Published at 22nd of January 2020 5:00 pm

Volume 5, Chapter 1: Dreaming

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

The carriage disappeared into the forest path.

It was an uneven, rough path that was hardly ever maintained. Right now, a horse-drawn carriage was racing along it, armed soldiers chasing from behind.

“Hold it!”

“I’m gonna kill you!”

“Stop right this instant!”

“I’ll cut you into eight strips!”

And so on and so forth. They yelled and yelled as they chased the carriage.

It was a tense scene. The carriage had to race forward to avoid being caught by the soldiers, each of whom radiated unmistakable killing intent.

Ryner was sitting in the driver’s seat. “Uugh… shit,” he muttered, the horse’s whip in hand.

Rare as it was, today he looked serious.

It was hard to tell if his usual bed-head was in place due to the wind sweeping his black hair aside, and his usual lanky and motivationless body looked different as it sat up tensed to keep balance and focus on driving the carriage.

He was wearing the white armor and robe of Roland’s Magical Knights, known as their strongest troops on the street… and right now he strangely looked the part.

Last but not least, his valuable black eyes. Normally half-lidded from sleep, today they were opened wide and wet with tears. They narrowed slightly. He was pensive, worried, and a single tear fell past his cheek.

“Augh… I can’t do this anymore… I’m sleepy, I’m gonna fall asleep. Can’t I just sleep? I’m telling you, this is impossible… The horse has gone on running for forty two hours. That means it hasn’t slept in forty two hours… and if you’re gonna switch the horse, then switch the driver too, got it? I mean, seriously. Ugh, my body’s at its limit. The wind’s making my eyes dry, my eyes… ahh… I wanna close them… fuwaah… g’night.”

With that, Ryner’s eyes closed. His expression turned to one of bliss as he was transported to the world of dreams…

“Don’t sleep and drive,” a woman said from inside the carriage. She thrust a sword at him from behind, and pressed it into his neck…

“G-gyaaahhh!! Hey hey hey hey hey I was just joking! Ferris, you asshole! You were seriously gonna cut me!” Ryner said, awakened with vigor. He dodged her sword as he yelled.

The window separating the carraige’s inside from the driver’s seat slid all the way open to reveal the woman’s face. She was beautiful, unbelievably so, with glossy blonde hair and clear blue eyes, and a face so handsome that it was odd. She was a world-class beauty on the same level as a goddess. Men and even women who looked at her sighed in wonder at the overwhelming sight of her…

She stared at Ryner with a perfectly blank expression. “Mm. You dodged. Then how about this?” She asked and stabbed her sword at him again, just as fast as before.

“Whoa!” Ryner said and hurried to dodge. “Look, look—,” another stab, “—Wah, wait, what!? Wait… wahahwa!?”

Ryner dodged over and over again, putting that balance he’d been working so hard to maintain at risk of collapse. The footholds were poor and they were going too fast. He felt like he’d fall at any second…

But for some reason, the beauty looked a little happy as she thrust her sword at him over and over again. “Heheh. Dance, dance, criminal. Dance your death waltz until you go mad…”

“Aaaaauuughh!! What kind of exposition is thiiisssss!!” Ryner yelled from just below her sword’s range. But she tugged her sword around to slice him with…

She finally pulled her sword back inside the carriage and sighed. “Hm. Anyway, sleeping and driving is dangerous…”

“Your sword’s way more dangerous!” Ryner yelled. He turned his half-lidded eyes to stare at the beauty.

She was nothing but pretty on the outside, but on the inside she had a deathly personality.

Ferris Eris.

“So did you sleep well?” Ferris asked.

“I told you, I haven’t slept more than five seconds in the past forty two hours!”

She nodded, satisfied. “That’s enough. You can keep going for about two hundred more hours now, right?”

“I, I’m gonna die… I’m definitely gonna die if this keeps up,” Ryner whispered through shivers.

By the way, the armed soldiers chasing them hadn’t stopped while they argued.

“Come on, just stop!”

“I’ll kill you, dammit!”

“I’ll beat you ‘till you’re covered in bruises!”

They just kept yelling and running at them.

“Stop at once!”

“God will bestow punishment upon you for defying us!”

And so on and so on…

“Ugh, they’re so loud,” Ryner complained. What’s with this god of theirs in the first place… Is that the kind of god they are?” He wondered aloud, and shot a tired glance back at them.

When he did he saw a carriage pulled by four horses. The men were waving their swords around threateningly from on top of it. Their armor wasn’t all that impressive - it was just leather. The crest fastened to their chests was different from Roland’s - it was Runa’s coat-of-arms that professed faith in God; it featured a woman with her hands joined at her chest in prayer.

They almost appeared sacred because of it… but unfortunately, the soldiers were all bearded men, nothing but muscle. And to top it off…

“Hyahahaha!! I’m gonna kill you! I’m gonna kill you, y’know!”

Ryner was sick of them. “So are those guys like, Runa’s regular soldiers? They talk like bandits. I wish Runa’d educate them a little before letting them run around yelling about punishing people in god’s name…”

“Mm,” Ferris said from behind. “This way they’re no different from you.”

“What? When’d I ever talk like that?”

“Mm? Every night when you go to chase after women on the streets. ‘Hyahaha, no matter how much you scream, no one will come to save you. This is a soundproof room.’ And then they yell, ‘No! Someone save me!’ And you say, ‘Uheheh. It’s no use, Missy. Just accept it and do what I say.’ ‘Noooo!!’ And so it repeats, night after night—”

“That doesn’t happen!” Ryner interrupted. “Where would I even find soundproof rooms travelling with you like this…”

Ferris’ expression suddenly tensed as she looked around. “It can’t be… this carriage is one of those famous soundproof rooms, isn’t it!? You’ve tricked me, Ryner! What do you intend to do here!?” She all but screamed, glaring at Ryner.

But all Ryner could do was stare.

“……”

He didn’t have anything to say. He was at his limit.

“.......I-it can’t be, this is one of those famous soundproo—”

“You don’t need to repeat it!”

“Leaving all that aside…”

“You’re the one who started it all!”

“Don’t blame others.”

“I-I’m seriously gonna kill you after this…” Ryner said, but his voice quickly trailed off. “I’m joking, ma’am, I’m joking. I don’t mind our back-and-forths at all. So could you please stop pointing your sword at my back…?”

And as they spoke with each other…

“H, hey! Stop ignoring us!” One of the soldiers yelled. Apparently it was bothering him that Ferris and Ryner weren’t facing them seriously.

“Hm? We weren’t ignoring you,” Ryner said earnestly. We were just talking about the tone you guys are taking with us—”

Naturally, they didn’t let him finish. “Stop looking down on us and return that stolen demon child at once!”

…Demon child.

That was what they called him.

Ryner’s eyes narrowed. He turned back to Ferris. “How’s Arua doing?”

“He’s still unconscious,” she said and pointed to her lap where a young boy was using her as a pillow.

Arua was about six years old and had the same dark hair as Ryner. He was also the boy the Runan soldiers were calling a demon. His face and body were covered in bruises… Ryner’s eyes narrowed at the sight.

Arua, the ‘demon child,’ had endured the worst torture imaginable up until yesterday at the hands of the Runan military. They covered him in wounds, killed his mother, and beheaded his father before his very eyes…

And a Runan noble watched it all with a smile. “Now, hurry up and go berserk,” he’d said, hitting him over and over again and destroying everything important to him. “Go berserk, demon.”

