Ch.81The Empire’s Circumstances (1)

A man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties sat in his office, silently flipping through documents. His complexion looked somewhat haggard—not from recent fatigue, but because this was simply how his face always looked.

He was List, the official number one of the Teuton Knights.

With his coldly severe face, List looked at the battered knights kneeling before him.

They all had swollen faces from the beating List had given them.

“You went too far.”

“……”

“I’ll ask one last time. Why did you provoke Windsor?”

Karon gritted his molars.

“It was our fault for starting the argument, but they attacked first. No knight would stand idle after being attacked, even if they’re protecting someone.”

“Still clinging to your pride. That’s not what I asked.”

Karon stared at the floor and spoke as if grinding out the words.

“…I was angry.”

“Why?”

“Because His Majesty’s first order was merely something like that.”

“Something like that?”

“…I didn’t join the Teuton Knights to be a babysitter for some child. I came to do something… greater.”

“Something greater, huh? Pfft.”

Judith couldn’t hold back and covered her mouth while laughing. Karon glared at her fiercely. Judith quickly returned to her expressionless face.

“The child is you, Karon.”

“…!”

Karon looked up at List with a start.

“Do you know why I haven’t retired yet?”

List was 36 years old.

It was too early to talk about retirement, but it was quite old to remain in the Teuton Knights, the strongest order of knights. His prime had passed.

“It’s solely because of you.”

Currently, the Teuton Knights were undergoing a generational shift.

The skills of the next generation of Teuton Knights were excellent. Among them, these five were special. They could truly be described as historic talents.

Especially the young swordsman called Shearer had a quality that even List, known as the “Sword Genius,” had never seen before. For now, List could still win by a narrow margin, but he was certain that in just a year, Shearer would bloom into an even greater talent.

But List couldn’t retire. That was because of Karon.

Currently, Karon was the only one suitable to be the captain of the Teuton Knights. Even though they claimed not to consider social status, if the captain’s status was low, the entire order would appear weak.

Above all, Karon never hesitated in making decisions, and his ideology aligned with what the Teuton Knights should uphold.

The problem was his vision.

“Your vision is too narrow, Karon. It’s the same when you fight. You only see what’s right in front of you without thinking about what comes next. That’s why you can’t defeat Judith, who has weaker conditions than you.”

Karon’s expression hardened.

“I admit it. I can’t beat Judith. But that’s a matter of compatibility. My strength lies in exploiting openings, but Judith’s advantage is in her caution.”

“No, the reason you can’t beat Judith is the difference in combat sense. Judith doesn’t try to force things. But you keep challenging even when you know you can’t win.”

Karon raised his head.

“I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Because I never make the same mistake twice after experiencing it once.”

“That’s right. That’s why you’re the vice-captain. Karon, you sometimes make incomprehensible mistakes, but you learn a lot from your failures. However, you have the disadvantage of needing to experience things firsthand. That’s why your vision is narrow. This time, you made a mistake that shouldn’t have been made.”

“…Is that young lord so important? They attacked first, and we lost pathetically. I couldn’t even cut a single strand of that child’s hair.”

Karon’s words were filled with contempt. List calmly explained.

“Ruide Christopher Windsor, whom you were supposed to protect, is a genius in magic. He published a new magical theory, resolved the chronic issue of conflict between commoners and nobles at the Academy, and established a powerful barrier to prepare against foreign invasions. All these achievements were made in less than a year since his enrollment.”

List closed the document. It read:

< Teuton Knights Succession Document >

It was a document stating that List would step down from the captain position and Karon would replace him.

List sat comfortably with his fingers interlaced. With an expression of having put down a heavy burden, he said:

“His Majesty wanted the Academy, the future of the empire, to develop. That’s why he assigned Mikael as an advisor. While Lord Ruide changes the major flow, Advisor Mikael handles the details. They will achieve many accomplishments. And beside them are you, His Majesty’s direct personal guards. This proves that Lord Ruide has a close relationship with His Majesty. What do you think this will lead to?”

List paused briefly before continuing.

“The strengthening of imperial authority.”

“…!”

“Throughout history, emperors have merely been friendly with the Windsors, never actually utilizing their power. That’s because the Windsors wouldn’t allow it. However, through the existence of Ruide Christopher, there was an opportunity to prove a closer relationship with the Windsors than any previous imperial family. How many chances are there to use the Windsors while making them feel favorably toward you?”

“……”

“The fact that His Majesty entrusted such an important task to you shows how much he trusts you. It’s only natural to play your most important card at the most crucial moment.”

A cold silence followed. Karon couldn’t raise his head. The rest of the knights were the same.

“Be ashamed. You not only disobeyed His Majesty’s orders but also committed an unforgivable sin.”

Karon bit his lip. List said:

“Remember well what happens from now on. And if you feel you’ll never repeat it again, that’s enough. I will take responsibility.”

**

Irene approached the main gate of the imperial palace with a smiling face.

The place where the imperial knights gathered.

Among them, the building of the Teuton Knights, located on the outskirts.

All Teuton members live and train here. It was meant to build both skill and camaraderie, but…

Irene knew. Unlike other knight orders, the Teuton Knights only looked at skill.

You didn’t need to be a noble, you didn’t need to have dignity. It didn’t matter if you were a criminal. All they cared about was skill. Because of this, there were many strange individuals.

In other words, talk of camaraderie was nonsense. The Teuton Knights being located on the outskirts of the imperial palace was partly for isolation purposes. To prevent them from causing trouble.

“Huh? I haven’t seen you before.”

“Hello. Cute puppy.”

Irene was wearing a black coat over her uniform. Her attire was so neat that she didn’t look like a knight at all. Above all, her skin was extremely pale. As if she had never seen sunlight.

