VIP Early Access
Eksklusif untuk member VIP
Password Protected
Chapter ini dikunci dengan kode khusus
Chapter 219
Fried Egg
Meanwhile, King Hudret occupied Duke Urey's castle without issue.
The place was already an empty house where not even a rat bastard rummaging through the storehouses remained.
But it wasn't as if there was nothing at all.
Valuables that couldn't be taken during evacuation remained, and the soldiers who entered without bloodshed were sweeping them all up.
The Duke's office had already been converted into King Hudret's operations command post.
È.n̄ úm ȧ.і́ d
"How much in valuables?"
At King Hudret's question, a knight answered.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"Three wagons' worth, so it exceeds a whopping 100,000 Golden."
With the castle and buildings that needed no reconstruction, it was enough to pay off the war debts and then some.
"Duke Urey My Lord is generous indeed. To hand over a castle like this to us so obediently."
"Most would destroy everything so as not to give even a drop of soup and leave."
Ẽnum a. іd
"He must mean to leave a foothold from which humans fighting demons can resist."
"Still, it's a bit disappointing. We won such a great victory, yet there's not even a decent chick to embrace."
One commander grinned sleazily and subtly twitched his crotch, and another played along.
"Should've tried coaxing a few of the pretty chicks from the duchy."
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"Oh?"
King Hudret casually drove a dagger into the thigh of the commander who made the lewd remark.
E ǹ ù m а̄
"Keuk!"
"You bastards didn't spill a single drop of blood entering, yet you covet so much useless shit. Do you want to curse the kingdom to ruin by invoking the curses of those who became heroic spirits?"
"N-no. I-I'm sorry, Your Highness."
"Next time I'll stab your tongue and your crotch. No exceptions for anyone else either."
King Hudret is a pragmatic and rational human.
He knew the curse of heroic spirits was nothing but a ghost story made up by humans.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Respect for the dead was just an excuse; he merely made an example of one to straighten out the discipline that was slackening.
Thanks to that, there were no more sleazy grinners.
"Issue promissory notes saying spoils distribution will be paid after the war ends, and for now gather everything in the castle warehouse and post sentries."
"Yes!"
"When do reinforcements arrive?"
"By tomorrow, a total of 20,000 soldiers and laborers will arrive. They're reconstructing the formation based on the recorded blueprints, so it'll become a strategic stronghold within a week."
W̆ е_b̆ñòv̇ е̃ l Е̇ňů m a
"Good."
King Hudret looked down at the operations map, chewing over what to do next.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
He'd eaten Duke Urey's territory, and all that remained was the road toward the Heinckel Kingdom.
Who would've known it'd go this smoothly?
Originally, the plan was to draw out a protracted war and make Urey impatient.
While keeping the Arken Empire in check as they eyed the spoils, he'd tried to take maximum profit.
Е̌n ūmӑ
If it goes this well, what's the next step?
'Advancing on the capital.'"
King Hudret's greed was like a snake's gape.
Once he started putting it in his mouth, he had to see it through to the end.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Since he'd smoothly eaten Duke Urey's territory, King Hudret's thinking was that he had to eat the kingdom's capital too.
But a factor he couldn't easily decide on blocked him.
Еn u mӓ
"Loyalty. The scouts who went to reconnoiter enemy territory have returned, it's reported."
At the sentry's report, King Hudret asked him.
"Are you on your way to write the report?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Leave the report to the stenographer here, and bring the entire reconnaissance squad inside. I'll hear it directly."
"Understood."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
The duty soldier moved to deliver the message, and shortly after the reconnaissance squad entered fully and bowed their heads.
"We pay respects to Your Highness. We had no time to tidy our appearance, so please forgive us generously."
"Just report."
"First, it's certain they're colluding with demons as the rumors say. Demons were detected inside the castle."
Unwelcome news.
Human vs. human fights are easy, but human vs. demon fights are more than facing monsters.
Е̄ ńú m̌ а .і d̄
"Inner castle infiltration?"
"You mean inner castle infiltration?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Can't you even remember what I ordered?"
At the pointed question, the scout answered.
"No. Infiltrating the inner castle is difficult, so I hesitated for fear of disappointing you. The inner castle is impossible, but we barely managed to reconnoiter inside the outer castle."
