Episode 140: Dream in the game becomes reality

34. What is this again (4)

I massaged my temples and asked the crown prince about his plan.

The Crown Prince answered calmly, sipping tea.

"I just continue my life as usual. Then won't they find an opening and attack?"

That's right.

That's their job, and that side won't be suspected.

"You mean to wait and wait and then when they attack, hit them with all your force?"

"you're right. I hope Duke Klein and Count Hayden (Gregory) will also help. "We have prepared a place for you in advance."

In other words, it means to stay in the castle until the enemy appears.

And hiding near the crown prince.

"This leads to an unexpectedly prosperous life."

"There will be no inconvenience."

It probably won't take long.

The assassins are at a disadvantage if they drag on for too long.

And he already told us where we would stay... … .

"Isn't this okay?"

"Oh, no. Regardless of whether it's okay or not, isn't this a secret passage that the Second Prince's guerrilla unit used as an infiltration route? Have you closed it down yet?"

"Because it seems very useful. "Thanks to you, I can use it like this."

A secret passage that starts from the Crown Prince's Palace and leads to the King's office.

It was clear that it was a very useful path in the current situation, but I couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

'This person is beyond bold and not just normal.'

I smiled bitterly as I looked at the luxuriously furnished secret passageway.

"I guess there won't be any inconveniences in life at this level."

"There is something you need to do while the duke and other secret escorts are staying here."

"Are you saying that we should appoint a representative as if we were living in the territory?"

"As expected, it's nice that conversation is easy."

If new figures representing the military power of the Kingdom of Reinharts leave their positions unscheduled, suspicion is bound to arise.

This means that it is not only the crown prince who must act as usual in order to catch them all.

"I hope I catch a big fish this time."

Once that decision was made, I decided to return to the territory first.

Since no one in the castle knew about my visit, I needed to take action to return to the territory.

"Oh… … . "Before I go back, I have one question. Can I ask it?"

"Please tell me anything."

However, before leaving the Crown Prince's Palace, one question occurred to me.

"How did you notice the assassins' intrusion?"

It was the same when Gregory and Auguste invaded our territory to kill Ivril, but the sneak attack failed the moment it was discovered.

Beings equivalent to the emperor's assassination squad would not handle the job sloppily.

However, the crown prince had so easily noticed the intrusion of the assassination unit and was completely playing over his head.

My question was completely natural.

The Crown Prince replied that it was a simple matter.

"I remember everyone who works at the palace. "Not only the appearance, but also behavioral characteristics and habits."

"yes?"

"But, I saw a few different people than usual. So I was sure. Ah, this is how the emperor of the Croesian Empire came out… … . "I said."

I had to open my eyes wide.

This person was just saying amazing things as if nothing had happened.

* * *

The Emperor of the Croesian Empire has many hidden powers.

One of them was the direct shadow unit. Consisting of one Aura Master and 30 top-level experts, the unit was a group of hunting dogs that handled the emperor's secret affairs.

They were a group that was vicious enough to plan a strategy based on the assumption that they would risk their lives in order to carry out the emperor's orders, and was emotionally restrained enough to stab even their own family members without hesitation.

Thanks to this, they never once failed a mission, and were secretly known in aristocratic society under the name Hellhound.

Their specialty is infiltrating bases and assassinating key figures through cloning people.

All members of the Shadow Unit were excellent actors and masters of makeup.

So much so that even my family wouldn't notice.

'As expected, he is the crown prince of the Kingdom of Reinharts, so there are no gaps in his security.'

The new order given to them is the assassination of Crown Prince Reinharts.

I've done a lot of work so far, but it goes without saying that this is the most difficult mission.

Because the opponent was not the royal family of an ordinary country, but the crown prince of the powerful Kingdom of Reinharts.

1,000 fully armed Vanguards and 5,000 soldiers were permanently deployed throughout the Reinharts royal family, and the Crown Prince's loyal subordinate and Auror Master, the Marquis of Acres, was closely guarding him.

At this level, even if the goal was achieved, it would be difficult to return alive.

'The crown prince's coronation ceremony. That day is your opportunity. There are many visits from outsiders, and the clutter makes it easy to approach the crown prince.'

It might be upsetting to see an organization that had done so much for the emperor being thrown away like this, but 'Hellhound Captain Aren' found the loophole without the slightest hesitation or agitation.

Just like that, the day of the final battle dawned.

Through preliminary work, they were secretly deployed around the Crown Prince's Palace, and they took advantage of the chaos caused by outsiders to narrow the siege against the Crown Prince.

"Wait, what are you doing? "Stop!"

And that moment when the sacrificial unit catches the attention of the escorts.

-Pot!

The main force of Hellhounds attacked the crown prince.

The servants who carried the luggage, the maids who cleaned, the butlers inside the palace, and even the vanguards and soldiers who hid as guards.

Those who were no different from the background suddenly changed and launched themselves at the crown prince at the same time.

"You guys!"

The first to react was the Marquis of Acres, who was also the Auror Master.

However, even if he is an excellent auror master, he cannot block all attacks coming from all directions with a single sword.

'I can't fail. It's a success.'

The Hellhound leader sensed success.

"majesty!"

In a blink of an eye, the crown prince saw a sword in front of him.

There was no time to use defensive artifacts, and if he blinked one more time, he could easily realize that attacks coming from all directions would turn the crown prince into a rag.

But did he lose his mind before death?

'what?'

The eyes of the narrow-eyed character, the Crown Prince, opened slightly and a wry smile appeared on his lips.

