Chapter 194
『Translator: RainTL』
༺ Miruam Elizabeth El Rath (6) ༻
Our continent full of demonic beasts and demonic spirits was so wide that many areas were out of the legal reach of the central law system.
The tyrannical reign of local authorities in small societies was very commonplace and the role of JPs was to be the legal authority in areas like that.
They had tremendous power. Like the secret royal inspectors of the Joseon dynasty, they had the right to carry out private investigations, revise, and give out punishment on the spot.
And thanks to that authority, the narrow canyon had quickly shifted from a battlefield to a court.
No one could deny Korin’s right as the Justice of the Peace to carry out a trial with enough justifications in place.
“Defendant, Ku Shee. Step forward.”
He, who had been watching everything unfold from behind while I was stopping the army, obediently followed my command as the judge.
The name of his crime was the attempted assassination of the princess. Previously, it was the entirety of Dana Shee that had been charged for this, but it was now limited to one single werewolf.
“I am not going to beat around the bush, because I prefer trials to be short and concise as the Justice of the Peace. ‘Citizen’ Ku Shee. You have attempted an assassination of the 2nd Princess of the El Rath Kingdom, Miruam Elizabeth El Rath. We also have a witness.”
Right now, I was the prosecutor getting Ku Shee to admit his crime.
“Witness! Korin Lork!”
The prosecutor called for a witness, who happened to be the prosecutor himself. It might be weird, but no one could say anything about it, because it was widely known that I was the one who saved the princess.
“I, as the witness, saw the scene of the defendant trying to inflict harm on Her Highness the princess. Do you admit this, defendant?”
“...I do.”
“That solves things then. Now that the defendant has admitted his guiltiness, I as the judge—”
“What kind of… skit is this?”
I turned to Miruam, the victim who walked forward while gritting her teeth.
The man who had been trying to protect demi-humans until then was now on trial with one of those demi-humans. Yes; it was true that it might be a bit questionable – if this was in the modern-day court, I would have been accused by the lawyers of conflict of interest and whatnot.
“I am the only judge here at this moment and am accurately adhering to the legal procedures. Your Highness. I ask you to respect the formality of the Kingdom’s law.”
Miruam shivered in fury, swallowing words of criticism against me. However, she was probably aware logically that this seemingly pathetic justification was in fact a checkmate for her.
Now that I was pushing forth the legality of things, there was only one option left for the army which had gathered to annihilate Dana Shee and Mound for the attempted assassination of the princess.
“Your Highness… Korin Lork’s actions… are very lawful as a Justice of the Peace.”
They had no option but to stop.
The ‘attempted assassination of the princess’ was the only justification the army had for annihilating the demi-human union. Now that the suspect admitted his own crime, it was impossible for them to directly attack the demi-humans of Dana Shee.
In the last iteration, Miruam was able to wipe out Dana Shee because Mound wasn’t able to go through those procedures. They had been non-citizens, without the right to even ask for a trial.
However, the 3,000 demi-humans of Dana Shee were now officially citizens of the Kingdom who had the right to defend themselves in a trial. Killing 3,000 citizens of the Kingdom without a rightful cause or legal procedures? That was impossible even for the King himself.
“He’s a traitor… Korin Lork has committed treason.”
“He… has Legal Immunity, Your Highness.”
Right. Everything was a part of my plan.
Buying time, we had to pass the bill for the demi-humans to become official residents of the Kingdom, after which I could hold a trial for them.
The army was comprised solely of soldiers, so I was the only one with the right to hold a trial. I was the prosecutor, the witness, and the judge. Not to mention the suspect, Ku Shee, had no plans of defending himself on top of that.
And to those that might say I didn’t have the qualification to act as a JP as a traitor… Unfortunately for them, I had Legal Immunity and an official proclamation from the King that he would pardon any sin I may commit.
The justification was purely on my side. In this war of justification, a small victory was all that was needed.
