Emperor! Can You See Stats!?

Chapter 116: Heavengard

Pop!

A pure white light spreads and seeps into Eurius’s body. 

At the same time, the wounds all over his body start to heal noticeably.

Aurel, the bishop who was waiting in advance, gave Eurius a simple emergency treatment.

“You are a superhuman warrior, so you should recover quickly with this much. Please don’t overdo it.”

“Thank you.”

Even after finishing the treatment, he looked at Eurius with curiosity as if he was amazed.

“By the way, you survived that explosion even with such injuries… I don’t know much about warriors, but I can guess how outstanding you are.”

The surrounding servants also nodded their heads in agreement with his praise.

“Thinking about what happened, it seems that His Majesty the Emperor already knew everything.”

“I finally understand why he favored the First Prince so much since he was young.”

They looked at Eurius and the Emperor with admiration or fear. The Grand Duke, who had virtually unlimited power except for the Emperor, was reduced to this state in just a week after the incident.

And it was not hard to guess who came up with this scheme.

‘I won’t be able to say anything for a while. At least we had the Grand Duke to open our mouths.’

Regardless, Eurius opened his mouth.

“I will leave now.”

“I don’t know what your intention is, but I can’t allow you to go alone. I will assign some knights to you after things are settled.”

It was impossible for the Emperor to leave far away without even a minimum escort, no matter how urgent his business was.

But he didn’t have time to wait until then. However, Eurius had something in mind.

“That won’t be necessary. The battle outside the castle should be over by now.”

“Hmm?”

***

Meanwhile, outside was dawn when the sun slowly rose from beyond the horizon.

On the dimly lit plain, curses, screams, and metallic sounds of weapons clashing echoed throughout the night.

Clang!

“Hold on! Damn it!”

“Maintain the formation! Push them back!”

And the fierce battle between the two knight orders that took place near the capital was heading towards its end.

Whoosh!

As Beatrice’s sword pierced through the chest of the last knight, the battle was over. In the end, the Golden Lion Knight Order failed to break out of the encirclement and was completely defeated.

“How could this happen…”

The captives who survived were also in a daze. 

They didn’t expect that they would fall so miserably as one of the elite knight orders on the continent.

But it was a natural outcome in hindsight. 

They certainly had an overwhelming advantage in power until the martial arts tournament, but they lost a lot of skilled fighters in the attack by the Order.

On the other hand, Scharnos Knight Order’s power had been steadily increasing. 

Even without encirclement, their individual skills and coordination were incomparable to when they were first established.

Moreover, it was a forced march from Flandre to the capital that took at least three days even if they ran fast. In that situation, they were slowly worn out by encirclement and couldn’t perform well.

It seemed like a reckless challenge at first glance, but it was a situation where everything was prepared and waited for the opponent considering all factors.

“Let’s return to the capital.”

“…”

It was time to celebrate their victory, but Scharnos Knight Order didn’t show much excitement and hurriedly got back on their horses.

There was someone waiting for them in the capital.

“Open the gate!”

As they arrived, the gate opened easily as promised.

“…!?”

“His Highness!”

As soon as the gate opened, they saw Eurius.

“You all did well.”

“Your Highness.”

Clack!

The knights of Scharnos Knight Order all got off their horses and saluted as knights. 

But they were rather worried about him.

His appearance was as if he had no time to change his clothes, covered in blood all over his body. 

His usual neat appearance was gone and he looked quite tired.

“Your Highness… Did you suffer any serious injuries?”

“I’m fine. First of all, report me on the damage situation.”

Heinz, the leader of Scharnos Knight Order stepped forward and started reporting.

“Twenty minor injuries, fifteen serious injuries, and those who died or suffered fatal injuries…”

He hesitated here and Eurius’s eyebrows twitched. 

Heinz and Eurius looked at each other and recalled what happened before they left yesterday. Eurius gathered them all to give them a final encouragement.

***

“You all know what our goal is today.”

“…”

The knights were holding their breath and staring at Eurius. 

They had gone through hellish training for months, but their opponent was not easy. Could they really win?

But the words they heard were different from what they thought.

“I won’t tell you to win for my pride.”

“…!?”

“Just come back alive. That’s my order.”

“…”

The atmosphere became solemn for a moment. 

It was more difficult than the condition of winning. 

It was to return alive without any casualties against the Golden Lion Knight Order, which had superior individual power.

