Chapter 172

Translator: Willia

Just as God had created the world through His word, a king’s words had to carry authority.

With a single declaration from Ricardt, telling them to leave or die, the warlord factions of Adeloron scattered like sand before the wind.

Of course, they already knew which way the tide had turned, and Ricardt had shown that he was resolute enough to kill all ten thousand of them at once if necessary. Even setting aside the authority of a king, simple reason left them with no other choice.

As the year drew to a close, Ricardt finally had Adeloron completely in his grasp.

There was no one left who could oppose him. That was not an assessment, but a simple fact.

Yet a country could be won through war, but it could not be governed through war.

History was filled with countless heroes who had failed to understand that and fallen into ruin in their later years.

To avoid making the same mistake, Ricardt let go of the greatest power he possessed.

The forces of the Order of the Steel Knights scattered in every direction. They would gather again whenever Ricardt called, but for the time being, the most professionalized army in the world no longer existed.

Ricardt’s first and foremost objective was the reconstruction of the kingdom. The ravaged fields had to be plowed again, fertilizer spread over them, and collapsed buildings rebuilt.

That meant keeping the army to the bare minimum. It was a decision the other lords of the Empire could not understand.

Whether they understood it or not, however, Ricardt did not care in the slightest. He had always lived by doing what he himself believed was important, and that was still how he lived now.

What mattered in life? Ricardt believed that a man needed standards of his own, rather than living according to the eyes and opinions of others.

“Do you think it’s a boy or a girl?”

Ricardt asked as he warmed himself by the fire in the hearth in the depths of winter. Marie sat on the bed reading through some documents and did not answer immediately. It was not because she had failed to hear him.

“Who knows? I don’t know either.”

“Don’t women sort of know? You must have some kind of feeling.”

“Idiot. How am I supposed to know when I can’t even see it?”

Marie gave a disbelieving little laugh.

“Why are you asking, anyway?”

“Because different things happen depending on whether it’s a boy or a girl. Paolo told me. If it’s a boy, then we’ll have an actual heir. If it’s a girl, she can be used as a diplomatic card from the moment she’s born.”

If it was a daughter, they could arrange a betrothal. Even without actually arranging one, they could test the waters by making it seem as though they might.

Marriages between noble houses were not decided by the people getting married. They were decided by the elders of the family and, ultimately, by the head of the house. The head of House Ricarn was Ricardt.

Royal marriages and betrothals in particular were important tools that could exert diplomatic influence in their own right.

Ricardt and Marie, who had married for love, were an extremely unusual case. It had only been possible because neither of them had originally had anything to do with the succession.

If Ricardt himself had been the heir to Stormhertz, he would have married whoever his father told him to. At least, that was what he believed.

“So, are you going to use her as a card?”

Marie lifted her eyes from the documents and looked at Ricardt.

“I don’t know. It feels like I’m entering a world I know nothing about. It’s different from how I’ve lived until now. What’s good, what’s bad, who it’s good for and who it’s bad for. Things like that.”

“You shouldn’t take everything Paolo says too seriously. Adeloron and the Benicio Trading Company may share the same fate now, but in the end, he’s still a man who pursues the interests of the Benicio Trading Company.”

“I know how to filter what he says. I was just asking what you thought, Marie.”

“I don’t intend to blindly defer to our daughter’s wishes either. I’m a daughter of the imperial family, but I spent my childhood in Kelbron. As you know, Ricky, Kelbron’s family discipline is strict to the point of cruelty. I wouldn’t go that far, but I do think children need to be raised with a certain amount of strictness. Looking back on it now, I don’t think that kind of upbringing was necessarily bad.”

This was exactly the sort of thing on which Ricardt and Marie differed.

A married couple came together because they loved each other, but once they were together, marriage also became a process of discovering all the ways in which they were different. From trivial habits to political leanings.

Unlike Marie’s, Ricardt’s childhood had been filled with nothing but happiness, love, and affection.

That was why being a king, or doing the things a royal family was expected to do, felt to Ricardt like wearing clothes that did not fit. He could not raise his children the way he might have if he were still living in the countryside.

He found that somewhat regrettable and sad, but there was nothing to be done about it.

“Have you thought of a name?”

Marie asked, turning her attention back to the documents.

