Chapter 126 - I Will Go Cause a Mess and Come Back (2)

Vincent did his best to somehow fill that void.

He couldn't even dream of leaving the North.

In the end, instead of going himself, Vincent sent the one-eyed cavalry captain to The Capital to gather news.

Quern Liechtheim. The leader of the Black Lancers headed to The Capital, leading a small number of knights.

Arriving after riding day and night, the atmosphere in The Capital was chaotic.

Numerous nobles were condemning the First Prince for offending the Emperor and tarnishing the honor of the Imperial Knights, and the citizens were extremely anxious that a war with the Empire might break out.

Quern first sought out the Ballorhard Rangers and soldiers who had reportedly arrived earlier.

"Ever since rumors spread that the Paladins of House Yves Saint had mobilized, news of His Highness completely ceased."

With the Ranger platoon leader Yorden nowhere to be found, a Ranger reported in his stead.

"Where is Yorden?"

"Upon learning that His Highness had not yet returned, he headed straight back to the Empire from the border."

After comforting the Ranger, who had his head bowed as if remaining in the kingdom were a great sin, Quern went straight to the royal palace and requested an audience with the King.

And after waiting for two days, he was finally able to meet the King.

* * *

"The royal family is also doing everything in its power to find news of the prince."

Facing the one-eyed knight commander who had come from the North, the King's expression was utterly dark.

It was a matter of course.

On a personal level, it was his own flesh and blood; on a grander scale, it was a major incident where a prince of the nation had disappeared.

And not even within their own territory, but on the territory of another nation.

Yet all he could do was a trifling act like sending a letter of protest, stating that it was unjust for a delegation visiting with diplomatic purposes to be attacked by Imperial Knights.

The Empire's response to this was truly astounding.

The Empire's stance was that since the kingdom's knights had provided an excuse by requesting spars first, the Imperial House had no justification to intervene.

It was an excessively shameless and irresponsible attitude for them to take when an official delegation including a nation's prince had gone missing within their borders.

But what could be done? It was a sin for the nation to be powerless, and a sin for the King to be incompetent.

His sense of guilt must have shown on his face. The Northern knight offered words of comfort.

"Your face looks quite gaunt. Please take care of your health."

At the knight's words, the King touched his own face.

The skin of his face felt rough and dry against his fingertips.

It was because he hadn't been able to sleep, his nerves constantly on edge lately.

It was all because of Marquis Montpellier.

Marquis Montpellier, who had maintained a cooperative attitude toward the kingdom for a while, had recently begun showing suspicious signs.

There were rumors that the nobles condemning the royal family's personnel choices, claiming the First Prince was responsible if the Empire started a war, had been instigated by the Marquis. One might wonder if the imperial ambassador, whose leash was firmly held, would so easily change his stance, but it wasn't completely impossible.

The concerns became reality.

A meeting convened to prepare countermeasures regarding the whereabouts of the missing delegation.

"Since the seeds he sowed himself have grown into vines that caught him by the ankle, how can we blame the Empire's indifference?"

Marquis Montpellier condemned, in a subtle tone, that the delegation's disappearance was due to the prince's rashness.

He then incited the nobles, leading them to criticize the royal family's personnel selections.

His behavior was vicious, as if he had reverted back to the old days when he sucked the kingdom dry.

Thanks to this, the strategy meeting devolved into an occasion to condemn the First Prince and the Iron Lions.

"Enough."

The King stopped the meaningless meeting and ordered the imperial ambassador to remain behind.

As soon as the two of them were alone, the imperial ambassador sneered.

"I assure you, if anything happens to me right now, the imperial mainland will judge that the kingdom has taken revenge for the delegation's affair."

Just as the King was about to say something to that shameless answer, the outside of the quarters suddenly grew noisy.

CRASH!

Before he could even ask the reason for the commotion, the doors burst open, and the Commander of the Royal Knights rushed in.

"Your Majesty! Please step back!"

The gaze of the old knight, who had manifested his Aura Blade, was directed outside the window.

The King turned his head, following that gaze.

And then he froze entirely.

Something covered in gleaming scales was right there.

"W-What is that!"

The Marquis, who had turned his head belatedly, scrambled backward.

ROOOAAR!

At that moment, the thing outside the window howled.

The Marquis flopped down on his rear.

Looking at such a Marquis, the unidentified creature, a Wyvern, flicked its tongue.

TRICKLE.

Yellow liquid pooled generously from between the Marquis's crotch.

"He's a bedwetter."

Just then, a carefree voice rang out.

Only then did the people realize they had been so overwhelmed by the Wyvern's tremendous presence that they hadn't seen the rider on its back.

"Who goes there!"

At the old knight's sharp shout, the youthful-faced rider cleared his throat with a loud ahem.

He then stated that he was not a suspicious person and had come here as a messenger at the request of a friend.

"Who is this friend, and what is the message?"

Pushing past the old knight and stepping forward, the King asked the Wyvern Rider.

"My apologies for the delayed greeting, Your Majesty."

The Wyvern Rider straightened his hand and brought it to his forehead, offering a disciplined salute.

"First Wyvern Rider Dolosis Dortmund, Commander of the Azure Sky Knights belonging to the Dortmund Kingdom, pays his respects to the monarch of Leonberk."

His etiquette was unfamiliar, and both 'Dortmund' and 'Azure Sky Knights' were entirely foreign concepts.

But what was important right now wasn't some title heard for the first time in their lives.

"Personally, I am a close friend of Adrian."

The only thing that mattered was that Dolosis Dortmund was a friend of the First Prince.

"The prince—is the prince safe!"

The King asked in a rarely agitated tone.

