Ch.148The Declining Imperial Family (19)

“Hey, Rosalie.”

I asked, staring intently out the window of the moving carriage.

“Do we really have to go this way? All the way to the Imperial Capital?”

“We have no choice.”

“But Rosalie, you can do anything.”

“…Warping is only possible from the North. We need someone on the other side to respond as well.”

In other words, to use warp, we needed Ruby.

But Ruby wasn’t here, and even if she were, she probably couldn’t use it.

Both of them said they’d never set foot on imperial land before. They are monsters after all. Victoria would never allow it.

“By the way, where’s mother?”

“The head of the family is at the 9th defense line…”

“Not that. I just realized I haven’t seen her face since the war broke out.”

“We have permission, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Really?”

Rosalie nodded with an expressionless face.

“Otherwise, how could Lady Irene move around freely? The head of the family’s orders are absolute. That applies to me as well.”

I see, Ruide thought dismissively as he stuck his head out the window.

The Imperial Capital is connected to the 1st defense line by a single road.

But we can’t arrive there directly. The Imperial Capital is called the heart of the empire, and even with the Windsors blocking the way, there needed to be a filter in between.

‘That must be Larden Territory.’

I had almost forgotten.

According to imperial law, this “Larden Territory” is…

“The lord of the territory has arrived and there’s no welcome. How rude these humans are. Shall I kill them?”

…Ruide’s property.

“Stop saying scary things.”

“Yes.”

Hiiing-

The horse stopped.

Ruide got out of the carriage.

“Return.”

“Yes.”

The coachman, who had taken the form of a black shadow, silently disappeared. He was Rosalie’s familiar.

Ruide approached the walls of Larden Territory with Rosalie.

He could hear the noisy sounds of soldiers moving busily on top of the walls.

‘What’s this? A welcome greeting?’

When they were almost there.

The guards standing at the gate crossed their spears in an X shape.

“You cannot pass beyond this point!”

“Huh?”

“Outsiders are forbidden entry!”

‘Don’t they know me? But the Windsor family crest should be prominently displayed on the carriage.’

Ruide looked at Rosalie in disbelief.

But Rosalie said nothing. She probably meant for him to handle it himself.

Ruide narrowed his eyes and pointed to his left chest.

The Windsor family crest was emblazoned there.

“I am Ruide Christopher Windsor. The lord of Larden Territory. Haven’t you heard?”

“…!”

The guard swallowed with an audible gulp, loud enough for Ruide to hear clearly.

“…to you.”

The guard muttered in a trembling voice, lowering his head.

“?”

“To traitors, there is no sanctuary!”

The guard shouted a battle cry and swung his spear.

“What’s he saying.”

But the spear never reached Ruide. Some invisible force blocked it.

“Sudden aggression out of nowhere.”

Thud-

The guard’s head fell off.

Another guard standing right next to him backed away in disbelief.

Ruide asked indifferently.

“Are you going to attack me too?”

“M-monster.”

The guard dropped his spear on the ground and ran away.

Ruide extended his finger and flicked it. The guard’s body rose into the air, then went limp.

The whites of his eyes were briefly visible inside the helmet of the fallen guard.

Looking at the collapsed guard, Ruide said in a voice full of dissatisfaction:

“Where would you find a monster as cute as me?”

Ruide felt Rosalie’s piercing gaze.

Though he had said it himself, his cheeks turned slightly red from embarrassment.

“Lord Ruide.”

“D-do you have a problem with that?”

Fortunately or unfortunately, Rosalie wasn’t interested in that.

“Why didn’t you kill him?”

“Huh?”

It was such an unexpected question that Ruide blinked.

He had killed the first guard who tried to swing his spear at him, but he had only put the fleeing guard to sleep.

Rosalie seemed to have noticed this immediately.

“Well, he didn’t do anything to me.”

“That’s because he’s weak. If he were stronger than you, Lord Ruide, he wouldn’t have run away.”

Rosalie walked steadily toward the fallen guard.

“Moreover, prey left alive will remember this and arrogantly dream of revenge. Especially when they have just enough intelligence, like humans.”

Rosalie picked up the guard’s spear.

And offered it to Ruide.

“Kill him, Lord Ruide.”

“…”

Rosalie’s appearance overlapped with Irene’s in his mind.

‘Could it be that Sister Irene assigned Rosalie to me for this purpose?’

That’s what he thought.

Ruide sighed.

“I don’t like being too cruel.”

“Lord Ruide.”

“I said no.”

Ruide rarely showed irritation.

