“Seriously, why am I doing things I wasn’t asked to…?”
*Thud thud!*
My head felt like it was about to explode.
I wasn’t supposed to bring Jin.
And even if I did, I should’ve put conditions on him to act more like a slave!
Thoughts like this kept creeping in, but it was already too late for regrets.
I had to figure out the situation immediately.
“Are they suspicious of us knowing the key is missing?”
“Of course not. Jin’s pickpocketing skills are top-notch. We won’t be suspected.”
Atatürk always carried a small key with him.
The key that Jin stole was for the safe located in Atatürk’s mansion’s basement.
That key could reveal all of that sinister guy’s secrets.
‘Huh?’
Then a great idea struck me.
The water had already been spilled.
Picking it back up was impossible, so I had to make use of it instead.
“Jin, can you hear me?”
– Oh, I hear you.
“From now on, you’re acting as one of the remnants of the Aias Kingdom.”
– Huh? All of a sudden?
“From now on, you’ll pretend to be one of them, making Atatürk focus his interest there.”
The Aias Kingdom was originally the name of the elf nation that had settled here.
The kingdom fell to a surprise attack from the empire in an instant, but the remnants still continued to resist.
And their leader was indeed the princess of Aias, Serika.
With the sudden visit to the desert, Damien would definitely be on high alert to assess our objectives.
Because of that, there were a lot of surveillance measures in place that restricted our activities.
We needed to disperse some of that.
I wasn’t sure how effective it would be, but if it could confuse Atatürk, who was Damien’s closest aide, that would be good enough.
– Wow, a ton of soldiers just crawled out from the place I was loitering around. I guess they’re looking for me. That key must be really important!
“Run with it and sneakily drop it on the ground around dawn. Make sure to copy the key. Also, leave clues that the theft was done by the remnants of Aias, if possible.”
– Got it.
With this, Atatürk would begin pursuing the remnants of Aias with his eyes blazing.
I felt a little sorry for the remnants being unfairly targeted, but I decided not to care too much.
After all, the kingdom was already on the brink of self-destruction after being utterly corrupted and then attacked by the empire.
“It’s a sudden situation. Will this cause trouble for our operation?”
Hertlocker had somehow come by my side and asked.
“Actually, we can turn this to our advantage. We’ll pressure the remnants of Aias with this and guide them to act impulsively.”
“Impulsively means?”
“Get them to incite a rebellion.”
“?!”
Hertlocker’s eyes widened.
Looking around, others seemed to feel the same way.
The original plan had been completely thrown off, but I had no problems achieving the goal.
*
“Still haven’t found it?”
“I’m sorry. We’re conducting full-body searches at checkpoints, but… nothing at all…”
“Damn.”
Atatürk slammed his fist onto the armrest of the chair.
He was sure he hid it well in his inner pocket.
It was such a small and light key that it shouldn’t have been noticeable. I couldn’t help but wonder who had stolen it and when.
There were hardly any people near me…
To narrow it down, it had to be Duke Damien, Schlus Hainkel, and the captain of the guards.
The first two were not to be suspected at all, and the guard captain was well aware that he wouldn’t stoop to something like pickpocketing.
“Is it an important key?”
“Very important… extremely important…”
Too much time had passed already.
Surely by now, enough time had passed to copy the key.
Atatürk gritted his teeth.
At this point, it was necessary to change the safe.
I had to swap out the expensive black steel safe.
“Isn’t it just one of the keys to the safes in the mansion? No one could break into the Minister’s mansion…”
“Just get it back! No arguments!”
“Understood…”
The mere possibility that the safe could be opened was making Atatürk sweat buckets.
Inside that safe lay lethal items.
If discovered, not only would all plans go to waste, but he would also be displayed in the street, having his limbs severed.
Of course, if he stepped out onto the street now without adequate guards, he would likely face stones thrown at him, branded as a traitor to his people, but the threat would be far greater.
“It’s almost banquet time, Minister.”
“Tell the Excellency and the Duke that I’ve got a terrible stomachache and might be delayed.”
“Will do.”
There was no way he could stand in front of people right now.
Anyone could tell that something was off.
“Minister! I found a note!”
“A note? What does that matter?”
“It seems to be a note left by the pickpocket.”
“What?!”
The captain of the guards hurried over, holding a small note.
He handed over the tiny piece of paper that looked comically small in his large hand.
After scanning over it, Atatürk couldn’t help but let out a rough sigh.
– We have the key. Who are we, you ask? Well, guess! But we’re not the group trying to revive the Aias Kingdom, so don’t suspect us!
“What the hell…?”
I was at a loss for words, a laugh almost escaping me.
It looked like it was written by one of the remnants of Aias, but it felt too blatant for that to be the case.
‘No. They’re probably that clueless, so it makes sense.’
Ultimately, in a country where only the dregs were in high positions, it made sense that the remnants were also idiots.
Atatürk decided to simply think of it this way.
The one who stole the key was undoubtedly an armed group wanting to reclaim this land.
And to execute his grand plan, he needed to thoroughly crush such an unnecessary force.
Having seen the remnants hide well, he decided that this was a good opportunity to ransack everything.
If left unchecked, they would surely cause even more trouble.
“Find the person who left this note. Bring them to me.”
“Understood.”
He was curious about the face of the pickpocket who stole the key.
Of course, he had no intention of just checking the face and letting them go.
He would cut off their hands and send them on their way.
So they’d never be able to steal again, associated with such a foolish group.
