Transcendent Warrior with a Dimensional Shifting Inventory

54

Bam!

The sound of a trumpet echoed through the night sky.

It was a signal to close the city gates and strengthen the guards inside the castle.

The fact that the Emperor had suddenly disappeared meant that this was not a simple night out.

“Oh my, it seems like something really big has happened.”

Count Terran was hoping that this incident would not end quietly.

That did not mean he wished for the Emperor to disappear forever.

He wished for him to be found quickly.

As a corpse, not alive.

Then Min-hyuk’s ascension to the throne would be brought forward, and the granting of the fiefdom would also be expedited.

Most of the nobles present thought similarly to Count Terran.

“His Majesty the Emperor should be alright.”

“Of course, that goes without saying!”

When someone said something insincere, everyone hid their true feelings and agreed.

Some of the nobles looked at Min-hyuk and speculated.

‘Could it be the Commander?’

Some thought that Min-hyuk might have gotten rid of the old Emperor in a hurry to become the Emperor sooner.

It was not a baseless assumption.

Looking back on history, all sorts of things had happened in the Imperial Palace.

Hmm-

Minhyuk crossed his arms and pondered.

He had decided to rest and recharge for a few days in the real world,

‘Should I go back and rest there?’

Anyway, if he goes to the other world, time in this world stops.

So it doesn’t matter if he comes back after a few days of playing.

However, he thought he would be curious the whole time he was resting.

Whether something really big happened to the emperor.

So for now, he decided to watch.

***

From Noble mtl dot com

The attendants and maids explained the whole story to the princess and General Drake.

Then the princess shouted with bloodshot eyes.

“Mina, that b*tch must have done it!”

The attendants and maids who guarded the emperor’s bedchamber were the most loyal and well-behaved in the palace.

It didn’t make sense that all of them fell asleep at the same time during their work hours.

They must have been addicted to something.

“Call the alchemists.”

“Yes, princess!”

There were several other alchemists working in the palace besides Mina.

They rushed in and examined the attendants’ and maids’ teacups.

“There is a very potent sleeping potion mixed in the remaining tea in the teacups.”

The evidence was clear.

Mina had kidnapped the emperor.

The princess glared at the attendants and maids and asked.

“Why did you all accept and drink the tea that she gave you without any suspicion?”

“I’m sorry. It was often the case that Alchemist Mina would recommend healthy tea to us. I’m sorry···.”

“What! Sorry?”

“P, please kill me!”

Whew-

The princess exhaled deeply.

The incident wouldn’t be resolved even if she pressed her subordinates.

It was impossible to estimate the time when Mina kidnapped the emperor and escaped the bedchamber.

There was also no way to know where she had escaped to.

In times like this, she needed to know her motive for the crime in order to track her down efficiently.

However, she couldn’t guess why Mina had done such a thing.

‘Why on earth?’

Just then, one of the alchemists discovered the incense that had burned out on the bedside table.

“Th, this is!”

General Drake asked him.

“What is it?”

“This··· is not an ordinary incense. This is···.”

The alchemist did not answer properly.

He knew that it was an aphrodisiac.

But he couldn’t answer rashly.

He couldn’t tell whether this scent was related to the incident or if it was something the emperor usually enjoyed.

It was a dangerous item, so he couldn’t just blurt it out.

“What is it!?”

When the princess pressed him, the alchemist finally spoke.

“It’s a scent that heightens lust!”

“What?”

“It’s a very potent scent! Even someone on the brink of death would writhe in lust if they smelled this!”

As soon as she heard those words, a puzzle piece fell into place in the princess’s head.

She could see why Mina had done such a thing.

She must have done it to bear the emperor’s child.

But then something went terribly wrong!

‘Father…’

An ominous thought pierced the princess’s mind.

Just then, another alchemist spoke up.

“If by any chance the scent remains on the culprit’s body, we can track their escape route by following the smell.”

“Really?”

“I have a potion that heightens my sense of smell. I can use that.”

“Then hurry and bring me that potion right now!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

***

Minhyuk was waiting for news of the emperor with the nobles in the banquet hall.

He needed to keep an eye on things, but it wasn’t the kind of thing he would get deeply involved in.

Knock, knock-

The princess rushed into the banquet hall.

She ran to Minhyuk and explained the situation.

“Please help me!”

“What do you need help with?”

She explained everything to Minhyuk.

And she handed him a potion.

＜Purple Low-Grade Enhancement Potion＞

– A potion made from herbs and animal ingredients to enhance the body.

– Temporarily enhances the sense of smell when consumed.

“So you want me to drink this and track the scent?”

“Please help me! You’re the only one who can do it!”

The scent lingering in the air was very faint.

So an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to track the scent even if they drank the potion.

That’s why she was asking Minhyuk, whose senses were far superior to an ordinary person’s.

To put it simply, she wanted me to act as a tracking dog.

The princess begged once more, her eyes full of longing.

“Please help me find His Majesty!”

At that moment, a message popped up in front of Minhyuk’s eyes.

＜The Princess of Astel asks for your help. Assist her in locating the whereabouts of the Emperor.＞

＜If successful, you will be rewarded with 10 minutes of return time.＞

For the current Minhyuk, 10 minutes of return time was neither here nor there.

However, the mere appearance of this message held great significance.

Up until now, whenever he succeeded in a 10-minute mission, the development of events sped up.

“Lead the way, where should I start tracking the scent from?”

“Thank you!”

Minhyuk moved to the Emperor’s bedchamber together with the princess.

As soon as they stepped inside the bedchamber, a peculiar scent could be detected.

Perhaps this was the scent the princess had mentioned.

