60. We are drifters.
*
“My guests and I have traveled a long way. Moria. What is this rudeness?”
Prince Helga sharply raised his eyes. Moria didn’t even pay attention to him and instead looked at Fernandez. He was a knight she had never seen before. Like Baimeer and Helga, who were recruited from outside, he probably wasn’t from a prestigious family.
“Forgive the rudeness, brother. As the Minister of the Royal Court, isn’t it a dereliction of duty to allow a stranger into the palace without verifying their identity?”
“Since when have you been so concerned about your position?”
“Oh? I’ve been handling the duties of the royal family alone while you’ve been frequently absent, and now you’re saying such hurtful things?”
Moria ignored her and walked toward the castle, matching Helga’s pace while leading the horse with a refreshing smile. Fernandez smiled as he watched her. During the brief conversation between Helga and Moria, he had been reading the traces of dark magic left on Moria.
‘Impressive. She must have a good teacher.’
-The Church of the Underground Burial specializes in necromancy…
‘A mentalist school. Mentalists are rare, so it’s easy to spot.’
Gian-Kel’s vision was an incredibly powerful relic. In terms of analysis and tracking, it was hard to find a relic of the same caliber. Even in the battle with Gian-Kel, he was the only one who noticed Faijashi’s presence.
Despite borrowing the power of such a relic, the remnants of dark magic Moria was hiding were extremely cleverly concealed. It was beyond the level of a young woman who appeared to be just twenty.
“So, what’s your name, stranger?”
“My apologies, Princess. Please call me Albert of Sernerd. It’s an honor to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too. Are you my brother’s new attendant?”
Moria blatantly insulted Fernandez. If he were an ordinary country knight who had the honor of serving the prince, he would surely react to such an insult. Moria was ready to call the guards if this young knight lost his temper and acted rudely.
“Moria…!”
Prince Helga’s expression turned fierce. Then, Fernandez spoke.
“His Highness has graciously invited me to the capital.”
“…Huh? Really?”
Moria’s eyes sparkled with interest. He neither bowed to the royal authority nor showed any sign of suppressing anger. Fernandez answered with a charming smile and a casual tone.
Nobles and knights who value strength and honor usually can’t maintain composure at this age. Moria soon laughed cheerfully.
“Welcome, Sir Albert. I hope we meet again.”
“The honor is mine, Princess.”
Moria bowed to Prince Helga and walked away without another word. Helga gritted his teeth as he watched her retreating figure.
“That was disgraceful. I hope you understand, Sir.”
“I don’t cling to worldly honor, Your Highness. Please don’t worry.”
Fernandez found the prince’s reaction rather amusing. Knights of the Eastern Kingdom Alliance often became overly obsessed with honor and glory. Sometimes, they forgot that it was merely a tool to solidify the monarch’s legitimacy and royal authority.
“So, where do you plan to stay? Shall I arrange a place in the palace?”
“Just prepare an opportunity for me to meet His Majesty. I need to visit the church.”
“The priests’ street is near the north gate. My residence is on the 3rd road of the inner castle. Feel free to visit whenever you need.”
Baimeer rode off with the prince. Fernandez briefly bowed to the prince and immediately turned his horse toward the north gate. Without looking back, he said:
“Kirhas. Head to the west gate and search the nearby alchemy workshops. Don’t intrude directly; just observe the area. I’ll meet you at midnight.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
At Fernandez’s words, Kirhas bowed her head and disappeared into the alley.
‘The princess’s index fingernail.’
Princess Moria’s index fingernail and fingertip were tinged with a faint purple. It wasn’t due to a bruise or injury. It was a symptom that appeared when handling special potions.
‘Arazelmonae…’
Or a potion made from Arazelmonae. The fact that the princess handled such a rare potion meant that the alchemy workshops distributing it within the city were quite advanced. And alchemy workshops were usually not located inside the royal palace due to the risk of potion leakage.
According to the information from the vision, the area with the most complex magical entanglement was near the west gate. That’s where the investigation needed to start.
