Survive as a Prison Guard in the Game

Chapter 115
Shadow Lord (1)

After two hours, the celebration finally came to an end.

Rodwell entered the palace with the Four Dukes, and the rest of the gathering dispersed to return to their respective dwellings.

After such a long time.

The castle gates opened, and out stepped the Four Dukes.

The Head of Pierre.

The Leader of Hekan.

The Chief of the Untouchables.

The Lord of the Bloods.

They exchanged odd looks before parting ways.

Seeing Fabian approaching the carriage, he opened the door.

“Please climb in.”

He got inside the carriage after Fabian.

“Depart.”

The carriage was silent for a while as it moved along, and they had to be careful, lest their conversation be eavesdropped on.

A temporary hideout in the western section.

He got out of the carriage with Fabian and entered the safehouse. From his subspace pouch, he pulled out an artifact that would neutralize any potential eavesdropping and activated it.

*Oooohhhh!*

It was best to use the artifact in the safehouse, as the further away from the person using the spell, the more effective the artifact would be.

“Then…”

He raised a finger toward Fabian.

*Shhh.*

After telling him to be quiet, he twirled his finger once, signaling him to check their surroundings.

Fabian nodded.

Closing his eyes, he formed a crown of blood, using blood magic to scout his surroundings, before opening his eyes again.

“There’s no one here.”

“Good.”

Pulling up a chair, he sat down.

Redin turned to face Fabian and asked.

“What was the general impression?”

Fabian loosened his tie roughly and took a deep breath.

“The Emperor was a mere figurehead, really, and the Knight Commander was the one who actually ran the empire.”

“Did he reveal his name?”

“I don’t know if it was his real name, but he told us to call him Lowell.”

“That’s a fake name.”

“So is…. But is this Lowell the man you were talking about, the one who sees through everything?”

Fragmentary details revealed while handing over the fruit of false truth.

“That’s right. Did anything happen?”

“Not much, but I’ll tell you what we talked about inside. Lowell seems to be intent on starting a war against the Six Kingdoms.”

“What’s the rough plan?”

“As we expand our territory to the west, our primary target is the Kingdom of Ravino, Pierre to the north is the Kingdom of Resha, the Untouchables to the east is the Kingdom of Adrian, and Hekan to the south is the Kingdom of Carvin.”

“With their current strength, it will be difficult to take on all six kingdoms. right?”

“It seems they have allies in each kingdom. He hasn’t told us who they are, but I suspect they’ll use them to create internal divisions, and we’ll swoop in while the kingdoms are in turmoil.”

Combining the information Fabian had given and what he knew about the timeline, he formed a mental picture of what was to come.

“What about the timing of the war?”

“We’ll talk about that another time, but for now, we’ve been instructed to expand and strengthen our forces.”

“Really?”

If there’s time to spare, there are things that must be taken care of first.

He pulled out a map from his subspace pouch.

On it, he pointed to a mountain range that started in the north of the Resha Kingdom and connected to the Ravino Kingdom.

The Laboratory of the Oberg Empire.

The location of the Super Magic Bomb.

He drew a circle around a village near it.

“We need to move faster than Pierre to secure this area, and then we can draw a line westward into the Kingdom of Ravino.”

“It’s going to cause issues with Pierre.”

“Tell them that there are only two supply routes to the Ravino Kingdom, and that it’s much faster to dig a tunnel here, but if they say anything, we’ll just hand it over after the war is over.”

“Understood.”

“When you secure the mountain range, contact the Merchant Troupe through Vivian. If you give them my real name, they’ll provide you with whatever support you need, and you can start digging the tunnels in three directions from here.”

In addition, they talked about the movements of other organizations, the operation of intelligence networks, and how to expand their power.

When it was all wrapped up.

Fabian claps his hands and opens his mouth.

“Oh, there’s something I forgot to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“They’re going to start testing for the Imperial Knights right away, the day after tomorrow.”

“That soon?”

“They said it’s good to get the ranks set up quickly, and that if any of the organizations have any good candidates, they should encourage them to apply.”

Little was known about the events surrounding the rebuilding of the Oberg Empire, so every bit of information from Fabian was precious.

“Did they tell you anything about the trial?”

“Yes.”

He focused on Fabian’s words.

“An object that the Imperial Knights of the past always carried with them. They said finding it was the first test.”

* * * Support the Translator by reading it in GalaxyTranslation97 Website, and NOT IN Aggregator Site * * *
* * * * Read in GalaxyTranslation97 Website * * * *
* patreon.com/SchattenTranslations *

Time passed quickly.

The Imperial Knights’ selection test was just around the corner, and he arrived at Castle Obelia just in time to find a large crowd gathered.

People applying for the Imperial Knights.

Roughly fifty people were gathered in the area.

There was a lot of clamoring.

Each of the four major organizations appeared to be represented, and the rest were individuals. Moving inconspicuously to a corner, Redin scanned the participants.

There were a few familiar faces.

If things went according to the original timeline, they would be members of the Imperial Knights of the Oberg Empire and would make a name for themselves on the continent.

“This time….”

He was going to take a few of those seats.

After all, if he wants to take Rodwell’s head, he’ll need allies within the Imperial Knights.

“I see you’re all here.”

As he turn at the unfamiliar voice, he sees a bearded, glasses-wearing middle-aged man approaching.

“My name is Locke, and I have been commissioned by the Knight Commander to conduct the trial.”

