NOVEL NEXT Ch. 79
Chapter 79: Citadel (5)
For me, my targets for vengeance were broadly two.
The Emperor and his closest confidant, Robern.
But more broadly, Robern’s Knight Order was also my target.
They directly participated in slaughtering my unit.
I thought living another life had dulled it… Not at all.
Even if not Robern, my vengeance flared at any of his many subordinates.
Deep in my heart, that spark remained.
“Guh… Spare me…”
The soul before me, though dead, I wanted to kill.
But realizing my purpose here and my lack of right to do so, I released him.
“Cough! Cough!”
The soul collapsed, gasping for breath.
I loomed over him, crushing him with my presence.
“Cause another disturbance, and I’ll throw you into the Black Sea.”
“Yes, I understand. I won’t do it again.”
No matter how esteemed a knight of Robern’s order, he was powerless against a Reaper.
Challenging a Reaper here meant total soul annihilation.
“The situation’s over. Disperse.”
I commanded the watching souls firmly.
Fearing repercussions, they hurriedly left.
Now, only I and the Imperial knight soul remained.
“W-Why am I still…”
“We’re not done.”
I roughly pulled him up.
“Answer me honestly. When did you die?”
“Huh? I-I died in 667.”
I died in 620.
Someone who died 47 years later would know the aftermath well.
“Alright. Then tell me, in your lifetime, what happened to the Emperor?”
“Why would a Reaper…”
As the soul questioned, I, acting as a Reaper, reached out.
He flinched, answering without me doing anything.
“I’ll talk…! His Majesty passed in the 40s, I think.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know exactly, but I heard he died of some illness.”
“Died of illness?”
“Yes.”
This matched rumors I’d heard before.
“And the leader you followed?”
“Our commander… tragically went missing in a shipwreck during a journey.”
That, too, aligned.
The Emperor’s death by illness and Robern’s disappearance.
It wasn’t much different from what I’d heard.
“One last question. What fate befell those tied to Mikhail Reverk?”
This was my most crucial question.
I hoped it wasn’t a horrific end.
But the soul’s answer crushed my hopes.
“Mikhail and his unit were all killed, and those tied to them were executed one by one under treason charges. Treason’s a grave crime, so…”
“All of them? Even their families?”
“Treason must be eradicated, by His Majesty’s decree…”
“Shut up!”
I prayed it wasn’t so.
I desperately wished it wasn’t.
I hoped it ended with me and my unit’s deaths, but the Emperor was ruthlessly cruel.
To those who opposed him, he left not even a blade of grass where they stood.
“How is that treason? Do you agree with it?”
“Well… They did commit treason, didn’t they?”
My treason was a meticulously planned scheme by the Emperor and Robern’s inner circle.
Only a few knew the truth, so it was natural this soul didn’t.
“I’m warning you. While you’re here, watch your mouth. If you cross me again, you’re dead.”
All Reapers wore the same mask and armor, indistinguishable.
This soul would live in fear of every Reaper for eternity.
That was the best punishment I could give.
“Get lost. Out of my sight.”
Freed from my grip, the soul fled in panic.
Damn it.
I’d anticipated and braced for uncomfortable truths.
But hearing it directly tormented me beyond imagination.
What did my unit and I do so wrong? We devoted our lives to you.
All I got was utter betrayal and abandonment.
Emperor… Your reincarnation is absurd, but if you’re here, I’ll end you myself.
Resolved, I headed to the Imperials’ district.
If the Emperor’s soul was there, I’d destroy him without hesitation,
even if it meant clashing with Nidra.
***
On the opposite side, Gaiard diligently searched for Ernst’s traces.
“Do you know anything about Ernst?”
He asked each soul honestly and directly.
But the responses were mostly similar.
“Who’s that?”
“Huh? What?”
Unlike me, Gaiard hadn’t reached the kingdom souls’ district.
To him, all souls looked the same, so he kept striking out.
Evan’s probably finding stuff faster.
But contrary to his guess, I wasn’t even trying to find Ernst.
