Chapter 183

Translator: Willia

A man stood by the roadside, squinting against the brilliant sunlight as he looked up at something. His sharply groomed mustache was striking, and his arms and armor were ornate and expensive. It was the Second Imperial Prince, Rotarius.

Rotarius tilted his head slightly as he stared up at a man impaled on a long stake that ran up through his body and out through his mouth.

He was one of Randell’s men, one of those who had cursed and mocked Ricardt from the castle wall. By coincidence, he was also the man who had brutally murdered Count Caldebern’s young heir.

Astonishingly, he was still alive. Though with his body hanging limp, he was practically as good as dead. The price for murdering a noble was steep.

But this was an advanced technique that only the most exceptional torture experts could perform. Avoiding the major organs, carefully and slowly driving a stake through the entire body from below while keeping the victim alive.

“A work of art.”

Rotarius spoke only those few words. Cruelty, precision, an understanding of the human body, and control over life itself, all combined into a single art. That was how it struck him.

Before long, the man skewered on the stake breathed his last. With that, it somehow felt as though the work of art had been completed.

Rotarius gazed a little longer at the artwork now given its final touch, then lowered his head.

He looked into the distance, toward the knights of Adeloron waiting beyond the bridge spanning the river. Their banners bore a black eagle and a flaming sword upon a red field.

It was the exact opposite of the situation back when he had blocked the bridge against Ricardt. This time, Rotarius was the one who had to cross it.

Rather than looking shocked, he tilted his head slightly as if he simply could not understand the situation, then turned to Baldur beside him.

Baldur was the commander who had led the army in Rotarius’s stead and won a victory against the Fifth Imperial Prince, Bellator.

“How did he know? It doesn’t seem like our plan leaked.”

What Rotarius meant was how Ricardt and his knights could already be there at precisely this moment.

Rotarius knew all too well how quickly Ricardt could move an army, having experienced it firsthand. But this would have been impossible unless Ricardt had known in advance.

“It does not seem that our plan leaked. Perhaps he, too, had already been targeting Count Caldebern for some time. Randell happened to kill the Count, and the King moved quickly to occupy the territory.”

“Isn’t that too much of a coincidence?”

“Given the situation before us, if we are to make the pieces fit, that would be the explanation. What matters is not how he did it, Your Highness. What matters is what we do now.”

“What do you think?”

“We cannot defeat them in battle. Attacking across the river would be even more impossible.”

“The King of Adeloron defeated me that way. Are you saying you cannot do the same?”

“Battle is no place to indulge one’s pride, Your Highness. Victory comes from accurately judging what the enemy can do and the extent of his capabilities, then doing the same for oneself before devising a plan. Your Highness’s own troops number only around one thousand. The rest are levies. Moreover, because we came here in such haste, we currently have only two thousand men, and their units have not even been fully organized. There are two hundred knights on the other side, and all two hundred are Steel Knights who came from the Order of the Flame Knights. Trying to cross the river and attack them with two thousand men would be asking to end up skewered on that stake right there.”

Rotarius had deliberately tried to needle Baldur’s pride, but Baldur merely offered his counsel with complete composure.

Apparently, Rotarius was not entirely without redeeming qualities, because he understood the point immediately. More importantly, he himself had already suffered a crushing defeat once, so in truth, he had no desire to fight either.

“Still, simply turning around and leaving feels a bit unsatisfying, doesn’t it? We’ve done all the work only to hand the prize to someone else......”

“The Manor Knights of Stormhertz are serving on our side. The King of Adeloron’s father and eldest brother. They happen to be here with us now, so why not send them? Have them make clear that we have no intention of fighting. And Your Highness should recognize the title. Now that matters have come to this, do not make an enemy of him. Make peace instead. If we establish good relations with him, then at the very least, he will not side with the Fifth Imperial Prince. Besides, there may come a time when we have use for him.”

“......”

Imperial Prince Rotarius considered his words for a moment, decided they were sound, and nodded.

However, the Manor Knights of Stormhertz had originally been something like vassals of Count Caldebern, while Count Caldebern himself was a vassal of Duke Brummbar.

Under normal circumstances, Rotarius would have had no authority to intervene directly. But now that he was leading an army and waging war, exceptions could be made.

Rotarius discussed more closely with Baldur how they should settle and handle the present situation. Baldur was now the second-in-command of the Second Imperial Prince’s army and the man who wielded the real power within it.

Once their discussion was over, Rotarius summoned Abelich and Graut, the Manor Knights of Stormhertz. As they crossed the encampment toward him, father and son alike looked dignified and imposing.

