Chapter 97: No Secrets Left Unturned (2)

“…Black King?”

“Huh?”

“What wrong, Arno?”

“Nothing…”

“??”

“…”

Arno, who was dealing with the annoying guard dogs of the illegal gambling den, blinked blankly at Kunta’s question. For a moment there, he thought he saw a black lion behind the black-haired boy.

Black King of the North? According to what grandmother said, the Black King could not move to another people unless the current heir died… Or am I just seeing things?

His grandmother, Felicia the Swordsman, used to sit him on her lap when he was young and tell him countless old stories. Among them, the old story that left the deepest impression on him was none other than the Mystic of Lionel, the [Black King].

It was said to be one of the stongest Mystic that only the Lionels could possess, and its power was comparable to that of an Aura User. However, in order to inherit the Mystic, its current heir had to die or someone must rob the Mystic away from them. That was why he thought that he had seen wrong.

Perhaps, it’s similar to the Human-Shaped Sword Energy Prince Roen showed us the other day. It’s something special that only he could have.

That’s more likely than the possibility of 2 Black Kings—a unique Mystic—to exist at the same time, at least.

The way Roen reached the ‘answer’ wasn’t through his sharp intuition after seeing Levy doing all of her parents’ will like it was her lifebound duty—unlike a certain knight.

Instead, it was thanks to the information given to him by his excellent subordinates, as well as the ‘memory’ of the past. Or rather, the memory of his first life.

Marquis Tristan.

He was a great noble who chose to stand on the side of the people when every other noble chose to side with the temple to oppress the people instead. His addition to the ranks of the Revolutionary Army bolstered their strength significantly, to say the least.

With that in mind, it was natural that Roen, one of the leaders and representatives of the Revolutionary Army, would have a friendly relationship with the Marquis. His status as a Lionel, and the marquis’ as a Tristan, only smoothened things between the two of them.

Since they had a long history together, they could communicate with each other well and it wasn’t strange for them to talk to each other often.

That was how Roen came to know a lot of things from him.

-Sir Jenimia. Please, I beg you. Stop seducing the women in the Revolutionary Army.

-Hehe, you misunderstood something, Archduke. I didn’t seduce them, I just didn’t stop them from coming or leaving. I’m a man who advocates freedom, after all.

-Haa!

He was a respectable fighter but sadly, he wasn’t a respectable adult.

To add to Roen’s headache back then, as the marquis said, he really didn’t seduce all those women. It was them who approached him first. Despite being in his fifties, he looked like he was still in his early to mid-thirties. Add his androgynous appearance to that, women’s hearts would flutter when they laid their eyes on him, even though he was just standing still.

That was why those women flocked to him, trying to seduce him, and this was a pain in Roen’s neck.

Because it caused countless love fights within the revolutionary army…

-Now I can see why they called you a playboy…

-I see. So such a misunderstanding arose, huh?

Indeed, the reason why the marquis was called a playboy wasn’t because of his own deeds. It was because of his tendencies to not stop the women who came or left him.

Of course, to a third party, such a thing was a good enough justification to call him a playboy.

-Why don’t you just get married instead…? Is it because all those rumors about how you’ll become infertile if you have children are true?

He knew that was a rude question, but Roen still asked it anyway.

There were rumors spreading around about how the Tristans would turn infertile if they were to conceive a child. Roen thought that this was the reason why the marquis didn’t devote himself to a single woman and lived a life of debauchery like this.

However…

-Hm? Oh, those rumors. They’re just groundless nonsense.

-?

-Yeah, they’re all groundless. Just think about it, if we became infertile the moment we have a child, how could a collateral line like Lord Bale be born? Hence, those rumors are just a bunch of nonsense, they couldn’t even be considered as actual rumors.

-T-Then…

-Those rumors were spread by some nobles who wanted to harm me. The guild helped them to spread it, so at one point it became solidified as the truth. That’s why I didn’t bother to correct it, but… I never thought that there would be so many people who believed it. Haha!

-…

– Also, there’s no particular reason why I didn’t devote myself to a single woman or just went around conceiving children everywhere. As you probably know Archduke, after you’ve crossed a certain level, most women wouldn’t be able to withstand your aura. That’s the reason why they can’t conceive my children.

-T-Then, what about when you were young…

-This might sound like an excuse, but when I was young, I just didn’t have the time to. I always went to the battlefield with the previous king, I couldn’t find time to meet up with women. Then, after the war ended, I was busy taking care of the family. It was a tough time. The Tristan was split because of those unruly nobles, hehe.

-…

-Anyway, it’s a shame. I feel bad for those who’s genuinely trying to marry me. Although, I’m ready to take responsibility for them. As long as they wish to spend a hundred years with me even though they couldn’t have my children, I’d have done so without hesitation. But, those women left me the moment they found out that they couldn’t conceive my child. They never loved me, or wanted me to begin with. They just wanted to become a mistress of the marquis, hehe.

-…

Roen nodded to his story, but he couldn’t bring himself to accept it.

It was a rather sad story, but it wasn’t that sad.

-So don’t be like me, get married while you’re still young and conceive a child or two.

-…Ah, I don’t need to worry in that regard. The archduke’s bloodline is already abundant.

-That’s not what I meant… Ah, right, I can give you one more piece of advice. If you’re going to get married, make sure the other person doesn’t lie to you.

