Chapter 53 - Chapter 8: Excavation #2
“Felicia noona?”
"It has been a few days. It is nice to see you again.”
It had only been five days since In-gong had left the Demon King’s Palace.
Felicia and Delia, who entered the central room of the small temple where In-gong was staying, were as gorgeous as ever.
In-gong slightly shrugged and said,
"Noona, did the Demon King’s Palace dispatch you?”
“Yes, I volunteered.”
Felicia answered before sitting down on the bed. Delia stood quietly behind Felicia like a shadow.
‘She planned this.’
He didn’t know about Felicia’s arrival until she came to the temple. This meant that Felicia had deliberately hidden her visit from him.
'She doesn’t seem to have any bad intentions.’
Judging by her expression, it seemed she had wanted to surprise him as a joke. In-gong was familiar with Felicia, so he welcomed her appearance.
However, a separate question still remained.
“What about the Thunder Light Anvil?”
Felicia had gone to the Jishuka Mountains to investigate the Thunder Light Anvil. She wouldn’t have gone back to the Demon King’s Palace if it hadn’t been for the court gathering.
Felicia laughed at In-gong and crossed her legs.
"I wanted to go, but you ended up finishing it too early.”
They weren’t just words. Felicia’s eyes narrowed and she leaned her body forward.
"It was barely two days. Two days... Do you know that Chris and Caitlin haven’t even left the Demon King’s Palace yet?”
The casios subjugation mission was one that normally took at least 15 days. Sometimes, it took more than a month. They had to keep track of the randomly moving casios.
Yet the work this time had finished early. It was no wonder that Felicia and Caitlin hadn’t left yet when word reached the Demon King’s Palace.
‘Indeed, in Knight Saga, I normally stayed for at least a week after returning to the palace.’
It was unusual for In-gong to leave for a mission so early.
In-gong nodded slowly as he was convinced by Felicia’s words. Felicia uncrossed her legs, got up and approached In-gong.
"Shutra, right now, you are attracting a lot of attention.”
Her voice wasn’t playful anymore. Rather, there was anxiety in her eyes.
"Honestly, the casios subjugation mission is a difficult task. It is an annual event, so there isn’t a high awareness of it in the Demon King’s Palace. However, two days... that period is too short.”
The first mission was always eye-catching. Moreover, the casios mission was a tradition that had lasted for a long time. There were many who knew about the casios mission, so they had no choice but to be surprised about the two day period.
"Moreover, the contents of the mission are too different from the usual. It has grabbed people’s attention.”
Drake ogres had appeared among the casios.
The casios had showed different movements from the usual.
Strong protection magic had been activated on the Enger Plains.
Just one of these was enough to attract attention and all of these were combined in a period of two days.
The three things combined in a two day period wasn’t meaningless, but the important thing was the reaction of the people.
"It is a shock after the court gathering, which was only a few days ago. Everyone was curious about you and now you’ve thrown them something else. You are a very fresh and interesting person.”
The details of which royal child was responsible for the mission and how they solved it wasn’t a secret.
However, not everyone had access to these contents. The only person who knew In-gong’s merit level was Isabella who was in charge of the Merits Department.
However, the situation had changed. The moment the demon king called In-gong’s name, the world had changed. Many people knew of In-gong’s first mission after the court gathering and they were exposed to this surprising news.
"So, why is Noona here?”
Felicia was embarrassed at In-gong’s words and she turned her gaze to another place. Covering her face with a hand fan that she pulled out of nowhere, she said,
"Well, the other people would try to spy on you or take a bite out of you.”
So, she had volunteered. It was to protect In-gong from any malice.
In-gong was sincerely touched and sent Felicia a warm gaze. That made it harder for Felicia to look at him. She looked around with embarrassment and continued speaking,
"That's not all. I am also interested in the magic of this temple that you have activated. There is also the purple light that wrapped around the casios... That's right, those are the reasons. That is why I volunteered.”
“Thank you.”
In-gong replied honestly and Felicia’s ears started turning red. She sat back down on the bed and started talking about something else.
