episode_0023

Camilla smiled bitterly as she looked at Raoul, who couldn’t overcome his drunkenness and fell asleep.

“Anyway, he’s a really hot guy.”

Raoul, who had been desperately trying to explain that this crow could actually talk, was now wandering in a dream, leaning on Camilla’s shoulder.

“… Why is that so important? ”

He was a man who was not obsessed with matters related to his own safety or reputation, but who often had strange things happen to him.

He was a man with a unique charm who acted as if he had never shown interest in such topics.

That’s why he was an even more pitiful and pitiful man.

“If it were any other man, I wouldn’t have done this, but like a fool, I didn’t even know that.”

Raoul may be under the illusion that he is doing this purely out of interest.

That’s why I called him a fool.

Even though they are creatures that are driven only by interest, there is no way that interest would last this long.

Her interest in metal was easily sparked, but it was also easily lost.

“……”

She gulped down the drink she brought from the bar while looking at Raoul sleeping.

And then she felt relieved that she was now a woman and Raoul was a man. Because he didn’t know what he would do if he were a man and Raoul was a woman.

Of course, it wasn’t like he wasn’t willing to do something like that even now. I just didn’t want him to be sad more than I wanted that.

How great would it be if you were born with the opposite gender?

Camilla would have easily become the head of the family based on her major, and she would have taken Raoul away from the family and imprisoned him in a place where no one could see him.

“If I had been born as a man, I might have been pretty trash.”

For her, Raoul was not the best man. Anyone could be the best simply based on ability.

She did this because Raoul was the only man for her. Because uniqueness is an expression that is only allowed to one person.

Camilla shook the bottle and began looking for Raoul’s records hidden in the treasure chest of memories.

###

Many years ago.

It is a story about a time when five people, including Raoul, who would later be called heroes, were still innocent.

It was also a story of a time when they mistakenly believed that their hard work would be properly rewarded.

On the day of the large-scale departure ceremony, the five people who were said to be the hope of the empire gave a commemorative speech in front of numerous soldiers.

It was an event where the nobles’ opinions were strongly expressed to boost morale through speeches by those who were called hopeful, but the parties involved did not welcome these speeches.

However, since no one was foolish enough to refuse what was decided by the imperial decree, the speech went ahead.

“What a foolish thing to do. It’s something that stupid emperor would like.”

“Raul. If you are caught, you will be executed for treason.”

“… If you don’t call a stupid person stupid, what should you say?”

Maybe it was because he still had enough humanity left to call someone stupid. At that time, Raoul was quite straightforward.

“If you think about it, the person who started this foolish war in the first place was the foolish emperor.”

“That’s right. A horny pig. How could the rain of the Demon King, who visited as an envoy for peace…”

The blonde woman next to Raoul grinned and added a word to Raoul’s harsh criticism.

“I feel sorry for our little pig.”

Asher, the man who would later become emperor and also the first prince, frowned and cursed his father.

“Everyone, stop. Anyone would think that because of the war started by our prince’s father, we were inadvertently dragged into the war.”

Of course, Camilla was also one of those who supported the ridicule.

“Damn, I can’t even see Jim’s side. Anyway, various disloyal things.”

Of course, to them, even conversations that could sound like treason were just light jokes.

“It’s natural that we’re not fighting for the imperial family or anything like that.”

“Of course, the piglets of the imperial family, except for your highness, will think that we are loyal to the imperial family.”

“… It is also the fault of the royal family that we received such training under the military commander, or rather, our teacher.”

“Isn’t 3 to 1 a bit cowardly, like this group of traitors.”

While the four were clashing, the future Empress Penelope, who finished her speech for the fourth time, came down from the podium.

“No matter how much your father is a parasite living on a pathetic firefly that can’t even overcome my sexual desires, stop it. When I see the pitiful sight of a wild animal in heat shaking its pitiful body, unable to overcome its sexual desires, I feel like I want to rip it to death… but I have to distinguish between what is okay to say and what is not.”

“… No one said anything that harsh.”

“Oh, I see. By the way, Raoul. Now it’s your turn to give your final speech.”

Penelope, not paying attention to Camilla’s facial expression, helped Raoul up.

