Death King Karnak

Chapter 65: Chapter 64: Royal Family's Power Struggle (2)

Karnak asked for three days to decide whether to take on the mission.

After all, he was someone who could tell at a glance whether something was related to necromancy. So, he thought three days would be enough to determine if the Second Prince was connected to the cult.

It was a mistake.

In the capital of Drunta, at the central royal castle, Dellastas.

Standing under the high outer walls of the castle, Karnak clicked his tongue.

"Ah, there's a problem here."

Even with eyes that could see through all necromancy, he still had to actually see it with his own eyes.

If a large-scale necromantic barrier had been set up, like in the case of the village of Gelpa, he would have noticed it from afar, no matter how secretive it was.

But if they were using small-scale necromancy, like in the case of the Count Brelant, it would require direct investigation to confirm.

So, he needed to get inside the castle to see the Second Prince or his residence with his own eyes...

"But there's no way to get in."

How could Karnak, who had no connections to the royal family, possibly approach the quarters of Prince Alford, hidden deep within the palace?

Should he request an audience under the guise of the King's Order?

On what grounds? Just because he was suspicious and wanted to check?

Sure, they'd be eager to meet him.

Whether the suspicions were true or not, it was enough to make anyone upset, and the displeasure of a person in power has very different consequences than that of an ordinary person.

He had to check it secretly.

So, Karnak and his group spent the past two days lurking around the castle, looking for an opportunity.

And as expected, they had no success.

Gathered at their lodging, Karnak slumped his shoulders.

"We have to give an answer by tomorrow; what do we do?"

Serati, puzzled, asked.

"Didn't you anticipate this might happen?"

Because of how confidently he acted, she thought Karnak had some kind of clever magical method up his sleeve. She assumed he would use it to detect traces of necromancy.

She never imagined he wouldn't even consider the problem of getting inside.

'Is this guy actually an idiot?'

Karnak muttered defensively.

"Well, in the past, it was easy to come and go."

"How so?"

The two "former scoundrels" responded bluntly.

"We smashed our way in, of course."

"And killed everyone inside."

"Oh, I see..."

This is why biased experience is dangerous.

They could think of all sorts of ways to infiltrate a back-alley criminal hideout, but it never even occurred to them that it might be difficult to enter a royal castle.

Karnak seemed to realize his own mistake, as he wore a gloomy expression.

"Come to think of it, it's really obvious, but I just didn't think of it until it was right in front of me."

Scratching his head, he fell into deep thought.

"What should I do? Should I take on the mission for now? But if the suspicions turn out to be unfounded, I won't have an excuse."

Serati cautiously suggested.

"Why don't we start by finding out why the Second Prince is under suspicion?"

There must have been a reason for the suspicion, and it must have sounded convincing enough for Commander Erantel to take it seriously and call for Karnak.

It couldn't have been just some random traveler saying...

-The Second Prince is suspicious! I think he's in league with a necromancer!

-No way! What's your evidence?

-Just a hunch. But wouldn't it be good to investigate anyway?

-Indeed! King's Order, deploy!

"...That's not how it would've happened, right?"

Baros shook his head.

"We understand that much. But to find that out, we need to take on the mission first, don't we?"

Such detailed information is only disclosed to those directly involved in the mission within the King's Order.

"The dilemma now is whether or not to take on the mission," Karnak and Baros looked at Serati with expressions that seemed to ask how she couldn't understand something so obvious.

Serati responded with the same look.

"But now you have an excuse!"

"Huh? Do we have an excuse?"

"Did you think of a good plan, Dame Serati?"

Serati muttered inwardly once more, 'Are these guys really idiots?'

There's no need to come up with an excuse.

"Right now, we haven't even been able to approach the Second Prince, so we haven't been able to determine any suspicions. Can't we just report that?"

It's true that Karnak had proven his skills against the common folk in the provinces. But since he's just a rustic, insignificant noble, there's no way for him to get close to the central core of the royal family. This mission seems like something that should be handled by another King's Order member of higher status.

"We can just report it like that."

Karnak and Baros's eyes lit up.

"Right! That works!"

"Why didn't we think of that?"

Serati sighed deeply.

"That's why I keep telling you not to try to solve everything with lies..."

Baros nodded with a newfound sense of understanding.

"Indeed, sometimes the truth alone can deceive others."

"...Why would you interpret it like that?"

In any case, this lifted the burden of deciding whether or not to take on the mission. Karnak got up.

"Well, I'll head over to the King's Order headquarters then."

Baros suddenly asked.

"But won't this lower your evaluation, young master? It'll be your first failed mission."

Karnak wasn't worried about that at all.

"What does that matter? Am I doing this to climb up the ranks?"

***

Commander Erantel beamed with a wide smile at Karnak's acceptance.

"Oh, you're willing to take on the mission?"

"You seem awfully pleased."

It turned out that the commander had been quite troubled as well.

"There weren't many suitable candidates to take on this task."

The King's Order is mainly composed of high-ranking nobles due to the nature of its missions. And the target wasn't just any noble but a royal family member, someone with a strong possibility of becoming the future king.

If anything went wrong, the entire family could be wiped out. No matter how righteous or loyal one might be, it's not easy to get involved in something that could bring harm to their family.

Erantel's choice of Karnak was partly due to the outstanding results he had shown so far, but also because Karnak, as a lowly provincial noble, was less affected by the central power struggles.