All with a smile.

A seal was engraved in the boy’s eyes. It was the exact same as what was in Ryner’s - a scarlet pentagram. It could copy any kind of magic with just a glance, no matter what it was or how it was performed. It gave understanding and ability with just that one glance.

Those eyes were called the Alpha Stigma.

All who had them were feared and loathed, called monsters and demons…

And then they stopped caring about anything… and went berserk…

Then massacres occurred.

They didn’t want it, but they still ended up killing everyone around them, even those who were precious to them. So it couldn’t really be helped… if people called them demons… And it couldn’t be helped if people called them monsters…

But then weren’t the ones who hit a child over and over again and killed his parents in front of him while smiling demons too?

Ryner recalled it every time he closed his eyes.

Their smiles.

Their smiles as they tormented and tortured them… Their joy as they killed people he loved, people who were precious to him before his very eyes.

Weren’t they demons?

And yet even people like that called them demons…

Ryner’s expression clouded over.

The Runan soldiers were still yelling their heads off. “Stop that carriage already! If you don’t, God’s punishment awaits you!”

Ryner smiled self-derisively. “Hmm. Does god’s punishment work on demons?”

Apparently the soldiers were happy that he’d finally acknowledged them, because they puffed their chests out. “Hah! Your fear has come too late! Isn’t it obvious that God can shoot you down and ruin you?”

“Hm. He should give it a try and see if his godly power can ruin us demons then.”

With that, Ryner raised his right hand to the air and drew letters of light with incredible speed. It was a spell he’d copied when fighting Estabul’s Magical Knights.

“M-magic!?” The Runan soldiers said, flustered. “And magic from another country! Intercept i—”

Ryner shrugged. “Too late. “I dedicate the words of our contract - fire the beast of light dancing within the heavens!” He recited. A light appeared above him, and its indeterminate shape soon mimicked that of a dog-like beast… and ran straight for the horses leading the soldiers’ hooves.

Then it exploded in a painfully bright flight on the ground.

“A, aahhh!!”

“It’s atta… waugh!”

They screamed and fell from their horses and into the forest road.

“Do you think you’ll win that easily, demon!?” A soldier yelled, but the distance between them was growing.

“Mm. It’s over. Good work,” Ferris said.

“Man, you could’ve helped a little,” Ryner said, exhausted. “I’ve been driving for so long now. It’s the least you could do to drive them away.”

“No. I’m busy.”

“With what?”

“Protecting this child.”

“Oh, well… yeah, I guess so. It’d be dangerous for him to ride back there alone. He could hit his head on a bump and get hurt…”

Ferris shook her head. “It’s not that. He has black hair and black eyes, and to top it off he’s an Alpha Stigma bearer. He’s the son of a certain master pervert… so I am protecting him from becoming a man like you who abducts women.”

What a thing to say…

“I told you, he’s not my son! And who’re you callin’ a kidnapper… Um, I mean… anyway, what now?” Ryner asked. He turned back again to look, but was met with the clunk of Ferris’ sword warning him.

“Stop! Come any closer and you’ll contaminate Petite Ryner!” Ferris shouted.

“…Hey… do you enjoy saying stuff like that all the time?” Ryner asked, exhausted.

Ferris nodded. “Mm. To kill time.”

“Hah!? If you’re free, then switch with me! Come drive for a while!”

“I’m busy—”

“I swear I’m gonna kill you! Ugh… ugh, just whatever… Talking with you never goes anywhere… it’s kinda peaceful, actually…”

Ryner sighed. His grip on the reins weakened and the horse slowed in turn. He leaned out to look behind them and make sure that the Runan soldiers weren’t catching up.

“Well, they’re not all that threatening, so we’re probably fine for a while like this,” he said. The horse continued to slow. He turned back to Ferris again. “So what now? I think we’ll be able to get away from our Runan pursuers…”

“I told you yesterday, didn’t I?” Ferris said with ease. “We go back to Ridget Village to get monetary compensation from the girl who requested that we save Petite Ryner, and then we go to Runa’s capital to try out their famous dango—”

“No, you can leave out the dango part. Anyway… the girl’s name was Kuku, right? And she’s Arua’s childhood friend? She really didn’t look well-off enough to be handing out money as a reward… But it’d probably be pretty bad if we didn’t go see her. We have to tell her that we saved Arua… and…”

Ferris’ eyes narrowed. “Mm. It’s possible that Runa’s army will have come back there.”

Ryner nodded. “Right. They’ll want us to hand Arua over… But they killed both his parents. They’ll want to trade his childhood friend for him next. And that’s not all. Kuku was being beat by the villagers just because she was Arua’s friend…”

Ryner recalled the villagers yelling “It’s your fault!” and hitting her. He grimaced.

That was a common enough thing. It used to happen often in Roland. The nobles always tyrannized the weak…

This country, the Runa Empire, had been allied with the old Roland. He could see why…

The country had gone completely mad.

The military ran wild and used their power to support the haughty nobility. It was a mad country where the common people had to live in the fear of the nobility and military’s shadows.

“…Man, we’ve gotten ourselves into a real pain of a situation,” Ryner said and sighed.

“You’re telling me,” Ferris said from the carriage. “You have women give birth to your children and throw them out with ease, and then ask for my hand in going to save the kids later… It’s very inconvenient.”

“…Hey, you. You’re still not done with that?”

“Mm. I’m just killing time until we get to Ridget Village, after all.”

“Ah, then, um, do you want to drive for a while or something, maybe?”

“Hmm. Sorry. I suddenly became very busy again.”

Ryner was silent for a moment before replying, the defeat in his tone palpable. “Right, right, understood, Princess…”

“Mm. Onwards, Slave.”

“I swear I’m gonna kill youuuuu!!!”

And so their usual, unproductive conversation continued as they headed towards Ridget Village one step at a time…

---

At the same time in another place, even farther south than the Runa Empire where Ryner and Ferris were, in the southernmost tip of Menoris: the Roland Empire.

Recently people were even calling it a great country. It’d become strong.

It had annexed the Kingdom of Estabul, its enemy of old, and improved relations with the neighboring Imperial Nelpha after a critical situation between the two countries. Its alliance with the Runa Empire was steadily strengthening with age as well.

All of those changes had occurred since a new king, Sion Astal, took the throne. An illegitimate son of the previous king, he’d risen to the top of the military in a single breath thanks to his achievements in the Roland-Estabul war. Then he started a revolution, dethroned the mad previous king, and became known as the patriot who’d saved his country: the Hero King.

He was king at the young age of nineteen, overflowing with all the things needed to be king: charm, power, and looks. He used his assets skillfully to amass a tremendous following in the common people…

He was the ideal king that everyone had been waiting for.

…No, that was just what they wanted him to be.

Everyone expected things of him, had hopes of him, and lived inside a dream of him.

Because the country had been so, so rotten. Because they’d prayed so, so hard that a king like him would appear.

So Sion was the perfect king. So he had to be the perfect king.

So…

Roland Castle, the home of the king.

Sion smiled happily atop the throne. “You needn’t bow. I understand your loyalty to me even without it,” he said to the nobles prostrating themselves before him.

They were all frightened.

The nobility, who’d always been so haughty with him, was bowing deeply, pale as could be.

“Th-then would you forgive our numerous slights until now, Your Highness?”

