**

I stepped outside the audience chamber.

Tina remained inside to make her speech to the Aslan nobles. Although I wanted to stay and listen till the end, my body was still too exhausted to continue. The side effects from using Amons relics still lingered and I needed to take a good rest first.

While walking on the palaces corridors, I glanced outside one of the windows. Wow, so she really had that thing moved all the way out here.

The giant tree left behind by Yggdrasil, the world tree, was now visible in the palaces garden.

The tree with lush green colour continued radiating dense Mana everywhere as it brought nature back to life.

[The World Trees Branch.

Ability: a small part of the world tree that will become another world tree permeating with great nature once it fully matures. When summoning the spirits of nature, or even the tree spirit itself, it will grant a 50% Mana amplification bonus to Shamans. It will also help with maintaining the amplified Mana.]

Now thats some amazing ability.

Just one tree alone was enough to turn this withered terrain into wide-open fertile fields of green. If my grandpa, the holy emperor saw that, he might have drooled all over it.

What a relief it was that he hadnt issued the order to bring the tree to the empire at any cost.

But then again, no one else besides Tina can look after that tree anyways.

From what I heard, only the chosen High Elf was allowed to tend to the world tree. Although, in the current situation, itd be Tina the Dark Elf instead.

I resumed my strolling. My new destination was the palaces VIP chamber, which was currently under heavy guard.

Paladins were stationed in long lines along the corridor leading up to the chamber. When Charlotte and I walked past, they all saluted back at us.

We reached the VIP chambers door and Oscal the sword king, currently stationed there, bowed and greeted me, How is your body feeling, your highness?

Its not bad, thanks to you. Before all that, where is my brother and father?

They are both inside, your highness.

I wish to converse with them for a little while.

Yes, of course.

Oscal smiled rather smoothly and opened the door. The figures of two men could be seen inside.

One of them was lying on bed, presumably asleep with the sheets pulled up over his head. He must be having a nightmare judging from how he was writhing around like that.

Ruppel Olfolse, the Third Imperial Prince, was currently under arrest for the suspicion of high treason.

I shifted my gaze elsewhere.

Ohh! Youre here, son? Im telling you, traditional Aslan cuisine is really great! Sure, its a bit of a hostile place to live in, but theres a good reason why this kingdom is a famous tourist attraction.

The other dude was busy biting and ripping a chunk off the back leg of a large roasted pig.

Who else could he be other than White Olfolse? The one and only Crown Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire.

Now normally, it wouldnt be so strange to find these two locked up in prison cells, but they were being treated quite well all thanks to me lodging a request to the holy emperor earlier.

I had plenty of questions to ask these two, after all.

For Ruppel, it would be questions relating to his reason for the rebellion.

As for White, his whereabouts for the past eleven years or so.

I took a seat in front of White by the dining table.

There you go, son. Try this meat. Its really good I tell ya!

I was completely dismayed from how he was snickering away without a care in the world. This guy, just where had he been all this time, busy abandoning his children and the Crown Princess Consorts?!

Where was he when the Vampires infiltrated the imperial court and defiled it? Where was he when the First Crown Princess Consort was murdered? This idiot wasnt where he was supposed to be.

White would no doubt be made to shoulder the responsibilities of his actions.

I cleanly ignored the roasted meat he pushed towards me and addressed him curtly, Where have you been until now?

Mm? Ah, that. Ive been here and there. Lome kingdom, Aihrance, and also

Are you telling me that youve been on a journey?

Thats right.

He nodded oh-so matter-of-factly.

How could I not get pissed off from that irresponsible answer?

To begin with, this guy left behind way too much crap for others to deal with. And I had been mopping up a sizeable portion of that.

I couldnt hold back anymore. But before I got to yanking out a musket and firing a bullet on his sorry ass

I was actually trying to find your older brother, you see.

Wha? My older brother?

Since he had been searching for the past eleven years, he obviously didnt mean either Ruppel or me.

I deeply pondered what he could be talking about here. Other than Luan, Ruppel, and Hilda, I hadnt really had run-ins with my other siblings until now.

The thing was, though, I also hadnt heard that one of my siblings was currently missing, either.

Who are you searching for, then?

Im looking for Ruppel. But I had no luck so far. Which means I now have no choice but to ask the Imperial Family for assistance. It seems that searching for that kid all by myself was too much of an undertaking in the end.

I ended up frowning deeply.

He wasnt making much sense here. Searching for Ruppel? For the past eleven years, no less? Just what on earth was he even talking about?

I glanced at Ruppel currently sleeping on the bed next to ours.

White noticed that and formed one of those Oops expressions. He smiled awkwardly next.

Im sure you have no idea what Im talking about here. The truth had to be kept under wraps until now, after all. But well, I can no longer keep it a secret since I need your help. He stared at me before continuing on, The one Im looking for isnt the Third Imperial Prince, Ruppel Olfolse. Actually, its

His expression abruptly changed. He became gravely serious while finishing the rest of his sentence.

The Second Imperial Prince, Ruppel Olfolse.

My own expression hardened at this revelation.

When he said the Second Imperial Prince, could he mean

Yes, Ive been searching for the Third Imperial Princes older brother.

He was talking about the still-born baby of the Second Crown Princess Consort, Rose Darina.

**

Inside a dark cave somewhere.

Sticky and humid air seemed to resonate in the surroundings.

