Chapter 182
Chapter 182
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 182
Chapter Title: 56. Montpellier! Oh, Montpellier! (3)
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Unlike the knight's words right before he lost consciousness, when Montpellier came to, he still hadn't escaped the capital.
He realized it the moment he saw the windowless room that seemed like some basement. If this were the Empire, there'd be no reason to hole up in such a shabby place.
"Ugh."
As he groaned from the pain, the knights who had been whispering among themselves approached.
"Are you awake?"
"Where is this?"
"This is our hideout in the capital."
The knight spoke with genuine regret.
"The capital's defenses were stricter than we anticipated, so we couldn't slip away."
The knight's face hardened as he explained how the Royal Knight Order and the capital's knights had swarmed like bees, costing them no small number of men.
"If only the ambassador had checked the documents a little sooner, we could've gotten you out ages ago. Why'd it take so long? All the magic we prepared went to waste."
"There were watching eyes, so I had to be cautious..."
As Montpellier spoke with a cowed expression, the knight belatedly apologized.
"I wasn't blaming you, Ambassador. I just regret the hardship you've endured. Anyway, you've been through enough. Rest easy now."
"What's the plan from here?"
"Originally, some of us were set to escort you to the Empire, but since things went awry, we'll have to wait for our allies to attack the capital, create some chaos, and slip out in the confusion."
Montpellier frowned at the knight's words.
"It'll be tough with just us here. As you saw, the capital's knights and guards reacted with uncanny speed."
"Don't worry. We have plenty of men. They'll all arrive here by tonight."
Montpellier nearly asked how many that "plenty" was and when exactly they were coming, but he held his tongue, not wanting to seem suspicious.
"I need some rest."
"I'll wake you when it's time."
Montpellier waved him off vaguely and closed his eyes.
Having endured the night in wet clothes only to suffer a brutal beating, he was utterly exhausted and fell asleep immediately.
And when he woke again, quite some time had passed.
...Block them!
...How did they get here so fast...
Amid the haze of sleep, he heard the clamor.
"Gaaah!"
A agonized scream pierced his ears.
"Hah!"
Montpellier's eyes flew open.
The first things he saw were fully armored knights and the room thick with smoke.
"Ambassador! It's gone wrong! The kingdom found our hideout! We're going to have to scatter and fend for ourselves!"
The knight roughly hauled him to his feet.
"How in the world did this happen..."
"The Royal Knight Order and the capital's knights have us completely surrounded! We tried to hold out until our allies attacked the capital, but they set the place on fire! If we stay, we'll be roasted alive!"
After hurriedly explaining, the knight grabbed Montpellier and headed up the stairs.
"Luckily, they haven't found the secret passage yet. While the other knights buy us time, we'll head west."
"What's west?"
"There's an abandoned fortress where our allies are stationed. Most of the troops have probably moved out to attack the capital already, but there should be enough left to guide you and me to the Empire."
"Give me a sword. Who knows what might happen on the way."
At Montpellier's request, the knight pulled a dagger from his belt and handed it over.
"I'm truly grateful. And... sorry."
The chilling tone made the knight freeze mid-step.
Puuk.
In that instant, Montpellier plunged the dagger into the knight's nape.
"Guh..."
The knight spat blood and shoved Montpellier away.
"Why...?"
Montpellier, tumbling messily across the floor, sat up and said,
"I'm sorry. Truly sorry. It's nothing personal. It's just that all that's waiting for me back in the Empire is the guillotine."
The knight, whom he'd thought dead, turned around. One hand clutched his neck, the other gripped his sword.
Montpellier scrambled up in horror.
But his battered body from the beating wouldn't obey, and he barely managed a few steps before collapsing again.
"W-Wait! Hear me out!"
He shouted desperately at the knight slowly approaching.
His face was a picture of dismay.
He'd planned to kill him and slip away unnoticed, but the knight's vitality was tougher than he'd imagined.
"It was a m-mistake!"
As Montpellier babbled excuses, the knight steadily closed the distance until he stood right before him.
Swiik.
The knight raised his sword.
Sslash.
At the sound of something being sliced, Montpellier instinctively squeezed his eyes shut.
Thud. Roll.
He peeked through slitted eyes at the odd sound.
The knight who had been advancing with sword raised moments ago was now a headless corpse. His wide-eyed head lay before him, mouth still agape in death.
Whoosh.
The acrid smell of blood stung his nose, pierced by the fresh scent of grass.
And beside it stood a black-haired woman who had appeared like a ghost.
Pointed ears and a beautiful face.
It was the half-elf the prince had treated like a limb.
"How are you here..."
Montpellier looked around in shock. Fear and hope flickered across his face at the thought the prince might be here.
Thud. Thud.
Then, from the shadows of the secret passage, a group emerged.
Not the prince, but the Queen, flanked by the Royal Knight Order.
"Northern rangers use a special potion when tracking monsters. The stench is so foul, they can follow it from miles away. Yesterday, I had a palace maid apply it to your body."
Montpellier recalled the woman who had doused him the day before, thinking it mere filth at the time. Apparently, it had been the potion.
"I saw you stab a knight in the back—one ready to lay down his life for you."
Montpellier stared blankly at the Queen.
He never imagined the queen of a nation hiding in the shadows of a dangerous enemy hideout, watching his every move.
Ignoring him, the Queen smiled brightly and said,
"Personally, I despise your kind. If not for our agreement, I'd have taken your head right here."
Montpellier froze at the ruthless words clashing with her smile.
