17 – Boyhood ~Let’s visit Xudo~

Xudo(許都)

It is the place where the imperial palace is located, where the emperor resides, and it is the heart of the imperial capital.

It is the most densely populated city enough to be called the capital of the empire, and famous buildings such as the Imperial Palace, the Archon and the Armed Forces are located throughout the city.

The four-way gates connected with various incantations and magic made Heodo a heavenly fortress, and the seals of the four gods engraved on each of them formed a large barrier along with the seal of the blue star that protects the empire.

Like this.

Even in Heodo Island, where numerous protective magic and shamanic protective barriers were deployed, the imperial palace was the place where the guard was even more strict.

“So many come.”

From the balcony of the imperial palace, the prince looked down.

“This kind of stuff doesn’t always fit.”

Unlike the imperial palace, where people are usually thoroughly screened, countless people formed a long procession below.

‘Have there been so many nobles in our empire?’

It was absurd for the crown prince that all the people lined up below were nobles.

It’s just that so many people gathered at their entrance ceremony.

“Your Highness! Where are you, Your Highness!”

“I’m leaving now.”

Thinking that it was unusual, he turned and left the balcony at the servant’s call.

“Your Highness! I’ve been looking for you!”

“I’ve been getting some air for a while. So what’s the matter?”

“The banquet is about to begin. Your Highness will be in trouble if you don’t prepare now!”

“Okay, let’s get ready right away.”

Guided by an attendant, the prince headed to the dressing room.

With the help of the attendants waiting there, he dressed in a banquet costume and finally left the room with a ceremonial sword on his waist.

How long did it take?

He was soon able to meet the emperor and his family waiting in front of the banquet hall.

“Your Majesty.”

“Are you here?”

“It’s late, Prince.”

“Sorry, Mother.”

“Go right in.”

Are you the last one?

When the emperor confirmed that he had joined, he turned his gaze to the soldier standing in front of the door.

The soldier, who had a hard expression on the emperor’s gaze, immediately raised his voice and announced the position of the imperial family.

At that moment, a booming voice resounded through the banquet hall and the turmoil subsided.

The emperor stepped in first.

───

Gorgeous banquet hall.

Aristocrats dressed to the fullest.

Even the young children with a flushed expression in it.

Yeon Je-seong, who was quite uncomfortable in this environment, let out a small sound as he touched the tie wrapped around his neck.

“Annoying.”

“Don’t say that too much. It’s what I have to do as a Yeon’s Sogaju.”

When Seonhwa, who was aiding him by his side, replied, his expression frowned even more.

“Aren’t you uncomfortable? Such a stuffy space. You can’t breathe even when you’re still.”

I wish I could at least wear a mask, but since it was a royal banquet, I had to show my bare face, which made it even more uncomfortable.

Yeon Je-seong, who felt the glances around him, swept his face once and looked at Seon-hwa.

“I don’t really have any thoughts. I’m just following you around.”

“Is that so…”

He let out a sigh at the uninteresting answer, and immediately felt a sign running towards him and startled his body.

“My dear——!”

“Whoops!”

Is there nowhere to hide!?

Hearing the childish voice, his eyes moved busily.

It was a voice that could not escape once caught.

“Let’s go this way, Seonhwa.”

“I don’t mind…”

He acted inaudible and led Seonhwa to the corner.

“It’s been a while, dear!”

“Ugh…!”

──Then, he was startled to face the sudden appearance of the princess.

“Se, Sehee. It’s been a while.”

“Umm! It’s been a while! It’s been 43 days since we met!”

“Yes, yes. I remember it in detail.”

“Of course! I’m always looking forward to meeting you, so I naturally remember the date!”

She blushed shyly, saying that it was like that after waiting day by day.

“I’m sorry, but I’d like to talk to you two for a while.”

“Haha! It’s a bit like being alone in a banquet hall…”

“Then, use that side. There will be a terrace. I’ll be on the lookout for the surroundings, so hopefully.”

“Hmm! Thank you!”

Traitor!

Looking at Seonhwa, who killed himself in one fell swoop, he made an expression full of resentment.

However, that was only for a while.

As the princess led him to the terrace, Seonhwa lowered her head lightly and slowly widened the distance and disappeared.

And then, left alone on the terrace, she looked at him with a flushed expression as the presence around her disappeared.

