The Wanderer So Hee.

At some point, the wounds over both her eyes had healed, so blood no longer flowed from them, but with both eyes closed, there was still nothing she could see.

“...You people—”

She recognized Cale’s voice.

“Who the hell are you?”

Haha—

She could hear Cale’s bright laughter.

Right in front of her face.

The voice came from there.

“You’re only asking that now?”

There was laughter in that voice.

“We’re Dark. The secret force of the God of Chaos.”

“Lies!”

So Hee glared in the direction the sound had come from.

“Don’t spew nonsense like that! Did you think I wouldn’t realize you people made me think that?”

Her anger surged up.

The underground prison.

After agonizing for a long time in this place, where she could not even tell the flow of time, the Wanderer So Hee had come to realize that Cale’s group was an “unknown force.”

She now knew they were enemies of a different kind.

“You made me mistake you for subordinates of the God of Chaos, and then—!”

But her voice could not continue.

“So what?”

Cale’s low voice asked back.

Together with it, an enormous force slowly began to fill the prison.

A power that called chaos to mind, steeped in fear.

“!”

So Hee’s body trembled.

She thought that the only power capable of pressing down on a Wanderer like this was power received from a god.

‘That’s why I mistook them for subordinates of the God of Chaos...!’

That was what she had thought!

Swallowing her fear, So Hee asked in a trembling voice,

“...Which god?”

Ha.

Cale let out a dry laugh.

At that laugh, So Hee’s shoulders shrank in.

The dominating aura filling the prison, with a certain degree of Cale’s power released, drove fear into her.

Tap. Tap.

Cale patted those shrunken shoulders with surprising gentleness.

“So Hee.”

He softly conveyed his °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° true feelings to the Wanderer So Hee.

His voice reached her ear.

“To hell with gods.”

A voice without rise or fall, carrying only sincerity.

“I hate gods.”

At those words, So Hee paused, but did not react strongly.

“And I hate even more that Absolute God you people are trying to make.”

“......!”

But at the words that followed, So Hee reacted sharply.

Her mouth fell open as she tried to say something, but—

“Choi Han.”

Choi Han immediately gagged So Hee’s mouth.

“......!”

She wanted to say something, but Cale only watched quietly.

‘This is harder than I thought.’

The Heavenly Demon had said to him,

‘She tells me and Choi Han all kinds of things, but when we checked them out, every last one was false. Wanderer—that woman still seems to believe she can escape. That’s probably why she keeps spouting nonsense.’

The Heavenly Demon had shaken his head.

Just as he said, So Hee believed she could escape.

And as if to answer that belief, another Wanderer was coming here.

“So Hee.”

Cale spoke to her, her ears still uncovered.

“You think another Wanderer will come save you, don’t you?”

“.......”

“You have no hope.”

“......!”

After saying that, Cale gestured to Choi Han.

Choi Han firmly blocked So Hee’s ears as well.

Unable to see, hear, or speak. With her limbs bound, and even her face fully covered with cloth, Choi Han lifted her up in one motion.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, Cale-nim.”

Cale and Choi Han left the empty underground prison.

With the Wanderer So Hee in tow.

And so, she vanished from the Lan Kingdom.

*****

Flash.

Instead, So Hee appeared in Leenti of the Eastern Empire.

And not just anywhere in its capital, Hunan, but in the most heavily guarded place there was.

The imperial palace itself.

Between midnight and dawn.

The darkest hour of the night.

‘Hmm.’

The moment Cale crossed over here with Choi Han through the teleportation circle, he had no choice but to pause.

–One hundred.

The Ancient Tree sent a warning.

Shing.

With So Hee slung over one shoulder, Choi Han placed his other hand on his sword hilt.

Then a swordsman in armor stepped forward.

“Are you friends of His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Cale nodded and opened his mouth.

“That’s right. Though this welcome seems a little overblown, doesn’t it?”

A hundred or so men.

Every one of them, clearly imperial palace regular knights in armor, had surrounded the teleportation circle on all sides with their hands resting on their sword hilts.

This did not look like a welcome.

It looked like vigilance.

“This way.”

Without giving any real answer to Cale’s words, the knight turned and started walking.

–Cale, Choi Han!

At the Ancient Tree’s words, Cale turned his head and was startled.

Tap tap.

He quickly patted Choi Han on the shoulder.

At once, the murderous look on Choi Han’s face softened.

Only then did Cale feel relieved enough to follow behind the knight.

