KCDT Chapter 58

If only he could turn everything upside down, but that wasn’t possible either. It wasn’t that he suddenly cared about others’ opinions.

‘…He was definitely surprised. And disappointed.’

It was because of the emotions he read in Yujin’s eyes when he came to his senses. As if he had heard everything Cairo said even while collapsed, Yujin’s eyes held a bitter and disappointed look.

Cairo had never cared about anyone’s gaze before. From a very young age, he had experienced contempt, and on the battlefield, he was an object of fear and awe.

But he couldn’t handle Yujin’s disappointed gaze. In fact, he thought he could handle even a bit of resentment from Yujin if it was for Yujin’s sake.

But that was arrogance. He couldn’t be free from anything related to Yujin, and he was someone who became restless at even the slightest of Yujin’s emotions.

‘So I mustn’t disappoint Yujin anymore…’

Unless he took action somewhere Yujin didn’t know about, if he put the thoughts in his head into practice, he would truly face a Yujin who was disappointed in him.

“I have no choice but to search myself.”

“Is it okay for such a precious person to do this kind of work?”

It was Urich, now habitually sneering.

“Then are you saying I should entrust matters related to Yujin to someone else’s hands? Do it if you can.”

Normally he would have ignored it, but Cairo was also mentally cornered now, so he couldn’t just let it slide and shot back, scratching at Urich in return.

At the retort, which was tantamount to saying Yujin wasn’t precious, Urich for once sincerely gritted his teeth and shut his mouth. The two began searching for evidence in a hostile atmosphere where they would have come to blows long ago if not for the connecting link of Yujin.

It might seem like they never did such bothersome work and grew up pampered, but Cairo could be said to have actually rolled around more, being dragged here and there since childhood, while Urich had to do everything himself after entering the magic tower, so they were used to this kind of work.

As a child, Cairo was dragged along on hunts and became accustomed to finding traces of wild beasts, and when he started going to war, he became skilled at finding traces of enemy troops.

And Urich had the ability to quickly find desired materials even in a library that had undergone magical expansion so many times that even they didn’t know everything in that space anymore.

“Ha, is this even possible? There’s nothing?”

“Hmm…”

Yet they couldn’t find anything. If asked if they had searched carelessly, they could definitely say no. Rather, because it was related to Yujin, they checked several times even though they knew there couldn’t have been any mistakes in places they had already looked.

In such a situation, not being able to give up was foolish. Urich, who had been so fixated it could be called obsession, lit up his eyes as if he had never done so before, took his hands off, and fell into thought.

What had they missed? It wasn’t as if they had only searched this one room for hours. Prioritizing efficiency, he had already gone to other spaces he had considered as candidates.

‘But according to Yujin’s explanation, this place is the most likely.’

Of course, the space didn’t perfectly match the description, but the background of the scene Yujin saw was also at night, and the differences could be attributed to hearing the explanation verbally.

‘Ha, did they really finish the cleanup completely?’

Honestly, he was confident. He thought there was no way they could evade their eyes no matter how skilled they were at cleanup.

That was the same even when they couldn’t use mana, which was like their limbs. They weren’t incompetent enough to be affected by such a minor penalty.

But contrary to his confidence, they couldn’t find anything.

‘What the hell is this? Should we go towards releasing the artifact instead?’

It was around the time Urich was racking his brain to find a solution.

“What are you doing here? The Magic Tower Master and the Crown Prince, no less.”

“…Your Majesty the Emperor.”

Urich narrowed his eyes at the Emperor who had appeared out of nowhere, wondering what business he had here even after that incident.

He thought there would be no occasion to show his face for a while, at least because of the hands and feet Cairo had taken, but the Emperor’s sudden appearance made Urich narrow his eyes.

The moment Yujin pointed to the butler as the culprit, the Emperor couldn’t escape being an accomplice, or rather, because the Emperor was likely behind it all, Cairo’s expression wasn’t very pleasant either.

The Emperor, supported on both sides, gritted his teeth at the gaze openly staring at his empty wrists and ankles. But the reason he came here, even exposing his weakness, wasn’t just to get angry.

“Ahem, I’ve heard the story. I hear the guide was poisoned.”

“It seems the story has already reached Your Majesty the Emperor. Or is it a bit late?”

