Chapter 89 - The Difference Between Alms, Rewards, and Spoils (1)

The rampant screams and abusive language abruptly cut off like a lie.

The nobles gasped silently with their faces bleached white. Their eyes rolled back and forth between the King on the platform and me.

The King glared at me with his eyes wide open.

His face was completely furious, looking as if he would spring up and shout at any moment, but his body actually sank deeper into the throne.

To me, that sight looked exactly as if he were trying to hide his body in a throne that didn't even fit him.

Taking in that unsightly appearance, I walked toward the platform.

CLACK.

Knights dressed in brilliantly shining golden armor placed their hands on their sword hilts and surrounded the platform.

Looking at them, stiffly frozen with tension and concern, I bent at the waist.

Once the great king who made the North tremble in fear as the monarch of tens of thousands of Orcs, but now reduced to a spectacle—the Greenskin King, whom I had sworn to kill miserably and make a laughingstock forever even after death.

I picked up the severed head and arm of the king I had struck down.

I straightened my back and looked up at the platform.

Another king was up there.

I offered the head of the Warlord to him.

The King scolded me.

"Just how long are you going to proudly parade that hideous thing!"

His eyes were full of anger. And, without fail, hatred and contempt followed.

In the past, I couldn't understand those emotions.

Because I didn't know what the original owner of this body had done.

It was different now.

Not only did I know of that sin and karma, but I had even come to shoulder it.

But despite that, I could not empathize with the King's feelings.

This was the karma of a lacking father who raised a child but failed to guide him properly.

It was the fault of an incompetent monarch who had eyes but failed to look into the shadowed corners.

It was not karma meant to be borne by a mere twelve-year-old child.

However, the King acted as if the failure of the grand plan and the reality of the kingdom falling into ruin day by day were all caused by a young boy.

He took responsibility for nothing, and he corrected nothing.

He merely resented and turned a blind eye.

Not even realizing that his own soul was being stained by that resentment and hatred.

He simply hated his young son.

Suddenly, it felt funny.

The karma of the son who broke three hundred and twenty-three precious swords and turned the century-long grand plan to nothing; the karma of the father who negligently watched as the solid shield that had protected the kingdom for hundreds of years shattered.

Both sides were equally covered in filth.

Yet one side didn't even think to reflect upon himself.

When that stained soul was so clearly visible to my eyes.

I quietly looked at the King.

The authority that pierced solely through to the essence dwelled in my eyes. Before it, the King's soul was stripped bare, revealing its pathetic true face.

Not weak, but not strong enough to withstand external pressure.

Not dull, but not sharp enough to step forward and orchestrate things.

Not incompetent, but not capable enough to take charge of great tasks,

And his eyes were not blind, but not bright enough to look broadly outside the royal palace.

A vessel that would have been sufficient to achieve his own era of peace had he been born in peaceful times,

But a vessel hopelessly lacking to overcome chaotic times.

Perhaps he had rushed about with that lacking ability, wearing king's clothes that did not fit, struggling to endure the weight of a crown he could not handle.

And he must have failed, despaired, and despaired again.

His negligent and complacent response during the past war in the North must also be one of the failures he experienced.

"We fought for three solid months waiting for reinforcements that did not come."

But to me, it was not merely a mistake.

"I sent two legions, a force amounting to four thousand. Were they not reinforcements?"

I lost my uncle, and I lost countless comrades with whom I had laughed and chatted until yesterday.

"There were over ten Orc legions whose soldiers only fell dead after being stabbed ten times with a spear, but our forces were a mere three legions."

When there were several legions waiting for royal commands and several knightly orders ready to draw their swords at any moment.

"There was a natural fortress that had stood firmly for hundreds of years, and there were valiant knights."

And yet, the King still only had excuses.

"That fortress which withstood hundreds of years crumbled, and those valiant knights all died off."

"You were victorious in the end. Did you not also call yourselves a victorious army?"

"If a victory full of nothing but scars is a victory, then I suppose it is a victory."

I would no longer listen to such excuses.

