Chapter 361
The air filled with the clatter of over a hundred Wilhelm Knights drawing their razor-sharp swords, pointing the gleaming blades in the same direction with murderous intent.
“How dare you!” Kingaitu growled, having just arrived in the colosseum.
“…Are you pointing swords at my back?” The mysterious fireball-throwing man narrowed his eyes. “It seems you all want to die.”
“I want to ask you the same thing. How dare you ambush our king?! Do you want to die?” Kingaitu threatened.
“…By you?” The mysterious man chuckled. Despite the forest of swords pointed at him, he was quite relaxed; he seemed certain that he could still win even if all the knights attacked him together.
“I’ll kill you!” Kingaitu shouted. He raised his sword without hesitation, fully intending to cut the man in two.
“Stop.” Joshua raised his hand.
Kingaitu came to a halt. “Your Majesty…?”
“He’s the guest I’ve been waiting for,” Joshua said.
“Wh-what are you talking about…?” Kingaitu asked, perplexed.
“It’s been a while,” Joshua said to the man. He was even smiling slightly. Joshua bowed slightly and then took a step backward from the man.
Joshua’s guest had short red hair. His beard and hair had been neatly trimmed, revealing his fiery eyes. Even in Lilith's eyes, the man didn’t look like the beggar she had just met, but Joshua instantly recognized him.
“The King of Thran,” Joshua noted.
Ulabis looked away. “My country doesn’t exist anymore, so I’m not a king…”
“A king of a ruined country is still a king.”
Ulabis frowned slightly. Joshua hadn’t hesitated to use the phrase “ruined country” at all.
“Are you trying to pick a fight with me?” Ulabis asked.
“Maybe I am.” Joshua shrugged. “I’m such a petty man that I don’t like what I’m looking at.”
“…What do you mean?”
“All this time, you’ve been running away as if you don’t have anything to do with any of this—but you show up after everything has been sorted and take out your anger on someone else?” Joshua bluntly answered. Ulabis’s face turned grim. “What have you done until now? Escape from the Empire and hide like a coward?”
The air around Ulabis clenched.
“…Do not mock me any further.”
“Ridiculous,” Joshua smirked at Ulabis. “Did I hurt your pride?”
“You!” Ulabis growled. “Are you seriously—!”
“Everyone else in the world can worry about getting their pride hurt, but you’re the one person who shouldn’t worry about it.”
Ulabis’s fists trembled faintly.
“…What?”
“Didn’t you already know what was going around here?”
Ulabis was silent.
“Men are enslaved, and women are used as maids. Children don’t know anything, but they’re being thrown into the beasts’ cages to satisfy those disgusting desires. I’m only listing what I’ve witnessed so far; I’m not sure how many more people have been suffering—no, are suffering right now…”
“Get to the point,” Ulabis interrupted.
“That is the fate of a defeated nation’s citizens.”
Ulabis’s eyes widened.
“That is why a country’s one and only leader is very important: because citizens share the same fate as their country, good or bad. Ulabis—no, King of Thran, you shouldn’t worry about your pride getting hurt, not if you’ve ever stopped to think about your people. They believe that you’ll someday save them from the suffering they’ve endured over the last three years.”
“Bu-but the Swallow Empire was the one who attacked first,” Lilith interjected. “They’re the bad ones! What happened to the Thran Kingdom was inevitable, not because Ulabis failed as a leader. Despite everything, he tried his best to fight back—!”
“I’m not pointing fingers here. I’m only talking about how he acted after the fall of his country. Try his best? Do you sleep better at night if you console yourself like that, Ulabis?” Joshua tilted his head.
“Th-that’s…” Lilith mumbled, unable to continue any further. Even she had been furious when she had reunited with Ulabis, although it had turned out that he had been formulating a plan in secret…
‘In the meantime, Thran’s citizens are still going to suffer from all the damages…’?Lilith thought, smiling bitterly.
On the other hand, Joshua was confusing her. At first, he had acted like a person who was going to unify the continent right away, so why was he acting like this now?
‘I thought I knew him a little by now…’?Lilith thought plaintively.
“Lilith Aphrodite,” Joshua called, bringing her back to reality.
“…Yes?” Lilith replied, surprised.
“So what’s the plan?” Joshua asked.
“P-plan? What…?” Lilith stuttered.
“A country without a leader is doomed to fall. In fact, you don’t have to search hard for an example. Think about Avalon, my country.”
Lilith’s eyes slowly widened.
“Y-you mean…!”
“If there are only people of similar skill within a country, a civil war will break out even before the country has healed completely from the war. Inevitably, there are people who want the throne for themselves. The next leader has to get rid of the two Absolutes’ traces from the empires while also fending off those hyenas that have been waiting for the opportunity to strike. Are there people who are skilled enough and with the right mindsets in the two empires right now?”
