Chapter 23
Craaack.
“Kuaaaaagh!”
“Looking at the contents of the letter, it seems you were trying to contact the Holy Kingdom, but how does your carrier pigeon know the location of the Holy Kingdom?”
“Heueueu, heueueuk… Huaaaaagh!”
“No matter how highly trained a carrier pigeon is, it shouldn’t be able to fly to a country it has never been to… This means there was some kind of exchange.”
For the Northern and Southern Regions to exchange, they inevitably have to pass through The Center.
Even if that wasn’t the case, the moment personnel from the Northern Region left the Northern Region, a report should have reached The Center.
But without any of that, the Northern Region just sent a carrier pigeon to the Southern Region, and to the Holy Kingdom at that?
“That means you have a collaborator, and it seems that collaborator is likely in the Western Region.”
The puzzle pieces were snapping together like magnets.
“Mirne, did that woman help you? Was she bridging the gap between you and the Holy Kingdom?”
In truth, there was only one person.
Based on appearances, one of the guys in the Southern Region, in the Holy Kingdom, had to be a Male Lead of 'Jupeobae'.
The Male Leads must have somehow made a connection, but it was obvious that Mirne was definitely involved in that 'somehow'.
It was too obvious a story.
The circumstantial evidence was perfect.
But the problem was
“She has nothing to do with this; this is all something I did on my own.”
The bastard was thoroughly denying everything related to Mirne.
But seeing him constantly saying “she, she” even in the midst of this was truly amazing.
However
“Actually, it doesn’t matter how much you deny it, because even if you deny it like that… the Empire won’t just sit back and watch.”
Even so, would the Maselin Kingdom be safe from the Empire? I wondered.
Using this Northern Rebellion as a starting point, the Empire would go from the Maselin Kingdom to the Holy Kingdom.
They intended to use any means and methods necessary for Resolving Suspicions they were currently feeling.
“She did nothing wrong! Everything was my own - !”
“I get it. How many times are you going to say that?”
Did he turn on a Recorder or something?
As soon as he heard my words, Freon spat out an answer like he was having a seizure.
It wasn’t what I wanted to hear anyway, so I decided to slowly stop playing around with him.
“How much resistance can you put up by screaming when your innate power has been crippled?”
It wasn’t just his innate power that was crippled.
His spine was completely severed, so he wouldn’t be able to move properly.
His ribs were crushed, so he couldn’t even raise his arms.
He couldn’t hope for backup either.
I couldn’t leave those who dared to join the cause of treason alive.
The reason the Northern Grand Duke was alive right now was that I wanted him to admit to the circumstantial evidence regarding Mirne.
But I saw him deny it to the very end.
[Can someone fall so deeply in love in such a short time? It’s not like they were engaged. Can someone lose their mind like this just from seeing her a few times?]
It seemed he was completely smitten.
Honestly, I couldn’t really understand it.
I was just looking at Estella, who was flinching right now while watching this scene from behind.
She was much more beautiful than the Mirne I saw on the cover of 'Jupeobae'.
I guess the worldly wisdom of a 21st-century modern person really does work even in a sword-and-Magic fantasy worldview.
You could say the Northern Grand Duke was a case of being ruined by highly advanced female psychological-political dynamics.
Or maybe some kind of unspoken narrative had already built up between them.
With those thoughts.
“Farewell.”
I decided to strike his neck personally.
Grip.
The first sword I had held since transmigrating.
As soon as I gripped this sword, I could immediately tell.
[The Crown Prince… did he originally use a sword?]
The original Crown Prince was a fiercely dedicated Swordsman.
And he was a Swordsman who used a Zweihänder, not a regular sword, at that.
But there was only one reason he hadn’t used it until now.
[Because he might accidentally kill the opponent.]
What a kind reason this was.
His principle was not to use a sword out of fear of accidentally killing the enemy.
He truly had a kind heart, enough to be called a pushover.
[He’s ridiculously kind.]
I ended my muttering with that.
Slash!
The very moment I struck the Northern Grand Duke’s neck.
[ The Northern Grand Duke does not die easily. ]
[ Initiating the Last Stand. ]
“What?”
Along with the absurd message.
Boom!
An immense power erupted from Freon’s body, pushing away everyone else except me.
And at the same time, the Northern Grand Duke’s appearance changed.
It was an appearance on a completely different level from what I had just been looking at.