-What do you mean?

-There was a girl I almost married. Not only did she deceive me, but she also deceived my entire family! If it was just me it would be one thing, but that girl was a villainess who insulted us Tristans!

-What did she do…?

-I won’t say anything. She already paid the price when I was on the verge of death… Phew, I shouldn’t insult her anymore.

-…?

– Anyway, if you’re going to get married, do it with someone you truly love. That’s how you’re going to find your happiness.

-…If someone else had given me that advice, I would’ve taken it to heart, but since it’s you who gave it, it just doesn’t resonate with me at all.

-What the? Look at this arrogant brat, hahaha!

…Not long after that conversation, Marquis Jenimia ‘died in battle’.

He single-handedly held off a sudden monster invasion and evacuated the Revolutionary Army from harm. After four days of fighting on his own, he died.

Not long after that, Roen met a woman who had risen to become the new head of the mercenaries, and her presence filled the vacancy that the marquis left. But, at that time, he was having too much of a hard time mentally to appreciate her presence.

Although there were many rumors going on about the marquis, he was definitely a trustworthy elder.

…That was why when he first heard about the relationship between Levy Fault and the marquis, he doubted his ear. But the moment he realized that Levy Fault was his former colleague, the ‘Mercenary Queen’, the pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place.

A link.

Everything was connected.

The moment he learned from Jack about how ‘5 years ago’ the Fault Family only had one daughter, his head started to create a story, as if he was a playwright.

In short, the girl was sold to the marquis, while everything about her was hidden due to the Imprint of Obedience that she had. However, the marquis wasn’t just some incompetent noble. It wouldn’t be hard for him to find out the details about the girl and Reynold Fault’s sinister nature.

After knowing that, it would be easy enough for the marquis to straight up kill Reynold Fault. But, that wasn’t the way of a great noble. Roen didn’t know the details, but the marquis probably painted him as a corrupt noble before slowly killing him, making sure that he wouldn’t have an easy death.

But then, what happened to the girl?

The poor girl who didn’t even know that her identity had been revealed, and had just been obediently following the orders she had received from her ‘owners’.

…She must’ve suffered…

It was a reasonable conclusion. After all, the girl had to live a life with fear and anxiety of not knowing when her identity would be revealed, all while having to follow her orders to the tee.

Crack-!

Roen gritted his teeth.

But, without knowing the anger in Roen’s heart…

“D-Don’t make me laugh! What on earth did I do wrong?! E-Even if I broke the law, I’m still a noble! A noble! What is wrong with me selling a single slave girl!!!”

The disgusting creature screamed, as if he had never done anything wrong, not knowing that his words only served to feed Roen’s anger more.

And so…

“You asked me what did you do wrong?”

Roen decided to list all of his crimes.

“…You have committed four crimes in total. One, breaking the law to buy a slave, toying with someone else’s life!”

Crunch-!

“Kuaaaaak!!”

As those words fell, his arms were crushed. His bones were grinded to dust to the point that even Divine Power couldn’t restore them.

“Second, daring to toy with a girl’s life without feeling a shred of guilt. Moreover, you are gambling with her life as stakes!”

Swiish-!

“…!!!?”

Then, his tongue was cut off.

From now on, his dirty mouth would never utter a single word ever again.

“Third, daring to deceive the marquis, a noble who’s loyal to this country!”

Crunch-!

…At this point, he could no longer scream.

With his two ankles gone, he would no longer be able to stand up on his own.

Unable to bear the pain that was engulfing his entire body, he was driven to the edge of his consciousness.

“And fourth, your lies. You said you wanted to become a knight? You said you dreamed of becoming a knight? How could someone with such clean hands become a knight?!”

[Grrrrr!]

Reynold’s hands were beautiful.

They were the hands of someone who had never done any labor in his entire life, as if he only ever used them to play cards. Someone who wanted to become a knight could never have that kind of hands. With no calluses in his hands, it was obvious that he had never worked hard to begin with.

In the end…

“Your life and words are nothing but lies!”

He was someone who lived to deceive others. Someone who only thought of living comfortably, like a leech or parasite.

Normally, such a person should just live their life quietly without harming others, and yet he kept on yearning for things he didn’t deserve to have.

“…I want to kill you, but I won’t. That’s an easy way out for you, and I’m not qualified to judge you.”

And so…

“Let’s end it here.”

Whoosh!

“Eeeeeep!!”

Crackle-!

Reynold’s body, which was on the verge of fainting, writhed in agony. Roen threw him into the fire, and almost immediately, his entire body caught fire.

He could be spared of the torture if he could just lose his consciousness here, but unfortunately for him, the pain of being burned alive kept him awake.

“!!?… !!!”

So, he writhed his body, unable to run away. But that was what Roen wanted, to leave him in the fire until a step before he died.

That was only natural, after all…

“Feel the same pain that my comrade suffered in the fire because of you.”

Crackle-!

The law of cause and effect was at play.

He was paying the price of his sins.

“I can finally send you off, Jeanne…”

Roen wondered if he had gone too far back, but even as he thought so, he didn’t avert his gaze from the sky, mourning for his old comrade.

─A comrade he would never see again.

Knowing that it was far too late to mourn her passing, he felt a pang of guilt in his heart.

Crackle-!