The First Prince's friend smiled brightly and nodded.

"Adrian and the entire delegation are completely unharmed without a single scratch, and they are currently carrying out a certain mission alongside my nation's Azure Sky Knights."

The King staggered.

He had so desperately wished for their safety, but upon actually hearing that they were safe, all his strength seemed to leave him.

"Then why hasn't His Highness returned?"

The Commander of the Royal Knights asked on behalf of the King.

"Good question! I was just about to tell you about that!"

At the commander's question, Dolosis Dortmund answered as if he had been waiting for it.

"A message from Adrian!"

Clearing his throat, he mimicked someone's voice.

"I've got a lot of pent-up frustrations, so I'm going to raise some hell and come back."

Only after hearing those words was the King able to drop his suspicions about this strange man claiming to be the prince's friend.

Because that somewhat arrogant and blunt tone was, to anyone's ears, exactly the manner of speech of the First Prince.

"He is safe. Everyone is safe."

The King was deeply relieved by the safety of the prince and the delegation.

"Also, this is my first time in Leonberk, so could I perhaps ask for directions to where Marquis Montpellier is?"

"Could you tell me the reason you are looking for Marquis Montpellier?"

The King cast a brief glance at the imperial ambassador.

Marquis Montpellier, who had been sitting vacantly on the floor with wet pants, jumped in shock and trembled when his name was mentioned.

"It's another message."

"That man over there is Marquis Montpellier, so if you have a message to deliver, do so. If it requires secrecy, I will provide a separate room."

At the King's words, Dolosis Dortmund pondered for a moment before shaking his head.

"He didn't exactly say it was confidential."

Saying so, he hopped down from the Wyvern's back with a light hup.

He then crouched in front of Marquis Montpellier and growled in a low voice.

"If you try any funny business just because I'm not around, I'll stomp you into the dirt when I get back, so keep that in mind."

It was a flawless delivery that perfectly reproduced his signature murderous intent, and Marquis Montpellier convulsed in terror.

Standing back up, Dolosis Dortmund's face was filled with pride.

It seemed he thought to himself that his impression had been quite excellent.

"Good work."

He looked somewhat like a child seeking praise, so the King smiled and told him he had done a good job.

"I didn't do it to get praised."

At his contradictory words and actions, the King chuckled once more.

* * *

The King welcomed Dolosis Dortmund as an honored guest and invited him to a dinner banquet.

He also invited those who had been anxiously waiting for news of the prince day and night, allowing them to hear the news as well.

Among those gathered were members of the royal family, including the Second Prince Maximilian and the Queen, as well as Marquis Bielefeld and the men of the North.

"In the face of the Empire's pettiness, Adrian and the delegation were truly like a candle flickering in the wind."

The chatty messenger recounted the prince's journey so vividly, as if he had been there himself.

"At the time, there were no less than fifteen of the Empire's knightly orders stepping forward for revenge! Since those included the Paladins that the Empire boasts of, calling it a desperate crisis would be no exaggeration!"

He spat as he spoke, passionately describing how fiercely the prince and the knights of the delegation had fought, and how viciously the Imperial Knights had tormented them, all while no one knew.

"It was a true bloody battle! No! It was even worse than that! The knights of the delegation had to pull their punches with the aftermath in mind, but the Imperial Knights did not."

"The Imperial Knights were the very definition of wicked. It was common for the many to attack the few, and they even ambushed the exhausted delegation under the cover of darkness in the dead of night."

"Ah! Among those Imperial Knights who claimed to have stepped forward to restore their honor, there was not a single one who truly knew honor—it was an absolute tragedy!"

He even clenched his fist tightly, claiming he never could have held back had he been there himself.

"Of course, Adrian and the kingdom's knights didn't just sit there and take it."

Highly excited, he gulped down some water and then revealed the delegation's accomplishments in battle.

They had crushed half of the fifteen knightly orders that set out in pursuit.

The Paladins the Empire boasted of were successively defeated by the kingdom's female knight.

It was a miraculous achievement accomplished while utterly exhausted from a pursuit that lasted a grueling four months.

"But eventually, they reached their limits."

"The kingdom's knights were exhausted, but three of the Empire's knightly orders united and surrounded them. They had been driven into a trap the Imperial Knights deliberately dug."

"At that time, I had just barely managed to catch up to the delegation."

Pausing for a moment, Dolosis Dortmund looked around at the audience and asked.

"Do you know what Adrian said in front of the Imperial Knights then?"

* * *

"Arwen. Lead the Iron Lions and annihilate them right now."

Pricking up his ears while watching the kingdom's knights face off against the Imperial Knights under the azure sky, Dolosis Dortmund tilted his head in confusion.

The number of Imperial Knights surrounding them reached a staggering 300, and among them were two of the Paladins the Empire boasted of.

It was a crisis where it wouldn't be strange if they were massacred on the spot, yet the prince was speaking of annihilation, not escape.

"Do not let a single one leave alive."

He even went so far as to order that there be no survivors.

"As Your Highness commands!"

Yet the female knight readily accepted that order without hesitation.

"It doesn't look like they've all gone collectively crazy."

Seeing his long-time friend and the Vice-Commander of the Azure Sky Knights, Jean Katrin, say that, it was certain he hadn't misheard.

"Let's just observe for now."

At Jean's words, the three Wyvern Riders of the Azure Sky Knights, who had been preparing a dive attack to break the siege, gained altitude once more and took a wait-and-see approach. Just then, Adrian Leonberk stepped up before the Empire's Paladins.

"Even a cornered rat will bite a cat, but you pushed far too much."

He then drew his sword.

"The sword of the Blood Lion is perfect for beating down you Imperial bastards."