered around Eisen as if it had all been planned. It was only to be expected since the powerful old man looked like a tiger with wings after appearing like a fool for a long time.

Eisen enjoyed this kind of attention because he was reminded of the glories of the past. Henry and Von stood far away from Eisen, enjoying the imperial palace food.

“How do you feel?”

“It’s reminding me of the past.”

“A lot has certainly changed. Now that most of the region’s leaders have been replaced, I think after Master passed away, there were a lot of people feeling either joy or sadness.”

“Well that’s the nature of power. No one can help it… There\'s nothing we can do if the situation stays the same.”

“Not unless I instigate change and… It seems that there are signs of changes already, don’t you think?”

“Eisen is just a back up. Everyone thinks that he’s a star that’s only shining temporarily.”

“It is our job to make that star into one that shines forever.”

“Are you confident?”

“If I weren’t, then I would’ve never started this in the first place.”

“Hahaha, the more I think about it, the grand duke was incredible. How could he have a disciple who’s just like him…”

Von felt that he was talking with the dead Henry Morris.

Henry laughed and said, “Let’s stop talking about the old days. You’re at a party at the imperial palace, are you only going to have a few drinks the entire night?”

“What do you mean?”

“This changed.” Henry gestured at his face.

Von’s eyes widened in an instant and he smiled widely.

“Right! I’ve been so busy lately that I forgot about that!”

“I’m going to run some personal errands, so why don’t you enjoy yourself, brother?”

“Okay! It’s been so long since I’ve attended a party that I forgot my role for a minute. I’ll see you later.”

It wasn’t polite to the woman at a party for someone with such good looks to restrict himself to drinking—at least, this was Von’s philosophy.

On the other hand, Henry had no interest in women, and he circulated around the party to check on the emerging powers associated with the Central Aristocrats.

‘What a bunch of nasty guys.’

Among them were nobles who had gotten in trouble with Henry for exploiting people in some of the territories. Now that Henry was dead, no one was stopping them and they were acting up again.

After confirming all the faces, Henry clucked his tongue and left the venue. He had been invited as Eisen’s vassal anyway, so there was no reason for him to stay.

‘It’s been a few years since I entered the imperial palace, so I can’t waste my time.’

Henry had been one of the engineers who helped in the construction of the imperial palace.

‘I hope it’s still there.’

Henry wanted to retrieve the treasures that he had hidden all over the imperial palace before he had been executed. He’d done it for a simple reason. ‘The last place people look is right under their noses.’

Henry had a lot of treasures that he intended to leave as a legacy. The most precious things were hidden in places that ordinary people wouldn’t even dare look, such as the venom’s heart.

If he released these things into the world, there was a good chance that they would end up in the hands of those with evil intentions.

Thud thud.

Henry stomped his feet twice, and the darkness hid him just like when he had infiltrated Shahatra.

‘Tsk, to think that I have to hide in the house that I made.’

It wasn’t amusing at all because Henry didn’t have much time. If someone had already taken the treasures, Henry might have had to waste even more time.

‘I’ll look for the luminol anklet first.’

The luminol anklet was a very rare artifact that attracted mana from the ground and passed it onto the wearer of the anklet.

‘I used most of my mana on Benedict, so I have to focus on collecting more for a while.’

Henry’s current amount of mana was disastrous, which was why he remained at the 5th circle even though he used to be an 8th-circle archmage. The most important treasures for Henry at the moment were the ones that would help restore his mana.

Henry left the ballroom and started wandering around the palace.

‘I think it was around here…’

Eisen’s and Ten’s mansions were also massive, but they were nothing compared to the imperial palace. The imperial palace was at least ten times larger than other mansions.

In the past, Henry had walked around the palace as if it were his home, but it was inevitable that he wouldn’t be as familiar now that so much time had passed. Henry searched for the statue where he had hidden the anklet, avoiding the royal guards who roamed around the palace.

The statue was called Little Heroes and was a kind of memorial in honor of the soldiers who had participated in the unification war.

‘That’s strange. I remember it being around here.’

Henry thought that the Little Heroes statue was on one side of the massive garden in the center of the imperial palace. However, even though he looked around the garden, he couldn’t see any statues, let alone the Little Heroes one.

‘Should I give up…?’

But just then…

“N-no one will find us here, right?’

“I’m in charge of this area and no one comes here during this time, so trust me.”

Henry quietly approached the people conversing. It was a royal guard and a court lady kissing each other deeply. Of course, they couldn’t see Henry since he was hiding himself with magic. Henry shook his head, took a few steps back, deactivated his magic, and cleared his throat.

“Ahem.”

“...!”

The hot breathing suddenly became quiet and with the sound of clanking armor, a red-faced guard jumped out of the bushes.

“Hmm? It seems like you didn’t know someone was here.”

The guard said in a panicked voice, “W-who are you?”

“My name is Henry, Count Eisen’s one and only vassal.”

“I-I apologize for not recognizing you!”

“No, it’s alright. It hasn’t been long since I became a vassal, it’s not unusual that you wouldn’t recognize me. By the way, wasn’t Little Heroes around here?”

“Yes, it was, but it has been moved to the war memorial by His Majesty’s orders.”

“Really? Okay then. I’m going to take a little walk to sober up from the alcohol, so don’t worry about me.”

“A-alright!”

The guard saluted, still embarrassed.

Now that Henry knew the location of the Little Heroes statue, he quickly left the two behind. Henry became one with the darkness again and cursed as he left the garden.

‘How dare he move the statue?’

There were statues honoring war heroes in the garden, along with Little Heroes, including a statue of the emperor’s father, Golden Jackson.

‘Damn that arrogant bastard…’

Henry was enraged because the current emperor had only inherited the throne without shedding a single drop of blood with his own hands and yet the emperor had removed all traces of the war heroes. Henry remembered once again why he had to kill the emperor.

Henry arrived at the war memorial in the farthest corner of the imperial palace.

‘There are no royal guards?’

Every part of the imperial palace had guards but there wasn’t even a groundskeeper there. It wasn’t surprising at this point, and Henry decided to think that it was a good thing.

The war memorial had been built to commemorate the unification war. There were once busts and statues of himself and his comrades, but since all the State Contributors were executed for treason, there was no point in having a war memorial.

Henry swallowed the bitter feeling and searched for the Little Heroes statue.

‘So this is where it is.’

The Little Heroes statue stood in an inner corner of the memorial. Since even the statues of the State Contributors were neglected, the Little Heroes statue was also in a bad state.

‘... I found it.’

Henry found a gray anklet on the ankle of the Little Heroes statue. At first glance, it looked like it was a part of the statue.

Crack.

Henry removed the anklet. The stony surface fell off, revealing the anklet.

Shhh!

As if it were waking up from a long slumber, the luminol anklet revealed its true form and briefly flashed with a blue light. Henry put the anklet on. He could feel the anklet absorbing the mana of nature scattered under his feet.

‘This feels much better.’

Henry checked the time and after he confirmed that he still had time left, he decided to look for the other treasures as well.