Chapter 701: Role (1)
Screeeech━
As the heavy castle gates opened with a creak, they stepped inside, and the sound of ancient hinges echoed through the space, revealing the bizarre scenery within.
The lobby, decorations, and staircases that would normally be expected in a castle were entirely absent; instead, there was a bedroom immediately before them. No, strictly speaking, it wasn’t quite a bedroom.
Beyond the massive bed, there was nothing—just an empty space that felt more like a prison cell than a room.
In the middle of that cell, a young girl knelt with her head bowed, awaiting Oliver’s arrival.
“You’ve come…”
As he entered, Oliver looked down at the girl without a word.
The girl had pale white skin and a mane of thick, honey-colored hair. Fortunately or unfortunately, Oliver was already familiar with her.
Despite her youthful appearance, she was a black magician who had lived for hundreds of years. Once, she had been a princess beloved by all—and then forsaken by everyone.
All because of the people, frightened by the Piper and deceived by the thirteen witches.
The people, terrified for their children’s safety, who had once praised the princess, now turned on her with the same mouths that had worshiped her, and with the same hands that had once upheld her, dragged her to be offered as a sacrifice.
Ironically, the ones sacrificed ended up being the very people themselves.
It was a situation that could almost be called laughable.
"…"
Oliver suddenly realized he knew quite a bit about the girl. Even though they had met only once. Of course, she also knew quite a bit about him.
Oliver tilted his head slightly.
He couldn’t quite understand why he was in this unnerving place.
He had simply been walking and ended up arriving in front of the castle, and as soon as he saw it, he had unconsciously opened the door and entered.
Everything had been an unplanned, instinctive act.
‘Could it be that the princess cast some kind of spell?’
Oliver pondered for a moment, then dismissed the thought. The princess didn’t possess that kind of power.
‘Then, was it my own subconscious that wanted to come here?’
He tried to probe his own mind, though it gave him nothing but weariness.
Indeed, thinking too deeply was such a tiresome and taxing thing. He needed a place to rest.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
The moment he thought about resting, his eyes fell upon the bed. Leaning on his quarterstaff, he moved forward and sat down on the edge of the massive bed.
Without waiting for the owner’s permission.
Yet, the princess seemed unfazed, merely adjusting the direction of her bow in silence.
The girl remained quiet in her position, and Oliver also kept his silence.
He didn’t want to say anything.
Because, really, there was nothing to say.
After all, his arrival here was a mere coincidence, a place he had stumbled upon while walking. All he wanted now was to rest.
He was so weary that the thought of sitting there for centuries didn’t seem too bad. Perhaps he might even find his end this way—
“—The city of Landa has been taken by the army bearing the crown.”
A grating voice shattered the peaceful silence.
Oliver’s gaze, which had been lost in the empty air, slowly shifted downward toward the girl prostrate on the floor.
The girl known as the Sleeping Princess.
Sensing Oliver’s gaze, she pleaded quietly without raising her head.
“May I lift my head?”
“...Do as you please.”
Oliver answered indifferently. He truly didn’t care. He had no interest in it; it didn’t matter to him.
Upon receiving his permission, the Sleeping Princess lifted her head and met his gaze.
Their eyes locked.
Facing Oliver directly, the Sleeping Princess spoke again.
“Claiming the reason that the undead army hiding underground may resurface at any time, the Kingdom’s military continues to station its forces.”
Oliver looked at her without a word.
“Landa could not refuse and had no choice but to accept. The damage inflicted by the undead army was already too great, leaving no grounds or means to resist the Kingdom’s army. Moreover, there is a real chance that the undead might reappear.”
Still, Oliver did not respond and merely listened.
“Fear has taken hold of Landa. Knowing this, the Kingdom’s army is stirring the city at will. Their plan is to infringe upon the autonomy and freedom that Landa has fought so hard to secure and pull the city back under the royal fold.”
“For someone confined to the forest, you seem to know a great deal.”
For the first time, Oliver responded with some semblance of interest.
The Sleeping Princess replied.
“I read it in the newspaper.”
“...”
“It was a joke. Actually, I saw it in a dream.”
Oliver asked about her peculiar statement of prophetic dreams.
“I didn’t know you had a taste for humor.”
“I don’t particularly enjoy it. I know what people will joke about in advance, so I’ve rarely found it amusing. Humor is about the unexpected, but I already know, so… In that regard, I’m not very suited for humor.”
He understood her meaning.
An unexpected answer, an unexpected shared trait, an unexpected reaction. Most humor lies in the surprise factor.
Even the humor books he read every night emphasized this point.
Perhaps this was why Oliver lacked any talent for humor himself.
Having grown up at the bottom of an orphanage and a mine, Oliver had neither the common knowledge nor the background for the unexpected to take shape in his mind.
Ironically, this allowed him to accept nearly anything naturally.
Buying workers for the mines despite a prohibition on human trafficking, drugging and ambushing guests in inns—he could accept such things without question.
Because he knew nothing.
Sigh… Now, Oliver thought he might finally understand why he had no talent for humor and why his efforts had brought so little return.
The primary reason was that his thinking was different from everyone else’s. And that realization stung a bit.
