Chapter 131

A Reversed Future

The palace was normally a solemn place.

Today, however, was an exception. Its corridors were filled with unusual whispers and murmurs.

“Is it true? The Second Prince—”

“Shh! Watch your tongue. Don't you know even the palace walls have ears?”

The high-ranking nobles and officials within the palace continued their hushed conversations.

“But, Magistrate, if the Second Prince is the one who murdered Her Highness the Queen—”

“Enough! The murderer? That is nothing more than unconfirmed speculation. Do not speak so carelessly.”

The rumor circulated only among those in the know.

But no secret stays perfectly hidden. Palace attendants and maids moved cautiously among the murmuring nobles and officials, and the rumor finally slipped beyond the palace walls, shaking the entire capital of Battengart.

[Queen Marceline's murderer was Second Prince Blake!]

As word spread, people gathered on every street in Battengart, murmuring among themselves.

“Are you saying His Highness Blake really murdered Her Highness the Queen?!”

“No, that can't be! How could he kill his own mother...?”

“Could it be a conspiracy?”

“But the Royal Guard has issued a warrant for his arrest!”

The Royal Guard's loyalty lay with the throne alone. Protecting the royal family was their absolute duty.

If someone threatened the throne, even a royal, their swords would cut that person down mercilessly and without hesitation.

“Th-then that means...”

It meant the story was not a complete fabrication. At the very least, there were grounds for it.

“Could His Highness the Second Prince really have...?”

The rumor gained credibility and grew in the telling, spreading beyond the capital to the entire kingdom.

And as the whole Kingdom of Battenberg was thrown into an uproar...

“Wait, then what happens to the royal succession?”

The king was already bedridden with illness. To put it bluntly, he had one foot in the grave, and now Second Prince Blake faced accusations of treason.

“With things as they are...”

“Well, obviously...”

The palace, the streets of the capital, and ultimately the entire kingdom began to seethe with unrest.

* * *

My consciousness was hazy. When I tried to move, a crushing fatigue weighed down my limbs.

I slowly opened my eyes.

A familiar ceiling. This was the very room I had been staying in, one of the palace's guest suites.

Only then did the memories come flooding back.

'... Did I pass out?'

As I raised myself a little, the damp cloth on my forehead slipped off. Except it was no longer damp; it had dried out.

It seemed no one had changed it in quite a while.

Looking around, I noticed someone sleeping slumped over in a corner of the room. Spilled silver hair and a small frame.

I didn't need Predatory Instincts[S] to recognize her.

Seraphia.

Why was she sleeping so uncomfortably over there, though?

I considered waking her, but she seemed to be sleeping soundly, so I left her alone.

When I sat up fully, the bandages wrapped tightly around my chest pulled taut over the wound Blake had given me.

I'd managed to cut off his left arm, but at the cost of a long slash across my own chest.

But that alone wasn't responsible for the pain tearing through my entire body.

The Ultra Instinct skill, Predator[M].

The extreme physical overload had torn all my muscle fibers, fractured my bones under pressure they lacked the density to withstand, and severed nerves throughout my body.

Fortunately, I could use Regeneration[B+] again, which meant—

'Has it been twenty-four hours since I lost consciousness?'

I used Regeneration[B+] to heal all my injuries, taking oil out of my Inventory to replenish the calories I lacked.

Once my body recovered, my thoughts cleared somewhat.

'... I can't keep doing this.'

Honestly, I'd been lucky. If I'd continued fighting Blake back there...

'That was genuinely dangerous.'

My skills had been overloaded, too. Cutting off Blake's left arm hadn't made the situation any less perilous.

But limiting my use of Predator[M]...

'It's far too useful.'

My body might scream as though it were about to shatter every time I used it, but its effectiveness was undeniable.

The war against the empire hadn't even begun. I would need Predator[M] in the battles to come against legion commanders and Sovereigns, and ultimately in the final confrontation with the Emperor.

Strictly speaking, Predator[M] itself wasn't even the problem. It was the side effect—the extreme physical overload.

'I need to raise my stats further.'

At the very least, I had to reach a point where I wouldn't pass out. But the higher my stats grew, the greater the strain on my body would become.

'I also need rare abilities that can offset the damage to my body.'

And ultimately—

'I'll make it so I can stay in the Predator state all the time without any problems.'

My final goal was to make Predator[M] a sustainable default state, rather than a temporary rampage.

Then there were the martial principles I had yet to master. So far, I'd only internalized two: Flow and Stiffness.

I needed to master the remaining four and make them my own as well.

'... I've still got a long way to go.'

It really was a long, hard road. I still couldn't even picture myself approaching Ian's strength.

But wasn't it said that the hardest metal must pass through the hottest flames?

As the Blacksmith, one of the allied army's heroes, had told me:

[“Even the finest sword on the continent begins to take shape with a single hammer blow, Predator!”]