“I, the judge, announce the confinement of Ku Shee, for an attempted assassination of Her Highness, Princess Miruam.”
That small victory was what led to a great difference.
“Also, the private organization of Mound is to head to the federal court and defend themselves against the charge of being the power behind the attempted assassination.”
It was a checkmate.
“...”
The trial was over. Ku Shee would be sent to the royal capital and would receive his punishment for the attempted assassination of the princess, and what he committed 10 years ago.
That was the end of the official account of this incident.
There were, however, some unofficial things happening in secret.
***
That night after the marriage was decided, she confessed her situation.
“Revenge. That’s been my sole desire from that day 10 years ago.”
The motive behind her revenge was a simple one that anyone could understand. Her mother was murdered; her nanny and all the maids of the palace that had been next to her as a big family were all killed, and she became crippled.
Because they were killed and because she had to live her entire life as a cripple.
Her revenge was therefore extremely valid and reasonable.
“Will you help me, Knight Korin?”
“Well… I would like to help out as the husband.”
I misjudged it.
I should have talked about it with her then.
Little did I know the extent she would go, all for the sake of her revenge.
………
……
…
“Fuck.”
The survival of Dana Shee and Mound was an important element of the end game because their survival was linked to another group being added to the player’s allied factions.
Their survival and putting a stop to Princess Miruam’s revenge were important not only for Princess Miruam and the innocent demi-humans but also for the ending.
“How… did she find out?”
Miruam suddenly attacked Mound. It was much faster than the original storyline; she made up her justification in the blink of an eye while ‘we’ were gone and carried out her actions.
After dealing with what we had to do at the time, we quickly came back upon hearing the sudden news about the war against Mound but… by that point, it was already too late.
“Bro. This is already over.”
I was overwhelmed in helplessness at the sight of Dana Shee reduced to ashes.
“Why… did this happen?”
“Well. Princess Miruam doesn’t know who the culprit was.”
We didn’t know who the culprit was either because Miruam’s target for revenge in the game was just lumped up as demi-humans.
Apparently, she started off by telling Mound to hand over the culprit behind the tragedy 10 years ago. However, Mound retaliated against the princess and the army. None of them trusted the Serpent Princess, who had been hunting them for 10 years, enough to hand over one of their allies.
“Ha… Haha… Fuck. Fuck.”
But did she have to kill everyone because of that? Simply because one of them must have been the culprit?
She was crazy.
She ended up going crazy.
She was already too encroached in hatred and revenge.
My legs almost failed me, but what kept me standing was the sight of a young werewolf child quarreling with a soldier of the Kingdom.
“Huh? There was a survivor. Bro? Where are you going!?”
Ignoring Park Sihu, I walked towards the child.
“Go away…! Go away…!”
The little boy who was half my size was hugging something wrapped up in a towel that was even smaller than himself. The soldier was looking at him as if the little boy was a nuisance.
“This disgusting little wolf. How dare you…!”
“Enough.”
“Huh? Prince Consort? What brings you…”
I stopped the soldier and made him step away from the boy, but the boy appeared to have sensed that I was the husband of the princess who destroyed this place.
“You…! You are also on that serpent’s side! I will kill you! I will kill all of you!”
His burning eyes reminded me of Miruam.
How similar were the hateful eyes of those who lost their loved ones? And why hadn’t I sensed the deep sense of hatred lying within?
This boy perhaps wouldn’t be able to forget his goal of revenge for the rest of his life, just like how Miruam was. He might even put his life on the line, and carry out revenge even if he had to lose his life in the process.
Taking revenge against a murderer and a nemesis was a very natural thing to do, so this hatred would again lead to more hatred in an unending cycle of revenge like a plague.
“Fuck.”
“Prince Consort?”
“Not anymore.”
I had to cut the line of revenge.
I should have done so.
***
That night, after the army against Mound and Dana Shee became pointless just from a single person, I went to visit Ku Shee, who was bound with a rope for formality’s sake.
“Fairy King.”
