Children of the Holy Emperor

Not even two months had passed since Prince Morres woke up from his fever.

His appearance had changed so dramatically during that time, and he had been so secluded in Pearl Palace Palace, that not many people actually knew what this notoriously unreliable prince looked like.

Moreover, he was wearing an ill-fitted, worn-out cloak, a far cry from a royal appearance.

Even if he were to reveal his identity honestly here, it was unlikely that the capital’s guards would take him seriously.

The problem was, the prince himself didn’t seem keen on actively asserting his identity either.

“I’ve given you fair warning. Anything that happens from now on is entirely your responsibility. Now, what were you all doing here?” 

As the prince took a step closer and spoke, an inexplicable force made the guards flinch and take a step back.

“Didn’t we tell you? We are on official duty, so get lost while you’re still ahead…”

“Shut up, those of you who were beating him. The one who got hit should answer.”

After glancing dismissively at a guard who was awkwardly holding his half-drawn sword and shouting, the prince turned his gaze to Calmen.

“Can you speak?”

Calmen spat out a mixture of blood and saliva before replying, “Yes.”

“Good. Then you tell me, Sir Calmen. What was going on here?”

“The capital’s guards are…”

I never thought I’d be ratting to Prince Morres, but…

Though it was a terrible situation, right now the prince was the only lifeline offered to Calmen.

“The capital’s guards are dragging anyone suffering from skin rashes to the heresy tribunal, under the pretext that it’s a curse from the demon. I was merely trying to move a patient in critical condition to a medical center when we were obstructed by these people…”

Then, the prince’s gaze moved to the man Calmen was shielding from above.

He clearly didn’t recognize the man who had changed so much.

“Who is that? Is he the one with the critical condition?”

“….”

After staring at the man for a moment, the prince soon nodded his head, as if he had understood something on his own.

“I see. A patient with the gray plague. Since Lophellum’s egg is still alive, we need to extract it quickly.”

Then the prince leisurely walked toward Calmen.

The guards, who felt like an insurmountable wall, hesitated a bit and easily gave way as the Prince approached.

It wasn’t just the strange sense of pressure emanating from the prince, but also the uneasy undertone in the conversation between the two that they sensed.

It was a surreal scene.

The prince appearing here at this critical moment, overwhelming the atmosphere with just his presence.

And so, before he knew it, Calmen found himself shouting something he would never normally say to the prince.

“Your Highness! This patient is… this man was once the captain of the Imperial Guard! Please make sure he is not taken to the heresy tribunal!”

“….”

“Please help him! Save him!”

This person should not be collapsing here like this!

At the very least, you should not, you cannot, turn your back on him!

The prince, who heard this desperate cry, calmly replied, “Alright, wait a moment.”

A wave of relief washed over him.

Calmen let out a small sigh and immediately wondered why he felt so relieved.

Meanwhile, the guards who had been beating Calmen were also plunged into confusion.

Was he really an imperial knight?

But then who is the prince? And what’s this about a former captain of the guards?

What is even happening right now?

Prince Morres boldly declared to them, “We’re taking this patient with us. Do not interfere and step aside.”

“…That’s not possible. I don’t know who you are, but you can’t obstruct official business like this… There are orders from above to detain anyone with the rash…”

A fully-armed knight responded in a trembling voice. He seemed extremely cautious, probably sensing that the boy in front of him was no ordinary person.

The prince simply nodded his head.

“Is that so? Then you’ll need a valid reason for failing to carry out those orders.”

In an instant, the prince’s fist swung like a bolt of lightning.

Pbaak!

Jjejeok. A disturbing sound echoed as the knight fell to the ground, his head turned awkwardly.

His eyes rolled back, indicating he likely suffered a concussion from the sudden impact. Judging by the eerie sound, his jaw couldn’t have remained intact.

Before the other officers could even take a defensive stance, the prince was already darting toward his next target—a guard with his sword half-drawn.

Bang! The prince swung his Nutcracker, which he was holding in his left hand, smashing away the guard’s sword. He then drove his fist into the guard’s face.

