Chapter 163

A message suddenly appeared.

When he instinctively looked around, he soon saw it.

A necklace placed alone inside a small glass tube, seemingly hung there as decoration between the walls in the corner.

A red light was leaking out from it.

A necklace glowing red in the corner of the room where the throne was located?

‘There’s a hundred percent something there.’

Just at a glance, it looked unusual.

And that intuition was correct.

As if possessed, he stepped closer—and a message appeared.

After checking the message, Dohyun’s eyes widened.

[You have discovered the Fourth Fragment of Fate, “Broken Necklace of Truth.”]
[You have obtained a clue regarding the Fragment of Fate.]
[Main Quest “Fourth Fragment of Fate (1)” has been cleared.]
[Linked Main Quest “Fourth Fragment of Fate (2)” has been generated.]

‘A Fragment of Fate!’

Something that could be called the most important item had appeared.

He had thought there was a high chance it would be inside the royal castle, but he never imagined he would find it this quickly.

Compared to when he found Sargis—after going through countless hardships—this was practically 5G speed beyond LTE.

Excited, Dohyun swallowed hard and hurriedly spoke.

“Could I perhaps take a closer look at that necklace?”

“What…?”

Gilberun’s eyes widened.

It was the first time Dohyun had seen such a change in his expression.

And it wasn’t just the king.

“…What did you just say?”

“Pardon?”

—Grr…!?

The atmosphere suddenly turned hostile.

As if they would cut him down if he didn’t answer, sharp pressure closed in from all directions.

“…My lord.”

Charlie’s expression stiffened as he sensed the killing intent.

His hand was ready to draw his sword at any moment.

If he actually pulled it out, it would be a serious crime and cause trouble for his lord, so he was holding back—for now.

—H-Huh? What is this!?
—Li, Liza!

Jihad and Eliza were also startled, yet they maintained their stances.

Dohyun himself was just as bewildered.

‘What kind of situation is this?’

Just a moment ago, the man had looked completely calm, as if nothing in the world could affect him.

What kind of reaction was this?

And what was with the knights’ overly sensitive response?

He desperately tried to think through the sudden life-or-death situation, but nothing made sense.

The only difference from before was that he mentioned the necklace.

‘…Wait.’

Was mentioning the necklace something he shouldn’t have done?

That was the only explanation based on the circumstances—but even then it was strange.

Most players were obsessed with hidden pieces. It was impossible that no player had discovered the necklace before.

And surely it couldn’t have caused such an explosive reaction every time.

But that assumption turned out to be completely wrong.

“…How did you know?”

“Know what?”

“Are you asking because you truly don’t know?”

The king frowned in displeasure and gestured with his chin.

“How did you know that necklace was hidden there?”

“…?”

“His Majesty asks you a question. Answer immediately! Depending on your answer, you may face the highest punishment. Choose your words carefully!”

“How dare you…”

There was no way loyal Charlie would tolerate such threats.

Now he had moved beyond merely observing—his hand rested firmly on his sword hilt.

It was clear he would not hesitate to draw it if necessary.

He truly was an extremely loyal knight.

But from Dohyun’s perspective, it was driving him insane.

‘…No, damn it. This exploded out of nowhere.’

The situation had suddenly become chaos, giving him a headache.

The stern-looking knight—likely the knight commander—and Charlie were silently glaring at each other as if competing over who was more loyal.

Dohyun held his throbbing head when—

“I asked the White Tower Master to cast invisibility magic and even install a barrier that conceals mana detection. Even the empire’s best assassins wouldn’t have noticed it in such a short time! How do you know about the necklace?!”

“…Huh?”

“Eh?”

The knight commander shouted.

At the same time, Charlie and Dohyun both froze.

They realized the situation had developed differently than expected.

But by the time they realized it, it was already too late.

“I do not understand. Something treated as top secret—how could an Apostle know about it? So speak.”

Gilberun’s low, calm voice escaped through clenched teeth.

There was moisture in it.

“How did you recognize Angela’s… my wife’s relic?”

“…?”

It was such an unexpected answer that Dohyun was stunned for a moment.

But he quickly grasped the situation and silently nodded.

…He had probably screwed up.

* * *

After being practically chased out of the royal castle, Dohyun’s group let out sighs of relief.

—Whoa, that scared me. I almost died.
—Lizariza.
—…I didn’t know such a story existed, my lord.

Should this be considered fortunate?

To summarize the result—they weren’t completely doomed.

Perhaps the title of “the greatest wise king in history” wasn’t just for show. After some explanation, Gilberun accepted it.

“…Honestly, it’s hard to believe. But it doesn’t seem like you had impure intentions, so I will let it pass.”

Some suspicion remained, but that couldn’t be helped.

‘If it ended at this level, I’m lucky.’

After all, he had mentioned something the king had hidden as a top secret—his deceased wife’s relic—and still didn’t end up in prison.

If Gilberun had even slightly malicious intentions, Dohyun would have been jailed immediately.

There were many knights gathered there, and countless others inside the castle.

