Chapter 169 - EPISODE 169 – ENTERING THE PALACE (4)

Chapter 169 - EPISODE 169 – ENTERING THE PALACE (4)

Scarlet Viper.

She was the great-granddaughter of Elijah Viper, the 5th?and last Rogue Master at that time.

As she was on her way to becoming the 6th?Rogue Master after several decades, she stumbled upon something that made her seriously question someone.

‘What? Who is he? What is he doing?’

Jude Bayer.

He was the second son of Count Bayer and known to be madly in love with Cordelia Chase, the daughter of Count Chase. Together, they were known by the entire S?len Kingdom as the couple of the century.

‘And Black Cloak.’

He was the sidekick as well as the assistant to Pink Bomb, the 6th?generation Rogue Master who was actually Cordelia Chase.

He was 17 years old. His birthday wasn’t that far, so he would be eighteen soon.

He was 180 centimeters tall and weighed about 70 kilograms.

He had black hair and green eyes.

He had a seriously good-looking face. To put it simply, he was a handsome young man.

From what she had seen so far, he had a very calculative personality. A black-hearted man who was really cunning and sly.

He liked Pink Bomb. His weak points were his destructive naming sense and Pink Bomb. But it was difficult to regard it as a main weakness because she did not know how he’d react if someone touched Pink Bomb.

His strength was very powerful for someone his age.

She estimated it to be around a minimum B- to a maximum of B+.

He claimed to be a swordsman, but in reality, he fought with his fists in actual combat.

His family was also very strong.

He mainly used martial arts that utilized his Qi/energy instead of the ‘Chivalry’ used by knights and swordsmen.

Scarlet momentarily recalled the information she had gathered about Jude, and she even questioned it more.

Because she couldn’t understand him.

‘Is he a hidden child of Duke Spencer?’

Like an illegitimate child.

Or a child who was born from his close relatives and had to be hidden.

If Count Bayer had heard of her thoughts, he would have drawn his sword in rage, but the reason she began questioning it was simple.

Because the amount of information Jude had was too much.

“Wait here for a second. One, two, three. Okay, let’s go quickly while the guard turns to the corner.”

First of all, his understanding of the guards’ movement was perfect.

Of course, there was nothing particularly strange about it because the movement of the outside guards was basic information that small-scale thieves figure out first before entering.

But the problem was after that.

“If you lightly press the wall here…”

“Oooh, it’s a secret passage.”

“It leads to the inside. Let’s hurry.”

“Yes!”

Pink Bomb broadly smiled and listened to Jude as if this was something natural, but Scarlet felt differently.

Because she couldn’t understand.

‘Why do you know this?’

No, how do you know?

It was common for the secret passages of a mansion to be only known by the owner and their successors.

Those were emergency routes used in certain situations.

But Jude knew of all the secret passages in Duke Spencer’s Red Rose Castle as if it was his own house.

How the hell does he know?

That was information that even someone like the Rogue Master wouldn’t be able to find.

‘Come to think of it, it seems that Pink Bomb already knew about the Palace of Mirrors…’

Could it be that the two had done a preliminary investigation before?

‘That makes sense, but…’

But it was very strange that he knew all the secret passages.

‘It was the same with the previous case… is his intelligence source that great?’

But it seems like he had met the Blue Moon for the first time back then.

It also seems like he has no connections with the intelligence groups in the royal capital.

‘Is it possible that he has his own intelligence network?’

That’s possible.

He is the child of someone from the 12 northern families.

‘No, that would be a bit…’

That would have been the situation if they were in the north.

Moreover, the families of Jude and Cordelia were not particularly famous for their intelligence or wealth, though their individual strength was strong.

‘What is it then? What in the world is it?’

The secret of Black Cloak.

His source of information.

Scarlet thought hard before she suddenly looked next to her. Because she instantly became interested in Lucas Hr?svelgr, the fourth person in their group.

‘What’s his reaction?’

Anyone could tell that it was strange for Jude to know all the secret passages and also the movement of Duke Spencer’s guards.

So what does Lucas think of the current situation?

‘But if he accepts it as if it was natural…’

Maybe Lucas knows something too?

Something that I myself do not know.

Right after Scarlet changed her target and began to glance at Lucas, Cordelia snickered when she saw it.

‘Jude, Jude. Look at that. Scarlet must be interested in Lucas. Hehe, our Lucas is kind and handsome. He’s also pure.’

When Cordelia said with her eyes a lot of good things about Lucas, Jude somehow narrowed his eyes before he sent her a glance with a very short message.

‘Handsome?’

