Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad-Chapter 247

Park Hyun-a kept blinking her eyes repeatedly.

The Emperor of the Drason Empire?

Was she hearing things because she was drowsy?

“What did you say?”

“The Emperor of the Drason Empire wants to meet us.”

Indeed, she had heard correctly.

Park Hyun-a jumped up.

“What nonsense is this all of a sudden?”

“I’m not sure either, but that’s what Orlaben Grimier said. The Emperor wants to see us.”

“Why?”

“He says he can’t tell us the reason. Says we should talk about it when we meet.”

Park Hyun-a furrowed her brows and crossed her arms.

“Hmm, this seems fishy…”

“I agree. There’s no reason they’d want to see our faces now. They must have some ulterior motive, but I can’t figure out what it is.”

Until now, they had only interacted with the Drason Empire through Orlaben Grimier.

They later learned that he was like the Emperor’s right-hand man.

One of the three most powerful figures in the Drason Empire, excluding the Emperor.

That’s why working with Orlaben Grimier has been comfortable.

The same goes for the Drason Empire.

This meant there was no reason for the Emperor to want to meet them directly now.

“Hero! Could this be some kind of trap!?”

Rachel, who had been listening, suddenly interrupted.

“What kind of trap all of a sudden?”

“They might try to do something sneaky to the hero!”

“And what would the Drason Empire gain from that?”

“Umm…”

Rachel rolled her eyes around thinking, then smiled broadly.

“I don’t know.”

“Exactly. Looking at the situation, it does seem like a trap, but there’s nothing for them to gain from doing that.”

From the Drason Empire’s perspective, Choi Hyun-seok and Park Hyun-a were practically benefactors.

How could they not be grateful when they were taking care of dangerous Gatren and the Deusis faith on their own?

In fact, Orlaben Grimier had said as much.

‘Lord Choi Hyun-seok. Ms. Park Hyun-a. We are always grateful to you. If the war ever ends, please visit our empire’s capital. I shall treat you to a feast.’

Those words didn’t seem to have been lies.

No, if they wanted to deal with Choi Hyun-seok and Park Hyun-a, they wouldn’t need to lure them to the Drason Empire’s capital.

They could just give them false information and make them fall into Gatren’s trap.

It would be foolish to get their hands dirty when they could achieve their goal without lifting a finger.

That had been Drason’s preferred method until now anyway.

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t know either.”

“I don’t know!”

No matter how much they thought about it, they couldn’t figure out the intention.

It would be nice if they just told them the reason clearly, but they adamantly refused to do so.

Finally, Choi Hyun-seok made a decision.

“Let’s just go.”

Come to think of it, they had spent quite some time working with the Drason Empire.

A history built on trust rather than friendship.

They were more trustworthy precisely because they always moved based on thorough cost-benefit analysis and cold judgment.

“I think there must be some reason this time too.”

“Yeah. We won’t figure it out by worrying, so let’s just go. They’ve helped us before too.”

And so began their journey to Draxel, the capital of the Drason Empire.

***

Several years have passed since Choi Hyun-seok came to this other world.

He thought he had adapted to most things by now.

Magic, monsters, war, lifestyle.

Having become familiar with everything, he thought there would be nothing left in this world to surprise him.

Until they arrived at Draxel, the capital of the Drason Empire.

“This place is seriously no joke.”

Choi Hyun-seok’s jaw dropped.

He couldn’t close his mouth at the panoramic view of the city below.

“How is it this big…?”

The edge of the city wasn’t visible.

There were even buildings as tall as skyscrapers.

The well-maintained streets were filled with people wearing clothes that were clearly high-end at a glance.

Roads that appeared to be exclusively for carriages were interwoven like spider webs.

“To think there was a city like this in this world…”

“I was shocked at first too. I thought only primitives lived here.”

Though the expression was a bit harsh, he agreed with her words.

The cities Choi Hyun-seok had visited until now were only slightly more advanced than medieval Earth.

Even Delos, the capital of the Odria City-State Alliance, which was the largest city he’d seen, didn’t have this level of organization.

That place felt chaotic with too many people crowded into narrow areas.

It was completely different from this clean city before them.

“Draxel is the largest and most developed city on the continent. The population alone must be over 1.5 million.”

“1.5 million…? I think the Kingdom of Mariette had a population of 2 million…”

“The city’s defenses are even more impressive. When Draxel goes into defensive mode, no one can get in, legendary or whatever. Even I would barely be able to make one passage after hammering away for half a day.”

Each revelation was more shocking than the last.

This was truly worthy of being called the continent’s strongest nation.

Orlaben Grimier had always subtly shown pride in his country, and now face-to-face with it, they could understand why.

Even the expressions of people walking the streets were uniformly bright.

Not feeling any threat.

You could feel the composure of a great power.

“My apologies. I kept you waiting.”

A familiar voice was heard from behind.

Turning around, they saw Orlaben Grimier approaching.

“It’s fine. It’s fun just looking around.”

“Haha! Is this your first visit to Draxel?”

“It’s my first time in Drason itself. It’s more amazing than I expected, I can’t close my mouth.”

“That’s why I told you in the beginning, didn’t I? We already have everything.”

“Ah…”

Indeed, Orlaben Grimier had said such things in their first meeting.

‘Our Drason Empire no longer desires war. Because we already have everything.’

‘The most fertile land on the continent. A powerful army. All kinds of rare goods belong to the Drason Empire.’

Back then, he thought it was delusion or boasting.

But experiencing it firsthand, he understood.

Orlaben Grimier had merely stated plain facts.

