Regas Vol 4. Chapter 24

“Is Sir Kin here?”

“No,” the Commander of the Royal Guards who was guarding the front of the quarters answered, and Roster, who had been looking elsewhere, also shook his head.

Ashler, catching his breath from searching around, frowned. He had thought Kin was just taking so ti alone after hearing about the death of the unit officer, however, they couldn’t find him anywhere nearby. What worried him was Roster’s horse.

“Sir Kin’s horse is gone too. The servant in charge of the horses said he also took the bow he usually carried in battle.”

Roster looked at Ashler, who stood frozen in silence, and asked after maintaining silence for a while.

“Are you thinking the sa thing? In the end, Kin decided to act alone.”

Ashler didn’t nod but only responded with a frown. They should have realized it earlier. When Kin said he wouldn’t beco like the King’s Heart, he had already made up his mind. They should have waited a bit longer. There was no hope when Karas hadn’t awakened, however, now there was a clear justification to oppose the King’s Heart.

Is there any reason to fight the King’s Heart stronger than the justification of serving the emperor?

It was because of Karas that they could co this far. That’s what justification is. No matter how evil the King’s Heart may be, without justification, those who oppose them are nothing more than re traitors.

That is why, in the past, those who rarely tried to oppose the King’s Heart sought out a royal family bloodline so distant it was difficult to trace and tried to set them up to fight against them. The fact that the current emperor was now free from the King’s Heart’s grasp and was now trying to fight against them was a miracle in itself that hadn’t happened after hundreds of years.

Ashler thought that if he missed this opportunity—if he couldn’t get rid of the King’s Heart this ti—he would never have another chance. Thus, he had to be careful about everything before making full preparations. He had seized the opportunity with difficulty after six years of war.

He had grown the opposing forces, and Karas seed to have so plans as well. The King’s Heart had not yet restrained the emperor and the army. Ashler felt ashad and regretful that he couldn’t properly confront them at the mont, however, he also thought of it as an opportunity. Because, by then, they would let their guard down to that extent.

Now that Karas had awakened, things had to proceed as originally planned. Although he couldn’t grasp what changes and shocks Abel’s death had brought to him, for now, it was important for him to continue fighting against the King’s Heart.

Ashler suddenly realized that he was not much different from Kin. Instead of worrying about Karas, he worried that Kin’s absence might affect the fight against the King’s Heart. He shook his head slightly [N O V E L I G H T] to clear his thoughts and looked back at Roster.

“Take a few trusted subordinates and go to where Norhox was heading to find Sir Kin. Before he does sothing reckless.”

Roster nodded, but the Commander of the Royal Guards quickly intervened.

“I will go.”

“You?”

“Yes. I must deliver His Majesty’s ssage to Sir Kin as soon as I et him.”

His Majesty’s ssage?

Roster and Ashler’s eyes lit up for a mont. The two approached the Commander of the Royal Guards, and one of them asked in a low voice.

“Did you receive orders from His Majesty?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“It’s a secret.”

The expressions of the two who had been listening closely suddenly distorted for a mont, but the loyal Commander of the Royal Guards, who wouldn’t speak even if a sword was held to his neck, straightened his chest as if to say he wouldn’t say anything.

“I can only tell Sir Kin. Moreover, I was also ordered to assist him. So, don’t ask any more about this matter.”

“Is it about the item you brought?”

When Ashler asked sharply, the Commander of the Royal Guards quickly shook his head.

“No. That item has already been handed over to Sir Roster... Ah.”

He quickly covered his mouth, thinking that he had made a slip of the tongue. Then, as if worried Ashler might ask more, he quickly said what he needed to and left.

“I might not see you for a while. In the anti, please protect His Majesty in my place.”

Ashler watched the retreating back of the Commander of the Royal Guards and asked Roster with a puzzled look.

“Did you already receive the item from the Commander of the Royal Guards?”

“Yes.”

“Then why didn’t you....”

“Because it’s a secret.”

Although the answer was the sa as the Commander of the Royal Guards, Ashler couldn’t show any more surprise this ti. From the very beginning, Karas had given different missions to the commanders, keeping them unaware of each other’s tasks. Thus, he only knew the overall plan.

It was disappointing that he couldn’t trust them, but as his subjects, they couldn’t complain.

Moreover, Ashler vaguely guessed Karas’ plan as he knew what the item was. However, that made him even more worried.

He wondered if they were about to face the worst-case scenario he had in mind. That fear lay deep within him.

“Do you know what that item is?”

“No. But if it was necessary for to know, His Majesty would have told a while ago.”

“A while ago?”

