episode_0057

El Cid.

Many called her that, but her original name was Rodrigo de Dias.

Since her name was quite long, her family used to call her ‘El’ as a nickname in the distant past, but such trivial matters aside.

Immediately after exiting the succubus’s room, she fell into thought as she followed him, who was walking silently down the corridor.

‘What on earth is his relationship with that woman?’

Her name was Helena Camellia, wasn’t it?

Considering her surname, she seemed to have been a noble knight, but what kind of past connection did His Highness have with her that he cared for her so devotedly?

She wanted to ask. And, she wanted to know.

It had been several years since she was released from her seal and began serving His Highness, but neither she nor anyone else knew a single thing about him.

His name, his appearance, and his past.

He seemed to have no hobbies, as he usually immersed himself madly in swordsmanship training as if consumed by madness, so she didn’t even know what his hobbies were.

If she asked, would he tell her?

‘Probably not.’

He often subtly evaded her questions when she tried to ask.

Though she had only directly asked a handful of times, he seemed reluctant to answer such questions himself.

‘Is there a special reason?’

She thought there might be. Even now, while assisting His Highness, she would sometimes see him lost in deep thought several times a day, and each time he emerged from his contemplation, he would show signs of displeasure.

Like someone who didn’t want to dream but was forced into a nightmare and then woke up from it.

The reason he subtly avoided answering questions about himself was probably related to this.

‘That’s why I want to know even more.’

She knew it was a thought a subordinate shouldn’t harbor towards their liege, but she still wanted to know more about His Highness.

Because.

“It’s fine.”

“It’ll be fine.”

His Highness truly possessed a different demeanor from her previous liege.

Although, like her previous liege, his personality was gradually eroding due to the side effects of the black flame.

Unlike her strict, duty-driven previous liege, His Highness, despite harboring the black flame, knew how to care for his subordinates.

She, too, had received his grace, and so she wanted to know more about His Highness and comfort his wounded parts.

‘Perhaps that’s why he pushes me, pushes us, away even more.’

Seeing him avoid and distance himself from the act of exchanging feelings, she felt that this might indeed be the reason.

“El Cid.”

At that moment, His Highness called her.

“Did you call, Your Highness?”

“What do you think of that succubus from earlier?”

“The succubus, you mean…”

She pondered for a moment, but then realized the intention behind His Highness’s question and immediately replied.

“As expected, both her soul and mind appear to be significantly damaged.”

She not only lacked her memories from her former life, but her expression was also blank, like a simple-minded child.

He seemed to agree with her, nodding as if he had the same thought.

“Indeed. Her memory doesn’t seem intact. Her personality has changed too.”

Her personality had changed.

She had almost certainly anticipated it, but hearing those words gave her complete certainty that His Highness had been intimately acquainted with that woman during her lifetime.

Whether it was friendship or romantic love, she didn’t know.

Whichever it was, it was probably not a shallow feeling.

“But she didn’t seem completely changed.”

Helena Camellia, was it?

She was practically a different person, but earlier, when His Highness heard her name and said, ‘What a beautiful name,’ that woman had clearly shown a nostalgic expression.

This meant that given a sufficient trigger, there was a good chance her memories and personality from her former life could return.

However.

‘Would that truly be right?’

She was already dead.

The issue wasn’t the world’s order against reviving the dead, but rather that she was a person who had already died in battle and found peace long ago.

To forcibly resurrect such a person, and not even as an ordinary human but as a succubus, a minion of the Demon King—was it truly right to restore her to her former memories and personality?

If she were to realize that she harbored a fragment of calamity and had been transformed into a race that served that calamity, it would come as a tremendous shock.

Perhaps a person with strong mental fortitude could withstand it, but an ordinary person might go mad from the impact.

“……”

And his thoughts were not much different from El Cid’s.

If anything, his mind was far more complex, certainly not less so than hers.

‘All of my comrades from the time Helena and I were together are already dead.’

Helena had always cherished her comrades exceptionally.

As someone starved for familial affection, she had also craved affection from him, and she was a woman who sought happiness within the knight order more than anyone else to forget the misfortunes of her underprivileged household.

What kind of reaction would such a woman show if she learned, after such a long time, that her Duke, her comrades, and even…

“……”

…he himself was gone?

He didn’t want to imagine it.

Though they were comrades from the distant past, he, too, had cherished her.

She was a woman who had clung to the Duke, begging for his life for his sake, pleading desperately until the very end.

Was it right to put such a woman, who had dedicated herself so much for him, into such a painful situation?

He didn’t know.

Truly.

It had always been this way, but these human relationships were just damnedly difficult to find answers for.

“Your Highness.”

At that moment, a soft voice filled with steadfastness called him.