Numerous slights…

Sion tilted his head. What ‘numerous slights?’ If they meant rude remarks, then sure, they’d said all sorts of things. They probably had tons of plans to trap Sion that he never knew about, too.

And then there were the definite slights. His previous secretary, Fiole Folkal… they’d killed him to threaten Sion.

He recalled Fiole’s smile at once.

“Sir, you’re always working too hard when I’m not around,” he’d said, troubled but smiling nonetheless.

And he recalled Fiole’s smile when he’d told Sion that he was happy to be able to raise his little sister, his pride and joy, under Sion’s rule…

And he recalled… Fiole’s body, chopped up into so, so many pieces… just to make a point to Sion…

He’d wanted to kill all the nobility back then. He wanted to kill them all for rotting their country to its core. But… he knew that wasn’t what Fiole would want. He wanted Sion to become a good king. To become a perfect king that led their country on a just path.

So Sion shrugged, pretending like he had no idea what the nobles were talking about. “Slights, you say? Whatever do you mean? When have you ever slighted me?”

“Er, well…”

“It’s alright,” Sion said with a smile. “You needn’t worry. You haven’t done anything wrong. Please, be at ease as you lead the people down the right path.”

Tears were already flowing down their cheeks. “O-of course. We will devote the governing of our domains to Your Highness—”

“To the people,” Sion corrected. “Work so that you can see your people’s overjoyed faces. That is the quickest path to making Roland prosper, after all…”

He wouldn’t allow any more of the tyranny they’d used to fill their own pockets with up until now.

He’d change Roland. He’d change it into the country that Fiole… that everyone had always dreamed of.

The nobles nodded, flustered. “O-of course. We owe everything to our people…”

It took some effort to not let his bitterness leak into his smile. Whose mouth was uttering those words, again?

Sion nodded and motioned for the nobles to rise. They did so nervously and made to leave, but… a man came in through the door they meant to leave from.

He was tall and model thin with beautiful, straight pitch black hair that he kept long. His face was breathtakingly handsome, but… how many people really noticed that? They were far more likely to notice his cold, deep blue eyes… They were frigid, cutting, like they looked down on everyone else, and easily stole attention from the rest of him.

Lieutenant General Miran Froaude…

Rather than Roland staying the Roland Empire, Froaude wanted it to take over the rest of the continent of Menoris and become the Great Roland Empire, with Sion at its throne.

He said he’d take care of all the dark and dirty work necessary to reach that goal, and he’d done just that since he’d come.

He’d purged all of the powerful nobility who opposed Sion by himself… in a complete massacre. He even killed his adoptive father, Karlal Froaude, then…

The result… was the remaining nobility shivering and prostrating themselves before Sion. They bowed down, seeming to shrink entirely as they passed Froaude to leave.

Froaude noticed them as he entered. “My, my. Were you three here for a courtesy call to His Majesty?”

They turned back. “Mgh… how dare you be so rude? Who are you…”

The noble’s words trailed off as they got a good look at Froaude, and then they suddenly smiled.

“Ah… I see. Lord Lieutenant General Froaude, yes? You even killed your own father, Marquess Froaude, for His Majesty’s Great Purge…”

“You just wanted to punish your own father,” the noble next to him said. “So you buttered up to His Majesty without remorse to get back at him. You’ve survived like that for so long now… in our opinion, you’ve gotten a bit too carried away with it.”

Froaude’s eyes cast downward as he thought about their words. “Carried away… I see. Yes, that may be the case. To be more precise, being more flattering, even unctuous towards His Majesty may invoke his anger…”

Froaude turned his gaze to Sion as he spoke. Sion just shrugged, bored. He couldn’t picture Froaude being as purposefully smarmy as they were implying he was.

But the nobles laughed anyway as if to ridicule him. “You’re trying to butter His Majesty up even now, aren’t you! Such a dumb man. We shouldn’t have people like you in Roland!” He said, raising his voice so Sion could hear him.

Sion met their pitying eyes. They were being stupid in order to make a stand against Froaude…

But Froaude nodded. “Yes, it is exactly as you say. If that were true I probably should not be in Roland.”

“Haha, he’s become self-aware, has he?” One of the nobles jeered.

“Yes,” Froaude said. “I too have seen that reflected in my excessive conduct here and there, and in my praise of His Majesty… If His Majesty would allow me, who has become carried away, serve him once more… then I would like to speak of our next prey,” he said, looking right at the nobles. That alone made them draw back.

Froaude dealt with them in his own way: controlling the nobility with words alone…

“But, well… You did come here to pay respects to His Majesty… Surely there won’t be any shadows lurking behind the three of you.”

The nobles nodded, flustered. “N, naturally. We, we intend to serve His Majesty to the best of our ability…”

“Then be at ease,” Froaude said and bowed lightly to them.

Finally freed of the conversation, the nobles scrambled to bid farewell. “Th-then we’ll be leaving now,” one said, his voice wavering as they made their way out.

“Th-the hell is wrong with him,” one muttered. “He’s completely mad—”

The door shut and cut his words off. Froaude turned, his cold eyes settling on Sion. “Are you in good spirits, Your Majesty?”

Sion grimaced. “Is that the ‘flattery’ you were speaking of before?”

Froaude stepped closer. “Did I do well?”

Sion shook his head. “No. You’re doing well. A mad murderer named Froaude serves me… and killed his own father without remorse in order to receive my praise. Hm. That rumor will spread soon enough. The brunt of the grudge for the purge and their fear of another will move from me to you… It’ll be easier to meet with the rest of the nobility from now on, too. but…”

Sion narrowed his eyes.

Froaude’s methods would provoke antipathy. There were even those who abhorred his methods among Sion’s most trusted confidants. If Fiole were still alive… he’d surely be the most opposed to Froaude out of everyone.

Froaude had chosen to walk the most effective path possible, no matter the sacrifices. But they were truly effective methods… This purge scandal was the same. He used cutthroat methods against the nobility. But that wasn’t the be all end all of it. It would change not just the nobility but the entire country.

Even if it was only a facade, the nobles came day after day to show their obedience to Sion now. And Sion was even more popular with the people for purging the nobility instead of continuing to let them do whatever they pleased.

Roland’s government had improved significantly in a short amount of time thanks to Froaude’s purge. But many nobles died as a result. There may have been those who weren’t anti-monarchy among them. And yet… they were all killed just the same.

“……”

Sion grimaced.

The ‘purge’ was ‘indiscriminate slaughter.’ That was what Froaude had really done.

But the people were ecstatic about it. They’d screamed praise for the hero king when they heard of the purge - finally the hero king had done something about the nobility for them. He satisfied their grudge… and the people rejoiced.

Of course, a large part of that could be Froaude controlling what information made it to them. Maybe he hid the dirty parts, the parts nobody wanted to see, and exaggerated Sion’s ‘heroic efforts.’

But the truth was the truth. He’d killed a great many people… and the people were overjoyed.

Wasn’t that strange?

How was this any different from the old Roland?

All that changed was the pool they selected sacrifices from.

They switched it from the commoners to the nobles.

Froaude’s cold stare was bearing into him. “Your Majesty, are you still wanting to create a country without killing anyone at all…?”

Sion shook his head. “No, your choice was the one with the fewest casualties. Leaving the nobles as they were would have led to our government progressing slower. We… no, our country doesn’t have the time for that.”

