Chapter 81
There were a total of four Executioners whose identities had been revealed so far.
The dragon Arveda, the Fairy Luminix, the Giant Pavan, and the Dwarf Gilbart.
All of them were Heterogeneous Races, and their fighting styles were so distinctive that their identities were naturally obvious.
But the last remaining one had nothing of the sort.
I remembered their most recent battle being during the time of the Northern Region Grand Duke.
Even back then, they had slaughtered the Knights without any distinguishing features, their appearance completely hidden.
'They don’t even show themselves publicly and just stay in the Executioner’s Palace all the time.'
So in the past, I even thought that the last Executioner might actually be the Emperor.
Just vaguely, without any particular reason.
Of course, I knew now that was absolutely impossible.
I had realized it was impossible through the Crown Prince’s regression memories.
'If I force the process to fit the result, the Great Prophet must have known about the existence of the Noble title… and to gain the trust of the Heterogeneous Races, the Prophet must have made all the Executioners Heterogeneous Races.'
If so, that meant the last remaining Executioner was also from the Heterogeneous Races.
'What is their identity?'
Since dragons, Fairies, Giants, Dwarfs, and Elves had already appeared.
It was safe to say that most of the races had already made an appearance.
Who would be the final one?
With those thoughts, I stopped my steps in front of the palace where the final Executioner resided.
“I did send a letter saying I would visit, but may I come in?”
Creeeeak, thud.
The door opened intimidatingly the moment I finished speaking.
And through that door.
“…I greet Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess.”
The Executioner appeared, its appearance still thoroughly hidden.
'They covered everything completely with a robe.'
I didn’t think we exchanged a single word last time, but perhaps because this was a one-on-one meeting, they seemed to be showing the utmost courtesy.
A voice like scraping metal.
A tone that seemed more appropriate to describe as worn out rather than old.
A sorrowful tone, like a fallen leaf on the verge of crumbling, pierced my ears.
“Thank you for caring. I know you are usually extremely quiet.”
“…”
There was no reply.
As if that first sentence just now had required the greatest courage of my life.
The Executioner walked silently in front of me, guiding me deeper into the palace.
“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I have already fulfilled three covenants.”
“…”
“I also know the contents of Gilbart’s Covenant.”
Step, step.
The Executioner continued to walk without a word, and I continued speaking without minding it.
“Thus, I asked to meet because I wanted to know your covenant as well. What do you say?”
Swish.
By the time I finished speaking, the surrounding scenery had already changed into a reception room.
No matter how much I had been walking while only looking at the person’s back in front of me, there was no way the surroundings could change this instantly.
'Magic? Mystic Power? Divine Power?'
If it were one of the three, I would have felt a sign.
There was no such precursor at all.
I could react even if it was Giant’s Wisdom, and I could detect an Elf’s Barrier.
This was a completely new kind I was seeing for the first time.
'It’s a kind I’m seeing for the first time, but probably not the Crown Prince.'
With that thought, I naturally sat in the seat of honor at that very moment.
- Is there nothing you want?
- …
- Do you wish for the Fall of the Empire?
The Crown Prince’s memory rose to the surface.
And at the same time.
“Did you say you wanted to know my covenant?”
The Executioner stood opposite me and took off the robe covering their entire body.
The owner of the voice that sounded like a rusty machine barely moving revealed themselves.
“I…”
The sense that reacted most sensitively as soon as the robe was taken off was smell.
An unfamiliar yet familiar, heterogeneous scent pierced the tip of my nose.
'Hah.'
And as soon as I saw the figure that was subsequently revealed, I let out a hollow laugh inwardly.
The identity of the last remaining Executioner was none other than.
“I wish for the Fall of the Empire.”
A Mermaid.
+++++
An Executioner wished for the Fall of the Empire.
In truth, it wasn’t unexpected at all.
Rather, I was certain there would be at least one.
Because.
'For the Executioners to move to the Maselin Kingdom, the Empire would absolutely have to fall.'
Because the moment all the covenants were resolved, there was no way the Empire would fall.
An Empire that was destined to fall because of the Executioners, is it resolving the covenants 100%?
Naturally, in terms of the Original Plot Development, that was nonsense.
So I thought they would have planted at least one bomb that could never be defused by ordinary means.
And to think it would be in a format that revealed itself so boldly.
'Great Prophet, were you even seeing this far?'
I even wondered if the Great Prophet had arranged it so they could reveal themselves this boldly.
Like the saying to keep your enemies close, if they were tied down by a covenant from the start, they would inevitably have to be confronted.
“Do you hate the Empire?”
“…”
“Do you resent it?”
