Chapter 109
I watched the numerous Monsters confronting us, licking my lips in anticipation, then quickly shook my head to regain my composure.
'*Let's calm down. My top priority is to keep my identity hidden until the banquet ends, so I shouldn't do anything reckless and just stay put.*'
Even as I thought that, I tried my best to calm myself, but my body kept heating up, perhaps because there were so many enemies.
I was feeling sad about the reality that I couldn't do anything, even though I was on the verge of becoming a Highest-grade Expert, when someone tapped me on the shoulder.
"Come this way."
This person seemed to be one of the contacts Liana had arranged. I nodded at the suggestion and followed him. He was smoking in a rather secluded corridor and spoke to me.
"Just follow along discreetly. And don't act like you know me or try to talk to me."
It seemed he was drawing a line beforehand, indicating he could bring me in but wouldn't take responsibility. I nodded, signaling that I understood.
He sighed and gave me a simple tip.
"As long as you don't act out, no one will particularly stop you or question you. Everyone will be too busy with their own tasks."
As I nodded, he handed me an appropriate pass and said:
"Let's go."
Since I planned to cut ties and go about my business at the appropriate moment anyway, I simply nodded and followed him.
*
Whether it was because the person Liana had recruited was a well-connected person or for some other reason, I wasn't stopped, nor did I encounter any problems, just as I had heard.
I followed him, feeling quite at ease, when I sensed a familiar aura from afar.
“*Divine power*.”
Perhaps thanks to the Essence of Power I had absorbed earlier, the aura of divine power felt even more intuitive than before.
Looking at the divine power I sensed in various places, I realized that Mikhail the Archbishop was nearby.
“*I want to beat him up right now*.”
But if I did that, the reason for my infiltration would disappear. So, I decided to hold back a little longer and crossed my arms. Just then, a shout echoed from afar.
"Stop them now!"
It seemed the number of Monsters invading the banquet had increased. Seeing this, I briefly considered helping the Soldiers amidst the chaos, but...
'*No, this level of chaos isn’t enough to hide me*.'
Even a single use of Origin Explosion would reveal my identity, so it would have been right to stay put and not act out, but... no matter how much I thought about it, my body was itching so much that I couldn't stand it.
As I was pondering if there was any other way, a rather amusing idea suddenly came to mind.
'*Rifts*.'
*Yes, if I create rifts nearby, wouldn't the chaos be maximized? And if the chaos is maximized, it probably won't be noticeable even if I go around absorbing Essence of Power*.
The moment I realized this, I thought, “*This is it!*”, and immediately entered the Shadow City, waking up a sleeping Shiren and speaking to her.
"Rifts!"
"...? You came quickly."
Shiren, perhaps not expecting me to arrive so soon, looked at me in surprise, then spoke.
"Where should I create them?"
At her question, I smiled and said, "The Banquet Hall."
Shiren, seemingly accustomed to such requests, gathered her preparations and then spoke to me.
"Let's go."
With that, I took Shiren and burst out. Due to the chaotic situation, the soldier who had promised to escort me was nowhere to be found. But that wasn't important then, so I moved to a spot where I would be mostly unnoticeable to others and spoke to Shiren.
"First, set one up here."
"Okay."
While one rift might suffice in The North, it was utterly insufficient against the Imperial House. So, I decided to install rifts in other places as well, taking Shiren and embedding them here and there.
“*Hmm. This is it*.”
As I created rifts in every inconspicuous spot, before long, Monsters began pouring out in numbers that even the Imperial Faction found difficult to handle, and the entire area started to fill with Monsters.
Watching this, I nodded with a very satisfied expression, then grabbed my mace... no, my sword, and stepped forward.
'*No need to make it obvious I’m using a mace*.'
And just in case, I decided to try using divine power. I imbued the divine power I had gained from absorbing the Essence of Power into my sword and surveyed my surroundings.
“*Now, where should I start feasting*?”
*It's better to absorb the essence from the bigger ones than from the petty Minions, right*? Making that judgment, I quickly pinpointed the locations of the stronger ones and then charged forward.