Nothing was completed overnight. Just as the day Ian stood where he did had not come in a single day, I too could only build up countless days of my own.

Steeling my resolve, I collected my thoughts once more.

Second Prince Blake.

At first, I had been certain he was the Sovereign of Darkness. But the longer we fought, the more doubts crept into that certainty.

For someone supposedly the Sovereign of Darkness?

'He was weak.'

Of course, in absolute terms, Blake was by no means weak. He was stronger than the Memorier, the Legion Commander of Darkness.

But by the standards of a Sovereign? Well...

The six beings the Emperor had acknowledged, rather than reared or slaughtered. And the strongest Sovereign among them, at a level beyond even the Sovereign of Bitter Cold—a class beyond a class of its own.

For the Sovereign of Darkness... he was absurdly weak.

It might sound strange coming from someone who had passed out after fighting him, but he was, quite literally, absurdly weak.

Frankly, Blake's strength was no more than that of a legion commander.

That left three possibilities.

The first:

'My information about the Sovereign of Darkness is wrong.'

The Sovereign of Darkness might not be the strongest Sovereign at all. The Authority of Oblivion might simply have planted false information in my mind.

The second:

'Blake isn't the Sovereign of Darkness.'

And the third and final possibility:

'Blake isn't complete as the Sovereign of Darkness yet.'

According to what I had learned in The Forgotten Social Gathering, the Sovereign of Darkness was a being that was created.

Since I'd returned to the past, it was possible that the Sovereign of Darkness had yet to be completed.

After all...

'The Emperor hasn't recruited every Sovereign yet.'

In other words, if the Emperor had recruited the Sovereign of Darkness relatively recently, it might not yet display the qualities of the strongest Sovereign.

But this was all speculation. I couldn't say for certain which was true.

Unlike the other Sovereigns, the Sovereign of Darkness alone was shrouded in literal darkness—hidden from knowledge.

Either way, interrogating Blake would give me some clear answers, but—

'Blake...'

My last memory was of him escaping. Lucas had tried to stop him, but all his sword left in its wake were remnants of dissipating mist.

Still, there was a lead.

Leon's Present Vision[L]. He had clearly perceived Blake.

'I need to see Leon.'

He was bound to know something.

* * *

The palace was supposed to maintain a solemn atmosphere at all times.

'What's going on?'

Today, however, it was a madhouse. Nobles kept pouring in, thronging every part of the palace.

“Your Highness Leon! House Heidelont has always supported you! And we will continue to do so, foreeeever! That will never change!”

“Even when others whispered about Your Highness, House Clemens alone never wavered!”

“Eternal loyalty to His Highness Leon!”

The nobles who had supported Leon each proclaimed their devotion.

“I swear to serve you and you alone, Your Highness.”

“House Bellstein, too, pledges its full loyalty to Your Highness.”

The nobles who had remained neutral made new pledges of allegiance.

“Your Highness, you must be devastated by these sudden events.”

“Along with our deepest sympathies, House Artensia has prepared a small gift. It's only a few chests of gold bars, so please don't feel burdened...”

“Your Highness! Please inspect the gifts that have arrived at the Silva River docks yourself. We've chosen things you are sure to enjoy.”

“There is no ulterior motive, of course. This is simply a personal expression of gratitude! Hahaha!”

The nobles who had not supported Leon competed to win his favor.

Chests of gold bars and jewels were carried throughout the palace, while all sorts of precious relics and magical tools were offered up.

“Wait, wasn't House Rossfeld supporting Queen Marceline until quite recently?”

“W-well, that was...”

“And now you offer your loyalty? Do you take His Highness Leon for a fool?”

“Ha! And what about House Ortaion? You call that paltry sum a show of loyalty? I see just what your house amounts to. Tsk, tsk.”

“... What? Are you finished?”

“Now, see here! Keep your hands off me!”

“You started this, you bastard!”

“What? Bastard?! You little shit—!”

Nobles were fighting in the middle of the palace. It was utter chaos.

* * *

After considerable trouble, I finally made it into Leon's office.

He sat at his desk, working through a mountain of paperwork. His eyes raced over the contents while his quill moved ceaselessly, signing off on documents, granting approvals, and writing instructions.

It took him only a few seconds to scan each sheet. This was the astonishing speed at which I'd seen him work in my previous life.

He wasn't merely skimming, either. He cut unnecessary material without hesitation, struck through questionable clauses with his quill, and ordered revisions.

Anything with an unclear purpose went into a separate pile.

The allied army had brought together all the continent's might. With so many factions, races, and nations tangled together, it had needed to manage not only battles, but supplies, treaties, troop deployments, and internal administration as well.

As its field commander, Leon had supported Supreme Commander Ian and handled all of it with ease.

