Chapter 28
The atmosphere changed in an instant, and the Second Prince shouted, his face pale.
But the middle-aged man who had targeted the Crown Prince was nowhere to be seen.
After leaping over the castle wall, he had disappeared.
Gulp!
“Sir Tsen!”
The Second Prince called out to him desperately once more, but no answer came.
Instead, the silence only grew heavier.
“It seems it’s over.”
As the atmosphere grew increasingly quiet, Arrelia wore a fresh smile wholly unsuited to the battlefield.
But to the Second Prince, that smile looked like the smile of a grim reaper.
It had sent a chill through him the moment he saw it.
“D-Don’t come any closer! What are you all doing?! Attack those bastards already!”
Gulp!
The Second Prince screamed at the approaching Jade and Arrelia, but not a single soldier moved.
Even the Royal Knights, who could be considered his personal guards, did not move.
Despite having sworn loyalty to him, not one of them charged at Jade and Arrelia.
“Mages! Spirit mages! Attack!”
Seeing that his guards remained motionless, the Second Prince bit his lip and shouted.
But no human was foolhardy enough to charge at a high-level spirit mage and a Sword Master.
“Damn it!”
The Second Prince’s face turned bright red at their silent refusal.
The longer he looked at them, the more his anger boiled over.
But unfortunately, this was the outcome.
In the end, he had lost.
“Are you going to take him prisoner?”
“There’s someone else who’ll deal with that.”
“That’s true.”
Unable to contain his rising fury, the Second Prince glared at Jade and Arrelia.
Since those two were responsible for all of this, he glared at them with heavily bloodshot eyes.
But glaring at them would not change anything.
“Will you leave peacefully, or be dragged away disgracefully?”
“If only you bastards weren’t here……!”
“I’m a woman. Isn’t it obvious just by looking?”
Still holding her twin swords, Arrelia folded her arms.
She did so to emphasize her chest.
But that action only made the Second Prince’s face even redder.
He thought she was mocking him for being a loser.
Krrrk!
Perhaps because of that, the Second Prince ground his teeth and glared at Arrelia as if he wanted to kill her.
Of course, Arrelia did not react at all to the murderous intent of the Second Prince, who was merely a low-level Expert.
Murmur, murmur.
The surroundings grew noisy at that moment.
The soldiers had begun whispering among themselves, apparently after spotting something.
“That’s quite a look.”
“Lloyd!”
“It’s been a long time since you called me by name. When we were children and knew nothing of the world, we were fairly close as brothers. But now we’re pointing swords at each other.”
Lloyd appeared behind Jade and Arrelia.
He stood before the Second Prince with Haines and Rainy accompanying him.
“How, how could someone like you……!”
“Honestly, I’m amazed too. Anyone would have thought I was the one most likely to die here today. But this is how things turned out. I won, and you lost.”
Krrrk!
The Second Prince glared at Lloyd with bloodshot eyes.
As he did, he clenched his teeth so tightly they nearly cracked.
The sound was loud enough for even those nearby to hear.
But unlike the enraged Second Prince, Lloyd’s expression remained calm.
“You’ve lost.”
“If not for them, I would have won!”
“That’s true. Without their help, I would have knelt miserably before you and waited only for death.”
Lloyd readily admitted it.
Just as the Second Prince had said, without the War Elves and Jade, Lloyd would never have been standing there as the victor.
But what mattered was the result.
He had won, and the Second Prince had lost.
“I! I was more suited to the throne!”
“So I promise you this. I’ll make this a country more prosperous than the one you tried to create. I’ll make it a nation where all its people are happy.”
“Kahahaha! Do you think someone like you can do that?! Impossible!”
“Maybe not. But what matters is that I’ll try. That I’m prepared to do so.”
Ssswish.
As if the weak and indecisive man he had once been no longer existed, Lloyd held out his right hand toward Haines with a resolute expression.
Haines respectfully handed him his sword with both hands.
He had understood Lloyd’s intentions through his actions alone, without needing any words.
“I was almost there! If only you had died!”
The Second Prince roared.
But he could not charge at Lloyd.
Haines’s stern gaze was intimidating enough, but with Jade and Arrelia standing on either side, the Second Prince could do nothing.
The Royal Knights who had sworn loyalty to him also remained motionless, as if they had turned to stone.
“Do you have any last words?”
“……None.”
The Second Prince, who had been howling moments before, squeezed his eyes shut.
Like a defeated man, he held his tongue.
But he could not stop the tears flowing from both eyes, red as blood.
Lloyd watched him for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and raised his sword.
Stab.
They were half-brothers, sharing half the same blood.
But even knowing that, Lloyd did not hesitate.
He believed that putting an end to a challenger who had wagered everything was also the victor’s duty.
“Ghk!”
With the sword lodged in his heart, the Second Prince vomited bright red blood.
Even then, he did not let out a single groan.
Though defeated, he had been one who sought the throne.
Thus, the Second Prince met death with dignity.
“……Have the body taken care of.”
“Yes, sir.”
When the heartbeat he felt through the sword ceased, Lloyd slowly withdrew it and gave the order.
There was no pity or sorrow left in his eyes.
Only resolute determination remained.
“Y-Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
“We surrender!”
“P-Please spare me!”
Clatter!
The moment the Second Prince died, nobles and knights all around lowered their weapons and cried out.
With the victor already decided, they surrendered without hesitation.
The odd thing was that the defeated soldiers greatly outnumbered Lloyd’s forces.