“*Origin Explosion is too conspicuous*.”
*It would be better to secretly use Shadow Thorn*. I pretended to defeat enemies using divine power, while making Shadow Thorns erupt from the ground.
So, although they were actually killed by being impaled by thorns, to others, it would look like they were killed by divine power.
'*Moreover, thanks to the dazzling light of the divine power, my face won’t be exposed to others*.'
The chances of my identity not being discovered by others increased even further. Of course, even if my face were visible, I wouldn't be exposed thanks to the artifact Shiren gave me. With those thoughts, I selectively absorbed only the choicest Essence of Power scattered around, patting my stomach in satisfaction.
“*This is it*.”
The Imperial Family takes the responsibility; I take the reward. Thinking it was truly a perfect setup, I was about to slip away when... from afar, a somewhat familiar woman calmly walking down the Corridor caught my eye.
“*The Princess*?”
The entire surroundings were in an uproar due to the rifts and monsters attempting to invade the banquet. Yet, her serene composure, as if she were in a different world, felt incredibly alien as I watched her. The Princess subtly turned her gaze towards me and lightly beckoned.
What should I do?
Should I go, or should I ignore her?
After a brief moment of deliberation, I decided to go, shaking the blood from my sword as I approached. The Princess sent her nearby Guard Knights away as if dismissing them, then spoke to me.
"You. Your face has changed quite a bit since I saw you at the appointment ceremony."
At the mention of the appointment ceremony, my body froze for a moment. To others, I would appear as an ordinary Soldier, nothing special, so the speaker's using the words “appointment ceremony” and 'changed' was quite chilling to me.
'*Could she have figured out I’m Damian*?'
I thought there was no way, but just in case, I tried to act ignorant, yet...
"No need to lie. I don't particularly intend to reveal to others that you are Damian."
"..."
I stared at Princess Pria, neither affirming nor denying.
“*How did she know*?”
Since such a description had never appeared in the original story, I was puzzled when Princess Pria approached me and spoke.
"No, wait. You... will you grant me a favor? I'll give you a fitting reward for it."
"A favor?"
"It's nothing much... I'm just a bit stifled. Could you kidnap me?"
This was the strangest request I had ever received. I was about to raise my middle finger to tell her to stop spouting nonsense, but after hearing the 'reward' the Princess mentioned next, I couldn't flip her off.
"If you kidnap me, how about I empower you as a reward, so that the Order and the Dark Mages cannot touch you or your Family?"
It was a very tempting offer... but I was quite worried about the repercussions.
“*Plus, I don”t know what Princess Pria's intentions are in making such an offer to me*.'
With so many uncertainties, I pondered for a moment. Then, I nodded and said.
"Fine, why not?"
"Ahahaha... You're interesting, aren't you?"
However, if I were to kidnap her just like this, it would lead to quite a troublesome situation. It seemed better to seek advice from Shiren and Liana, but...
'*I don’t know where Liana went*.'
*For now, it would be best to ask Shiren for her opinion*. I told the Princess to wait a moment, then headed to the Shadow City from a place where no one could see me.
*
When I asked Shiren about this.
"So, I just need to create an illusion that looks exactly like the Princess?"
An unexpected answer came back.
"If I mix Damian's Shadow and my Magic, it shouldn't be difficult to do."
"... Really?"
"Yeah."
If so, having a temporary substitute wasn't bad. Having decided on that, I then posed another question to Shiren.
"Oh, and my Disguise Magic was seen through by the Princess. Do you know why?"
"... It was seen through?"
Shiren blinked, as if completely surprised, then began to speculate on the reason.
"If my Magic was seen through, there should at least be traces of it being Countered, but since there are none, it seems it wasn't broken by Magic but by a special ability."
"... Really?"
"Yeah. Like an ability to see the true nature of things."
Since there was nothing to be certain of for now, I simply nodded and calmly moved on to another topic.
“*So, what are her intentions and goals*?”
*Since my identity has already been exposed, running away now would be meaningless*. I decided that if things went wrong, I might need to consider killing the Princess, and so, to gather information, I chose to act according to her wishes.