Facing the palace, each of the three exits is progressively closer to the throne room.
Okay, we're all agreed.
We'll all use the closest exit, and bust in from beside the central stairway.
Confusion x And x Expectation This seemed like a good idea since Leol-sama praised me so much, but dispelling Nen is hard.
And the stronger the Nen, the bigger my stomach gets.
This was a bad idea.
To a girl, there's nothing worse than losing your figure.
I should ask Leol-sama for a larger reward! Right, Shidore? Having a peon that understands speech is useful, but You really need to talk more.
You have permission to sh**t her on sight! As a foreigner, she can't blend in with the other citizens! Damn! Damn that woman! What does she want? Hey! How many times have I told you not to use your cell phone here? The radio waves irritate my ears, and it gives me a headache! Plus, I can hear what you're saying.
Next time I catch you, I'll snap your phone and your arm in half.
W-Well There are urgent matters that must be dealt with.
I need to use my phone.
It's so urgent that you find the woman who ran away? I can find her for you.
R-Really? My nose happens to be very sharp If you have something she wore, I can track her.
The Royal Guard appreciates the work you do, and I respect you, as well! So, a little give-and-take will benefit us both here.
O-Okay! Hold on, and I'll bring you something.
I will become the King behind the scenes.
To accomplish that, I must be friendly with Bizeff, not with the King.
Welfin-sama, an urgent alert has been issued.
Bah.
When peons send transmissions, it gives me a headache.
This smells like Taragette's blood.
There are bloodstains and dirty shoes.
An intruder! If he took his shoes off here to avoid leaving footprints, he must be somewhere deeper within.
He didn't hide his shoes because he had a pressing mission and couldn't afford to lose time That day last week, when it rained? That was the day Taragette went missing.
I'm pretty sure that the intruder k*lled him.
But that means he disposed of Taragette's body while leaving his shoes behind.
There's no blood trail nearby.
If he wrapped the body in something to move it, he must have come prepared.
Was kidnapping a soldier his mission? Why would they do that?! Damn, I don't get this! Should I ask Shaiapouf for advice? No, I'll catch the intruder, and get the answers from him.
He did head inside the palace! This guy comes before Bizeff's woman Follow me! What is your name? It's K-K-Komugi.
Can you please tell me what your name is? I didn't get to learn his name I can't wait to play him again! Who am I? A nameless king in a borrowed castle.
My subjects are mindless puppets.
If this is the fate that the heavens have granted me I have no doubt that I shall be slowly bored to death! Don't follow me.
Yes, butâ Do not make me repeat myself.
Now we've all been beaten by the King.
The King says your En is irritating him.
I figured he would be saying that soon.
But I can't remove our security Then you go and tell him that! I don't want another b*ating.
How does this sound? We can block all aura in a radius surrounding Your Majesty.
This way, my presence will not bother you.
Are you telling me to stay in one place? Given that keeping the aura-free zone around me while I move wouldn't be possible.
I refuse to have my movement constantly monitored.
No, that would not be our proposal.
So if I do not wish to deal with your presence, I will only be able to move within that confined area.
I must order you to move that zone should I wish to go elsewhere? There is nothing more I can say.
Keep your En focused outside the palace.
I shall put up with that until tomorrow's selection.
Are you dissatisfied? Should that not suffice to guard against outside att*cks? Or are you saying that there are already enemies inside? That would be admitting that your En is completely worthless, would it not? You're absolutely correct.
If my En is focused only outside, it cannot detect any att*ck from underground.
In addition, my En is not capable of recognizing an enemy that is already inside.
Do you mean Komugi? No, eleven soldiers still remain within the palace, and they are free to enter and leave at will.
A check is performed each time someone enters, but if the soldier were being controlled by the enemy, it would be difficult to know for sure.
That meansâ Enough.
You may use En on the first floor of the palace! That will permit you to guard against any underground att*ck! Tell everyone that no one is allowed on the second floor or above.
Should an intruder come, I shall deal with them personally.
Likewise, you will not come unless summoned! If you disturb me, it will have violent consequences! The other Ants were never allowed on or above the second floor But where do I go now? The central stairway connecting the first and second floors, I suppose If an intruder comes from underground, you will be in position to deal with them.
Still, the King's been in a bad mood lately.
Is he upset about losing all those Gungi matches? I have an idea as to the cause of his irritation.
My ability, Spiritual Message, would be able to confirm my suspicions.
However, that would be an insult to the King! No, I'm just making excuses The truth is that I'm afraid.
So afraid of what it is that grows inside the King even as we speak, I cannot bear it Tsk, the rain washed away the scent.
But now I have the answer.
The intruder hid here to check the second floor, but instead of going upstairs, he exited.
Something made him give up his mission? Or did he accomplish his objective? No, he may have used his power! I should probably warn you If any of you go to the second floor, the King will k*ll you.
Tell everyone else in the palace.
Yes, sir.
Wings! What if the intruder has the power to fly? The shoes and scent could have been there to mislead us.
He could have flown up to the second floor! Youpi-dono Huh? Uh, er Pitou is monitoring the palace with En.
If they'd gone to the second floor, they would have been caught Ah, sorry It's not important.
Huh? That doesn't make sense! Then how did the intruder reach the stairway?! Youpi-dono Huh? What is it? Has Pitou-dono ever ceased to use En? For example, that day last week when it rained? What? You didn't hear what happened? There was a huge uproar The King tore off his own arm! Pitou had to heal the King, so Pouf was using his En instead.
How wide is his En? I wouldn't know about that Wouldn't it be just as large as Pitou's? No, I'd guess that Pouf's En only reached as far as the stairway.