To compare, it looked as if he had aged about 5 to 10 years…
[Ah.]
As soon as I saw that, I immediately realized.
[Right, there’s that too.]
In a Romance Fantasy Novel, the Characters' stories often begin when they are babies.
There are cases where the cover shows a character who starts as a baby, goes through adolescence, and becomes an adult.
Judging by the mention of the Academy, a grown-up appearance was likely scheduled for the future.
This meant the Northern Grand Duke’s Last Stand could be seen right now as reflecting his Future Appearance.
[Is this right? What kind of nonsense is this?]
What exactly happens when you kill a Male Lead?
It was really nice to at least be able to resolve my questions about this.
“So the Last Stand Pattern is starting.”
But sorry, I’m not a kind person who waits out the Transformation Time.
Sol Bellos.
An Aura like a fierce flame wrapped around my entire body, then enveloped the sword just like that.
Without delay, it fell toward the neck of the Northern Grand Duke, whose appearance was changing.
“Crown Prince, I believe I told you. I will make you understand through force!”
And to block that sword, the suddenly grown Northern Grand Duke swung his sword in the same way.
Just because he used a Last Stand Pattern right before dying, his ruined body not only completely returned to normal.
He became stronger than before, and suddenly held a sword in his hand that he didn’t have before, which looked precious at a glance.
I wondered what the hell this was all about.
In reality.
“Uwaaaaah!”
Freon, whose momentum had fully risen, let out a powerful shout right before our swords clashed.
Matching that momentum, I also brought out the Crown Prince’s full power, which had never been shown even once.
No, I tried to bring it out, to be exact.
Slash!
“Keuk, heuk… heueok…”
Before he could even bring out his full power properly.
My sword had already perfectly divided the Northern Grand Duke’s body diagonally.
[ The Northern Grand Duke has completely died. ]
[ However, the Northern Grand Duke met his death without his Death Narrative being sufficiently built up. ]
[ Therefore, the Northern Grand Duke’s narrative will be passed on to another. ]
[ A new Male Lead, the “Northern Great Warrior”, is scheduled to appear. ]
[ Since the one who will become the “Northern Great Warrior” has not yet met the Protagonist 'Mirne', it cannot be specified who that will be. ]
[ Keywords Revealed for the “Northern Great Warrior”: #Growth #Savage #Barbarian #Straightforward Man #Charging Man ]
The messages that appeared as soon as I killed Freon.
“Ha.”
The thought that immediately came to mind upon seeing that was:
[If there are annoying guys within the Empire, I can just kill them even if they have the role of a Male Lead.]
It meant that from now on, if it was someone inside the Empire, there was no need to hesitate to kill them.
The story wouldn’t change, and the Empire’s Probability of Destruction wouldn’t increase.
Rather, since a man who liked the Protagonist would appear outside the Empire, my worries were reduced.
[But if it’s the Northern Great Warrior, he’ll eventually try to invade the Empire again.]
Still, an external enemy was much better than an internal cancer.
And by the time the new Male Lead targeted the Empire, the Empire would have been largely normalized.
Perhaps that guy would also become a Northern/Grand Duke and die just the same.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince! the Crown Prince!”
“Your Highness!”
“Are you alright?”
“W-what is this all of a sudden?”
The Executioners, the Grand General, and the Imperial Guard Knights belatedly ran over as soon as the situation ended.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. It was just a brief commotion.”
“Still, just in case, you should receive proper treatment…!”
“I’m really fine, so focus on cleaning up the surroundings. The knights who didn’t participate in the rebellion must continue Maintaining the Front Line.”
“We shall follow your orders.”
Since it was a Last Stand Pattern, it seemed to be structured so that others couldn’t intervene before the situation completely ended.
Otherwise, there was no explanation for why the Grand General and the Executioners were bounced far away in the first place.
[Wait, does that mean if I were weak, I would have just been killed?]
What kind of crazy preferential treatment was this?
Still, since everything was resolved well in the end, it wasn’t bad.
[ The Northern Grand Duke has been completely erased from the Empire. ]
[ The Empire’s Probability of Destruction decreases. ]
[ Current Empire’s Probability of Destruction: 80% ]
[ Status Summary: The Empire has a very high probability of being destroyed within 5 years. ]
Furthermore, the probability of destruction also dropped immediately by 10%.
