ETHTKE chapter 22

I quickly shook off Reggie, awkwardly laughing as I averted Baek Yigang’s gaze.

Though I hadn’t done anything wrong, I lacked the courage to meet his fierce glare head-on.

“That’s not what I sent you here to enjoy.”

The icy words continued, and both Blue and Reggie glanced at Baek Yigang’s face before quietly shutting their mouths.

Who said I enjoyed it? …I’d like to retort, but I’ll hold back.

When Baek Yigang has that expression, it’s best to stay silent.

It felt like walking on thin ice. The fierce wind blowing from him was so cold it seemed like it could freeze my skin.

“It’s been a while, Your Majesty!”

Reggie was the first to speak, cutting through the tense atmosphere. He was still stuck to my side.

…Should I just kill him here?

We have two wizards, so killing one shouldn’t cause any problems for the story’s progression.

“Reggie, I forgot that your mouth could actually move.”

Luckily, before I could even voice my malicious thoughts, Baek Yigang spoke up first.

His distinctively gentle voice carried words sharp enough to make Reggie immediately fall silent.

To think he could quiet Reggie in an instant… The true mastermind really is on another level.

As the surroundings fell quiet, Baek Yigang slowly began approaching me.

But seriously, this is unfair. I haven’t done anything wrong, so why do I feel so nervous?!

“Yigang… no, Your Highness. What brings you here? Weren’t you supposed to be in a meeting?”

Whether he heard me or not, Baek Yigang, who had come right up to me, grabbed my chin and began turning my head from side to side as if inspecting me.

“It’s over. Are you okay?”

“Huh? My body?”

“Where did they lay their hands on you this time?”

Baek Yigang’s eyes, full of distrust, turned sharply towards Blue and Reggie, who had somehow been pushed into a corner.

“Y-Your Highness, we’re not gays….”

Ignoring the teary plea coming from the corner, Baek Yigang looked me in the eyes, demanding the truth.

One thing’s for sure: if I say the wrong thing here, those two wizards won’t get out of this unscathed.

“Speak up. I’ll cut off their hands and feet.”

“N-no, they didn’t really do anything…”

But cutting off their limbs seems a bit too extreme, don’t you think…?

“Fine, then. Come with me; there’s somewhere we need to go.”

Hearing my half-hearted response, Baek Yigang turned away without further reaction, as if he had other business to attend to.

“You two, come along as well.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Yes, sir.”

At Baek Yigang’s command, Blue and Reggie, who had been sticking to the wall, hesitantly detached themselves.

“Hmm… They seem closer than I thought.”

Their bickering was oddly tense, yet the strange relationship still appeared somewhat affectionate.

At Reggie’s meaningful comment, Blue nodded slightly and quietly watched as the dignified crown prince disappeared with Dowoon.

The crown prince, as they knew him, was never the type to keep someone in his sight for so long. So, this situation was indeed a rare sight.

“Indeed. The mysterious wizard who arrived with such a bang is now favored by the cautious crown prince…”

Blue’s blue hair, stretching down to his collarbone, slowly slid down as he swept it back with a practiced hand and continued walking.

“It seems ‘he’ is getting rather impatient.”

“This is turning out to be more interesting than I thought. Let’s keep watching.”

Reggie burst into a cheerful laugh at Blue’s words.

But as he was following Blue towards the entrance, Reggie suddenly stopped and quickly turned his head.

His orange eyes caught sight of the half-open window at the end of the meeting room.

His eyes darted back and forth around the window, searching for something unseen.

“Reggie? What are you doing? Hurry up.”

But before he could dwell on it any longer, Blue’s urgent voice, concerned about irritating the temperamental crown prince by delaying, snapped him out of it.

“Hmm, did I see wrong…?”

As Reggie’s gaze finally left the window, a silent flap of black wings fluttered away outside.

“What’s this place?”

The place Baek Yigang had led me to was somewhere within the imperial palace, where a vast, charred plain stretched out before us.

The air was cool, as the wind blew across the open, barren land beneath the clear sky, sending a chill down my spine.