Lilith wasn’t an idiot, so she understood Joshua right away. Her face brightened up immediately.
“Of course! Don’t worry about the Hubalt Empire. Although His Holiness passed away… there is a perfect successor.”
Christian was quick-witted enough to understand what was going on and came forward.
“The Martial Emperor was our biggest problem, but he’s gone now,” Christian said. “So my teacher and I will be able to take care of the remnants.”
“Your tea-teacher?” Kingaitu dumbly repeated, still awkwardly holding his sword. From what he knew, Christian, one of the Twelve Superhumans, had only one teacher. “Is… the Knight of God still alive?”
Christian nodded. “Yes, but he still needs to recuperate.”
“Oh my god…” Kingaitu gasped.
“Still, his condition won’t matter much. The fact that my teacher is alive alone will be enough to keep them in check, and I’ll take care of most of the remnants. Of course...” Christian glanced cautiously at Joshua for a moment. “...it’ll be a lot easier to get things done with Sir Cain or Akshuller’s help…”
“Sir Christian!” Lilith screamed.
Christian looked away. “I’m just saying…”
Lilith scowled at Christian, her eyes boring angry holes into him. Eventually, she glanced at Joshua to see if he was angry. Christian made her feel ashamed as they had already received a lot of help from Joshua. Besides, Cain and Akshukller were practically Joshua’s people.
Joshua, however, nodded.
“I’ll request help from the Magic Tower too,” he said.
“…Pardon?” Lilith tilted her head in confusion.
“We’re short of hands,” Joshua concisely stated.
Lilith’s hands trembled—that could only mean one thing.
“Are yo-you really okay with that?” Lilith asked.
“Of course,” Joshua readily answered.
“Th-thank you. I really don’t know how I should repay this favor…”
Joshua glanced at someone else. “How about you?”
Lilith tensed up without finishing her expression of gratitude as she realized that there was one more issue they needed to take care of.
“…It may sound like an excuse, but I’ve raised an army,” Ulabis answered. “So if you’ll entrust me with the matter, I’ll try persuading other countries in the Kingdom Alliance.”
Joshua shook his head. “I’m not asking about that. What’s your decision?”
Ulabis’s eyes widened with realization.
“…I’ll try my best—no, I’ll get it done.”
That was when Joshua smiled faintly.
“I’ll look forward to it.”
“Bu-but… I’m not sure if I can ask this…” Lilith hesitated.
Joshua gave her a bemused look.
“You know, I’m the leader of an information guild, right? And I’m someone who really has to get an answer to my question, so if… it’s not too much…”
Lilith beat around the bush, but Joshua simply said, “It’s okay.”
With Joshua’s permission, Lilith loosened up.
“Earlier,” she continued, “you mentioned that unifying the continent won’t be impossible for you…”
“Li-Lilith!” Christian hastily yelled, worried that Lilith would make Joshua have a change of heart.
It turned out he was worried over nothing.
“What’s the point of unifying the continent?” Joshua asked.
“…Pardon?” Lilith tilted her head in confusion.
“Even the existing countries on the continent are hellbent on conquering each other. These people were born different from one another; will the people of the continent become happy if I force them to gather in one place?”
Lilith’s eyes widened.
Indeed, Joshua’s mindset was entirely different from most people with power. Instead of fulfilling his greed, he prioritized what people needed. If such a person became the ruler of a country…
“…I truly envy your people,” Lilith said with a smile.
The Wilhelm Knights held their heads up high. Such a man was the king of Reinhardt and their master for life.
“Besides,” Joshua said, changing the topic, “there are more important matters than unifying the continent right now.”
“Huh?” Lilith was baffled. “What do you mean…?”
“I can leave this matter to you, right?” Joshua asked.
Lilith smiled, lighting up her face like a beautiful flower blooming. “Leave it to me. I’ll get it done.”
She turned. The Moon Gate’s people were emerging from underground and entering the colosseum.
“Arrest those rebels right now,” she coldly ordered.
The Moon Gate’s members saluted. “Yes, ma’am!”
Hubalt’s knights had already lost the will to fight and didn’t resist.
Meanwhile, Joshua exited the unsettled colosseum.
“…I envy you for having such a superior officer…” Ulabis quietly said as he watched Joshua leave.
“He’s our king.” Kingaitu beamed as he lowered his sword. The other Wilhelm Knights quickly followed.
“What are you going to do from now on?” Ulabis asked. “Since you reclaimed Reinhardt, you’ll need to restore the city, but it’ll take time.”
“No.” Kingaitu shook his head unhesitatingly. “We have a more urgent matter to take care of.”
“…A more urgent matter?” Ulabis tilted his head in confusion.
Kingaitu clenched his fists tightly. “This time, we’re going to help His Majesty this time. Even if his next destination is hell, we’ll follow him.”
His eyes were fixed on Joshua; his gaze seemed to say that he was never going to let Joshua go again.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om