But no one properly realized that fact.
“Y-Your Highness!”
“Commander!”
In particular, the Royal Knights who had served the Second Prince called out to Lloyd and Haines most desperately.
Since they had once shared meals and lived together, they had held on to a sliver of hope.
Given the circumstances of the Kingdom of Polstein, killing them all would result in far too great a loss of military strength.
That was why they looked at the two men with desperate, hopeful eyes.
“They must be killed.”
“C-Commander!”
“From the moment they betrayed us, they ceased to be knights.”
The knights’ eyes widened like saucers.
They had never imagined Haines would say something like that.
But Haines was resolute.
Some of the knights had been personally chosen by him, while others had been taught by him like disciples.
Yet Haines said without the slightest hesitation that they had to die.
He also believed he had to be decisive for Lloyd’s future path.
“I’ll give you a chance to take your own lives.”
“Y-Your Highness!”
“Please, give us just one more chance! We swear our loyalty!”
“Please forgive us, Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
At Lloyd’s words, which were just as firm as Haines’s, the knights fell to their knees.
But Lloyd did not take back his order.
Instead, he merely stared at the knights with an increasingly cold gaze.
“Die honorably as knights. Following the lord you served is also a knightly virtue.”
“C-Commander!”
“If you dislike that, I’ll have no choice but to kill you myself.”
The knights despaired beneath Haines’s tiger-like gaze.
It was clear that he had no intention of forgiving them.
In the end, the knights gripped their swords in reverse grip with trembling hands.
“I can’t die like this!”
“Damn it!”
Of course, not every one of them chose that path.
Some chose survival over honor and fled at full speed without even looking back.
Since they had been skilled enough to join the Royal Knights, they intended to defect to another country.
Or they could work as mercenaries.
Ssshing!
The problem, however, was that the War Elves were beside Lloyd.
The War Elves, masters of archery, fired arrows precisely into the backs of the fleeing knights’ heads.
“Y-Your Highness!”
“We only followed because of the Second Prince’s pressure!”
“That’s right! We were forced to obey the Second Prince……!”
“We’ll hear the rest at the royal palace.”
The nobles prostrated themselves at the sight of Lloyd mercilessly slaughtering every knight of the Royal Knights who had once laughed and cried alongside them.
His former weakness had vanished without a trace, and everyone was on edge.
Lloyd looked over those nobles one by one with cold eyes, then turned around.
Kkyu! Kkyuu!
As the heavy atmosphere weighed on everyone, Jade’s head turned to one side.
His body had reacted instinctively to Whid’s familiar voice.
-We’re back! We brought a present too!
-We thought you might need this, Jade.
Jade had just been wondering why they had not come with Rainy.
But when Whid came flapping his wings while carrying a sword, Jade smiled without realizing it.
The sword Whid was carrying belonged to Marquess Madrain.
Kkyuuu!
Whid’s eyes sparkled as he cried out as if asking for praise, and Jade smiled as he stroked Whid’s head.
Whid then gently wagged his tail.
“That’s the sword Marquess Madrain used, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It’s also the enemy commander’s sword, and I’d like to examine it personally. Of course, if you want it, Lady Arrelia, I’ll return it.”
“It’s all right. I prefer my own weapon. If you need it, Lord Jade, take it.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh, there’s no need for thanks between us.”
Arrelia winked at him.
But Jade did not even blink at her gesture.
Instead, he put Marquess Madrain’s sword into his subspace.
He intended to examine the memories imbued in the sword when he was alone.
‘The Madrain family’s mana cultivation method and swordsmanship. More than enough as spoils of war.’
It might have been an insignificant object to others, but not to Jade.
Thus, Jade wore a knowing smile, picked up Whid, and walked toward the lord’s castle.
The instant Lloyd and Rainy arrived at the royal palace, bloodshed swept through it.
As if to erase all traces of his former weakness and indecisiveness, Lloyd boldly drew the sword of purging.
His killing of the Royal Knights who had betrayed him was no arbitrary act; Lloyd made sure to mete out rewards and punishments with absolute clarity.
However, since he could not kill all the nobles who had sided with the Second Prince at once, he imposed punishments commensurate with death.
“I suppose it’s because it’s the royal palace. It’s incredibly lavish.”
Unlike the royal palace, where bloodshed was raging, the detached palace where Jade stayed was peaceful.
Since Lloyd had played the greatest role in bringing down the Second Prince’s forces, he made sure to treat Jade well.
Jade himself had no particular interest in the affairs of the royal palace, either.
-It’s been a long time since I visited the royal palace!
-Human civilization seems to change so quickly, yet it’s all so similar.
-Actually, for beings like us, it isn’t easy to sightsee in a royal palace.
-Because battle comes first.
Spirit mages capable of summoning top-grade spirits to the Middle World were so rare they were almost unheard of.
Only a select few outstanding elves could form contracts with and summon top-grade spirits.
Thus, casually touring the royal palace as they were now was an uncommon experience even for the two of them.
Kkyuaaam!
Jade was not the only one enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.
Whid, who ate well, pooped well, and slept well, was also growing day by day.
His outward appearance was still that of an adorable baby drake, but inside, he was growing at a frightening pace.
“There may be lots of tasty things, but what you’re used to eating is still the best, right?”
Kkyuu!
Whid, who had just let out a long yawn, nodded vigorously.
There were many fascinating and entertaining things, but nothing tasted better than Black Drake meat.
And since Jade had made it into jerky as well, Whid never got tired of it.