"Did the Tears of a Dark Elf help when you were fighting enemies?”
"Of course. It gave me a chance to win.”
It wasn’t just flattery but true words. The Tears of a Dark Elf had completely blocked Mustafa’s mental attack, creating a gap for him to call Carack.
After In-gong finished talking, Felicia laughed with a very pleased expression.
"Of course. It is one of the strengths of a dark elf. Look forward to seeing more of its strengths in the future.”
It really seemed like that, so Felicia felt good after hearing In-gong’s words of gratitude. Felicia laughed and said,
"Anyway, you obtained nice merits this time. As I said earlier, it is the usual casios subjugation mission but the contents are completely different. If the temple can be used the defend Enger Plains from now on, then the merit will become bigger. Isabella said that.”
Due to the nature of her job, Isabella maintained a fairly friendly relationship with the children of the demon king. In-gong suddenly had a question after remembering Isabella.
"Are Chris hyung and Caitlin noona well?”
"Chris is the same and Caitlin wanted to come along, but she had no justification for it. They told me to say hello for them.”
In-gong laughed at Felicia’s answer. This wasn’t because of the news of Chris and Caitlin.
"You have become pretty close to both of them.”
As soon as he asked, the answer had popped out instantly.
It was an atmosphere he couldn’t imagine having when he had first met them during the Red Lightning campaign. It seemed like Chris was still somewhat distant, but she had completely befriended Caitlin.
Felicia blushed at In-gong’s words and stood up.
"Anyway, both of them are ready to return to the land of the lycanthropes. They will probably leave the Demon King’s Palace tomorrow or the next day.”
In-gong nodded because he had already expected it.
'It is unfortunate.’
It was likely that it would be several months before he could meet the two of them again.
This regret was revealed on In-gong’s face and Felicia spoke in a bright voice like she was comforting In-gong.
“Perhaps we should end the private meeting so the people stop waiting?”
Carack just blinked from where he was standing next to In-gong and Delia gave a faint smile. He knew that Felicia wasn’t referring to Carack.
With the exception of some exceptional circumstances, they were an existence that were the hands of the royal children and kept their secrets. They talked with their most trusted counselors next to them.
In-gong understood and looked at Carack.
“Carack.”
“Understood.”
Carack opened the firmly closed door and brought in the person who had been waiting outside. It was Ferocious Eyes.
"6th Princess Felicia Doomblade, it has been a while.”
“Yes, it has been a while.”
The two of them had already met during a previous casios subjugation mission. In-gong was able to feel the joy that both Ferocious Eyes and Felicia felt.
‘It seems like he is close to everyone except Zephyr.’
As In-gong thought this, another person entered the room. In-gong’s eyes widened as he saw the new person.
‘Daphne?’
The dryad Daphne, a child of one of the demon king’s concubines.
She was a beautiful girl with green skin and blue hair that looked like an illustration in a book.
Felicia introduced Daphne to In-gong.
“Have you ever met? This is Daphne, daughter of the 5th concubine.”
When looking at the status of the concubines, Felicia was ranked higher than the 5th consort. Daphne graciously introduced herself to In-gong.
“It is great to see 9th Prince. I am Daphne, the daughter of the 5th concubine Echo.”
“Nice to meet you, I am Shutra.”
In-gong received her greeting. Fortunately, her reaction showed that she had almost no interaction with the previous Shutra.
Felicia spoke again.
"This work is also related to the guardian of Enger Plains. She is a very talented druid. She will be very helpful.”
'Yes, she is certainly a competent druid.’
Among the children of the concubines, she was one of the best three talents that he wanted to get his hands on.
Daphne lifted her gaze gently and said,
"9th Prince, I heard that you have met Green Wind of the Enger Plains.”
"Yes, I heard her voice. We fought together on the plains.”
In fact, he had ended up conquering her after they met.
Daphne jumped at In-gong’s reply. She took one step closer to In-gong and said,
"She has preserved the Enger Plains for more than a thousand years, but no one has seen her. Among the centaurs, isn’t it extremely rare to hear her voice?”
Daphne was strangely excited while Ferocious Eyes nodded deeply.