"But we will never again shed blood to achieve a victory like that."

The King, mulling over the meaning of my words, sprang up from his seat and pointed his finger at me.

"H-How dare you spout such nonsense just because you have a mouth! Do you even know the meaning of what you just said!"

Watching the King scream at the top of his lungs, I shot back coldly.

"It means we will never fight alone again."

"What?"

I gave a passing glance to the stiff-faced King and turned my body.

"There isn't a single noble family in the kingdom that we didn't send a request for reinforcements to!"

The nobles, who had been watching the argument between me and the King with intrigued faces until now, were startled by my sudden roar and lowered their heads.

"Who among you here responded to it!"

No one. Not a single one. We didn't receive even a single reply.

"I'm asking what the hell you all were doing while we were fighting!"

Suppressed voices offering excuses could be heard from all around.

That the distance was too far. That there was no one to lead the troops. That they happened to be bedridden at the time. That they didn't receive the messenger's contact.

Among those, there wasn't a single word that wasn't a pathetic excuse.

"I won't listen to such ridiculous excuses."

I declared to them.

"If you do not help, the North will not fight from now on."

"You bastard! I'm listening, and you're as arrogant as can be! Are you saying you'll open the gates and let the monsters pass through if you don't fight!"

A roaring voice came from behind my back.

"Is there any reason why we couldn't?"

I asked the King, turning only my head back.

"Whose presence do you think you're in, speaking with your back turned!"

I turned my body.

"What! Just who gave you such authority, and what are you to spout such absurd remarks!"

"Authority, you say..."

I spoke while looking straight at the King.

"The Margrave encompassing the North, the Commander of the 3rd Legion, the head of House Ballorhard."

"What?"

"Would the fully authorized proxy for him be qualified enough?"

"What does that..."

"If I have been delegated full authority by the seventeen families north of the Raintes River, do I have the right to speak like this?"

The King glared with wide eyes at the lords of the North.

"I, Bert of House Shurtl, have transferred all my rights to His Highness the First Prince."

"I, Guinness of House Quern, have transferred all my rights to His Highness the First Prince."

"I, Anders of House Astein, to His Highness the First Prince..."

The Northern lords all knelt in unison and shouted.

"W-What."

The King spat out the same word over and over with a face that looked entirely out of its wits.

"Do you still think I lack authority?"

No answer was heard. The King, dumbfounded by the sudden situation, didn't seem to have the presence of mind to answer me.

It was a pathetic sight.

Leaving the King behind me, I shouted at the nobles again.

"It's just to fight together! Is that so difficult!"

The nobles were merely busy avoiding my eyes; they did not answer.

"I shall proclaim to you. This is the last chance I will give."

I said, looking at the nobles who were looking away as if they couldn't hear a single sound.

"Send one of your family's direct descendants to Winter Castle. I don't care if it's the eldest son, the second son, or the youngest."

"What does that..."

"They will become officers and serve at Winter Castle for a set period."

"That is absurd!"

"We cannot accept this!"

Seeing that they still knew their own brats were precious, they looked at least better than the King, even if equally incompetent.

As I was observing their faces, a throat-clearing sound came from behind.

"Ahem."

It was that bastard Montpellier.

"It is unthinkable for a foreign ambassador to argue over the kingdom's affairs, but."

At the sudden words, the nobles put on bewildered faces.

"It will strengthen the defense of the North even more, and it will be an invaluable experience for the pillars who will lead your families, and furthermore, the kingdom. I bring this up because I cannot understand why you all view it so negatively."

He spoke in a roundabout way, but there was no one here at least who could not understand Montpellier's words.

"As an aside, His Majesty the Emperor was truly greatly concerned by the war that broke out in the North this time. I was also heavily reprimanded for failing to properly look after an ally's difficulties. If the same thing happens again, your friend, I, Montpellier, will truly be put in a difficult position."

Montpellier even sold out the Emperor's name without being told to.

The effect was disgustingly good.

The nobles, who had been pushing back as if they were going to flip everything over, became as mute as if they had eaten honey and started reading the room.