.
.
.
People constantly flocked to the massive mansion.
Twelve chiefs of the elf tribes had gathered in one place.
They were allowed inside only after undergoing thorough searches.
The inside was quite chaotic.
Traditional elf music played as countless dignitaries gathered to exchange greetings.
“Schlus Hainkel Regent Excellency, and Duke Damien, have arrived!”
A booming voice echoed.
The music stopped, and a grander musical piece began.
At that cue, the protagonists of this banquet began to appear.
Schlus Hainkel.
And Duke Damien of the desert development area.
Unlike Damien, who wore casual clothing, Schlus Hainkel was still dressed in ceremonial attire and even had a sword at his waist.
As the two took their seats at the head table, people began to swarm around them, offering their greetings.
“I come from the Shahrh tribe. It’s an honor to meet you, Regent Excellency of the Freya Empire.”
“I am the leader of the Sek tribe. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Schlus Hainkel…”
In their minds, they felt somewhat humiliated.
Yet nobody dared to show it on the outside.
The Freya Empire had occupied the desert development area, snatching away the elves’ food and water.
There was no way they could avoid showing their respect to the national leader.
Of course, they all thought that they would only have to show this humbleness until they reclaimed the desert development area.
“It won’t end like this! Let the tribal chiefs give their greetings and start the banquet already!”
“Sounds good.”
“Then let’s begin the banquet!”
Damien quickly dispersed the crowd.
With cheerful music ringing from all directions, carts laden with food began to stream out from inside.
While following the lip movements of the gathered chiefs with his eyes, Damien was busy keeping an eye on Schlus Hainkel.
It was clear why Schlus Hainkel was here.
He must be concerned about the sudden recruitment of elf soldiers and the growth of the army, hence his survey.
He seemed to worry about a rebellion to declare independence, and it was necessary to reassure him that such concerns were unnecessary.
“Is this elf cuisine?”
“Yes. It’s a local dish of roasted turtle served with cactus. Does it suit your palate?”
“Quite alright.”
For now, Schlus Hainkel seemed to be in a good mood.
Damien subtly signaled behind him for the stage to be prepared.
Soon the attendants scurried about, creating a large empty space in the center.
“When it comes to dance, most cultures involve couples, right? But the elves have many more diverse solo dances.”
“Hmm.”
Shortly after, the dancer he had arranged beforehand stepped out and began to perform.
To the traditional music of the desert, Schlus Hainkel appeared intrigued at first but soon shifted his focus more onto the food as time passed.
Rumors had circulated that Schlus Hainkel was an eunuch, but was that really true?
Or was it simply that, given the elvish curves, he saw them as monsters due to their pointy ears?
“This will be the final performance.”
With the announcer’s voice, sounds of jingling approached from outside the door.
As the sound resonated, Damien flinched and stared at the door.
The regular ringing of bells grew closer beyond the fabric.
That silhouette.
And the sound of bells that jingled at her thighs with each step.
It was exactly as he had seen that day.
Soon the tent was lifted, and a copper-skinned girl emerged, brightening Damien’s face.
*Wow!*
She wore a thin traditional elven attire that almost revealed her inside.
Veiled at her mouth, and a key worn around her neck.
This could only be the dancer who had disappeared after her debut performance several years ago.
He had called out to her, suspecting she might have left the desert or retired, and had no hopes for her to appear.
Yet now, here she was.
Nothing could touch the human heart quite like the dancer’s performance.
Damien felt a rush of excitement, thinking he might satisfy Schlus Hainkel.
“I shall perform the sword dance.”
“The sword dance?”
Damien’s expression twisted.
He couldn’t just let an outsider—let alone a dancer—perform with a sword.
Not when the emperor of the empire was present.
“That would be troublesome—”
“I want to see it. Go on, perform.”
At that moment, Schlus Hainkel leaned slightly forward and smiled.
It seemed he was genuinely interested.
With no choice, Damien gestured for the soldiers to hand over the swords to the dancer.
They presented her with traditional elven curved swords.
Once she held a pair in both her hands, the dancer took her stance and began to swing the swords in tune with the music.
*Wow, her skills are still sharp!*
Damien was once again in awe of her movements.
However, Schlus Hainkel’s face remained expressionless, making it hard to judge his reaction.
Did he not like it?
Yet his gaze still followed the dancer, indicating he wasn’t uninterested.
As the music reached its climax, the dancer twirled, spreading the swords like flower petals.
Even while spinning quickly, her eyes remained on Schlus Hainkel.
The tips of the dancer’s blades began to draw closer to Schlus Hainkel.
Damien was bewildered, torn about whether he should stop this.
“Excellency?!”
“…”
Suddenly, Schlus Hainkel stood up and started to walk forward.
The music soared to its peak, and the dancer spun faster than ever.
Yet Schlus Hainkel walked right towards the blade’s flowers.
*Boom!*
With the sound of drums, the music came to an end.
In that moment, the dancer’s sword halted right next to Schlus’s neck.
Everyone gasped and froze, unable to contain their shock, as Schlus Hainkel took another step forward.
With that, he reached over and lifted the dancer’s chin through her veil, bringing their lips closer.
“I liked it. Come to my room tonight.”
“Wha- Excellency, that dancer is not that kind of girl.”
“I don’t care.”
“…”
Schlus scrutinized her face for a moment, then released her chin and returned to his seat.
For a while longer, the frozen atmosphere in the banquet hall showed no sign of easing.