The father knelt on one knee before the Second Imperial Prince first, and his son followed suit.

“I was told you summoned us.”

“There is no need for ceremony, valiant knight. If anything, such formality makes me feel slighted.”

Within the chain of vassalage, Rotarius was merely the lord of Abelich’s lord, and they had no personal friendship whatsoever. It was difficult to see what exactly there was for him to feel slighted about.

In any case, Rotarius took Abelich and Graut by the arms and pulled them to their feet. Then he moved close and spoke to them as though they were intimate friends. So close, in fact, that Abelich had to draw his head back slightly.

“First, forgive me for failing to give you special consideration sooner. After my defeat at the river, I had little attention to spare for anything else. Though we met as enemies, your son, the King of Adeloron, is truly a man without equal in this world. I would be lying if I said I bore him no resentment, but time has washed that away. All that remains in me now is respect and admiration. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you that your son is truly magnificent.”

It was extravagant praise. Abelich merely stared at Rotarius with eyes that seemed either slightly sleepy or completely indifferent, then answered bluntly.

“Thank you.”

Rotarius felt slightly embarrassed, but because he had a purpose, he forced himself to smile.

The Imperial Prince’s close retainers watched their conversation from nearby. Every one of them was a noble of such rank that an ordinary Manor Knight could hardly hope to stand alongside them. Yet because of his son’s prestige, not one of them looked down on Abelich.

“Could you convey these feelings of mine properly to the King yourself? To the King waiting there on the other side of the river. And as for the Countship of Caldebern, what was her name? Aileen? Is she your daughter-in-law? In any case, tell him that I will recognize her title as well.”

“I shall.”

Abelich simply said he would do it. His answer came so readily that one might have suspected some ulterior motive, but Abelich was merely meticulous about fulfilling his duties.

Forty days. A knight was obligated to answer his lord’s summons and serve for forty days. After that, the lord had to pay him wages or make some other political promise. Otherwise, the knight was free to complete his service and return home.

A knight might continue serving beyond those forty days out of sheer loyalty, but realistically, that almost never happened. No matter how loyal a knight was, he did not fight without being paid.

It was not because knights were obsessed with money. Simply leaving their lands and going to war was already a sacrifice and a loss in itself.

Abelich and Graut were currently on the thirty-seventh day of their service. They had already taken part in the battle against the Fifth Imperial Prince, Bellator.

“When will you leave?”

“Immediately.”

“Decisive. Just like your son. Ah, or is it the other way around? It's a joke! A joke! Ha ha ha!”

Rotarius burst into loud laughter all by himself and slapped Abelich on the back. Abelich was the older of the two.

At Rotarius’s order, Abelich immediately prepared to depart as an envoy together with his eldest son, Graut. In truth, there was hardly anything to prepare. They were already armed, so all they had to do was mount their horses.

“It may be a scheme, Father.”

Graut, who had remained silent the entire time, spoke quietly.

“Whether it is a scheme or not, there is nothing dishonorable about carrying out one’s duty.”

Abelich had always been that way, but he had an especially rigid side to him. Ricardt, by contrast, knew when to be flexible. Of course, he had inherited something of his father as well and could be remarkably stubborn when the occasion called for it.

In any case, Abelich and Graut raised a white flag and headed toward the bridge spanning the river. As they rode across the field at a measured pace, the Order of the Steel Knights on the far bank, who also served as the royal knights, watched them.

They slowed even further as they approached the bridge, and a sharp-eyed knight came forward to meet them.

“State your names and your purpose.”

“I am Abelich, Manor Knight of Stormhertz. I have come as an envoy of Prince Rotarius. This is my son, Sir Graut.”

True to Abelich’s rigid nature, he did not mention that he was Ricardt’s father.

After hearing their names and purpose, the knight withdrew, while the others raised their spears and thoroughly blocked the bridge so they could not cross.

Watching that entire sequence, Abelich keenly felt that the level of this army itself was different. It was not merely the combat ability of the individual knights. Every part of the organization moved quickly and fit together seamlessly.

Not long afterward, Ricardt came running over breathlessly, without even riding a horse.

“Father!”

Abelich dismounted and tried to kneel in order to pay his respects to the King. But before his knee could even touch the ground, Ricardt grabbed him and pulled him back up.

“You don’t need to do this, Father. It’s been a long time, Brother.”

“At present, we are not father and son, but an envoy and a sovereign. When you behave like this, it puts me in an uncomfortable position.”

