As Prince Kyung was looking at me with narrowed eyes, I said to him,
“I told them to sleep.”
“Sleep?”
Hearing this, he snorted and touched his forehead with the back of his hand.
As if his drunkenness was refusing to leave, he looked at me with a flushed face and asked,
“Are you looking down at me just because I am drunk? Or was that because of martial arts?”
“I just did a trick.”
“A trick?”
There was no reason to give him an explanation. Prince Kyung mumbled as he mulled over my words, sighed, and laughed.
He then said to me,
“It seems that because this prince is drunk, you are trying to do things to get away from this.”
“I simply said it because this is no martial arts, just a simple trick.”
“A skill that allows you to put people to sleep without touching them? It seems that the rumors of Evil Faction people being good at kidnapping are true, quite different from the Justice Faction.”
Quite a strange person, this one.
Considering he could be put to sleep, it would be natural to be wary of the ability or wonder deeper about what it was. Yet this person was more interested in this.
Was this man simple-minded?
“Can you put these ones to sleep too?”
As Prince Kyung spread his arms, the prostitutes around him were startled.
“Your Highness!”
“How can you say that!”
“Hahahaha! It is just putting you to sleep. What are you so afraid of? Come, give it a try.”
Hearing this, I looked at the women around him. My eyes weren’t on their faces but rather on their wrists, the back of their hands, and their movements.
“I thought they were women here for your enjoyment, but it appears to not be the case.”
Hearing this, the women’s eyes sharpened as their hands moved into their skirts.
-No. Why is their hand going there?
There was no better place to hide a weapon than under a skirt.
On the outside, they were women decorated most pleasingly, yet their subtle movements showed they were well-trained assassins.
“Such a different situation compared to what the public sees, Your Highness.”
“Doesn’t seem like you’ll show me any more tricks, right?”
“I already showed you one.”
“Huhu.”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
As soon as I finished, the women collapsed where they sat. Dishes broke apart as bottles scattered to the ground, creating a mess.
Since they had no internal qi, they would not wake up until someone shook them with some force.
-You are getting used to it.
That’s right.
I became used to making it natural for people to look into my eyes without even asking them to. Anyone who was careful would always look at their opponent’s eyes.
Prince Kyung looked at the women who had fallen all over the table and stuck his tongue out.
“Can you talk to me now?”
He smiled at my question.
What did this mean
Prince Kyung laughed as he took another bottle and gulped it down.
-He is acting like a real drunk would.
-What do you expect from such a vermin, human?
Short Sword and Blood Demon were voicing their disapproval while the eyes of the supposed drunk began to move elsewhere.
They roamed to the south and northwest of the garden.
He wasn’t cross-eyed, so why was he moving his eyes like that?
I stayed still and watched.
This meant something.
[Your subordinates?]
The prince’s eyes moved up and down.
If that was the case, then I needed to go alone. I looked at him, shook my head with disappointment, and turned away.
-Why are you walking away?
He was being observed.
-What?
I simply thought that they were his subordinates, similar to the masked people and the women, but that didn’t seem to be the case. His act of drinking and being distracting meant that someone was watching, and I had to go back.
-You will leave?
No way, as if I would.
They should come closer and have some fun.
I jumped over the wall and made my move. It would be impossible to catch me with the naked eye unless they were of a certain skill level.
In the direction where Prince Kyung had looked were masked people.
-What will you do?
I was planning to just put them to sleep, but I had a better idea now.
-Something better?
After a few minutes, I reappeared before the prince, and he clicked his tongue when he saw me.
“So stubborn.”
“All those watching have already withdrawn, so feel free to speak now.”
“What?”
He frowned.
It only took as much time as it took to brew tea. He was visibly shocked that I managed to deal with all of his watchers in that amount of time.
He scolded me in a low voice.
“You did something foolish.”
“What do you mean?”
“You ruined what I have been doing. How people saw me from the outside…”
“Are you saying that you acted in such a way to get the two princes to be careless?”
Hearing this, he gulped and frowned.
“Blood Sect’s sect leader, your head works well, I see. Yet, unlike that head, what I’ve been doing has become a mess because of your actions.”
I smiled at this.
“You don’t have to worry about it.”
“No?”
“They went back because they all saw different things to report.”
“What do you mean?”
I had used the second stage of the Illusion Eye.
I met with Prince Jin’s and Prince Young’s watchers and asked them to report the same thing. Thanks to this, both sides will know that the other prince is also keeping watch.
“I deceived the watchers to make it seem as if they had been ordered by the other princes.”
“What do you mean?”
His disappointed voice was now showing signs of excitement.
To this, I casually answered him.
“Let’s just say that I played with them.”
He smiled at this.
“You used sorcery.”
