Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: End of Winter
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Rex's response was quite disappointing to Duke.
He had hoped for some brilliant strategy that would make him exclaim in admiration like Zhuge Liang, but what came back was simply an order to charge.
Rex seemed to realize he'd taken the easy way out after saying it, as a sense of awkwardness seeped through his words.
[Come to think of it, you're tied up on the southern and eastern fronts. It'd be hard for you to help directly.]
As if to make up for it, Rex granted Duke a few additional privileges.
[On second thought, I've been relying too much on your martial prowess. With this, you should be able to command on the front lines just like me.]
Some of Rex's interface privileges settled into Duke.
Previously, he could only issue orders to the Honor Guard's squad leaders. Now, he had the ability to communicate with anyone he formed a temporary contract with on the front lines.
However, Rex had overlooked one fact.
'I don't know how to make contracts?'
Contract magic was basic-level telekinesis magic.
Clairvoyance, contracts, telepathy, and so on.
Anyone with even a little intention to command learned these basics.
But Duke had focused on other abilities and never learned contract magic.
Before that, his dislike for using his brain meant he didn't trust himself to spot toxic clauses, so he'd skipped it.
'Uh... um...'
Still, saying "I haven't learned even basic magic, so I can't use this feature" in this situation would ruin his character.
In the end, Duke rolled his eyes inside his helmet and saluted nonchalantly.
"My thanks to you, my liege."
In the end, all Duke got from Rex was these extra privileges.
'I wonder if this will save her.'
Duke's mind grew complicated.
First problem: he didn't know how to make contracts.
Second: even if he did, he didn't know how to command.
Finally: whether one could so easily defy fate.
But agonizing here wouldn't change anything, so he headed to Hana first.
When Duke arrived at her tent, she had already finished preparing to depart.
She greeted him, draped in a stylish black coat like a cape for the first time in ages.
"Ah, my lord. You've come. Please hold the front lines well while I'm away..."
"It's a trap."
"Pardon?"
"My opinion aligns with Lord Rex's. The rebellion is a trap."
"What do you mean all of a sudden..."
Duke immediately relayed what he'd heard from Rex.
Of course, Duke hadn't understood any of it. He merely pointed out a few keywords stuck in his head.
He knew nothing of dual crisis theory or revolutionary opportunity theory.
He couldn't even remember the names properly.
But while listening to Rex's explanation, he'd memorized two words to at least sound knowledgeable.
Public sentiment and oppression.
"Before the rebellion broke out, was there a famine or disaster in the area that stirred unrest? Had you oppressed that region?"
He figured smart Hana and her retainers would piece it together from those two words.
And Duke's gamble paid off.
"No, there were no such issues... Ah, could it be?!"
Events look different depending on perspective.
Searching for evidence of a trap versus scanning for a normal rebellion yields different results.
She could spot the unnaturalness too.
"It's not a rebellion. It's a trap to lure us out of the citadel."
"It could tie me to the front lines as well."
"Then what do we do?"
"What do you want to do?"
"I still want to go. My people are there."
As expected.
Just as Duke predicted.
She no longer chased responsibility, but her prioritization of her domain's people hadn't changed.
Even knowing it was a trap, she chose to head to the city.
"If the mayor was taken hostage, I'd rescue him. If the citizens were forced into rebellion, I must execute the one who made them do it, or they'll be sacrificed."
Her goal had simply shifted.
From suppressing the rebellion to rescuing the citizens.
"I must go."
Hana's steadfast eyes met Duke's.
Seeing them, Duke hesitated briefly.
Sticking to one's beliefs was good.
The bird he loved soared beautifully through clear skies.
He'd long abandoned the thought of caging her.
But if the bird headed to barren wasteland with no fruit, Duke would have to bind her legs and shut the cage.
"Even if you go there, that city is beyond your saving."
"...What do you mean, my lord?"
"It's not a lack of your ability. I can't save it either."
And that was because...
"The dead cannot be saved."
Duke barely suppressed a sigh trying to escape.
Fundamentally, Duke preferred following the original story's flow.
Not just because spoilers were major events, but because his goal was to ride Rex's coattails.
The original Rex overcame countless adversities to reach a happy ending.
Duke was just hitching a ride on that luck, so he avoided disrupting the flow too much.
But that time had passed.
He held back spoilers for the happy ending, but blocking a pointless death was obvious.
Even if it hurt the bird in the process.
"No way..."
"If you doubt it, ask the one who brought the intel. Did they ever see even one rebel eating?"
She immediately summoned a retainer from the shadows and relayed Duke's question.
The retainer, who had overheard the conversation, shook their head cautiously.
"Thinking back... not a single one."
Of course, they hadn't specifically observed restaurants amid the important rebellion reports.
