Chapter 36
Chapter 36
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Dragon's Trial (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Opportunity comes to those who are prepared. If that's true, then at least I wasn't one of them.
Upon arriving at the imperial palace, I was immediately dragged off by palace maids for a bath, a shave, and even to be dressed.
It took a full three days just to prepare for my audience with the emperor.
The palace's outer walls were massive and grandiose, as if piled up by hundreds of master craftsmen, inspiring awe.
The pillars and walls were adorned with intricate patterns, and the polished marble floors inlaid with jewels were the pinnacle of art.
I even hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should actually step on the floor.
Yet, surprisingly out of place amid the palace's splendor stood a crude stone throne at the center.
But that was no issue at all. The emperor seated upon it crushed any sense of its roughness with his sheer dignity.
Leonis von Draconica Ragna. It was the first time I'd come face-to-face with the emperor of the empire.
"Heart of the Dragon, Knight Blackguard of the kingdom presents himself before His Majesty the Emperor."
"So, you are that famed Sir Blackguard of whom the rumors speak?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
I nodded calmly in affirmation, and the already sour mood among the nobles turned outright hostile.
But the emperor paid it no mind, raising a hand to silence the nobles.
...I'd apparently committed some breach of etiquette without realizing it. I wasn't well-versed in courtly manners.
"No matter. You are not yet my subject. In fact, as a knight, I commend your boldness and resolve."
"Th-thank you, Your Majesty."
"Enough preamble. Let the trial begin at once. Summon the palace maids!!"
"Pardon?"
At the emperor's commanding roar that silenced the hall, a group of palace maids waiting outside made their entrance.
I stared at the sudden turn of events in utter bewilderment. Then, a familiar face appeared.
Second Prince Oren. With an expression of utmost seriousness, he handed me a single sword before reading from the imperial edict he held.
"In the name of His Majesty the Emperor, you are appointed general, capable of commanding one hundred palace maids. Transform them into a proper army."
"......"
"The battlefield is ever swift to change. And as an excellent general, I trust you can accomplish this."
The sword bestowed by the emperor symbolized a general's authority. And with an official edict to boot—even if fake—its weight was beyond imagination.
My mind went blank. Until now, Defeat Regression had been shackles, yet also a compass guiding my path.
In the end, I'd had no choice but to follow where it led. I couldn't do what it forbade.
'But not anymore. From here on, I choose my own path...!!'
The fallen princess scenario was so unfairly punishing that even veterans could fail, leaving little room for error.
Put another way, if it had shifted away from the fallen princess scenario... that meant far greater freedom.
In other words, Defeat Regression wouldn't trigger as strictly... but I'd have to forge ahead solely on my own power and skill.
'Do not move like a restless spirit. Act with the weight of Mount Tai.'
That single phrase cooled my chaotic mind. A general leading troops must always remain calm and composed.
With a short sigh, I rolled my cooled mind to work. What could I do right now?
Calmly, but not slowly. I recalled everything I'd seen, heard, and experienced firsthand.
"From this moment, you are no longer palace maids but soldiers, and this is no longer a palace but a battlefield. Etch that into your minds and stake your lives on this training."
With my resolve firm, I stood before the maids with a stern expression. But they didn't so much as twitch.
For a moment, doubt crept in. Could I really do this as planned? What if I failed—what then?
But I steadied my wavering heart. This was a wartime situation, and before me stood not women, but soldiers.
"By His Majesty's command, we begin with the basics of military drill. I appoint the two highest-ranking among you as squad leaders..."
I proceeded with the methods I knew. Fortunately, the mood wasn't too bad yet, so it seemed fine for now.
But the trouble started right after. The palace maids began openly scorning me. I couldn't entirely blame them.
They were noble-born subjects of the empire, after all. They had no desire to obey orders from someone from a minor kingdom.
"If orders are unclear and troops fail to master them, that is my failing as commander. I shall relay them clearly once more."
Regrettably, I knew only one way.
To rule them strictly by military law.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 'It's already hopeless. He's not commanding—he's just being tossed around...'
Emperor Leonis sighed at the pitiful scene before him. As expected, the palace maids utterly ignored the commands.
They didn't even pretend to listen.
It was inevitable. They were nobles of the empire... Why heed a noble from some minor kingdom outside the empire?
'Even setting aside the Second Prince's tale of interference in imperial politics, the gap in status and origin can't be bridged so easily.'
The Second Prince had gravely underestimated the pride and loyalty empire nobles held. But no matter.
In their youth, all succumbed to hot blood and committed blunders.
Even Emperor Leonis himself had faced failures and setbacks in his younger days—nearly dying more than once.
'Let him use this failure as fertilizer to gain experience and rise again. Bitter defeats become medicine in time...'
A bitter failure that would one day serve the Second Prince well—that was the emperor's conclusion from the scene unfolding.
Yet, glancing worriedly toward the Second Prince, Emperor Leonis tilted his head in puzzlement.
Despite the clear failure, the prince watched on with an amused smile.
'...Has he lost his mind?'
Or perhaps betrayal from a trusted ally had shattered him. That might explain such behavior.
But in that instant—not only Emperor Leonis, who had been lamenting the fiasco—
Even the nobles exchanging gossip or private jests had their attention seized.
"When orders are clear and precisely conveyed, yet unheeded, that is plainly the sin of the soldiers."
A single phrase, yet its weight bore down on the entire hall. Even the emperor, veteran of countless battlefields!
The masters guarding him instinctively gripped their sword hilts without realizing.
If masters reacted so, ordinary nobles needed no mention.
"Moreover, in this explicit wartime scenario, openly defying and ignoring the commander's orders is a grave crime indeed."
"Wh-what are you—"
"Th-that..."
At last, the two palace maids appointed squad leaders—who had blatantly scorned Blackguard till now—spoke up.
No matter their noble status in the empire, they lacked the courage to ignore his lion-like ferocity.
And as the emperor and Second Prince had foreseen, the maids had been instructed by the imperial council.
"No matter the imperial order, he's just a bumpkin from a weak kingdom that surrendered to the empire because they couldn't match our strength." "The Dragon's Trial is merely a test—no harm will come to you. Obey the imperial council." Arms bend inward. As empire nobles themselves, they naturally sided with the council.
Thus, they'd followed orders: openly ignore him, laugh, and chat among themselves.
After all, what could a surrendered bumpkin from a minor kingdom do?
But regrettably, their opponent was no mere bumpkin. Only then did the maids recall the rumors swirling in the palace.
The absurd tale that Her Highness the Princess had been defeated and captured by a kingdom noble...
And in that moment, the black-haired, black-eyed man glaring at them with murderous intensity.
Cain Blackguard unhesitatingly drew the sword bestowed with the edict.
"Thus, for this crime, the two squad leaders are sentenced to decapitation."
As the blade cleared its sheath, his surging killing intent pressed down on the maids. No more laughter or chatter.
They merely trembled in fear, eyes darting between Blackguard and the nobles. The implication was clear.
Would they let this madman proceed unchecked? But regrettably, the nobles were little different.
Every last one stared in disbelief... So he drove the point home decisively.
"This is military law."