Terminal 4

After I requested that he bring Raven to me, Astarotta issued an order to another Guardian Knight stationed outside the audience chamber.

So the order was being passed down the chain of command.

“She’s staying nearby. You’ll be able to see her soon.”

Well, it was not as though I cared that much. No matter how many layers of subordinates the order passed through, it did not affect the person at the very top.

This means I’ll have some more time to talk to this guy.

I had no intention of wasting even a moment, so I immediately began an investigation into his background.

“Astarotta, what is your official title?”

“…….”

“I need to know so I can plan for the future. Don’t tell me you’re going to defy His Majesty’s order to cooperate unconditionally—”

“…I am the commander of the Guardian Knights.”

Oh, as I thought. So I suppose this man was the next generation of the King’s Knight after Knight Gramps.

“If your curiosity is satisfied—”

Hey, there’s no way it ends here.

“What’s the deal with that sword you’re carrying? It looks incredibly sharp.”

“…….”

There he goes again, rolling his eyes.

“I need to know your abilities accurately if I’m going to make plans—”

“It is the sword granted to the knight captain of the Order of Guardians,” he said.

“Performance?”

“It does not fall behind even the Genesis Relics. Ah, even if you are a tribe chief, you probably don’t know much about the Genesis Relics.”

As if.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve collected all the Genesis Relics. Of course I knew their capabilities better than anyone.

“Then how many members are in the Guardian Knights?”

Regardless, I continued to dig up key information about the royal palace, slowly increasing the intensity of the questions. Astarotta looked unsure if he should be disclosing this much, but every time I mentioned the King, he would let out a deep sigh and spill the details.

“Do you have children?”

“The Guardian Knights are forbidden from having families.”

“Oh, then you must be extra careful with contraception.”

“……”

Something about his silence this time made me hesitate. “Wait, you… have you never…?”

As I learned things I hadn’t known in the game, it was finally time for Raven to arrive. I had heard most of what I needed, but then something occurred to me

‘I wonder how far the King’s name will take me with this guy?’

The reason he was being so obedient was because of a malfunction caused by his excessive loyalty to the king.

In other words, it was a kind of bug.

That was why I’d been careful to stay within bounds while interrogating him.

Things like the life-support device beneath the royal palace.

Or the prison located even deeper below.

Or anything related to the king’s lifespan.

No matter how airheaded he might be, he would definitely refuse to answer questions like that, and once he did, he would realize it was not difficult to keep refusing my questions.

‘Yeah, exploiting bugs is part of being a player.’

That was why I made sure never to cross the line. Just as striking a broken machine could sometimes make it work again, hitting him with too much of a shock would only make him correct himself, and that would be my loss.

However…

‘I am curious.’

He would never speak of information regarding the King, but if it weren’t that, how far could I go? If I ordered him to take off his pants in front of me, would he actually do it?

‘I’m curious, but…’

In the end, it was both disappointing and fortunate that I never had the chance to explore that question.

“Hey, Mr. Jandel!!”

Because Raven had arrived.

***

From what I heard, Raven seemed to have been doing quite well, even if she felt a bit stifled and uncomfortable. Well, considering the circumstances, I wasn’t much different. In a time of war, this level of luxury probably put us in the top tier of comfort across the entire city.

“You’ve gained weight.”

“W-what are you talking about…! I g-gained weight?!”

“A little.”

 

“Ugh… I’ve been stuck in that room the entire time. What do you expect…!”

After our brief reunion in the audience hall, I gave her a straightforward overview of our current situation. True to my barbarian nature, I left out any unnecessary details, and having spent so much time with me, Raven was able to sum it all up in just two sentences.

“So… we have to kill the Prime Minister…? Us…?”

“That’s just how it turned out. And it’s not just us. We’ll have the support of the royal family.”

“I guess that’s good to know… but was the prime minister really the main culprit and traitor?”

“So it seems.”

Once our simple and clear goal was set, Raven began asking a series of questions about the situation. Naturally, I could not answer a single one, having been confined to that room the entire time myself.

“Elizabeth over there will explain the outside situation now. I was waiting for you so we could hear it together.”

“E-Elizabeth… mister?” Raven eyed the man standing at attention.

“Astarotte Berun. Call me Berun.”

“Ah… yes… Mr. Berun. Hello…”

Astarotte ignored Raven’s greeting entirely and began his briefing.

Since we had no idea what was happening outside, every explanation left us stunned.

“What? Half the city has been taken?”

“They haven’t been taken—rebel forces are illegally occupying them. And it’s not half, it’s closer to one-third. In Ravigion, it’s only Districts 13, 7, and 8. In Commelby, just District 4.”

Unlike the king’s calm reaction, the city’s situation was severe—far more than words could describe.

It seemed those in the know already knew the Prime Minister was the mastermind, and Marquis himself had moved to enemy lines to take command. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a civil war, and there was a possibility that this war would be prolonged.

“Then my allies must be in District 7, which is now occupied by enemy forces…”

“Specifically, the Barbarian sanctuary. Unless the last intel I received has changed.”

“The situation is far more troublesome than I expected.”

 

“Mr. Jandel, you’re planning to regroup with your clan, right?”

“Yes.”

However, even reaching District 7 wouldn’t be easy.

“To get there, you’d have to pass through District 5 or 8, both of which border District 7…”

According to Astarota’s report, those front lines saw constant fighting day and night.

“That’s difficult. Even if we manage to pass through Districts 5 and 8, District 7 itself is deep inside enemy territory.”