***

A moment later, Heinz smiled.

“There are no casualties! And we won!”

“I trusted you.”

As soon as they got Eurius’s confirmation, the knights also finally relaxed their stiff expressions and smiled broadly.

Bang!

They slammed their sheathed swords on the ground and shouted. 

Revenge for the defeat in the group match of the martial arts tournament! 

Eurius’s order! 

They fulfilled them all.

“Woohoo!”

The shout of a hundred people was so loud that the citizens living near the gate had to rub their eyes and get up to look out the window.

“What’s going on? Are they training the knight order?”

“What are they doing at dawn! I woke up.”

Regardless, the shout continued for a while. Eurius smiled as he watched them.

‘The most important thing in encirclement is to prevent any possible holes!’

The most important thing in maintaining encirclement was to avoid sudden holes caused by major injuries or deaths. 

If they exploited that part, the formation could collapse.

So Eurius ordered them to reduce casualties by helping each other even if they slowly surrounded them, rather than trying to end it quickly with some sacrifices.

And the result was very good as expected!

He raised his hand to stop the shouting and finally revealed his purpose. 

He came out to greet them because he wanted to praise them, but he had another urgent matter.

“I know you want to rest, but I’m sorry. Everyone except the seriously injured must follow me to the south.”

“No problem!”

Scharnos Knight Order’s morale was sky-high right now. 

They would probably follow him without hesitation even if he ordered them to attack the Grand Duke’s stronghold directly. 

But the battle they would face there would be a different kind.

Eurius also got on his horse and shouted.

“Then let’s go right away. We have to run without resting, so be prepared!”

***

“There, you can see Heavengard Castle.”

They had left the capital and ridden their horses non-stop for three days. 

Finally, Eurius and his knights approached the distance where they could see the castle of the Grand Duke.

The castle of Heavengard, or the fortress as it was called, was enormous in size, but ironically, there was no enemy country or border nearby.

However, in the era of the Grand Emperor, it was one of the key points in the south and boasted an impregnable reputation despite countless enemy attacks.

As evidence, there were countless scars of battle on the walls that could not be hidden even with constant repairs.

Of course, the impregnable castle gate was tightly closed because the Grand Duke was away.

The knights looked at the castle with a perplexed expression, but also with some expectation.

‘We have been running for three days and we are exhausted. Can we overcome such a fortress?’

‘His Majesty must have a plan.’

But Eurius didn’t seem to have any intention of giving them any orders. He got off his horse and approached the gatehouse. 

Then he shouted loudly.

“I am Eurius von Scharnos, the first prince of the empire! Open the gate!”

“…!?”

“Your Majesty?”

The knights couldn’t hide their dumbfounded expressions.

It was not a difficult task for excellent knights to climb over the walls. 

But why announce himself when he could surprise them at night?

There was also a commotion on the wall.

“The first prince?”

“How did he find this place? Where is the Grand Duke?”

They had no choice but to be confused. 

Normally, if the prince asked them to open the gate, they should do so, but they had seen the Grand Duke leave for the capital with a grim expression and his knights a few days ago. 

Something must have happened.

The commander in charge of the wall defense had to think hard.

‘He brought his knights with him… Is he trying to take advantage of our weakness and annihilate us?’

“What’s going on?”

As he was pondering, a calm and dignified voice came from behind.

“Ah! You came at just the right time.”

The commander greeted the owner of the voice with a relieved face.

A moment later.

The wall and Eurius were still in a standoff. 

But it didn’t last long.

Creak.

Suddenly, a small side gate of the castle opened and a man on a horse came out.

“I greet Your Highness.”

The man on the horse was an old man in his prime. 

He got off his horse and bowed to Eurius with a dignified voice.

“Hmm?”

Eurius looked at his stats for a moment and was quite surprised.

‘He doesn’t look like a knight by his outfit?’

[Victor Olaf]

Job: Butler, Force Master

Strength: B Agility: A Intelligence: B Spirit: A Force Aptitude: B+ Force: A+

Disposition: Loyal, Stubborn, Cold

Current State: Suspicious

[Trait]

Swordsmanship (S)

‘A master butler?’

Eurius almost laughed out loud. 

The old man was definitely not wearing armor and he wore a neat uniform that only servants would wear, although it was luxurious.

He opened his mouth after greeting him.

