Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 68

68.

I underestimated the Calpheon Empire.

I told myself every day that this was a living world, but deep down, the fact that it was still a novel I had written lingered.

Life is a series of choices, but since coming to the Calpheon Empire, I haven’t really agonized over those choices.

Thanks to that, things have definitely worked out well in some ways, but in the end, a situation like today has occurred.

“I will not forget today.”

Everyone was focused on my words.

I smiled bitterly.

My mouth felt drier than ever, and my chest felt as heavy as if a heavy stone were placed on it.

Nevertheless, I didn’t avoid it and honestly confessed to Leoden, David, and the evaluation tournament participants, as well as the knights who believed in me and followed me.

“I thought I would complete the mission sufficiently, and I didn’t plan the operation in detail. I paid the price. Not with my life… but with their lives.”

Looking at the corpses that were still burning, I clenched my fist.

My fingernails dug into my flesh, causing a sharp pain. My body and voice trembled.

“The weight of life is the same for everyone.”

This time, the knights trembled.

Since they lived under a strict class system, they wouldn’t understand my words now, or they might think the Crown Prince was crazy.

The lives of commoners and nobles are not the same.

The lives of nobles and members of the imperial family were not the same either.

This place thoroughly divided not only the weight of life but also the value of people according to their status.

‘The Calpheon Empire is reality. And I am Arun Cal Leod.’

Only now did I truly realize who I was and what it meant to live here.

“I will never forget those who died today because of my narrow perspective and arrogance. From this moment on, if you spend the rest of your time with me, I will cherish the fact that the weight of my life and the weight of your lives are the same for the rest of my life.”

“Your Highness…”

David called me in a low voice.

I smiled.

“This is not sugar-coating to comfort you. As I said, even if you go back from here, there will be no disadvantages. If you risk your lives for me, I will risk my life for you too.”

David was the first.

He was the first to kneel.

Soon, Leoden knelt and said.

“If the weight of my life is truly the same as Your Highness’s, how can I not give my life to Your Highness?”

And soon the remaining knights knelt together and swore their knighthood to me.

There were a hundred knights in total, excluding me, but twelve had died in battle, so now the eighty-eight knights were reciting the code of chivalry once again after a long time since taking the knight’s oath.

In the middle of the forest, I listened to their oath of knighthood and made a resolution.

I will never repeat this mistake twice.

‘Now I am not a writer but a Crown Prince. It is an undeniable truth that I have entered the novel I wrote, but this place is also a living world.’

As my mindset changed, I decided to re-examine this quest right away.

I comforted each person one by one and then gave orders to Leoden and David.

“Take a day off today.”

“I will find a suitable place.”

I nodded at Leoden’s answer and gave a warning.

“As you know, those who are presumed to be fairies attacked us during the battle with the Orcs. The western forest is… the forest of the fairies. It’s best not to provoke them.”

“Perhaps the fairies came to wipe out the Orcs and attacked us as well. Unless we go deeper into the forest, the chances of encountering them are not high.”

David agreed.

“Leoden is right.”

Still, I pointed out one fact.

“It is true that they attacked us. If we look at the cause, we entered their forest without permission, but… it was a problem that could have been resolved through dialogue. Anyway, be careful of the fairies, and after finding a place to rest, we need to re-establish the plan from the beginning.”

Soon, Leoden and David divided the knights into two groups and began searching the forest.

David’s group was looking for a place to rest today, and Leoden was busy trying to find traces of Gale even at the battlefield.

I moved with David’s group.

As the sun began to set, David and I found a suitable open space.

There was also a stream nearby, so it was a great place to spend the day.

Soon the sun set and it became dark, and the preparation of the temporary camp was completed.

David and Leoden came into my tent with dinner.

“Fortunately, the supplies were not lost.”

At my words, Leoden put the meal on the table in the center of the tent and replied.

“Yes. Everyone was carrying them separately. A small amount had to be soaked in Orc blood, but there doesn’t seem to be a big problem.”

David, Leoden, and I quickly finished dinner and went straight to the main topic.

David unfolded the map.

“Our current location is here.”

It was a map that showed even the inside of the western forest, and it was accurate even though it was a fairly old map.

“This is the southern branch of the Dark Forest… and according to Leoden’s investigation, the Orcs’ route is…”

David drew a long line with his finger.

“They are spreading out to the western forest as well as the entire western region in this shape. And this is the main base of the Legion.”

I didn’t major in military science, but I desperately tried to remember.

‘I need to recall Karen’s movements.’

There was a clear difference between the route I imagined when writing the novel and the route I set by looking directly at the map and terrain.

So I mentioned a few characteristics.

“Whereabouts is the giant waterfall in the southern part of the Dark Forest?”

David immediately pointed to one place on the map.

“Death Falls is right here. Behind the Orc Legion’s main base.”

The reason I mentioned the giant waterfall was one.

It was the place where Karen obtained the sword, and not far away was the place where Goran was sealed.

‘The place where Karen got the sword.’

* * *

The evening in the forest was short, and for tomorrow, I sent Leoden and David back for the night.

