Volume 6, Chapter 1 - Calm Before The Storm, Part 5
At the same time, when Hiro is pondering deep underground.
In the Felzen region, in the southwestern part of the former De jure territory, at Fort Mitte.
The sky, which had been clear and sunny, is now dominated by clouds. The world was covered with low, mousy clouds that made one’s heart uneasy.
The old De jure territory was the battleground where, a few months ago, Princess Skaaha of the Felzen Kingdom and Aura, known as the “War Maiden” of the Grantz Empire, had fought a fierce battle.
And the most fierce battle ground was at Fort Mitte.
Fort Mitte was built to protect the people from the monsters that spread in the foothills of the Travant Mountains, but it lost sight of its original purpose after the fall of the Felzen Kingdom.
However, even after many battles, the sturdy fortress did not collapse and continued to stare westward, but its function as a bulwark was completely lost due to the invasion of the Six Kingdoms.
Its cruel appearance could be described as a pile of rubble.
Completely collapsed walls, burning buildings, and a large number of burnt corpses filled the surrounding area.
The smell of burnt iron and rust dominates the area, and new bodies are thrown into the piles of corpses that have been built. The ground, unable to absorb the blood, had formed a large puddle of blood.
Yet, the battle continues because there are still people everywhere who continue to resist.
They know that their futile resistance will soon come to an end.
But still, a girl couldn’t help but speak out.
“What a foolish thing to do when all that awaits them is suffering.”
The girl who was looking at the dust rising from the battlefield said unhappily. Surrounded by strong soldiers, the girl unfolded her iron fan as if to ward off the smell of death.
“What a waste of time!”
“They are that desperate. They don’t want to give up control of Fort Mitte, which they took from the Felzen remnants. Well, it hasn’t been preserved in its original form.
Her aide, a young officer, smiled at her. As he looked out at the horrific battlefield, his smile seemed cruel.
“The third prince of the Grantz Empire, I was expecting you to be a very determined man, but you’re so boring and disappointing.”
The tone of her voice showed her dissatisfaction without hiding it. The contempt in her gaze was directed at the man sitting in front of her.
“You’re not very strong. You are neither good nor bad, and you are not the holder of the Five Emperors of the Spirit Swords. You’re making up for your lack of ability with your head, yet you’re just brutally attacking with brute force. I can’t hide my disappointment. Why do I have to deal with such a boring man?”
The girl lamented as she stroked the iron fan in her hand.
“Oh, the third prince Blutar?”
A flamboyantly dressed, bald man ― the third prince Blutar ― makes a bitter face.
If the nobles in the great imperial capital saw his shabby appearance, tied up with a rope, they would be speechless. They might fall over in disgust or in anger born out of loyalty.
However, the third prince Blutar stared stoutly and fiercely, as if he would not lose his dignity even if he was captured, and then looked at the coat of arms flag with a snake on it beside the girl.
“I’ve seen that flag before. You’re from Anguis, aren’t you…?”
“Oh, you know that? Then do you know the name of the current king?”
“…I don’t know, I can hardly remember the name of the frontier king who lives in the far west.”
“Hahaha, this is amusing. A frontier king is a funny thing to say…”
The girl smiled happily, but her eyes were not so kind.
“Gogaahh!?”
As soon as the girl’s arm went hazy, the third prince Blutar’s body was blown away. He bounced several times on the ground, spewing blood and vomit as he rolled along the ground.
The girl rose from her chair and approached the third prince Blutar, who was covered in dust.
“Then I will tell you my name. You may imprint it on your body along with the pain.”
The girl instructed the soldier with her chin and made the third prince Blutar, who was suffering from extreme pain, stand up.
“Lucia Levia de Anguis. I am the queen of Anguis, one of the six countries you ridicule as a frontier.”
She spread her iron fan to cover her mouth, and her beautiful eyebrows raised in amusement.
Her appearance is very queenly and full of divine atmosphere.
“Kukuku, I’m sorry, I didn’t notice that you were one of the frontier kings. I thought you were just a prostitute blending in with the battlefield.”
“……You fool, watch your words.”
“Gofuhh!?”