Thud! Another cracking sound, and the guard fell to the ground clutching his face. A substantial amount of blood oozed from between his fingers.

“Gah! That guy! No, that brat…!”

“Stop him! Stop him, whoever he is!”

Shiing. Clank.

The remaining guards all drew their swords simultaneously.

But in that time, the prince was already charging at another target.

Flipping his grip on the nutcracker’s handle, the prince wielded his sheathed sword like a shield, blocking the guards’ attacks. Immediately after, his fist swung again.

Thud! Thud!

The sounds of his strikes were uniformly unsettling.

“What is happening…”

Calmen couldn’t believe what he was seeing, even with his eyes wide open.

The prince seemed exceptionally skilled in melee combat against multiple opponents.

He blocked descending swords, aimed for the solar plexus of those attacking him from behind, deflected bolts aiming for his shoulders, and knocked down anyone who charged at him from the side.

And they all received his fist, and all of them collapsed unconscious, some part of them broken.

Before long, except for one knight, all the guards lay on the ground.

“How… How is this possible…”

The knight aimed his sword at the prince, his voice tinged with a moan.

A boy, who looked no more than a squire in terms of aura level, had knocked down six capital guards in a matter of seconds—using only his fists.

The knight himself was a seasoned aura user, beyond level 7, but he had no confidence that he could move like the young boy.

Thud thud. As the prince approached, the knight asked in a trembling voice.

“Do you think you can get away with this, whoever you are?”

“I wouldn’t worry about me. Wouldn’t it be better for you to faint cleanly here and take sick leave? You could avoid getting reprimanded by your superiors.”

“What…?”

“Still, isn’t this quite a generous treatment compared to how you’ve beaten my palace’s knights without any restraint?”

My palace’s knights.

Before he could even consider the implications of those words, the prince spoke in a chilling tone.

“So, why don’t you obediently come here and offer your head.”

“……”

With a tone that suggested he would casually smash his head, the prince’s eyes were so calm they seemed boring.

An aura devoid of malice.

That made it all the more eerie, and the knight felt this keenly.

“Aaahhhh!”

Letting out a scream or a battle cry, the knight slashed his sword toward the prince.

*Screech!*

As auras clashed, a deafening sound reverberated, making their heads throb. The knight looked wide-eyed at the scabbard that blocked his own sword.

He had imbued his sword with his finest aura; how could a squire’s aura hold up? And with just a scabbard?

*Screech!*

Once again, the swords and the scabbard collided. Nearly equal force could be felt this time as well.  

“How the hell…!”

Looking in disbelief at the scabbard in contact with his sword, the knight then noticed a faint aura coalescing around the middle of the scabbard.  

And then he finally understood what the prince was doing to him.

He wasn’t using aura by the book. He was simply focusing all his body’s aura on the part of the scabbard that touched the sword, compensating for his relative lack of aura.

*Screech!* Before he had time to be surprised, a third clash occurred. In the gap, the prince thrust his elbow into the knight’s side.

*Clang.* Of course, not much damage is done thanks to the armor.

While other knights were knocked out by a punch to the jaw, a well-armored knight like him left little room for the prince to penetrate.

But this strike introduced a new sense of crisis to the knight. The aura concentrated on the scabbard had disappeared, now swirling around the prince’s right arm.

As a result, a clear dent was left on the sturdy steel armor. 

‘…What is this? This unconventional use of aura? How can he focus aura just anywhere?’

Confused, the knight swung his sword again towards the prince.

Internally prepared for a fourth clash, the prince, who had been stepping forward with his scabbard, suddenly twisted his body diagonally.

The knight’s sword barely missed, cutting a long swath in the prince’s fluttering cape.

At that moment, the prince, taking another big step closer, swung his left arm upwards.

*Thwack!* The pommel of the reverse grip extended and struck the tip of the knight’s chin. The knight’s head was thrown back, and he staggered.

And before he could regain his balance,  

The prince, who had spun his body around, slapped the knight’s empty neck with the back of his hand.

