Chapter 207 – Descendants of the Ancient Empire (2)

When the golem moved, the wizards erupted into chaos.

For others, it was just a somewhat curious event, but for the wizards who couldn’t even operate it because they hadn’t obtained authorization, it had to be an incident.

The tower master of the magic tower, who’d been standing in the center of the conference room passionately speaking, was equally surprised by the unexpected situation.

Unlike others, though he’d heard the full account from the island, he couldn’t believe the story about a summoner obtaining administrator authority on the island.

Not long ago, after hearing the second prince’s story, the tower master had rushed to the island leading all the tower’s wizards.

Overcome with emotion at the ancient magic empire’s legacy remaining on the island, he and the wizards brought every possible facility back to the kingdom.

Naturally, they also had the wizards and ordinary people who were on the island naturalize to the kingdom.

They needed those wizards to analyze the magic empire’s relics and discover ancient magic, and they brought the ordinary people to prevent rumors from spreading.

There was some wrangling with the sailors who’d carried the prince to the island, but they gave some rewards and promised to keep what the kingdom took secret.

Naturally, verbal promises couldn’t be trusted.

They had no choice but to make contracts between them with powerful mental magic. Though it wasn’t magic that lasted forever, it was enough for the kingdom to buy time.

However, the relics they’d scraped up unfortunately didn’t move.

Though the descendants of ancient wizards on the island were confident they could use them, the items moved here wouldn’t budge at all.

The golem, one of those relics, finally moved.

‘Was the prince’s story true?’

He hadn’t acknowledged them as summoners from another world, but now it seemed he couldn’t do that.

Sun-woo could sense the emotions of people focused on him.

The curiosity of knights who knew nothing and the warmth of summoners who knew him.

And the admiration and jealousy visible from the wizards.

Though he couldn’t grasp it precisely thanks to sealing divine power, he could notice enough just with sorcery and martial arts reaching enlightenment boundary.

“Sorry for being late.”

Sun-woo bowed his head toward the prince who’d taken position at the front of the conference room.

If it were an ordinary mission, acknowledging him would have been the end, but this was a mission with ordinary people.

Moreover, a mission with the kingdom’s knights and wizards together.

For Sun-woo, who was set as a secret agent in this kingdom, he had to report to the prince, the highest-ranking officer.

“O-oh, welcome.”

The prince received Sun-woo’s greeting with a somewhat awkward expression.

Though he’d been active as a mercenary for a long time and was full of confidence in his hero role and as a summoner, he couldn’t have such thoughts after doing missions with Sun-woo.

After finishing his greeting, Sun-woo walked behind the prince and stood next to Daniel.

“You made a scene as soon as you arrived.”

Daniel, who’d been standing at attention behind the prince, quietly greeted Sun-woo.

“You don’t need to speak quietly. I’ve blocked all outgoing sounds.”

“Haha, that’s Sun-woo for you. Anyway, your entrance was cool. I was frustrated this whole time, so it’s fortunate.”

As Daniel said, thanks to Sun-woo’s appearance, the stuffy conference room atmosphere became somewhat scattered.

For example, Alda sitting on the mercenaries’ side was waving her hand slightly toward Sun-woo.

“Did I ruin the atmosphere for nothing?”

“Well, all the important talk was done and it was lecture time.”

As Daniel said, when the tower master finished talking and came down, some noble went up to the podium and started speaking passionately.

“Facing the kingdom’s crisis, thank you to those who rushed from all over the world, the wizards, and the kingdom’s knights. Under the leadership of His Majesty the King and His Highness the Crown Prince, the brilliant…”

He was probably a noble occupying an important position in the kingdom.

But it was meaningless to Sun-woo. He asked Daniel about the frontline situation.

“Monsters suddenly started pouring out from the contaminated eastern mountain range. Fortunately they don’t have organization, but their numbers and strength are no joke. Fortunately, thanks to noticing the mountain range’s contamination in advance, the damage isn’t too great.”

It was the mountain range where Daniel and Sun-woo had gone together to the dragon’s lair before. His lover was sealed there now.

Daniel’s expression wasn’t different from before, but Sun-woo could sense his worry.

Anyway, thanks to evacuating all village people near the mountain range beforehand and deploying guards everywhere, when monsters poured down from the mountain range, the kingdom could notice immediately.

Since it wasn’t a systematic army attacking, the monsters’ advance speed wasn’t very fast. It was just the extent of the monsters’ territory expanding.

However, the kingdom army couldn’t block that expanding monster territory.

Because the kingdom army’s casualties were too great while blocking the monsters.

“The casualties while fighting monsters are also a problem, but the real problem is contamination. Somehow, unlike before, the contamination speed has become incredibly fast.”

Originally, the surroundings of contamination sources were slowly contaminated by demonic energy, and people inside gradually changed into contamination sources themselves.

However, until now that changing speed wasn’t very fast and there were large differences between people, so if contamination sources were quickly dealt with, it wasn’t a problem.

But this time, the monsters’ speed of contaminating others seemed different from before.

“We’re receiving help from the semi-priest and clergy on site, but we lack manpower to purify many troops.”

So the kingdom requested elite knight orders, wizards, and many summoners from the Summoners.

They planned to deal with them not with many personnel but with elite forces numbering enough to receive clergy blessings.

“Will this personnel do?”

He didn’t know how many monsters poured out, but the monsters and guardians he saw in the mountain range weren’t easy.

