The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

Chapter 160: Immortal Monster

What is the meaning of this? Arnold?

Please ask the details from the Prime Minister. I am the victim here.

As soon as I entered the throne room with Elna and Orihime, I was immediately questioned by Father.

However, I am not going to say sorry here.

It was not something I could control so this is definitely not my fault.

My apologies, Your Majesty. Her Grace asked me for permission to visit His Highness Arnold so I granted her that permission.

Unconditionally?

No, we agreed that she have to erect barriers around the room for her visit but-

Elna was suspicious of the knights patrolling around my room so she broke the barrier and came in.

.

.

Father and Franz held their heads at the same time.

Seeing that, Elna seemed to be guilty about it but Orihime on the other hand has a smug expression on her face that seems to say serve you right.

Well, you were going to talk about this with Elna later anyway right? Isnt it okay if we just do it a little earlier.

I guess so..How much do you know about this? Arnold.

I know that due to the Incident in the East, the dormant monsters near the Empire are beginning to enter their active phase and the Empire is dealing with that by joining forces with the Adventurer Guild. If you leave it alone it might affect the anniversary ceremony after all.

So you know almost everything already huh. It was supposed to be a secret though.

While muttering so as if he was amazed, Father doesnt ask about how I get to know that information any further.

Probably this is not the time to worry about my information source huh.

Elna. it is as you heard. I invited the Celestial Princess to assist us with this problem. According to the report from the adventurer guild, there is at least one monster that we must rely on you to subjugate.

I shall fulfill your wish with my life, Your Majesty, no matter what kind of monster it is I shall defeat it. Howeverif you want me to fight together with her, I will have to think about it.

HoHou? Expecting to count on others power before the fight even starts huh, the Brave house isnt that great it seems.  If you are not confident then just say it. If you do that I might consider lending you my strength you know.

Who is not confident.? And I am only saying it hypothetically! Spare me from fighting alongside someone like you!

Thats my line here! I wont help you unless you beg me alright!

With me in the middle, sparks are flying around between the two.

Honestly, I want them to think about where they are right now though. Someone just died because he disrespected the Emperor you know.

Well, it would be rude to compare Laurenz to these two though. Their status and power are orders of magnitude higher. At most, they will probably get scolded for minor rudeness like this.

That being said, the person who should be reprimanding them right now is having a difficult expression on his face.

This might be worse than I expected.

Orihime.

Nn? What, Arnold! If Arnold really insists I will consider it you know!

Shut up.

*GANN*..!!?

Elna too. We are in front of Father you know.

Uu.my deepest apology. Your Majesty.

Both of them drop their shoulders dejectedly.

Now its quiet. Finally, we can talk in peace.

What kind of monster is it? The one that requires Elnas power.

.its a monster called the [Spirit Turtle]. It is a monster that can naturally appear out of nowhere and its enormous size makes it a walking disaster.

From nowhere? Werent we talking about the dormant monster?

Thats right. That Spirit Turtle appeared 200 years ago. It has been dormant since then.

Staying dormant for 200 years? What on earth happened?

Some monsters sleep for hundreds of years but they are extremely rare.

The Sea Dragon Leviathan I fought last time was forced to sleep. Unless it has some special circumstances like that, even a powerful monster usually only stays dormant for several decades.

There is no doubt that something was done to it.

The Spirit Turtle is called an immortal monster. The reason being it cant be killed in a normal way.

How does that work?

From the adventure guilds observation, they say that the Spirit Turtles body is made of magic power. When severely injured, the Spirit Turtle will make its body extremely hard and lay dormant. Once it finishes strengthening its body, it will continue to move again. Even if in the off chance that someone can defeat it before it enters that state since its body is originally made of magic power, it will just reconstruct its body. It seems that the Spirit Turtle that appeared last time is the same as the one that is emerging. Thats why they call it an immortal monster.

Isnt it strange that such a nasty monster hasnt been talked about until now?

It seems that when the Spirit Turtles body gets its magic power cut off,  the next time it appears, its body will become smaller. Its growth probably got reset as well. That being the case, subjugating it again wont post that much of a danger, Your Highness.

