Ch.682Smooth Aftermath

After the situation was more or less under control, Jarl Hrafn, who came to see us and hear my plan, readily agreed, saying it was an interesting idea.

Since his role was crucial in spreading Knut’s heroic tale and fabricating his identity, he apparently intended to establish himself at the center of power through this.

Though it was merely Frigg’s speculation, I thought it highly likely as well, considering how suddenly he began cooperating so actively.

Well, whatever his ulterior motives might be, it wasn’t my concern. Having joined our side, he would have to do his utmost to prevent the downfall of Dane and the Empire if he didn’t want to lose his head.

In any case, once Hrafn began to take action in earnest, he proved to be incredibly competent, just as Frigg had vouched for him.

He refined the rough heroic tale of Knut that I had hastily created into a more sophisticated form, then, like a royal advisor, organized everything we needed to do from this point forward.

“First, addressing this chaos is our most urgent priority. Announcing the birth of a new king can wait until later.”

“…It won’t be easy. The Crusaders of Seals and the Royal Knights in the capital have been completely wiped out.”

Frigg clicked her tongue while looking at pieces of flesh embedded throughout the palace ruins, clearly showing her frustration.

Yes, it was certainly a headache.

The armed forces that should have become Knut’s solid support base, maintaining order in Edriksa and suppressing any potential resistance from the nobles, had been reduced to scattered chunks of meat in the battle between me and Ragnar Lokan.

Though not all of them had been turned to meat.

“The Royal Knights were annihilated, but quite a few Crusaders of Seals should have survived. I tried not to kill them and instead threw them beyond the palace walls.”

Having tumbled down from a high hill while wearing armor, few would have their limbs intact, and the unlucky ones would have died from broken necks… but surely crusaders wouldn’t be completely wiped out just from falling.

So, if we went down to look, we should be able to find survivors.

—-

In the end, everything went according to plan. Unbelievably so.

Though nothing had gone as planned since I arrived in this world, this time—whether heaven helped us or because this was a desperate contingency plan after our original one fell apart—surprisingly, no problems arose.

To start with, of the fifty Crusaders of Seals, only seven had died.

Four crusaders with broken necks, three who suffocated buried under soil.

The remaining crusaders were sprawled at the bottom of the inner castle hill with full-body fractures. Knut woke them up, “persuaded” them, and made them all his subordinates.

Most could be convinced through conversation, but some crusaders required more special measures.

Hrafn and Frigg stared intently at the Crusaders of Seals who had sworn loyalty to Knut, identifying those who had sworn falsely, and Knut used the rune of domination to bring even those into his fold.

It might not be considered humane treatment, but at this point, we needed to borrow even their strength.

In exchange, Knut promised to lift the domination and set them free once their necessity was gone. It would take about two months, he said.

Even if it wasn’t voluntary, imposing just two months of servitude on those who had participated in Ragnar’s treason could be considered merciful in a way.

Anyway, with the help of forty-three Crusaders of Seals, Knut calmed the chaos in Edriksa, gathered the city residents in the square, and publicly announced Ragnar’s evil deeds to everyone.

The crime of assassinating collateral royal family members to solidify his position.

The crime of corrupting King Hestein and leading him to drive more than a hundred thousand compatriots to their deaths.

The crime of finally revealing his hidden ambitions by murdering Hestein and Prince Eirek, and even killing the young Prince Harald and Princess Alvhild.

And the crime of destroying Dane’s royal palace and massacring the royal knights. Each was a capital offense that even execution would be insufficient for.

“That is why I drew my sword. As a warrior descended from royal blood. To execute the traitor Ragnar—the disgrace of the royal family, vile and cruel—who betrayed the country, betrayed his brothers, and betrayed the kingdom’s people!”

After declaring Ragnar’s crimes, Knut announced that he, as Dane’s last collateral royal family member, had executed Ragnar and consequently been chosen as Dane’s new king.

He proved his qualification by manifesting the power of Dáinsleif toward the sky.

“Collateral royal family? I’ve never heard such a thing…”

“Do you still defy after seeing the proof of kingship? Then come forward boldly. A king of warriors proves himself through actions, not words.”

Some nobles who had escaped the catastrophe were skeptical of Knut’s declaration, but all they could do was express quiet disbelief.

It was obvious that if they showed explicit hostility toward Knut—a warrior who had beheaded Ragnar after a fierce battle that collapsed the royal palace and who had the Crusaders of Seals as his royal guard—they would soon follow Ragnar’s fate.