“Have you been told who we are?”

That made the knight react.

“No.”

“Really?”

“This is directly beside the palace where His Highness the Crown Prince resides. Therefore, this is only natural.”

In other words, this number of men gathering to stand guard was only natural, so do not complain about it.

That was what the knight was saying.

This man was probably the captain of the Crown Prince Palace guard.

Oh.

Letting a little admiration slip out, Cale said,

“I see. But I said this to the Crown Prince. Secrecy here is extremely important.”

The knight’s eyes had tightened slightly at the sight of Cale speaking to the Crown Prince without honorific form, but he faltered at Cale’s next words.

“A hundred people saw our faces. That’s a problem.”

His tone, muttering it so casually, was surprisingly light.

“What do I do now? A hundred people have already seen us—how am I supposed to fix that? I can’t exactly get rid of them.”

But unlike the lightness of the tone, the content was brutal.

Without realizing it, the knight stopped walking and turned back, only to flinch.

Because Cale was looking at him with a face that was not smiling at all.

Cale said evenly,

“One hundred. I’ll need their identities.”

Cale had sent a message to Anlomann through Alberu.

<I secured a very important figure in dealing with Transparent Blood. They need to be confined in an underground prison, so I request swift handling.>

Wasn’t it obvious from that alone that security was important here?

Dissatisfaction was steadily rising in Cale over the way Anlomann handled things.

Security was extremely important in this matter.

Cale and Choi Han’s faces—and while So Hee’s face had not been seen, their builds and silhouettes had been exposed.

That was why Cale firmly conveyed his intentions to the man he presumed was the guard captain.

“.......”

Mm.

The knight let out a low sound, then spoke.

“Please, come first.”

In the end, the knight started walking again.

–Cale.

The Ancient Tree spoke again.

–I think Choi Han noticed too. These knights following us now. Not a single one of them is ordinary.

For men supposedly assigned to guard the Crown Prince Palace, the hundred or so knights were all unusual, from their armor to their bearing.

Of course, their gait and posture were even more telling.

–And there’s no one else around right now.

The Crown Prince Palace.

The path from the teleportation ground beside it to the palace itself.

Aside from these knights, there was not a single other person around.

Not one steward or maid passed by.

That could have been because it was late, but there was not even a patrol.

Which meant they really had paid attention to security regarding Cale, Choi Han, and So Hee.

Cale’s gaze shifted to the side.

Choi Han still had not let down his guard.

–These knights are seriously skilled.

The moment he heard even the Ancient Tree letting out repeated admiration—

Cale opened his mouth.

“May I really meet His Majesty the Emperor like this?”

“!”

All one hundred knights stopped moving.

Right in front of the entrance to the Crown Prince Palace.

Silence fell among the halted knights.

The knight guiding Cale had no choice but to turn back once more.

“.......”

He looked at Cale with complicated eyes, then let out a sigh.

When he opened his mouth—

Creak.

The entrance door to the Crown Prince Palace opened.

“They are asking you to come in.”

An old man who looked to anyone like the head steward bowed his head to Cale.

“Let’s go.”

Cale gestured to Choi Han.

As if it were only natural, Cale, Choi Han, and even So Hee.

Only the three of them stepped inside the opened door.

Creak.

The door closed again, and the old man said to Cale,

“The First Knight Order of the Imperial Palace exists solely for His Majesty the Emperor, so there is no need for you to worry about security.”

Cale looked at the old man with an odd gaze.

“I heard you are precious friends of His Highness the Crown Prince, and while we were seeing to your safety, this happened. I apologize for making you uncomfortable through excessive measures.”

After saying even that much, the old man pointed down the corridor.

More precisely, he pointed to the door at the very end of the corridor.

“I will escort you. Someone is waiting.”

Cale nodded and followed the old man.

There was no one here either.

All the lights other than those in the corridor were out.

Even if he had not yet gone through his enthronement ceremony, this was still the residence of Anlomann, who had already been recognized as Crown Prince and was living as one.

And yet it was far too empty.

It was all because of Cale’s visit.

The room at the end of the corridor.

There, the emperor.

The AI who was Anlomann’s older brother would be there.

‘Steinsen.’

That was the emperor’s name.

Knock knock.

The old man, having reached the end of the corridor, knocked on the door.

Creak.

With a tiny sound, the door opened.

Inside, one knight was holding the door open.

Beyond that knight—

One person could be seen standing by the window with his back turned.

“You may go in.”

