Chapter 148 - Chapter 28: Demon King (1/2)

Chapter 148 – Chapter 28: Demon King

The contents of the invitation didn’t change even though he read it again. The sender was the demon king, and the time was tomorrow morning. The place was the residence of the demon king, called the Black Castle.

Carack received the invitation from In-gong, and his eyes widened with surprise.

“P-prince?”

In-gong had just handed Carack something very serious. This was a natural reaction when it came to anything related to the demon king.

The demon king—the apex of the Demon World, and the strongest person in the Demon World.

He had called out to In-gong. This time, it wouldn’t be a public place like the court gathering. According to the invitation, it was an informal meeting. The other person was the demon king, and this fact preceded their relationship of father and son.

‘This is the first time.’

An informal meeting with the demon king was something he had never experienced in Knight Saga. In other words, Zephyr was never invited in this way.

In-gong wondered why the demon king had called him. Why had he done such a disruptive thing at each court gathering?

In-gong took a deep breath, and many possibilities passed through his mind. The first thing he thought about was the Four Knights of the Apocalypse.

In-gong had reported that Gerard had been the Famine Knight. The reason In-gong had been able to find out the specific word, ‘Famine’, was because Gerard had said it himself.

In the cases of Death and War, it was a little more ambiguous.

Gerard had been the Famine Knight and had the power of Famine. There seemed to be a commonality between the power of those with the purple aura and the red power which the barbarian king had used. Additionally, the barbarian king had said the word ‘War’.

The keyword ‘Death’ hadn’t been said, but this was enough. If the Demon King’s Palace had information on the Four Knights of the Apocalypse, it would be easy for them to make the connection.

Did the demon king want a more specific report? Or had he realized In-gong was the Conquest Knight? Maybe it could be both. There might also be a reason which In-gong couldn’t guess. It could truly just be a father and son dialogue.

‘That is hard to imagine.’

Anyhow, the invitation had arrived, and there was no such thing as a veto. He could only accept the invitation.

“Brace yourself.”

Carack said with a serious expression. In-gong laughed bitterly and asked Flora,

“Flora, who brought the invitation?”

“It was a knight of the royal guards who was wearing a black cloak.”

The classification in the Demon King’s Palace could be determined based on the colour of their cloaks. Among the knights, only the guards of the demon king could wear black cloaks.

“As expected from the demon king’s invitation.”

Carack said with admiration. In-gong nodded.

“Yes.”

The leader of the guards was Reinhardt, one of the five captains. He was a yaksha and didn’t belong to any of the factions.

‘The Silent Reinhardt. He is a good escort of the demon king.’

In Knight Saga, he had always been a difficult opponent to face. After thinking about Reinhardt for a bit, In-gong looked at Flora and said,

“Flora, keep this invitation a secret.”

“I will do so.”

Flora agreed without asking why. It was natural behaviour as a butler.

Carack blinked and asked,

“Prince, are you not going to even tell the princess?”

He was referring to Felicia more than Caitlin. In-gong slightly shrugged and said,

“She will only worry about it.”

It would be nice to talk to Felicia who was his political adviser, but she couldn’t give any advice regarding the encounter with the demon king. From the outset, he didn’t even know why the demon king was calling. It was better to keep it a secret because it would just worry Felicia. Moreover, the meeting with the demon king wasn’t in the distant future but tomorrow morning.

In-gong summarized the situation roughly and said to Carack and Flora,

“Let’s take a break until tomorrow. And Flora, make dinner a little later than usual. Additionally, Amita, Daphne, Nayatra and Karma will be joining us.”

“I will follow your words.”

He had been so busy since returning to the Demon King’s Palace that he hadn’t been able to rest. It was necessary for him to think about some things.

“Carack, I’ll be resting in my room until dinner. You don’t have to come along since I’ll be hanging out alone.”

“Understood. Then I won’t be in the same room.”

Carack responded with an exhausted face, and In-gong smiled back at him. Carack truly was very helpful.

‘Then I will take a break.’

After the 3rd Queen’s tea ceremony, there were many things for him to think about. So, he would rest and delay his training until after dinner.

However, that plan had to be modified the moment In-gong opened his bedroom door. The long day wasn’t over just yet.

“You came later than I thought.”

The 4th Queen Elaine Moonlight was sitting gracefully on a small sofa in his bedroom. As always, Ludwig was behind her.

As he thought about the current situation, In-gong suppressed the desire to close the door and pretend not to see anything. Why was Elaine here? And why didn’t Flora tell him about Elaine’s visit?

“I came in secret. You should pay more attention to security.”

In-gong smiled and closed his bedroom door.

“It is nice to see you again.”

“This is an informal place, like the tea party, so there is no need to talk like that.”

Elaine was the one to relax the formalities. She invited In-gong to sit in the opposite chair, and he didn’t refuse. He pushed back his fatigue as he faced Elaine.

“Did something happen?”

He suppressed it as much as possible but a little bit of displeasure showed. Elaine seemed to catch a glimpse of it and made an apologetic expression.

“I couldn’t talk to you properly at Sylvia’s tea party. Shutra, you know why I came to the Demon King’s Palace, right?”

It was just like how Sylvia couldn’t talk about the fairy.

In-gong nodded instead of answering, and Elaine let out a long breath.

“Gerard Moonlight. My dear brother, whom the lycanthropes were so proud of.”

In-gong was a little bit disconcerted by the affection which dripped from her voice. Did she have a grudge against In-gong like Felicia was worried about?

However, fortunately, it was groundless. Elaine waved her hands and said,

“There is no need to stress. I want to thank you. It is a really funny story, but… I’m glad. Once again, I don’t have to risk my life fighting against Gerard.”

Her brother had gone crazy. She had known there was no way other to stop him, other than to kill him. However, even so, he was her brother, and even now, pleasant memories rose when she closed her eyes.

Elaine was good at hiding her feelings, but not this time. She gave a low sigh as her eyes became damp.

In-gong didn’t dare say anything and just waited. Elaine hid all her emotions with a smile, and In-gong felt in awe as he looked at her.

“You are becoming stronger really quickly. Like Caitlin said, you are completely amazing.”

At the end, Elaine smiled brightly in a way which was different than normal. However, it really suited her. She looked just like Caitlin, so In-gong flinched involuntarily as she spoke in a manner similar to Caitlin.

‘Master, do you like the word ‘amazing’ that much?’

Green Wind whispered into his ears. As a result, In-gong regained his spirit and fixed his expression quickly.

Elaine just laughed. She let out a long breath once again and stared straight at In-gong.

“I just wanted to thank you, Shutra. Thank you very much.”

It was just like Sylvia at the tea party. Elaine had an innocent, pure heart.