“Huh, I was looking forward to hearing the news that you would be coming to this banquet.”

“Really?”

“Of course! These days, she is the same as the original woman, and you are too. Thanks to each other’s busy schedules, we haven’t been able to meet often.”

The distance between each other was too far, so we couldn’t stick together as much as we used to.

It seems the princess felt sorry for that.

“It’s a pity. If she had stayed in your mansion like she used to, she would have been able to meet you from time to time.”

“There’s nothing special. You can’t just come down and get attacked like last time.”

“Umm… That’s right. Besides, there are many cases of disappearances in Heo-do these days.”

I don’t think it’s a situation where I can come down to playing.

Anyway, this is the first time I’ve heard of a missing person case.

“There’s a missing person case in Xudo?”

“That’s right. I don’t know the details, but they said it started about a year ago.”

The princess replied that thanks to her, she couldn’t easily go out, and she looked down at the outside with a sullen expression.

“It’s been a year and you still haven’t caught the man behind it?”

The imperial family moved, but if it took that long, it must have been a fairly large force.

As if my thoughts were correct, the princess approached me and whispered in my ear in a small voice.

“That’s something I only recently found out. It looks like the incident involved a high-ranking official.”

“A senior official?”

“Hmm. I don’t know who exactly, but I caught a glimpse of my older brother saying that. It’s probably because of political issues that I can’t touch him easily.”

I shook my head at the princess’ words.

It seemed like things were more complicated than I thought.

‘Well, it has nothing to do with me. I have to finish the banquet in moderation and go back.’

I spent a fair amount of time accepting her conversation with the princess.

───

After a while, I forcibly removed the princess and returned to the banquet hall, where I was busy welcoming many nobles.

Since the Yeon family is a family strong enough to be called a great noble even among nobles, I, the owner of a minor household there, also attracted quite a few nobles.

And since it was a banquet held by the emperor, the scale of this banquet was quite large.

Basically, the court officials who lived in Heo-do as well as the feudal lords who managed the empire outside of Heo-do also showed up at the banquet.

As a result, I was naturally able to meet with such giants, and the 10th empire was representative of them.

Those who were in charge of the empire’s territory, all attended the banquet, except Tudi and Dark Emperor, who were in charge of the borders, and they all showed a high interest in me.

“Is this your son?”

“Oh, that’s more than I thought.”

As well as the apprentice and bije who came here as soon as they entered the banquet hall.

“Keuhehe, the future of the empire is bright, untitled.”

“…If you have any trouble, tell me.”

Contrary to the name, the clear eyes were impressive in poison and insecticide.

“Hmm! I could never have imagined that a small monk would feel a sense of pride against a child like this!”

“…That’s strong.”

From the Buddhist ritual of muttering for a long time while holding a rosary in your hand, to the Hwanje of touching the sheath of a sword.

And among the dogs, there were people who came along with their children, and the Sword Emperor was such a person.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Sword Emperor Shun Jian. This is my daughter, Shun Mei.”

Arriving with his daughter, he looked over his hat at me with sharp eyes, then nodded in admiration.

“…I can see why Emperor Wu praised it so highly.”

“Huh! A guy like that! He’s not even my opponent!”

Beside him was a little boy with his cheeks inflated.

I wonder if the age is roughly the same as her younger sister, Ji-eun.

The girl, now only about 8 years old, showed a blatant dislike of me, as if she didn’t like me for stealing her father’s attention.

“It’s been a while since I liked you so much! Later, I’ll become much stronger and defeat you!”

She shouted loudly once, and before I could answer, she hurriedly ran and hid behind Geomje.

“…I’m sorry. I’m still a child.”

“I understand. I was like that when I was younger.”

“Yes, that’s fortunate. Come visit me later. It won’t be as good as your father, but I’ll show you some skills.”

You are very humble.

He talks like that, but even if you look at him like that, he is the second strongest person next to his father.

He is not a person who has risen from a commoner to the 10th rank for nothing.

Even when it comes to swordsmanship, that man is superior to my father.

It was for that reason that even though my father used a sword, it was not a sword system, but an untitled seal.

The other 10 agents I’ve actually met have at least some possibility, but this man doesn’t have that kind of feeling at all.

He must be at least as strong as his father.

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