The Eastern King's Wrath
The Eastern King’s eyes widened. “What? The Machine Duke? Are you telling me that’s really true?”
“How could this humble servant dare utter a single lie before Your Majesty? It is the absolute truth, without the slightest falsehood.”
“...Why would that man go there?”
“Pardon?”
The subordinate, who had kept his head bowed, lifted it again as if he hadn’t quite caught the Eastern King’s muttered words.
“I asked why the hell the Machine Duke went there!!”
Crash! The wine cup the Eastern King hurled in fury smashed against the wall and exploded into glittering shards.
The completely unexpected interference from Amerk left the Eastern King unable to contain his rage even after throwing the cup. He vented his frustration on anything within reach.
Why him of all people? After he finally gained a son in his old age, I heard he sharply cut back on public appearances, let alone taking the lead in anything… That’s precisely why I never even considered his involvement, even after the ruins of the Seven Stars were discovered.
“Hoo… Hoo.”
The Eastern King breathed steadily until the fire in his chest died down, then swept his disheveled long hair back into place.
Swish.
Once he had regained his composure, the Eastern King refilled a fresh cup to the brim and spoke to the subordinate still prostrated on the floor.
“So. What exactly did the Machine Duke do there? Don’t tell me he actually entered the ruins?”
“No, Your Majesty. He simply lingered near the entrance for a time, as though waiting for something, then left empty-handed.”
At least he didn’t go inside. And it seems the matter wasn’t discovered, either.
“As Your Majesty is already aware, not only the Machine Duke but his entire knight order and even the 5th Seat of the Seven Pillars, the Sword Saint, were present. Simply taking care not to offend their moods from a safe distance was already…”
“Enough. Then what about those unidentified small fries who slipped through the perimeter and broke into the ruins?”
Irritated by the needlessly long-winded explanation, the Eastern King cut the man off with an impatient wave of his hand, like swatting at a fly.
“Since their intrusion, we have received no further reports on whether they are alive or dead.”
“You’re saying you turned the entire place inside out? If anyone had seen them, you know damn well you should have silenced them permanently. Yet here you are babbling that you still haven’t identified the bastards?”
“This servant apologizes, but… everything remains shrouded in mystery, Your Majesty.”
“Ha… Go and deliver my orders. Enter the ruins immediately. Find every trace of those small fries, then recover every last item inside without missing a single thing. And tell them to cut off all the useless tails while they’re at it.”
“U-understood, Your Majesty.”
“Also, keep a close watch on the Machine Duke’s movements for the time being… You are dismissed.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Fearing he might be caught in the crossfire, the subordinate pressed his forehead to the floor in a deep bow, then scrambled out of the Eastern King’s office as fast as his legs could carry him.
Gulp.
“The wine tastes like garbage. Tsk. Not a single thing pleases me anymore. Is he the only one left I can entrust with proper work? He needs to arrive soon.”
“Does this… even make sense?”
Teraden stared at his midterm report card with utter disbelief, eyes boring into the rank written there.
“I’m… second from the bottom? No—if we exclude Junior, who got an automatic zero for not even taking the test, that means I’m actually dead last, doesn’t it?”
“Khh, mm…”
When Teraden put extra emphasis on the word “zero,” Junior squeezed his eyes shut and let out a low groan.
“Hey, give me yours.”
Teraden snatched up Blanser’s report card where it lay abandoned, compared the two sheets back and forth, then suddenly bellowed.
“Why the hell is this guy ranked higher than me?! Sure, I didn’t study, but at least I didn’t just scribble a single line across the page like some lazy bastard!”
“…”
Teraden’s whole body trembled. Slowly, with bloodshot eyes, he turned his head.
“Uh, hyung… Why are you glaring at me like that all of a sudden? It’s scary…”
“You bastard. What kind of trick did you pull? Did you switch our test papers? Want to die? Otherwise how the hell does it make sense that I’m last?”
Without warning, he grabbed Blanser’s collar with his still-uncomfortable hand.
Blanser, who had been munching snacks without a care in the world, looked as if lightning had struck him out of a clear sky.
“No, hyung, how could I possibly do that? And there’s no reason for me to even try…”
“Yeah, that’s true. You wouldn’t give a damn whether you did well or bombed the test anyway.”
Teraden seemed to accept the excuse; he released the collar without further argument.
“Grades aren’t everything in life. Hoo… I’m not usually the type to obsess over scores, but… actually ending up last stings more than I expected. Fine. We’ll settle this at the final exams.”
“Hyung, next time maybe you should just do it the easy way like me and draw one straight line across—”
Scraaape!
“That’s enough, everyone. Looks like the professor’s here. Let’s get ready for class.”
At that moment the front door of the lecture hall opened, and the instructor for Continental History II stepped inside.
The professor was a man around Ran’s age. His steady gait and impeccable posture left a strong impression.