She had stopped walking at some point and stood before him, lost in thought, looking up at him with clear, ruby-like red eyes and said:

“You only need to do your best.”

Was she saying this because she knew his heart?

She looked at him with confident eyes as she spoke.

“That woman will also understand your heart.”

Unlike her usual self, with a slightly flushed expression, as if to say it would surely turn out well.

Since her words were sincere, not just empty talk, he expressed his gratitude.

“That’s comforting.”

“……?”

“Thank you.”

“!!!!!!”

At his words, El Cid’s expression changed from questioning to shock, and she froze on the spot.

Seeing this, he made a face under his helmet, showing he didn’t understand her reaction.

‘Is ‘thank you’ really that surprising?’

He didn’t remember being stingy with praise, so he wondered if it was truly so shocking.

“Lord Morgoth.”

From one end of the corridor, he heard someone calling him.

It was one of the magistrates who conveyed Cerebus’s orders.

“The Creator says the gift is ready.”

“Gift?”

“Yes.”

He bowed and continued.

“He asked me to convey that the ‘promised’ gift is ready.”

***

The Imperial Workshop.

Located in Keter, the tenth of the ten districts of the capital, this workshop could practically be considered the best workshop on the continent.

It housed the continent’s sole remaining metallurgy techniques from the Golden Age, along with all sorts of related artifacts, and the best artisans were always stationed there.

Consequently, it was a place of astronomical value to the Empire, literally churning out equipment of the highest quality on the continent as if from a factory.

Notably, the heroes’ armor, made of moonstone, which had an enormous value—a single suit equaling the annual budget of a major city—was also created here.

Of course, both the factory and the armor were now in their hands.

Hiss-hiss-whir—

The busy sound of countless pistons reciprocating filled the air, and numerous large furnaces blazed inside the colossal workshop.

From armor to various forms of weaponry, and even materials for repairing and rebuilding the shattered capital buildings—

This place, literally producing every conceivable supply needed for the capital, saw artisans who once served the Shahlnu Empire busily working without much resistance.

And this wasn’t all.

The now-lost Golden Age technology of ‘enchantment.’

With techniques and equipment to engrave magical formulas onto gear to grant special effects, not only artisans but also magicians and alchemists skilled in crafting were stationed here, working diligently.

Incidentally, most of the magicians and alchemists in the capital had been conscripted and taken away by the expeditionary force, so the magicians and alchemists currently here were their Gram’s own talents.

“This place is always busy, isn’t it?”

He briefly replied to El Cid’s remark.

“It has to be busy.”

Even though the Empire’s conquest was practically complete, they still needed to produce supplies for the army to suppress the resistance forces in some small regions.

Moreover, the five cities, including the capital, especially Mulipen and Adhara, which suffered the most severe damage, were paralyzed and unable to restore themselves.

To create building materials for these efforts, probably not only this workshop but also other general workshops throughout the capital were busily lit up.

‘It hasn’t even been a month since the coup.’

Far from there being chaos in the city, the workshops and other production facilities in the capital were operating even more actively than before the coup—no, perhaps even more actively than ever.

‘There must be a mountain of tasks to do.’

There must be a huge amount of work after conquering the Empire, yet they had already restored the paralyzed veins of the Empire to their original state so quickly.

Witnessing this series of events, he, like El Cid, couldn’t help but be amazed.

‘Their abilities must be acknowledged.’

Cerebus and Sargon.

All of this was the result of the administrative prowess of these two, who were practically Gram’s original members and founders.

He, too, had experience as a military administrator, so his administrative ability was by no means lacking anywhere, but seeing them swiftly conquer this vast Empire and revive its vitality at such a rapid pace…

He couldn’t help but be amazed by their administrative abilities.

They soon reached the heart of the workshop.

In stark contrast to the intense heat and noisy piston sounds they had experienced earlier, the heart of the workshop was remarkably quiet.

Whoosh—

Like a stream of water, glimmering navy-blue liquids, reminiscent of the Milky Way, flowed through small grooves carved into the floor.

Dragon’s Breath.

It was an heirloom of the Imperial family and a liquid more precious than gold, commanding thousands of gold per liter.

Since the fall of the Golden Age, it was also the sole material in the current era used to refine moonstone, which boasted the highest hardness on the continent.

“You’ve arrived, Lord Morgoth.”

A woman’s voice welcomed him in the dim workshop.

The woman was distinctive with her short tank top and angular goggles, working on machinery while suspended from a dark brown cylindrical device.

The Fifth Executor, [Alchemist] Fulcanelli.

Until the coup, she was better known as the head of the Emerald Tablet, the continent’s foremost alchemy association.

She removed her goggles and greeted him with a wide smile.

“I’ve been waiting.”