‘He’s handsome. Our Lucas is clearly handsome… ah, my Jude, are you feeling upset now? Just because I said that Lucas is handsome?’

Jude didn’t give an answer, so Cordelia laughed again and sent him a look.

‘No, well… my Jude is more handsome. But rather than being pure, your insides are more of pure black in color… Wait, if it’s pure black, does that mean you’re pure too?’

‘Ahem…’

But Jude looked satisfied, perhaps because he heard from her that he was more handsome, and Cordelia shook her head at him, finding it to be absurd.

‘Sometimes, you’re really childish.’

‘I don’t want to hear that from Pink Bomb.’

‘Hey, you’re the one who gave me that name, right?’

While Jude and Cordelia exchanged glances and were having an almost telepathic conversation, Lucas and Scarlet also glanced at each other, and their eyes met.

Scarlet’s red eyes and Lucas’ blue eyes.

Scarlet flinched while Lucas slightly blushed and averted his gaze, acting like a pure boy just as Cordelia had said.

And him acting like that was certainly quite effective.

‘Cute.’

Scarlet unknowingly smiled and looked at Lucas again, while Lucas opened his mouth at that moment as if he was trying to shake off his embarrassment.

“Umm… Mr. Jude.”

“Yes, Lord Lucas.”

Jude answered in a low voice, and Lucas asked again in a hushed voice.

“Your information about the Red Rose Castle… did you hear it from your master too?”

Master.

At Lucas’ question, Scarlet perked up her ears while Jude nodded his head.

“Yes, I heard it from Master.”

“Ah, I see…”

Landius had also become famous for exploring ruins around the world after the fall of the Paragon Kingdom.

The Red Rose Castle was originally a renovation and expansion of an ancient ruin, so Landius could have known about its secret passages – that was what Lucas thought, and his answer was true to some extent.

But Scarlet was thinking something different again.

‘What? Who? Who is Black Cloak’s master? Who’s that person?’

Unfortunately, not many people knew that Jude was Landius’ disciple.

Because neither Count Bayer nor Count Chase talked about it.

‘If you think about it, it should be Count Bayer, right?’

Because Count Bayer was a swordsman, and not just any other swordsman.

So it was strange that someone who was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters would hire a separate master for Jude.

‘But… that’s also possible.’

Jude’s specialty was fist fighting and not swordsmanship.

If he was a student of Count Bayer, the Sword General, he would be a swordsman, so it was possible that someone else was his master.

‘Somehow, I have an idea on who it is.’

It was quite unbelievable that a child from the 12 northern families would claim to be the Rogue Master.

But if it was someone’s dying wish…

If Jude’s master was someone who might be after the Rogue Master – for example, a descendant of the Thief Master…

‘That explains everything.’

It would explain everything from the fact that Jude used his fists instead of a sword, that Jude had Cordelia claim to be the Rogue Master, and that he had his own powerful intelligence network.

‘Who is it?’

Jude and Cordelia’s master.

The one who made the two walk the path of the Rogue Master!

She couldn’t ask that from Jude and Cordelia.

Because Jude wasn’t someone she could induce into answering, while Cordelia was always next to Jude.

Then, Lucas could be her only source of information.

‘Lucas Hr?svelgr.’

Scarlet slightly licked her lips and stared at Lucas with eyes full of desire (to know), but Cordelia saw it and looked back at Jude while trying to suppress her want to shout.

‘Jude, Jude. Look at Scarlet’s face. I think she has already fallen for Lucas. Maybe she’s worried about their difference in status.’

‘Eh, I don’t think that’s it.

‘Why? It’s possible, right?’

‘No, it’s not. Anyway, since we’re here, please light up the place.’

Jude signaled to her, and she lit up the surroundings by creating a large magic light.

“Ugh.”

Scarlet groaned and frowned at the sudden bright light, while Lucas looked around with squinted eyes.

They were in a small stone chamber around 5 meters in diameter.

The ceiling was quite high at around 3 meters tall, and at the center of the stone chamber was a stone pillar around 1 meter high with four round amber stones each in the direction of the east, west, north, and south.

“That pillar is the Palace of Mirrors.”

Lucas blinked his eyes when Jude pointed and spoke like a guide.

“It’s a dungeon book but not in the form of a book?”

“Everyone makes it into a book these days, but in ancient times, dungeon books…no, I mean, instant dungeons… those were often in the form of a stone pillar like this or a stone statue.”

“I see… Come to think of it, I’ve seen a similar story in a hero’s biography that I have read before.”

Lucas was speaking calmly, but his feelings could be seen in his face.

He wanted to run at that moment and touch the stone pillar.

As for Cordelia, her hand was already touching the amber stone.

