Chapter 111: Words I’d Never Heard (10) Part 1

[111] 16. Words I’d Never Heard (10)

Wrinkled faces were reflected in the crimson pool of blood.

Each and every one of them painted with shock and despair.

Anyone would have felt that way, probably.

If you were holding your head high at the top of the world, and suddenly that head rolled off your neck.

“This kind of clean-up wasn’t part of the contract.”

Irene tossed away the severed arm of the man who had once been the chairman of the council. She wiped the blood off her face and looked up.

“Was there really a need to create this kind of mess?”

“They died for their sins.”

That was the reply of the man who had been silently observing the dismemberment. Standing alone, unstained by blood amidst this sea of gore, he continued speaking impassively.

“Angered by the evil deeds and countless acts of treason they committed, our ancestor Alain tore them limb from limb…”

Irene frowned as she cut off the Grand Justice’s leg and scattered it. The withered leg splashed into the blood-soaked floor and rolled.

“At least, that’s what needs to be known to the masses.”

“In other words, this is all just an elaborate act, Your Imperial Highness.”

Louis, the Emperor Nicolai’s grandson, smiled faintly.

“I’m not the Crown Prince yet. That bastard Adolf is still alive.”

“Isn’t that also just a matter of time?”

Irene looked back at the carnage she had created.

The Empire’s high-ranking officials, dismembered and scattered.

The men who had once made Adolf crown prince were now in a state worse than dog food.

And the Imperial throne isn’t a seat one ascends to alone.

“Anyway, Your Imperial Highness, are you satisfied with this?”

“Of course, Ms. Ailleyde.”

The corners of Louis’ eyes curved.

“Thanks to you, the ship of the empire will finally return to its rightful course. The Empire will prosper once more under the hands of the wise. On behalf of the entire Empire, I thank you.”

“Surely you’re not planning on paying me with such empty pleasantries.”

“Of course not.”

Louis laughed as if he’d just heard an amusing joke.

“I am a man of my word. I will keep the promise I made with you.”

“…”

But Irene’s face remained cold.

As it had been since they first met.

Louis suddenly wondered if she had ever smiled in her life.

“I sincerely hope you keep that promise, Your Imperial Highness.”

Irene’s face disappeared under her hood. She placed the blood-stained sword she had used for the killings on the table and said.

“There must not be another occasion for our ancestor Alain to become angry again.”

And then Irene melted into her own shadow. It was a complete disappearance that left no trace behind.

Louis opened his mouth with a faint smile.

“Sir Gillian.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The knight who had been concealing himself with an invisibility magic tool revealed himself. Louis looked down at the kneeling knight with smiling eyes.

“Can you track her?”

“…It’s impossible. It’s a magic I’ve never seen before…”

Louis’ smile didn’t falter. But Gillian could sense the anger in his tightly clenched fist.

[Your Imperial Highness, do you require assistance?]

“… When I first received the offer, I thought she was just a madwoman…”

“…If you command me to find and kill her, I will do so.”

“That won’t be necessary, Sir Gillian. We can’t repeat the same mistakes as Adolf.”

Moreover, she was a woman who single-handedly turned the Empire’s high-ranking officials into chunks of meat. There was no need to provoke her unnecessarily.

Louis turned his back on the corpses of the officials. He smiled brightly at Gillian, who was cautiously watching him.

“And aside from that, how difficult could it be to erect a few towers?”

***

“…Has your anger subsided a little, Your Highness?”

Adolf roughly snatched the towel handed to him by the knight. As he wiped his blood-soaked face, he looked out beyond the castle walls.

About 2km away from the city walls.

Hundreds of flickering torches.

And the twinkling blades faintly shining in their light.

“How many are there?”

“…At least two hundred, Your Highness.”

“Have they not yet revealed which affiliation they belong to? Or their objective?”

“We’ve sent several messengers, but…”

The knight trailed off. But the bloodstains on his shoulder armor made it easy to guess what he was about to say.

Adolf gritted his teeth.

“How dare they…! To me…!!”

“Please calm yourself, Your Highness. Now is not the time to engage in battle. The damage inflicted by those traitors is severe…”

[Bastard Adolf, listen up!!]

A voice amplified by magic rang out through the night.

Adolf looked around in bewilderment before finally spotting a torch that had approached close to the castle walls.

A knight’s shining armor under the torch.

Again, the magically amplified voice spread throughout Essier.

[Know your sin of sullying the imperial name by deceiving that your body, born of a whore, was of imperial blood!!]

The blood drained from Adolf’s face.

[Not only that, but you conspired with the vermin of the empire to commit all kinds of evil deeds and even indulge your own selfish desires, so are you not indeed the cancer of this empire!!]

“Yo-Your Highness, what on earth is this…!!”

[Therefore, I, Louis Andrique von Titanisch, in the name of God and our ancestor Alain, will carry out justice!!]

The moment he heard the name Louis, Adolf’s face twisted like a demon’s.

