Hero of Turbulent Times
“The truth, then.”
There was a strange, unshakable certainty in the Emperor’s voice as he set the crown aside. Leon, puzzled, asked the obvious question.
“How can you be so sure?”
“I have my ways.”
A thought struck Leon at once.
“Does that crown have some kind of lie-detecting function?”
“······.”
“So it does.”
“Haha. Sharp, aren’t you.”
The Emperor crossed his legs.
“Well, it’s hardly a great secret, so I’ll tell you. You’re right. This crown, handed down from the distant past, has a hidden function — it discerns truth from falsehood in whoever it regards. A rather fitting ability for an emperor, wouldn’t you say?”
Leon’s eyes widened.
“Wow. And the accuracy is guaranteed? That sounds almost too useful.”
The Emperor waved a hand.
“The accuracy has been verified, but it’s not nearly as convenient as you’re imagining.”
“Ah. I see.”
Judging by the atmosphere, there were quite a few conditions that had to be met before it could be used. Perhaps the simple questions, and the clearing of everyone else from the room, had been part of those requirements.
“In that case, care to guess why I asked you those questions?”
Leon figured it out without much difficulty.
“You want to entrust me with some important duty, don’t you?”
Demon Realm forces had already planted countless agents, collaborators, and spies throughout the Empire. As the Black Sand incident had made clear, even high-ranking nobles were not exempt. And the Emperor would certainly be aware of that.
In short, before assigning any critical mission, the Emperor had wanted to run at least a minimal verification.
The Emperor nodded, looking mildly impressed.
“Oh. Your mind works better than I expected.”
“······.”
“I mentioned it at the banquet last time, didn’t I. Lately······.”
The Emperor let every bit of tension drain from his body and sprawled into the plush leather chair. His posture was growing more shameless by the minute.
“The state of this Empire is anything but ordinary.”
“Hmm.”
“How should I put it. Things that had settled to the bottom are rising to the surface. Cracks spreading across a basin full of water. Ants swarming over a sugar cube dropped on the ground. That sort of situation.”
“You mean problems are surfacing everywhere.”
“Exactly. Just reading the reports that come in, it’s nothing but trouble inside and out. Within our borders: Sahyang, Demolius, the Akbuhoe, the Gonghyeol Group — all manner of scum. Outside: the Republic, the beastmen nations, the Black Archipelago······. Every headache imaginable is rearing its head.”
“······.”
Leon brushed a hand across his mouth, thinking.
The flow of the world was already twisting away from the original story. No — it would be fairer to say the direction had veered wildly off course long ago.
A butterfly’s wingbeat spawning a typhoon. A snowball rolled from a hilltop, tumbling and swelling beyond all control.
All of it set in motion by one man named Leon. The countless actions he had taken had triggered chain reactions that rewrote the future wholesale.
How many times already had he lived through events that never existed in the original? The Pribil incident. The Dragon Heart Palace affair.
The biggest one has to be the Gonghyeol Group’s diminished influence.
The Pribil incident. A major branching point Leon had anticipated even before it happened.
After Pribil, the Gonghyeol Group’s true nature and the scale of the threat they posed had been laid bare for the entire world to see. The result was a sweeping purge, the Empire’s full attention, and a sharp elevation in both scrutiny and alert level — which in turn left the organization severely weakened.
The Gonghyeol Group was an imperial subversion unit composed of demons dispatched from the Demon Realm. Once that unit could no longer function properly, the Demon Realm would have moved quickly — either devising new schemes or accelerating ones already planned.
Namely: co-opting the Empire’s hostile powers and factions. Reaching out in every direction, gathering usable pieces for the board.
Losing the dragon’s heart to Gwiho at the Dragon Heart Palace was a prime example — Sahyang, now folded into the Demon Realm’s camp, at work. The headaches the Emperor had just listed were more of the same.
“The Republic is preparing a full-scale southern advance. Their Great Demonic Realm is still open — so what do you suppose it means that they’re gearing up to invade southward anyway?”
“Hmm.”
Leon deliberately took his time, as if mulling it over. Answering too readily, as though he’d already known, would only invite suspicion.
He put on a look of startled realization.
“Don’t tell me — the Republic has fallen into the Demon Realm’s hands?”
“······.”
The Emperor studied Leon for a long moment, then pointed a finger straight at him.
“······You’ve been expecting this for some time, haven’t you? Why bother playing dumb? Though I will say, the acting wasn’t half bad. A little rough around the edges — youth, I suppose.”
He saw through that?
Leon was flustered. He’d always considered himself a decent actor.
Even sprawled in that chair like a complete layabout, an emperor was still an emperor. He was not so easily fooled.
