“… It’s like they completely leveled the place.”
The Imperial Palace I revisited looked completely different from my memories.
Back then, discussions about the Empire’s demise due to the Demon Realm were rampant. The once precarious palace, like a leaf on the edge of a cliff, now greeted me with nothing but fascinating scenery.
A statue of a sun symbol towering over the typical buildings, an artificial garden proving the prosperity since the closing of the Demon Realm’s gate, and golden decorations adorning every nook and cranny… This is the current Imperial Palace.
Agnes glanced at me fleetingly.
“What’s with that reaction? You act like you’ve been to the palace before.”
“Well, I wish this was my first visit too.”
—Ezekiel! Where are you, Ezekiel?
—Oh dear, Ezekiel! Just this once…!
—This really is the last time, Ezekiel!
There was a time when I entered the palace dozens of times a day, and it wasn’t exactly a happy memory.
Every time I finished one task, ten more piled up, and overseeing the five princesses was less like teaching and more like babysitting. Even managing members of the royal secret organization was part of my duties.
Agnes and I walked along a flower-adorned stylish path.
“While it’s called a palace, it’s better to think of it as a region. Otherwise, you might get lost like an idiot.”
Perhaps this was a symptom of work addiction, but Agnes seemed strangely happy when explaining something. I pretended not to notice and played along.
“Oh really? Is it that big?”
“The area where His Majesty the Emperor stays and the area with the princesses alone count as six zones. There are even structures underground.”
“Wow, you’re smart.”
“… It’s nothing special.”
Agnes brushed her short hair behind her ear.
As we continued walking, a wide training ground revealed itself on both sides.
Chik—! Chik—!
On the left training ground, soldiers moved their spears and feet in unison. Their formation was flawless, with not a single disturbance. Just by looking at the perfect balance and symmetry, my eyes felt at ease.
“Is it formation training? Is there an event coming up?”
“The other princesses except for the 3rd Princess are currently outside. They’ll return to the palace the day after tomorrow, and this is for their welcome ceremony.”
“So, only the 3rd Princess is here at the moment.”
“… Please wake up from your dream. You won’t meet her.”
On the other hand, the soldiers on the right training ground fought fiercely with wooden weapons. It didn’t feel like a mock battle at all.
“Those guys are training as usual. Recently, the Erosion Phenomenon of Mana has intensified. They’re preparing for any emergency.”
“I don’t recall asking about that.”
“…”
Then Agnes stopped walking and narrowed her eyes slightly. She was the type to not get jokes, which only made teasing her that much more enjoyable.
She took out a notebook and began to jot something down.
[ You’re not my type either. ]
[ Don’t tell me anything. ]
“… What the heck is that?”
“None of your business.”
Agnes snapped her notebook shut and quickly gestured towards some approaching royal officials and soldiers.
“Over here. Please take this person into custody. Hurry up.”
I began to follow the soldiers and glanced back.
“Agnes, if we meet again someday, let’s at least say hi.”
“No. There’s absolutely no way we’ll meet again.”
“There’s no such thing as absolute in this world.”
I chuckled and took out a sunweed to chew on.
I wonder how His Majesty has been doing all this time?
“… That temper is really something.”
I couldn’t help but mumble to myself.
Ezekiel was placed in a very familiar lodging. No, he was caged.
Meeting the Emperor? Encountering a princess? I hadn’t been able to do any of that yet.
“This place hasn’t changed at all. Not one bit.”
Inside, the quarters were extravagantly luxurious. With furniture that was unthinkably high-priced and all essential items neatly arranged. This used to be called the Palace of Penance when I was in the Imperial Palace.
Someone tossed into this place might think the following:
I don’t want to leave. I want to live here forever.
Yes, that’s why this place really has no windows or exits. Whenever that sudden desire to leave arises, that’s when elation slowly morphs into fear.
He sank into a plush sofa, chewing on a sunweed.
Pah! A small pop echoed in his mouth, accompanied by a rising thought.
“First, they’re planning to keep me locked up while deciding my fate?”
Ezekiel tried to guess the Emperor’s thoughts.
First off, he was omnipotent like a god, knowing everything.
Five beloved daughters. Yet a madman had suddenly proposed to all five of them simultaneously. One of them even accepted without knowing the details…
“… It’s only expected that I’d be hated.”
No, he should be grateful he wasn’t torn apart on the spot.
As I was thinking about this,
Bang!
The door swung open, and a woman entered the Palace of Penance.
A very familiar face. It was Agnes.
“…”
Even after the door closed, Agnes awkwardly stood there. Her uncomfortable hand was spinning a cube continuously.
“I understand.”
Ezekiel nodded quietly.
“If I said we wouldn’t meet again, how embarrassing would it be to reunite like this? I understand.”