Watching that sight made my stomach turn.

To think they placed more weight on the words of a foreign ambassador than their own country's prince.

I mentally crossed off another number.

"From what I know, I have heard that the North has had barren land since old times and is not prosperous. So how about we share their burden in a different way by supporting a certain portion of the military expenses they have to cover?"

An unnamed old noble asked that bastard Montpellier. The other nobles quickly agreed and flapped their lips.

"I cannot fathom why you are asking me, a mere foreign ambassador, about that."

Saying so, Montpellier sneakily looked at me.

"When the person who raised the matter is right here."

At his blatant words, the nobles' faces bleached pale.

Looking at those pure white faces, I,

SMIRK.

Smiled.

The nobles were completely out of their wits, and the King was also unable to come to his senses.

Even as time passed, there was still no one who opened their mouth.

The nobles, for their part, didn't look good because they were suddenly facing the prospect of sending their precious bloodlines to a deadly place, and the King, for his part, seemed confused because he couldn't understand my sudden behavior.

It seemed they thought I would use my merits to satisfy my own selfish desires.

Since the Scoundrel who had even sold out the Royal House's secret knights would have been more than capable of doing so.

But I was not that Scoundrel.

What I desired wasn't merely a paltry reward the King would hand out like alms.

I looked at the nobles.

Now, they would have to hand over to me either their precious bloodlines or their cherished wealth.

If they gave up their children, I would take them as hostages and force them to support the North, and if they offered money, I would make them spit out at least the price of their sons' lives.

Of course, I didn't think they would comply easily.

Right now, they were pretending to agonize over it out of fear of the empire's might, but they were the kind of people who would flip their stance the moment they returned to their estates.

They could try to trick me by taking in an adopted son instead of their precious child, or if not that, they could pull the ridiculous stunt of passing off a degenerate they had given up on.

If they did that, the North would gain nothing.

I had to make them hand over the bloodlines they truly cherished.

Fortunately, I had a bait that would make them hand over their precious children themselves.

I sent a glance to Montpellier.

"Failing to properly look after the past war is no different from me failing to fulfill my duties as the fully authorized ambassador of the kingdom's irreplaceable ally. Therefore, I deeply feel partially responsible for the past war, and I wish to ensure that such a thing never happens again in the future."

The King looked at that bastard Montpellier with a face full of fatigue. It was a face that showed his head was already hurting, wondering what stunt this guy was trying to pull this time.

But today's Montpellier was not here as the empire's ambassador, so at the very least, out of all the things the bastard would say today in this place, there was nothing that wasn't beneficial to the kingdom.

"With the authority of the fully authorized ambassador granted to me by His Majesty the Emperor, I will restrictively open the kingdom's Magic Tower, which was sealed according to the treaty!"

The King, who had been looking at Montpellier with a fatigued face, sprang up from his seat.

"S-Say that again!"

"I will lift the seal on the kingdom's Magic Tower up to the third floor, and the training of Mages and the practice of combat magic, which were restricted by the treaty, will also be temporarily lifted."

"Say that again!"

"Congratulations. The kingdom is now able to train Mages up to the 3rd Circle."

The King trembled as he was overcome with emotion.

But it was still too early to be moved.

"This is an official matter approved by His Majesty the Emperor, and understanding the immense hardships the kingdom's North suffered due to the past war, His Majesty the Emperor has additionally permitted the construction of a new Magic Tower as well."

Now the King had a face that looked like he was going to faint.

The unsealing of the Magic Tower was surprising enough, but he seemed unable to believe the words that the construction of a new Magic Tower was also permitted.

"The construction location for the new Magic Tower will be limited to the north of the Raintes River, and I hereby announce that all authority over its construction and management belongs to His Highness the First Prince, Adrian Leonberk."

The King glared at me with wide eyes.

No, not just the King, but all the nobles in this place were looking at me.

It seemed the thing called a Magic Tower was a better bait than I had thought.

Seeing how they had faces like dogs looking at a bone full of meat.