Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 193

193.

I waited for Count Sarhan to return, but after two days, there was no news.

Eventually, I declared the Count missing and ordered a search operation.

I didn’t forget to report to the Imperial Palace.

The disappearance of a noble, especially a high-ranking noble with the title of Count, was a significant event for the entire empire.

“With the atmosphere already tense due to the Southern Alliance, the Count’s disappearance has added to the turmoil, so the Imperial Palace will be very busy for a while.”

Ken agreed with my words.

“That’s right. Second Prince Ted has gone south, and His Majesty is coming to the west, so the focus of the great war is on the imperial border.”

Ken continued.

“Many people are probably watching closely. Many opposed His Majesty coming to the west instead of his direct territory, so they’re curious about how he will resolve the situation in the west.”

“Even though the coming-of-age ceremony went smoothly, I’m still being tested.”

Did my tone sound bitter?

Olivia comforted me.

“The West is an important place and His Majesty’s base, isn’t it? Regardless of the atmosphere of the great war, it’s a place for His Majesty to take care of, so if you resolve it well, it will be a great help to you. The loyalty of the Western lords will increase even more.”

I hadn’t shared the fact that Count Sarhan was likely a puppet of Duke Beregon with anyone other than Ken.

Olivia was the same.

She also took my order to search for Count Sarhan as a monarch ordering a large-scale operation to find his subject.

I didn’t bother to correct her.

I hadn’t yet obtained evidence that Count Sarhan was a puppet of Duke Beregon, so there was no need to tell my subordinates about it yet.

“Anyway, I made sure to warn the search parties that left first not to enter the Western Forest, right?”

Ken replied.

“Yes. I emphasized several times to only search near the Western Forest.”

It was highly likely that Count Sarhan had disappeared inside the Western Forest, but I didn’t send the search party into the Western Forest.

If even the search party were harmed by the fairies, the problem would become serious.

‘It’s hard to believe that fairies turned the soldiers into that state, but at least people think it’s the fairies’ doing. And we can’t rule out the possibility that the fairies actually did it.’

I intend to go directly to the Western Forest with Gail, Lillian, and Olivia at the forefront.

A party consisting of two Sword Masters, an 8th Circle mage, and a top-tier spiritist is not something that even fairies can easily handle.

I felt a renewed sense of reassurance from Olivia’s presence.

“How is the West?”

Olivia smiled and replied to my words.

“It’s a place with a different atmosphere from the Imperial Palace and the East. It’s also mysterious that the vast Western Forest and the Forest of Darkness, made of death, coexist.”

“I should go to the Western Forest myself tomorrow.”

Perhaps by the afternoon, the search party would bring back the search results, but I honestly didn’t have high expectations for them.

‘He probably disappeared in the Western Forest.’

Whether it was fairies or a secret organization that killed the soldiers miserably, I guessed that they had done something inside the forest.

“It seems dangerous for you to go yourself.”

Ken tried to dissuade me, but I shook my head.

“I have to go to the Western Forest anyway to obtain Magma’s Wrath.”

I looked at the subordinates gathered in the office and said.

“Gail, Lillian, and Olivia are with me. I’m also a formidable force. Looking at our current strength, we are more than capable of fighting a country.”

Ken also acknowledged that our power was enormous.

“Still, you must be careful. There is too little information about fairies.”

“They were once a race that ruled the Middle Realm, but we are not weak either, so it’s okay. Now, let’s all prepare for tomorrow’s departure.”

I sent my subordinates out and left only Ken behind.

I also gave Olivia a look while having a private conversation with Ken.

As soon as Ken started talking to me alone, he revealed his true feelings, which he had restrained in front of the subordinates.

“A war with the fairies may break out.”

“I expected that much.”

Ken was rather surprised by my words.

“I thought Your Highness was pursuing peaceful solutions to everything.”

“Magma’s Wrath is presumed to be in a place where fairies hold sacred, where the World Tree is. Would the fairies allow humans to go to a place where only those who are allowed can enter?”

“No. They will desperately stop us. And since we must go, a conflict will arise.”

“I’ll try to resolve it through dialogue first, but I believe that Magma’s Wrath is in the hands of the fairies.”

Ken narrowed his eyes.

“In the end, conflict with the fairies is unavoidable.”

“That’s right. I promised Lillian. Since we made a Mana Oath [a magical vow bound by one’s mana], I must give Magma’s Wrath to Lillian.”

Ken pointed out the contents of the Mana Oath.

“You have kept the oath just by telling her the location.”

“Of course, strictly speaking, I kept the oath. But I implicitly promised Lillian that I would help her find Magma’s Wrath.”

I continued.

“It is more important than anything for a monarch to keep his promise to his subjects.”

“That’s right. A monarch’s promise is like a thousand pieces of gold. Even if a conflict with the fairies arises, even if it is not in the oath, even if Lillian and Your Highness did not directly promise in words or documents, you must keep the part where your hearts were connected.”

“About Count Sarhan.”

I turned the topic to Count Sarhan.

The reason I sent everyone else out was to talk about Count Sarhan.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure he’s a puppet of Duke Beregon? Is there no possibility that he is a puppet of a secret organization?”

“We have reviewed it from various angles, but we have only found traces of the Atran family.”

I suggested one possibility.

“Is there no possibility that the owner of the link connecting the Atran family and Count Sarhan… is a puppet of a secret organization?”