They need to rest too.

I remained alone in my tent and rummaged through my luggage.

“I should have brought some more magic pouches.”

I clicked my tongue in regret.

There were a total of three magic pouches among the items in the Crown Prince’s private warehouse, and I brought them all.

The magic pouches contained camping supplies, provisions, and my personal belongings.

I took out a bundle of parchment and a fountain pen from my luggage.

I focused on recalling memories that I hadn’t mentioned when Leoden and David were there.

“Karen discovers a hidden ancient dungeon at Death Falls and obtains a sword made by a dwarf.”

For now, the most intense memory was the sword Karen obtained.

The main character, Karen, continues to use the sword he obtained at this time, which is a pure mithril sword made by a dwarf elder for a hundred years, and even magic spells could be engraved on it.

“Would he have obtained it by now at this point in time?”

The mithril sword was a treasure in itself, but Karen’s sword was a pure mithril sword that did not contain any other metals.

It was one of the best swords to the point where the expression treasure was not enough.

‘If the mithril content exceeds 50%, the power of the aura increases by 1.5 times.’

Since I am a spiritist, I didn’t need the sword itself, but my subordinate knights were different.

If Gale obtains that sword right away, he could compete equally with a Sword Master.

There was no need to be conscious of Karen, but he was a big variable in the situation where Gale was captured.

What if Karen doesn’t know where Gale is being held and prevents Goran’s resurrection first?

‘I have to consider the variable that Karen accidentally meets Gale and rescues him. He is the type of person who would never turn a blind eye if he met Gale.’

Karen, who is full of justice and has a unique nosy personality, was unlikely to let Gale die.

Then the quest was a failure.

‘Even if the quest fails, it doesn’t matter if I can rescue Gale himself. But… what if Gale dies in the process of Karen preventing Goran’s resurrection?’

I felt that there was a high possibility that Gale would die because of Karen.

Gale was a sacrifice to be offered to Goran.

In order to deal with Karen, a powerful strongman, they could try to extract Gale’s mana faster.

“Is it twenty-seven days from now?”

Time was running out day by day.

I recalled my memories to select information about the Orc Legion while reviewing the process of Karen preventing Goran’s resurrection several times.

I had already written the same words more than ten times on the parchment.

‘What could it be… Even if it’s an S-class difficulty quest, it must have come out because it can definitely be solved. Even if it’s difficult, there will be a way.’

I put down the fountain pen.

It seemed like it would be a waste of time to squeeze out things I couldn’t remember, so I relaxed and lay down.

If I take it easy and think slowly, something might come to mind.

Lying down and closing my eyes, I thought back to when I first started writing Hero Karen.

I thought about the time of writing, not the content of the novel.

It was a difficult time, but the act of writing itself was enjoyable.

‘I wanted to be like the main character. Everything goes smoothly, people gather around me… defeat the forces of evil, be praised, and become a hero….’

At that moment, I jumped up without realizing it.

“Hidden cave!”

The decisive reason why Karen was able to prevent Goran’s resurrection came to mind now.

Why didn’t I know?

Currently, Karen had no reputation at all on the continent.

It was a time when he was just starting to get stronger, and accordingly, I was thinking about various settings to give him some fame and a sword to use for the rest of his life.

It naturally came to mind when I thought about what I was thinking at the time of writing, not the content of the novel.

“Karen was not yet at a level where he could kill Goran alone. So I set it up to prevent the resurrection, and of course, it was difficult to have a head-on confrontation with the Orc Legion, so I wrote that Karen prevented Goran’s resurrection through the back road and killed the embarrassed Orc King with the newly acquired sword.”

As the key elements came to mind, the remaining situations were entered into my head as if they were falling apart.

I immediately sat down again in front of the bundle of parchment and wrote down everything that came to mind.

‘This quest… can be solved sufficiently.’

* * *

The next morning, I looked for Leoden and David early in the morning.

“Your Highness, were you looking for us?”

At David’s words, I said while looking at the unfolded map.

“Did you say Death Falls is here?”

David nodded.

“Yes.”

“And this is the Orc Legion’s main base?”

“That’s right.”

I turned my gaze to Leoden.

“It is almost certain that Gale was captured by the Orcs, right?”

“That’s right. He was dragged by the Orcs to the western forest. And we met the Orcs in the western forest.”

David predicted the Orcs’ movements.

“After leading Gale into the western forest from here, they are likely to have crossed this mountain range that connects to the southern branch of the Dark Forest.”

There was a mountain range connecting the northern part of the western forest and the southern part of the Dark Forest.

“This route is a detour to the Legion’s main base, but why did the Orcs bother to move like this?”

David continued at my question.

“Maybe they were conscious of the fairies?”

“Fairies?”

David said cautiously.

“Like Gale, they are trying to extract mana from the fairies….”

I exclaimed, “Ah!”

‘Goran needs powerful mana… they targeted not only Gale but also the fairies.’

I made a decision.

“We will enter the Dark Forest along the Orcs’ expected route and then head to Death Falls.”