Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 20: The Beginning of Stirring (1)
Hamelon Main Castle was peaceful, to the point it was hard to believe it was under the same sky as where the war took place.
In the outer castle, the smell of blood and soil had not yet dissipated, and stones and timber were piled like mountains for restoration, but the air here was completely different.
The moment I entered the Main Castle, the floor beneath my feet changed from hard stone to polished marble, and expensive tapestries and gold decorations shone like breathing on both sides of the hallway.
Chandeliers hung low from the ceiling, making the boundary between day and night ambiguous.
I unconsciously hunched my shoulders.
Not because my body was used to war, but because such a place was unfamiliar.
I didn't know walking wearing a uniform instead of armor, breathing air infused with scent instead of soil, would be this uncomfortable.
'I felt it last time too, but it's a space where even breathing is uncomfortable.'
Hamelon's interior was breathing flashily today as well, and inside it, someone would be calculating, someone packaging, and someone preparing the next move.
I headed to the award hall following the guide.
Deep inside the Main Castle.
Every time the door changed, guards increased, and in front of the last door, soldiers fully equipped in uniforms checked me and opened the way.
As the door opened, murmuring leaked out from inside.
"He came, he came."
"Is that person the, Summoner of the Dark Night?"
"Kya— good looks too."
"Ah~ if only I could marry someone like that..."
...I don't know what to do with the explicit evaluation.
Amidst gazes of awe, admiration, and adoration, I walked towards where the award hall platform was with creaking steps.
The award hall was even more flashy.
A red carpet divided the center long, and on both sides were Hamelon's executives, and behind them were key figures and nobles.
Instead of the smell of the battlefield, smells of perfume and alcohol floated, and people looked at each other with smiling faces and whispered.
I walked out to the center. Steps walking on the red carpet were awkward. If it were a battlefield, I would have moved stepping on soil, but now it felt like walking on a stage laid by someone.
End of the carpet.
As I stood there, the protocol officer stepped forward and shouted loudly.
"Then we will begin the Victory Commemoration Award Ceremony!"
Applause.
Light, formal, and pleasant sounds.
On the front platform, Lord Valewin stood.
His face was closer to the face of a person hosting a feast than a person who won a war.
Clothes were excessively flashy, and the glass held in his hand was still sparkling.
Behind him to the side stood Commander Gelmion.
He was smiling, but his eyes were dry.
Valewin's gaze scanned me.
Official Recommendation Letter of the Wintel Family.
There was no one in this Hamelon who didn't know what that single sheet of paper meant.
Furthermore, rumors also spread.
'Senior Adjutant Iden repaired the defense line spending private funds.'
'He led the traps and snares directly.'
After a city survives, someone's name always remains.
Valewin couldn't be unaware of the fact that the name is leaning towards me in Hamelon right now.
So this award ceremony was a set board from the start.
A man who received the Wintel family's stipend repaired siege devices spending even private funds due to insufficient budget; the intention is to cover up this fact with a plausible plaque and appropriate reward.
Valewin rose from his seat and spread both arms with exaggerated gestures.
"People of Hamelon!"
His voice rang loudly in the award hall.
"What is the reason we can make a toast like this today!"
People's gazes gathered on me.
Valewin called my name loudly.
"Proud Senior Adjutant of the Engineering Unit, Iden!"
Applause burst out.
This time it was a slightly louder sound.
I took one step forward as predetermined and saluted.
Valewin laid out long and flashy words just like what he wore on the outside.
Words like the Engineering Unit's hard work, Hamelon's victory, the Northern Alliance Tribes' cruelty, and "wise defense" that broke it poured out like decorated ornaments.
But the center of those words was eventually one.
'I ruled well.'
'I protected this city.'
And in that flow, I had become an ornament in an appropriate position.
As Valewin gestured, an attendant approached and held out a nice-looking plaque.
Flashing gold border, excessively large pattern.
It was a plaque giving a strong feeling of being loud rather than heavy when held in hand.
Next, a small reward box followed.
What's inside wouldn't be that big either.
Valewin laughed brightly.
"This glory to the number one contributor of Hamelon's victory!"
I bowed my head and received the plaque.
I kept my expression from shaking.
There is no reason to reveal inner thoughts or get heated at a trivial puppet show.
In such a place, attitude is evaluated, not emotion.
Valewin raised his hand as if inducing applause sound, and shouted towards the people.
"Now! Let everyone shout together!"
"Long live Hamelon!"
"Long live Engineering Unit!"
Amidst the sound of hurrahs ringing out, Valewin came down from the platform and approached me.
And bowing his head a little, he whispered low.
"Don't worry about next year's Engineering Unit budget."
I understood the meaning of those words exactly.
Saying not to worry means,
He will raise it 'moderately'.
And that moderation is only as much as they want.
But I didn't show it.
I responded with a smile.
"Thank you, Lord."
Valewin smiled as if satisfied.
And grabbed my hand abruptly and raised it.
It was a handshake with quite some force.
Like a gesture trying to show people that he embraced me.
Cheers and applause burst out again in the award hall.
I just smiled bitterly amidst those cheers.
Because this seat wasn't a seat celebrating victory, but a seat deciding who owns the victory.
"Kya~ Iden-nim please look here too!"
"Congratulations~!!"
It was then.
The door of the award hall opened.
Even though simply the door opened, the commotion subsided at once.
