3/9 Bonus Chapter thanks to @Excali on Ko-fi
The Imperial Palace.
The heart of the Terst Empire, the capital city of Silchester.
When entering through it and heading further north, a giant outer wall that can be seen even from a distance appears.
That is the outer wall of the Imperial Palace.
The length of just that one wall is 20km.
Entering through that giant square outer wall that forms exactly four sides, each of those inner citadels show off their figure before your very eyes.
You pass through all those citadels and reach the heart of it all, and what you see there is the inner citadel where the Emperor lives.
Not only a market, but also restaurants, beauty salons, laundromats, hospitals, and entertainment facilities such as bars and karaoke.
You could call it a castle version of a multifunctional complex.
Soon, I came across the magnificent inner citadel.
Its majestic grandeur simply stands there, gigantic.
As if a designer had designed it without thinking, it’s on an absurd scale.
The car stopped in front of it, and Philly and I got out.
“From here on, you’ll have to cover your eyes. Please understand.”
When I nodded, the driver came over and covered my eyes with a cloth.
They just wrapped a single layer of cloth around my head and tied it, yet I couldn’t see a thing in front of me.
They’re just a driver, yet the intimidation I felt was considerable.
Do they also act as bodyguards in case of an emergency?
Following Philly’s instructions, I spun around on the spot and walked somewhere.
Whenever a fork in the road appeared, I had to spin around on the spot and walk again.
By the time that happened, not only would I have forgotten which way I came from, but also my sense of direction would disappear.
…Of course, I know the entire layout of the Imperial Palace.
Philly’s efforts to keep the interior a secret from me are futile and meaningless.
I’m not saying anything about it because there’s nothing good to say.
“Alright, you can uncover it now.”
When Philly said that, I removed the cloth and looked around, and the area was filled with all sorts of weapons and shields.
The Imperial armory.
“I’ll fulfill your conditions first. Only then will I demand the information. That’s the right order.”
I nodded and looked around.
I pretended to be looking for a suitable weapon as I copied everything inside into the Workshop.
Of course, of all the things here, there’s no telling how many I’ll actually be able to use with my skill, but it never hurts to have more weapons in the storage.
Then, I stopped in front of a certain item.
Philly spoke when she saw where I was looking.
“Oh, I’m telling you in advance that you can’t have that weapon.”
“I know.”
Different from all other weapons, it was displayed separately.
It was suspended in the air with a sturdy magic device and equipment.
A hammer with a short handle.
A square of steel, with both sides perfectly symmetrical about the handle.
The strongest weapon possessed by the Terst Empire.
Thor’s divine weapon, Mjölnir.
How nostalgic.
Back in my old world, whenever the community talked about Etius, this topic would come up.
Which is stronger, Thor’s Mjölnir or Zeus’s lightning bolt?
It was a childish question, like asking who would win in a fight between a lion and a tiger.
The reason this topic never reached a conclusion was because the main character Aster couldn’t use either of them.
As you can see, Mjölnir is kept in the heart of the Empire, and in times of crisis, the Emperor himself wields it.
As for Zeus’s lightning bolt, Astrape, no one has ever even seen it.
People just assumed that since Etius is a game where gods exist, there must be a lightning bolt belonging to Zeus.
‘But I can use it.’
It’s already been put in the workshop.
But it’s not something that can be used right away.
Even with the legendary weapon Gram, the longest I can maintain the Weaving is 5 seconds.
With Mjölnir, I probably won’t even be able to activate it.
Someday, though.
For now, I would just keep it safe in my Spatial Storage.
Someday, I’ll find a use for it.
I picked up a decent sword nearby.
I had roughly checked the contents when I put them in the workshop, so these were among the best quality items here.
“…You have a good eye.”
“Thank you.”
“Let’s move on to the next.”
Then my vision was obscured again, spinning around, and we moved.
After a while, following Philly’s directions, when I took off the cloth, this time a long staircase came into view.
“Be careful from here on. We’re going down the stairs. This place was hastily made later, so the facilities are incomplete.”
I followed Philly down the dark staircase.
How far had we gone down?
As Philly said, this place was definitely incomplete.
They had only dug into the ground without even putting up walls.
It was just a stone wall.
When I thought we had gone down about ten floors, we reached level ground.
“I’ll open the door, so wait.”
Philly walked toward the door saying this.
Then, suddenly, she stopped.
Thud!
A fairly large rock fell in front of her.
“Hi, eek!”
Philly screamed in fright and stumbled backward.
It seemed to be a rockfall, not properly repaired.
Had it hit, it wouldn’t have killed her but could have caused injury.
──However, that scene.
It looked very strange, and it wasn’t just my imagination.
‘What was that?’
Philly had stopped before the rock fell.
As if she knew it was going to happen.
But once the rock fell, she was startled and trembled with fear.
‘An act for me? Why?’
If that was an act, then I had no choice but to think all of Philly’s expressions were an act.
Even if it was an act, there was no reason for her to act that way towards me.
How did Philly know the rock was going to fall?
If she knew, why did she act so surprised?