Almost as if it foresaw his current predicament.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. I just realized that reading humor books every night before bed was a pointless effort.”
“Not pointless. There were far more times it didn’t work, but there were also moments, however brief, when it did manage to bring a smile.”
A brief moment… Oliver shook his head.
“What difference does it make now?”
“Speaking of newspapers, one of them published an article about the Kingdom’s army.”
“...What article?”
“They accused the Kingdom’s army of colluding with the undead to strip Landa of its freedom. The article was from a paper called Gibberish.”
Gibberish. Oliver knew that newspaper well, as he read the papers daily.
They had published stories about a monstrous rat that devoured other rats in Landa’s sewers, claimed Landa to be the birthplace of the first Eve (because Landa was an incredible city, naturally), reported on beggars banding together in the shadows, and wrote about a city councilor pretending to oppose women’s suffrage while secretly supporting it to maintain public approval.
Their content leaned more toward provocative than factual, motivated by profit. Incidentally, even Gibberish's official slogan reflected this view.
And for that reason, the public was all the more enamored by it.
At any rate, this money-driven newspaper printed a sensational article accusing the Kingdom’s army—who were supposedly saving and protecting Landa—of actually being the cause of all the misfortunes.
Such an article was a contemptible thing that no one with a conscience would dare to write, yet Gibberish did so.
It was a forbidden kind of alchemy that transmuted conscience into cash, an approach quite in line with Landa’s spirit.
After all, every newspaper in Landa was crazy about money.
“What happened next?”
“On grounds of defamation against the nation and royal family, public disorder due to malicious reporting, intentional misinformation to incite unrest, and a host of other charges, they suspended operations and detained the reporters, editor, and president for investigation. And there’s a tax audit to go along with it.”
“That must sting.”
Oliver remarked sincerely. Since they had been willing to trade their conscience for profit, the tax investigation was sure to hit them hard. Given their reputation for opaque operations, the impact would likely be significant.
“I’m not entirely certain, but it seems that way. It’s led to protests.”
“Protests?”
“Yes, when the Kingdom’s army stormed the newspaper’s offices and unilaterally shut them down, some people began protesting. Besides Gibberish employees and the paid professional protestors they hired, even ordinary citizens joined in, demanding that Landa’s freedom not be infringed upon.”
Oliver understood immediately.
As a city with a reputation for valuing freedom, Landa’s greatest value was, indeed, freedom.
No matter how much the Kingdom’s army had helped, infringing on that freedom wouldn’t yield a favorable response.
It might seem insignificant at first glance, but then again, it could also prove to be quite substantial.
“The protests are growing in size. The Kingdom’s army has practically confined certain councilors to house arrest.”
“Why are they being held under house arrest?”
“There were some councilors who took Gibberish’s article seriously and intended to investigate the claims.”
Oliver nodded in understanding once more.
Bribes, corruption, inciting violence, assassinations, blackmail, collusion, infidelity…
Landa’s councilors were all corrupt, yet they weren’t fools.
While the situation had forced them to accept the presence of the Kingdom’s army, that didn’t mean they had to set aside all suspicions.
For instance, it wasn’t difficult to wonder who stood to gain the most from the current events.
Or to question how the Kingdom’s army, which was used to fighting bandits and suppressing local rebellions, could so effortlessly push back the undead army—a force Landa’s defense units, armed with their latest weaponry, had struggled to contain. And all without engaging in a full-scale battle.
With these clues, the conclusion was clear: a puppet show orchestrated by the royal family.
Oliver already knew this, having heard it from Merlin.
It was a deduction that anyone could make with a bit of thought.
“Currently, the Kingdom’s army has received reinforcements and, under the guise of maintaining public order, is sweeping through all criminal organizations in Landa, including Crime Firms, the Broker Association, fixers, black magic factions, and the Sisterhood—any and all groups with even a hint of affiliation to the underworld.”
Coincidentally, all of these were organizations Oliver was familiar with.
“Their true aim is to take full control of Landa. They’ll likely take the protestors down while they’re at it.”
“That won’t be easy.”
It wasn’t simply incompetence or greed that had allowed Landa’s council to leave these groups alone.
Aside from the bribes they paid and the roles they played in the city, managing these organizations was more feasible than eliminating them outright.
No matter how strong the Kingdom’s army might be, they were still outsiders. It wouldn’t be simple for them to eradicate these groups.
“They’re handling it more easily than expected. The Puppet is backing them from behind, using the Traditional School’s wizards and the wealth of information collected in Landa. Already, many significant figures have been captured, with others close to being apprehended.”
“…”
“One of those being pursued is a woman named Mari.”
Oliver flinched ever so slightly. So subtly that most wouldn’t notice.
“…Why are they after Mari? Was her past as a cult leader discovered?”
The Sleeping Princess shook her head.
“No, it’s because numerous black magicians have been contacting her. Especially black magicians affiliated with the Black Hand.”
Oliver fell silent, contemplating. Upon reflection, it seemed quite plausible.
After all, everyone had seen him defeat the Piper.
“One more question, if I may. Why are you telling me all this of your own accord, things I didn’t even ask about?”
With a sad smile, the Sleeping Princess replied.
“Because it is my role.”