Chapter 368
Chapter 368
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.77 – After He Left (2)
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This kingdom—no, the entire south—had been a powder keg for quite some time.
The spark that lit it all was the Southern Unification War.
They'd dragged on a money-devouring monster of a war for a full three years, and while they thankfully won, there were no gains to show for it.
The territory had expanded, sure, but Britannia was too vast. Even three years after the war's end, the kingdom was still struggling to bring it under control, buried in deficits.
And right in the middle of all this...
"We've already had dozens of incidents."
The Blood Cross Army.
The remnants of the defeated forces from the past, united in their resolve to topple the kingdom, had finally built up enough power to unleash a barrage of disasters.
Just the major ones included...
- 'Numerous illegal mages who had infiltrated the Academy.'
- 'The Demon King and hordes of summoned monsters.'
- 'Breeding half-demons in underground tunnels and manufacturing Mother Worms.'
- 'Assassins from the west and the Sultan's army invading the south.'
- 'The Magic Tower's plot to invade the capital, led by the empire's de facto rulers.'
- 'Half-demons and hellish monsters appearing at the temple.'
- 'The temple's collapse and the great fire.'
- 'The Oppen rebellion and knights being artificially turned into demons.'
- 'Numerous sleeper cells embedded within the kingdom.'
- 'Vampires attempting to seize control of Mordred.'
- 'The grand demon sealed in Mordred and its army of hundreds of thousands of monsters.'
- 'The betrayal by Roengrin and other noble houses.'
- 'Sword Saint-level experts and half-demons who seized the central boulevard.'
...What the hell.
"So, what do you think?"
Simon recited last year's major incidents and asked again. The twins...
"...How has it not collapsed yet?"
"How did we even survive this?"
Even the young twin siblings had heard of all these events, and they couldn't fathom how the kingdom was still standing.
Each one was enough to make the kingdom reel on its own, yet they'd somehow weathered them all...
"We never weathered them unscathed."
"Huh?"
"?"
"One man handled every single one of those personally."
"......"
"...Santa Uncle?"
"That's right. Sir Lee Han took care of them all by himself."
Ridiculously, the knight who had shielded the nation from disasters that would have scorched it to the ground was just one man.
There had been helpers, of course, but they only assisted—they never resolved anything.
All the disasters that arose were confronted and crushed by that knight alone.
And yet...
"The kingdom did nothing."
The kingdom had known full well about the Blood Cross Army's stirring.
But had they ever taken it seriously? Ever sought real solutions?
"Not once."
"Then what did they do?"
"Aren't they working?"
"Oh, they worked. They talked big and fought among themselves."
"………."
Empty debates. No solutions, no action—just endless meetings.
A vicious cycle of pointless gatherings.
"Surprising, isn't it? They never even tried to fix anything themselves. That's why everything's such a mess."
Simple logic.
The kingdom was always in chaos.
Always in crisis, always plagued by incidents.
But there was a man who silently faced those crises head-on—calamities that weren't an exaggeration to call apocalyptic.
A man of astonishing resilience and strength...
Yet.
"This kingdom drove away that sturdy savior. For the petty reason that he might become a threat to them."
"...Wow."
"So then?"
"Exactly. This wasn't sudden at all. It's just the powder keg that was already burning finally exploding—and they chased out the one man who could stop the blast. In Sir Lee Han's words..."
Reaping what they sowed.
"Assaulting the king? That's trivial. Who cares about some king? Beating a worthless traitor like that? It happens. But exiling Sir Lee Han over a pathetic king and their own precious authority? That's no small matter."
Yeah, who gives a damn about the king?
Simon couldn't wrap his head around exiling him for beating a traitor.
Are they incapable of reason?
"No, maybe they never even bothered to think rationally."
That's why he saw the king and the noble council members as idiots.
They'd never solved a damn thing themselves, yet they acted like they'd heroically stopped it all.
"Look at a clock—it's full of gears. But fools think one little gear missing won't matter. That's utterly stupid. A clock stops if even the tiniest gear breaks, and they want to yank out the most crucial one? Hopeless. If they did it out of malice, you could teach or scold them. But stupidity this profound? No fixing that."
"So then?"
"What are you gonna do, Uncle?"
"What can I do?"
Simon shrugged and chuckled wryly.
If he was certain his investments were beyond saving, a smart investor had only one move.
"...Shut it all down."
Before it collapsed completely, so he'd salvage something.
"Is that okay?"
"Way too negative."
The twins scolded him.
His approach was too extreme.
But.
"No, this is a rational decision."
"Huh?"
"What is?"
