abcnovels
Chapter 60 – Human? (6)
Chapter 60 – Human? (6)
Chapter 60 – Human? (6)
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
Chapter 60 – Human? (6)
“What is this madness!”
Aaron was incredulous.
“What are you trying to do?”
“I thought I made it clear. Let’s have an honest conversation.”
“You want to have a conversation with those things?”
“What’s the problem? Haven’t you already had plenty of conversations in the royal castle? A little more wouldn’t hurt.”
Ketel shrugged.
“They’re not like diseases that spread. It’s not a problem to be close to them.”
“But to have a conversation with those monsters. Are you out of your mind?”
“Lord Aaron? What are you saying!”
The knight exclaimed in shock.
Ketel ignored him and continued.
“Regardless, it’s something you need to do.”
“Talk to monsters?”
“You’re heading to the Kingdom of Denian. You plan to meet their king and request cooperation. Asking them to save you.”
“That, that’s true.”
“Meaning, the Kingdom of Denian is likely to be in conflict with the Kingdom of Lutein. Is there a reason why Denian should bear that risk?”
“The Kingdom of Denian is friendly with our kingdom. The princess has even met them in her childhood.”
“But she’s not the king, she’s a princess.”
Elene is not the ruler of the kingdom.
“Where is the reason for them to stake their nation based on your words?”
Aaron fell silent before speaking up again.
“They’re not humans, they’re monsters. A threat to humanity. So….”
“Where’s the evidence?”
Aaron’s mouth snapped shut.
Ketel chuckled.
“When you meet the king of Denian and tell him they’re immune to the fear of death, that they can come back to life, do you think he’ll believe it?”
“But….”
“Of course, I believe your words. But the king has no reason to believe.”
So, they needed evidence to give trust.
But that wasn’t all.
“Above all, you seek revenge.”
Elene nodded.
Her desire was to avenge the unknown entity that swallowed her kingdom.
“To defeat the enemy, you must first understand the enemy. How can you seek revenge when you know nothing about the enemy?”
“Ah.”
Elene’s eyes wavered.
It was a valid point.
She knew what kind of beings they were.
But what they wanted, why they came to her kingdom, she knew nothing.
The Tower Master chuckled.
‘Did you calculate all this and bring the knight here?’
What is in the white Snowfield?
It wasn’t just about being smart.
It was about understanding the concepts of trade and value perfectly.
Beyond just material things, even trading in information and knowledge.
It wasn’t something he learned during that short time outside.
It was so familiar, as if he had done such actions frequently.
Curiosity surged uncontrollably.
And Ketel had no objection.
“Do you know him?”
“…Yes.”
He was the youngest knight of the Blue-Green Order.
His name was Farman.
Sometimes, when she watched him train, if his eyes met hers, he would blush and look away.
Elene found that quite adorable.
But even he ultimately succumbed to the monsters.
“It’s sad. Knowing that all the people I know have disappeared.”
“Princess! I’m here! What do you mean everyone disappeared!”
“Shut up.”
Elene said sharply.
In her eyes staring at the knight, there was enmity.
“Don’t you dare imitate him. I want to kill you.”
Elene sneered.
“Oh. You can’t die either? It’s not even a threat.”
“No. I’m not a monster!”
Farman shouted.
“Princess! I remember everything! The hot summer days. When you watched our training from under the tree shade! When you asked the commander if you could wield a sword too! When the commander said it was dangerous, you cried and threw a tantrum! Also, the time you secretly went to the kitchen in the middle of the night and ate a whole ham….”
“S, shut up!”
Elene’s face flushed red.
She gritted her teeth.
“…Don’t touch on my memories, you memory-eating monster.”
“No. Really. What’s going on.”
The knight had a bewildered expression, as if unjustly accused.
The Tower Master stroked his chin.
He subtly released mana.
Mana flowed through the knight’s body, determining whether he was an impostor or not.
And the conclusion was reached.
The knight in front of them was human.
The path of mystical flow through the body.
The shape of veins.
The structure of bones.
All of it was human.
Although one could imitate bones and veins, they couldn’t imitate the path of mystic flow.
No matter how you looked at it, the knight in front of them was human.
‘What on earth is this?’
While Tower Master pondered, Elene muttered with a frustrated face.
“Farman. Don’t worry. Your revenge will be fulfilled.”
“No. I am perfectly alive!”
The knight’s expression was one of injustice.
Elene glared at him fiercely.
“Then answer me. How did you get here?”
“I just came…?”
“What do you mean!”
“Even if you ask how…”
The knight looked bewildered, not understanding what he was saying.
Elene’s emotions became even more intense as she looked at his face.
The knight in front of her was a monster that had engulfed the entire kingdom.
He was her enemy.
It was difficult to control her emotions.
“How did the knights from that distant kingdom track me? There was no tracking. That part has been confirmed.”
