Chapter 150
Chapter 150
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 150
Chapter Title: 47. Great Houses Live Up to Their Name (1)
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I spent most of the day sleeping, and whenever I was awake, I was swamped with visits from Dotrin's officers, exchanging greetings and stories without a moment's rest.
A great many people came to see me.
They were the knights and nobles who had survived the outpost battle.
They repeatedly expressed their gratitude, saying that thanks to me, they had shaken off the Imperial mages' pursuit unscathed. They didn't forget to promise that if the opportunity ever arose, they would repay the debt of their lives.
I felt proud.
Until the same situation repeated the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that.
Even good words grow tiresome after a time.
Having to go through the exact same conversation all waking hours was pure agony.
Unable to endure it any longer, I blocked all visitors under the pretext of needing to focus on recovery.
Flutter.
No sooner did I sense a presence outside the tent than I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep.
All the while cursing inwardly at that Ilai bastard for not even doing his job as a proper gatekeeper.
"What? Sleeping?"
At the familiar voice, I cracked open my eyes. It was Doris and Jin.
The moment I opened my eyes, Doris gave me a knowing look and smirked, mocking me like a child caught playing pretend.
But that lasted only a moment. Jin apologized to me with a serious expression.
We could call it an exchange of banter, but in truth, the recent battle had been a clear defeat for the Dotrin Kingdom forces—the entire outpost had been obliterated.
Dotrin's command had grown anxious about plummeting morale and needed to divert the troops' attention elsewhere. Their solution was to highlight me, who had made the greatest contributions in that battle.
In other words, they wanted to create a hero to prevent the soldiers from coldly reflecting on the defeat.
"They have the Sky Knight Order—why me?"
In response to my question, Doris replied with a somewhat stiff expression that the Sky Knight Order would soon be leaving the front lines for Dotrin's southern coastal base.
An Imperial fleet had appeared off Dotrin's southern seas.
It was a massive fleet of over seventy giant warships.
Estimated troops numbered between twelve and fourteen thousand—a pitiful force compared to the Imperial army hunkered in the swamps.
But Doris believed the fleet was more likely to be the Empire's main thrust.
Jin provided further explanation.
The Imperial forces that had crossed Dotrin's borders so far were little more than ragtag conscripts scraped together by nobles from all over, with chaotic command structures and officers utterly lacking in military competence.
In contrast, the fleet that had appeared in the southern seas was the Empire's regular legion—a true army worthy of the name.
"You mean..."
As I frowned and asked, Jin Katrin replied in a grave tone.
"The Imperial army in the swamps is bait."
I was speechless at the absurdity.
Their numbers approached a hundred thousand, and the included knight orders and mages matched the full might of a middling kingdom.
And that was bait.
What's more, it included the Emperor's own blood kin.
"The Emperor's promise to grant the throne to the prince who achieved the greatest feats was nothing but empty rhetoric."
At Jin's words, Doris added gravely with a heavy expression.
"This is the Empire. This is our enemy."
He was telling me just how monstrous our foe was—and how ruthless their Emperor.
"But from our position, even knowing it's bait, we can't just pull our forces off lightly."
Even if the Emperor discarded the armies led by his princes as pawns, we couldn't treat them the same.
Regardless of the commanders' abilities or troop quality, that sheer overwhelming number was a dire threat that forced Dotrin to stake its survival.
"You're our only option, Your Highness. If we make the Sky Knight Order the heroes, the soldiers will panic when they leave."
Jin earnestly sought my understanding once more, in a tone more pleading than ever, even bowing his head politely.
"Just keep the annoying tent-crashers away. Then it's fine."
"I'll warn them beforehand: anyone disturbing Your Highness during recovery will be dealt with under military law."
Just as our conversation seemed to wrap up,
"What about our promise?"
An unexpected voice cut in.
Ilai stood at the entrance—who knew when he'd appeared—glaring at Doris with an icy coldness unlike ever before.