“Vilter, if it’s a boy. Hildis, if it’s a girl.”

“Who’s that bitch?”

Marie whipped around to look at Ricardt. She even seemed to be glaring at him slightly. She knew who Vilter was, but Hildis was a woman’s name she had never heard before.

“My mother.”

“It’s a beautiful name.”

Before Ricardt had even finished speaking, Marie answered with reflexes as quick as her swordsmanship.

She had heard stories about Ricardt’s mother from time to time, but she had never heard her name, so it was an understandable mistake.

Ricardt did not care in the slightest, but Marie was apparently a little flustered and tried to change the subject.

“Have you picked a side?”

“What side?”

“Between the Second Prince and the Fifth Prince. Have you decided which one you’re going to support?”

“At its core, the War of Imperial Succession is a family dispute. I don’t want to get involved.”

“Technically, it’s my family too. And since you married me, that makes it your family business as well, doesn’t it?”

“When you put it that way, I suppose it does. But either way, getting tangled up in it would be nothing but trouble from beginning to end. Think about it. For one thing, I’m not the principal party in the war. Even if I somehow joined in and fought my heart out, what would I have left afterward? If I put an Emperor on the throne with my own hands, am I supposed to start acting as I please because of it? What exactly would I do? I don’t see any concrete benefit. I’d just end up saddled with responsibility.”

“My husband is more calculating than I thought.”

“A lot of lives are at stake. I have to calculate what needs calculating. Thoroughly.”

“Well, you know war better than I do. But I don’t think war is simply a matter of whether you fight or not. Too many things are tied up in it. Grain prices might rise, established trade routes might be cut off, trouble might break out on the frontiers. What I’m saying is that whether we like it or not, the war is going to affect us too.”

“I know. But plenty of people get rich in the middle of wars too. Like the Benicio Trading Company. And a portion of the money those people make ends up in our pockets.”

The Benicio Trading Company was in the process of establishing something like an industrial complex within the Kingdom of Adeloron. It was not yet complete, but they were already producing weapons and various manufactured goods and selling them to those fighting the war.

There were few customers more eager to buy than men whose lives were immediately at stake, so the more they produced, the more money they made.

“That’s true, but I can’t help feeling uneasy about it. It isn’t exactly clean money.”

“The times have changed. We can’t survive by clinging to noble honor alone. We have to protect the values worth protecting, but when it comes time to secure practical benefits, we have to cast appearances aside and take what we can. I don’t want to dither around somewhere in between.”

That was Ricardt’s personality and the way he acted. Anything he absolutely could not compromise on, he would defend even at the risk of his life. But when flexibility was called for, he would cast aside noble dignity and everything else and act without shame.

Looking back on the life he had lived so far, that was how he had always been. And it was still how he lived.

Yet sometimes, life presented moments that tested the limits of that principle. How far should a man go to protect what needed protecting, and how far should he allow himself to bend?

“By the way, did you hear about that?”

Marie asked.

“About what?”

“The serial murder case. Apparently an entire family was wiped out this time. What did they say the man did again? Oh, right. He was an arms dealer. The last one was a goldsmith. Could it be some kind of fight over business interests? But if it is, it’s strange that they left so little evidence behind.”

“The arms dealer part was just a front. What I heard was that he was the head of the Redheim Brotherhood.”

“Really? I suppose once people start making a living and money begins circulating, scum like that starts crawling in too. Still, if it were just a turf war, doesn’t it bother you that everything is so clean, without a single witness? And it hasn’t only happened once or twice.”

“Harbert will investigate it properly.”

“It isn’t that I don’t trust Harbert, but he’s not particularly capable either. If the culprit is that skilled, tracking them down won’t be easy. Ricky, I want you to pay some attention to it.”

“Uh...... Yeah, I suppose I should. People are getting nervous too. I’m going to get some air for a bit. I’ve been inside too long and it’s starting to feel stuffy. Marie, you should at least open a window.”

“I don’t feel stuffy.”

“Fine. Suit yourself.”

Ricardt rose from his seat and left the bedroom. The moment he stepped outside, air as cold as ice brushed against his cheeks.

Because all his efforts had gone into strengthening the kingdom’s foundations, the halls of the royal castle were almost completely bare of decoration. About the only things hanging there were the unit banners of the Order of the Steel Knights, draped like tapestries.