The old man said this to Cale, and the knight who had opened the door also stepped outside.

Into that room, where there was no one except the man standing by the window, Cale and Choi Han entered.

And of course, So Hee as well.

Creak.

The door shut.

“.......”

Cale did not bother speaking first.

Without saying a word, he looked for a moment at the man’s back as he stared out the window, then started walking.

And as if it were nothing, he went over and sat down on a sofa.

“You sit too. Just dump her on the floor or something.”

Looking at Choi Han, Cale tapped the seat beside him on the sofa.

“Yes!”

Without the slightest hesitation, Choi Han faithfully did as Cale said, putting So Hee down and sitting beside him.

“...Ha.”

The man—Emperor Steinsen—watched the sight quietly, then let out a dry laugh.

He had been turned away, but now he was looking toward Cale.

“Please sit here.”

Cale vaguely pointed to the seat of honor.

Then he continued,

“I’m busy. Let’s stop setting the mood.”

The three great powers.

The Eastern Empire Leenti, the nation of knights.

The Western Empire Breeze, the nation of art.

Lan Kingdom in the north, the nation of training.

The nation that possessed the largest and strongest military force.

A nation of knights—so much so that it made perfect sense that the first people to greet Cale had been knights.

Leaning back into the sofa, Cale asked the emperor,

“Are you expecting to be treated like an emperor?”

“.......”

To the silent man, Cale tossed out flatly,

“I came here today to meet Anlomann’s brother.”

Emperor Steinsen’s eyebrows lifted slightly.

His mouth opened.

For the first time, his voice could be heard.

“To use the underground prison of the imperial palace, you need the emperor’s approval.”

You plainly came because the emperor’s status was necessary, so did he really think it made sense to say he had come to see Anlomann’s brother?

That was the question implied there.

Cale answered it.

“I can’t leave my hand to someone I can’t trust in the first place.”

Whether you were emperor or anything else. This only became possible in the first place because you were Anlomann’s brother—and therefore someone who could be trusted.

“Anlomann said you were people who could be trusted, but who might also be difficult to handle. It seems he wasn’t wrong.”

Instead of taking the seat of honor, Emperor Steinsen sat on the sofa opposite Cale.

“You’re my younger brother’s companion, so this seat fits, doesn’t it?”

At the emperor’s words, Cale gave a sly nod.

“I guess that’s true. Which is why you had all your people sent out so we could talk quietly.”

“That’s right. Even so, I still have to faithfully play the role of emperor to everyone in this world.”

At the emperor’s words, Cale tossed out,

“So you won’t get caught?”

Instead of answering, the emperor only grinned.

He asked another question.

“When can I meet Won?”

“When I get contacted.”

Won, the AI derived from the system.

She wanted to meet Emperor Steinsen.

“So Transparent Blood’s side must be meddling quite heavily in this world if the system itself is moving.”

Emperor Steinsen’s gaze went to So Hee lying on the floor.

“From the Five Colored Blood side?”

“Yes. She’s a semi-NPC, so we need to hide her deep in an underground prison. Somewhere no one can find her.”

“Leave it to us.”

Without hesitation, Steinsen stated that he would take responsibility for it.

“We’ll watch her thoroughly and make sure she can never escape.”

He gave Cale assurance once.

In truth, Cale had heard that the underground prison of the empire was even more terrifying than that of Lan Kingdom, so that alone made him trustworthy enough.

And Emperor Steinsen was, in fact, more closely tied to Cale than the king of Lan was.

Even though today was their first meeting.

“Anlomann has told me quite a bit about the things you’ve been doing.”

“Has he?”

The emperor set aside the matter of So Hee and revealed another intention.

“With this update, New World has become capable of ‘large-scale war.’”

“That’s right.”

It was an abrupt topic, but Cale listened obediently.

“It may look like an episode intended to let users build new nations, but in practical terms, I believe it is an episode designed to help Transparent Blood create forces for its allies inside New World.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

So that Transparent Blood, the Five Colored Blood, the God of Chaos, and the Demon Realm could establish themselves within New World.

‘Or it could be that the chaos of war is needed as part of the process of preparing for the Absolute God.’

Cale did not bother saying that part to Emperor Steinsen.

“I always thought it would come to this one day.”

Cale quietly studied the emperor.

Leenti, the nation of knights.

According to the game setting, it had been called by that name for less than twenty years.

Emperor Steinsen.

Cale had heard that after he ascended the throne, the number of knights had greatly increased.