Jude just smiled before he explained it to Lucas and Scarlet.

“To enter the Palace of Mirrors, four people must simultaneously instill their mana or energy into the amber stones. Cordelia is already touching the south, so I’ll take the north. The two of you, please take the east and west respectively.”

“I understand.”

Lucas immediately replied and walked to the east as if he was almost leaping, while Scarlet headed to the west with fairly quick steps.

‘Let’s go, let’s go.’

Despite Cordelia’s urging, Jude walked in a relaxed manner before he opened his mouth again as he touched the amber stone in the north.

“When I count to three, please instill your energy into the amber stone.”

“Okay.”

“Yes!”

Unlike Cordelia and Lucas who immediately replied, Scarlet didn’t say anything, but Jude never expected her to answer anyway.

As he felt his heart begin to pound, Jude slowly counted the numbers.

“One, two-”

“Three!”

When Cordelia shouted instead of Jude and instilled her mana, Lucas and Scarlet spontaneously instilled their energy to the amber stones too. Jude did the same, having known that Cordelia would behave like that.

And right after that.

At the moment when the amber stones reacted to the energy of the four people and glowed red.

“Good luck.”

Everyone’s vision turned white after they heard Jude’s low voice.

***

“Haa.”

Jude deeply breathed as he slowly opened his eyes and looked around.

Stone walls and a stone floor.

He was inside a large stone chamber like the one in the game.

‘But it’s a bit different now that I see it in person.’

It felt much bigger than when he saw it in the game.

Jude raised his head and looked at the ceiling.

Technically speaking, the stone chamber had no ceiling. The walls headed to the beyond without any signs of ending, and a faint light similar to moonlight had lit up the place, with nothing else obstructing the view.

‘Its size should be… around 30 meters in both height and width.’

It was such a large space that it was already hard to call it a stone chamber.

Cordelia, Lucas, and Scarlet were nowhere to be seen, but Jude did not even think of finding the three.

To begin with, the mystery of the Palace of Mirrors was that it only needed four people to enter, but it was actually a one-player dungeon.

‘The difficulty also widely varies for everyone who enter.’

Therefore, there were many different rewards, and since the Palace of Mirrors was a dungeon book developed for training in the first place, intangible rewards such as increasing stats or developing one’s abilities were more important than material rewards.

‘Lucas… I’m sure he’ll do well.’

Scarlet would also do well on her own because she was one of the future four great swordsmen.

Rather, it was Jude himself and Cordelia who might have a problem.

‘There’s a reason why it’s called the Palace of Mirrors.’

There was no pool of water in the stone chamber where you could see your face, nor was there a mirror.

There was only a small door in front of them.

But this was the Palace of Mirrors, and there was a reason why this place was called that.

‘A fight with yourself.’

The small door in front opened, and as he had expected, a man who looked exactly like Jude then entered the stone chamber.

“Hmm, he’s handsome-looking too.”

Jude said that, and the ‘mirror man’ raised his hands with a sly smile.

And with that movement, mana filled both his hands, and Jude had a bitter smile when he saw that.

‘Is it another me?’

The self they faced in the Palace of Mirrors was not exactly the same as their original selves.

The image reflected in a mirror naturally reversed the positions of the left and right.

‘In this case, it’s the person you would have been if you had walked a different path.’

Usually, only the weapons or skills used would change, but it seemed to be the completely different this time.

“<Gust Wind> in the right hand, and <Fire Wall> in the left hand.”

The mirror man said, and the wind and flames rose at the same time.

A violent wind blew through the wide wall of fire as it combined and filled the stone chamber with fierce flames.

It was extremely difficult to invoke two different magic spells at the same time, but that was only for ordinary people.

Jude Bayer.

A genius in calculation.

“F*ck.”

Jude spoke like Cordelia before he kicked the ground. He then rushed towards the mirror man, who was a wizard.

***

Cordelia raised her head. She then swallowed hard as she stared at the mirror woman before her. She had no choice but to do that.

Cordelia Chase.

A woman born with wild instincts like that of a beast.

A woman with genius combat senses.

The mirror woman held a long sword instead of a wand, and she brightly smiled as she spread out her angel wings of light.

Her languid smile and gestures were as graceful and deadly as that of big cats and ferocious beasts.

“As expected of Cordelia. She’s very pretty.”

Cordelia muttered to relieve her tension as much as possible, and she soon smiled as her canines glistened.

As if responding to the mirror woman’s angel form, she transformed into a witch and held a detonating cord in her hand.

“Come.”

Cordelia said, and the mirror woman responded. She flew up with her angel wings of light.