“Yes. When I returned after failing to find Sir Kin, I briefly t with His Majesty.”

Roster spoke lightly, but then looked up at the sky and added:

“It seems like he’s really going to wage war against the King’s Heart seriously. You’ll find out later, but I’m leaving tomorrow for my mission.”

Both the Commander of the Royal Guards and Roster left their positions.

What on earth is the Emperor thinking?

At that mont, Roster tapped Ashler’s shoulder and whispered:

“Rather than , you should be more curious about what the war profiteer inside has to say.”

“The war profiteer is inside?”

When asked sharply, Roster nodded his head. He looked at the quarters for a mont and muttered:

“He really looked a ss, as if he had drunk heavily last night. I just hope His Majesty doesn’t trust him too much.”

As he finished speaking, the entrance to the quarters opened, and the war profiteer walked out with a tense expression. As soon as he ca out, he let out a sigh as if he was relieved. It seed as if he had just passed a great ordeal, and Ashler frowned.

Could it be that he deceived Karas by showing him false loyalty?

The war profiteer noticed the threatening gaze and looked up with bloodshot eyes. At first, he seed startled, but soon he pretended to be pleased.

“Ah. W-who is this? How have you all been?”

Roster remained silent as if he didn’t even want to greet him, but Ashler slightly bowed his head.

“It’s been a while. I heard you’ve been doing very well lately. Managing the King’s Heart Regas, no less. I was very surprised.”

“Ahem, that’s all a disguise.”

He muttered while avoiding eye contact, then he soon turned his body, saying that he had to go. But even as he left, he didn’t forget to glance back at Karas’ quarters.

“Those are unsettling eyes. His Majesty should not trust him too much.”

Roster repeated his words, seemingly really worried. However, this ti, Ashler didn’t agree. He looked around the quiet Karas quarters as if there was no one there and then muttered:

“But in His Majesty’s eyes, we might be the sa existence. Seeing that he didn’t even give us a clue about Abel’s existence.”

It was as if he had never expected anything from Ashler and his group in the first place.

****

“Ugh!”

With a final scream, Norhox’s fifth soldier fell. However, as he fell, he held onto Kin’s sword to prevent it from being drawn. Kin quickly kicked his body to pull out his sword, but before he could, another enemy thrust a sword towards him first. Kin instinctively pulled his upper body back.

In order to avoid the opponent’s attack by a hair’s breadth, Kin had no choice but to let go of his own sword. Seizing this opportunity, another soldier launched an attack from the opposite side, and Kin retreated backward in a daze, gradually moving further away from his sword. However, as he had already experienced such situations in war, he did not panic and took out the dagger he had stuck in his waist and fought back.

He bent his upper body to avoid the sword and stabbed the enemy’s abdon with the dagger. His intention was to take the opponent’s sword away, but once again, it did not go as planned. The dagger did not penetrate the enemy enough, so the opponent retreated with the sword still in hand. Before Kin could catch his breath, he imdiately heard a chilling sound from behind him. Kin instinctively realized that the sword was coming towards him and twisted his lowered upper body.

‘Clang!’

He barely managed to deflect the sword with his short dagger, but the impact caused him to drop the dagger and roll on the ground. Then, a soldier charged at him from the left. Kin quickly turned his head, searching for a weapon to defend himself. At this rate, he would have to confront his opponent while sacrificing an arm.

At that mont, as if on cue, a sword was thrown toward Kin’s hand. It was his own familiar sword. Without checking who had thrown it, Kin grabbed the handle, which fit perfectly in his hand, and swung the sword.

Thud!

Stabbing the approaching soldier’s lower abdon with the sword, Kin raised one knee. Now that he had a weapon in his hand, the remaining five or so were a piece of cake. As Kin pulled out the sword, blood dripping from it, he stood up from his position like a devil from hell, causing the remaining guys to flinch and gulp down their saliva.

However, Kin did not give them a chance to think and charged at them, baring his teeth like a beast. Shortly after, the ground was covered in the stench of fresh blood. Before they even had ti to have a sip of tea, the rest of them had all breathed their last breath.

Only then did Kin, breathing heavily, turn to see who had thrown the sword at him. All he could see was soone standing up from a crouched position behind a tree as if hiding.

Was it that person?

With their hood pulled low, he couldn’t see their face, so Kin approached cautiously without letting his guard down and asked:

“Who are you to help ...!”

Kin couldn’t finish his sentence. As the person slowly removed their hood and revealed their face, all Kin could do was freeze in shock with his mouth agape. But the other person was busy smiling with joy.

“As expected, it’s you, 1st Battalion Commander!”