"Of course. If those cultists' next plan matches my prediction, the kingdom will fracture naturally anyway."
"?"
"??"
The twin beastkin siblings blinked, wondering how he could predict that.
But Simon just tilted his head.
On the contrary.
"After all this, shouldn't it be obvious to figure out the cultists' patterns and psychology? Their goals, principles, and what's happening in the kingdom right now—you can calculate their next move. How do they not see something this simple?"
"......"
"......"
"Huh? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"...You're so annoying."
"Genius types suck."
"??"
Simon couldn't understand why he was getting flak.
Clink, clink.
Swish, swish.
The sound of plates and cutlery being moved.
"......"
Thud, thud.
The sound of dusting and wiping.
But these were so cautious they barely qualified as sounds.
It had to be consideration to avoid disturbing him...
"...N-Noisy!"
"!!"
"Y-Your Majesty..."
"F-Forgive us."
"Sh-Shut up! Q-Quiet, I said!"
Crack!!
"Aaaargh!"
"Your Majesty!?"
"G-Get the medicine!"
"Where's the apothecary!!"
But the one who yelled—the king—cried out in agony at his own voice.
It hurts!
Excruciatingly so!
Even faint sounds stabbed his ears like awls. Speaking scorched his throat like an erupting volcano.
Every breath felt like cacti lining his nostrils, burning fiercely. Every blink made his face throb as if pummeled.
...Everything was pain.
Painful, agonizing, nightmarish.
This torment struck in real time, even in sleep, gnawing at his sanity and wasting him away.
He wanted to go mad!
If he lost his mind, he might endure somehow. Ironically, the pain kept his mind cruelly clear.
He...
"Aaaargh!"
King Edmund of Pendragon wailed like a child.
The suffering was unbearable.
"Your Majesty..."
The royal servants could only watch in despair.
No holy magic, potions, spells, or alchemy could heal the king.
Only the one who inflicted this curse-like agony could cure him—but that man was exiled.
Even if he weren't, he'd never lift the curse.
To that man, the king wasn't a king—just an archenemy...
"At this rate..."
The servants eyed a certain medicinal herb.
One the apothecary had given just in case.
No, it wasn't really medicine, but still...
"-Stop. Using that will make it irreversible."
"!!"
"Pathetic fools. Do you intend to ruin your own sovereign with your hands? It might be amusing, but put it off. I have questions for him myself right now."
"Uh, u-uh..."
The servants stammered at the intruder who had suddenly appeared in the king's bedchamber.
As their faces paled and eyes trembled...
Shing.
"Shall I sever those irreverent legs that dare not kneel before His Highness? Or that stiff neck of yours?"
"!!!"
The servants gasped anew at the knights now aiming blades at their throats and legs.
When had so many arrived...?
"Enough, Lark. They're just flustered."
"Your Highness..."
"I said that's enough."
Calming his loyal retainers while exuding overwhelming pressure, the man strode past them to Edmund.
They should have blocked him, but none dared stand in his way.
And rightly so—that man, no, that lord was—
"It's been a while, brother. ...No, Uncle."
"......Blai, ke."
"Yes, it's me. Your nephew. Your brother's son."
"B-Blake..."
Edmund forced his eyes open and glared at him.
The man looking down...
Duke Blake's eyes were as serene as a tranquil lake.
"Uncle, seeing each other's faces must be painful for both of us. You hate me. And I don't find you particularly pleasant either. But that's unavoidable. You've disliked me one-sidedly since I was a child. Even after you became king, it never changed."
Blake spoke flatly.
A low voice, yet clear to all.
Gulp...
The royal servants instantly thought of the calm before the storm.
That quiet voice was somehow—no, unmistakably terrifying.
Enough to make their bodies shrink instinctively.
They trembled, praying their fear was unfounded...
"But Uncle, even knowing you disliked me, I felt little toward you. You were just my uncle to me... But that wasn't the case."
...Sadly, their dread was all too real.
Whoosh!
Flames erupted.
Flames from Galahad's magic sword.
The unquenchable blaze of the demonic blade.
Ready to incinerate King Edmund at any moment!
"You were my enemy, Uncle. I was the fool who didn't realize it. I only learned recently."
Shing.
Blake's magic sword aimed between Edmund's eyes. Edmund glared back with eyes stained by fear, dread, and hatred.
In that instant their gazes crossed, Blake...
"Why did you do it?"
"......"
"-Why."
Stab!
He thrust the magic sword into Edmund's brow and roared.
"Did you kill my wife, you damned bastard!!!"
Whoosh!
The magic sword's flames finally engulfed the entire palace.