Thump! Darkness instantly enveloped his vision as consciousness slipped away.

Clank. Thud! Accompanied by the weight of his armor, the last knight fell with a noisy impact.

Calmen watched the entire spectacle without even being able to breathe properly.

Everything happened so quickly that he didn’t have time to think.

The prince’s martial prowess was so surreal.

There were rumors among the resident knights about his swordsmanship being that of a genius, but was that all there is to it? Didn’t he look more skilled with his fists than with his sword!

Misinterpreting Calmen’s astonished expression in some way, the prince spoke awkwardly to justify himself.  

“Uh, it’s okay. I didn’t break his neck. I hit him without using aura.”

“……”

“…I did it because we’re short on time. There’s no need to unnecessarily solve a situation that can be resolved through violence with crude conversation, right?”

“……?”

Before Calmen could even express his confusion, the prince swiftly approached him.

“You took quite a beating. Can you move?”

“…Yes.”

“It would be difficult for you to carry the patient yourself, though.”

Thud.

Before Calmen could even reply, the prince snatched the injured man from his arms and hoisted him onto his back. Despite the dirt and the unpleasant smell, Prince Morresshowed no signs of discomfort.

Though still young, Prince Morres seemed to carry the weight effortlessly, perhaps due to his mastery of aura. Turning to Calmen, he spoke.

“Do you have any broken bones? If not, follow me on your own.”

And without waiting for a reply, he started walking towards the main road.

Calmen stood there for a moment, staring at his retreating figure. 

He couldn’t quite come to terms with handing over the man he had most revered to someone he had loathed so much.

Is that really Prince Morres?

And without waiting for a reply, he started walking towards the main road.

The boy walking ahead didn’t look regal at all.

His dusty, worn cloak was nothing more than a standard issue for the knight order, and what occasionally peeked out from beneath it was clearly pajamas.

But then, something was odd.

Only now did he truly feel that this man was the prince.

‘No, what am I thinking…?’

Shaking his head, Calmen began to follow Prince Morres with heavy steps.

While walking towards the palace at a quick pace, the prince began to bombard Calmen with questions about the current situation.

“So, you were planning to go to the medical facility affiliated with the imperial palace?”

“Yes, I thought everything would be fine as long as we got there…”

Calmen hesitated.

Thinking about the security forces that had been deployed all over the capital under the orders of the Heresy Tribunal, he now had his doubts about whether the medical facility would really be safe.

If someone with the authority to orchestrate something of this scale was issuing commands, the Imperial Palace’s medical center might not be immune to their influence either.

“Right. I also think it’s best to avoid that place. By the way, what on earth is His Majesty doing amidst all this chaos?”

While speaking irreverently, the prince suddenly stopped walking and turned into an unexpected alley.

“Where are you going now…?”

“Stop asking questions and just follow me. This way is faster.”

“…Huh?”

After walking for a bit, the prince once again glanced around as if measuring something, and this time started heading in the opposite direction of the Imperial Palace.

Given that such unpredictable actions had already occurred multiple times, Calmen felt too weary to question it anymore.

Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.

‘Come to think of it…’

There had been an unusually low number of encounters with security forces.

Was the prince purposefully avoiding them? Could it be?

“Yes, for now, I’m trying to avoid running into them as much as possible.”

In response to Calmen’s query, the prince nodded as if it were obvious.

‘…So, what’s your point?’

Calmen was unaware that the prince had perception levels sensitive enough to rival those of high-ranking knights.

On top of that, he didn’t know that the prince had a detachable short-range navigation system inside his head.

“So if we’re avoiding the Imperial medical center, where should we go?”

“Well, we have to go to a place that’s out of reach of the Heresy Tribunal, don’t we?”

“But if they’ve seized control over the Imperial medical center, we can’t trust any clinics in the capital either.”

“True, but I know at least one place they can never touch.”

“What? Where is such a place…?”

Then the prince turned to look at Calmen, wearing a playful smile.

“The Pearl Palace.”