Sound disappeared as if someone swallowed breath.
The air and light entering through the open door were different.
Cold, heavy, and air dominating the space at once.
Pure white rays of light as if reflected on snowy scenery.
A gigantic man containing the Northern Territory entered.
Steps were slow, but solid.
Old but not weak physique and grey pupils. And white hair symbolizing the great Northern bloodline.
Grand Duke of the North.
It was Eldmonde Wintel.
And behind him.
A white lion looking more trustworthy than a thousand troops was following.
The air inside the award hall changed completely.
**
When the door of the award hall opened, the air froze in an instant.
What entered first was silence.
And behind that silence, a white mane slowly revealed itself.
It was a white lion.
An existence felt like a myth even though it is a real beast.
White as snow, mane flowing over muscles looking hard as bone was refined like a statue, and red pupils were closer to tools containing judgment rather than emotion.
Every time it took a step, the marble on the floor rang low, and that resonance pressed the chest like a warning, not sound.
In the Northern Territory, the white lion wasn't a simple symbol.
It was 'Judgment'.
That the white lion moved meant someone's sin was already on the scale.
The man commanding in front of it needed no words.
Grand Duke of the North, Eldmonde Wintel.
His steps were slow but had no hesitation, and dignity rather than flashiness dwelled in his body first.
Grey pupils stole people's breath just by scanning the entire award hall once.
He didn't look around.
Because there was no need to do so.
Everyone in this space was already inside his vision.
Following him, Wintel family soldiers entered and completely blocked the entrance of the award hall.
The time it took for inside and outside to separate was about taking a few breaths.
Only then did people realize.
That the Grand Duke's visit without notice was confirmation, not congratulation.
Valewin laughed at first.
No, tried to laugh.
"Gr, Grand Duke Your Highness?"
When the white lion's red pupils brushed Valewin, blood drained from his face.
The Lord's face, which was soaked in alcohol and cheers until just now, hardened in an instant, and the glass held in his hand trembled subtly.
Valewin, without even time to tidy his clothes, lowered his body and approached Eldmonde.
"W, what brings you here? Grand Duke Your Highness. If you had told me in advance—"
But Eldmonde didn't look at him.
To be precise, saw but didn't recognize.
Just passed by like an obstacle placed on the road.
The cold gaze passed Valewin and reached one person straight away.
Iden.
To the Engineering Unit Senior Adjutant who led Hamelon's victory.
Iden, who never assumed the Northern Grand Duke would visit directly even once, made a surprised face.
Especially appearing at this moment when the award ceremony saving the Lord's face is in progress.
It was a timing as if calculated to be a coincidence, and Iden hurriedly took off his military cap and bowed his head.
However.
"Raise your head."
Eldmonde didn't permit even that courtesy.
Eldmonde's gaze scanned Iden.
From top to bottom, a gaze neither sudden nor rushing.
It was eyes 'confirming' something, neither measuring an enemy on the battlefield nor evaluating work.
Summoner of the Dark Night who captured the Barbarian Chief alive.
Engineering Unit Senior Adjutant who crumbled the Alliance Tribes outside the outer castle.
He must have already known the name and achievements.
But he was now looking at a 'person', not letters and reports.
For a moment, a very short moment.
Eldmonde's mouth corners went up subtly.
Seeming ridiculous, yet interesting.
To be precise, it was a smile close to a child's expression discovering an interesting toy.
He raised his hand and held out something.
It was a familiar document.
Official Recommendation Letter with the Wintel family seal clearly stamped.
That thing with the name Iden written on it.
Eldmonde held out that document, and Iden tried to receive it bowing his head.
But, Eldmonde's hand holding the document didn't relax its strength, and when bewildered Iden raised his head, a question arrived without any notice.
"There must be no falsehood."
There was no preamble, and no explanation.
It was words closer to confirmation right before judgment than a question.
Air became heavy, and it felt like the heart was forcibly squeezed.
It was pressure enough to be sure that if answered wrong, no, even if answering delayed, the head could be smashed.
There was no reason to hide that he became a whistleblower.
No, it wasn't an opponent to hide from, nor a situation.
The Northern Grand Duke visited directly with a clear purpose.
All the scared corrupt Lord and frozen flatterers could do was become mutes.
He answered immediately.
"Yes."
One syllable.
But an answer without falsehood.
Eldmonde neither nodded nor changed expression.
Just moved his gaze.
Commander Gelmion and Border City Lord Valewin.
In the gaze towards them, there was no longer interest or leisure.
Only coldness that they are issues to be processed remained.
Eldmonde turned back and commanded the soldiers blocking the entrance.
"Bind those who neglected border city defense and tried to drive the people to death. I will judge them directly."
Short, firm command.
Gaze pointing at two people shortly and concisely.
At that moment, the award hall became a completely different place.
From a place of celebration, to a place of judgment.
"Gr, Grand Duke Your Highness! Why are you suddenly doing this—!"
"L, let go!!"
Valewin and Gelmion are bound by soldiers.
Iden thought that would be the end.
With this, he thought the Engineering Captain would escape from the stress of numbers, and the Engineering Unit from the stigma of a useless unemployed unit.
However...
Grand Duke Eldmonde's gaze was staying on him.
And he was containing interest again.
"You follow me."
It seemed the reason he visited this far place directly was about to begin.
...Hmm.