“You look more relaxed than I thought.”
“Is that so.”
The silver wolf… the leader of werewolves blankly gazed up at the moon.
“I wasn’t expecting a day like this to arrive.”
What stood out to me the most ever since our first encounter was the empty light in his eyes. He was a werewolf who hated humans, the Kingdom, and the Old Faith. He was by no means a good person; he couldn’t be considered one.
“You are most definitely evil and you’re a damn son of a bitch but…”
“Not a nice thing to say.”
“...But it’s not like I don’t understand it. I know someone similar.”
“The Serpent Princess, huh?”
I admitted it through silence.
“The start of your revenge must have been due to something valid as well. You lost your daughter, was it?”
“Yes. The shitheads of the Deadlands kidnapped my daughter. They tortured her, experimented with her, and skinned her.”
“And is that why you killed the previous Queen for being a helper of the Old Faith?”
“...”
“How many people did you kill based on that logic? Whether it be the priests of Xeruem or their helpers, you saw them as one of a kind, didn’t you?”
“Is that wrong?”
“Yes. They would have had some level of responsibility but…”
Why were demi-humans being ostracized?
It was because people pointed the arrowhead of hatred at the entirety of demi-humans after losing their family or friends to one of them.
If Marie Dunareff,
Or Hua Ran,
If they killed someone in the process of becoming a demi-human, would the family of the murdered one have forgiven Marie and Hua Ran?
No.
Those bricks of hatred built up history; it became a principle of the Old Faith that turned itself into a monster. Their hatred became a monster that persecuted demi-humans, who must have gritted their teeth in resentment and retaliated as the true monsters that humans had feared them as.
It began with innocent victims, but revenge and hatred were easy causes of further cycles of hatred. The things that had been done in the memory of their lost family members ended up leading to evil and violent actions.
“Then what was I supposed to do? What were we supposed to do? What could we do apart from killing our enemies?”
“I don’t know. I would be a god if I knew that. But…”
A serpent slithered in the darkness. The snakes, who couldn’t accept this as the ending, were moving under the night sky.
“I can tell you one thing.”
From the veil of darkness appeared a snake wearing a reddish-black dress.
“This is the place where it will all come to an end.”
………
……
…
Miruam stared at me with a cold pair of eyes.
“You knew we were coming.”
She had a group of troops behind her.
“Is that everyone? That’s a lot less than I expected.”
“...”
I knew who these people were.
Kalatin and his three daughters, Rojo, Persia, as well as soldiers whose names I did not know and priests of the Xeruem Order.
They were followers of Miruam both in the game and the past iteration – a group that shared the same objective as her.
All of them were willing to put their lives on the line…
“I’m sure you know already, but a group that small won’t be able to wipe out Mound.”
“I know,” she replied. “But that’s not the important part. We don’t care about our own lives.”
Kalatin the mage once had a son. His three daughters had an older brother whom they were proud of – a talented young man who became a royal mage and a teacher of the princess at a young age.
Rojo once had a younger brother who took care of the horses of the royal stable. He used to follow the royal family around and cater for the horses.
Persia once had a lover. A maid of the palace, who used to talk about the toddling princess as if she were her own little daughter.
Many of their lives had been crushed apart when Ku Shee killed Queen Maria and her group. And… all of them were here to finish their goal of vengeance.
“Move aside, Champion of the Sun. You know we are going to fail, so let us be. Just watch us burn ourselves down.”
“We can’t beat you. We know that. All of us do.”
“But we still have to do it. Because that’s what revenge is.”
[The chimera monster I bring around is something I made using my son’s blood… I know. I don’t put unnecessary meaning on it but… Right. It’s just an empty wish of a stubborn old man.]
[Yo. Prince Consort. Did you spend a good night with Her Highness?]
[You’re strong. The company of a strong powerhouse is always most welcome.]
Side characters whose role was to simply be defeated in the game. It was only in the last iteration that I was able to hear about their stories.