Accurate intelligence analysis, swift judgment, and meticulous administrative ability.

I hadn't known it then, but that had indeed been Present Vision[L] at work.

Though his appearance had undergone a drastic reverse transformation into that of a pretty boy, his abilities were unchanged from my previous life.

So it wasn't the speed of his work that surprised me.

“What is all this?”

An immense quantity of treasure covered the office floor.

“... Hm? Oh, the nobles outside left those.”

He seemed to mean the nobles crowding outside his office as though staging some sort of sit-in...

“Why would they leave all this?”

“They gave it to me as bribes.”

“Bribes? ... Ah.”

I could roughly grasp the situation.

Simply put, they were latching onto the right patron. These were bribes meant to earn them points with Leon.

Apparently, while I was unconscious, the nobles had each made their decisions, and everything had sorted itself out accordingly.

'No wonder.'

I'd been wondering what the fuck everyone was doing all over the palace.

And why they had shot me such jealous, envious looks when I walked straight into Leon's office without being stopped.

... Apparently, they envied my private audience with him.

“Would you like some?”

“Why would you give this to me?”

“As a token of my gratitude.”

“Pardon?”

“You did everything for me, didn't you?”

“What did I—”

“You restored my lost memories, saved the kingdom when it was on the verge of being overthrown, and, above all, caught the murderer. Huh. You really did do everything, didn't you?”

◆Leon's affinity toward you increases!

◆Leon's affinity toward you is now [Trust].

◆A person in the [Trust] state believes in and relies on you completely, following your lead in all things.

◆Leon will willingly accept personal losses for your sake.

... Should I go pass out again?

Maybe Blake would be in custody by the time I woke up.

“But Blake got away.”

“I let him get away. You didn't.”

... Honestly.

“It's the least I can offer for everything you've done. More importantly—”

Leon stole a glance at me and continued.

“It's also a bribe to earn some points with my future wife's older brother.”

... He still hadn't given up?

“I wouldn't mind if you took everything, but the nobles did put some effort into these gifts. So just take half.”

His motives were somewhat questionable, but... he was offering. I saw no reason to refuse.

The more money, the better. Especially now, when I was trying to build up the county's power.

◆Storing 'Solarium' in the Inventory.

.

.

And that was how I acquired 2.5 million gold.

'A little disappointing.'

It seemed rather paltry for bribes from nobles.

After all, the Dark Merchant Company had intended to bribe Seraphia with ten million gold.

But that only showed how absurdly wealthy the Dark Merchant Company was.

Battengart, the capital, was the most expensive place in the kingdom. A meal at a decent restaurant here cost roughly two gold.

With 2.5 million gold, one person could live without working for 1,157 years.

Even a large trading company could earn such an enormous sum only through a fairly substantial deal.

Yet the Dark Merchant Company earned and spent that kind of money as though it were pocket change. It made it easy to see why Queen Marceline had joined hands with them.

Adding this to what I'd stolen from Queen Marceline—

No, extorted—no, seized...

Anyway.

Together, they brought my earnings to 12.5 million gold.

'I've recouped everything I invested in the Territory Quest.'

I'd recovered every bit of what I'd spent buying out Frecce's markets, with extra profit to spare.

That brought the funds in my Inventory to a staggering 82.5 million gold.

It was more than reassuring. It was an overwhelming amount of money.

“You know how to use subspace magic, too? ... Although that didn't look like magic.”

“It's something similar.”

Apparently, Leon hadn't intended to pry. He asked no further questions.

“Are you feeling all right?”

“As you can see, I'm perfectly fine.”

“Thankfully, that does seem to be the case.”

Leon gave a small nod and returned to his work.

Apparently, Present Vision[L] could assess someone's physical condition at a glance, too. The more I saw of it, the more overpowered it seemed.

But that also meant he was bound to know something about Blake.

“On another matter, Your Highness.”

“Go ahead.”

“When you perceived Blake, did you notice anything unusual?”

Leon set down his quill. He fell silent for a moment, as though recalling what had happened.

“... He was a different being.”

“What do you mean, a different being?”

“I mean he wasn't Blake.”

“Are you saying he was a fake Blake, like the one who copied me?”

The Memorier had replicated me perfectly. Leon's Present Vision[L] had been able to tell us apart at once.

“It wasn't like that.”

Blake wasn't a Memorier.

Come to think of it, the information I'd obtained through Predatory Instincts[S] hadn't been fake, either. In other words, he hadn't been Blake Battenberg (Memorier).

Even so, had Leon's Present Vision[L] seen something that Predatory Instincts[S] couldn't detect?

“Blake was Blake. But to my eyes, it was as though something entirely different was existing through his body.”

“Could you be more specific?”

Leon tapped his fingers lightly, lost in thought for a moment.