The nobles had no alternative.

Even if all the nobles within Edriksa united to rebel, their chances of victory wouldn’t be high, but that was an impossible assumption from the start.

Several sharp-witted nobles, far from protesting the sudden usurpation of the throne, immediately swore loyalty to Knut and crawled under his command.

Considering what would happen later to nobles who expressed dissatisfaction with Knut’s accession, promptly submitting was truly a swift and wise decision.

As a result, whether they wanted it or not, the nobles had no choice but to agree to his accession.

After that, everything proceeded smoothly.

The Edriksa garrison obeyed the master of Dáinsleif, and the citizens welcomed Knut with open arms—the man who had not spared his life to save hundreds of thousands of commoners.

Unexpected fortune also followed. While dealing with the panic that had swept the entire city, monsters hidden underground were discovered.

Beasts that looked like half-finished monstrosities. The intelligence department’s investigation revealed that Ragnar was the one who had hidden these monsters underground.

At that moment, Ragnar, who had already become the greatest traitor through Knut’s declaration, was further branded as a heretic who controlled monsters.

Knut’s legitimacy rose even higher, and the heroic tale that Hrafn spread in a timely manner became a poem praising Knut’s achievements, spreading not only in Edriksa but to other cities as well.

What was the title again? “The One-Eyed Warrior and the Raven Sage”? It was such a ridiculous name that even Frigg couldn’t help but snicker.

She said she never imagined her master would have such a desire for ostentation.

Anyway, thus Knut became the new king of Dane.

Though his original residence had long been demolished, and the royal palace was completely destroyed, so he was a king without a residence.

For the time being, he was staying at Frigg’s house.

What Knut might be experiencing in that house… I decided not to imagine.

======[ The Third Apostle ]======

“What is it?”

The Third Apostle looked down coldly at the crystal ball emitting mana light and spoke quietly.

The sudden urgent contact from Peirous. It wasn’t difficult to guess its content.

“Recently, ‘the Eighth’ lost his life.”

Peirous answered in a somewhat solemn tone.

The death of the Eighth Apostle. It might be shocking news to other apostles, but for the Third Apostle, this was old news.

After all, she was the only witness to the Eighth Apostle’s demise.

She had planned to spare his life and use him for her purposes, but failed due to unexpected interference.

It was truly infuriating.

The contract with the 8th Apostle had succeeded, and all that remained was to cast a simple mist spell to help him escape… she never imagined that the medium would be taken down at that moment.

Thanks to the time that had passed since then, she had calmed down somewhat.

“The 8th Apostle? My… to perish before the day of ascension arrives. How unfortunate.”

“Unfortunate… is that all you have to say?”

Peirous’s question, with its lowered tone, sounded almost like an interrogation, but the 3rd Apostle merely smirked.

“You’re going to resurrect him anyway, aren’t you? If the body wasn’t lost, the resurrection ritual will work, and even if the body was lost, if you recovered the soul, you could revive him in another body.”

“…You already know this too. The Eighth Apostle cannot be resurrected in such ways.”

“Ah, I suppose that’s right. Both you and the Eighth serve Alfodhr, so your powers wouldn’t work on the Eighth.”

The 3rd Apostle pretended to have just realized this, despite having known all along that the Eighth Apostle could not be resurrected.

Unlike other apostles, the Eighth Apostle, like Peirous, had directly received Alfodhr’s holy light, and therefore Peirous’s power could not hold onto his soul.

Even with Peirous’s power, there was no way to prevent Alfodhr from directly retrieving the soul of his follower.

If one forcibly interfered with a god calling a priest’s soul to his side, it was all too clear that one would incur the god’s wrath.

“Then the Eighth is truly finished. A tragic affair. I offer my condolences.”

“……”

Peirous did not answer.

As if suspecting that her condolences were nothing but falsehood and mockery.

“So, is that all you contacted me for? If you have nothing more to say, I’d like to end this. I don’t have the leisure for unhurried exchanges.”

“Yes, you must be busy. With the Eighth having lost his life, you’ll need to find a new chess piece as quickly as possible.”

“…What do you mean by that? Are you suggesting I drove the Eighth to his death?”

The 3rd Apostle’s voice sharpened.

“Don’t play innocent. The Eighth Apostle, Ragnar Lokan, tried to use the Ka’har to inflict massive damage on the Empire. Though he failed due to assassination, if his plan had succeeded, you would have been the only one to benefit.”

Peirous replied, fully revealing the hostility permeating his low, heavy voice.