I understood their reasons. It was valid for them to aim for revenge. But precisely because their reasons were right, they had to end it where it was right without going too far.
“I won’t let you activate the ‘Infinity Serpent’.”
““...!!””
All of them were shocked by my words, wondering how I even knew about it.
Just like how the Danann left behind countless mysteries on this continent, there were other omens of great destruction that could even destroy whole myths.
What Miruam received from the Frost Giant, through Tates Valtazar, was one of those omens. The awakening of the Infinity Serpent, Jormungandr.
Using that world-ending power in the depths of Dana Shee would certainly allow them to crush it to pieces.
They were risking their lives all for the sake of that one opportunity.
Through my marriage with Miruam, I was able to hear more about their stories. I was convinced that their hope of vengeance was justified, and I still think that way.
Their call for justice was very natural.
And that’s why…
“Stop here. I won’t let you take another step forward.”
“Don’t make me laugh!”
Unable to hold herself back, Miruam yelled out loud. She glared at me with such anger that her eyes were about to burst out in fury.
“Something like this… A skit like this can’t be the end of my revenge!”
Ku Shee stepped forward as if to fill her vision of hatred.
“I was the one who decided to do it, and I was the one who carried it out. I am the one responsible for it. Princess, kill me and…”
“Shut your mouth! Who do you think you are!? Who do you think you are to take the responsibility for it all by yourself!!”
A snake pounced out of her dress. Her snake slithered through the air and dug into Ku Shee’s shoulder.
“You are just the tail of a snake. This is just the beginning…!”
“Kuhk…!”
There was more than just one snake. Another snake rapidly became enormous after eating up her mana and pounced at the werewolf, trying to swallow him whole.
“Stop.”
I cut off the snake’s head to save Ku Shee. He couldn’t die just yet; instead of dying in a place like this, he had to pay for his sins and receive his punishment.
“Korin Lork…!”
“You said this was the beginning, didn’t you?”
“Move!”
“This guy here is the son of a bitch that killed your mother and your family 10 years ago. You probably don’t care too much about the reason.”
Even in the last iteration, Miruam had killed Ku Shee; all of his subordinates and… And…
“And who’s next? The beastmen that support Ku Shee? Or the other elders of Mound? The other related personnel? And what about after that? The citizens of Dana Shee that benefited from the event 10 years ago? The followers of New Faith that concealed information about Dana Shee? How far will you go?”
“Everything. I will crush everyone. Only then will this end.”
No. It won’t end.
People who benefited directly, benefited politically, survived, cooperated, and condoned… There was no end to it.
Miruam Elizabeth El Rath would keep moving forward without an endpoint just like a runaway engine on a rampage.
All the way until her own body was reduced to ashes.
“You have to choose an endpoint, Miruam.”
“Why should I?”
“Because otherwise, it will create another cycle of revenge.”
I still remembered that young wolf boy – that child who lost his family and had the same glare as Miruam. Ku Shee’s hatred was passed onto Miruam, and from Miruam down to the young wolf.
There was no end in sight.
“I’m not trying to tell you that revenge is futile and you shouldn't do it. Of course, you should take revenge. Of course, you need to punish those that need to be punished. However, you need to follow the rightful procedures instead of swinging your weapon around, hoping to crush everyone it hits.”
“Hah… What a saint we have.”
Miruam walked forward with a sneer, and stood face-to-face with me, who was standing before Ku Shee.
“My family was killed. These guys killed them. Why would I need to think about anything else?”
Squeezing her chest with empty yet sorrowful eyes that could break out into tears, she asked.
“Why should I?”
- Shaaa!
A snake jumped out of her dress and wrapped itself around my neck. It hissed and showed off its venomous fangs that were dripping with poison.
“Move.”
“...”
“Are you… really saying you will protect the demi-humans? Even now…?”
“What I want to protect is…”
I raised my spear.
A persuasion with words wasn’t going to be enough.
What I had to do was simple.
“You are not going past me.”
