Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 26

26.

Sylph’s body transformed into blades in an instant.

I didn’t stop at just the wind chains; I summoned Undine to create a water barrier. Gnome also popped up from the ground.

My body was carried by the flow of wind and earth.

Clang-!

The assassins who struck at Sylph like lightning weren’t fazed by the fact that I was awake.

One rushed to the left, one to the center, and one to the right, pushing me against the wall.

I bit my lip.

‘They’re not easy opponents. Well, they’re boldly infiltrating the Crown Prince’s palace, so they must all be skilled.’

There was no time to think.

Already, sharp swords were aiming for my body from three directions.

I sent two Sylphs to the man on the left. The wind chains blocked his sword.

The attack from the man coming from the center was met with an even larger water barrier. With a clang, the man briefly retreated.

And finally, the attack from the man aiming for my right side was evaded with a movement guided by the flow of wind and earth.

It was only a fleeting moment, but I had blocked all three attacks.

My simultaneous sparring with Ken and the Shadow Guild members had been effective, and I didn’t stop there.

I had learned through those spars that the best time to counterattack was immediately after blocking an enemy’s attack. When facing multiple opponents alone, counterattacking was crucial; it was much more efficient to completely neutralize one person than to attack several at once.

I sent Sylph towards the man in the center, who was closest to me.

Mana was fiercely sucked into Sylph, and the wind chains aimed for the man’s abdomen more sharply than ever before.

Kaaaang-!

A sound that was incomparable to the previous ones rang out.

And at the same time, the man on the right took off his mask and lowered his waist.

“Your Highness.”

The man on the left also took off his mask, and the man who had been pushed back by the aftermath of blocking the skill suppressed a groan and opened his mouth.

“Your Highness.”

I couldn’t understand the sudden change in the situation for a moment.

With the sound of knocking on the door, a familiar voice was heard.

“Your Highness, it’s Ken.”

Before I knew it, the three men were kneeling and paying their respects, and I answered Ken for now.

“Come in.”

Ken opened the door and came in, bowed to me, and smiled at the three men.

“It seems you’ve failed.”

“What’s going on?”

My voice naturally sharpened.

Ken felt my anger, but he spoke as usual, as if nothing was wrong.

“It was the final check.”

“The final check?”

Ken nodded at my question.

“Yes. It was a preparation for the worst-case scenario. When Your Highness is exposed to enemies alone… I needed to be sure that Your Highness had the strength to survive alone.”

I opened my mouth to unleash a barrage of criticism.

“Ken…”

I was momentarily speechless as Ken knelt down.

“Please forgive me. My plan is too dangerous. That’s why… this process was necessary. I’ve sparred with Your Highness dozens of times, but a battle with assassins isn’t a sparring match. I needed to know how well Your Highness could handle a real fight.”

I was reminded of what kind of person Ken was.

‘He enjoyed driving Karen into the abyss. He readily made dangerous plans, and there were many plans that risked Karen’s life. All of that led to Karen’s growth… and Ken believed his plans were right. The results were as Ken expected, but if even one thing had gone wrong, Karen would have died.’

Of course, I was writing the story at that time, and Karen was the protagonist, and Ken was a very important supporting character, so there was no situation where they would fail.

I only used Ken’s personality as a source of conflict with other supporting characters.

It didn’t receive good reviews from the readers, but I focused on Ken’s personality as the central element of conflict among the main characters.

It wasn’t pleasant when that became a reality for me.

As I was wondering how to react, Ken continued to speak.

“Your Highness showed excellent response during the last assassination attempt, but this operation is different. It’s much more dangerous… and full of variables. If even a small thing goes wrong, it will lead to an irreversible situation.”

I laughed in vain.

“Ha, well… the words sound good, but do you know how big of a crime it is to dare to test the Crown Prince?”

“I know. Please understand with generosity.”

Was it because he met me? Or is it because the Ken I drew and the real Ken are different?

Ken tormented the protagonist Karen relentlessly, but he never apologized. He threw Karen into dangerous plans, and when Karen overcame them and grew, he even boasted about whose fault it was.

He didn’t ask for my permission in advance, but at least he was sincerely asking for my forgiveness.

“So, with this level, is it okay to carry out the operation as planned tomorrow?”

Ken bowed his head and replied to my words.

“Of course. They are assassins that Soris is proud of. Those three were confident that Your Highness would not be able to stop them, but Your Highness stopped them wonderfully.”

My gaze naturally shifted to the three men.

They briefly bowed their heads.

‘Assassins that Soris is proud of… there were also Shadow Walk Guild members who specialized in assassination in the palace.’

And one question arose, and I immediately asked.

“If you’re proud of them, shouldn’t I have died without even knowing it? Isn’t it too sloppy?”

The man who was hit by the wind chain head-on replied briefly.

“We hid a lot of our skills.”

I had many questions I wanted to ask, but I skipped the questions about the guild members for now.

“I understand. You may leave.”

After the three men left, I opened my mouth to Ken.

“Do you believe that these plans or tests are absolutely necessary for me to become the emperor of this empire?”

Ken didn’t hesitate.

“Yes. From the moment I pledged my loyalty to Your Highness, my plans have always been for Your Highness alone.”