“Hmm. Perhaps it’s because it’s been a while, but the classroom feels strangely unfamiliar today, haha. It seems we all enjoyed the festival a little too comfortably after finishing exams and welcoming the holiday.”
The professor instantly seized every student’s attention. He stood at the center of the podium and slowly scanned the packed lecture hall.
“Is that why I felt so reluctant to come today…? Haha. I’m sure I’m not the only one, right? By the way… Teraden, did you injure your arm?”
The professor pointed at Teraden’s bandaged right arm with a worried frown.
The bandage was there because the arm Ovan had crushed still hadn’t fully recovered.
“Ah, this?”
Teraden lifted his right arm. “Ahem. Well, you know how the whole continent was buzzing about an Ouparts not long ago? It ended up like this while I was protecting that Ouparts from a band of villains.”
“My goodness… So Teraden, you accomplished something truly heroic? Then I shall begin the lecture.”
““Puhahaha!!””
About half of it was true, so my heart nearly stopped for a second, but only a handful of overly trusting students actually believed him. Most, like the professor, simply laughed it off as ridiculous nonsense.
Seeing their reaction, Teraden leaned over and whispered to me.
“Told you—no one would believe it even if I said it out loud. Hehehehe!”
Only after the lecture hall calmed down from its sea of laughter did class finally begin.
Tap. Tap.
In the now-silent room, the only sound was the clear ring of white chalk racing across the green board.
Each time the professor’s chalk struck the surface, the crisp sound somehow settled my mind a little more.
The white letters covered the board, were erased, and reappeared again for nearly an hour.
“Does anyone happen to know the origin of the term ‘Imperial Capital,’ the capital of our empire? Or let me rephrase the question. When you hear the words ‘Imperial Capital,’ what comes to mind?”
The material in first-semester Continental History I and this semester’s Continental History II overlapped in their fundamentals.
Both courses focused primarily on the great war between humans and Yokai a thousand years ago, so one could almost call them identical.
The difference was that the second course examined everything in far greater detail, including peripheral matters.
What we had learned last semester was only touched on briefly; this semester used that foundation to dig into every corner and crevice.
In other words, the first semester had been little more than skimming the surface.
“Um… Peach?”
Blanser, head tilted at the question, once again thought of food without fail.
“Before the war against the Yokai erupted, there existed a nation that was not only like our present empire but, in every aspect, even more prosperous.”
It was not the peaceful era we know today, where the central empire and the four kingdoms of east, west, south, and north cooperate. No—this was an age of endless conflict and chaos.
Its exact name has been lost to time. It is known only by the alias of the Golden Empire. A thousand years ago, that empire was a colossal state that ruled nearly sixty percent of the continent.
When one considers that the current empire controls barely thirty percent of the land, the scale becomes truly staggering.
“Yet who could have imagined it? The empire’s capital at the time—enjoying the height of its glory—was reduced to ruins in a single night. Every living soul within it was slaughtered.”
“Ah… Aah…”
Sighs of pity rose here and there at the words “every living soul.”
“Only two beings committed this atrocity—entities later identified as Yokai. Because of those two monsters’ assault, our ancestors lost Jedo, their greatest stronghold, right from the start.”
The reason our forebears were helplessly driven back and brought to the brink of annihilation was largely because they lost Jedo, the very heart of the empire.
“The reason the war against the Yokai ended in humanity’s victory and the new imperial capital became the Imperial Capital was to ensure such a mistake would never be repeated… Hmm. It seems we’ve already run out of time. We’ll take a short ten-minute break and resume shortly…”
Pfft.
After scanning the students’ tired faces, the professor ended the lecture with a gentle smile.
“No, everyone looks exhausted. Let’s stop here for today. Thank you all for staying until this late hour.”
“Kyaaaah—!! Hyung! Let’s go eat dinner now!”
The moment class ended, the students sprang back to life as though nothing had happened and surged out of the lecture hall like a tidal wave.
“Thank you for your hard work, Professor.”
“Oh, thank you. As expected, the only student who thinks of me is Haru. What we covered today will appear on the final exam, so keep it in mind. I’m telling you this specially—only to you, Haru.”
“Ah… Thank you.”
Meanwhile, somewhere in the southern region of the continent.
“Who—who the hell are y—! U-ugh!!”
“If you’re going to die, do it quietly. Why does everyone insist on screaming their lungs out? Seriously.”
Thud.
In a dark alley where night had fallen and a chilling aura hung thick, a terrified man let out a final short cry and collapsed, head lolling.
“This one isn’t it either.”
Shluck.
The killer, clearly no stranger to murder, indifferently pulled his blade free from the corpse.
“That person’s sword was never this light. It was far heavier… and far sharper.”
Drip. Drop.
“Now only the west, north, and center remain. The west and north are quite a distance… Still, better to proceed in order.”
Count Blans, the perpetrator, wiped the blood from his sword and cleaned every trace at the scene with an expressionless face, then calmly walked away.
“I hope the next one isn’t a waste of time.”