The third prince Blutar’s jaw shot up in an unseen and rapid attack. From his open mouth, several teeth covered the sky, along with fresh blood.
“Oaahh, gfunnuhh!”
He may have tried to clench his teeth to endure the pain, but a great deal of blood poured out of the gap between his missing teeth. As his knee was not strong enough to resist gravity, the third prince Blutar slumped to the ground.
“Guh ― You bastard…”
The third prince Blutar glared at Lucia with indignant eyes while his face was distorted by intense pain.
“Hah, you’ve made a good face; I like it better.”
“Your Majesty Queen Lucia, you should refrain from playing with him; he’s a valuable prisoner.”
“Fumu, it’s so annoying. So annoying to have to keep such a petty man alive.”
When the young officer rebuked her, Lucia tapped the tip of her iron fan against her brow in annoyance.
“There is no point in holding me as a hostage. It’s not like my father needs me.”
The third prince Blutar muttered hatefully and then sneered at Lucia and the others.
Lucia laughed uncontrollably at this. It was the kind of laugh that could have sent her rolling if the ground hadn’t been covered in mud.
“Fukukuku, kuhaha, what are you saying? How lucky are you that you don’t know anything!”
Lucia wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her fingertips and replied, still choking up.
“The emperor is dead, you know?”
“Wha?”
What are you saying? The third prince Blutar made a dumbfounded face as if to say so.
It’s not unreasonable. It was known to him that the Krone family, one of the five great noble families, had risen in rebellion, but the higher-ups had concealed the emperor’s death. However, the result would have been the same even if they hadn’t hidden it because there was no way they could spare him the news of the battle against the Six Kingdoms.
“Since it’s not something for me to hide, I can explain it to you…”
“Bullsh*t! My father is dead, you say? What kind of nonsense is that? That man, that man! He’s the emperor of the world’s most powerful country, the Grantz Empire! He can’t be defeated by anyone!”
The third prince Blutar interrupted Lucia’s words and let out his emotions. The straightforwardness with which he thinks of his father is dazzling, but the fact that he places such absolute trust in him is just a pity.
Even though he is an emperor, he is still a human being.
They are the most vulnerable of the five major races, with a short lifespan, a fleeting peak, and a high probability of dying from a minor injury.
“He’s the holder of the Five Emperors of the Spirit Swords! Chosen by the Spirit King, the noblest person in the world!”
His belief in spirits could only be described as blind faith. The Spirit King is one of the “Five Heavenly Kings,” but he is not an all-powerful god.
Spirits are beings that stay close to people, live with people, and protect people’s thoughts.
“To put it simply, the Five Emperors of the Spirit Swords give power to their bearers in response to their thoughts. But that power is nothing more than a waste of treasure if the owner’s strength wanes.”
Emperor Greyheit’s prowess as a young man was well known to everyone. He was keen to achieve great things in his later years, but even a hero is no match for old age.
“I heard that the first prince Stobel beheaded him, you know?”
“Wha… my brother did?”
“According to the words of the imperial gift, the holder of the Five Emperors of the Spirit Swords is the person chosen by the Spirit King, but isn’t the first prince Stobel the same?”
The third prince Blutar was so shocked that he looked down at the ground with a pale face.
Lucia’s words seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
“I was expecting more of a rant. I was expecting you to scream more.”
Lucia had already received word that the emperor had been defeated and killed by the first prince Stobel. What was more curious was the existence of the descendant of the God of War.
It was astonishing. After a thousand years, the descendant of a hero has been discovered, and despite being vague, she feels that the times are beginning to move.
The abominable “Nameless” reports that he is sure it is him, but it is hard to believe.
“…I thought the pact was already over.”
Lucia looked down at the translucent veins in her arm. Bloodlines are a tricky thing. Even if it was a long time ago, it is imprinted.
“What to do… There is nothing more difficult to deal with than the descendant of the hero.”
Will he be the one to usher in a new era, or will he be the savior who brings back the past?
At that moment ― the snake’s crest flag, stirred by the wind, brought Lucia’s consciousness back.
“…I’m a little deep in thought. I’ll think about it later. I think I should decide what to do with you now.”