Even Dohyun couldn’t fight them all.

He might have escaped—but that would only be temporary.

NPCs were extremely sensitive to crimes committed by Apostles. They would never leave him alone.

A wanted order would definitely be issued.

‘If a warrant is issued, the Empire will get involved.’

And that would be the end.

There had never been a criminal who escaped after the Empire stepped in.

The continent’s only sun.

The arrogance that only the Emperor of the Empire could be called “king” wasn’t unfounded.

If the Empire seriously intervened, even the Reved chance he received before wouldn’t save him.

In short, he almost got completely screwed—but was spared thanks to Gilberun’s generosity.

“I believe your name was Kaiser. I will remember it.”

“And regarding the necklace… I trust you will act wisely. I dislike people with loose tongues.”

Still, although he avoided the worst outcome, the situation wasn’t good.

[The favorability of Pratel’s King ‘Gilberun’ is low.]
[If you offend him, a hostile relationship may form.]

He had been firmly marked by Gilberun and the knights.

‘Being hostile with the king of a city… just imagining it is terrifying.’

If he revealed information about the necklace or committed a crime, he might have to delete his character.

In other words, as long as he didn’t reveal the necklace or commit crimes, there wouldn’t be major issues.

But for Dohyun, it was still frustrating.

[Fourth Fragment of Fate (2)]

Rank: Main Quest, Job Quest
Description:
The royal castle where the King of Pratel resides.
There, you discovered the Fourth Fragment of Fate.
Find a way to obtain the Fragment of Fate.
Quest Success: Obtain the Fourth Fragment of Fate
Quest Failure: Fail to obtain the Fourth Fragment of Fate
Time Limit: None

‘How am I supposed to get it now…?’

It was practically the same as losing any way to obtain the Fragment of Fate.

Should he have approached it more carefully?

In hindsight, maybe he had been too hasty.

But that was only obvious in retrospect.

From Dohyun’s perspective, it felt unfair.

Who would logically imagine that a Fragment of Fate would be the relic of the king’s dead wife?

‘Now I have to steal something passed down by the lord of a castle—no, even worse, the king’s wife’s relic?’

This was beyond ridiculous.

Was it even reasonable to design a quest like this?

He felt like swearing out loud, but what could he do?

‘Sigh… well, when has it ever been easy?’

Giving up wasn’t an option.

So he had no choice but to keep rolling forward.

The only Fragment of Fate he had obtained easily was the first one in Raven.

He had overcome far more difficult conditions before—so why not this one too?

‘Angela, was it?’

The name of the deceased queen—something other players probably didn’t know.

He planned to search for clues based on that.

Why did the king hide his dead wife’s relic?

Why was he so sensitive about it, treating it as top secret?

Why had the king become such a hollow man?

‘Anything is fine—just give me one clue.’

With burning determination, Dohyun jumped into the crowd of NPCs.

* * *

Several hours passed.

By the time it felt fair to say he had searched every corner of the massive city of Pratel, Dohyun finally stopped.

Rather than stopping voluntarily, it was more accurate to say he was forced to stop.

“How come no one tells me anything?”

—Seriously. It’s not like they’ll die if they talk. They act terrified and run away.
—Lizariza.
—…It is certainly strange, my lord.

No matter how much he asked, not a single resident gave him a proper answer.

“…What did you just say? How does an Apostle like you know that name?”

“I’m sorry… but I have nothing to say about her to someone whose background I don’t know.”

“My goodness… I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“I don’t know how an Apostle knows that name… but it has been a long time since I heard it. She was truly beautiful and kind… her wisdom shone brilliantly.”

“I can never forget her sacrifice.”

People reacted as if they had heard a forbidden name.

Even when they didn’t panic, they clearly hesitated to speak.

The only ones who didn’t avoid answering were elderly residents—but even then there wasn’t much useful information.

‘Beautiful, kind… wise… sigh.’

Anyone could say things like that.

Perhaps the only clue was the mention of her sacrifice.

‘What is this, Voldemort or something?’

…Or maybe it actually was like that.

Maybe he shouldn’t treat it like a joke and consider the possibility seriously.

Thanks to his relentless effort, he managed to gain one tiny clue.

“Lady Angela? Of course I know her. She’s the benefactor of all of us. She was an amazing person.”

“People call Lord Gilberun the greatest wise king in history, but some actually rate Lady Angela even higher. Without her, Gilberun wouldn’t be who he is today.”

“That’s all I can say. I don’t know anything beyond that… and frankly, it’s difficult to speak about.”

“Her life itself was sacred.”

After finishing his conversation with the last NPC, Dohyun let out a sigh.

‘She was really a secretive person.’

He had probably asked every NPC he could find.

But this amount of information wasn’t nearly enough.

Clearing the escort knight linked quest and meeting the king again… probably not a good idea.

Maybe he should try meeting the knights again, even if it was awkward.

While scratching his head in thought—

“Why are you going around asking so much about someone who’s already dead? That’s pretty rude.”

A clear voice came from somewhere.

But the tone was casual and blunt.