NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 119:
Otto waited for a very long time afterward for Quran to come to his senses, but to no avail.
By 11:00 p.m., Quran still hadn’t come to his senses, and instead had sweated himself to unconsciousness because he thought Otto was a female dragon.
“Eww. Ugh.”
Otto shuddered in agony, feeling as if he’d gone to the bathroom, cleaned up after himself, and never come out.
“So is this real, or not real, or not really real, for that matter, and so is this just a dream, or is this a fantasy, or not?” he repeated, as if he were obsessing over it.
Like a person with OCD.
His head was full of questions, and had no answers to the most crucial and vital question.
Who knew that his dementia would kick in just as he was about to answer the biggest and most important question of all?
“When you wake up later, I’ll have to ask you again and get an answer.”
Otto vowed to spend a lot of time with Quran, for a while at least, just to get his answers.
It was not only for the sake of getting his question answered.
He wanted to take care of Quran, who was suffering from dementia.
But with his frequent travels outside the kingdom, it was impossible for Otto to provide round-the-clock care for the elderly Quran.
Of course, Olive, the head maid, is doing her best to take care of him in a professional manner, but it bothers him.
Quran had lost all his people and had no one to look after him.
As for Otto, he couldn’t help but be more concerned.
It reminded him of his late grandmother.
As Otto headed for his bedroom, he turned back after receiving the magic swordsman’s report.
“Has Gaius decided to talk now?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Let’s go.”
Otto made his way to the underground prison to interrogate Gaius, his latest high-value captive.
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“Ugh.”
Gaius’s face was completely distorted from how badly he had been tortured over the past ten days.
However, he didn’t have many scars on his body, so it was clear that the torture had consisted mainly of waterboarding and sleep deprivation.
“How have you been?”
Otto asked, pulling up a chair in front of Gaius, who was chained to the wall.
“How’s life here, is it worth it?”
“Ask me… anything you want. I’ll answer anything.”
“Hmm?”
“In return, if you get all the answers you want… please… end me.”
“Oh. This must have been hard for you.”
As Otto said that, he glanced back at the magic swordsmen who had been tasked with interrogating Gaius.
How hard and skillful did they have to torture him before he gave up and begged to be killed after only ten days?
At this rate, he’d give them a score of 100 out of 100!
“Great work, guys, you’re getting a special bonus this month, plus a reward vacation.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
The magic swordsmen dropped to one knee at Otto’s praise, a look of pride on their faces.
“Argonne, how is that bastard still alive?”
” Reincarnation… magic.”
“The magic of reincarnation?”
“An ancient magic… called the Wheel of Reincarnation, which allows one to occupy the body of a descendant in the distant future. All arrangements were made in the past, but I believe it was after the fall of the Great Empire of Krares.”
“So he knew the empire would fall and his dynasty would end, so he arranged to be reborn as a descendant to help rebuild it?”
“Yes.”
“That’s rather wise.”
No dynasty lasts forever.
A few decades at most.
Sometimes a thousand years, but one day the tide would turn and it would fall.
“The imperial family has made several arrangements for the fall of a dynasty. The Oberhauser family is at the center of one of those arrangements. They have been waiting for many years, trying to ensure that the bloodline will continue even after the Empire falls.”
“Waiting for Emperor Argonne to reincarnate in the distant future?”
“Yes.”
“And since the Great Argonne has been reincarnated, the plan itself has succeeded?”
“I would say so.”
“What is the Black Crusaders?”
“I heard that Oghma, Emperor Kairos’s closest confidant and strategist, survived the Revolution and escaped unharmed, and the secret society he founded is the Black Crusaders.”
“So?”
“Oghma was Emperor Kairos’s closest confidant, and so his desire for revenge was immense. He has plagued the Imperial Family for hundreds of years, from the founding of Krares until now, and even now, at this very moment, somewhere on the continent, they are tracking down and killing descendants who carry the Imperial bloodline.”
“Oghma… it must have been quite a headache for you. It must have been so frustrating to have an emperor who wouldn’t even listen to you.”
Though he didn’t know who they were, he could imagine how much of a pain in the ass Kairos must have been if they had been his closest confidants.
‘As a strategist, they would have been the first to advise Kairos to be wary of Argonne. I’m sure he’d have tried to eliminate him several times, and failed.’
It was obvious.
The treachery was obvious, and the fact that Kairos, the Emperor, was so protective of him must have caused a great frenzy.
In the end, when the rebellion led by Argonne took place….
‘He must have wanted to kill and take his own life, because he knew it was coming and he couldn’t stop it.’
Otto understood Oghma’s feelings one hundred percent, and he asked Gaius a series of questions.
“Where is the Oberhauser family headquarters? I don’t think it’s the corporate headquarters.”
” What about military bases?”
“Any secret warehouses, just in case?”
“What were that bastard’s future plans?”
The questions were endless, but Gaius was very diligent in answering them in detail.
At least to the best of his knowledge.
After such a long interrogation.
“Good.”
Otto nodded.
“I’ll spare your life. There will be no torture, and though you’ll be locked up, I guarantee you a comfortable life.”
“Are you telling the truth?”
“I will not kill or torture you after giving me so much information. I’m a man of give and take. You helped me, I’ll help you.”
