I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

Chapter 72: Unexpected Guest (2)

TL/Editor: Rungir

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The Agnes Empire Knights.

When you talk about the strongest military group in the Empire, many names come up. But, the first choice would be the Agnes Knights.

Each member is so powerful they are beyond human. To join, they need skills equal to the heads of other knightly orders within the Empire.

They are the peak of all knight orders in the world. They serve only the emperor.

One of the captains of these Agnes Knights was now sitting before Zion.

"It's been a while, Your Highness Zion."

Zion looked at Alstain Ascalon with surprise. Alstain was a stern-faced, middle-aged man.

He was a character who showed up briefly in the chronicle, so there wasn't much information about him.

The only known fact was that his family, the Ascalon family, was related to Zion's family by marriage.

The Ascalon family, a clan of heavenly swordsmen.

If the Ozlima family represented magic, the Ascalon family represented swords. They were arguably the best swordsmen.

Like the Ozlimas, they produced one of the seven heavens and held power among the top five in the empire.

"What brings you here?"

Zion and the Ascalon family had never interacted before, despite their marital connection.

So, Zion was surprised that Alstain had sought him out.

"You seem to have changed a lot..."

Alstain, looked surprised. He was responding to Zion, who was looking directly into his eyes and asking.

He remembered a time, a decade ago, when Zion couldn't even make eye contact. He would keep his head bowed down.

Alstain had been disappointed with him then.

But now, Zion was so different he seemed like a completely new person.

"Did your Agnes blood awaken late? Or have you been hiding your power this whole time?"

Alstain asked, the question tumbling out.

However, Zion didn't answer him.

"I don't like repeating myself."

Zion said, looking directly at Alstain with tired eyes.

He didn't have negative feelings towards the Ascalon family.

Zion would have done the same in their position.

But, that didn't mean he liked them. He didn't have time for pointless talk.

"......"

Alstain's pupils shook, an unknown fear creeping in from the look in Zion's eyes.

The silence stretched on.

"The family head invites you, Your Highness Zion, to our family."

Alstain finally spoke, his voice slow and steady. He closed his eyes and then opened them again before making the announcement.

"What's the reason?"

"...Because we have seen the qualifications."

The qualifications of an Emperor.

Something that couldn't be detected from the old Zion.

But it was quite visible in the current Zion.

"That's why we want to test you. To verify if those qualifications are what we perceive them to be. And if we're right... whether you could be with us."

Such audacious words for a noble to say to a member of the direct royal family.

But it was a statement that could only come from the Ascalon family, recognized as the empire's top swordsman family.

'Interesting.'

Zion smirked inwardly.

The heavenly swordsman family, Ascalon.

A place that Zion had to eventually visit and a power he needed to harness.

But their proactive approach was a pleasing turn of events for Zion.

He felt indifferent about the predetermined relationships from the chronicle, considering they were established before he inhabited this body.

However,

'I need to take the initiative.'

With that resolution, from Zion's lips,

"I have a question."

A cool voice spilled out.

"Why do you think I would need your power?"

At that, Alstain's face stiffened.

No one had ever said such a thing to him before.

Not even a member of the direct royal family.

One of the five pillars that support the empire, and a family regarded as the empire's top swordsman.

Everyone craved that power.

But Prince Zion seemed to be rejecting it.

"Twenty-four times."

"...?"

"That's the number of times I've nearly died so far. The actual number of assassination attempts is much higher. If I include minor incidents, it's innumerable."

Zion was recounting details he had learned from Fredo, who had been protecting him since birth.

"What were you, my kin, doing during all this time? Did you ever prevent an attack? Or did you ever argue against the injustice? Instead, you chose to turn a blind eye."

"......"

"And now you approach me, talking about qualifications. Did you think I would be grateful?"

His words were bitter.

But they were all true.

"You say you're going to test my qualifications. That's amusing. Shouldn't you first assess your own qualifications?"

Zion's eyes were devoid of any emotion.

"If I ever visit Ascalon, you all will have to justify your actions to me first."