*
Moria watched Helga heading toward the palace from a distance. Her guard knight stood in the inner castle’s gallery. She slowly stretched out her arm.
-Whiiik.
A dove gently landed on her pale arm. She hummed and stroked the dove’s head.
“The prince returned from Baron Barbes’ territory, right?”
“Yes, Your Highness. It’s the area where two of Paliamen’s knights went missing.”
“Tsk, losing knights over a mere Walker incident. Paliamen isn’t what he used to be.”
Baron Barbes was one of the close aides of Paliamen, a Knight of the Round Table. It was laughable that Paliamen lost knights over a Walker incident, but Baron Barbes’ inability to quell the Walker unrest in his territory also became a topic of gossip.
The subsequent fall of the Guimerin royal family quickly silenced the rumors, but the damage to Paliamen’s reputation remained.
“Isn’t it fortunate? The Knights of the Round Table are just old men now.”
“True. Relics of the old era. Toothless lions. Hehe, do you think the prince noticed?”
“He probably suspects, but what can he do?”
“Right, no matter what he does, it’s already irreversible.”
Moria lightly shook her arm, sending the dove flying. As she watched the small letter tied to the dove’s leg, she smiled happily.
“You have something to do for me.”
“Give your orders.”
“Test the knight named Albert. His skills, ideology, and purpose. If the prince brought him along, there must be a reason.”
“Is it okay to kill him?”
“Sernerd is just a mountain village, and he’s a wandering knight. Who would care if he died on the road?”
If he died by a blind blade, it would be nothing more than that. Even if…
It doesn’t have to be good. No matter what the prince’s plan is, who can stop me? Moria stood on the gallery of the inner castle overlooking the palace, feeling the wind.
-Whishhhh…
Behind her, the vast barley fields scattered in the wind, making a cool sound. The early spring fields were beautiful.
*
Abel’s expression grew darker. She didn’t say a word until they entered the bustling streets.
“Finally, I realize how much time has passed.”
“Don’t you like the city’s scenery?”
“It’s bigger and more prosperous than when I used to fly over this city. Back then, it was just a settlement surrounded by wooden fences.”
Abel looked at the well-paved roads and the stone buildings densely filling the city. The Altberth she remembered was closer to a camp with thatched and wooden buildings and field tents.
This city started as a village built by King Knight Dane after he killed the hill giant on that very spot. Abel remembered when the hill giant’s blood soaked this pasture.
It was a harsh and barren time, but there was hope and honor. People were pure and simple. Abel felt suffocated, as if she were buried in the shadows of the past in this city lined with cold stone walls.
The strange smell permeating the city was the lingering scent of hellish magic. The dragon’s sensitive senses could feel the magic enveloping the city. She couldn’t hide her sorrow since entering the city.
Then, Fernandez’s hand gripped her shoulder.
“The city I remember wasn’t like this either.”
“Really? What was it like in your past life?”
Looking into Abel’s sad eyes, Fernandez felt a pang in his chest. Though he wasn’t used to comforting others, he slowed his pace.
“Back then, the Eastern Kingdom Alliance was on the brink of collapse. The eastern kingdoms suffered damage so great they couldn’t recover.”
Famine, plague, corruption, and war. The Dane Kingdom, which had barely recovered from the invasion era led by the dark Erik, unified many kingdoms that had fallen during the early stages of the Great War and built a massive frontline.
The Round Table Knights, led by Hero King Vicente, were the hope of the Eastern Kingdoms. The uncorrupted humans of the eastern kingdoms gathered in this city seeking hope.
“This city was nicknamed the Unyielding Hill. It was the purest land in the eastern continent. No matter how it looks now, in the near future, this city will become that again.”
“Ah, Fernandez.”
Abel’s eyes softened into gentle curves. Her blue eyes shone brightly.
“We are drifters. We’ve come a long way from our own times.”