Ken’s face hardened.

The possibility I presented meant one thing.

The Atran family may have a secret organization, the Purifying Flame Order.

* * *

The next day, Marquis Mike left for the Imperial Capital.

After seeing off Marquis Mike, I set out to search for Count Sarhan with Gail, Lillian, and Olivia at the forefront.

The search party that had been sent in advance returned without finding any traces.

They searched every corner near the Western Forest, but only found traces of Count Sarhan entering the Western Forest, and no traces of him coming out.

Thanks to this, I was able to confirm that Count Sarhan had not yet come out of the Western Forest.

“We should have brought Deputy Commander Rioden.”

Ken remained at Marquis Mike’s castle, and it was Gail who spoke to me.

Gail also highly valued Rioden’s rich experience and tracking skills.

“Rioden and David left for Grenian, my direct territory, for security, so it can’t be helped. But Gail has knights that he has worked hard to raise, right?”

At my words, Gail looked back for a moment.

Forty knights set out on the search with me.

Twenty of the forty knights belonged to the Crown Prince’s direct knights. The remaining twenty were knights supported by the Western lords.

Knights from the West were leading the way, and my direct knights, for whom this was their first mission, had tense expressions on their faces.

Gail sighed lightly.

“They still lack experience, so they need more training.”

I nodded.

“That’s right. You can’t be full from the first spoonful. If they gradually gain experience and train, they will be reborn as full-fledged knights.”

I had no intention of urging the knights.

Everyone has a first time.

Of course, if you recruit strong knights from the beginning, it will take less effort to raise them, but it is difficult to expect stronger loyalty than the knights you raise yourself.

“All the knights from the Spring Evaluation Competition were sent to Grenian. Gail brought them to the West because he wanted to raise them.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

I finished talking about the new knights to that extent, and then I began to discuss the search in earnest.

“Since Rioden is not here, we have to find traces of Count Sarhan on our own. He is probably most likely to have disappeared in the Western Forest.”

As I spoke, I could see the vast Western Forest.

Olivia exclaimed.

“It’s a forest so vast that it wouldn’t be strange if someone disappeared, right?”

Olivia nodded.

“I really can’t see the end of it.”

The place where we are now is a high ground where we can look down slightly on the Western Forest.

The Western Forest, as seen from above, filled even the horizon, making it impossible to even estimate its size.

Lillian opened her mouth for the first time.

“The Western Forest is almost the same size as the Empire.”

“The same size as the Empire?”

I also set the Western Forest as a very large forest, but I didn’t remember accurately describing its size.

Lillian replied.

“Excluding the former territory of the Pireon Kingdom and excluding the area of the capital from the existing Empire, the size is almost the same as the Western Forest.”

Everyone clicked their tongues.

One forest is not a kingdom, but almost the same size as the Empire. It was hard to imagine.

“The World Tree is in the center of the Western Forest, among the trees that reach the sky.”

In the center of the Western Forest, there is a place where trees that reach the clouds are gathered, and that is where the World Tree is located.

“That’s where we’re going.”

I stopped Lillian.

“Today, we came out to search for Count Sarhan.”

“I know. I mean that’s where Crown Prince Your Highness will go someday.”

Lillian looked at the World Tree with expectant eyes.

I urged them to move on.

“Let’s go.”

We went down the high ground and began to move towards the forest in earnest.

We didn’t ride horses. We can’t ride horses into the forest anyway.

Before long, we arrived at the forest and I took a breath.

“This is the path that the existing search party found Count Sarhan moving to the forest. Now, if we go into the forest, we have to find the traces ourselves.”

At my words, everyone’s faces were filled with tension.

I took a breath and entered the forest.

The inside of the forest was like a completely different world from the outside.

I felt it when I came in before, but now that I have become a top-tier spiritist, I felt the inherent energy of the forest much more intensely.

It was refreshing and full of life.

And… I felt murderous intent.

Clang-!

Olivia had already drawn her sword and deflected the flying arrow.

“The Count… may not have disappeared.”

My words meant that the Count was likely killed by the owner of the arrow.

With my words, Sylphid revealed a strong presence.

The arrows that had been flying in succession stopped abruptly.

‘Is it a fairy?’

I said to Sylphid.

“Find them.”

Without having to say what to look for, Sylphid read my mind and moved quickly.

Gail, Olivia, and even Lillian took a battle stance and looked around.

-They are fairies.

At Sylphid’s words, I narrowed my eyes and said.

-They are running away.

-Block the way.

As my mana core fluctuated, Sylphid created a powerful wind.

Kwaaang-! Kwang-!

With the explosions heard from afar, I and my party quickly moved.

“A dirty human being is a top-tier spirit?”

I swallowed a laugh at the words that came out of the mouth of the first fairy I met.

They attacked us.

I was just defending myself.

But what is that attitude of blaming the victim? Even if the Western Forest is the territory of the fairies, we only came in without exuding hostile energy.

There is no separate entrance to the Western Forest, but the fairies shot arrows filled with murderous intent just because we entered.

I was about to open my mouth to clarify that point, but the fairy continued.

“We will exterminate the followers of the devil, the humans who are trying to defile the Middle Realm. The opponent is a top-tier spirit, and as a descendant of the High Elf, the mother of the elves, I allow the release of the seal that has been passed down since the beginning.”

The fairies’ energy changed in an instant.