“We are the Blue-Green Knights. We protect the royal family. How could we miss the princess’s whereabouts?”
“Stop spewing those words!”
She drew her dagger and pressed it against the knight’s throat.
“P-Princess?”
The knight was bewildered.
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
There was no fear of death in his eyes.
Elene smirked.
“Even if I kill you here, you’ll come back the same, wearing the same clothes, won’t you? Why don’t you die like normal people?”
“T-That, that’s not important. We’re not monsters. We’re human. You’re mistaken, Princess.”
The knight repeated the same words like a parrot.
The story didn’t make sense.
“We’re human. Princess. Please face the reality.”
Farman said with a pitying expression.
Elene’s expression became even more fierce.
“Don’t look at me like I’m insane! You’re the crazy ones! It’s not me!”
The princess took a breath.
“Do you know your intentions? You’ll swallow my father, my mother, and eventually replace me. You’ll turn me into an immortal monster as well. Don’t make me laugh! Do you think that will happen to me?”
The emotions of anger engulfed the knight.
He quickly spoke as if seeing an opportunity.
“N-No. That’s not true! It won’t happen like that!”
Elene paused.
Seizing the opportunity, the knight speaks quickly.
“Because Princess and Aaron wouldn’t want it! It won’t happen now or in the future! You don’t need to worry about that part!”
“…What do you mean?”
“Literally, it’s just that…”
“Even though you devoured the entire kingdom, Aaron and I won’t be turned into monsters? Because you don’t want that?”
“It’s just as I said… but…”
“What nonsense is this?”
The princess didn’t understand the knight’s words.
But Ketal and Tower Master were different.
Their expressions subtly changed.
The story continued from there, but no conclusion was reached.
The knight still claimed to be human.
“No conclusion was reached.”
Elene sighed.
Ketal spoke lightly.
“But don’t worry. The existence itself is evidence. If we take him with us, the Denian Kingdom will accept him.”
“Yes. Thank you very much, Ketal. We just moved without knowing about that.”
Elene looked at Ketal.
He was truly a great person.
He was confronting the kingdom and the monsters for her sake.
His figure was like that of a hero.
Just looking at him made her heart beat faster.
She might not fully understand, but this was a feeling close to love.
Feeling embarrassed unexpectedly, Elene bowed deeply.
Ketal was looking at his axe.
The axe was incredibly clean.
It seemed as if it had never been used in battle.
But he had used this axe to cut down numerous knights.
Ketal remembered the blood on the axe.
The meaning was simple.
The blood on the axe had disappeared on its own.
“I have one more question.”
“Yes?”
Elene looked up at Ketal’s words.
“Do you consider yourself human?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Elene’s expression asked why he was asking such a thing.
“If you’re worried that I’ve changed like them, you don’t have to. I’m human. I haven’t even regenerated my clothes like them, and it was very difficult to come here.”
Elene waved her hand. Her clothes were in a ragged state from not being properly washed.
“I am human. Don’t worry.”
“Is that so?”
Ketal murmured.
* * *
They continued forward, and finally arrived at the end of the forest.
A path became visible.
Elene’s eyes sparkled.
“At last.”
In a few hours, they would reach the border.
They arrived.
Elene put her strength into the trembling bridge.
“Princess.”
And the knight who was being dragged along by a rope complained.
“Do you really intend to cross over? You are the first princess of the Lutein Kingdom. It’s unthinkable for such a princess to cross over to another country. This is, this is….”
Elene didn’t respond.
The knight shook his head at her clear attitude of disregard.
They moved forward.
Normally, it was time for the knights to come out and block the path.
But no one came out.
Elene found it strange.
“Have they given up?”
“Not necessarily.”
Ketal stopped.
He looked directly ahead where there was nothing.
“Come out.”
“…There was no indication of invisibility magic being detected.”
“What’s the point of hiding if you cover your sight? Nature is indicating that something is there.”
“Nature, huh.”
A voice came from the empty air.
“It seems you’re not just talking about a simple intuition. It seems like you sensed it through the flow of the wind.”
Soon, along with buzzing phenomena, something hidden began to appear.
“He complained about a barbarian, so I gave him a good smack, but it seems worth it.”
“Invisibility magic.”
Ketal looked at the scene with an interested face.
It wasn’t just hiding appearance.
Really, nothing could be felt.
It wasn’t noticing the presence by feeling the atmosphere, it wasn’t sensing any presence.
It was magic.
And it was done properly.
The opponent’s attire gave him confidence in his expectations.
Suppressing his excitement, Ketal opened his mouth.
“You seem like a mage, may I ask for your introduction?”
“Nothing’s stopping you.”
He was an old man with long beard.
He wore a loose robe and a pointed hat on his head.
He held a wooden staff in one hand.
“I am Adamanth Lagesh, I belong to the School of Multicolored Jewels and am the High Sorcerer of the Kingdom of Lutein. I’ve come to explain everything.”
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]