Chapter 360
Chapter 360
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.75 – The Cogwheel Declares (7)
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Thud!
"Ugh, so dirty."
Tap, tap.
King Edmund hit the floor in a pathetic state.
Flap...
His pants thoroughly heavy.
It wasn't strange.
'I learned how to control the sphincter.'
Since he'd made it happen 'on purpose', this was the natural result.
It felt like a fruitful experiment today.
But there was no guilt.
Just...
"I've done what I needed to. Handle the rest yourselves."
Lee Han felt refreshed after squashing a single tick.
"Hah, you ended it so filthily. So unclean."
"You should be grateful it ended at just unclean. I barely held back from turning it into a gory masterpiece by controlling my strength."
"...Hoo."
Lee Han spoke curtly, and the woman let out a sigh.
The crown princess Isis, who had remained expressionless throughout even as the king ended up like that, finally rose to her feet.
Whoosh.
The moment she stood, the atmosphere shifted.
With Edmund collapsed right beside her in a state that was not just ugly but outright filthy, the contrast was made all the sharper by her unwavering noble grace.
The moment all eyes gathered on Isis...
"...Everyone has already heard. About the sins committed by my stepfather and the current lord of Pendragon, Edmund Julian de Pendragon."
Her voice, neither high nor low, rang out mysteriously clear across the entire banquet hall.
"Cruel and tragic... yes, it's true. Everything you heard is the truth."
Clang!
The glass vessel, cracked by Lee Han's roar earlier, shattered at the perfect moment.
Like an ornament heightening the climax of the drama...!
The difference between King Edmund and her was this: Edmund had orchestrated everything with his own hands, while she had created this situation entirely unintentionally.
Naturally.
"The king directly supported the heretical faction of the temple, known as the Blood Crusaders, which the War God personally judged decades ago. He provided the kindling to revive them. As a result, the nefarious faction grew in power, eventually transforming into a force capable of burning not just the kingdom, but the entire south."
She acknowledged Edmund's crimes, and it struck the nobles as an entirely different kind of shock.
It was Isis herself—the king's successor—giving direct testimony.
This was now irreversible, a massive incident that would shake the entire royal family.
"Furthermore, we cannot rule out the possibility that the king has maintained ties with them to this day. In other words, we cannot deny his involvement in all the incidents from last year up to now."
Stagger—.
Even people clutching their heads and reeling appeared one after another.
It was beyond shocking—some even wanted to faint.
'Please, please stop!'
'No!'
'Deny it, Your Highness! Why admit it?!'
The nobles screamed inwardly.
Yes, the sins could not be denied.
But declaring and admitting them so firmly like that was the worst possible move.
It was a declaration that could shatter the royal family's trust, collapsing the monarchy itself.
The cracks in the royal family were already accelerating, and this declaration was the signal for a massive upheaval that would rock the kingdom.
The nobles felt foreboding.
The already horrific situation seemed headed for an even more extreme turn!
"I swear upon Pendragon—nay, upon the dragons, the elves, and all mysteries. The royal family will reveal every truth in full. And we will make it known to all, regardless of station. To everyone..."
But Isis paid none of it any mind.
She simply notified them flatly.
Crack...!
A rupture echoed in everyone's ears.
The royal palace...
—No, it was the sound of the kingdom itself cracking.
- Is this really okay?
- It is.
- ...I'm fine with it, but won't this stop you from becoming queen?
- I don't care. As long as my stepfather—Edmund—blocks my path, this kingdom can never be mine. No, even if Edmund vanishes, the Pendragon I have now is something I don't need.
- ?
- You know what? If I can't have it whole anyway, and it's already rotten to the core...
Crunch!
- Then I just smash it all and be done with it.
- ......
- Fixing something broken is harder than making something new from scratch.
- ...Sis, not sure if I should say this, but...
- Go ahead.
- You've gone pretty crazy?
- ...You brat.
Snap!
"...Hm."
Lee Han rubbed his forehead, which didn't even hurt, without thinking.
'Did her wrist get hurt?'
Lost in trivial thoughts, Lee Han recalled when he'd attended this ridiculous banquet.
Burning down the whole house to catch a tick, indeed.
But what could he do?
'There were too many ticks.'
And they'd already spread too far to recover from.
"Whatever, I've done my part. That's it."
He shrugged.
He'd fulfilled his role and finished his business refreshingly.
So—.
Swish.
"Take him away."
"......"
"The crime? Assaulting the king. Use handcuffs, ropes, whatever—bind him and drag him off."
"...Do you think handcuffs or ropes would even work on you?"
"Then fetch chains made of eternal cold iron."