At that moment, Alstain understood.

He identified the essence of what existed in Prince Zion's eyes.

"Why I should need you."

It was darkness.

No, something even deeper and more alien than darkness.

Yes, an abyss.

The abyss was suppressing Alstain's very existence, chillingly provoking the deepest part of his heart.

"......"

Ultimately, no words were able to escape his mouth.

---

---

"I wish our meetings weren't so frequent, yet here we are."

"So it seems."

A woman in a religious habit spoke, and a man with a face as emotionless as a stone statue replied.

"The Third Prince has been dealt with."

"I'm aware."

"I didn't see this coming at all."josei

The woman in the religious habit clicked her tongue as she glanced in the direction of the Chimseong Palace, where Zion was residing.

"Do you think he knew?"

"Knew what?"

"That we were using the Third Prince to eliminate him."

"No chance."

The man promptly dismissed the idea.

In truth, the woman too knew it was unlikely.

But Prince Zion's actions were too cunningly timed.

As if he could see through all their maneuvers, he had accurately struck their vulnerability.

'No, it would be accurate to say that Prince Zion created the vulnerability himself.'

She couldn't have possibly anticipated that he would use the family infighting to create a divide, then ally with the Fifth Princess to bring down the Third Prince.

Furthermore, she couldn't understand how Prince Zion was able to claim the life of the Third Prince on his own.

This was utterly impossible considering the ineffectiveness of Zion Agnes they had assessed.

The name Zion Agnes was becoming increasingly burdensome.

"Still, it's fortunate our involvement remains undisclosed."

"Indeed, they attributed the human experimentation site to the work of black magicians, didn't they? Diral seems to have handled that well… but where on earth did he disappear to?"

"I'm uncertain."

The man shook his head in response to the woman's question.

He too was oblivious to Diral's whereabouts.

On the night of the attack on the royal palace.

Diral vanished without a trace.

From humans, and from them.

"I realize he's an odd character, but isn't this taking it too far?"

"Perhaps he's severely injured and recuperating."

"What?"

"I heard there was also a battle on the outskirts of the royal city the same night the royal palace was attacked. Diral could have been involved in that fight."

"You're suggesting that the one who overpowered Diral might be one of the Seven Heavens?"

"......"

The man remained silent, offering no answer.

Though the probability was near zero, given the recent events, it wasn't entirely impossible.

"Sigh, things are spiraling out of control."

The woman grumbled, her brows knitted together.

If this trend continued, it could significantly hamper their future plans.

"Should we accelerate our plans a bit?"

"If you concur, I'll try to sway things in another direction."

"Another direction?"

Responding to the woman's question, the man's voice gradually began to fill the silence.

As he continued to speak, a glimmer of surprise started to dawn in the woman's eyes.

---

---

Late evening, with a crescent moon hung in the heart of the sky.

Zion was venturing outside the imperial city in a magic car.

Since it wasn't an official outing, there were no attendants and the movement of the magic car was discrete.

Thud.

The back gate of the imperial city swung open as if on cue, just as he approached.

The magic car carrying Zion smoothly passed through the back gate, and started to glide through the streets of the capital.

"Your Highness, we should reach our destination in about 10 minutes. I've placed the items you specified on the seat next to you. Please remember to take them when you disembark."

"Understood."

At the driver's words, who was a member of the Eternal Shadow, Zion nodded and looked out the window.

The swiftly receding night view of the capital.

Zion's destination was one of the auction houses in the capital.

Of course, he was not simply going to purchase something.

The chilling night.

In the not-too-distant future, a disaster that would obliterate half of the capital, Hubris, was impending.

The catalyst for that disaster was scheduled to appear at the auction house Xion was heading to tonight.

Zion intended to meddle with that catalyst.

If half the capital was obliterated, it was certain that Zion's own future endeavors would be severely hampered.

And there was another advantage to be gained from this venue.

In the meantime, the magic car pulled to a stop, indicating their arrival at the destination.

Soon, a woman who had been waiting in advance came into Zion's sight as he stepped out of the magic car.