Glass-like flasks well over one metre in length were each filled with a viscous liquid of some kind. Their contents were human children.

A white-haired old man with an unkempt beard, and wearing a leather outfit that seemed to wrap around him too tightly, was madly scribbling and drawing something on the ground.

However, he was not human. Not only was he nearly three metres in height, his back was also bent monstrously to resemble a hunchback.

His whole body was filled with stitched-up wounds and other assortments of bizarre tumour-like growths.

This creature was both an Alchemist and a Progenitor Vampire. A creature that was granted the peerage of Count from the Vampire King was busy cracking and loosening its neck muscles.

His name was Timong, and he was using a magic crystal to maniacally draw a bunch of rune letters on the ground.

Woo-euph-!

In the middle of the magic circle was a bound and gagged clergyman, currently crying out through the rag covering his mouth. Blood trickled down from his whole body and began seeping into the rune letters.

Count Timong stared at this sight and cried out in elation, Yes, its finally complete!

He burst out in a hoarse cackle clearly belonging to a madman, then greedily rubbed his hands covered in leather gloves. Next up, he gathered demonic energy on his hands and directed it towards the rune letters.

All colour drained out from the complexion of the bound clergyman as he cried out in terror, Euph-euph?! Wuu-wwwueuph-!

Demonic energy emanated from the magic circle, and at the same time, divinity gushed out from the clergymans figure.

Count Timongs eyes shot open wide. He madly shouted out while looking clearly excited about something, Ahahaha! This will be my warp experiment number three thousand and one! Well then, dear Priest! Show me your powers!

Demonic energy and divinity collided in the air.

The rune letter in between the collision maintained the precarious balance and continued to attune the two disparate powers. As space and time began distorting visibly, the clergymans body began breaking down into tiny particles.

This was warp magic at work. Specifically, a warp gate constructed by divinity and demonic energy.

The two opposing powers continued gathering, and eventually the clergyman blew up.

Bits of torn flesh and blood splattered everywhere, and the laboratory was soon coated in the familiar crimson hue.

Count Timong stood there in a daze before his expression crumpled unsightly. Uwaaahk?! Dammit, dammit!

He stomped and kicked the ground while howling out in pure rage.

Why doesnt it work?! Ive already succeeded a couple of times before, so why am I failing over and over again?!

While he vented out his frustration, a staggering ghoul approached him from behind. It pushed forward a written communique towards the irate Vampire Count.

Timong, who was screaming out while holding his head, flinched a little and regained his composure before snatching the communique away. After reading its contents, his brows shot up higher and his jaw fell from sheer astonishment.

What happened, Count Timong?

The Vampire Alchemist flinched again and turned his head around.

A young boy was walking out from the pitch-black darkness. He seemed to be around twelve years of age.

The boy with blood-coloured hair and eyes was snickering mischievously for some reason.

Timong replied, King Rahamma is dead.

What? That monster-like human died? How?

The boy asked back with a stunned expression.

He stood on his tip-toes and struggled mightily to take a peek at the communique held in Count Timongs hand.

The latter continued on, It seems the Imperial Family has finally killed him.

Holy Emperor Kelt, was it? Wow, that geezer is still a monster, I see.

No, it wasnt him, but some other being. But that persons identity is not known at this stage. No way of finding out for now, actually.

Holy cow! Someone else took care of Rahamma? Even a bigger shocked expression floated up on the boys face. But that lasted only for a second or two as a creepy grin replaced it. In that case, it mustve been the Crown Imperial Prince.

Thats a good possibility.

Meaning, hes still alive.

Hmm, that bastard will tenaciously cling onto his life until he gets rid of you for good, said Count Timong, while staring meaningfully at the boy. Second Imperial Prince of the Imperial Family, Ruppel Olfolse.

The red-haired boy, Ruppel, burst out into a boisterous laughter. Ahaha! Youre still bringing up that ancient history?

Have you forgotten that Im not a member of the Imperial Family anymore? And also The boy smiled creepily with his eyes. My current father is someone else. Yup, his majestys my real father now.

But, his majesty probably sees you as nothing more than a mere puppet?

No one can look down on me. If you cant acknowledge me, then Ill just make you, the boy muttered that out before taking another glance at the communique. Any other interesting news?

Count Timong dryly replied to the boys question, Oh, and the Third Imperial Prince Ruppel Olfolse has been apprehended.

The boy winced a little from that before looking back at Timong with an intrigued expression on his face. Ruppel? How come?

He even theatrically tilted his head this way and that. Timong responded while staring at the boys reaction. High treason. He had been a useful little unwitting inside helper until now, so thats too bad. Although, that fool was more like the chain that connected Rose Darina to us. In any case, hes been arrested.

Hey, wouldnt things become troublesome if he gets executed?

Hes lost most of his usefulness already. Its the Second Crown Princess Consort wed been colluding with all this time, after all. Actually, itll be good for us if the numbers of those damn Imperial Family members decrease.

Oh, in that case, that idiot

The boy raised his head up.

The corners of his lips curled up into a grin as thick bloodlust wafted out from his small figure.

A crazed expression had formed on his face.

Cant I have him? Im in need of a new body anyways. So, if its my younger brother, then The boy grinned deeply with his eyes and stared at Count Timong. Wouldnt he serve as a good replacement?

< 083. Ruppel Olfolse -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.