I will crush everything they can do. Trample on all of their plans and coerce them into the future I want.
“Get rid of him!”
I charged towards the marching soldiers. A group this small couldn’t do anything.
Soldiers flew with every punch I threw, and the knights couldn’t advance past me. Illusion spells tried to mislead me but did not work due to my blessing of the Sun.
“Just… go away!”
Rojo, who had lost his demonic beasts, raced forward with a single sword in hand, but I used the Silver Spear brimming with dark aura to cut off his sword into two.
Appearing from behind the flabbergasted Rojo, Persia swung his ax but I parried it with Lan Na.
“Kuhk…!”
I then pushed him aside. Being a Grade 1 knight, he was also a tough foe that wasn’t pushed back that easily but…
“Miruam…!”
In that small gap that was created, I ran forward to the core of their suicide plan – the snake mage that could hatch the Infinity Serpent.
“Korin Lork…!”
Her vicious eyes of hatred were looking straight into my face. All her snakes that had been hiding under her dress and as her hairpin reared their heads but… poison didn’t work on me.
“Kuuh…!”
Miruam’s walking stick which had been supporting her leg turned into a snake.
That was her last resort – the ‘Baby Serpent of Jormungandr’. It was a snake that could kill even gods after becoming big enough.
However, I was faster. Before that walking stick could become a proper snake to bite me, I could easily stab her and neutralize the snake.
The Silver Spear gleamed under the moon.
[Korin. I love you.]
“...”
But naturally, I couldn’t stab her.
I knew from the start that I couldn’t.
***
Indomitable.
Korin Lork closed the distance all too easily and could thrust the spear in his hands at her at any time.
No one could beat him.
In the end, her wishes had been stopped by this man. Her destiny and Lia Fail had shown a future where she would be with him so why…
“Huh?”
Miruam let out a stupid mutter, unlike her usual self.
The pain she had been waiting for didn’t strike her, and her body was instead wrapped up in warmth. The warmth of the human body was stopping the cold night breeze.
She slowly opened her tightly sealed eyes.
“...Knight, Korin?”
He was hugging her. As if his goal wasn’t to stab with the spear in the first place, his hands were no longer holding onto a spear.
However, the snake – with venom that could even kill gods – was biting him.
“...Why?”
He could have definitely stabbed her, much quicker than the snake could bite him, so why…
“I… I can do everything for you…”
The voice of the proud knight who had been standing against her as an enemy until now, confident that he would trample on all of her plans…
“Let’s stop here. This, this just doesn’t seem right…”
His voice was unprecedentedly powerless and lacking in confidence.
“Let’s… just end it here. Please?”
“Why, why…?”
This time, her question of, ‘Why?’ Was directed not at herself but towards him.
Why was he going so far as to…
[You stupid woman… I, I told you to wait.]
The future shown by Lia Fail – in that future, she saw the back of the man filled with remorse and regret. What did I tell him in response back then, she wondered.
“Miru… Miru… Let’s stop here… We can still stop. We can… end it here.”
Despite forming such intricately designed strategies, at the very end of everything, this stupid man was relying on the goodness of her heart.
“Let… go.”
She, however, couldn’t push him away.
As if she was broken, she could not escape from his warm hug.
However, she had to escape. She had to quickly get away from this warm and peaceful embrace. Since she couldn’t do so herself… she decided to rely on Lia Fail!
“‘This is not what my fate is supposed to’---!?”
[Cough... Fufu, you're right. You're right but... I couldn't. I really... wanted to bear our children. I'm... sorry. Blame your mommy...]
“Huh?”
Chi… ldren?
[...I love you.]
She saw herself in a short glimpse of the future,
[You were my destiny. Now it's already too late though...]
She saw herself confessing her regret after completing her lifelong objective; after losing everything.
It was as if Lia Fail was warning her through the image of the teary man hugging a cold corpse, that this was going to be her ‘fate’ if she were to go any further.
A future ever so cold and heartrending.