The intruder saw that aura, and gave up on ascending! That all makes sense.
The question is what the intruder's objective was, and whether he's still hiding around here.
Do I tell Youpi? No, I can't do that I should report this to Pitou or Pouf.
Pouf would be the best choice.
And if possible, I need to determine what the intruder's objective was.
Otherwise, my report would be that the intruder somehow made it inside the palace, but turned and ran when he felt Pouf's En.
I won't get any credit.
I can make up an objective, but if the intruder is captured, they'll find out I lied.
But if I tell the Royal Guard my suspicions and the intruder is never found, it would only waste their time and damage my own standing.
Is that Bizeff's cell phone again?! I have a great idea So the intruder captured one of my men.
According to Leol, that intruder has the ability to teleport.
I believe that he and the woman are working together.
They probably teleported out together.
Damn, but why would they do that? Yes, that's the question.
However, I've discerned their objective.
What is it? To blow up the palace.
That's a lie.
What? We must tell the Royal Guard! Wait.
Don't be in such a rush.
We can tell them after we've found the b*mb.
There's no time! Calm down, and consider this from their perspective Eh? If they want to blow up the palace, they'll wait until they're sure the King is here.
When would that be? When all the citizens have assembled Right before the ceremony begins! There will be five million humans! What a sight that will be to see Just imagine looking down on them! The King would not allow a double to steal that gratification from him! So he will be there in person! It's only logical to assume the enemy reached the same conclusion.
True I've stood at the former Supreme Leader's side for many of these celebrations The experience brings indescribable pleasure beyond even sexual gratification.
We still have over half a day before the ceremony.
If I use my nose to track the intruder, we can find the b*mb with time to spare.
If we have proof when we report to the Royal Guard, we'll look much better.
If we save the King's life, they'll be quite grateful.
Right? Yes That's true.
As soon as I find the b*mb, I'll contact you.
Okay, that sounds good.
The coward finally calmed down? I'm getting closer to becoming the King behind the scenes! Seven minutes to go.
I'll give a call when it's down to one minute.
Assemble near the exit then.
Until then, stand by.
Meleoron, about your power I know.
I'll tap your shoulder ten seconds before I need to breathe And then, I'll tap you again when I start to hold my breath again! You don't need to push your limits.
You should catch your breath whenever you need to.
When God's Accomplice isn't active, you can trust me to handle things.
Why don't you have a smoke? If you underestimate their sense of smell, you'll die quickly Tracking someone by the smell of cigarette smoke is simple for them.
We could be knocked out the second I take my first breath The boss will be putting up a smokescreen when we go in.
It'll be fine.
I know, but I'd rather avoid unnecessary risk.
I don't want to regret my decision.
The Royal Guard is on the move.
The three of them gathered above the front gate to discuss something.
Pitou stayed there, and Youpi went back inside.
Pouf returned to the air to scatter his scales, so I don't think anything has changed.
I'll let you know if anything else happens.
Yeah, until we leave, feed us as much information as you can.
Essentially, that eliminates the possibility of the Royal Guard being out of the palace.
Essentially, but not completely Well, I guarantee that they'll be near the King.
You can't guarantee anything.
We have to be prepared for any possibility, or we'll be slow to react when something goes wrong! You only say that because you don't understand how loyal they are.
It's impossible that they'd leave the King! The Royal Guard is always with the King! And it's fine to believe that! But we should prepare for any exceptions! Give me an example of one of these exceptions! There are all kinds of exceptions! Honestly, how can they be having a dispute at the last second? You're being too unrealistic! One exception could be a woman Isn't one of the King's objectives to reproduce? I wasn't sure what the King was doing in the palace, but he was reproducing.
That must be it.
I see That would give the King a reason to keep the Royal Guard from his bedroom Perhaps Bizeff was bringing women in for the King.
Palm and the King?! We're sticking to the plan No matter what's happening to Palm! Gon has no idea what they're talking about.
I'm glad we realized this before we set out.
If we'd seen something like that without warning, we'd have frozen in our tracks.
Get it now? You can never overthink something.
There are probably other unexpected situations that we haven't considered yet.
Yes, something is still bothering me.
Gon Do you understand? Let Palm take care of herself! No matter what you see, you must stay focused on Pitou.
Yeah! It bothers me, but whether a woman's involved or not, I believe we should be prepared for a third party in the palace.
I have a feeling that the third party is causing my anxiety.
Why did the King injure himself? Hold on That was just a theory of yours.
Yeah, but you agreed that there was no other logical explanation.
You're contradicting yourself Didn't you say there could be other exceptions? Following that logic, Pitou could have stopped using En for other, unexpected reasons.
I understand that But something doesn't feel right.
With three minutes left to go, is this something worth thinking about? Yeah.
Yeah, think about it When would you try to hurt yourself? When I couldn't forgive myself When you couldn't forgive yourself? That's the logical conclusion But that would mean the King is a ruler with personal pride, and not just a cold tyrant.
True.
For the sake of his pride, he's willing to endure pain.
Speaking from experience, people like him will never be willing to compromise.
If the leader refuses to compromise, neither will the Royal Guard.
You should assume that combat will be our only option! Morel was able to sum everything up But he's wrong.
The King's self-injury The third party We still haven't correctly deduced what happened.
I have a feeling that the truth has the potential to completely ruin our plans! It's time! One minute to go.
Gather around.
Damn! We're out of time At ten seconds left, I'll begin the countdown.
Let's do this, boys.
Get ready to rumble! Next time: Charge x And x inv*de.
Yeah, hot pots are great in winter Which reminds me of mystery pots.
Charge into the pot! I think you mean toss into the pot