Children of the Holy Emperor
chapter-84

After recovering, Bruno Green comfortably settled in as a guest at the Pearl Palace.

While worried that he might shout, “I don’t deserve this treatment!” and return to the slums, such concerns proved unnecessary.

Bruno Green comfortably occupied one of the few guest rooms in Pearl, receiving attentive care from the palace maids and resting. His demeanor appeared so aristocratic that no one could believe that he had lived in the slums for years.

A man who had climbed up the social ladder from humble origins purely based on his talent.

A commoner knight commander who lost everything due to an unfortunate event.

Though this was the image people had, the real Bruno Green was incredibly relaxed in all matters. His cheerful face betrayed no trace of misfortune.

Absurdly, the first thing Bruno Green did in Pearl Palace was carefully trim his mustache.

“…That’s an impressive mustache.”

During dinner, Seongjin awkwardly uttered these words when he saw Bruno Green’s face. The mustache was so unique that it stole the spotlight.

While his unkempt hair remained, the impeccably trimmed mustache maintained a precise angle of 165~170 degrees and extended in a smooth curve.

At Seongjin’s compliment, Bruno pulled on his mustache seriously.

“It’s an attitude of a warrior, Your Highness.”

“Eh?”

“When I go to battle or face a duel, I always sharpen the angle of my mustache as I prepare my inner sword.”

“…?”

“I have groomed my mustache with the mindset of going into battle. I cannot afford to show hesitancy for this second life granted by His Majesty and Your Highness. The mustache is the most accurate gauge of a man’s mindset.”

What, really?

Although reason screamed that it was all nonsense, Seongjin found himself unconsciously touching the smooth area around his still mustache-less mouth.

And someone else was strongly influenced by Bruno’s mustache: namely, Knight Calmen.

“Um… I’ve been cultivating my attitude as a warrior…”

Calmen, who had now begun to show a certain level of respect toward Seongjin, muttered as he stroked his chin.

Unfortunately, his beard was too young and patchy, making it difficult to discern any particular ‘mindset.’ Still, Seongjin thought it was a sign of respect toward his master.

The problem was that his master did not even acknowledge it.

“Before you cultivate your inner sword, you should properly train your swordsmanship. You got beaten by just seven guys, you useless apprentice. Don’t go around bragging that you’re a Royal Guard Knight.”

“Master!”

When Calmen yelled out, Bruno Green snorted.

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

“But back then I couldn’t— Isn’t your attitude towards me different now? Just a while ago, you encouraged me saying I had some talent!”

“Huh? I told you that you have talent? Did I really? Don’t you remember I was Prince Logan’s swordsmanship teacher?”

For Bruno Green, who had been called a genius, anyone with talent less than Prince Logan was all the same to him.

Frustrated, Calmen stomped his foot.

“We shared drinks together! You said one of the best things you did in your life was to leave behind an apprentice like me!”

Bruno Green only rolled his eyes indifferently.

“Well, I remember you occasionally bought good liquor.”

“That’s why back then…!”

“But I don’t remember sharing it with you. Why would I share something good with you?”

“You…!”

Seongjin sighed as he watched the comedy unfold between the two.

Well, Calmen is naturally hot-tempered, jumping around without knowing anything. But in the eyes of Bruno, the commander who is calmly egging him on, who wouldn’t see the affection he has for his disciple?

However, Seongjin knew that the commander wasn’t just teasing Calmen.

-‘There will be occasional gaps in your memory. That was the best course of action for now.’

After finishing the treatment, this was the first thing the Holy Emperor said as he removed the blindfold.

Reversing a completely damaged brain was by no means a simple task.

As evidence, several small psychic crystals remained in the commander’s head like scars.

[‘I can guess some parts.’]

The demon king, after contemplating for a while, explained.

[‘Psychic crystals are organs that can naturally form in the body. The problem is just that they formed in a bad location, in abnormal numbers.’]

The demon king’s speculation was this:

The psychic crystals were not so much traces of the plague invading the place, but rather a result of the human body naturally reacting to something emitted by Lophellum’s egg.

[‘Isn’t the difficulty with using holy power due to that? Just like getting treatment for sunburn from a priest doesn’t make freckles disappear.’]

Not long ago, Claudia had suffered minor burns from training under the harsh sun. Even after receiving treatment from a priest, her charming freckles remained.

In other words, while sunburns were targets for holy power healing, the body’s natural reactions remained intact.

‘So, then…’

In the end, there’s only one way to cure the gray plague: to fully reverse the body back to before the psychic crystals formed.

But before discussing whether manipulating time is possible, reversing a single person’s time involves unimaginably complex causal relationships, the demon king explained.

[‘So, I’ve tried to keep the healthy parts and only revert the damaged parts due to the psychic crystals. The psychic crystals would have formed gradually, so the time that has been reversed would vary for each area.’]

When the Holy Emperor had felt like he was dissecting the leader on a cellular level, it wasn’t entirely a misunderstanding.

[‘Even then, he had to bend the definition of holy power several times, and still, a tremendous amount of causality was twisted, shaking this world with shock. You probably felt it too.’]

Indeed.

Seongjin recalled the peculiar flow of attraction that had gathered around him and Bruno at that time.

[‘Moreover, the brain is not an organ that can easily be tampered with. Even a slight change in synapses can erase memories or paralyze you. Yet, he almost restored it without damage. Do you now understand what your father has done?’]

‘Wow…’

What did Holy Emperor actually do?

After doing such a tremendous thing, is he saying he’s going to push all the consequences onto me? What is he thinking?

