Chapter 19

Chapter 19: For the Emperor (2)

"Captain Kanna, how about pairing up with me?"

"No."

......?

"Why not? With a pair, we could take down a fairly powerful beast. That would raise our chances of earning the glory of presenting an offering to the Great Ancestor."

"Oh dear, you really don't know Trafviche yet. I've heard Yensi doesn't have a centralized system, so loyalty to the Emperor is lacking."

Kanna clicked her tongue.

"Pairing up has its merits. But it means splitting the glory in half. What Trafviche subject would tolerate that?"

"Ah, I see."

One look at Kanna's resolute eyes and I retreated. God, Trafviche people went absolutely rabid over anything involving the Emperor. This wasn't a generation gap. It was a world gap.

"If you put in the effort, you could earn the honor of glorifying the Great Ancestor yourself. Hmm, though with His Highness the Prince also participating, it might be difficult."

"Is that so?"

"If Prince Gatess were present, it'd be his victory guaranteed. But he's commanding the 1st Corps on the front lines. The borders are threatened by the Black Tree right now. Security will stay tight until a peace treaty is signed."

Right. Got it. So she simply didn't want to pair with me. Fine — I wouldn't either. It felt like I'd confessed and gotten rejected. That uncomfortable aftertaste drove me to give a half-hearted salute and leave Kanna's office.

"Monster heads for a memorial offering? Just stick some gold coins in a pig's head and call it a day."

I grumbled my way toward the library. The path of language study was long and arduous. It didn't help that I'd always been allergic to studying.

The library was quiet. Soldiers here apparently didn't read much. My friends who'd served had mentioned that hardly anyone used the barracks library. During personal time, you slept — who had energy for books?

But I had to study for my future girlfriend. To be more dependable when she was by my side. To be cooler. To be a better person. Honestly, how had nobody snatched up a gem like me?

"You're studying again today?"

I looked ahead. A child's face floating in midair. The youngest prince. This time I wasn't so focused, so I'd sensed him from the start. Hadn't expected him to approach again, though.

"I greet His Highness Prince Gatis."

"Mm. I don't really like formalities like that."

"Neither do I."

Oops. That slipped out. Gatis burst out laughing.

"You're the first person to say that to my face. You're funny."

"Please forget that. It was a slip of the tongue."

"No way. I'm telling Father."

"That's a bit......"

My deferred reward could easily become a deferred execution.

"Just kidding. I'm not that young."

"If I may ask, how old are you?"

Gatis pushed up his cloak sleeve. Now only his face and hands were floating. He folded his fingers one by one. After folding eight, he proudly showed me his hands.

"Eight years old!"

"All grown up."

"Thanks."

Kids loved being told they looked like adults. Adults loved being told they looked like kids. This level of social skill was acceptable. Better than "long live the Emperor."

"You're pretty strong, right?"

"What makes you say that?"

"I heard you got a commendation from Father."

I didn't get one. It was deferred.

"Hey, want to pair up with me?"

"Are you referring to...... the offering for the Great Ancestor?"

"Yep."

What was this, a free ride?

"Is Your Highness strong?"

"I'm super strong!"

He flexed his barely-there arms. He did seem to be training, at least. But what could I expect from an eight-year-old?

"It's a princely order. You'll obey, right?"

Gatis tilted his head. With only his face floating, the angled head looked bizarre even knowing about the invisibility cloak.

Still, this aligned with exactly what I needed. I'd wanted to pair with Kanna partly to deepen our relationship but mainly because I had no intelligence on nearby dungeons.

I'd actually been planning to bus off Kanna, but Gatis might work just as well for gathering dungeon intel.

"Let us pair up, Your Highness."

"That's more like it!"

Gatis clapped. Phew — I'd acted reluctant as long as I could. Thank you.

"Did you know there's a dungeon inside the palace? My brothers train there. I've never been allowed in, but let's sneak in!"

"Is that really allowed? I'm just a guardsman."

"With Gatis as your partner, who would dare stop you?"

Oh, instantly meeting my exact needs. But if the Emperor caught us, our backsides would be set on fire. Still — a secret dungeon would give me an edge over everyone else.

"Then come to the library entrance tomorrow at dawn!"

Gatis shouted that and vanished again. Even with the invisibility cloak, I could see the child's pattering steps.