With that, Sion silently approved of Froaude’s conduct.

He might have killed innocents. Sion still approved of it.

It was no different from the nobles who’d killed Fiole, completely free of sin as he was.

Sion sighed. The purge was necessary. But he still sighed.

He was the one who had created a situation where a purge was necessary. His inadequacy had created it. Or maybe it was just too late for anything else.

His spies abroad reported situations that led him to believe that their time was nearly up. The world had already started to move. A disturbance larger than anything Menoris had seen before was going to occur. If he was going to protect Roland throughout it, he couldn’t just stand and do nothing now.

So he approved of it.

It didn’t matter how dirty he became if it meant protecting as many people as possible…

Sion crossed his arms. “The problem is that you didn’t kill the entire anti-nobility party. You only killed the openly active members…”

Froaude nodded. “However, Duke Staelied who’d they’d been taking orders from was killed by an unidentified individual rather than myself.”

“Yeah. And that guy who killed Staelied and attacked you was from another country, right? That was the worst part of it all.”

On the day of the purge… Froaude fought someone from another country within Roland’s borders. The same person had even come to attack Sion.

“Yes. It was quite the unfavorable situation. I soon realized that there was a noblestronger than Duke Staelied pulling the strings behind the scene… and that they have links with foreigners… one of whom killed Duke Staelied… and he even acted on orders to assassinate Your Majesty… Furthermore, he has proved difficult to locate.”

Sion nodded.

It was exactly as Froaude said.

A powerful noble above Staelied would stand out just by that fact. Finding them should be easy. They could be waiting and pretending to obey Sion while waiting for the chance to catch him by the tail.

But it was different if other countries were involved. It could be a minor noble as long as they were backed by a foreign power, hiding their power behind an innocent background.

“This is… messy, isn’t it?” Sion said. “Risky measures such as purges are meant to settle things all at once, but…”

Sion grimaced.

Froaude narrowed his eyes. “Even so, things are progressing. This country is certainly changing. The people are grateful to you, Your Highness. Even if just a single rotten noble were to die, the country would change wonderfully… no, saying it like this won’t lift the weight on Your Majesty’s heart at all, will it…”

Sion’s grimace only deepened. “You’re right. You’re really not comforting in the slightest. Anyway,” Sion started then paused to gaze at Froaude. To glare at him with intense eyes. “The way you’re saying it implies that you think it’s best if every noble dies.”

Froaude’s lips curled up in a small, difficult to notice smile… but it was a smile nonetheless, and it shivered just so. “If that is what Your Majesty—”

“Quiet, Froaude,” Sion interrupted. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t wish for unnecessary blood to be spilt.” His glare deepened. “You’re certainly capable, and I do think you’re necessary as an employee. But I won’t forgive you if you prioritize your own judgement again. I have thought about the way I want the world myself. The one who decides how I want it is me, not you. I am the king. Not you.”

His words came from the heart.

Froaude’s plan was completely based in logic, and he’d made the best choice possible. Even so, Sion had to give him a warning. It was so that they’d be able to advance on the same path at the same time… so that they’d be able to make a better country.

But if that couldn’t happen…

“You do not wish for unnecessary blood to be spilt, however… are you saying that you would kill me if necessary?” Froaude asked.

Sion shook his head. “I won’t kill you. But I may imprison you if you get in my way.”

Froaude smiled faintly. It was the same dark and demonic smile as before, but it was somehow happy. “I will keep that in mind. But it is unthinkable that I would betray you. Serving you is my greatest joy. It is just unthinkable that I would betray you.”

Froaude was insufferable. Sion scrunched up his nose. “What, now you’re flattering me?”

Froaude shook his head. He seemed to be enjoying himself. “It is the truth. So you would even kill your subordinates if necessary… You definitely will not betray my expectations. You wish for the commoners’ lives to be peaceful first and foremost, and yet you are a king who makes sacrifices as necessary for the greater good. You are horribly weak, so much that you may crumble if touched, and wound easily… even so, you are a king who would sacrifice himself. And you are a king who will not stop moving forward. That is why I chose you as king. And from now on as well, as long as you should wish it, I will…”

Froaude placed his hand on his chest and knelt to the ground.

“Whoa, whoa, shit’s gross. Usually it’s just gloomy nobles in here kissing up to Sion day after day, but today it’s Froaude?” A man said, perfectly blunt.

Sion raised his head. A tall redhead with a sharp face stood in the doorway. He was in his mid-twenties and his body was trained to the point that it was hard like steel. He’d been following Sion as his direct subordinate since before they were king and marshal… and he was the only person in all of Roland now who referred to Sion plainly as a friend would.

He was Claugh Klom, marshal of all Roland’s army. Or maybe it was better to say that he’d finally sat down in the marshal’s seat?

The upper rings of Roland’s military had always been filled with nobles exclusively, and even after Sion became king, he had a hard time getting Claugh to become the marshal. That’s how powerful the nobility was. That’s the kind of country Roland was.

But now Claugh stood at the top of the military in both name and reality. He’d made the jump from his previous position as major general.

There were currently three marshals: there were two nobles, and now Claugh was the third. But that was just fine. Claugh truly deserved to have that kind of power. Obviously. There was no match between the people who’d reached the rank of marshal due to their noble birth alone and Claugh, who was both powerful and popular with the people.

Of course there’d been some backlash by appointing a commoner, Claugh, as a marshal. There was the possibility of a noble-led rebellion…

But… right after his appointment, Froaude massacred just about anyone who could have led such a rebellion… and with that, the remaining nobles were as silent as the dead.

Anyway…

Claugh’s expression was the perfect picture of loathing. “Even if you disagree with those nobles who really oughta be ashamed about all this, you’re still comin’ in here and sucking up just like they are, aren’t you? Geez, if you come in all haughty and then get all submissive I’m gonna feel like I’ve gone crazy.”

Sion smiled wryly. “Yeah, guess so. When people who are usually all self-important suddenly become subservient, it ends up making everyone else feel gross,” he said and looked at Froaude.

Claugh nodded and also turned to look at Froaude…

“…Might you be referring to me?”

“The fuck do you think? Just seeing you kneel is enough to make me wonder if it’s gonna snow today.”

“That is quite rude, Your Excellency Marshal Klom,” Froaude said and stood. “Do I truly make such a habit of presumptuousness?”

Claugh nodded easily. “Yeah. To the point where I sometimes gotta think, ‘You sure you’re not the king here?’ You’ve got so much confidence in yourself that it’s irritating…”

“Whoa, whoa,” Sion said. “Are you saying that I don’t look like the king here?”

“Of course not,” Claugh said, smiling in satisfaction. “You’ve always been the same to me, ever since we met - you’re my capable superior, Marshal Sion. I mean, geez, now you’re king and I’m marshal? That’s crazy. I won’t insult you if you go back to being marshal, y’know. Then I’ll be able to quit being marshal with a clear mind…”

Sion was sighing before Claugh could finish. “That again? You’ve done nothing but complain since Miller turned down switching posts with you.”

Claugh’s eyes suddenly started shining like he’d been waiting for this conversation all along. “That! That’s what I wanted to talk about. So when I went to see him, Miller said ‘you’re more suited to the role than me,’ with that sour look he’s always got on his face and didn’t listen to what I had to say at all, so today I sent him a letter between jobs that said ‘okay, make Luke the marshal then. And so…”

Claugh pulled a letter out of his pocket and handed it to Sion.