After staring at Ruide for a while, Rosalie dropped the spear.

And bowed at the waist.

“I apologize. I overstepped my bounds.”

“It’s fine.”

Ruide walked past Rosalie and reached out to the tightly closed gate.

Before opening the gate, he said in a cold voice.

“Don’t try to gaslight me so clumsily.”

“…”

“If you’re going to do it, do it properly like Sister Irene.”

**

“…The 230,000 troops dispatched to subjugate the North have been completely annihilated. Currently, Ruide Christopher Windsor has occupied Larden Territory.”

Lucius said nothing in response to Mikael’s report.

Mikael continued in a trembling voice.

“He has reportedly reached about 3 miles from the northern wall of the Imperial Capital… According to the court magician’s calculations, he will reach the inner castle in about 2 weeks.”

Lucius closed his eyes.

He spoke in a tired voice.

“Are you saying that if Ruide really sets his mind to it, it would only take 2 weeks to conquer the empire?”

“…It’s just speculation. Even looking at the Academy records, Ruide Christopher Windsor’s combat ability is simply marked as ‘off the charts.’ This is the highest possible estimate, so in reality, it might take longer.”

“Those called geniuses exceed expectations. If a user of the 5th Magic sets his mind to it, who knows? He might be able to conquer the empire in two days rather than two weeks.”

Even Lucius, who spoke these words, couldn’t imagine.

That if Ruide decided to destroy the empire, it would take only 7 seconds.

“Um… Your Majesty. May I dare to speak?”

“I permit it.”

Mikael hesitated before speaking.

“Wouldn’t it be better to negotiate with Windsor, even now?”

Mikael, the emperor’s loyal advisor, simply couldn’t think of any way for the empire to win this war.

As time passed, only more unbelievable news kept coming in.

It wasn’t due to brilliant strategy, nor was it due to the empire’s mistakes or carelessness.

The empire was being thoroughly toyed with by a single young child.

The problem was that this young child was merely the youngest son of Windsor.

If the youngest son had this much power, it was unimaginable how much power Windsor was hiding.

“Everything was perfectly peaceful before this happened. So if we give up what needs to be given up…”

Lucius couldn’t help but chuckle.

He wasn’t mocking Mikael’s thoughts. It was just amusing to hear from someone else’s mouth the very thoughts he had already considered dozens of times.

As emperor, was he only capable of thinking the same simple thoughts that even his advisor could come up with?

“As much as I’d like to, it’s a distant dream. Irene would never want that.”

“…So you really think Irene Windsor is behind all this?”

“No one else but her. The Victoria I know would never send her young son to the battlefield.”

But that was the question.

What on earth did Irene say to persuade Victoria to allow Ruide to participate in the war?

The image of Victoria anxiously watching over Ruide even when he was just walking alone was still vivid.

Lucius couldn’t understand it—

But understanding wouldn’t change anything anyway.

“Well…”

Mikael clenched his molars.

Lucius calmly asked.

“What’s the situation in Larden Territory?”

“Of the 1,000 soldiers stationed there, only one death has been reported.”

“That makes sense. After slaughtering 230,000 people, we can’t expect any mercy from that child… Wait, what?”

Lucius, who had been listening quietly, widened his eyes.

“What did you just say?”

“…There was only one death in Larden Territory. It seems he just passed through, perhaps judging that he had already taken control.”

“So there was no unnecessary bloodshed…”

Lucius’s expression showed a great realization.

‘There might still be a way out.’

The empire will not fall.

No matter how strong Ruide is, how strong Windsor is, that fact remains unchanged.

Wouldn’t an empire that has lasted for a thousand years have an ace up its sleeve?

If he used ‘that,’ he was confident he could overcome this crisis, even if it cost him his life.

But—

Lucius wanted to try something with his own power first.

And he just thought of a method.

“The Academy.”

“Pardon?”

“Yes, that’s it.”

Lucius stood up abruptly.

He hurriedly dressed and prepared to leave.

“Summon the Academy students immediately. No, not just the students, but all the professors as well. Including former Chancellor Clifford.”

“R-right now? But… the disbandment order.”

Just this morning, Lucius had issued an order to disband the Imperial Academy.

It was a choice made to protect important imperial resources.

“Issue a return order as quickly as possible! And prepare my carriage immediately!”

As Lucius shouted urgently, Mikael came to his senses and stood up.

“Yes! I’ll prepare it right away. What is the destination?”

Lucius said with fierce eyes.

“We’re going to the Academy.”