"You promised that if we wanted, we could leave anytime. You had wyverns on standby so we could return to the kingdom whenever we wished. Wasn't that the promise?"
"That promise still holds..."
"How hollow. You create pretexts to keep His Highness from leaving the front, then claim the promise still holds. As if His Highness would abandon his anxious soldiers and depart the front lines of unknown dangers."
As I opened my mouth to respond to Ilai's excessively hostile words, he struck first.
"Your Highness, don't you see? Dotrin is using you right now. The one who calls himself your friend is leaving his injured companion in a battlefield that could be attacked anytime by the Empire's great host, all to soothe his own troops."
He wasn't sneering or raging. Ilai's voice was simply cold.
Which only made his fury all the more palpable.
"It only became clear after Your Highness fell. The meaning of hiding your identity and wandering as a mercenary in a foreign war."
Ilai said.
Even achievements here wouldn't be mine.
To that, I replied that I hadn't come for empty flattery.
Ilai spoke again.
He'd expected as much. I'd never been one to boast of merits anyway.
"Even death here wouldn't be yours, Your Highness."
In an effort to end this unproductive argument, I tried to send Ilai away but suddenly met his eyes.
Ilai was afraid.
"You are the kingdom's hope, Your Highness. If anything happens to you, everything crumbles."
I called it exaggeration. Ilai refuted me outright.
He'd seen it himself. While contact from the Empire had been cut off, how the seemingly steadfast North had fractured—right before his eyes.
"If something happens to Your Highness here, the kingdom loses everything."
That anxiety and fear pierced my heart.
Because I knew it too.
The kingdom's blazing will for independence was little more than a fragile spark on damp kindling. A stiff breeze would snuff it out—a pitiful thing.
It still needed a windbreak.
And that was my role.
"I won't come to harm. Ilai."
I soothed him.
Nothing would happen to me here—I wouldn't fade away pointlessly.
But Ilai didn't trust my words.
"What if that grand magus who razed the outpost and left Your Highness half-dead strikes the main camp? Can you swear it'll be fine then?"
There was precedent, after all.
"No. It's different this time. If that bastard shows up again, I won't just take it lying down."
This wasn't empty talk.
Mysteries and marvels were nutrients that grew the soul just by witnessing them, and [Myth] was nourishment beyond compare to any mystery or marvel.
And I had wielded [Myth] directly. Even if with Agnes's aid, even if I was merely the conduit, my flesh had experienced [Myth] firsthand.
I was certain: when my melted heart solidified, I'd gain one far larger and stronger than before.
With magi coming, I wouldn't be squeezing myself dry worrying about allies like last time.
I was waiting for that bastard to reappear.
So I could have my revenge.
But Ilai kept objecting despite my words.
Finally, Jin intervened.
Dotrin's archmage-level wizards were already en route to the front lines as countermeasures against the lightning-wielding grand magus, so no need to worry.
"Then let those fine Dotrin archmages guard this place."
Ilai scoffed in response.
"Knights and wizards are fundamentally different. They can never be a rallying point. Wizards chanting from safe rears are just natural disasters to the soldiers."
"Then have the Sky Knight Order stay. Or doesn't Dotrin have any Swordmasters? I can't understand why you're dumping this burden on our injured prince."
To Jin's words, Ilai countered that all those were Dotrin's affairs, none of their business.
As I listened to the heated debate, I looked at Doris.
He looked at a loss.
Whether because his intentions were being twisted or simply flustered by the sharp atmosphere, I couldn't tell.
But one thing was certain: he had never truly meant to use me.
Doris wasn't the type to exploit others for his country's gain.
"Jin. Enough."
In fact, he reined Jin in himself.
"In truth, the casus belli for this war stems from Leonberger's delegation..."
"Enough!"
His face hardened as he silenced his friend.
"If that's the justification, then I bear the responsibility. His Majesty said as much, and I agree."
But instead of stopping, Jin turned to me.
"Your Highness, regardless of others' views, I believe it's fitting that you feel responsibility for this war..."
"Jin!"
Doris bellowed.