And for some reason, a large group of nobles was gathered here, all staring at me—no, precisely at me.

“This is where everything burned when you appeared.”

“Oh, so this is…”

As I looked around in confusion, Baek Yigang quickly provided the answer.

So this must be the imperial estate that was supposedly burnt down because of me.

Ken had mentioned it so many times that I couldn’t possibly forget.

But why bring me here all of a sudden?

“Cheong Dowoon, from now on, you need to restore this entire area. Especially that poison garden over there.”

Following Baek Yigang’s pointing finger, I turned my gaze and saw only the faint remnants of what seemed to be a greenhouse.

According to the original story, the Dirzio royal family trained themselves to resist poison by ingesting various poisonous plants from a young age.

The poison garden that had burnt down this time was where those plants were grown.

Even though it wasn’t intentional, it was true that I had been feeling uneasy about it ever since I accidentally destroyed such an important facility.

“I get what you want, but what’s with the audience?”

As soon as we arrived, the nobles began murmuring among themselves, their voices buzzing in my ears.

“Is that the man from the rumors…?”

“Goodness, he’s as big as a dragon.”

“How can someone like that be a royal wizard…?”

Judging by what I was hearing, it seemed that public opinion about me wasn’t very favorable.

“This is a show. It’s also a test to verify your abilities and conditions as a royal wizard. But if you don’t want to, you don’t have to do it… It wasn’t planned.”

After bringing me all the way here, saying I don’t have to do it? How absurd. While Baek Yigang’s face showed that he was genuinely fine with it, I certainly wasn’t.

And if it wasn’t planned… that means Baek Yigang didn’t intend for this to happen, right?

In any case, the bottom line is that everyone gathered here to see what I, the parachute recruit, can do. And if I back out now, it’ll undoubtedly put Baek Yigang in an awkward position.

“So, you’re saying that besides these people, someone else is watching too?”

“Yes.”

“For example?”

Baek Yigang fell silent for a moment at my question. It was just a brief pause, but it wasn’t hard to guess that he was referring to the Emperor.

“…Probably everyone inside the imperial palace is watching. It’s rare to get a chance to see the power of a wizard in action, given how few there are in the Empire.”

“So, it’s a rare spectacle. Well, if that’s the case, I have no reason not to show them.”

In truth, restoring this charred plain wasn’t particularly difficult magic. It was just a matter of rewinding the time of the land—a simple task, really.

However, the one challenging part was that manipulating the time of a specific location required an enormous amount of mana, despite not being complex magic.

In other words, using this spell would drain me significantly, leaving me weakened for a while.

Complicated spells?

Out of the question.

Teleportation?

Can’t do it.

Even the big talk I once made about making it rain from the sky would be impossible for a while after using this spell.

In conclusion, this was a cruel stage designed specifically to target me.

If anyone with even a little less mana than me tried this spell, they would collapse immediately afterward.

If that happened, people unfamiliar with magic might think I collapsed because I was too weak, leading to disappointment.

My reputation as the crown prince’s parachute recruit might take an even bigger hit.

“Cheong Dowoon, I’ll say it again, you don’t have to push yourself.”

Baek Yigang’s words were gentle, filled with genuine concern.

But I couldn’t afford to rely on that. Proving my power would make things easier for Baek Yigang as well.

“Don’t worry, it’s no big deal!”

I said with a confident smile, but inside, I wasn’t laughing.

No big deal? This forest is huge! I’ll be bedridden for days after this. Ugh, my luck.

This must be why they say dealing with a mastermind drains your energy… Or is there no such saying? Tch.

All I ask is that I don’t collapse. As a third-life transmigrator, I can’t afford to fall from something like this.

“If I succeed, I won’t be seen as a parachute recruit anymore, right?”

“Yes.”

Hearing Baek Yigang’s answer, I felt a sense of relief.

Honestly, apart from Baek Yigang being in a tough spot, it had always bothered me.

The idea that I, a superpowered transmigrator from another world, could be considered a mere parachute recruit was utterly ridiculous.

As everyone’s eyes focused on me, I steadied myself and slowly raised my hand towards the sky.