Only the subtle flow of dignity revealed that she was a high-ranking official.

“Hey. She’s clearly someone important.”

“Important? Is she a duchess or something?”

The Teuton Knights are a group that bows to no one except the imperial family. So they sneered.

“Sorry, but if you’re here to make a request, you’ve come to the wrong place. Go to His Majesty. We only take orders from him.”

“Hmm.”

Irene stroked her chin.

She tilted her head.

“That’s not what I’ve heard.”

“…What?”

“You don’t even listen to His Majesty, do you?”

Irene spoke as if finding them cute.

The knight who had just finished training frowned.

“Are you insulting us?”

Irene brought her right hand to her eye, making a scissor shape. She kept her other hand behind her back.

Soon after, her blue eyes blazed with a blue light.

“That child can’t control his mana well. So when he uses a slightly larger spell, his eyes become like this. Cute, isn’t it?”

The Teuton knight frowned at Irene’s incomprehensible words.

“This woman isn’t in her right mind.”

Irene bent her waist slightly and showed her eyes more closely.

And the Teuton knight realized. While her mouth was smiling, her eyes were infinitely cold.

It was bizarre. At the same time, it was eerie. It felt like his soul would be stolen if he looked into her eyes for too long.

Irene spoke in a gentle voice.

“Have you seen it before?”

“…What?”

“I guess not.”

Irene straightened her back with a strange smile.

“…!”

At that moment, the Teuton knight tried to draw his sword while breaking out in a cold sweat. But—

Splash!

Blood gushed from his shoulder. Two Teuton knights collapsed right where they stood.

“Th-this is an attack!”

Lying on the cold floor, he shouted convulsively. Irene remained still, seemingly unconcerned.

Crash!

The wall of the adjacent building shattered as Galahad appeared with a spear. Without a moment’s hesitation, Galahad struck down at Irene with enough force to split her in half from top to bottom.

Crack!

Galahad’s spear broke.

“Impossible…”

‘I definitely hit her.’

The spear had touched the back of Irene’s neck. Yet it was his spear that broke.

“Are the other friends late?”

“What…?”

Splash!

Galahad slowly looked down. His chest was marked with an X-shaped cut.

‘When did she…?’

Galahad fell to his knees. He couldn’t muster any strength in his body.

“Galahad!”

Through the broken wall, his other comrades could be seen. Galahad turned his head with great effort and mouthed:

‘Don’t… come.’

Irene saw them too. Particularly noticeable were Karon with his right shoulder frozen and Shearer with his hand frozen.

“It’s been a while, Karon.”

Karon nearly lost strength in his legs when he saw Irene but barely suppressed it. His eyes trembled finely.

“…Irene Windsor.”

“W-Windsor?”

Shearer stepped forward with a hardened expression.

“Stop.”

His eye corners trembled nervously.

“If you go any further, I’ll cut you down.”

Shearer instinctively placed his hand on his sword handle. He was about to draw it.

His eyes met Irene’s. Irene was looking at him with a smiling face.

“…!”

Shearer felt it.

‘If I draw this, I’ll die.’

He clearly saw a future where his head would roll on the floor the moment he drew his sword. Shearer couldn’t move a finger.

Irene took a step. She walked slowly, neither fast nor slow, to where Shearer was.

It felt long. But until Irene arrived beside Shearer, no one could move.

Irene whispered in Shearer’s ear.

“You saw it, didn’t you? My sword.”

Irene’s smile deepened.

For the first time, Shearer felt the fear of death.

**

Amelia was swinging her sword in a trance.

At that moment.

Clang!

Ruide’s practice sword fell helplessly to the floor.

Amelia wiped away her flowing sweat and looked to the right.

“Rui.”

…Ruide was sleeping. His sword had fallen as he lost consciousness.

“Rui, Rui, Rui.”

Amelia shook Ruide.

“Mmm…”

Ruide opened his drowsy eyes, nodding off.

“Just one more time.”

“It’s already been 20 hours.”

Ruide, who had enthusiastically offered to help with training.

Amelia surprisingly accepted readily, and that’s when this situation began.

Amelia simply wouldn’t rest!

The problem was that Ruide’s average sleep time was 20 hours a day.

Obviously, 4 hours was far from enough for Amelia, and Ruide had to give up sleep.

He had paid a tremendous price. But he never expected it would be this bad.

For the first time in his life, Ruide had stayed awake for 20 hours.

“Don’t be like that.”

Amelia lifted Ruide up.

“S-save me.”

“You’re sleepy because you’re lying down.”

Amelia picked Ruide up and sat him in a chair. Ruide struggled, but it was meaningless.

“Tomorrow… let’s do it tomorrow.”

Hearing those words, Amelia hung her head with a dejected face.

“I guess we should, right? It’s time to sleep now.”

“Yes.”

“Someone without talent like me won’t improve no matter how much I practice.”

Cold sweat ran down Ruide’s forehead.

“It’s a meaningless struggle…”

“Okay. We can continue.”

“Really?”

Amelia smiled brightly.

With an expression of deadly fatigue, he moved his mana. Amelia’s eyes sparkled like she had found a new toy as she began sparring with an imaginary opponent.

Clang!

The invisible sword recreating Karon’s swordsmanship clashed with Amelia without pause.

As Ruide was watching while yawning lazily, he sensed someone approaching and turned his head. Amelia also paused her training.

It was Galahad. He approached staggering, with a deep wound on his chest.

“Win-Windsor.”

Amelia hurriedly covered Ruide’s eyes.

“What happened? Are we under attack?”

“No, that’s not it.”

He seemed to struggle even to speak.

“Irene Windsor is at the imperial palace…”

Cough, he spat out blood.

He fell to his knees.

“You two are the only ones who can stop her. Please. Stop that crazy monster. I’ll pay any price.”