Fernandez didn’t respond. She could be called a drifter, swept into this era. But himself? He couldn’t consider himself a drifter like her. Though distant and faint, he had a clear destination.
My son.
Fernandez muttered to himself as he looked at the approaching church of Vaitas. He stopped in front of the church’s grand door, adorned with a lavish Keyblade emblem. He dismounted.
-Splash.
Rainwater pooled between the stone paths splashed at his feet. He stroked the horse’s neck.
I have returned to this era alone and am moving forward again.
Though sixty years separate us, it’s still the same.
He looked at Abel sitting on the horse. Her dazzling golden hair, like autumn wheat fields, swayed in the wind. He reached out to her. Abel smiled, took his hand, and dismounted.
“Fortunately, you have a lighthouse.”
“I wish the same for you.”
“I already do.”
Abel smiled at Fernandez.
*
The King’s Audience Hall was at the end of the palace’s grandest corridor. Light streaming through the windows between the stone pillars painted beautiful patterns on the floor.
Prince Helga walked slowly through the corridor, feeling an increasingly suffocating pressure. Once, he had happily run through the Audience Hall and the corridor, among the epic tales of heroes carved into the stone pillars.
He knelt slowly, looking up at the old man leaning on the throne. Helga III. He looked at his father, once wise and strong. The old king looked down at him with cloudy eyes.
“How… has it been…?”
“Baron Barbes remains loyal to the royal family, Your Majesty. There’s no doubt about Lord Palliamain’s loyalty either. If Your Majesty blows the horn, the king’s knights will not hesitate to offer their swords to you.”
“Not me… but you…?”
“…Your Majesty?”
The old king coughed and sat up. Attendants rushed to support him. The king’s long robe dragged on the floor. He staggered toward the prince, step by step.
“I… have heard… that you and Baimeer are gathering troops…?”
“…It was to prepare for the situation in Infermur.”
“Infermur has become our port. So why… *cough*! Why haven’t you disbanded the troops?”
“Your Majesty. The vampires of Franzrit have disappeared. The situation isn’t fully resolved yet.”
“Is it… that throne you desire…?”
The old king’s trembling finger pointed at the throne. He pushed away the attendants’ support with a shaky hand. He stood close to the prince.
“Are you… truly…?”
“Your Majesty! Do you truly doubt me? It’s not me blinding Your Majesty, but Moria. That woman!”
-Slap!
The prince’s head snapped violently. His lip split, and a trickle of blood ran down his chin. The old king staggered with an indignant expression. Attendants hurriedly supported him.
“How dare you… dare to slander your own brother!”
“…”
The prince clenched his eyes shut and bowed his head. He remembered the strong monarch, the king everyone expected to revive the kingdom. The glorious image of Helga III. The prince bit his torn lip, reopening the wound.
“Get out! Out! *Cough*!”
“…Long live the king.”
The king coughed dryly and shouted. The prince slowly rose and walked away, turning his back on the Audience Hall. Between the massive stone pillars, a mural depicted King Dane defeating the hill giant.
A dragon flying over the plains, the hill giant bleeding and fallen, and the great Knight King standing on the corpse, raising his sword.
Once, the prince had loved the Audience Hall’s corridor. Even the beautiful sculptures adorning the ceiling.
“Your Highness, are you alright?”
“Where’s Baimeer?”
“He’s waiting at his quarters.”
“Tell him to prepare.”
The prince swallowed the metallic taste of blood filling his mouth. His knights bowed to him. The prince’s emerald eyes shone like a lion’s.
“The time is near.”
“For the glory of the royal family.”
“Eternal glory. My men.”
They were the knights he had personally selected while traveling the land. Not members of noble families, but talents from the wild. Knights loyal only to him, not the royal family.
Prince Helga turned sharply. At the end of the long corridor, he saw the tightly closed door of the Audience Hall, adorned with a dragon’s head.
The metallic scent of blood lingered under his nose.
![[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TS-Obsessed-Gamer-The-Ultimate-Return2.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return")