[It’s similar to when I shattered the Grand Duke of the East’s innate power.]
Was it perhaps the influence of the Northern Great Warrior who would reveal himself later?
While I was thinking of various possibilities.
As if it wasn’t over yet, the messages continued.
[ Providing a clue about the Covenant. ]
[ The Covenant is a promise made by the five Executioners to the Great Prophet. ]
[ They pledged loyalty to the Bellos Empire in exchange for having their deficiencies filled. ]
[ However, since those deficiencies could not be filled at that time, the Great Prophet set the time for this promise in the distant future. ]
[ And that distant future is right now. ]
[Wait, so you’re saying he put it on an installment plan?]
The Great Prophet, history books wrote, was highly praised and an amazing person.
But according to the message, he was just a shopping addict who bought five luxury goods on the spot and made his descendants pay the price.
If you can’t afford to pay, you shouldn’t purchase Executioners.
Why did you put it on an installment plan and make me pay the price now?
I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t because he was already dead.
[ The Covenant of the Noble Princess, Arveda, is to find her true name. ]
[ You must find her name. ]
A hint about the first Covenant followed while I was blaming my ancestor.
[Name? true name?]
So you’re saying Arveda’s current name is a pseudonym?
At that moment, I immediately understood what form the Covenant took.
[If it’s like this, it means everyone has something they’ve forgotten.]
But if I can’t resolve this, the Empire will be destroyed.
And within 5 years at that.
[Then in 5 years, the Executioners will destroy the Empire… and go straight to Maselin?]
This wasn’t certain either, but there was a fairly high possibility.
Amidst so many variables coming to mind.
“The majority of the sword masters are dead, and we even lost a Grand Master… We’re really at the point where we might have to kidnap High-Level Talent from somewhere.”
Briefly summarizing the situation, I realized that the Empire was currently in a very unstable time.
First of all, too many high-level talents had died.
No matter how many resources the Empire had and how diverse its talents were.
Dozens of sword masters and one Grand Master didn’t just fall out of the sky.
And naturally, the Demonic Beasts of the Northern Region wouldn’t go easy on us in this situation.
We needed to quickly replenish our personnel to maintain the Northern Front.
[We might be able to hold out for now, but ultimately, we will continue to need actual High-Level Talent.]
However, the recently chaotic Empire didn’t have the leeway to dispatch them right away.
Many Northern Nobles were scheduled to die, and the Eastern Nobles were already dead.
In this case, there was only one way.
“For now, we return to the Imperial Palace.”
“Yes, sir!”
I should ask around kindly.
[ You have perfectly resolved the situation. ]
[ As a reward… ]
Putting aside the messages that were still continuing for a moment.
I decided to first do the things that needed to be resolved immediately.
+++++
I heard that the Empire was recently facing a very huge upheaval.
But I hadn’t heard the details.
There was a revelation that I would be swept up in a great disaster if I needlessly interfered.
So I only used a very small trick.
Kkieeeeeeeek!!!
“…What on earth is that beast?”
Holy Palace, the Pope’s room.
On the windowsill there, a red bird I had never seen before in my life was sitting and letting out a startlingly loud cry.
Kkieeeeeeeek!
As if breaking through the window wasn’t enough.
What kind of messed-up bird it was! Blood was dripping from its beak.
[Is a bird capable of hunting to the point where blood drips from it…?]
The question was brief.
“U-uhm…?”
The letter tied to the red bird’s leg finally entered the Pope’s line of sight.
And that gaze, the red bird did not meet.
Pirande also seemed to notice.
Kkieeeeeeek!
Spit.
Pirande looked at the Pope, smoothly pulled out the letter with its beak, and immediately spat it onto the floor.
Flap, flap.
With a look that said its business was done, it flew back out the window.
“Hah.”
What kind of situation was this?
The Pope, even while flustered, moved his body to pick up the letter.
Wondering just how amazing the contents were for it to arrive like this, he unfolded the letter.
“Balleryan!!!”
The Pope immediately shouted his son’s name.
The contents of the letter were extremely polite yet simple, and at the same time, destructive.
To summarize the letter, which was about three pages long, it went like this.
[ Empire’s Northern Rebellion, the Suspected Romper Holy Kingdom, Resolving Suspicions and the Demand for Compensation ]
Let there be no obstacles before the Empire.
It was the moment the Crown Prince’s will was correctly delivered to the Pope.