Lucia smiled self-mockingly and unfolded her iron fan to cover the lower half of her face.
Her cold gaze is directed at the third prince Blutar, who is kneeling on the ground.
“Your Majesty Queen Lucia, have you decided on the treatment of the third prince Blutar?”
The young officer asks without losing his smile. Lucia nodded in response to him.
“We are going to the west of the Grantz Empire, so there will be times when we can use his value. You can interrogate him for a while and try to squeeze out some useful information.”
“Very well.”
The young officer gave a look to the aides, and the third prince Blutar was held from both sides.
“Be prepared… it’s not a simple matter. The Grantz Empire is a great champion.”
The third prince Blutar asserted even though his face was distorted by intense pain. His strength of mind is dazzling, but his baseless confidence is irritating.
“Let’s hope we can pass the boredom.”
Lucia sat down in her chair and said goodbye to the third prince Blutar.
“The existence of the third prince Blutar is useful. I’ve heard that there are still some nobles in the west of Grantz who are resisting fiercely. To remind them that it’s useless, why don’t we collar him and let him walk around as a spectacle during the march?”
“Seleucus, can’t you do something about your bad taste?”
Lucia glared at the young officer Seleucus in a disturbed manner, but he cowered aloof.
“I thought it was a good idea, but… many people hold the Grantz family sacred. If they see a prince being treated like a slave, there’s a good chance they’ll show reverence.”
“I’ll accept that as an option. So, what’s the status of the war?”
“The control of the area around Fort Mitte is almost complete. The prisoners are probably close to 30,000. What should we do, take them with us?”
“It will only slow down the march, it won’t benefit us.”
Keeping up with Seleucus’ jokes, Lucia put her iron fan to her chin and snorted.
“Umu, yes. We’ve got to get rid of the heads of those who are connected to the Grantz family. Since the third prince Blutar is in our custody, we don’t need them.”
“Very well. Then what should we do with the rest?”
“Contact the home country. Those who can be ransomed will be taken away, and those who cannot will be sold as slaves to other countries. The rest can be executed as an example.”
Lucia, her eyes shining with determination, unfolded her iron fan.
Then she pointed to the Grantz Empire in a distant land.
“Then we will march, proclaiming the liberation of Felzen, and win the support and cooperation of the people.”
“And then, will you rejoin the infamous Urpeth siblings?”
Lucia nodded lightly in response to Seleucus’ question as if to confirm.
“I’m worried about leaving it to them.”
“I hope the western part of Grantz has not been burned to the ground. The older sister is calm and collected, but the younger brother is too belligerent and troublesome.”
“The ability of the Urpeth siblings is certain. There is no doubt about it. That’s why we let them work together. And they won’t be too reckless. They know their position very well.”
“The stolen throne, huh…”
Seleucus’s muttering was small. It was so small that it was overshadowed by the sounds of the battlefield.
“That’s right. The Urpeth siblings are geniuses. However, they are only ordinary geniuses… The real genius is that woman.”
The person who comes into Lucia’s mind ― a military skill and an intellectual ability no one else can match. She is the closest person to the unified king in the Six Kingdoms.
“In front of her, the people who are praised as geniuses become ordinary people in general. The transcendent figure that reduces a genius to an ordinary person ― that existence itself is… a foul.”
Seleucus also made a bitter smile, perhaps thinking of the same person, and sighed.
“Even me, who was said to be the next unified king, was forced to lick her wounds. She deserved what she got for sitting on her laurels, but it’s ridiculous that she’s become so hungry for battle results.”
The four royal families have already supported her. If all goes according to plan, she will be the next unified king.
Lucia stood up and looked at the eastern sky.
“Would you like to leave immediately?”
In response to Seleucus’ question, Lucia clutched her iron fan and replied.
“Umu. If we neglect the siblings for too long, I won’t get any more achievements for myself.”
“After all, isn’t Your Majesty Queen Lucia thinking the same thing…?”
Seleucus chuckled, and Lucia slammed her iron fan on his shoulder, making a loud noise.
“Now that I’ve got no more worries about the future, let’s go see the ‘old king’ in all his glory.”
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