“… I just received an additional assignment!”
Agnes countered with a slightly flushed face. She looked like a sparrow puffing its feathers in warning, but not intimidating at all.
“I didn’t know you could raise your voice. I had no idea.”
“Really! The 3rd Princess plans to come and greet you tomorrow, so your additional task is to observe him for one more day.”
“And I thought you were pretty senior, but you’re just a newbie.”
“Excuse me?”
“Taking on extra tasks is a privilege for newbies, you know.”
“I’m not a newbie. I’m just a rookie.”
It’s all the same, really.
So that’s why Agnes was so obsessed with work. She was just a strict rookie. It felt like she looked a little more like a sparrow in that moment.
In any case, I understood now. Agnes was too skilled to be calm right now. She was just composed because she didn’t know anything.
Ezekiel chewed on a sunweed and asked,
“Agnes, do you know this building?”
“Isn’t it just an ordinary lodging?”
“Looks like it’s your first time here.”
“… Didn’t you just arrive about ten minutes before me?”
Agnes narrowed her eyes at me.
“This is the Palace of Penance.”
“… Palace of Penance?”
Ezekiel briefly explained what he knew about this place, from the structure to the fact that one couldn’t escape through ordinary means.
Agnes, who had kept a straight face, blinked a couple of times.
“As far as I know, there’s no such building inside the Imperial Palace.”
“Not something to boast about. And what would a newbie know anyway?”
“Even if that’s true… How do you know the Imperial Palace so well?”
“Well, who knows? But, by the way, do you happen to be sensitive to the cold?”
“I’m not sensitive to the cold. Why are you suddenly changing the subject—”
But Agnes didn’t finish her sentence.
“Then this works out perfectly.”
Swish—!
In an instant, the space turned a bright white.
Agnes didn’t even sense the prelude; it was a rapid manifestation, and everything white was finely crystallized frost. With just a single breath, Ezekiel transformed this place into an ice cave.
Agnes exhaled with a puff.
“… What the hell are you doing?”
“Look at this.”
Following Ezekiel’s gaze, Agnes soon confirmed something.
Not everything in the space had frozen over. Surprisingly, there were lines where the frost couldn’t cling, spread out on the ground like a wide spider silk.
The man placed his hand in the center and infused his mana.
Suddenly, a blue light began to float in the air, resonating, the flickering light taking the shape of lines and eventually weaving into letters.
[ To the Palace of Penance. ]
One, today, a total of three individuals are residing in the Palace of Penance.
Two, by tomorrow, ensure to reduce the number of residents to two.
Three, if the above conditions are not met, the Palace of Penance will cease to exist.
Agnes, who had remained expressionless all this time, slightly twitched her eyebrows.
“… What is this?”
“As I said, you can’t get out through normal means.”
The 3rd Princess’s actions to greet me probably stopped for that reason too. While she probably hoped to meet, the Emperor must have put me in the Palace of Penance. In any case, it’s possible to meet the princess only by leaving this place.
Meanwhile, Agnes continued to speak.
“You can’t possibly mean the Palace of Penance’s destruction…”
“Yes, just as you’re thinking. Total annihilation.”
“That can’t be! I’m the royal administrator!”
“Did you ever sign anything when you became an administrator? Like, you might die in the line of duty, or your family would receive several times the compensation?”
“….”
Agnes blinked blankly. Well, that makes sense.
“Most things are like that. Always extraordinary.”
“Are you telling me to kill another person for my own survival?”
“Don’t worry. Usually, criminals on death row come in here.”
Knock knock—
At that moment, a knocking sound echoed throughout the space.
“…!”
Agnes squinted and jumped to her feet. The aura flowing from beyond the door felt ominous and overwhelming.
“This intense aura… Black magic…?”
She hurriedly flipped through her notebook.
“This is strange. There’s no mention of such a situation in the manual…”
“Don’t panic and sit down.”
Ezekiel held Agnes’s wrist and made her sit beside him.
Of course, that didn’t mean Agnes would calm down right away. Her life was built completely on the manual.
“The duties are unfair, and now my life is in jeopardy. In such a situation, how on earth am I supposed to stay calm? We should at least secure a safe position in advance.”
“No, right now, your spot is the safest in this place.”
He leisurely crossed his arms and chewed on a sunweed.
In fact, contrary to its name, the Palace of Penance was more like a furnace than a space for repentance. It was a place designed for pumping lives into it, cutting each other’s throats, and endlessly repeating that cycle to forge weapons.
In the past, there was a boy who survived countless repetitions.
He endured the furnace’s insulation and finally forged a weapon.
“The safest place inside the Palace of Penance. Where else would there be if not beside me?”
The weapon’s name: Ezekiel.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.