"What's that?"
"Yeah, doesn't exist. Hurry up and do your job. You're soldiers, aren't you? Then carry out your duty."
"...You're a soldier too."
"...Can someone who turned the nation's highest authority into that state keep soldiering?"
"......Haaa!"
The knight meekly extending his arms to be bound and the knight clutching his neck in shock couldn't hold back their groans.
It was a sigh laced with despair, and so...
Clink.
"Lee Han Turtle. You are under arrest for assaulting the king and insulting the royal family."
"That's right."
Lee Han accepted the hands binding his wrists without resistance.
But no one watching felt any satisfaction.
However...
"Let's go."
The one being arrested—no, allowing himself to be arrested—walked forward boldly, heading to prison of his own accord.
The nobles watched him with complicated expressions.
What?
How could he be so brazen!
After reducing the king to that state, creating such a rift in the kingdom—what gave him the right to walk so confidently...?
That was their question, but they had no desire to understand him.
His actions were utterly incomprehensible by noble standards.
Even if the king was a criminal, even if he'd committed grave sins, one shouldn't act so outrageously.
They had to follow procedure, decorum...
"—What is it for?"
"......"
Clunk.
...Before their confusion could linger, someone blocked the knight's path.
A man with black hair and black eyes symbolizing Lionel.
"L-Lord Roan."
Roan Dimitri de Lionel.
He stood before the knight.
"What?"
"I have some questions. Answer them."
"...In this situation?"
"That's why I'm asking now. Besides, you're still my instructor. So you'll answer a cadet's questions, right?"
"Your logic's a bit off..."
"You taught me."
"...You only learned the weird stuff."
A casual exchange.
Utterly out of place in this situation—what could it be about?
Yet no one stopped Roan, and even the White Silver Lion knight turned his gaze to him.
"Do you seek power, Instructor?"
"Not really. Don't need it."
"Then vast wealth as a promise?"
"Money's plenty if it's enough to live on."
"Then honor and justice?"
"If I wanted that, would I have done something like this?"
"...Then why did you cause this?"
Roan wore an expression of utter incomprehension.
How could someone who wanted neither power, money, nor honor commit such an extreme act?
Before that question...
"Blackie, do you really need the answer to that right now?"
"Yes. I want to hear it."
"Alright, hmm. You might be disappointed."
"I'll try not to."
"...You're putting pressure on me too."
"Sorry."
"Nah, no need to apologize. The real reason's pretty mundane..."
Smack—.
Despite his awkward expression, he smiled with a strangely refreshing air.
"No one... else would do it."
"......"
"No one held that man accountable, so I did. That's all."
"...Do you have the right to hold your instructor accountable?"
"I do. I'm the victim."
"......"
"Think simply. I lived ten years in hell because of what that bastard did. I suffered because of it. I learned the truth, and I made him pay."
"......"
"You and others keep nitpicking because you see him as the king, tripping over laws and such—but let me ask one thing. Can that man be judged by the law?"
"......"
"Right, no. It's impossible to judge him by law. They claim to uphold it on the surface, but the law's always gentle and forgiving to the powerful. Hilarious, isn't it?"
"That's..."
"Ah, not blaming you. Not asking you to understand my grudge. But hear this: the world has lots of little cogwheels. Tiny gears that make everything turn. And power? It discards those cogwheels whenever it wants. Without a shred of mercy."
...At some point, people were listening intently to his voice.
The knight, who had seemed endlessly violent and reckless moments ago, now appeared utterly upright.
His words resonated, piercing straight to the heart.
"Without power, people get trampled. Eternal truth. Luckily, I have power. The power to show that this cogwheel named 'me' exists. Lucky, right? Thanks to it, I could properly screw things up in place of countless other cogwheels."
He was smiling.
"The kingdom will be in chaos because of this. Lots of people will resent me. But no regrets. Does holding back make anyone fix my wrongs? No. No one shouts for me. So I have to shout. I have to move. Nothing changes otherwise."
Gulp—.
The knight showed no intimidation.
He didn't raise his voice or exude force.
But his words carried weight, utterly unwavering.
He didn't evade his own crimes, and he showed no regret for his actions.
"To repeat: I'm not saying what I did was right. There might've been a better way. So don't attach any meaning to my actions. I just did what no one else would. ...That's it."
Thud.
...With that, he walked forward again.
With the utmost confidence, like a triumphant general on parade.
As if there were nothing to cower from.
The knight passed Roan and moved ahead, and Roan...
"...You know? Watching your back makes me want to live like you."
Boldly, without hesitation. Overwhelmingly.
—Without regrets.