“Then I’ll accept it. Go and rest. It’ll be a busy day tomorrow.”

Ken’s eyes trembled subtly.

“I thought there was no need to dwell on small things to become a ruler. Among the many things that will happen in the future, it’s just a very insignificant thing, so I can’t be upset about everything. However.”

I concluded my words.

“I trusted you, and I will continue to do so. So, use all your abilities only for me in the future.”

Ken bowed his head as if he would hit the floor with his head and replied.

“Of course, Your Highness.”

* * *

Because of yesterday’s events, Ken seemed to be more loyal to me.

It was difficult for me, who had lived as a modern person, to fully understand the emotion of loyalty itself, but I could definitely feel that the way Ken looked at me had changed.

“Your Highness, preparations are complete.”

At Ken’s words, I nodded and left the Crown Prince’s Palace.

“What about the investigation of the servants, maids, and deputy managers?”

Ken replied briefly to my question.

“It’s all over.”

“Then let’s just hand it over. The Crown Prince doesn’t have the authority to punish them.”

In the Calpheon Empire, the authority to enforce the law belongs only to the Emperor.

However, that didn’t mean that the servants, maids, and deputy managers were likely to receive leniency.

No matter what the rumors were, I was still the Crown Prince, and they had not only insulted the Crown Prince but also used the budget allocated to the royal family for their own purposes.

“Yes.”

At Ken’s answer, I asked one more thing.

“What about the Venomous Snake bastards?”

“We’ve found out quite a bit of information.”

I frowned slightly and asked.

“Did you torture them?”

Ken shook his head.

“No. There’s a limit to what you can find out through torture. We used various methods.”

I didn’t bother asking for detailed methods. All they needed was information about the Venomous Snake and the culprit.

Ken presented his opinion.

“I think it would be good to keep them for a while.”

“Yes. It would be good to deal with them all at once.”

Ken agreed with my words.

Soon, three guild members disguised as knights joined us, and those disguised as servants and maids also became part of the group.

Since it was the Crown Prince’s procession, many people had no choice but to follow.

The group was easily over twenty people, and I became quite nervous as I went outside the Crown Prince’s Palace.

Apart from various things, it was the first time I had gone outside the Imperial Palace since I came to the Calpheon Empire.

‘I wrote and imagined it myself, but seeing it with my own eyes is different.’

The current capital of the Calpheon Empire is the most developed place on the continent.

On the other hand, the capital of the Calpheon Empire was also the place with the greatest wealth gap.

Centered around the Imperial Palace and the four guardian families, the residences of the nobles were splendid, but slums stretched out along the Dark Forest.

‘The smithy I’m going to today… is on the border between the nobles’ residences and the slums.’

Blacksmith Dwight is the most famous blacksmith in the entire continent, beyond the empire.

He has made countless swords so far, and he has made three famous swords, one of which was my father’s, Ron Carl Leord’s sword, and one of which is probably in Karen’s hands now.

‘The last one didn’t come out until the part I wrote.’

Anyway, the protagonist’s and the final boss’s weapons are all Dwight’s works.

And he also makes farming tools or things needed by the common people, but even if he doesn’t put as much effort into them as he does into weapons, they couldn’t be compared to the items from ordinary blacksmiths.

Dwight was loved by the nobles for his weapons and by the commoners for his farming tools and other items, and he was called the undisputed best blacksmith.

I set out on the street today to ask such a blacksmith for Gale’s weapon.

‘Of course, it’s just a pretext… but if things go well and I can really receive Dwight’s work, there’s nothing more joyful than that.’

While organizing my thoughts, I left the Crown Prince’s Palace and arrived at the Imperial Palace’s main gate.

The golden main gate revealed its majesty, and its height was easily over 5 meters [approximately 16.4 feet].

‘This is no joke.’

The Imperial Palace guards near the main gate saw me and paid their respects all at once.

Soon the door opened and I passed through the main gate with my party.

“You must be nervous.”

I nodded at Ken’s words.

I circulated mana once in my body with the Breath of Wind technique.

That alone calmed me down, and I could feel various things in the wind.

The carriage was deliberately not prepared.

It was to provide an easier environment for the enemies, and the pretext was for the Crown Prince to walk the streets himself to see and feel the lives of the empire’s citizens.

The outfit itself was not flashy, but there were quite a few people near the Imperial Palace who recognized me.

My face resembled my father’s, and one of the knights was holding a flag symbolizing the Crown Prince.

‘It’s very different from what I imagined.’

Looking around, I realized that the capital of the Calpheon Empire that I had written was very different from reality.

‘It’s difficult to adapt to the Middle Ages right away.’

There were no high-rise buildings except for the Imperial Palace. Among the people who bowed to me, there were some who looked like nobles, but there were also many commoners and slaves.

“Your Highness, if you go that way for about half a day, you’ll find Dwight’s smithy.”

After walking a certain distance from the Imperial Palace, Ken pointed to the main street leading south.

The people were clearing the wide main street and walking on the small roads on both sides.

“It seems to be the road where carriages go?”

“Yes.”

And Ken added.

“There is a part where this road overlaps with the slums in the middle.”

It was the first point where the enemies were expected to attack.