The ever-smiling lips were set rigid. His eyes trembled with anger.
The naive man was gone.
Only the prince of a nation and leader of the realm's strongest knight order remained.
"Don't shame me further."
"Your Highness!"
"Speak one more word, and I'll strip your vice-commander title and reassign you to the rear. This is an official order as Dotrin's 1st Wyvern Knight. Vice-Commander Katrin."
Jin Katrin bit his lip at those words.
Having silenced his friend, the prince apologized to me courteously.
"Forgive us. Leonberger bears no blame in this war. The Empire would have waged it sooner or later regardless. If anything, thanks to you, many lives were saved—Dotrin owes you gratitude."
Doris bowed his head deeply in sincere apology.
Jin tried to interject again but shut his mouth at Doris's cold glare.
"Leave whenever you wish. As young master Ilai said, this is our land. Forcing others to shed blood in our stead goes against our forebears' legacy."
After repeated apologies, Doris ordered Jin.
Leave the swiftest wyvern and knight behind so our group could return to the kingdom anytime.
Jin didn't reply. He just pounded his chest in frustration.
"Jin!"
Only after the prince shouted did Jin respond.
"Fine! I get it! You're the only good one! I'm always the villain! Damn it!"
Unable to contain his anger, Jin stormed out of the tent.
"Impudent as it sounds, understand Jin."
"I don't resent him, even if I don't fully understand."
Just differing senses of justice. If I were in his shoes, I'd have acted similarly.
"Thanks to this, my thoughts are clear now."
Dotrin for Dotrin. Me for my kingdom and myself.
Doris bid his farewells.
Though the conversation had derailed midway, his visit today—before departing south—had been to say goodbye and entrust me with a few requests and warnings.
The requests went unvoiced, but he harbored no regrets.
He simply vowed to someday repay the friendship and goodwill I'd shown.
"I look forward to meeting again, my friend."
Doris gripped my hand firmly, his gaze intense.
With that, the prince left the tent. Before going, he even bowed to Ilai.
Faced with the guileless prince's demeanor, even Ilai couldn't keep his edge and returned the bow.
Once Doris had gone, Ilai began spilling excuses.
"The sick visits, the thanks—they were all egged on by that vice-commander. To make Your Highness feel responsible. The visitors' sincerity is unquestionable, but that fox of a vice-commander is different."
So that's where he'd been prowling all day—gauging the camp's mood.
Skillful, despite not even speaking the language.
"But will you really leave?"
"Weren't you the one saying not to get fired up over someone else's war?"
"True, but Your Highness isn't one to heed others' words."
"Now you're critiquing openly."
"Just an honest opinion based on facts."
Ilai prodded again, bickering as he did.
Was I really leaving?
"Not right away, but I'll head back eventually."
In truth, old man Burck had told me that things not there before had appeared in the swamps, swarming about.
The fire dragon's reappearance was just the beginning.
The world had changed.
This wasn't limited to Dotrin—it was the whole world. The kingdom surely hadn't escaped the upheaval.
Especially a kingdom built by driving out non-humans; something happening there was no surprise.
"Then we should hurry back!"
Ilai urged me.
I shook my head.
I couldn't leave just yet.
Even if leaving, I had to fulfill the original purpose of coming to Dotrin.
Ilai asked what that was.
"Gonna hit Swordmaster."
Adelia, who had just arrived with my meal, flinched at my words.
A timid [Slaughterer] who couldn't even swing a sword at a person.
Perfect—the swamps teemed with non-humans.
Enough to be proper opponents for a prospective Swordmaster stalling at the final wall.
"I see."
Ilai made a pitying face.
Deeply sympathetic to the grueling path ahead for Adelia.
"You're sitting it out?"
"Pardon?"
"You're peak Sword Expert too."
At my words, Ilai began sweating profusely.
Swordmaster wasn't some dog's name, he protested. It wasn't something you just decided to become.
"Of course not."
Even with my reply, Ilai couldn't shake his unease.
Quick on the uptake, that one.