Regardless of the complicated thoughts in Seongjin’s mind, the squabble between the two knights continued.

“Haven’t I always said since your knighthood? Becoming a knight is just the beginning. True training starts now, so be diligent! Why haven’t you improved since then?”

“Ah, yes! You also told me that day, I’ve become a distinguished imperial knight, and that even you have nothing more to say…!”

“Hmm, I don’t remember saying that.”

“Gah!”

Really, how conveniently selective his memory is.

After a few days of rest, Bruno began to appear in the Pearl Palace training grounds.

“My aura is recovering.”

Bruno, who seemed to have grown some muscles from eating well in the last few days, said so.

Even without him saying it, most people would have guessed. His aura activity had noticeably improved in the past few days.

“It seems to be approaching the 3rd level.”

“Yes, Sir Masain. I believe I’ll reach the 3rd level soon.”

“Phew, truly remarkable speed. Even as I feel the aura activity, it’s hard to believe.”

At Masain’s admiration, Bruno smiled.

“It’s a path I’ve already walked once. Building aura for the first time is different, isn’t it?”

A Decalon Knight is someone who reaches the 10th level of aura, achieving the epitome of long-term training. You can’t reach the 10th level without some form of enlightenment, and after that, the number of levels doesn’t matter much.

Balthazar, known as the continent’s top knight, was a Decalon Knight with a whopping 12 levels of aura. However, that was just because his sword was more suited for operating at 12 levels; achieving an ideal aura balance wasn’t fundamentally different at 10 levels.

The level of Aura could decrease as well, and it was no different in the case of Commander Bruno. The only reason he couldn’t achieve the 10th level was due to the limited amount of Aura accumulated in his body; his enlightenment was still firmly embedded in his experience.

As evidence, if he willed it, he could create a perfect balance of Aura at any time. This was the ideal state of Aura concealment that Dasha had mentioned.

“Could it be due to my mood? My Aura affinity seems to have increased considerably compared to before. I’m not sure why, though.”

“Is that so? That’s interesting.”

Ah, I think I know what it is.

Didn’t Seongjin also feel the same after getting swept up in the Aura storm before? It must be related to the Emperor in some way.

‘…The more I know, the more incredible he is.’

Seongjin thought so, but he was too focused on the conversation to notice the knights whispering amongst themselves.

“Hey, what about Prince Morres?”

“He’s accumulating Aura at a rate surpassing a Decalon Knight, as a beginner?”

“What is he really?”

It was good news, in any case. Given a little time, the Commander could fully return to his former glory.

Another Decalon Knight was guaranteed for Delcross.

“So, what are you planning to do now? Are you going back to the Knights?”

Curious, Seongjin asked the Commander.

For now, he was staying in the royal palace as a guest, but this couldn’t go on forever.

The position of the Commander for the Second Knights was vacant. After Sir Masain stepped down, there hadn’t been a suitable successor, and deputy commanders and former commanders were filling the position.

Bruno Green was currently in a [Hiatus] state.

No one seemed interested in his past mistakes anymore, and there was no disciplinary record against him. It wouldn’t be too bad if he became a Knight Commander again.

The problem was Bruno Green’s will.

Would he want to reclaim his glorious past position, or would he want to leave behind his miserable past and live a new life?

“If you want to work in the imperial guard again, I’ll fully support your quick return.”

Commander Bruno replied with a bright smile to Seongjin’s cautious proposal. “I truly appreciate your kind words. But don’t worry, Your Highness. I have some thoughts on what to do next.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Actually, I received an offer from an organization recently. Do you know about [Arenja], Your Highness?”

For a moment, Seongjin doubted his ears.

“…Arenja?”

“Yes. It’s an organization directly under His Majesty the Holy Emperor, but it’s not well-known.”

“Arenja was a small elite organization created in the early days of Holy Emperor’s reign. They were so secretive in their operations that no one knew the details except for his closest aides.

Had it not been for the regular annual budget allocations to [Arenja], their very existence, let alone their name, would have remained unknown.

They weren’t a group made up of clergy as the intelligence department had speculated. Instead, a certain rare [ability] was required to join them.

Recently, such an ability manifested in Bruno, and there had been cautious contact from Arenja, it is said.

“Ability?”

“Yes. There are generally two types of agents in Arenja. Agents who use spiritual powers internally to monitor the Emperor, and agents who operate externally in a cellular organization. It so happens that I have developed an ability suitable for external operations, and was advised to join the agency.”

Commander Bruno awkwardly tugged at his mustache.

From his explanation, Seongjin could guess several facts.

The identity of the soul orb they had encountered not long ago was neither an angel nor a ghost, but a person with spiritual powers.

And even among those with spiritual powers, there were differences in abilities. There were some like the ones he first met who couldn’t communicate at all, whereas others who appeared later were more powerful and capable of communication.

And perhaps they had been keeping an eye on Commander Bruno for a while. Amidst the forced abductions of patients with the gray plague all over the Empire, the timing of handing Seongjin over to Commander Bruno wasn’t mere coincidence.

At that moment, the Demon King exclaimed in an excited voice.

[They were human? How could that be? They didn’t even have proper souls. Ask more, Lee Seongjin!]

He was planning to do just that.

“So, what ability have you developed? Can you explain?”

“Hmm…”

At Seongjin’s question, Commander Bruno looked into space for a moment before answering.

“For example, yes. I can hear the voice of the person who just spoke to you. That person is the [Red One] that Arenja speaks of.”