“Read this, okay?”

Sion took the letter and opened it to read its meticulously written words.

Your Excellency Marshal Claugh Klom,

Sergeant Luke Stokkart is presently on duty outside of the country, therefore I cannot give him this order.

Sion looked back up to Claugh. “So?”

“Don’t ‘so’ me,” Claugh said seriously. “Luke’s a sergeant major? The fuck? Me and him did the same work for you in the revolution, right? Why’s he still just a sergeant? I’m on my way to a quick death by paperwork as the marshal and he’s still a sergeant?”

“There’s nothing I can do about that,” Sion said and smiled bitterly. “He said he doesn’t want to be promoted above Miller.”

“Then promote Miller! Seriously, don’t you think it’s crazy that I’m the marshal? There’re so many other guys made for the job…”

This time Froaude spoke. “No, I believe you are most suitable for the job…”

Claugh scrunched up his face like he truly hated hearing that, and stared unblinkingly at Froaude. “Whoa there, don’t go sucking up to me now… What’re you scheming?”

“I was stating my honest feelings…”

“Liar! There’s no way you’ve got anything good to say about me! I won’t let you trick me. I have no faith in you!”

Froaude didn’t appear affected by his words in the slightest. “Is that so. Well, I do not mind in the slightest if you trust me or not.”

“Ugh. See, that’s the part of you that’s so irritating. I can never tell what you’re thinking…”

“As for me, what bothered me regarding you is that I think that you are a genius in military leadership.”

Claugh’s eyes widened at Froaude’s sudden words. “Huh? What…”

“And yet your thought processes are so unbelievably simple. Pair that with your charm and the soldiers follow you naturally. I could not do that. Clearly you are the one who should lead this country’s—”

“Are you makin’ fun of me!?”

“No, I was complimenting you…”

“What part of that was a compliment!?” Claugh yelled.

Froaude tilted his head, a little troubled. He took a moment to think as if trying to choose his words. “Well… in the end, what you think doesn’t particularly matter to me.”

“I’m gonna rip you a new one…”

“Alright, alright, that’s enough,” Sion said, smiling bitterly. “You two really don’t get along, do you?”

“Does anyone get along with this guy?” Claugh asked, indignant.

Sion thought about it for a split second. “…That aside, Claugh. Did you just come here to complain about that again? Are you even getting your work done? You come in here to complain every chance you get.”

Claugh grimaced for a moment, but quickly smiled instead. “O-of course I am. Obviously. I’m havin’ my subordinate Shuss help with all that paperwork and shit—”

“You mean you’re making him do nearly all of it,” Sion interrupted. “And here I thought you’d gotten used to the workload since you barge in here daily…”

“Like hell I could get used to it! I’ve always left the paperwork to other guys ever since I joined the military!”

“Hey, is that really something you should sound so proud of?”

“But see,” Claugh said, suddenly serious. “My role is to do the dangerous jobs that no one else wants. You know that. I hate seeing other people die, and I hate the idea of watching people die from somewhere safe even more. I’m the kinda guy who should be on the front lines… So I gotta ask you something. Where’s Luke right now? According to that letter that called him a sergeant , he’s on a mission abroad… What order did you give him?”

Sion shrugged. “I didn’t give him anything. Luke gets his orders from Miller.”

That wasn’t a lie. But Sion did give orders to Miller…

“Huh? You telling me it’s a mission so secret I don’t even get to know?” Claugh asked. His sharp eyes narrowed further. They were eyes like a hawk watching its prey. “So if you’re sending a guy at Luke’s level abroad, then in the current political climate… it’s Gastark, yeah? You sent him on a scouting mission in Gastark… am I wrong?”

He was sharp. Sion couldn’t help but let out a little groan.

Froaude had just made fun of Claugh for being simple-minded, but… not about this stuff. He was more clever than the best at this.

No matter the strategy, no matter the battle, no matter how dangerous the situation was, he lived with the best results possible.

He wasn’t simple at all.

Claugh had mentioned Gastark, which was presently Roland’s number one problem.

The Gastark Empire was in the north of Menoris, far away from southern Roland. It should have been a small, emerging country that’d just been founded, too small for anyone to know the name of. But that small country was making the world move. It annexed many other small countries, and soon even began to enroach on the militaristic Stohl, a northern country five times as powerful and large as Roland, winning battle after battle against them with landslide victories.

The northern sides of various countries fortified their defences as a result. But that too was talk of a faraway problem. The flames of that conflict wouldn’t reach Roland, but… The world was truly changing, a small country like Gastark was quickly becoming the center of it…

Froaude looked to Sion and spoke. “I see. I cannot allow this conversation to pass without commenting. So you have sent a spy to Gastark, Your Majesty.”

Sion shook his head. “No, Luke isn’t in Gastark. He has a different mission.”

“A secret one?”

Sion again shook his head. “Nothing really has come of it yet, so I don’t know what will happen at all. So I need to keep the details on the low for now.”

Claugh wrinkled his nose at him…

“What? Does me hiding things hurt your feelings?”

“Like that’d hurt me,” Claugh said. It came off a bit angry. “I already told you. The thing I hate is when other people die and I can’t do anything about it. So I like to be on the front lines… But right now I’m just doing paperwork while Luke is in some other country on a secret mission? That’s not fair… What about me? Isn’t there some secret mission I could be doing?”

Sion laughed. “Are you serious? A flashy guy like you could never do a secret mission.”

“Aah!? Even I could be all secretive during the revolution—”

“No, that’s not it,” Sion said, exasperated. “You’re too famous. It’s impossible. Crimson-Fingered Claugh Klom, whose hands are stained red from the blood of many battlefields… You’re just as famous abroad as Roland’s Magical Knights. How exactly do you think someone that famous is going to successfully complete a secret mission?”

Claugh grimaced and groaned.

But Sion didn’t stop there. “Now compare yourself to Luke. Even if you were in the same revolution, he’s a sergeant who’s unknown abroad. It’s obvious which one of you is more suited to secret missions, isn’t it? You should take the role of marshal gracefully. There is a point in having you, who’s so well-known abroad, become the marshal. Ah, by the way, I’m praising you.”

Claugh’s grimace deepen. “So… what about sending me to Gastark?”

“There’s no way I’d do that,” Sion said, tired of this.

“However,” Froaude said, “Even if sending His Excellency the Marshal to Gastark is impossible, it is still necessary to send someone trustworthy to the Gastark Empire at once…”

Sion nodded. “Yeah. But I need to appoint new, capable personnel first. The purge left a lot of openings, and now I should be able to fill them with people who’d been unable to advance until now due to their birth. The nobility shouldn’t try to rebel now…”

Claugh made a face.

But Froaude, the one behind the purge, continued. “However, there were ill effects as a result of the purge as well. First, Your Majesty’s reputation has fallen in other countries as a result. They are beginning to think of our methods as oppressive due to the suppression of the Estabulian rebellion and the killing of our nobility… Believing Roland’s new king to have an aggressive nature, are they not imagining that Roland might invade them next? Despite the kindness that His Excellency Marshal Klom has shown to Princess Noa Ehn, might Estabul’s nobility not fear for themselves and attempt a second rebellion?”