"Is that so? How was the inside?"
É n ŭ m̈а
"Deadly quiet."
"Meaning they're all dead?"
"No. There were humans inside, but they don't move at all."
"Don't move at all?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"They breathe as little as possible, minimize movement, and lie in a state. As if everything..."
He took a deep breath and answered.
É n ů_m а . і̃d
"It was the appearance of reducing all energy like beasts hibernating."
"Humans hibernating..."
"That Heinckel King is surely using black magic to do something with his people as collateral."
"Demons and black magic too... corrupted to the depths."
King Hudret grinned and spoke to the reconnaissance captain.
"Good work. I'd like to reward you if I could."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Not at all."
"By the way, I never ordered the scouts to infiltrate the inner castle."
"Huh? What do you—."
Skeung!
The reconnaissance captain's head flew from his torso.
The escort knight standing behind him had confirmed King Hudret's signal and blown it away in a single strike.
E n̄ùm̌_ā
"I pushed it just in case, and got caught beautifully. You demon lackey con artists."
"Sh-shit!"
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
The reconnaissance members belatedly drew swords to respond, but the knights who were already waiting had already subdued them.
King Hudret clicked his tongue looking down at the corpses.
He lifted the head before him and examined the neck's cross-section.
"These demons are called Dopplers, right?"
Eṅ u̇ mа̃.. ĩḋ
"That's correct."
"Strange. They say demons have different organs than humans, but the shape is very similar to a human neck. As the rumors say, they're superior to Doppelgangers. Their transformation skill is outstanding, but they can't even suck up the target's knowledge?"
He dropped the head to the floor.
It rolled toward the soldiers collecting the bodies.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Knowledge increased. Thanks to this, we know more about demons than other armies, don't we?"
"That's correct."
Е n.ů mà
The knights spat on the Doppler corpses.
"Almost believed the bullshit these dirty bastards spouted."
"What do you mean? What these bastards said is surely true."
King Hudret said as if enjoying himself.
"To spy, you must first buy trust. To buy trust, you need to look competent. If a spy bastard becomes a scout, wouldn't he throw the best info first?"
"Indeed..."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
The knights truly couldn't hold back their admiration.
He brazenly lied to lure the demon, got info, and cleanly removed it too.
Whether planned or improvised, it surprised them all the same.
King Hudret chewed over their info in his head.
Collusion with demons.
A king wielding black magic.
Еn ũmа̄
People like they're hibernating.
'That black magic surely uses the people's lives, and must be magic granting tremendous power.'
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
The ultimate magic that could bring that Heinckel King to the realm of superhumans.
An item a king pursuing absolute power couldn't help but covet.
* * *
Valdrova Castle's bedroom.
Е̃ n u m а̇
Even as night deepened, Ferda couldn't fall asleep easily.
One word was stuck in Ferda's mind, refusing to leave.
'She's weakening...'
He couldn't understand what 'weakening' meant.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
In Ferda's eyes, her battles were always the same.
Even analyzing the data, there was no great difference between when he first met her and now.
W̊е̃ b̊ nоṽе̌ l Ēnǔm а̀
'If it's the first sight, that incredibly bright, jewel-like flame.'
That flame was incredibly beautiful and intense.
It was enough to melt Frontenium, which could only be melted in the Primordial Forge.
On the other hand, that fact was puzzling.
'Why didn't she show that flame when I tried to kill her?'
He recalls the fight with Valdrova.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Ferda barely beat her, and if she hadn't given up her life at the end, he would've met death with her.
If she'd thrown that flame at Ferda, the battle would've been even more in her favor.
'Yet she didn't bring it out.'
It could mean the fight itself wasn't sincere for her.
But there was another possibility.
'That she's truly weakening.'
Ẁe b́ńо̇v̆_ẽl Е̇ńu.m a
Frontesis said so.
Firepower strong enough to melt Frontenium, but a flame not reaching her prime.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
The assumption that Frontesis gave wrong info couldn't be ruled out either.
The two chatted quite familiarly, but since the Dragon-Demon War, they hadn't met even once, and Ferda didn't know what heart he held.
If he held malice, he might've said that to burden Ferda with worry.
'What the hell is the Dragons' Twilight?'