I didn’t deny that. He now looked more interested as he settled his disheveled hair and put down the bottle in his hand. Perhaps because of his handsome face, he looked like a painting.
He then asked.
“What is your purpose for going this far?”
“Because I need your help.”
“Help?”
Prince Kyung laughed in amusement. His laugh continued for a bit before he asked.
“Is it because of the trial?”
“Yes.”
“It seems you do not wish for the Blood Sect to become entangled with the government.”
He already knew about everything despite pretending to be drunk.
The prince who hid his potential. He then shook his head and pointed to himself.
“You don’t seem to know much about the one you sought out. What kind of power does a prince who is the son of a dethroned woman and lives an immoral life have?”
He was demeaning himself.
“I don’t know what you were expecting, but this prince cannot help you.”
“You hid many things from yourself too, Your Highness.”
“It is called living my best life. Whatever you expect, you’ll end up disappointed.”
It seemed like he had intended to run. Then, nothing would really work.
“The night isn’t very long, so I will be honest and direct.”
“You’re gonna switch and turn?”
“Why is someone who says he has no strength able to send a defense force 300,000 strong to block the San race and barbarians in the north?”
‘…?!’
As soon as my words finished, his eyes became dark. Looking at his expression, it seemed like he was agitated. He must be surprised that I knew about this.
Before my regression, 200,000 troops from the northern defense force armies had advanced to the capital during the state funeral after the emperor’s sudden death.
Prince Jin and Young had tried to stop this with a defense at the capital but ultimately failed. A dark shadow then fell over his face.
“How do you know that?”
The atmosphere changed with these words. I was surprised at the dignity in his voice.
He no longer seemed like the same person.
-Isn’t that man drunk?
‘That might only be what we saw.’
Soon, a thin stream of steam began to flow from the prince’s body.
-What is he doing?
‘Removing the alcohol from his body.’
-He learned martial arts?
That’s right.
He knew martial arts just like Prince Young. I suspected he had delved into martial arts when I saw his well-developed muscles.
While his martial arts level was low compared to the other princes, he was at least first-rate.
His expression was calm after he purged the alcohol from his body.
He then asked.
“How did you know?”
To this question, I answered calmly.
“Just as the government watches over Murim, we too watch over the government.”
“Watching over the government?”
“Although the Emperor protects the treaty we had created, Murim will be on alert when the next capital comes.’
He snorted at my words.
“Such funny words. If you have that kind of time, then focus on your own affairs. Why become interested in mine?”
“I personally didn’t want to do it. It’s just that when the Murim Alliance, our sect’s enemy, continues to make connections to undermine us, I can no longer simply watch it happen.”
“I can see that.”
“It is the truth. Our sect has no interest in the workings of the government. If Your Highness, as a prince, refuses to step in, our sect would face the worst-case scenario. Naturally, we had to take an interest in the two princes who could side with us.”
The prince shook his head at my words. Actually, I didn’t reveal too much.
He probably knows that we have information about him, but nothing specific has been shown.
If we gave up everything in gift-laden carts, he would consider the Blood Sect dangerous. That’s why we added in a hint of luck.
-You worked hard using your head!
Of course.
Information is a weapon.
However, the situation differed depending on how information was handled and used. It would only be successfully solved if we did just enough to make him not see us as a threat.
The prince looked at me and said,
“This is why you came to me after the day ended.”
“The person who appeared drunk seemed to be good at hearing things.”
“It’s just to let people know that I see everything.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
He then crossed his hands and asked.
“What do you want?”
“I hope Your Highness will use your strength to make the trial end safely tomorrow.”
“You mean you want me to keep Jin and Young in check?”
“That’s right. This isn’t a bad proposal. If the results of the trial aren’t good, then the sect would be affected. This would only result in the Murim Alliance helping Prince Jin even further.”
“Are you saying that by protecting you and your Blood Sect I will have a way to keep the other two in check?”
“That is correct.”
The prince then shook his head and stood up.
“Now matter how I look at it, it doesn’t work.”
“Why?”
“If I protected you, the image of the prince I have built up would only end up being watched. I have too much to lose.”
“….”
After all, was it impossible?
As he was the future emperor, I wanted a smooth relationship with him. It wouldn’t be easy to convince him, as he was hiding for his well-being.
“If you are willing to accept Prince Jin’s inevitable increase in strength, then I could do nothing.”
I couldn’t push too hard at that moment.
But pushing and pulling were key.
It was a little upsetting, but I also tried to step back. He then said,
“If you cannot afford it, just do as much as possible.”
“What do you mean?’
Snap!
He snapped his fingers in the direction of the government building. Someone who had been hiding to the side then appeared.
The sword I saw, its length and thickness, and the yellow talismans around it, shocked me.
“What is this?”
He replied.
“The Yokai Sword.”