“The hell, you make it sound like there’s more cons than pros after all,” Claugh said. “Makes it sound like you just went berserk and killed ‘em all…”

“No matter the dangers it has caused, it was necessary to end those nobles’ lives,” Froaude said. “This way our country can make a stand anew rather than stand on decayed foundation. And so…”

“It’s so that we can make a stand against the changing world,” Sion finished. “Right? The current Roland may be able to fight Nelpha or Runa should push come to shove, but not anything stronger. I hate to say it, but the purge was necessary, Claugh. Now none of the nobility can disobey us. The country can start to change now. First, we’ll change the system. We’ll end the preferential treatment towards nobles. Then we can assemble every outstanding person in Roland together. The ones I have the highest expectations of among them… are Estabul’s people. They’re more promising than the nobles who’ve just started to suck up to me.”

Claugh nodded. “Ah, that’s true. I was just fighting in Estabul recently… they’re pretty well-trained. I bet we can find some good ones with just a little looking.”

“And with that, I’ll leave the search to you, Claugh,” Sion said. “Go to Estabul’s former territory and find promising individuals to promote.”

“Nah, I can’t really do that,” Claugh said. “They’re behaving with our army divided across their territory, but if we centralize it again they’ll just rebel. They’re very patriotic, and their promise is proportional to their loyalty. You think that kinda person’ll do well in Roland’s military? They’re just as likely to purposefully destroy Roland’s army from the inside…”

“That’s exactly why I’m leaving it to you,” Sion said. “Princess Noa Ehn is very popular with her people, and she’s on great terms with you.”

Claugh’s expression went blank. “Are you… asking me to use Noa?”

“Do you dislike that?”

“Obviously!” Claugh yelled. Then he glared at Sion as he spoke. “You already get it, don’t you? She has every reason to see us in a harsh light. Thanks to that unreadable guy right there’s plan, a bunch of her allies were killed and a bunch of people had to be sacrificed just to save their people… She came to Roland prepared for people to call her a traitor, y’know? She’s just seventeen. She’s always smiling and looks like she’s okay with things, but… she’s just a teenager. She came to the heart of her country’s enemy all alone. It’s gotta be hard.”

Claugh paused for a moment before continuing. “Even so, she asked her people and nobility to entrust her kingdom to us instead of dreaming of its revival. That’s why things are peaceful now. Estabul’s behaving because their princess is in our castle. And now you wanna…”

Anger filled Claugh’s eyes.

Anger and disappointment…

Even so, Sion didn’t avert his eyes. His met Claugh’s, and he nodded. “Right. That’s why I want to clear her reputation of being a traitor. I will recruit Estabulian soldiers on Lady Ehn’s recommendation. We’ll repurpose Estabul’s dismantled army as one that fights for Roland’s sake. We’ll make it impossible for them to revive Estabul as an independent country. They may say that Lady Ehn sold Estabul to us. But what of it? Do her people intend to gather and revive Estabul on the basis of her reputation alone?”

“Well—”

“Claugh, I’m not playing around.” Sion interrupted. “Estabul’s revival is impossible as long as I’m king. I'll declare it now - as long as I’m king, Estabul’s revival is absolutely impossible. So it’s just a question of how to gain Estabul’s cooperation now that it’s part of Roland…”

Sion’s eyes moved from Claugh and back behind him. Someone had appeared there.

Sion raised his voice as he continued. “No, perhaps cooperation os just a platitude. I’ll say it another way. I want to be able to make use of Estabul’s power as quickly as possible in order to minimize casualties as much as possible. Even if it means only one less person dies…”

A serene, mellow woman stood in the entryway. She spoke to him clearly. “Your Majesty, are Estabul’s people included in these casualty numbers you speak of?”

Claugh turned back, flustered. There stood a woman with long, dark blue hair, a color rare in Roland. She had firm blue eyes and a graceful sort of beauty. Her gaze held a dignified intelligence that one wouldn’t think belonged to a girl of seventeen.

She was Noa Ehn, princess of the former Kingdom of Estabul that they were presently discussing. Her heart had been hurt in the Estabulian rebellion, when her nobility took hostages and went on a power-hungry rampage…

She stood up to the nobility on her own, surrendering in order to take the path of fewest casualties. She was heralded as a hero for her sacrifice, and allowed to enter the ranks of Roland’s nobility in return.

That was the story, anyway…

But reality was different.

She’d protected the hostages against Froaude’s various plans against Estabul, and then despite knowing it’d earn her criticism, she accepted the offer to join Roland’s nobility in order to protect her people.

That was exactly why she expression she was showing now was earnest. She looked directly at Sion as she spoke. “Please answer me, Your Majesty. Are you including Estabul’s people in your count of Roland’s people who you so dearly wish to save?”

Sion nodded deeply. “Of course, Lady Ehn. Because Estabul’s revival is impossible, Estabul is incapable of becoming my enemy. You are all my precious citizens.”

Noa’s eyes did not leave Sion. She stepped closer. “Can I really trust you? At one point you took not just Estabul’s people, but also Roland’s as hostages…”

“No,” Froaude said. “At that time I was acting on my own judgement—”

“It’s fine, Froaude,” Sion said. “Her words are the truth. No matter if it was you acting on your own or not, Roland did oppose Estabul, and as Roland’s king, I must take responsibility. Even so, I want you to believe me. I want you to believe that I wish to protect Estabul’s people and prevent any further fighting between our countries. We’ve already lost so many people to the conflict. Our countries went mad because of the long war.”

Sion closed his eyes as if to remember the distant past.

“Noa Ehn,” he continued, “I once had a friend named Kiefer Knolles. It was a long time ago, before I was king of this country. And that girl, Kiefer, was one of my friends… She was a bright and lively girl, and she was in love with another one of my friends… I loved seeing him, her, and our other friends smile. We could have fun and be happy even inside mad, conflict-ridden Roland… And I was able to forget the brunt of my worries when I was with them…”

Sion felt a faint smile rise to his lips as he spoke of them. He recalled their faces. Kiefer, Ryner, Tyre, Tony, Fahle… and he remembered the days spent together with them…

“At the time, I thought it might be nice if things just continued like that forever. I wondered if anything really needed to change. I thought I was the only one worrying myself about changing this rotten country… but was change really necessary? Did anyone else want things to change?

“That was how happy everyone looked when they smiled back then. My precious friends could live smiling that brightly… so did I really need to change anything? We could find happiness and we could smile. Wasn’t it okay to just protect those smiles? I thought I just needed the power to protect my friends. But…”

Sion opened his eyes.

He looked to Noa, who stood by Claugh’s side.

“Nearly all of my friends died. Kiefer Knolles was a traitor. She was an Estabulian spy and a traitor…”

Noa looked dubious. “Then do you hold a grudge against Estabul, Your Majesty?”

Sion shook his head. “As if. Kiefer is my precious friend even now. She’s in a far off place now, but… the fact that she was my precious friend will never change. Certainly, my friends might not have died if not for her betrayal. But there was nothing she could do about that. She came to Roland as a spy along with her two sisters… but Roland’s Magical Knights killed her older sister and took her younger sister hostage. She became a double agent.

“She was afraid of her little sister dying, so she took orders from Roland’s nobility… no, from my siblings. They had her move in order to kill me who was a nuisance to them and trick Estabul. But the fact that she was my friend wasn’t a lie. She smiled so much when she was with us… I can’t possibly think that smile was a lie, too. She had to betray her own country, betray us… I’m sure she wished we’d save her many, many times.