“You know that speech is free, but you can’t swear at His Majesty as if you were talking to us, right? If you do that, you will be beheaded. It’s probably not possible.”

“……”

“You can’t say that again.”

“I’m not one to talk too much, but… I’ll try my best.”

Raoul trudged up the stage, walking feebly.

Maybe it was because it felt awkward to say something that would boost the morale of the soldiers with a mouth that had just been insulting the emperor.

Raoul looked at the soldiers in silence for about 30 seconds.

“I am Raoul Bergé.”

And then he introduced himself, looking a little awkward.

Among those present, there were some who did not know Raoul, but no one knew Bergé.

If there was anyone who didn’t know about such a huge family, he would definitely have been an idiot.

“Subject is Raoul. From now on, sex will have no meaning. Saints of Bergé, saints of the imperial family, saints of dukes, saints of peasants, saints of masons, saints of tinkers. Now there will be no meaning whatsoever.”

He realized that he had no talent for public speaking.

This was because the soldiers were just looking at them, speechless.

“If you die, you just die. The swords of the enemies do not fear the power of the imperial family or noble families. Likewise their swords will not pity the poor.”

Raoul felt like he was at a loss, but he still felt he had to say something.

“Those who gave previous speeches must have promised a lot. Unfortunately, I can’t promise anything that great because I’m a professional.”

The prince promised glory.

The blonde woman promised future peace.

Camilla promised victory.

The future empress promised honor.

Raoul, who was on his last turn, had nothing to promise since he had promised plausible things earlier.

That’s why he promised the smallest things.

“I promise to return home.”

However, those words captured the soldiers’ attention more powerfully than any other words.

“What I’m aiming for is not the devil’s head, but my house, which is just a few steps behind.”

“We are a flock of migratory birds, not birds of prey that hunt as we are told. They are a flock of migratory birds that are marching to survive now, but will definitely return here someday.”

“A flock of migratory birds gather together to form a gigantic bird, and when that gigantic bird takes flight, its appearance will be incomparable to that of a bird of prey.”

“That’s why.”

He followed suit with his other friends, raised his hands and declared to the soldiers.

His voice, which was low and clear, was never loud, but was heard clearly in the soldiers’ ears.

“I will fly at the forefront.”

Although he could not realize it, his speech played a significant role in raising the military’s morale, which was low.

Of course, there was an unfortunate incident in which he exchanged fists with friends who comically imitated his speech, but such fistfights were nothing more than a trivial joke to them at that time.

###

“… It was really fun.”

A lot had happened since then, but the fact that it was fun was true.

Even though a tragedy occurred where five became four, and he was rewarded with checks instead of glory, and Raoul even lost his faint sense of sensibility.

Even Raoul did not deny the sparkle of those days.

“If she were there, she would have grabbed Raoul’s family by the collar first. Even though I like fighting, I’m not that much of a dick.”

However, Raoul was unable to give any answer as he had to reach out his bloody hand towards the being that he could not catch in his dream.

“… There really is no fool as clueless and frustrating as you.”

Camilla laid Raoul on the bed and turned her head toward the cage where the crow was kept.

“Isn’t that so, you wicked beast?”

“… How did you know?”

“Your unnatural crying sound and various minor circumstances?”

“…”

Camilla was a person driven by interest and personality, but she was not ignorant.

Rather, he was a person who was quicker to calculate than ordinary nobles and belonged to the cunning axis.

“I don’t know who you are, but it really bothers me that you approached me while hiding your identity. There’s no way a talking crow is normal in the first place, right?”

“So you want to kill me right here? Raoul will be angry.”

“Our relationship is not something that can be broken just by killing a bird.”

For a moment, Camilla’s fingertips glowed blue, but the crow gazed at the light calmly.

“… But not today.”

“It’s a little surprising. The bastards on that battlefield have patience.”

Camilla withdrew the shock she had tried to disperse and answered calmly.

“This fool won’t show it to me, but I’m sure he’ll be sad. I’m more annoyed by that. If you want to cry, cry, and if you want to be angry, get angry.”

“…”

“But that’s only if you didn’t make this idiot sad. If you make this fool cry even once…”

Eventually, when Camilla made a gesture, the spear that was stuck at the entrance of the village broke the window and flew back into Camilla’s hand.

“The snack for that day will be you.”