However, the scent was so faint that even Minhyuk couldn’t possibly track the smell without drinking the potion.

Minhyuk picked up the purple potion.

He had already confirmed what it would transform into by putting it in the refrigerator.

It had become a habit of his to check new items before using them.

The purple low-grade potion was eye drops.

It wouldn’t be difficult to procure them in large quantities, but he couldn’t think of a situation where he would need to use them in large quantities.

Plop—

He opened the lid of the potion.

As he was about to drink it, a worry came to mind.

What if he became addicted to the scent and his desires exploded after drinking this and chasing after the scent?

As if reading Minhyuk’s mind, the alchemist spoke.

“Only your sense of smell will become sharper, your resistance to the scent won’t weaken. You definitely won’t become addicted from just drinking enough to detect the faint scent remaining in the air.”

Gulp—

Minhyuk swallowed the potion.

Then, his sense of smell increased several-fold, allowing him to follow the scent left behind by Mina.

Thud, thud—

Minhyuk walked, following the scent.

The princess, General Drake, and the others followed behind Minhyuk.

He exited the inner palace and walked along the corridor on the west side of the outer palace.

And he reached the end of the corridor.

There was a room there.

Bang—

He opened the door and went inside.

The smell stopped here.

There was no way Mina would have suddenly vanished here.

There had to be a secret passage hidden somewhere in the room.

“Hm?”

General Drake had discovered something.

“That’s odd. Everything else is covered in dust, but that painting is clean.”

The General approached the painting and twisted the frame.

Swish-

At once, a stone in the floor sank, revealing a secret passage.

The Princess could not hide her surprise.

“To think that there was a secret passage in the Imperial Palace that even I didn’t know about!”

Minhyuk stepped into the passage.

He could now follow the scent again.

With Minhyuk leading the way again, they all walked through the dark underground passage.

And after a while,

They arrived in an underground chamber filled with alchemy tools and ingredients.

This was Mina’s secret laboratory.

It was a space she used to conduct forbidden experiments or to concoct potions and incense for nefarious purposes.

And in this place was the Emperor.

He was seated in a wheeled chair, turned into a cold corpse.

“Father!”

The Princess wailed.

The Emperor was not wearing a single thread.

The Princess removed her cloak and covered the Emperor’s naked body.

“In this kind of place… How cold you must have been!”

After shedding tears for a long while, the Princess cried out, her eyes bloodshot.

“Mina! I will definitely catch that wretch and kill her in the cruelest way possible!”

***

Mina had already left the sanctuary.

Growl-

Several wolves appeared and surrounded her.

But she did not panic.

She calmly took out a glass bottle from her bag and threw it at the beasts.

Pow-

The glass bottle shattered, and a viscous liquid was exposed to the air.

And the smell that wolves hated terribly wafted in all directions.

Yelp-

The wolves, with their keen sense of smell, hurriedly scattered.

Mina had learned various ways to survive outside the sanctuary.

In order to personally procure the medicinal herbs needed for her forbidden alchemy, she had secretly left the sanctuary once or twice a month.

So she could easily repel wolves like these.

It would be difficult if she encountered a much stronger beast, though.

‘I have to run as far away as possible.’

To survive, I had to go to another castle.

But Melbeck was out of the question.

It was practically Asdel’s territory already.

So I had to go even further away.

I was wearing the Emperor’s coat.

I had stocked up on potions and incense in the underground laboratory for my long journey.

But I couldn’t prepare any clothes.

So when I left my room, I put on the coat that had been covering the Emperor’s body.

‘Your Majesty…’

Drip, drop-

Suddenly, it started to rain.

***

The Emperor’s funeral was held in the rain.

The Emperor’s coffin was carried on a carriage and paraded through every square in the castle before returning to the Imperial Palace.

And it was laid to rest in the Imperial Mausoleum where the former Emperors slept.

The funeral was over, but the Princess would guard the Imperial Mausoleum for the next 30 days, according to Asdel tradition.

‘I have my own things to do.’

Minhyuk returned to his mansion.

The issue of succession to the throne would be discussed after the Princess emerged from the mausoleum.

But I had no intention of waiting around twiddling my thumbs until then.

The unification process was being delayed because of the Dragon lurking outside the borders of Gaho.

I couldn’t even move to Melbeck because I was afraid the bastard would attack.

So I had to kill it first.

To craft a weapon capable of killing it, I needed Dragon bones as a base material.

I would start preparing an expedition to the Dragon’s lair right away.

Mount Helkan was extremely far away, so extensive preparations were necessary.

Two things were especially important.

First, I needed a way to fight the Dragon.

There was no guarantee that I wouldn’t run into it on my way to Mount Helkan.

Even if I couldn’t kill it, I needed a way to at least drive it away.

So I summoned all the blacksmiths in the castle to my mansion.

I would put our heads together and find a solution.

And second, I needed a new way to ingest potions.

After being hit by the Dragon’s claw, I realized something for sure.

In a life-or-death situation, I wouldn’t have time to take out a potion and drink it.

Holding it in my mouth and drinking it was a one-time-use option.

So I needed a revolutionary way to ingest potions quickly and consecutively.

So I summoned all the alchemists in the castle to my mansion.

Among them was Luna, the owner of ＜Luna Alchemy Shop＞.

Minhyuk asked her.

“Is our contract still valid?”

Before, she had agreed to gather herbs for him in exchange for learning alchemy.

“Thanks to the Commander, the territory under protection has expanded, so I can gather as many herbs as you need! So please call me whenever you need them. My skill is humble, but I will teach you with all my heart!”

Minhyuk smiled gently at Luna’s answer.

Then, she continued speaking.

“I have a way for you to use potions quickly and continuously!”