Locke bowed lightly.

He stepped up to the prepared podium.

“Then let’s not waste any time and get right to it. The first test is to retrieve an identification badge that was once carried by the Knights of the Oberg Empire.”

With a gesture of his hand, the men waiting in the back approached and unfolded a large map.

Several locations were circled.

There were three colors.

Red, blue, and yellow.

“The circled areas are where the badges are located, and the colors are based on the level of information: red for certain, blue for high probability, and yellow for unconfirmed.”

His eyes scanned the circles.

There were a total of ten.

There were five red ones, three blue ones, and two yellow ones.

They were the same as those he’d gotten from Fabian.

Most likely, the other organizations had also seen the map and had made various plans based on it.

The ones that don’t know about this.

People who weren’t part of the Big Four.

“If this is the case, won’t we all end up in the red circles?”

Locke smiled lightly at one applicant’s question.

“You can go for something certain but with more competition, or something uncertain but with little to no conflict. The choice is yours.”

“Doesn’t that give the advantage to the agile?”

“Of course not, for this is not a test of speed, but of knights who will become pillars of the empire.”

Locke flashed a wide smirk.

“Everything is allowed in this trial. You can kill and steal from others, you can use other organizations, you can use any outlandish method.”

“…..”

“There is only one condition for passing. You have to have an identification badge and hand it to me. Keep that in mind.”

This is a piece of information that he hadn’t heard beforehand.

With Rodwell’s personality, he assumed this would be no ordinary test.

He’d already factored it into the variables of his plan.

“Then…”

Locke gestured and a bell chimed. With several rings, Locke signaled the start of the test.

“I wish you all the best of luck.”

Immediately, the group broke into two.

Those who immediately moved to search for the identification badges and those who calmly surveyed the situation and reassessed their strategy.

“You get behind those guys and go first. Everyone else, gather around here for a second.”

“We’ll stick to the original plan.”

“Let’s go.”

The examination was in full swing.

He glanced back at the map.

Among the identification plates spread evenly across each region, Bloods sought to obtain three.

Two in the Red, and one in the Blue.

The Vampires created by Fabian will secure them. If they manage to secure three, one of them is his.

If they fail to get enough of the badges.

He will steal them from another group.

It will take at least a month.

“In the meantime….”

The corner of his mouth lifted at the red circle on the eastern side of the map.

The Duchy of Fyder, guardian of the Kingdom of Adrian, the land of the knights, whose patriarch holds the title of Sword Master.

The Black Mountains nearby.

That was where the former base of the Demon Church was located. A place where a very powerful curse lies dormant. There, he intend to finish the Shadow Lord’s dream.

“Time for me to be diligent.”

* * * Support the Translator by reading it in GalaxyTranslation97 Website, and NOT IN Aggregator Site * * *
* * * * Read in GalaxyTranslation97 Website * * * *
* patreon.com/SchattenTranslations *

A Specialized Group within Burning Hell.

Cerberus.

Captain Daylon made his way to the warden’s office with his arm in a cast. He waited outside and was ushered in by a secretary.

“You called for me?”

He greeted the warden with a slight bow, and Warden Rukel looked at his arm and asked.

“Is your arm still wounded?”

An explosion in a magic stone mining facility.

The explosion was a mixture of demonic energy and curses, so the recovery was quite slow.

“I’ve been told that I can take the cast off in a little while, once I’ve had a final treatment from the Head of Medicine Department.”

“Good, have a seat.”

Warden Rukel rose from his desk and moved to the couch. He sat down facing Daylon and sipped the tea his secretary had prepared.

“The meeting of the Six Kingdoms just ended.”

“Is that so?”

“With the exception of the Holy Empire, the rest of the kingdoms reacted calmly towards the demonic church.”

“Huh?”

Those who worship demons.

There was a history of great wars breaking out whenever they became active.

A sudden increase in demons.

Demon cultists gradually appeared throughout the land.

It made things even more incomprehensible.

“Reports of demon sightings have begun to increase all over the continent, and some villages have been wiped out.”

“Hmm.”

Rukel set his teacup down.

“As long as there’s no active priests of the Demon Church, it looks like the Six Kingdoms won’t care much.”

“……”

“More importantly, it looks like the Oberg Empire is starting to stir, and all attention is focused on that.”

“What kind of movement?”

“The appointment of Pierre, Hekan, the emerging organization Untouchables, and the Bloods as Four Dukes is said to have cemented internal cohesion, and there are reports of a large number of people leaving Obelia last night.”

“You believe they have agents working for them from other kingdoms?”

Rukel nodded.

He activated the map they’d shared via the communication orb and showed it to Daylon.

“They say their first objective is to find the identification badges of the Imperial Knights. They’ll probably converge on those marked in red circles.”

Daylon sighed.

“It’s going to be a messy world out there.”

“If the Demon Church is up to something, now would be the best time to be active.”

“Indeed.”

“I’ll leave the Oberg Empire side of things to the kingdoms, Cerberus, and you concentrate on finding the Demon Church’s priests.”

“Understood.”

“Do you have a plan in mind?”

Daylon pointed to a single red circle on the map.

The Duchy of Fyder.

From there, he pointed to the black mountain range on the left following the road.

“I’m thinking of starting our search here, since it was the former stronghold of the Demon Church.”

“I see. I heard that the Holy Empire has a knightly order investigating the Demon Church, so why not collaborate with them?”

“Understood.”