“But I… didn’t realize that!! And her little sister was killed before long. She cried as she betrayed us, and even her sister who she’d betrayed us for was killed… It’s rotten… This country is rotten. The haughty nobility, and my vulgar father who’d been the previous king… And that mad war… Estabul won’t live again. I…”

Sion stopped for a moment before continuing. “It’s unthinkable that Roland and Estabul will fight again as long as I’m king. Estabul’s people are among those who I want to protect. So I’d like you to cooperate. I want to protect this country from attacks from abroad… I wish for the cooperation of all Estabul’s people, Lady Noa Ehn.”

Sion bowed deeply to Noa.

“Will you trust me?” He asked.

“Your Majesty… you needn’t bow,” Noa said, flustered. “And before your subordinates Marshal Klom and Lieutenant General Froaude… There is nothing for me to forgive you for. I understand your feelings well, Your Majesty. I will do anything in my power to aid you.”

Sion lifted his head. “Even if you should be called a traitor…?”

“I already am called one. And if anything should happen to me, I’m sure that Marshal Klom will once again come to protect me.”

Claugh wrinkled his nose. “Hey, don’t tell me you heard me talking about that earlier…?”

Noa looked to Claugh happily. “You do have a loud voice, Marshal.” Then she turned back to Sion. “Your Majesty, please be at ease. I will introduce Estabul’s best to Marshal Klom.”

Sion smiled sincerely. “I’ll look forward to it.”

She’d surely be fine. She was sensible and strong, and then there were her eyes when she looked at Claugh…

Those two would be fine. Surely their two countries could get along if Roland’s marshal and Estabul’s princess were this close.

“That’s that, Claugh. You will integrate Estabul’s army into Roland’s to boost our power. And so your workload as marshal climbs ever higher…”

“Huh? Wait, what? No way, that’s impossible. I’ll die if I get any busier than I am now, y’know. The noble marshals aren’t working like this, are they?”

Sion nodded, then turned to Noa. “Could you recommend some outstanding people within Estabul to me? I’ve been thinking of appointing a forth marshal to keep Claugh here from dying of overwork.”

Noa was flabbergasted. “Wh… a marshal? You’d like to make an Estabulian a marshal?”

Sion nodded. “Yeah. Claugh, any objections?”

Claugh shook his head, and somehow seemed happy. “Nah. I’ve got none as long as they cut my workload in half.”

“S-still—”

“I’ve already made my decision,” Sion said. “I want to place Estabul’s people in important positions in Roland’s military, and if I’m going to do it, I might as well do it while the nobility’s feeling obedient, right? And it’s not like we have much time. Head to Estabul at once and bring someone back quickly.”

Claugh grinned. “Guess we better get goin’, Noa. Man, Sion, your thought process has always been weird…”

With that, Claugh took Noa by the arm to lead her out.

“W-wait, Marshal…”

“It’s fine,” Claugh said. “He’s sayin’ to do it, so it can’t be wrong. Anyway, we’re gonna leave now, okay Sion? Don’t be surprised when I bring tons of people back, alright? I’ll leave them the marshal’s workload and make my way on down to Gastark.”

With that, Claugh took Noa right on out, despite her protests.

Sion smiled wryly on after them, then turned to Froaude. “I wonder if he seriously thinks I’ll let him stop being a marshal?”

Froaude ignored his question. He stared straight at Sion. “Were you serious about that conversation?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“About your intent to appoint an Estabulian as marshal. Is it not a bit too soon for that? Certainly there is meaning in promoting Estabulians in order to quell any further thoughts of rebellion. But to bring one to the top of the military… Is that not bestowing a tad too much power—”

Sion shook his head. “You said it too, didn’t you? We don’t have the time for that. We need the power to defend ourselves against the great country of Stohl and against Gastark, which even has the power to break Stohl. Roland needs to accumulate a lot of power in a short amount of time. We need to become a stronger country. A more bountiful country. We need our people to become more ambitious… and make a country where everyone can grow up smiling. If this country can become that before other countries invade, it’s our win, and we might even avoid war…”

Froaude narrowed his eyes. “You are saying that with better government alone, we will be able to invade other countries… that we should gather outstanding personnel within Roland as other countries collapse around us? I see. Certainly that is the route with the fewest casualties. So that is your choice then?”

“Can’t stomach it?”

Froaude shook his head. “No. You may say that it is the path of fewest casualties, but Your Majesty, it invites danger all the same. If appointing an Estabulian as marshal serves its function well, it could have a tremendous effect; in reality, war still occurs - we just end up the invaders.”

Exactly.

That was how much value lay in appointing an Estabulian as a marshal of Roland.

It was telling other countries that if they lost against Roland, they’d be treated justly. They might be able to live their lives just as they had before. Their fighting spirit would dwindle if nothing bad would happen to them if they lost.

And then if they lost… maybe they’d even try fighting on Roland’s side…

It was Roland’s win if they could make the other side think that, even if only for a moment.

But…

Froaude continued. “And then if an Estabulian who you appointed marshal were to revolt, you would kill them without hesitation… You are someone who could do that. You will advance towards a military rule on the shortest path possible. You will kill a few to save the many… You are someone who can do that. That is why I obey you. I… am thinking of going to the Runa Empire.”

“Runa?”

“Yes. It will take some time to create the country Your Majesty is picturing. In order to make the best use of that time I would like to strengthen our bonds with Runa.”

Sion nodded. “There’s no way we’ll end up fighting our neighboring Imperial Nelpha or Runa Empire now. Relations with Nelpha have improved since I visited as king, but… our alliance with Runa was the previous king’s doing… I’d been thinking it was best to confirm the state of it…”

“In addition there is the matter of Duke Staelied, whom I killed, apparently having borrowed Runa’s power to premeditate Your Majesty’s murder. Was it the power of Runan nobles, or was it the power of Runa’s king… That we don’t know. We must show them the cost of raising their hand against Roland.”

Sion considered it for a moment. “That’s a pretty dangerous job. I can’t guarantee your life if you make a wrong move, you know.”

Froaude responded without hesitation. “As long as Your Majesty is safe, it will cause no problems to Roland—”

“I told you before,” Sion interrupted. “You’re still necessary to this country. It’d be troublesome if you died now.”

Froaude was shocked for a moment and hesitated before answering. “I will take note of that from now on,” he said, placing his hand to his chest and bowing.

Sion smiled and nodded. “Yeah, do take note of it. Then you’ll go to Runa, and…”

Right then, a woman’s voice came from the entryway. It was a calm voice different from Noa’s. “Your Majesty. The Silwert family has arrived in accordance with your request for an audience.”

Froaude turned to face her. “Silwert…? They are an old family on par with the swordsman clan, the Eris family, which is renowned for their martial arts… are they not? I had heard that they were chased to the countryside by the last king due to his distaste for them…”

The woman stepped forward to reveal herself. She had beautiful black hair that flowed down her back. She looked a bit older than Sion, like she might’ve just hit twenty. But she had at atmosphere about her that betrayed her youth.

Her smile overflowed with confidence. She had calm, sharp features. Her movements were eye catching. She wore formal, somewhat stiff clothes that she wore like armor around her thin body… and she carried a massive lance.

She shouldn’t have been able to bring a weapon into the throne room, and yet… she’d brought a lance in. She prostrated herself before Sion at the entrance.

“Please, forgive me for not greeting you sooner. Your Majesty Sion Astal, congratulations on your enthronement.”

