episode_0115

After fainting and barely recovering, Rose froze as soon as she saw the king of the ghosts.

The strength that a warrior with talents greater than her own, or even her older sister’s, could achieve after all the suffering and training, made even a strong person like Logi lose her will to fight.

“Who would want to step forward? Who would die the most horrible death in the world…”

“Kyle, deputy commander of the Imperial Military Intelligence Command. Let me be the first to go.”

The first to step forward, as if there was no trace of hesitation, was Kyle, Raoul’s adjutant and disciple of the heroes.

Kyle was the one who repaid kindness twice and resentment tenfold.

There was no way he would spare his life for those who had saved his life and given him important positions.

“Please kill me.”

“… The five have not yet gathered. If so, you will just be throwing away your meaningless life for meaningless work.”

“I risked my life fighting in a war that started because some idiot kid messed with my lower body. Are you afraid of giving your life for those people, you corpse bastard?”

“That arrogance continues to this day.”

The king of the ghosts sneered at Kyle inwardly. What could a heart that was so weak as to repay a favor do? A heart that was weak would not be able to protect anything. He thought that such a mindset was extremely foolish.

The King of the Ghosts turned his gaze back to the nobles.

I assumed, no, I was sure that Kyle would come out. Now the problem is the remaining four. How many of the remaining trash will be willing to sacrifice their lives for the heroes?

If Camilla’s brother Charles were alive, he would have thought logically and given his life without hesitation, but now he was gone.

In such a situation, who would be brave enough to give up their life?

It was impossible unless you were crazy.

“Arthur Berger’s wife, Raoul Berger and Liesel Berger’s mother, and former commander of the Black Raven Knights, Latri Berger. I will give up this worthless life.”

“… Surprisingly.”

The King of the Ghosts pressed her in a voice that seemed incomprehensible.

“This tyrant must have hated his son. Now is a good opportunity to deal with him. Why do you rebel?”

“I lived my whole life as a shameful mother.”

Ratri advanced towards the King of the Wraiths without the slightest fear.

“But I have no intention of dying as a shameful mother.”

“That’s funny. Do you think there’s any point in struggling like that? In the end, it’ll just lead to a painful death without any meaning.”

“That will be a punishment too.”

The King of Ghosts also ridiculed such Ratri.

This current behavior will not erase the abuses of the past. The atonement of the present cannot justify the foolishness of the past. I felt sorry for that woman who did not even know that.

Even though only two people had stepped forward, the situation was not even half-fulfilled. There was no way that any of the remaining rascals would be willing to take their own lives.

They are all foolish cowards who do not know the value and meaning of sacrifice…

“Daughter of Arthur Bergé and Latri Bergé, sister of Raoul Bergé. And head of the Bergé family. Liesel Bergé. I will step forward.”

“The sunflower is coming out. Even if you have the title of head of the household, there is no place for someone like you…”

“Then you should have said that from the beginning. Why didn’t you say anything at first and are saying it now?”

“You’re so clever.”

The King of the Ghosts judged even such a Lizel to be foolish. She was still young and did not know the ways of the world or true pain, so she could act like that.

This is all a manifestation of foolishness, not sacrifice. There is no one who truly chooses to sacrifice. They are all selfish people who give up their lives because of their relationship with Raoul. That is what I concluded.

Ratri didn’t seem to like the idea of her daughter giving up her life, but she had to accept it since she wasn’t much different from him.

And Kyle also got to see Lizel again. He thought she was just some empty noblewoman, but looking at her like this, she seemed like a pretty strong-willed young lady.

“There are only three left.”

As the King of Ghosts tried to calm his mind with logic, a sharp and vicious claw flew towards him.

Naturally, he kicked the arm away and easily blocked the attack.

“Hmm~♫. This is really a monster~~. His Majesty and little Raoul deserved it~~~. Even if you can’t use your arms, if we all rush in, we’ll all die~~~?”

The target of that attack was acting quite strangely. Judging from his size, he was clearly a knight, but he was wearing makeup and accessories like a woman.

Even though his black-painted fingernails were broken, he didn’t feel any pain and instead looked at Raoul and his group with worried eyes.

“Who are you?”

“Leonidas Poleur, the head of the Poleur family, the horse trainer who trained the children that Raoul and His Majesty rode on…and the instructor of Raoul and Leila’s boxing skills. I have come to sacrifice my life for His Majesty and the heroes~♪.”

“Disgusting. From your appearance to your attitude and speech. Why are you coming out? Why are you, who never even came to the battlefield.”

“That’s no fun~♬. An empire without those little brats? That’s just a country with a few piglets living on a piece of trash~.”

He walked towards Kyle, Latri, and Liesel, and gave Kyle a mysterious look. Kyle, frightened, hid behind Liesel’s dress.

However, he smiled at Ratri and spoke to her affectionately.

“You’ve changed a lot since your days as a knight, darling~~?”

“You’re still the same. That weird taste, that perverted face, that ugly taste.”

“Honey~~~ Haven’t you learned that if you say that, your mouth will tear~~?”

The two people must have been close because they had such a conversation even as they faced death.

The King of Ghosts did not like that kind of leisure either.