But scouring their memory, not one person was eating on the streets.
Not even at street vendors.
Hana's expression darkened further.
Duke felt sorry for distressing her, but he had to say it.
"The dead get no second chance. They're not the corpses you know. They won't wave or smile at you."
"Who would do such a thing..."
"One of the Empire's 15 heroes, probably."
"Pardon?"
Duke recalled one faction among the Empire's 15 heroes.
The Underworld faction.
They specialized in necromancy to raise the dead.
He'd crushed them thoroughly with extra malice during the Empire's fall.
"Those we thought wiped out still carry on."
There were so many heroes back in the Empire days.
Even Duke couldn't kill every three-digit number during the collapse.
One survivor must have manipulated the citizens to fake the rebellion.
Duke was certain.
(Though it was embarrassing to call it deduction when it was just original knowledge.)
But Hana seemed to deny it, unwilling to accept it was too late.
"But we couldn't mistake dead walkers or ghouls."
"Today's necromancy is a degraded version of the Empire's."
Not just necromancy—all magic had degraded.
Offense lost power, defense grew softer, others lost key intricacies.
Necromancy too.
The Underworld faction led it among the 15 heroes, but when they fell, greedy disciples snatched the manuals and fled.
Selfish superhumans by default, they hoarded them.
Thus, necromancers causing incidents worldwide were mostly unrelated self-taught ones.
"They're not dead walkers or ghouls. They're living corpses."
If classified, living dead perhaps.
Flesh unrotted, no maggots, blood meaningless even if decayed.
Unlike other undead, barely distinguishable from life.
Nearly impossible to tell apart.
But they were unmistakably dead.
No breath, no food, no souls above all.
"Puppets moved by mana. No concept of passing on."
At Duke's cold declaration, Hana bit her lip slightly.
Duke's gaze went to her hand.
Her black-gloved fist trembled faintly.
She finally spoke.
"Why tell me this now?"
"Sneria. Your beliefs are noble, and thus I cannot watch your life wasted."
"You seem awfully familiar with this."
"I've seen it plenty. Too much..."
Of course, it was a lie.
Duke had never held such noble ideals, nor forged precious bonds like hers.
Such situations weren't familiar.
But denying it mid-persuasion would sour the mood, so he played along.
"So answer carefully. Is there reason to go to that city?"
To his question, she didn't answer immediately, her voice trembling.
"Then I must go even more."
To honor the souls of the unjustly slain.
"For those who followed me believing in me, I must prove they weren't wrong."
Duke silently met her eyes.
Since that day's interrogation, her eyes had been brilliantly sharp.
What moved her now wasn't duty, but her own will.
She moved for beliefs worth life and limb.
Like his past self, training desperately.
(Though Duke knew comparing was rude.)
Duke didn't stop her. He couldn't.
He'd shaped her thus—what face to stop her with?
He could only trust and wait.
Cheering her and her retainers' path.
"Understood. Then I'll hold this place. But first..."
Duke recalled the temporary contract from Rex.
"Take this before you go."
Duke fumbled with Rex's interface to somehow activate the temporary contract.
'Uh... is this right?'
Mangling half-remembered contract spells with the unfamiliar screen, a crude temporary contract flew to Hana and her retainers.
'Oh. It worked.'
The retainers marveled at the firefly-like spirits in the air.
"Lord Rex wields such magic."
"Now I see why Providence's forces moved as one."
But unlike the retainers, Hana's reaction was odd.
Her ear tips flushed as she spoke.
"Confirmed, my lord."
"Hm. This is just a makeshift."
"Yes. Makeshift."
"We could consider a formal one when you return."
Whoosh!
Her face flushed red.
"Pardon? Isn't that too fast?"
"After ten years, I thought we knew each other well enough. Was it just me?"
"No, my lord! I accept..."
"Don't commit now."
'Feels like planting a death flag.'
Promising a formal "partnership" contract before heading to enemy trap? Total death flag.
As a veteran of many wars, she seemed to grasp his intent.
"Yes. Answering here does feel ominous."
She nodded, buttoning her coat.
"My lord. I'll be back."
"I'll be waiting."
.
.
.
Meanwhile, Rex in his office.
A clear, cheerful ding arrived in his system.
"Huh?"
Seeing the system message, Rex marveled.
"Wow. As expected..."
Then, recalling the historian somewhere beyond the wall, he muttered inwardly.
'Truly a romantic medieval era. Straight-up without buildup. Or is Duke just that manly?'
Rex fiddled with the system, confirming the features unlocked by their engagement.
'Hm... First, as congratulations, I should send them a house.'
A lord's privileges could easily grant a mansion.
Rex manipulated the system, purely cheering for Duke.