Honestly, what had Marina seen in such a devious kid?

I resumed studying.

***

The wee hours of dawn. Being the Imperial Palace, it wasn't truly dark — just dimmer lighting. All mana-controlled, presumably.

Before the firmly shut library, something small was disturbing the airflow. Soon, a single face popped into view.

"You're later than me, and I'm the prince."

"I arrived at the agreed time."

"Talking back as usual?"

"Shall we go, Your Highness? I'll attend to you."

"Hmm. Very well."

Satisfied by the elevated word "attend," Gatis nodded and produced a thin wire from his pocket.

No way. Not what I was thinking. Far too undignified for a prince.

But it was exactly that. Gatis bent the wire into a U-shape, inserted it into the lock, and twisted. Was this medieval-level engineering? A palace lock defeated by an eight-year-old.

"Practiced this for a few months. I really wanted to get in."

"Is the dungeon in the library?"

"Yep."

I hadn't known that. If even I couldn't sense the mana, it had to be incredibly well-concealed.

"Technically, the entrance is here."

Gatis placed one hand on the librarian's desk and vaulted over. Look at him go — parkour too. Was this a prince or a burglar? I opened the small swinging gate beside the desk and walked through.

"Watch this."

Behind the desk was a locked bookcase. Probably housing valuable texts. Gatis strained to push it aside. Behind it appeared a wheel-shaped handle and an iron door.

"Here, right here."

"Quite elaborate."

Gatis excitedly spun the handle. It whirled like a ship's wheel caught in a hurricane.

The door opened, revealing stairs descending underground. Visually similar to the passage in Ephrin's room. What was it with nobles and underground staircases?

"Let's go."

I took Gatis's hand and we descended. The stairs were dark enough that he could trip.

The stairway was deep. About five stories' worth, by my estimate. No wonder I hadn't sensed it from above.

The closer we got to the bottom, the thicker the mana became. The smell was unmistakable. A dungeon dense with powerful monsters, used as a secret training ground. At the very least R-rated territory. Then again, eight-year-olds were at the age where forbidden things held the most appeal.

"Your Highness, please stay close to me from this point."

"I was going anyway. I heard this place is scary."

If you knew that, then why come? His intent to leech off me was painfully transparent. Were you a prince or a mosquito?

We soon reached the dungeon's basement. "Basement" was generous — the stairs simply ended at a portal. A very bright lamp hung above it.

"This is going to be fun."

"Indeed it is."

It felt like exploring the palace's hidden treasury, which was exciting. I'd felt this same thrill when I first became an S-rank Hunter and saw the classified archives at the Hunter Association. Later I'd learned it was all useless junk.

I wiped the nervous sweat from Gatis's palm, took his hand again, and stepped slowly into the dungeon portal.

Passing through the violet portal, a dense mana scent washed over us.

A square room appeared. The deep underground gave it a musty smell. A ghoul-like creature charged at us the moment we entered, and I crushed its head.

"Wow, you're good."

"It was a weak one."

I answered casually and surveyed the dungeon. The funny part was that lamps were mounted on the dungeon's ceiling. Dungeons didn't normally have lighting. The royal family had apparently installed it for long-term use.

"Anyway, what makes this dungeon so special that they keep it hidden? Just clear it and be done."

"They don't clear it, apparently."

Dungeons were different from Corrupted Trees. They formed when ambient dark miasma naturally pooled and concentrated — a spontaneous phenomenon. Similar to Gates back home.

Corrupted Trees were the problem because they actively produced miasma.

"There's no such thing as an unclearable dungeon."

Clearing a dungeon simply required killing the boss inside. Yet apparently this one hadn't been cleared.

"More precisely, I heard they can't."

"Why not?"

"The boss is super timid and hides. And the monsters here are decent for training, so they leave it alone on purpose. Oh — this is a secret. The official policy is to exterminate all dungeons."

Right. Dungeons accumulated miasma the longer they were left alone. Wait — in that case?

"How old is this dungeon?"

"Since the Great Ancestor's time, I think."

A thousand years. By the lore, a dungeon this old should have imploded by now. Just how cowardly was this boss?

"Hmm."

"Nobody's ever seen the boss. So they can't kill it. The Great Ancestor supposedly saw it but spared it."