"It's been a while, Your Highness Zion."

The woman, with her reddish-brown hair, who greeted Zion politely, was Aileen, the Hubris branch head of the information guild, 'Eye of the Moon'.

Contrary to her usual attire, she was dressed in an elegant gown and was not wearing her glasses.

She appeared to be quite attractive, almost as if her natural beauty was revealed in full.

"Congratulations are in order."

There was no specific subject in her subsequent sentence, but the implication was clear enough.

She must have been referring to his recent act of assassinating the Third Prince, Enoch, and absorbing his power.

"Do we have tickets?"

"There's no need. You can just follow me. But... I wasn't aware you had an interest in auctions, Your Highness. Particularly this kind of auction."

The reason for Aileen's comment was straightforward.

The auction house Zion was heading to was not your typical establishment.

The Flinton underground auction house.

As the name suggests, it is located underground and deals not only in legal commodities, but also all sorts of illicit ones.

From stolen goods to various cursed magical items, illegal weapons, and even the slave trade, which has been outlawed, it handles all.

The Flinton underground auction house was particularly notorious for its slave auctions.

Numerous prominent nobles of the capital were regular patrons, and due to the staggering bribes they offered, the empire was aware of its existence but chose to turn a blind eye.

"A VIP at such an auction house should not question this."

Zion addressed Aileen with a faint smirk.

And that was precisely why Zion had chosen to accompany her.

Zion intended to infiltrate the auction house without disclosing his identity, and to do that, he needed to accompany a VIP of the auction house.

While researching this, he discovered that Aileen happened to have VIP status.

"I obtained it through a connection when I first arrived in Hubris. Naturally, I haven't used it until now."

With that, Aileen extended a white mask, large enough to cover half of Zion's face.

"Put this on before entering. All auction participants must keep their identities hidden from each other. Well, except for individuals like Your Highness Xion, the auction house will know everyone's identity."

"I see."

"Also, the mask has a magical treatment that lightens the color of your hair, so bear that in mind."

In Zion's case, even if he concealed his face, he ran the risk of being recognized due to his dark gray hair, unique to the royal family.

Therefore, she had taken additional precautions.

"Understood."

As this was what he had intended anyway, Zion gladly accepted the mask she offered.

After their conversation, they continued to walk for a while.

Finally, upon reaching a building that seemed to be the auction house, Zion looked around.

'This is unexpected.'

The extravagant surrounding streets and the noble mansions dispersed around the area.

Given that it was an illegal auction house, he expected it to be situated in a seedy alley on the outskirts, but he was surprised to find it operating so openly in a district where the capital's upper class resided.

Furthermore, the building housing the auction house was impeccably maintained and grand.

"Most of the clients of this place are nobles, after all. Plus, it's not that they're oblivious, they're deliberately turning a blind eye. So, there's no need to set up shop in the slums on the outskirts."

Aileen, who seemed to have guessed Zion's thoughts, displayed something to the muscular men in suits guarding the auction house's entrance, and immediately someone emerged from within.

"Ah, VIPs. Please follow me."

Was VIP status extremely rare?

Following the guide while enduring the curious and somewhat envious gazes of the other nobles waiting to enter, the scene inside the auction house gradually unveiled itself to Zion as he stepped in.

Just then.

In the bustling crowd, his gaze landed on a familiar figure. It was a man whose presence was so unexpected, yet almost predictable, given the unusual circumstances surrounding this place.

Zion's eyes narrowed, anticipation gleaming within them as he saw the person he didn't anticipate encountering this soon. As he watched, the man was engaging in a heated conversation with another participant, oblivious to Zion's arrival.

This encounter wasn't what Zion planned for, but it was an opportunity he couldn't pass up. The risks and the stakes just got higher. But as the adage goes, fortune favors the bold.

As Zion stepped further into the vibrant energy of the auction house, he adjusted the mask on his face, his mind already planning the next steps. His journey had only just begun.

With that thought, he disappeared into the crowd, getting ready to face the unexpected turn of events head-on.

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