“Shall we head to the palace soon? His Majesty is waiting.”

“Let’s do that.”

Having come this far, he didn’t ask why the Emperor wanted to see him.

He would find out soon enough anyway.

However, Choi Hyun-seok had a different curiosity.

“Can I ask just one thing?”

“Speak freely.”

“Just looking at the city, I can tell Drason’s national power is the greatest on the continent.”

Of course, you can’t gauge all aspects of national power just by looking at urban development.

But seeing such an overwhelming sight, no one would question that Drason was the continent’s strongest nation.

“Why do you leave Gatren alone? Couldn’t you just grit your teeth and sweep them away even if it’s a bit troublesome?”

“Hmm, there are two main reasons for that.”

Orlaben Grimier stroked his elegant beard as he continued his explanation.

“First, as I said before, His Majesty no longer desires war.”

This was the same reason he had heard in their first meeting.

Choi Hyun-seok waited for Orlaben Grimier’s next words.

“The other is that Gatren is also a great power that cannot be ignored.”

“Is Gatren that strong? Strong enough for Drason to fear?”

“Well, not exactly. According to our Analysis Bureau’s assessment, the military power ratio between Drason and Gatren is 7 to 3. Even if war breaks out, we could defeat Gatren without much difficulty. However…”

Orlaben Grimier let out a small sigh.

“They have the Deusis faith .”

“Ah.”

“The Deusis faith is the largest religion on the continent. If Gatren and Deusis combine, the power ratio flips to 4 to 6. Considering that Iron Demon they’ve been hiding recently, it’s effectively 3 to 7.”

With a power ratio of 3 to 7, defeat would be virtually certain.

To think even such a great power would have to lose.

It made him realize anew how formidable Gatren and the Deusis faith were.

“Isn’t it amazing that you two fight against such powerful enemies alone? Haha!”

As they talked,

The group arrived before a massive wall.

The wall cutting through the city center looked incredibly strong just at a glance.

“This is the inner wall. Once we pass through here, the Imperial Palace is right ahead.”

“Let’s go then. I’m curious how impressive the Imperial Palace will be.”

***

As expected, the Imperial Palace was magnificent.

It seemed to use completely different construction techniques than other kingdoms’ palaces.

Enormous magic flowed throughout, seemingly protecting the entire palace.

Even Choi Hyun-seok would have quite a struggle trying to destroy this palace.

‘The interior is incredibly well-decorated too…’

The inside of the palace was adorned with all sorts of treasures.

Yet it didn’t feel gaudy at all.

It was splendid while maintaining elegance, and had gravitas.

Just walking through the corridors gave an illusion of one’s dignity increasing.

“His Majesty will be waiting beyond this door.”

“Is there anything we need to be careful about?”

Normally he would have just opened the door and gone in, but given the atmosphere, he couldn’t help but ask.

“Hmm… As long as you’re not too disrespectful, it’s fine. His Majesty isn’t a very rigid person. Don’t worry.”

“I understand.” 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Finally, the door opened.

Choi Hyun-seok and Park Hyun-a entered the massive hall.

‘The inside is simpler than I expected.’

Contrary to the expectations of countless people, the huge hall contained only the Emperor and attending servants.

The Emperor smiled as he watched the group enter.

“Welcome to the Empire! Heroes! I am Lambert, Emperor of Drason.”

At the Emperor’s words, Park Hyun-a knelt on one knee and bowed her head.

Choi Hyun-seok followed her actions, reading the situation.

“Raise your heads. I have no intention of forcing our country’s etiquette upon you.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

For some reason, Park Hyun-a’s voice carried refinement.

Was this really Park Hyun-a?

Unless she had been switched with someone else while they were distracted sightseeing, this shouldn’t be possible.

Choi Hyun-seok quietly whispered to Park Hyun-a.

“Where did you hide older sister?”

“Shut up.”

It was indeed Park Hyun-a.

This means even the rude and delinquent-like Park Hyun-a shows proper manners before the Emperor of Drason.

While Park Hyun-a and the Emperor exchanged various words,

Choi Hyun-seok observed Emperor Lambert.

‘Indeed… He doesn’t seem like an ordinary person.’

His magical power clearly isn’t strong.

Though he has magic at the level of a regular knight, perhaps from some training as Emperor, that’s all.

I didn’t feel any extraordinary power.

There was nothing particularly special about his appearance.

While he was good-looking, he wasn’t the kind of handsome that would make your eyes pop open.

Though he had a good build, he had a moderate amount of flesh, far from an extremely trained body.

But why was it?

Choi Hyun-seok felt overwhelmed by the Emperor.

‘How strange.’

Perhaps it was because he had just seen the magnificent city and imperial palace.

After all, all of those things belonged to that Emperor.

But, instinctively, he could tell.

The reason he felt overwhelmed wasn’t because of such material things.

‘It’s clearly not magical power… Should I call this energy? There’s something about him that commands people.’

Natural dignity and absolute authority.

You could also call it charisma.

He had felt something similar when facing Orlaben Grimier, but the Emperor is on a different level.

‘Was he born like this? Or did the position make him this way?’

As these various thoughts continued.

Suddenly Park Hyun-a tapped his shoulder.

“What are you doing? Get your head straight.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. What were we talking about?”

He hadn’t heard any of the conversation while concentrating on observing.

“I was in the middle of making a request to you all.”

“A request? What kind of request?”

At that moment, the Emperor’s eyes sank deeply.

A heavy atmosphere constricted the air.

Finally, he opened his mouth.

“It’s a request. Please die.”

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