“Indeed…”

As Raven and I discussed this, Astarotta suddenly interjected.

“Bjorn Jandel, let me offer you some advice.”

“…Go ahead.”

“Think carefully about what should come first.”

Hah, I listened because he said it was advice, but… As expected of the King’s lackey, he was telling me to prioritize the king’s command over my allies.

Considering the cognitive dissonance he showed back then as well, was there something wrong with his head?

So I skipped his advice without hesitation.

“More importantly… I should head outside first.”

Since there were things I could not learn through words alone, I decided to head out immediately. However, Astarota interrupted us once again.

“If you go out like that, you’ll be recognized instantly. I didn’t mention it earlier, but most people think you’ve suffered a serious damage due to the collapse.”

Oh, is that so?

“How about wearing a helmet to hide your appearance?”

This advice seemed to be genuinely for my sake, but my answer was still no.

This massive body couldn’t be hidden by a helmet anyway, and wearing an iron mask twice in one lifetime was more than enough.

And most of all…

“I’ll go as I am.”

“Why?”

“So word can spread to my companions that I’m alive.”

Astarotta looked as if he couldn’t understand my decision. No, to be precise, he looked down on it.

“Since His Majesty ordered you to act freely, I won’t object.”

“Then don’t.”

“But with that mindset, can you really kill the Prime Minister?”

His voice was flat, devoid of concern.

His voice was flat and devoid of concern.

If I failed to uphold the king’s conditions, could I handle the worst possible consequences?

I shook my head and replied firmly.

“Don’t worry about that.”

After encountering fragments of the Records Stone, traveling into the past, and witnessing countless other phenomena, I had come to believe in fate.

“The Marquis is already a dead man.”

It had been decided since the Ice Rock Expedition.

****

My first thought upon leaving the Palace of Immortality was how ridiculous it was.

Only when heading toward the main gate did I finally get to see the palace’s exterior.

“Wow… I’d only heard about it, but it’s really incredible…”

In a way, we might be the first people in all of history to enter from underground and exit through the main gate.

“Keep the carriage curtains closed and stay quiet until we leave the palace grounds. It must not be known that you came out of the Palace of Immortality.”

“…Understood.”

 

I, Raven, and Astarotta boarded the carriage leaving the Palace, with one of the Royal Guards serving as the coachman.

“By the way, is it okay for you to leave the royal palace like this?”

“Weren’t you the one who asked me to come along?”

Well, that’s true. Specifically, I asked if I could draft all the Royal Guards in the palace, and he said only he was available.

“Don’t worry about it. It was His Majesty’s order.”

“Hmm… but isn’t a war going on? Is it okay for the Captain of the Royal Guardians to be away?”

At my question, he gave a smug smile

“This place is not so easy that it would allow those mere rebels to set foot inside.”

“Well, if you say so, it’s fine by me…”

To be honest, I’m still not sure if bringing him along is the right choice. His combat power is definitely guaranteed… but if I’m with him, every one of my actions will be reported directly to the King. That could limit my flexibility if something unexpected happened.

‘Still, since there’s a lot I don’t know about the current situation, things will be much smoother with him around.’

Soon, the carriage passed the Twelve Palaces surrounding the Palace of Immortality and entered the imperial capital.

There, I finally saw it with my own eyes.

Of the twelve palaces, the one I knew best was the Palace of Glory, having visited it for my title and ennoblement ceremonies, along with many other occasions.

“Th-this is… thunder…?”

The grand, majestic palace was gone, leaving only a mountain of rubble.

Soldiers were clearing the debris, and every time they lifted a slab of stone, a corpse appeared beneath it.

“Identity?”

“We will need a thorough investigation, but we found Count Nartuyl’s insignia on their clothing.”

“It might be Count Nartuyl himself, so handle the body with the utmost respect!”

As our carriage passed through the narrow path carved between the rubble, we could hear the voices of the people working at the site.

“…Have many nobles died because of this incident?”

“……Did many nobles die in this incident?”

“Many nobles were gathered here because of military command matters,” the knight captain replied. “There is also a rumor among the civilians that half of them died as a result.”

Half of the nobility, huh……

It was probably closer to half of the titled nobles. Even so, that alone showed how dire the situation truly was.

“Perhaps the Marquis calculated even that and summoned them all on purpose.”

“It’s not just a ‘perhaps’; the Intelligence Department is certain of it.”

Hmm, but that raises another question. If the Marquis was the mastermind behind everything, why did he order me to stay in prison for two days? From his perspective, wouldn’t it have been better for me to get caught in that disaster and die?

When I voiced my doubt, Astarotta replied:

“Well, the Prime Minister probably didn’t think that you would die even if you were buried under that.”

Ah… true enough. Even I have trouble imagining myself getting caught up in that and dying….

With this many titled nobles dead, things must be in complete chaos. Some noble houses will probably disappear entirely… I wonder if they’ll hold the succession ceremonies all at once after the war ends? At the very least, the average age of the nobility is going to get a lot younger.’

I stared at the palace through the narrow gap in the window, lost in thought. Beside me, Raven muttered softly, “…be nothing.”

“Hm? What did you say? I didn’t catch that.”

“It’s nothing… Just that, no matter how this war ends, I feel like the world we knew won’t exist anymore.”

Hearing the fear in her voice, I found myself nodding unconsciously.

Continue reading more chapters at henprogressive.com

Please join here, I need supporters to help me continue translating Surviving game as a barbarian and Lee Gwak
If it doesn’t work support me here buymeacoffee.com/hennoveltranslations. There are advanced chapters for supporters as well.