“That bastard who was cast aside and stripped of his position as Crown Prince…!!”

[Those who have aided you in corrupting the Empire have already received divine punishment and been torn to shreds!! So surrender yourself peacefully, traitor Adolf, and face judgment!!]

“Who do you think will believe your nonsense!!”

Unable to contain his rage, Adolf leaned his upper body out beyond the castle walls. He shouted at the top of his lungs, veins bulging in his neck.

“I am the true son of the Emperor!! The throne is mine!! Men! Shoot arrows into that impudent bastard’s face right now!! Men…”

Adolf’s words trailed off as he looked behind him.

The eyes of the knights filled with doubt and anxiety.

Their hands resting on the hilts of their swords, so vividly visible.

Soon after, one knight stepped forward. He asked with an expression of disbelief:

“Is, is it true? Is the duke really dead?”

Adolf’s heated mind cooled.

How could a street urchin have become the Crown Prince of the empire?

Adolf knew his place very well.

If it hadn’t been for those old nobles backing him, he wouldn’t have been able to ascend this far, even with his illusion magic.

Even the knights present here had been lent to him by those nobles.

So naturally, if those nobles disappeared, he too would crumble.

Suddenly, it felt as if everything he had grasped was slipping through his fingers like sand.

“Are you defying my order now?”

But Adolf clenched his fist with a contorted face. He raised his hand and touched his earring.

“Even after seeing what happened to the barbarian who defied me?”

The knight’s face turned pale with terror. Soon after, he prostrated himself flat on the ground and trembled.

“I-I’m sorry!! I-I was out of line!! Please forgive me…!!”

“Shut up.”

Adolf reached out his hand to the prostrate knight.

“_____!!”

The knight’s eyes rolled back into his head, and his body convulsed like a worm. Dozens of deaths shattered the knight’s mind.

“Uh… uh… uh…”

In an instant, the knight’s mind crumbled, drool dripping from his lips. There was not a shred of intelligence left in his cloudy eyes.

The knights looked at Adolf with fear in their eyes.

“Sir Garond, send word to Baron Essier immediately. Tell him to gather his soldiers and come here.”

“Ye-Yes, I understand!”

“And Sir Illias, recall all the knights who are out on patrol.”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

“The remaining members of the Central Knights’ 1st Division, conscript the citizens and prepare boiling oil and excrement.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“And the rest of you.”

Adolf looked at the pale faces of the knights with cold eyes. He felt blood trickling down his clenched fist as he declared.

“From now on, we prepare for siege warfare.”

It wasn’t over yet.

***

The former Baron Essier’s younger brother.

The current Baron Essier.

Barbaros Ehrenheit Louis la Eschirn.

He was a man different in many ways from his older brother, who had now become headless.

His brother had been energetic, but he was sickly,

His brother had been greedy, but he was easygoing.

Above all, Barbaros, unlike his brother, did not chase after power.

His ultimate goal was a single one.

To live a long and peaceful life. And if possible, a happy one.

Perhaps that was why his father had chosen his brother to be the Baron.

And because of that, he was now facing this trial.

“…Siege warfare…?”

“The traitors have surrounded the castle, my lord. Shouldn’t we fight alongside His Highness?”

The face of the knight saying this had turned pitifully pale. The problem was that Barbaros’s face had also turned just as pale.

“Bu-But… Ri-Right now, those outside the walls aren’t traitors, but Duke Titanisch? Ho-How could he be a traitor…”

The knight’s mouth clamped shut. Barbaros looked at him with pleading eyes.

“It-It doesn’t make sense…! How could Lord Louis become a traitor! Moreover, if we go against Lord Louis…”

“Then do you intend to go against His Highness?”

Poor Barbaros almost lost his mind at that moment.

“Th-That’s not what I…!”

Barbaros, barely managing to pull himself together, made a face as if he were about to burst into tears.

“I, I’m just saying that this is ridiculous…! How could Duke Titanisch possibly be…”

“His Highness has declared Duke Titanisch a traitor.”

The knight’s voice was trembling. But it wasn’t from hesitation, but from fear.

“So, Duke Titanisch is a traitor.”

At that moment, Barbaros realized a few things.

One, this wouldn’t end until either Louis or Adolf was dead.

Two, if Barbaros refuses here and now, this knight will run to the prince and immediately report this matter.

Three, and if that happens, Barbaros will have his head cut off like his brother.

Four, but if he fought against Louis and lost, then he and his family would be hanged.

And lastly, five.

The outcome of this battle may be determined by which side Barbaros joins. Because he has that many soldiers.

In the end, there was only one question left.

Which side offered a higher chance of survival?

The renowned Duke Titanisch?

Or Adolf, who had beheaded the former Baron Essier just because he’d come to ‘rescue’ him.

Again, Barbaros’s life goal was a long and peaceful life.

Barbaros made an expression like he was about to cry and slammed his mace into the knight’s head.

***