"But as Queen, I know that base act proves your conversion is genuine."
Only then did Montpellier realize.
From the moment the Empire's knight rescued him, every instant had been the Queen's test.
"If I had..."
Montpellier's lips trembled.
He wanted to ask what she would have done if he'd taken the knight's hand and fled through the passage. But he couldn't voice it.
The half-elf's cold gaze beside the smiling Queen sealed his lips.
"Congratulations, Ambassador. Today, you are reborn as a member of the kingdom."
The Queen smiled with a youthfulness belying her age.
Chills ran through Montpellier's body.
"Follow me, Montpellier."
The Queen's informal tone was a far cry from her previous formal respect as the Empire's ambassador.
Overwhelmed by her untouchable dignity, he limped after her.
The knights who emerged from the secret passage ambushed the Empire's knights hiding in the lair.
"Watch with your own eyes how the seeds the Empire sowed meet their end."
After hearing that, Montpellier couldn't even blink away the tears stinging from the smoke.
The Queen seemed to warn that any second thoughts would end him the same way.
Montpellier trembled.
Mother and child alike, vicious to the core. He'd fallen hard.
He'd just been shaking off the tension.
It didn't take long to quell the commotion.
The Empire's knights, having inhaled smoke for so long, were far from their peak, and they were overwhelmed all too easily by the kingdom's knights pressing from both sides.
Only two survived.
The Queen interrogated them right there amid the blood and charred meat stench, without leaving the scene.
"Tell me everything you know."
"To see a mere wench rampaging like this tells me all I need about the kingdom's state!"
The Empire knight snarled like a wounded beast.
"You don't even know a woman's virtues! Ptui!"
He even spat blood-flecked phlegm at the Queen's face.
Clack.
A Royal Knight extended his hand. The glob stuck to his gauntlet. He returned to his position expressionless.
The Queen remained unfazed, as if nothing happened.
"No matter how you torture me, you won't get a word!"
Even as the knight steeled himself for death, the Queen didn't twitch an eyebrow.
And she asked no more questions.
Swiik.
The Queen drew a sword from a Royal Knight's waist and swung it down.
Crunch.
The knight's forearm was severed.
"Gaaah!"
He screamed.
The Queen sliced off the other arm.
Her clean cut through bone and flesh rivaled any knight's.
"The kingdom will fall! The Empire's army will raze the palace to its foundations!"
The knight spat curses amid screams.
The Queen swung again.
This time a leg, then the remaining one.
Limb-less, the knight writhed in a pool of blood like a beast.
The Queen nodded. One Royal Knight stepped forward to staunch the bleeding.
She advanced again.
Like flaying a pelt, she peeled the skin from the knight. Montpellier turned away, unable to watch.
"Montpellier. Have you forgotten my command?"
At her icy voice, he forced his head back.
The gruesome torture continued.
Montpellier retched repeatedly as he watched.
The Empire knight, once defiant and insulting the Queen, now wailed like a child, begging for death.
The Queen didn't stop.
She gouged eyes, sliced nose.
"I-I'll talk!"
The knight finally broke.
"H-His Imperial Majesty ordered that, when war breaks out, exterminating the Leonberger royal bloodline takes priority above all. If not fully possible, at least kill the King, 1st Prince, and 2nd Prince. By now, the legions on the front lines are moving under the same directive."
The Queen turned a coldly pale face to Montpellier.
"I-I had no idea!"
Terrified, he waved his hands frantically.
The Queen looked away.
"Th-That's all I know. Please, just kill me now..."
Sslash.
Before he finished begging, the Queen swung. One stroke severed his head.
The head, twisted in agony and terror, rolled right to Montpellier's feet.
"Hiiik!"
He collapsed on his rear. His pants soaked instantly, the stench of urine spreading.
"Tch."
The Queen clicked her tongue coldly and ordered the knights,
"That one may still be useful. Lock him in the palace dungeon."
The Empire knight, half out of his mind staring at his comrade's corpse, was dragged away sobbing.
"Leave no bodies. There's no place for them in kingdom soil."
"As you command!"
The Royal Knights chorused at her order.
"Back to the palace."
The Queen departed the scene. The knights tossed torches and followed.
The remaining soldiers cleared the area to prevent the fire's spread, piling wood endlessly. When the flames died, per her order, not even bones would remain.
That evening, after the Empire's remnants were eradicated, thousands of troops appeared before the capital.
At their center fluttered the Burgundy Empire's banner.
They encircled the capital, waiting for something.
But as night deepened, what they awaited never came.
Finally, at dawn, a knight of apparent rank stepped forward from the vanguard and shouted,
"Hand over the Leonberger bloodline, and we'll withdraw without harm!"
No reply. He bellowed fiercer,
"Will you let countless in the capital die for a mere dozen? Is that your justice?"
Silence again.
"The King you protect has fled! The 1st Prince vanished too! The remaining royals cower behind you, seeking only their own safety! They're not worth your lives—will you die for them anyway?"
This time, there was a response.
Not a voice, but the sharp whistle of something cleaving air.
Thwuck.
An arrow sprouted from the noisy knight's forehead.
Perfectly centered between his eyes, without deviation.
"Couldn't stand the barking anymore."
A clear voice rang out a beat later. The encircling army looked up at the walls in unison.
There stood a middle-aged woman.
A valiant figure gripping a bloodied longbow, clad in plate armor, crowned with gold.
"Any more mutts who don't know their place? Step up."
She nocked another arrow and spoke.
"Today, I'll personally teach you ill-mannered dogs some human etiquette."