I was consumed by vengeance against the Emperor.
“Know where Tarkin I’s soul is?”
“The Emperor? No? Maybe he reincarnated?”
The Citadel was a vast city of hundreds of thousands of souls who neither reincarnated nor vanished.
Imperials alone numbered tens of thousands,
and with centuries of souls, many didn’t even know the Emperor’s name.
Realizing the difficulty of finding him, I changed tactics.
“Where do the most souls gather here?”
“The tavern, probably.”
“Souls drink?”
“Huh? Why… It’s just for the vibe. What else is there to do but talk?”
Guided by a soul, I headed to the tavern.
The sign marked it as a tavern, but unlike reality, no alcohol was sold.
It was just a place for souls to gather and talk.
Click.
As I opened the door, a tense silence fell among the souls.
A Reaper entering was unheard of.
They see me as an intruder. Pressuring them in this mood might backfire. No guarantee they’ll tell me the truth.
I scanned the interior, then stepped outside.
Taking a spot behind the building, I began eavesdropping.
Better to listen covertly. I might hear what I want.
I waited quietly for the conversations to yield my desired topic.
“…I’m telling you.”
“Haha! I was…”
As souls’ mundane chatter continued, time passed.
Finally, a new voice mentioned the word I sought.
“Nonsense. The greatest emperor was Tarkin I.”
Tarkin I.
The name hit my ears like a dart.
From then, I focused all my attention on that conversation.
“What? That era was just endless wars. I died conscripted then.”
“Those sacrifices made the Empire prosper.”
“You ever serve? Talk after you have.”
“Of course I did!”
Tarkin I was an emperor stained with war and blood,
but he remained the one who achieved the largest territory.
Some citizens, ignorant of his darker side, still revered him.
“Don’t you get why my descendants’ descendants live on the land our great emperor built?”
“Why ignore that half that territory was lost?”
“That’s the fault of incompetent successors! If His Majesty were alive, he wouldn’t have spared his weak heirs!”
“That man was just a war maniac. It’s a blessing he died of illness.”
“What did you say?”
Those praising and condemning the emperor began arguing loudly.
Is this really alcohol-free? Fighting like that sober?
Not wanting a disturbance, I entered to stop the fight with Reaper authority.
But the souls were so caught up, they didn’t notice me.
I subdued only the emperor’s supporters to calm things.
“Disperse.”
At my firm Reaper command, the souls left without protest.
Even heated, they knew better.
“Let’s go…”
“Yeah.”
As the arguing souls left, the tavern regained peace.
Confirming the situation was resolved, I prepared to leave.
Then, a woman’s murmur near the entrance caught my ear.
“The emperor didn’t die of illness…”
I stopped and looked at her.
“What did you say?”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t you say something about the emperor?”
She hesitated, stammering.
“Just talking to myself…”
“Speak. Now.”
My voice was firm, and she whispered, glancing around.
“I… said the emperor didn’t die of illness.”
It wasn’t a statement to take lightly or say easily.
“On what grounds? If this is a joke, I won’t let it slide.”
Despite my blazing gaze and intimidation, she wasn’t scared.
At least, she hadn’t spoken lightly.
“Why would I? The emperor absolutely didn’t die of illness.”
“How are you so sure? Who are you?”
She didn’t exist in my memories.
This meant she wasn’t directly tied to the emperor.
Indeed, she wasn’t.
But.
“My husband was the emperor’s physician.”
“Your husband’s name?”
The emperor’s physician was kept strictly secret.
If she lied, she couldn’t know this.
“My husband’s name is Croin Heilman. I’m Talin Heilman.”
Croin Heilman.
I knew that name well.
Her claim of being the physician’s wife wasn’t baseless.
This strongly suggested a hidden secret in the emperor’s death.
“If not illness, what was the cause?”
“Precisely, the cause was never identified.”
“What?”
“He didn’t die… He was declared missing.”
I was speechless.
The emperor didn’t simply die of illness.
His death itself was unclear.