Leisure was something that only those who did not know the harshness of reality could use. I concluded that he was doing this to hide his ugly intentions. It did not seem like a relationship worth risking one’s life for.

As is always the case with the nobility of the empire, it is clear that he has turned himself into a sheep’s clothing to hide his dark intentions.

The king of the ghosts who had perfected his mind, on the contrary, ended up closing the door to his mind forever.

He came to rely solely on himself as the basis and framework for his judgment.

That’s why I wanted to somehow negate those four people who were trying to undermine my theory. Only four people had come forward to give up their lives, and unless one more person came forward, there couldn’t be five.

“You haven’t even reached five yet. No matter how much you weigh it, if those rascals don’t give up their lives, all your words and logic will ultimately be empty.”

The King of the Phantoms had an additional pair of arms sprouting from his body. With six arms and a pair of legs, he looked like a monster, not unlike a spider.

Even though his power was being perfected, he was moving further and further away from the proud king that the people loved at that time.

Still, he didn’t care. If only he could get revenge, if only his people could rest in peace, free from all resentment. Even if he had to turn into a monster, he could endure it.

“There’s still one left! Come out and prove that you have the courage to sacrifice your life! I swear I will give the worst pain to that fool! ”

In that moment, Rosie’s hand stopped.

Certainly, the four of them, including Raoul, were heroes of the empire. Without them, the Demon King’s invasion could not have been stopped, so it would have been right for them to sacrifice themselves.

But even so, hopes began to grow that we might somehow survive. Those seeds of hope grew like vines and wrapped themselves around everyone’s hands.

The foolish hope that he might somehow survive, the intense despair emanating from the King of Ghosts, and the instinct that it was important to live even if the empire burned.

All of these things blocked their will to raise their hands.

Rosie was also one of them, so she hesitated. She was also worried about whether it was okay to throw away the life her sister had given her like this.

But the moment I made up my mind and was about to raise my hand, another hand was raised first.

“Who are you?”

Rosie also turned her head towards the person holding the hand.

Rose knew the person. He was someone who had no good relationship with Raoul, but rather only bad relationships.

However, he was not a person who went to the battlefield, nor did he have any special favor with Raoul or other heroes.

“Je, je, Her Imperial Highness the Empress Ji, Direct Inspectorate… Seo, Senior Inspector… No, No Mulbread… Mo, take your life…”

Rose detested the man. He was just another piece of trash, no different from any other nobleman.

He was a slacker who had no talent for anything other than his work as an inspector. He was not clean and upright, either. He was not involved in any major corruption, but he accepted small gifts and showed favors, and was just one of the typical imperial nobles.

I wondered if he was trying to say he needed to go to the bathroom, but that wasn’t it.

The King of the Ghosts, who had read the list of nobles before coming, spoke in a voice that seemed bewildered.

“I didn’t know that a corrupt worm would come out. Why are you willing to sacrifice your life? For what great cause are you coming out? Is it presumption? Or is it a desire to be recorded well in history?”

The king of ghosts treated him like a bug.

He was neither a warrior nor a man of purpose, much less the head of a family.

It seemed that he would feel offended if such a person interfered with his will.

“Those gathered there are comparable to lions or at least lynxes, but you are a flea. Your trembling voice is proof of that. What’s the point of a lowly insect being brave?”

“I, I…”

She was the one who once teased Liesel by calling her a cripple and ended up having her leg broken by Raoul.

He once threw a sly glance at Camilla at a ballroom and was humiliated.

He was once ridiculed by the emperor, who said that if he had not been an inspector, he would have starved to death.

He was once evaluated by the Empress as a person who could only work as much as his salary.

That was all he was, and he had no good feelings toward heroes.

Still, he stood before the king of ghosts. He could not stand upright. His trembling voice and his soaking wet pants proved it.

“I, I am trash, just like you said. I have never lived my whole life with honor. I, the battlefield seemed like nothing but waste. I, I lack the ability to go. I am not good enough to be a servant. I am only working under Her Highness the Empress with just one talent…”

He mustered up every last bit of courage in his life.

“I have never lived a mean life. I have insulted my Raoul for his conduct, but I know one thing: he must not die. The others are no different. I hate them, but I know one thing: they are more valuable to the Empire than I am.”

“That is sophistry. That is sophistry beyond compare.”

“Have you come here to take my life? Or have you come here to discuss reason with this flea?”

The king of ghosts asked indifferently to the criticism that you, who argue about fleas and reason, are no different from a flea.

“It’s foolish. It’s disgusting. All this atrocity and hypocrisy is just…”

“And in the eyes of this flea… you are now… dirtier than me.”

When the king of the ghosts heard that story, he became enraged and grabbed his head.

You’re talking nonsense with a head attached to a fragile neck that could break at any moment.

It was a sin that deserved a thousand deaths.

“To me, you… are just spitting.”

“That’s just the nonsense of the Empire’s trash. Even if the weak bugs try to hold the weight… they’ll just get trampled to death in the end!”

“… I admit it again, but I am a bug. ”

The king of the ghosts tried to strangle him, intending to burst him to death.

“Huh, but even you, who only hunts after bugs… aren’t you ultimately unable to go beyond the level of a frog?”

At that moment, for the first time that day, something sharp pierced the king’s chest.