Unlike Cairo, who only spoke with his eyes without saying anything, Urich openly didn’t hide his light attitude. To be honest, this was more annoying. He was openly grating on their nerves.

But the Emperor, who had regained his composure, was not easily shaken. He hadn’t come here exposing his own weakness just to be shaken by such sarcasm.

“But I hear you’ve even locked up the head butler. Isn’t the culprit the servant who delivered the letter?”

“Well, who knows? That’s unknown.”

Urich replied curtly to the Emperor’s brazen attitude. But the Emperor rather raised the corners of his mouth. As expected, they hadn’t found any evidence.

‘Ah, I hate seeing that smiling face.’

But from the position of not having found evidence, there was no way to have anything to say. At times like this, they should have been able to present evidence and see that face crumple.

“Hmm, it doesn’t seem like you’ve found any particular evidence, so shouldn’t the head butler be released as innocent?”

‘It seems he’s still scared though.’

He didn’t seem to be aware of it himself, but from his suggestive tone, it was already proving that the Emperor’s spirit was greatly dampened. If that wasn’t the case, he would have ordered the head butler to be released immediately without even speaking.

But whether it was suggestive or not wasn’t important. In the current situation where there was no substantial evidence, they should release the head butler as the Emperor said.

It was a predicament because they hadn’t found evidence, and if the head butler returned, they wouldn’t be able to attempt to find evidence anymore.

At that moment, Yujin, who should have been resting quietly, appeared.

“Just a moment.”

“Yujin? Why are you here…”

Urich and Cairo were startled. They hadn’t been this surprised even when the Emperor suddenly appeared, to the point where the Emperor felt uneasy inside.

“How’s your body? Is it okay to move already?”

“I left you to nurse Yujin, why can’t you do even that one thing properly?”

Unable to scold Yujin, all arrows were directed at Haniel. But Haniel shrugged his shoulders with an unfazed face despite the unjust criticism.

“Then could you not listen to Yujin-nim’s words?”

“That’s…”

Honestly, even if it had been him, he probably would have given in after trying to dissuade him. Urich slightly turned his head and gently pulled Yujin behind him to block the Emperor’s gaze.

There was only a lack of physical evidence, but he might be in cahoots with the one who tried to kill Yujin, or he might even be the mastermind. He couldn’t let him set his eyes on Yujin and bring bad luck unnecessarily.

But Yujin restrained Urich and Cairo who were trying to hide him. Rather, he stood proudly in front of the Emperor.

“It’s been a while, Your Majesty.”

At their first meeting, he had been so sudden that he was flustered and couldn’t greet properly, but this time he gave a confident greeting.

‘Impudent…’

But that confident attitude rather irritated the Emperor. How dare a mere commoner guide look straight into the eyes of him, the Emperor.

But because all those standing to protect Yujin were each and every one extraordinary people, the Emperor couldn’t even show his displeasure. That was so even though two of them were his sons.

“Ahem, I heard you met with a great misfortune, but you’re already moving around. It seems it wasn’t as serious as I thought.”

While he seemed to be at least mindful in front of Urich and Cairo, in front of Yujin, the Emperor was disrespectful, even oppressive.

Of course, from the perspective of the Emperor and others, that was natural. Even if it were the king of a small country, he would be the most respected ruler in that country, so how could the emperor of an empire bow his head to a mere guide?

But if such rational judgment had been possible, the Emperor’s hands and feet wouldn’t have been cut off. Cairo stared intently at the Emperor’s one remaining wrist, making his vow not to disappoint Yujin anymore seem meaningless.

Thinking that if Yujin knew, he would have grabbed his nape, wondering if it was okay as long as he didn’t kill him.

“Ah, well. It was a big deal, but I survived thanks to Haniel here.”

“…So why are you here? If it was a big deal, wouldn’t it be better to just rest?”

Yujin pondered for a moment how to answer the Emperor’s question.

With Cairo and Urich gone and only Haniel left by his side constantly urging him to rest, he had lain down and actually fallen asleep, but if he said he had seen something else during that time, would the Emperor believe him?

‘No, wait. Right now he doesn’t like me because I’m just a powerless unemployed guy clinging to them, but if I say I have this kind of ability, wouldn’t he not be able to ignore me?’

As this thought occurred to him, his mouth began to itch. At first, he thought it was just a simple dream, but hadn’t Urich assured him it wasn’t?