"Almost never. Green Wind’s voice hasn’t been heard in the past few decades?”
Yet In-gong had met Green Wind. It occurred one day after he had arrived at the Enger Plains, beating the record of the local centaurs and satyrs.
"Great."
"Yes, it is great.”
Felicia said with admiration and Ferocious Eyes agreed. Karma, who was standing in the corner, didn’t open her mouth but her eyes showed she also agreed.
‘So, Master, treat me more carefully.’
Green Wind whispered in his ears. The others couldn’t hear her voice.
In-gong pretended not to know and Felicia brought up a new topic.
"Then Shutra, what are you planning to do next? This mission ended too soon, so it isn’t a good idea to return to the Demon King’s Palace. In the case of this mission, there is room for an extension.”
It was obvious what she was suggesting and In-gong nodded.
"There are still remnants of the casios. Green Wind also wants to take care of them.”
'Master, I never said that.’
Green Wind spoke again, but this time she could be heard by the others. Ferocious Eyes expressed his surprise.
"Is that Green Wind?”
"Yes, she is being considerate.”
At first, he had intended to use scouting the north as an excuse but he changed his mind in a few days.
Obtaining White Eagle was still his top priority, but In-gong really felt the need to scout the north.
As Felicia had said, there were many strange things about this work. Maybe something unusual truly was happening beyond the Northern Limit Line.
In-gong thought of Enger Plains and the centaurs living there. For them, it was necessary to investigate the cause of this situation.
‘Of course, I also have to consider the merits.’
Moreover, In-gong had some doubts. The rampage of the casios and the participation of the drake ogres weren’t things that had happened in Knight Saga.
"Then I’ll go with you.”
“Ferocious Eyes?”
Ferocious Eyes looked around the room and then at In-gong.
"This occurred on Enger Plains. 9th Prince has prevented the immediate crisis, but many people are concerned about the future. If I go to the north with 9th Prince, the tribes will feel comforted.”
It was quite reasonable. Felicia laughed and agreed,
"Okay, it has been decided. Then I will follow.”
"6th Princess?”
Felicia winked at Ferocious Eyes’ question and spoke to In-gong,
“Didn’t I tell you? One of the reasons why I am here is to investigate the violent casios. Wouldn’t it be better to investigate the living casios instead of the dead ones?"
That was also reasonable. It was what he had expected since Felicia appeared. So, In-gong had used the excuse of Green Wind. It would strengthen the reasoning behind the scouting mission.
“Then I will also join you.”
Daphne carefully looked at both Felicia and In-gong. Then In-gong made a decision,
“Please do so.”
Daphne smiled happily.
“Thank you. I will do my best to help Prince and Princess.”
'Yes, I will use this opportunity to become friendly.’
In-gong became resolved again and looked at Felicia. She shrugged and said,
"We are both royal children but you are the representative. Look after me this time.”
"Please take care of me as well.”
Ferocious Eyes shook slightly and asked,
"9th Prince, when will we start?”
"There is no reason to lose our sleep. I recommend that we start tomorrow morning.”
Due to the nature of the scouting, he didn’t intend to go with many troops. Ferocious Eyes nodded.
"I understand. I will start preparing and carefully select the most outstanding warriors.”
"Then today, I will check the temple with Daphne.”
The last one to speak was Felicia. Each person’s work was neatly decided.
The centaurs heard the news after the meeting ended. They were satisfied that In-gong was going with their chief and the satyrs appreciated the fact that the 6th Princess came here after the 9th Prince. It was proof that the Demon King’s Palace thought about the Enger Plains.
On the day of departure...
There was one person who didn’t look excited at the thought of the new journey.
"Carack, what is it?”
In-gong asked Carack in a small voice as he had Ferocious Eyes and 20 centaurs behind him.
Carack moaned and said, "I feel like something is going to happen... No, it is probably nothing. Let’s depart.”
Carack closed his mouth and looked straight ahead. And exactly three days later, in the afternoon, Carack’s words became a reality.
&
“This-! Why did you have to say that?”
“You are the one who asked!”