I see. Even if it is immortal, it is not invincible huh.

Certainly, defeating it shouldnt be that dangerous.

However, since it has been dormant for 200 years, that means that the subjugation 200 years ago has failed.

So? Why did the subjugation 200 years ago didnt go well?

200 years ago, it seems that the guild dispatched an SS-rank adventurer to subjugate it. The SS-rank adventurer chased it down and was about to destroy it but it seems that something got in the way and the turtle was able to enter its dormant state.

Getting in the way of an SS-rank adventurer? Just who could do that?

It was the Ancient Dragon that Silver subjugated. That troublesome ancient dragon was preying on mankind back then and it got in the way of the subjugation 200 years ago. Well, it got counterattacked but it managed to escape and entered its dormant period. Still, it did leave quite a troublesome souvenir for us.

Father said so with an irritated look.

To think that the Ancient Dragon I defeated did something like that.

Despite its strong power, it never went head to head with the Brave house but prey on the people of the center part of the continent and caused damage to the Empire. It was quite a cunning dragon.

Even when it fought me, it was trying to escape until the end. I was under the impression that it is a dragon that is good at escaping but it even deliberately got in the way of that SS-rank adventurer to save that Spirit Turtle too huh.

For the turtle to enter its dormant period means that it is trying to strengthen its body until it can beat its opponent. That is probably why it has been dormant for 200 years.

If such a monster exists then the dragon probably thinks that it will be easier for it to move. Maybe it even hoped that the turtle would be able to defeat the Brave house for it. It probably helped the turtle with that intention.

In the end, it ended up getting defeated by me but it seems that it left quite a gift for us huh.

If it strengthened its body until it can defeat an SS-rank adventurer then even if its Elna it could still be dangerous isnt it?

I already took that into consideration. Thats why it would be great if the Celestial Princess could lend us her power this time.

Fumu, Your Majesty. Dont get me wrong. I wasnt called here to defeat a monster. I was called here to seal the dangerous ones. I will fight if it tries to harm me but I have no plan to enter a fight that only benefits the Empire. Of course, if you offer my country a large amount of reward then, I dont mind rethinking that though!

Putting quite a tough front huh.

The Empire wants to make the anniversary ceremony a success. Thats why Father promised his full support to the adventurer guild. Together with the cost of the ceremony itself, that would cost us a considerable expense.

It will be difficult for us to offer a reward that can move the Celestial Princess. As expected, she has too little to gain from this.

The Celestial Princess is just a barrier specialist. When defeating a giant monster, she couldnt possibly deal the finishing blow. We can appreciate the fact that she is willing to help us but it isnt like we absolutely need her to go and help with the subjugation.

Thats a shame. We will be seeking help from the adventurer guild then.

That masked man isnt it..Well, he should be more reliable than a Celestial Princess.

Elna, we will not be counting on Silver this time. The adventurer guild cooperated with us under that condition.

!? What has that man done!?

Its not like that. The adventurer guild said that they want to cultivate their human resource so that they can avoid relying heavily on Silver alone. Our Empire is also wishing for other adventurers to set up base within our border so it is good for us as well.

Your Majesty kept him away for such a reason? I do not like that man but..its an undeniable fact that he has been protecting the Empire. I do think we should be relying on Silver first. What would Your Majesty do if Silver grew distant from the Empire?

I was thinking about that too. Arnold. I heard that you are connected to that man, is that true?

We are connected but, it is more like a one-sided contact from him though.

I dont mind, do you have a way to get in touch with him?

I do but I dont know if the other side will respond or not. The imperial capital adventurer guild is in the same shoes as well. Silver is like a phantom. It is impossible to keep track of his whereabouts.

If he doesnt respond then there is no helping it but nothing good comes out of quitting before you try. Tell him that I want to see him.

..what are you planning to do?

Just having a talk. A slow one that is.

Saying so, Father slowly turned his eyes outside the castle.

Although Silver is an SS-rank adventurer, it is unusual for the Emperor to call for a person whose identity is unknown.

It is different from when I came here by myself last time.

So Father is planning to maintain the relationship with Silver himself huh.

This is an unexpected development.