And then.

-Quaaang!

Obviously, a defensive magic that no one had time to use appeared and blocked their attack.

A top-level Expert Force holding a Force Dagger, and even the Aura Master's Aura Blade.

"… … ."

People who had been frozen in an unexpected situation began to react belatedly.

The maids screamed, and the vanguards rushed in with lights in their eyes.

However, to Hellhound leader Aren, all he could see was the figure of a man calmly opening the wall and revealing himself from a hidden passage.

'The Duke of Lawrence!'

A wizard walks while holding a magic staff.

In addition, the moment he saw the two Vanguards flashing fierce Auror Blades beside him, he realized the failure of the operation.

Nevertheless, they did not give up until the end.

They fought until the last moment, and even if they died, if they just stuck a sword in the crown prince's head, they would win.

"Do we see water?"

"What the hell is this?"

However, it did not take long for them to realize that this idea was nothing more than their wish.

When I came to my senses, I saw that all of the Hellhound members, including Auror Master and Captain Aren, were face down on the ground.

Only three people were added to the existing escort force.

Even if they were Aura Masters and 7th Circle Archmages, they could not understand how they could be defeated so overwhelmingly and helplessly.

A handsome young duke looking down at himself with a confident expression.

Unlike them, who hide in the shadows and extort people's lives, the man who lives as he pleases in the dazzling sunlight seemed to embody the appearance of the main character in a movie or drama.

Seeing Adrian looking down at him with his face on the floor, Aren felt angry for the first time.

* * *

The plan was completed successfully.

Because the crown prince was so well prepared, there was nothing special that needed to be done.

Would it be enough to quickly restrain them so they can't escape?

"It's an assassination unit that includes an Aura Master… … ."

The Crown Prince looked at the suppressed assassination squad with a curious expression.

"It looks like the emperor was very angry."

"Iknow, right."

Throwing away this many troops to their deaths, is this really an empire?

We blocked it without any damage, so the empire suffered unilateral damage, but I felt that it was somehow weak.

Even if only one Aura Master was lost, it would be a huge gain, but deep down, it would have been even better if a bigger catch, such as a Grandmaster, was caught.

"You don't commit suicide by biting your fangs like in movies or dramas, do you?"

"I used magic to keep his mouth shut."

In response to the crown prince's question, I used magic to pull out all the teeth of the nearby intruder.

"Here it is. "Fangs."

"Ah, something like this really exists."

There was a strange device hanging on one of the teeth, and the crown prince and I had a strange reaction when we confirmed that it was a fang tooth.

And the crown prince looked at me and asked.

"Are you not going to kill me?"

I think he thought I had other ideas after seeing that I had prevented them from committing suicide.

I grinned.

"Would you like to hear if there is a way to double your profits?"

The crown prince responded with great interest, and I looked down at the subdued assassins and said,

"Rather than removing 1 from the enemy's power, you gain 2 by taking that 1 and making it your own."

In other words, let's make them ours.

"Aren't they specially trained? "Is that possible?"

"Maybe it's possible."

Beings who tried to harm their own lives.

Even though the idea was to save such a being, the crown prince showed a cheerful response as to what was so fun about it.

"It would be great if that were possible. "If the Emperor of Creusen sees the troops he sent standing on our side, he will have a very funny reaction."

If you look closely, he is a man who is good at making people angry.

I thought it would be a waste to just throw it away, so I decided to recycle it, but his purpose was to make fun of the emperor.

With the crown prince's permission, their fate was decided.

I captured these people and had Gregory send them to the Blue Moon.

There was a brainwashing specialist there.

* * *

The crown prince of Reinharts Kingdom has newly ascended to the throne.

After the extravagant coronation ceremony, when there was no response even after several days, the emperor realized that the mission he had given to the shadow had ended in failure.

"Didn't you say the success rate was 50%?"

Aren, the leader of the Shadow Corps, was a person who always kept even the worst situation in mind and predicted possibilities.

Therefore, I thought that the 50% probability he was talking about meant a number that was extremely close to success.

However, as he was quietly eliminated without being able to do anything, the Emperor realized that the power of the Kingdom of Reinharts and the abilities of the Crown Prince, no, King Michael Shin, could not be taken lightly.

"What a shame. "I got so excited."

I later realized that it was a waste to throw away the shadow troops, including Aren, as a one-time use.

Still, an emperor of the Croesian Empire had plenty of power to replace him.

"your majesty!"

The emperor acknowledged his negligence and reflected on his actions.

However, it did not take long for the emperor's feelings to change drastically... … .

"Information Director, what's going on?"

"I think you should see this."

It was because of a piece of data handed over by the Empire's intelligence chief.

The material he handed over contained a video of Duke Lawrence, the god of the Kingdom of Reinharts.

But soon he realized something was strange and had to rub his eyes.

"Is there something wrong with Jim's eyes? "Does that look like Lord Aren?"

The reason is that he found a familiar face among the people following Duke Lawrence like a duckling.

"It is Lord Aren."

"Did they set up a play to provoke me?"

"The nature and amount of Aurors are exactly the same as Lord Aren's."

"You mean, is that Lord Aren himself?"

The head of the intelligence department swallowed dryly and lowered his head, and the king, recognizing that this was a sign of approval, let out a low laugh.

"Your Majesty!"

That too for a moment.

Soon the expression disappeared from the emperor's face, and he began to turn bright red.

"this person!"

And the emperor, unable to contain his excitement, stumbled and held the back of his neck.