Ě n u ḿӓ
Twilight usually means death.
For those called immortals who've reigned for ages, foretelling their own death is a fatal blasphemy, an insult that must not be uttered.
'He said he himself is weakening, and Valdrova too.'
Are other dragons the same?
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
In the end, does the flow of time sweep away even existences called immortals?
Believing is entirely Ferda's freedom.
W̃ ѐ b̌nӧv̈ е̃ l Е n̆ ûm а̄
But complete freedom is nothing but a hollow definition, and that's why Ferda is trapped by those words.
Ferda's desire wished to somehow understand and resolve these things.
How can he help her?
In the end, he stayed up all night and saw the sunrise.
Ruri came inside.
She brought a cart with food, glanced at Ferda's complexion, and asked.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Did you have a sleepless night?"
Not knowing what he'd hear if he said he was worried about Valdrova, Ferda replied vaguely.
"Couldn't sleep."
"I'll prepare tea good for drowsiness. This is today's breakfast."
The breakfast Ruri prepared was simple.
Good morning salad and bread, butter and black tea.
Ẃ е̌bnо̄ṽеl̀_ Еñü m̊ a
The side dish was always the same.
The main dish was the only thing that changed, and with a wondering what it'd be today, he looked at the food placed in the center.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
The main dish she prepared today was truly astonishing.
So astonishing that Ferda could momentarily shake off his worry.
"...?"
He looked at the main dish she prepared.
Е ń ü m а́
Judging by the shape, it was undoubtedly the dish called fried egg, where you crack an egg and fry it in a pan.
But the object Ferda is seeing now consists not of two colors, white and yellow, but is colorful beyond description.
Seeing that incomprehensible thing, he asked Ruri.
"...Can you tell me what I did wrong?"
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"What do you mean?"
"If I did wrong, I'll apologize."
Еńůmа ._і d
"Ferda-nim did nothing wrong. At least not now."
"Then why protest with food?"
When Ferda asked, Ruri got angry right back.
"You're really too much. To speak that way about the item Master-nim made with such effort."
"Master-nim?"
Ruri's Master-nim is only one person.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
And someone Ferda knows well too.
"It's an item Valdrova-nim made directly."
"Valdrova..."
With those words, the object before Ferda started to look different.
This is a fried egg cooked by my fiancée's lovely hands.
"My fiancée... seems to have outstanding talent in alchemy."
Ŵ ѐ b̊ ṅo v е̄ľ Е̂n̈ uṁ а̀
But it was something miserable beyond what love could cover.
Ruri also calls it an object, not food, to the end.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"...Have you ever tasted it?"
"You know whether it's shit or soybean paste without tasting it, so why would I eat it?"
"What about Her Highness?"
"Naturally she doesn't know. She doesn't even know the concept of tasting."
Е̊ n̈ ūm̊а̊. î ḋ
"Meaning I'm the only one suffering."
"Everyone's happy."
Is that fortunate?
Ferda poked at the fried egg.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
When he burst the fluorescent-wobbling yolk (or what used to be one), the scent contained within flowed out.
What permeated this was a warm heart thinking of Ferda.
Е_n um̀ ä
And Ruri's scream.
-Hold the pan properly. If you hold it like that, the strength doesn't support properly.
-Oil it. Just a little... just a little more... no, not that much... at this rate, let's serve deep-fried egg instead of fried egg.
-Sprinkle just a tiny bit of salt. A pinch... no, if you pour that much... it's fine. It's not like I'm eating it anyway.
-Master-nim! Do you know how many eggs you used? A whole 100! If we sent just one condolence letter per hen saying your sons were sacrificed in vain, the treasury would hit rock bottom!
No, the last one's a bit much.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Penelope-like bastard would say it like that.
"If you don't want to eat, it's fine not to."
Ferda looked up at Ruri with a face that caught a ray of light.
Before he could even ask if that was okay, she gestured with her eyes somewhere.
Following that gaze, there was a door, and some cute creature with terrifying horns was crouched there staring intently.
The excitement contained beyond that mask resonated with his heart.
W еbn̆о v̆ е l Еǹũṁ а
No, is this excitement?
It was hard to judge since it was roughly similar to the tension of facing an assassin.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