“At any rate, you’re correct. The Republic’s leadership is already being treated as little better than demons themselves.”
“······.”
“On top of that, the beastmen are puffing up their tails, and those island bumpkins are thrashing their oars. Sensing opportunity, the jackals are pouring out in droves to take a bite out of the Empire.”
The Emperor’s wording was nothing if not bold.
“Do you know what we call a situation like this?”
This time, it wasn’t a question that expected an answer.
“War. All-out war.”
The Emperor jabbed his index finger into the tabletop with each word. The coffee in his cup sloshed.
“Before long, a storm of blood will sweep the entire continent. It will be the largest war since the Human-Dragon War two hundred years ago.”
Leon couldn’t hold back his curiosity.
“Is the Empire’s position that much weaker?”
“That’s not a question I can answer with certainty. But a pack of jackals is still just a pack of jackals. I’m confident the Empire’s full strength will not fall short of its enemies.”
Leon nodded.
“Honestly, I find it hard to imagine the Empire being outmatched.”
“Even so, there are simply too many enemies. The dragons were monstrously powerful, but at least there weren’t many of them. This will likely be a grinding, ugly war. The damage may well exceed what we saw two hundred years ago. Countless ordinary citizens will die for nothing.”
“······.”
“Death on a massive scale. Chaos. Tragedy. All of it will crash down upon the Empire. We call that a turbulent age. No matter how mighty the Empire may be, once war breaks out, suffering losses is inevitable. Not even the gods in the heavens could prevent that.”
In that instant, Leon grasped the Emperor’s intent.
“And in a turbulent age, a hero is needed. I would like you to play that role.”
Leon’s hand, moving toward his coat of its own accord, froze mid-reach. The Emperor waved him on.
“Go ahead.”
“Then if you’ll excuse me.”
The Emperor let out a hearty laugh. The fact that this man didn’t even bother with a polite refusal — just went straight for it — confirmed he was a genuine madman.
Fsshk—.
“······.”
Leon lit his cigarette and thought.
There was an important point buried in what the Emperor had just said.
“Not a hero — just the role of one. Is that right?”
“Now we’re speaking the same language. Yes. Frankly, you don’t exactly have the personality of a great hero, do you? You’ve simply accomplished heroic deeds.”
“How do you know that so well?”
“I’m the Emperor.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“A true hero would be someone like your brother. That friend Lyman carries a genuinely noble purpose.”
“I respect Brother Lyman myself.”
“A true hero like that is fine, of course······.”
The Emperor leaned forward.
“But what I need is a cunning hero.”
“······.”
“Someone moderately shrewd, moderately just, and moderately strong. Someone who will save people but won’t throw his own life away doing it. A hero who doesn’t simply follow his heart — whose head is always working as well.”
Heroes in wartime carried enormous weight. They steadied frightened citizens and lifted the morale of soldiers.
That was the kind of war hero the Emperor wanted now.
“In chaotic times, the people need someone they can believe in, admire, and rally behind. Look through the Empire’s entire history and you’ll see it. During long wars, when despair deepens and faith grows thin······ the pillars that kept the people standing were always the heroes close at hand. Not the gods up in the sky.”
“······.”
Leon’s gaze on the Emperor shifted slightly. This man genuinely cared about his subjects.
“Winning battles wherever he goes. Sounding the drums of victory with every campaign. Kindling the flames of triumph with every step he takes. A figure who carries that image of victory is extremely important. Ideal for stabilizing public morale.”
“And you believe I’m the right person for that heroic role.”
The Emperor tipped his head in affirmation. He swept his bangs back with a grand motion, revealing a face like a sculpted masterpiece.
“Entirely the right person. Explaining it all point by point is getting a bit tedious. Well, you already have a rough idea, don’t you? If I had to name just one or two reasons······.”
“Yes.”
“The biggest is that for the past half year, you’ve soaked up every single major issue in the Empire.”
The Emperor pointed a finger at Leon.
“And not just any issues — every incident involving martial merit, you’ve been right in the middle of. At this moment, you are the most closely watched martial artist in the Empire. Frankly, unless someone’s been living under a rock in some mountain valley, there’s no one who doesn’t know your name.”
Leon conceded the point. He had already been widely known from repeated appearances in the press.
Now the Emperor’s true intentions were clear.
The abrupt bestowal of the Third-class Martial Merit Medal, the sparring exhibition at the banquet — both had been in the same vein. Building Leon’s renown further, so he could eventually be elevated as a hero.
“However, Your Majesty.”
That left one lingering question.
“What were you planning to do if I had lost that sparring match?”
The Emperor answered without the slightest change in expression.