Though the wizards and knights gathered here, and the summoners and mercenaries looked reasonably formidable, he was a bit worried.

“First, because Sun-woo’s here. With Sun-woo’s military power, and there are golems too.”

“There were more golems.”

“It wasn’t just one. There were five golems sleeping underground. The tower master wasn’t spitting while bragging for nothing. And…”

Daniel stopped speaking. The conference room door suddenly opened wide. The one who opened the door was the wizard who’d guided Sun-woo here.

The noble who’d been speaking passionately tried to get angry at the wizard who made him stop, but shut his mouth because of the person who entered through the door with him.

Next to the wizard stood a beautiful woman with long brown hair tied tightly back, wearing shining silver armor.

She was a woman Sun-woo knew well.

It was Iliana, the knight commander of the Holy Nation.

“I came to help the Kingdom of Kudas by order of the Goddess and the Holy Emperor. Knight Commander… Iliana.”

Iliana, who was introducing herself at the door, looked toward where the prince was and briefly stopped speaking.

People thought she stopped speaking after recognizing the prince, but those who knew the prince or Sun-woo could tell where her eyes were directed.

“We requested a knight order from the Holy Nation. Fortunately, it seems the Holy Nation accepted.”

If they were holy knights, they all possessed divine power and were strong against contamination.

The noble whose words were cut off by the Holy Nation’s knight commander’s appearance tried to hurriedly continue speaking again, but bowed his head and came down from the podium at the sight of the prince rising from his seat.

The prince walked briskly and climbed onto the podium.

“He came in place of His Highness the Crown Prince, but it’s still difficult.”

Watching the noble with drooping shoulders coming down, Daniel shook his head bitterly.

The prince had left the kingdom to be a mercenary, fleeing power struggles. But the prince who returned after giving up his hero role wasn’t the dreamy boy of the past.

The appearance of the prince standing on the podium overflowed with charisma from crossing through numerous battles.

“Thank you all for coming here. We depart now. To protect our families, ourselves, and the kingdom!”

Waaah!!!!!

After saying just one short phrase and coming down from the podium, the prince’s ears heard the knights’ cheers.

And there were nobles watching the knights’ cheers with dark expressions.

An atmosphere was emerging where a power struggle would break out again between the ordinary royal Crown Prince and the second prince with a hero’s appearance.

But anyway, now was the time to deal with the monsters invading the kingdom.

People began leaving the conference room one by one and descending the tower.

And people started gathering around Sun-woo who remained in the conference room.

Alda and Daniel, the tower master and wizards, and Iliana. Even the prince.

At the sight of someone other than the prince at the center of the gathering no matter how you looked at it, people leaving the conference room tilted their heads.

Sun-woo and the summoners, and Iliana quickly exchanged greetings. Because they could feel the tower master and wizards stamping their feet wanting to talk with Sun-woo.

“How did you move the golem?”

“What rights does an administrator have?”

“How can we change the administrator?”

“Can other people also board and control it?”

“There are other items besides the golem!”

When their turn came, the wizards made a commotion reminiscent of a marketplace.

When Sun-woo made a dumbfounded expression and the prince and Daniel shook their heads, the tower master stepped forward and shouted.

“What commotion without dignity! First move the golem, then ask one by one calmly!”

At the tower master’s words the wizards quieted down, but Sun-woo’s expression didn’t change much.

Though he stopped the wizards’ words, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t ask questions at all.

“The other golems are below the tower. Can you move this golem by any chance? Space movement magic doesn’t work well on it, so moving it here wasn’t easy.”

“It’s possible.”

At Sun-woo’s answer, the wizards breathed sighs of relief. And they made way so Sun-woo could board the golem.

However, Sun-woo had no intention of riding the golem.

He looked at the golem and used the activated link with the golem to give it a command.

Chiiik!

The golem that had been kneeling with its hatch open rose again and closed the hatch.

“Should it go down the staircase?”

At Sun-woo’s question, the tower master nodded with a dumbfounded face.

Thud! Thud!

The golem moved its huge bulk and started walking toward the stairs.

“Hmm, will the stairs hold up?”

At Sun-woo muttering while watching the golem walk toward the stairs, the wizards’ faces turned pale.

“Wait!”

“It’ll definitely collapse!”

***

Only after causing quite a commotion did the golem descend the tower, and Sun-woo could meet the holy knight order near the magic tower.

The holy knight order of Iliana, whom he saw after a long time, had very bright expressions.

That was because instead of the semi-priest, a beautiful woman was with the knight order.

She was a saint newly joined to the knight order.

When Sun-woo approached the knight order, everyone welcomed Sun-woo warmly, and the saint also greeted him with a smile.

“I’m meeting you for the first time. I’ve heard much about you. I’m Saint Lydias.”

But Sun-woo’s expression receiving the greeting looked very sullen.

“It’s not the first time, is it?”

“What?”

At Sun-woo’s words, the saint made a puzzled expression. However,

[Did you enter a saint this time? Do all the believers even know you’re wandering around like this? Goddess Frig?]

At Sun-woo’s continued telepathic message, she made a pouty expression.

“Ho, ho, ho, what do you mean? I, Lydias, don’t quite understand.”

[You noticed well. Keep it secret! I’m a hundred times better than a clumsy saint!]

The saint possessed by Goddess Frig showed an even more radiant smile toward Sun-woo.