Abelich drew the line firmly. Ricardt stared at him for a moment with a slightly blank expression, then gave a small laugh at the thought that his father had not changed at all.

“Before I am a king, I am still your son. When you behave like this, it puts me in an uncomfortable position.”

“But I have come with a purpose, and that purpose may be to the King’s disadvantage. A knight’s duty is to obey his lord’s commands. This is not a matter that can be handled according to personal affection.”

“I’ll handle that. I can already see right through the Second Imperial Prince’s intentions. What I care about is securing our family’s safety. To tell the truth, I’m a little grateful to him. I was worried he might manufacture some pretext and take you hostage. It seems he isn’t quite that shameless after all.”

In fact, Ricardt had already planned an entire rescue operation in case the Second Imperial Prince took Abelich and Graut hostage. But there was no longer any need for it.

That was because, with matters having reached this point, the Second Imperial Prince wanted to let the Countship of Caldebern go cleanly and make peace with Ricardt.

In that sense, sending Abelich and Graut as envoys had been an excellent move. Ricardt was a man who knew how to repay grudges with grudges and favors with favors.

“Aileen is staying at Caldebern Castle, and she’s probably overwhelmed trying to clean up the mess there. Come inside for now. We can talk over some food.”

Ricardt took Abelich by the arm as they walked. When he was young, he had not even dared approach his father. Now things were different. If this was one of the things power allowed him to enjoy, Ricardt thought it might be the very best of them.

As Ricardt approached, the royal knights instantly parted to either side. Their movements were so disciplined and their formation so sharply precise that it almost looked capable of cutting, and the respect they showed was unmistakable.

Their encampment lay behind a hill, and Ricardt led his father and brother to his own tent. Inside stood only a table, a field bed, his equipment, and stacks of documents. For a king’s tent, it was far too modest.

“Roy, bring us the best drink and meat we have.”

“Yes.”

“He’s my Royal Attendant. Somehow I ended up taking him as my disciple as well, and he’s been following me ever since.”

After briefly explaining who Roy was, Ricardt seated the two men at the table.

A short silence settled over them before Ricardt spoke first.

“Did you know? It was the Second Imperial Prince who killed Count Caldebern. He didn’t openly order the murder, but he subtly put Randell up to it. I was lucky enough to seize the castle in time, but what did the Second Imperial Prince say?”

“......”

Abelich and Graut were merely knights, so they knew little about the schemes great nobles plotted behind the scenes. Still, they did not appear particularly shocked by what they had just heard.

Abelich remained silent. Since he was so inflexible, it fell to the eldest brother, Graut, to speak instead.

“We don’t know much about things like that, and we don’t want to meddle in them carelessly either. We only came to deliver the Prince’s words. He sends you his respect and praise. He also said he would recognize Aileen’s title. That is all.”

The moment Ricardt heard that, he realized that Rotarius had changed course and chosen reconciliation.

“That’s good to hear. Then there’s no reason for our two armies to keep standing here facing each other. I understand the Second Imperial Prince’s intentions, so I suppose I’ll pay him a visit sometime soon, if only so we can draw up the formal documents.”

With his father and eldest brother coming directly to state Rotarius’s intentions, there was none of the needless posturing or attempts to deceive one another that might otherwise have occurred.

Just then, Roy returned with drink and meat, and Ricardt, a king, personally poured the liquor into their cups. It was mead from the Miquella Sword Monastery, fermented with the nuns’ saliva.

After they had each taken a drink, Ricardt began slicing the meat with a dagger. It was none other than the dagger Abelich had given him when he first left home.

It was called ‘Boar’s Tusk’, and Ricardt still used it regularly. It had been forged in the smithy at Caldebern Castle.

There was no way Abelich could fail to recognize it. He suddenly asked a question, and for the first time, his tone was that of a father speaking to his son rather than a knight addressing a king.

“Do you intend to become emperor?”

Ricardt’s hand stopped dead in the middle of slicing the meat. But a moment later, he smiled faintly and shook his head.

“Perhaps I’ll come to possess the world in an entirely different way. But if that happens, it won’t be for me. It’ll be for what lies beyond.”

“......I know it’s a little late to be asking this, but have you lived two lives or something?”

Graut asked the question. He had not thought much of it when they were young, but now, seeing his younger brother display his abilities to the world at such incredible speed and advance along such a remarkable path, Ricardt suddenly felt strangely unfamiliar to him.

Ricardt did not lie. He merely sliced the roasted pork leg thinly, placed the pieces onto each of their plates, and answered.

“Maybe.”

****

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