Moreover, the fact that he had lost his entire family to necromancers (or so it was believed) meant that his desire for revenge against necromancy could be trusted.

'Though, in reality, they weren't necromancers, and I have no such desire for revenge,' Karnak thought with a wry smile but didn't show it. There was no need to correct such a convenient misunderstanding.

"So, I'd like to receive detailed information about the mission."

"Of course!"

Erantel opened the safe in his office and pulled out a stack of documents.

Usually, he would just hand them over from a drawer, but given the seriousness of the matter, it seemed they were being kept under strict security this time.

As he handed over the documents, Commander Erantel lowered his voice.

"This concerns the royal family, and involves the two princes who have long been at odds. Please proceed with utmost caution."

***

Yustil Kingdom's Second Prince, Alford Rudan Yustil.

The one who brought forth the accusation that he had colluded with the Dark God's cult was a secret informant of Prince Lloyd.

The two princes had been engaged in a covert struggle for a long time, each planting spies near the other. One of these spies had uncovered this information while investigating near Prince Alford.

The fact that a prince of the kingdom was allegedly in league with a necromancer was a grave matter, one that Prince Lloyd couldn't act on lightly. Thus, he secretly requested cooperation from the King's Order.

As they walked, Karnak spoke.

"They were so cautious that only a single letter from Prince Lloyd was sent to the headquarters."

Currently, Karnak and his group were heading toward the eastern outskirts of the capital, where, according to the information, Prince Lloyd's spy was hiding.

Baros, who was listening to the explanation, tilted his head in confusion.

"Commander Erantel acted based on just a single letter? That's not like him."

"Well, it was said to be a personal letter written by Prince Lloyd himself."

"Ah, that would make it trustworthy enough."

Before becoming the commander of the King's Order, Erantel had served as the vice-commander of the Royal Knights.

He was well-acquainted with Prince Lloyd, so he could easily verify the authenticity of the letter through the handwriting and the usual tone used by the prince.

"That's all we know for now. Any more detailed information will only be given to those directly involved in the mission. It seems even the King's Order isn't fully trusted."

Serati nodded.

"That's pretty cautious, just as you'd expect from a spy."

From Prince Lloyd's perspective, Commander Erantel was someone he could trust.

Erantel had been loyal to the royal family for a long time and had maintained a strictly neutral stance in the princes' power struggles.

This made him even more trustworthy, as the necromancy issue was beyond the realm of typical power struggles.

However, it was understandable that Prince Lloyd couldn't trust the entire King's Order.

Since they couldn't be sure where the information might leak from, it was only common sense to be as careful as possible.

As they continued their conversation, the three of them kept walking through the streets of the capital.

Instead of the clean architecture of the inner city, they were now surrounded by shabby buildings. This was the slum area on the outskirts of the capital, where the lower-class residents mostly lived.

Their meeting place was a messy two-story building made of logs and wooden planks.

As they entered, they found a sturdy man waiting for them, his face hidden deep under a hooded robe.

The man glanced around cautiously before asking, "What brings you here, my lords?"

Karnak chuckled quietly.

'For a spy, his acting is rather clumsy.'

He was probably trying to appear as an ordinary impoverished man, but his physique was far too impressive for that.

Besides, if a stranger showed up, he should be suspicious, not wary of the surroundings.

Karnak took out an emblem from inside his coat.

"We're from the King's Order. Are you the one entrusted with a secret mission from Prince Lloyd?"

After verifying the emblem, the hooded man changed his tone.

"Indeed. So, you're the ones chosen by Sir Erantel?"

For a moment, Baros found it odd.

'What's with that tone?'

His manner of speaking was too authoritative for a spy. No, rather than authoritative, it seemed like a tone naturally used when speaking down to others.

'Is he a high-ranking noble?'

That would be strange. High-ranking nobles usually don't take on roles like that of a spy.

Baros, still cautious, spoke up.

"Now, it's your turn to prove your identity."

The man shrugged his shoulders.

"The only physical evidence to prove my identity is the prince's handwritten letter sent to the King's Order."

"No evidence, you say?"

Baros reached for the sword at his waist, and Serati slightly bent her knees, ready to act.

However, the man remained unfazed.

"So, the only proof I can offer is my face..."

As he raised his hand to his hood, he lowered his voice.

"I should warn you, you're going to be quite surprised when you see my face. So, I'd like to ask you not to be too shocked."

The man pulled back his hood in front of the puzzled group.

A young man with thick black hair, a sharp jawline, and a strong, commanding presence revealed his face.

His expression exuded confidence, yet there was an oddly calm demeanor about him.

The moment Baros and Serati saw his face, their expressions stiffened.

"What?"

"Who are you?"

They had never seen him in person, but they were very familiar with the face from portraits.

King's Order, due to the nature of their profession, learns people's likenesses through lifelike portraits created using light magic, rather than highly embellished artistic portraits.

Thanks to this, they immediately recognized him.

"...Prince Alford?"

"What is this?"

The man under the hood was none other than the Second Prince of Yustil Kingdom, Alford.

The situation made no sense at all.

How could the person who brought forth the accusation of collusion with the cult be the Second Prince himself?

But what followed made even less sense.

"You're right. This face does indeed belong to Alford."

The man stroked his chin with a bitter smile.

"But I am not Alford. As hard as it may be to believe..."

He pointed to himself and continued calmly.

"I am the First Prince, Lloyd Rudan Yustil, the rightful heir to this kingdom."

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