When she didn’t respond to the confirmation of personal feelings, I immediately changed the subject.
“Why did you become an Executioner?”
“…”
She was still silent.
It didn’t seem like she was ignoring me.
Was it a difference in vocal organs?
Just spitting out words in a way I could understand seemed extremely difficult for her.
In fact, even now
“…”
Bubble, bubble.
Instead of speech, water bubbles were forming in the air.
Honestly, just looking at her exterior, one might think she was a Human.
But there was one decisive reason I felt she was a Mermaid the moment she took off the robe.
“You don’t seem to know Human etiquette well, but Humans usually wear clothes under their robes too.”
It was because she wasn’t wearing anything under the robe, and sparse scales could be seen over her body.
It would be funny to think she wasn’t a mermaid, with fish scales blatantly visible on her lower half.
“…Ah, ah.”
Every time the Mermaid opened her mouth, water bubbles bubbled up over her tongue and popped into the air.
Technically speaking, it was a situation where she was wearing nothing under a long padded coat, but she was still staring at me nonchalantly.
“Your Excellency. It has been a very long time since I used human vocalization, so I have been speaking continuously since earlier… but it was not conveyed.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, to introduce myself first… I am Nerissa Levi Deepheart. I would appreciate it if you called me Nerissa… comfortably.”
Despite the awkward speech continuing, there was no creaky atmosphere at all.
Was it because Nerissa had earlier said the Fall of the Empire was the condition to fulfill her covenant?
The bubbles that bubbled up every time she spoke,
The light reflecting off the scales on Nerissa’s lower half toward my face -
None of it could break the atmosphere.
“An Executioner shouldn’t be able to speak of their own covenant, so saying the Fall of the Empire is your covenant is a funny joke.”
“…”
But how could the Executioners all be women except for one?
It was a sudden thought.
'Is it because the moment they make all the Executioners men too, the harem members would suddenly increase?'
In Gilbart’s case, he was in a position that couldn’t be considered a male protagonist.
The other four had lead-level appearances, but their genders didn’t match.
'Well, if they are the opposite sex with plausible appearances, they’re all Heroines…? Harem members? Since it could be thought of that way, did they just completely eliminate the possibility by making their genders different?'
Did they make their genders the same based on Mirne to fundamentally block them from being harem members?
'And then they threw in one male Dwarf for the blacksmith and technician position.'
It could be seen as genders divided strictly by whether they would end up with Mirne or not.
And then, if they wanted her to end up with a Heterogeneous Race, they could just make a Hidden Male Protagonist like Roomta.
Those thoughts lasted only a moment.
“Then I will ask the question from earlier again. Did you say that because you hate the Empire?”
I continued the question once more to hear the answer I hadn’t heard earlier.
Nerissa Levi Deepheart.
A Mermaid and an Executioner who wished for the Fall of the Empire.
“I do not hate it. I do not resent it either. But… the Empire must disappear.”
Nerissa’s words seemed full of a backstory.
A situation where no memory of the Crown Prince was rising to the surface right now, and no message was particularly appearing.
When combining these two things, the action I needed to take right now was.
“You seem to have a lot of circumstances, but you’ll need to learn Human etiquette to some extent first. I will send people within the day, so learn the formalities from them.”
First, it was to instill human culture into Nerissa’s head.
++++++
It ends by telling Nerissa to open the door and treat the people well when they arrive.
'I thought it would be something like an Orc or a Lich, but suddenly it was a Mermaid.'
I moved my steps to the Office, surprised by the appearance of an unexpected race.
Honestly, I thought it wouldn’t be strange even if an Eastern-style race appeared.
A character like a Dokkebi or an Oni appears, naturally creating a connection with the Eastern Continent Prince mentioned in the past system message.
I had thought of something like that, but a Mermaid appeared out of nowhere.
With the situation turning out like this, my head spun quickly on what to do right now.
“First, I’ll have to send the Imperial Garrison to the Maselin Kingdom, kindly.”
The Maselin Kingdom had recently been suspected of stealing the Marin Cultivation Method, and we had actually conducted an intense investigation because of it.
They wouldn’t be able to put up much resistance to the Imperial Garrison’s coming in.
Based on this, after proudly planting one of our Knight Orders inside the Maselin Kingdom.
“In the past, Kailen Marin roamed all over the Eastern Region, exploring ruins, didn’t he?”
I needed to pull Kailen Marin out and make it clearer what Nerissa’s covenant condition was.
Therefore, it is.
“Assemble a Knight Order.”
I prepared to dispatch the Knight Order immediately.
And while I was at it, I would check in what way Mirne had been injured.