It was only thanks to the servants keeping everything spotless that the place did not look like an abandoned castle.

Ricardt walked through those barren corridors, descended to the lower floor, and left the castle. It was cold enough that the tips of his ears began to sting almost immediately.

Even after going outside, however, he had nowhere in particular to go. It was far too cold to go riding, so after wandering around near the stables for a while, he entered the temple building within the castle grounds.

The chapel was impressive not only for its size, but also as the finest example of Adeloron architecture. Straight lines and curves intertwined throughout the overall structure in perfect harmony, while delicate carvings covered the walls and ceiling like scenes from another world.

The place overflowed with such sanctity that it seemed as though the word of God might ring out at any moment, but Ricardt merely gave it a brief glance before leaving the chapel and walking down the corridor.

When he reached a large door and opened it, warm air carrying a faint burnt smell once again breathed life into his frozen muscles. The sensation felt wonderful.

This was none other than the royal library. And the keeper of the royal library was Bori.

Bori sat beside the fireplace, slowly sipping tea as he read a book. He glanced at Ricardt, then returned his eyes to the page without even bothering to greet him.

By now, they had gone beyond the point of merely being close friends. Ordinary pleasantries were unnecessary between them.

Coming and going, seeing each other, simply being there had become as natural as a part of one’s own body, and just as precious. The worldly titles of king and retainer could not possibly draw a line between them.

And all of that meant one thing as well: each was someone the other could trust more than anyone else.

“What are you reading?”

Ricardt asked as he sat opposite Bori. He tipped the teapot on the small table and poured some into a porcelain cup. It had already cooled halfway, so the aroma did not rise very strongly.

Enhancing Mana Through Sexual Union.

“......What’s that?”

“Exactly what the title says. According to this book, a man and woman can increase their mana by having intercourse.”

“That’s possible?”

“There’s enough here to be worth considering. The nature of mana needs to be examined from many different angles. This seems like it would require some experimentation, though. Ricky, could you help me out? Talk to Marie about it.”

“......That’s absurd, Bori.”

“You’re embarrassed?”

“Of course I am.”

“Hmm. Is that really so obvious?”

“Forget it. How’s your book coming along?”

“It isn’t. The deeper I dig, the less end there seems to be. I think I jumped into it blindly at first because I had no idea how deep the subject was. The reason everyone perceives mana differently seems to be that a Sword Master’s mana is based on innate temperament and personal experience. In other words, establishing any kind of unified theory is difficult. Even if I developed a Bori-style Mana Drive, would there be anyone in the world for whom it worked exactly as it does for me? In the end, teaching someone may amount to nothing more than producing an imitator. Can that really be called complete teaching? Is there any point in writing a book at all?”

“......I don’t really understand what you’re talking about, but basically my way was right, wasn’t it?”

“Huh? What way?”

“Look at Roy. I tend to let him figure things out and grow on his own.”

“That’s the part I’m not so sure about.”

“Just think about it simply. Whoever reads your book will be capable of thinking too. If they hit a wall, won’t they figure out how to fill in the gaps themselves, or change things around a little to suit them?”

“......Maybe......?”

Bori tilted his head. Though they sought different things, both of them thought deeply and had reached a high level in swordsmanship, so they generally understood each other well.

Bori seemed to spend a moment organizing his thoughts, then went back to reading. Ricardt likewise sipped his tea and turned his gaze toward the fire.

The warmth mingling with the cold air seemed to draw near and then retreat again and again. It made temperature itself feel almost alive.

Ricardt quietly savored the sensation for a while, then asked without turning his gaze.

“What happened with that matter?”

“Hm? What matter? Oh, the arms dealer?”

Bori turned a page as though it were nothing worth mentioning.

“There were no witnesses. I killed them all.”

“......I’m sorry.”

Ricardt lowered his head in apology. Bori gave a faint smile, then shut the codex with a thump. He rose, walked past Ricardt, and lightly thumped him on the chest.

“Being able to help you from the shadows brings me great joy. If I’m happy to do it, what is there for you to apologize for?”

Bori returned the book to the shelf and brought back another one. By coincidence, its title was ‘Murder Game’.

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