Sion smiled. “I’ve been waiting for you. If I recall… you’re the head of the Silwert family, Tealnawest Silwert?”

“Yes. Please address me as Teal,” she said as she maintained her bow.

Sion nodded. “Now then, Teal. I’ve been waiting for you. Have you polished your skills in the years you spent in the countryside on the previous king’s orders?”

Teal raised her head… and looked not to Sion, but somewhere beyond him. “Of course. To the extent that I could not lose even to the Eris family when it comes to protecting Your Majesty… It is for that purpose that I brought my lance.”

Sion smiled as well. “Are you listening, Lucile?”

There was no reply.

Sion shrugged. “Well, even if you don’t answer…”

He looked to Teal.

“Show me that power of yours,” Sion said.

Teal smiled faintly. “I see. That courage… Roland is truly blessed with a wonderful king. I perfectly understand why you chose him, Lucile.”

Her form burst, her lance warping.

That was how quickly she moved. She crossed over to Sion in a moment… and lunged her staff forward.

But…

“You’re still too slow, Teal.”

A lone man suddenly appeared behind Teal. He was a blond with features so overwhelmingly beautiful that they didn’t even seem human. He kept his eyes closed.

He was a horribly beautiful man.

It was the sort of beauty that made one uneasy, suspicious… and above all inhuman.

He moved a hand around Teal’s back as if to hug her… but used it to immobilize her lance. He smiled. “It’s not enough. Your lance still can’t reach me,” he whispered into her ear.

His movements were so quiet that one wondered if he’d always been there.

He had been.

He was Lucile Eris, the current head of the swordsman clan - the Eris family - tasked with guarding Roland’s kings through the ages, and he’d been there all along.

As long as Lucile didn’t want to be seen, nobody saw him. That was just how it was with him. He could completely erase his presence… and by doing that, he disappeared completely from everyone else’s awareness…

He was a monster.

Lucile had always been an oppressive monster. Nobody should’ve been able to keep up a fighting spirit against him, and yet…

“Your carelessness… will make way for your defeat this time,” Teal said as she squeezed Lucile’s arm hard.

Suddenly two men came from behind Lucile, approaching him with lances in hand.

“Die, Lucile Eris!” The men screamed.

They were fiercely fast, moving even faster than the country’s most powerful Magical Knights.

But Lucile didn’t turn to face them.

He didn’t seem to think of them as a match for him at all…

All he did was smile faintly. He again moved his face to Teal’s ear. “Hm, are they your little brothers? They’re pretty fast. So—”

It was instantaneous.

An enormous presence enveloped the room. It hadn’t really felt like anything was there at all until now, and yet…

Sion felt like he’d choke. Lucile’s overwhelming presence left him completely unable to form words.

It didn’t feel like it belonged to a human. It was a beast… no, part beast at best. It was a demon…

“…Can I destroy those?” The demon whispered.

Teal’s face warped. “Ah… uugh, stop! Wen, Sil!”

Her little brothers stopped their lances mid-swing. But they’d gone pale. Their whole bodies were covered in sweat, and they shivered in fear…

Lucile smiled like he was enjoying this. “Congratulations on narrowly escaping death. Good call, Teal. You have gotten stronger compared to before. Your little brothers are excellent, too. My little sisters are better though…” What do you think as referee, Sion?”

Sion nodded. “Yes. I can see that they’re all wonderfully able…”

“Good. I’m partial to Teal in particular. She can definitely be of use to her, so get along, okay?” Lucile said. He completely disappeared again.

Sion watched the place he’d disappeared for a moment. It was bizarre, yes, but he’d gotten used to it. “What, are you acquaintances?”

“They aren’t acquaintances!” The man - or maybe teenager was more apt - that Teal had called Sil said. He had black hair and closely resembled Teal. “We’re comrades in arms; he is more skilled with swords and the like than we are with lances—”

“Quiet, Sil! We are in the presence of His Majesty!”

“Ah, hrgh, sorry, Sis…”

The man that Teal had called Wen looked a bit older than Sil. He spoke. “She is not your ‘sister,’ Sil. She is the Family Head.”

“R, right, sis… er, Family Head. I apologize.”

Teal looked down a bit, troubled. “We have shown you something most disgraceful… My younger brother Sil is still immature, you see…”

Sion smiled wryly. “Immature, and yet he moves like that… it’s reassuring. I can see your strength clearly. Now, to go back to what we were talking about before… you and Lucile are?”

Teal looked conflicted. “Well… we competed once and only once in the past. It was when I was twelve…”

And the result? Sion didn’t have to ask to know. He’d just seen it clearly. The swordsman Erises…

Although Lucile didn’t use swords now. Sion had never seen him use one. No matter how strong his enemy, all it took was the slight wave of Lucile’s hand… with that alone, his opponent’s head was severed from their body, their blood dancing in open air.

“Leaving aside what my brothers… what the others of our Silwert family say, to me Lucile has always been my objective.”

Well, that was pretty obvious though.

Students of martial arts who met Lucile could see him in one of two ways: they could admire him or they could fear him. Of course, seeing him fight made one more likely to fear him…

“So Lucile is your objective… I see. But that’s troubling. If you surround a monster like him, you’ll stop breathing.”

“Please do not worry,” Teal said with a smile. “It suits those who have reached that level…”

She sounded happy.

Her little brother, Sil, looked frustrated at that. Wen spent some time calming him down.

In any case, it did seem that Sil was still immature, and that he abhorred the Eris family. But that in itself was interesting…

Sion looked at him mischievously. “Ah, I’ve juust remembered something I need to pester him about…”

Teal looked up at his quiet voice. “Huh? Um, what are you referring to?”

Sion shook his head, flustered. “Oh, nothing, nothing. Anyway, I can see your power clearly. I’m different from the previous king. I consider people based on their worth. Are you prepared?”

Teal, Sil, and Wen all knelt. “Yes. You are the master the Silwert family has been waiting for.”

Sion nodded. “Then stand. We don’t have the time for any more ceremonious greetings. You’ll be busy from now on.”

They really didn’t have any time left.

He had to acquire the capable people scattered across the country. Not just those in Estabul’s army, but the regular people of Estabul as well, and the people controlled by nobles in the dark side of Roland…

He had to change this country. He had to change Roland before it was overwhelmed by conflict. He had to prepare the country inside and out… and change the trend of only allowing nobles to excel…

But they also needed to know what was going on in other countries.

Sion turned his gaze back to Froaude, who nodded as if he already knew what Sion was thinking.

“Excellent. You are thinking of it well. Then I had better begin preparations for Runa.”

With that, Froaude bowed once more and left.

“Then I guess we ought to start,” Sion said. He looked to Teal and then to the Silwert brothers. “You three will be going on a mission abroad. I have chosen you first and foremost because of your exceptional ability. But another part of what makes you qualified is that you cannot use magic. You will not leak our country’s magic even if you should be captured abroad… but the flipside of that is that if you’re taken prisoner, I won’t save you. We can’t appear weak.”

Teal lifted her head a bit. “I see. Will Roland to to war with the country we are being sent to?”

Sion’s eyes narrowed.

War…

“It will likely come to that. I’m hoping it won’t, though.”

The world was moving in that direction, after all.

And… there wasn’t anywhere they could run anymore.

Sion looked at Teal and her brothers. “Have you heard of a country called Gastark?”

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