“Your Majesty has been preparing for war.”

“That’s right.”

What kind of war would it be?

The answer came the moment one considered who the opponent was.

“You were planning to fight Transparent Blood’s forces inside New World?”

“Yes. I have always waited for the moment those Transparent Blood bastards would try to build forces of their own inside New World.”

“So you could strike then?”

“Yes.”

When Anlomann moved to save the Third District,

Emperor Steinsen moved for New World.

Leaving aside revenge against Transparent Blood, each world mattered deeply to the two of them.

“I hear that you are currently sowing discord between the hunters, the Demon Realm, and the God of Chaos.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“You intend to make them fight among themselves?”

“Exactly.”

Emperor Steinsen’s eyes flashed as he looked at Cale, who admitted it so readily.

“That is what will happen eventually if they keep fighting.”

Then he made a request of Cale.

“Bring them up onto the surface of New World. Even if it’s only a very small part of them.”

Bring the hunters and the other enemies out into the open.

In other words, make it so that New World’s NPCs and users can clearly recognize them.

Cale asked Steinsen, the one who had built the nation of knights,

“And then you’ll fight?”

“Yes.”

The emperor acknowledged it immediately.

Then he added,

“I have power, and I’m also in a position where I can shape public opinion.”

The emperor of the Eastern Empire, one of the three great powers.

The authority that position held was considerable.

“I hear the Absolute God is Transparent Blood’s ultimate goal.”

And if one sat on a throne, one had to be capable of drawing a large picture.

Steinsen had one of his own.

He spoke of it to Cale.

“When I meet Won, I plan to make a proposal.”

The picture he had drawn.

“To have all of New World fight the Absolute God in order to save New World.”

A proposition that could become reality.

“I intend to ask her to create a quest.”

The moment the system avoided Transparent Blood and posted that quest as a server-wide notice,

Steinsen was certain he could draw countless plans from that one transcendent quest.

With heated eyes, he continued speaking.

“We make the Absolute God into something like a Demon King. A public enemy. Then all kinds of forces across New World, along with the users, will rise up in order to save New World—to become the hero who defeats the Demon King.”

More than the quest now in play, the one telling users to become kings.

This quest would stir the hearts of users even more.

And it would create a proper reason for all of New World to unite as one.

“If we want to fight Transparent Blood, who function as the operators, shouldn’t we be painting a picture at least this large?”

The moment Emperor Steinsen grinned as he said that—

“Well—”

Cale hesitated, then opened his mouth.

“Mm.”

No, he stopped again.

“Why? Speak freely.”

“Well, it’s just...”

In the end, Cale overcame his hesitation and said it.

“That’s already in progress.”

“...What?”

“Uh, well. It’s not a server-wide quest, but.”

Come to think of it, Anlomann still didn’t know that.

Remembering the part he had not told Anlomann, Cale realized now was the time.

So he said it.

That fact.

“The system already gave the hero a quest to stop the Absolute God, and it’s already underway.”

“...What?”

“Haha.”

Our Crown Prince Alberu Crossman had already been acting as the hero, gathering companions to stop the Absolute God.

“...A quest already came out?”

“Yes.”

“And the hero’s already been chosen...?”

“Yes. The sword the hero will use has already been chosen too.”

“...When?”

“A while ago.”

“...Huh?”

Leenti of the Eastern Empire, the nation of knights.

The man known there as the Iron-Blooded Emperor, Steinsen, stared blankly at Cale.

“Haha!”

Then Cale laughed awkwardly and pointed to the side.

“Choi Han here is the hero’s teacher.”

“...What?”

“Mm.”

The emperor looked at Choi Han with a stunned face, and Choi Han let out a low sound and quietly averted his gaze.

“.......”

“.......”

“Haha!”

Amid the silence of the two men, Cale merely laughed.

*****

At that same time, in the Order of the Sun God—

“Have you located the Sun Sword?”

“Yes. I think we can pinpoint it!”

The saint and the Pope were searching for the Sun Sword, that divine relic, and for the one who had awakened that divine relic—the one chosen by the Sun God.

“Hm?”

Alberu had a strange feeling and, without realizing it, rubbed the back of his head.

Someone’s face suddenly came to mind.

“...Cale Henituse, did that bastard cause trouble again?”

For some reason, he could not shake off the uneasy feeling.

“Haha!”

And Cale, looking at the emperor who was still standing there blankly, just kept laughing.

When you have nothing to say, laughing is best.