“I wasn’t expecting that at all… Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Otto smirked, then turned to order the magic swordsmen.
“Move the prisoner to better conditions soon, and treat him well. And make sure he’s comfortable.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Giving the order, Otto left the prison.
“Are you sure you want to be lenient?”
Camille, who had come late to the interrogation and remained silent, approached Otto and asked.
“For the time being?”
“I know he’s been cooperative with your Majesty, but he’s a murderer who’s killed countless workers, something that will never be forgiven….”
“I’m saying let’s keep him alive because he’s still worth using.”
“What?”
“If necessary, use it as a hostage. If it’s not possible, send it to Julius and use it as a spy. If it’s judged that there is no value in using it for a specific purpose…”
Otto glanced back at Camille and smiled coldly.
“Then we can get rid of him.”
Otto had no intention of ever forgiving Gaius for the terrible and cruel crimes he had committed in collaboration with Julius.
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Otto was about to go back to bed and retire, when he ran into Qasim, who made him work even later.
He unintentionally worked past 2 a.m. and was forced to work an all-night shift.
“Yes, Qasim?”
“Your Majesty.”
“It’s been a while, what have you been up to?”
At that moment, Qasim burst into tears so hard he nearly collapsed on the spot.
After coming close to death so many times and going through all the hardships of life, barely making it out alive, he was overwhelmed with emotion when no one noticed it.
Of course, it was even odder that they should have noticed it without mentioning it at all.
“You.. Your Majesty! Waaaaaahhhh!”
“What’s wrong, is there something wrong with you, some kind of misfortune in the family?”
“No, it’s not that… It’s just… Huhuhuh!”
“……?”
” Huhhhhhhhh! Huhhhhhhhhh!”
Qasim wailed involuntarily, clutching at Otto.
“W-Why are you doing this?”
“Huhuhuh!”
“No… why all of a sudden?”
“I, Your Majesty… it’s just that…”
With a face covered in tears and snot, Qasim told Otto what had happened.
“…So you fell down when the mine collapsed, and it happened to be an ancient ruin?”
“Yes, Your Majesty….”
“That’s amazing.”
I couldn’t believe it.
I didn’t think any human could be this unlucky….
“So?”
“Somehow I managed to escape death several times… and retrieve the cubes from the ruins, Huhuhu.”
“Oh my, you’ve been through a lot.”
Otto patted Qasim on the back, secretly anxious.
‘If you fall back, you’ll break the back of your head and your nose.”
‘What if I get caught up in this situation too’
It was a perfectly normal human reaction.
When watching someone down on their luck, it’s easy to feel sorry for them and worry that their bad luck will rub off on you.
Of course, there must be some people who don’t….
“Anyway, thank goodness you made it out alive.”
“Waaaahhh!!! Huhuhuhuh!!”
“Oh, you deserve a generous reward vacation. You should have this. Haha, it’s all right, you can take it.”
“Huhuhuhu.”
“Don’t worry, next time, I’ll be right by your side, and even if it happens again, I’ll notice it first and come to your rescue.”
“Uh, are you sure about that?”
“Yes, of course. I know you’re valuable to me.”
That was not an empty statement.
Why?
Because Qasim was the only Air Force 1 in the Kingdom of Lota.
There was a No. 0, but he was suffering from dementia and couldn’t fly at full strength.
“Anyway, it’s late today, so we’ll talk again soon, and I’ll give you a month’s leave from today, so go to the Kuntachi Duchy and get some rest.”
“Thank you… Your Highness… Huhuhu!”
Otto spent the rest of the night listening to Qasim’s story and soothing him, and he was unable to fall asleep until after dawn.
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And the next day.
And the day after that.
And the one after that.
Otto continued spending time with Quran, taking every opportunity to ask him questions.
But the severity of his dementia was increasing, and Quran was no longer lucid.
On the fifth day.
“What was today?”
“…The Emperor getting ripped off by a greedy dragon.”
Otto replied to Camille’s question, flopping down on the sofa with an exhausted look on his face.
Quran’s dementia could not be identified, and he would take on different personalities at different times.
A male dragon in love with a female dragon, a baby dragon, a hungry old man, etc…..
In each case, Otto would take on the role of the other character.
“Apparently, in the olden days, when dragons got bored, they would go into the human kingdom and pilfer gold, jewelry, and anything else they could find that would make them money.”
“What…?”
“I asked him why, and he said it was so they could pile them up in their nests and admire them.”
“…….”
“I wonder if the dragons went extinct because of the karma they committed?”
With that, Otto kicked off his shoes and sank down onto the sofa completely.
“You’re doing a lot of work.”
“It’s no trouble. I’m the one who said I’d take care of the old man, so I’ll play with him and stuff.”
“So, will you be spending time with the senior again tomorrow?”
“I often go out, so I’ll take care of him when I’m in the kingdom….”
Right then.
[Alert: Time for the first round of the [Homework Inspection] quest is 3 days from now! (1/30)]
The system window, which was translucent and faded and partially erased last time, was very clear and crisp this time.
“Huh, Eh?!”
Otto jumped to his feet, recalling Elise’s long forgotten presence.
‘Oops. It’s been almost a month already.’
Elise.
It was only three days until his fearsome fiancée was due to visit.