“I am Victor Olaf, who is in charge of managing the castle while His Grace is away. It is an honor to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. Should I call you Sir Victor?”

“I used to be called that once. But now I’m retired, so you can call me whatever you want.”

“Then I’ll call you Victor.”

The old man Victor asked him bluntly.

“Pardon me, but may I ask what your purpose is for coming to Heavengard?”

Eurius silently showed him the token that the Grand Duke had given him.

“This is…”

Victor lost his words for a moment. 

To him, this meant the worst case scenario.

The token was a silver wing-shaped ornament made of elaborate craftsmanship.

“What happened to His Grace who went to the capital?”

“He’s dead. He had a glorious end worthy of a warrior.”

At Eurius’ answer, Victor stared at him with a suspicious look. 

He regained his composure soon and opened his mouth again.

“Once again, pardon me, but can I check if this is genuine?”

“That’s fine.”

He briefly handed over the wing to him and let him examine it. 

He sighed after looking at it from various angles.

“It’s definitely made of orichalcum. The meaning of showing me this is…”

“He said this would clear my doubts.”

“…”

Victor fell into deep thought. 

Eurius also waited for him silently.

He seemed to have made up his mind and opened his mouth.

“The knights who accompanied you cannot enter yet. Can you come to the inner castle alone?”

“What?”

“Your Highness! It’s dangerous!”

It was a risky thing to enter the castle of the Grand Duke alone, even if it was empty. 

The knights tried to dissuade him.

But Eurius waved his hand. 

If he was in danger in the castle, why would the Grand Duke protect him at the end?

“I’ll go in first. Maybe they’re preparing a welcome for you.”

He smiled sarcastically and followed behind Victor. 

The knights who trusted his judgment waited silently, but they looked worried.

Creak.

The outer gate opened and he entered. Victor started to explain.

“Heavengard Castle has a clearer distinction between the outer and inner castles than other castles.”

“Hooh…”

“Usually, even other knights or nobles live in the outer castle and only a few people can enter the inner castle.”

“Then what I’m going to see is in the inner castle?”

“That’s right.”

They chatted as they entered Heavengard’s inner castle.

‘It doesn’t seem like there’s any trap?’

Eurius had some doubts, so he asked Victor a question.

“Don’t you think I killed the Grand Duke and stole this wing from him?”

“His Grace was a thorough man.”

“…”

That was enough. 

This Victor must have been one of the most trusted and loyal subordinates of the Grand Duke.

They walked for a while after entering the inner castle and finally stopped in front of a room.

“This is His Grace’s office.”

‘He really lived modestly as I heard.’

The office only had simple furniture such as a desk, and it was almost empty.

It was inevitable that the building, which was designed with the role of a fortress in mind, had a plain exterior, but with the Grand Duke’s wealth, he could have indulged in luxury inside, which was also surprising.

Eurius entered the office and opened his mouth again.

“Is there something I should see here?”

“Can I borrow that wing for a moment?”

“This thing?”

He took the wing-shaped token from him and opened one side of the wall.

Rumble.

The wall was double-layered and it slid to the side when he pushed it with his strength, revealing the inside. 

Eurius watched the scene with a curious expression.

“This is the secret training room of the inner castle. You need the wing to enter.”

He said that and inserted the wing-shaped ornament into a slot on the wall.

Boom!

“Huh…”

Eurius groaned. 

A staircase leading down appeared with a heavy sound.

“I can’t go any further from here. You have to check it out by yourself.”

“Alright.”

As soon as Eurius walked into the passage, Victor looked at his back with a surprised look.

‘Doesn’t he doubt me?’

It was obvious that he could be trapped if he closed the door behind him in this suspicious passage, but Eurius had already checked Victor’s psychological state and stepped in without hesitation.

[Victor Olaf]

Current State: Grief

‘At least he didn’t have any revenge.’

The descending staircase seemed endless.

‘It looks like it’s heading to the underground of the inner castle.’

Eurius’ guess was right. 

At the end of the staircase, there was another small door. 

He opened it and entered. 

He heard an expected notification.

Ding.

[You have found a legacy of the player.]

[Your achievement increases.]

There were only simple items in the room, and among them, there were three books on the desk. 

He heard the notification as soon as he saw them.

He checked the titles of the books.

[Severing Sword]

[Circle Vibration Technique]

[???]