I suspected that it was a fabrication. The Great Ancestor's legend was probably wrapped in several layers of embellishment. Time dusted over memories, and legends accumulated tall tales.

Still, the monsters here were rare. We'd been chatting while I held Gatis's hand and strolled through the first floor. It was so calm that you'd think we'd done nothing but talk.

"Your Highness, thank you for granting me access to this hidden place."

"You didn't even want to come."

On reflection, this was an opportunity. A chance to make myself appealing to multiple women.

The novel hadn't started yet. I felt the need to establish my position clearly before it did. I was standing at that crossroads.

Because once the story began and those characters formed their bonds, it would be too late to join. A transfer student never fit in with the class.

I needed to be part of the class from the start. As if by coincidence.

"If I win first place, wouldn't the Emperor reward me?"

"Probably? Since it involves the Great Ancestor, it'd be a big prize."

I see. Then there was no reason to hesitate.

"How many floors does this dungeon have?"

"No idea."

How could he not know that? That was dungeon raiding 101. From what I'd heard at the Ducal Estate dungeon: 30-40 floors maximum was C-rank, 50-75 was B-rank, 100 was A-rank.

"Then I'll find out."

"Huh?"

"Do you know what's great about dungeons?"

"What?"

I picked Gatis up and spun him around once. Sightseeing...... not Seoul, but the dungeon.

"That was fun. Do it again?"

Did no one do this kind of thing for him here? That wasn't why I'd done it, though.

"This ground is all virtual. Made of miasma."

"So?"

"Meaning it repairs itself when broken."

I stomped once. Why would I clear one floor at a time? Too tedious. If you were confident, you could go like this.

"GYAAAAAH!"

Gatis screamed. Served him right. I'd partly wanted to mess with him too. That was what happened when you got too comfortable with adults. Got it?

I caught Gatis in midair and descended at controlled speed.

"Hey! This is seriously execution-worthy!"

He wasn't learning. One more floor, then.

"GYAAAAAH!"

CRASH!

"This is literally insulting the royal—"

CRASH!

"This is treason against the—"

CRASH!

CRASH!

CRASH!

After about thirty floors, his opening lines finally changed.

"I'm sorry! I said I'm sorry!"

There we go. That was what happened when you disrespected adults. I set Gatis on the ground.

"Wasn't that fun?"

"Absolutely not!"

Look at that conviction. Hey — this was modern culture. I'd given you a free Gyro Drop ride. Show some gratitude.

"Anyway, let's go down slowly. I'll listen to you."

Gatis had become docile. To be fair, even a real Gyro Drop didn't last that long. I'd dropped ahead of him, smashing through floor after floor, so he'd been falling for a very long time.

Of course, I'd been cushioning him with mana the whole way, so it hadn't been that terrifying. Letting him truly free-fall would've been child abuse.

"You know, I once overheard my oldest and second brother talking."

Gatis said.

"I think they said there was no need to go below the thirtieth floor."

I'd already passed thirty-five floors by my count. But I could roughly guess why.

"I agree."

"Hm? Why?"

"There are no monsters in this dungeon down here."

I illuminated our surroundings. Below the thirtieth floor, there weren't even lamps. No monsters either. But that was only what was visible.

My S-rank Hunter instincts were telling me the dungeon boss was somewhere down here. I extended my aura sense. I'd never pushed it this far before. I normally didn't have the patience.

But this situation demanded it.

【Skill: Aura Expansion Lv. MAX — Active】

【Skill: Aura Expansion has exceeded its operational range.】

【Skill: Aura Expansion is transcending.】

【Unique Skill: Supersensory Lv. ???】

【The Goddess is calculating the skill's level.】

What was I supposed to do with that? Just a bunch of pop-ups cluttering my vision. My head was already aching from the expanded aura. Everything was a skill in this world.

"Found it."

I stared through the wall to where the dungeon boss lurked. I could feel the boss staring back. Countless walls separated us, but sensing each other wasn't a problem.

The dungeon boss fled like a stray cat. It really was that timid.

I lifted Gatis like a princess.

"Hm? Why?"

"My apologies in advance."

"...Why though?"

Gatis asked, voice quavering.

"I need to run a little faster."

Then I sprinted at full speed with Gatis in my arms. His screams trailed behind me like a shadow.