Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: In the North
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I was holding back.
This familiar sensation I'd felt ever since arriving in the North.
I was turning my eyes away from this slaughterhouse that felt more comfortable than my own home.
No matter how much the [Nano Machine]'s suppression had induced mania, not all twenty years as the mad emperor had vanished from my memory.
On the contrary, living as a mad emperor for about twenty years teaches you something.
The transience of life, the pitifulness of humanity.
'To survive Carlos Grand Duke, I kept pushing reckless wars.'
Carlos Grand Duke had installed me as a puppet emperor.
Just as he intended, I purged all the power from the imperial family myself.
After that, I declared a war so dishonorable it was beyond belief.
Carlos Grand Duke must have planned to stage a rebellion once the war was sufficiently wrapped up.
Under the pretext that everyone desired: 'killing the mad emperor.'
He lusted to become a war hero and take the intact empire for himself.
But there was something Carlos Grand Duke didn't know.
Namely, me.
I inflated the war, and inflated it further, making civil war impossible.
So for the final five years, I truly lived like a madman.
Having spent decades in a palace with no allies, never sleeping peacefully for even a day without the threat of assassination.
It would have been stranger if I hadn't gone mad.
And now.
Right before my eyes was a diluted version of my past self.
'Thebeus.'
A madman.
No... better to call him a wastrel.
He was too boring to fit in with the truly insane.
"Lord Thebeus. Mind your manners."
Germin, unable to stand it any longer, stepped forward.
Thebeus burst into loud laughter.
"Haha! Manners? Everyone in the empire knows there's no formality between our house and Crown Prince Reinhardt. I'm just so thrilled to see you."
Close enough not to bother with manners.
Half right, half wrong.
There was no room for manners.
Even this foolish version of me back then knew that my placement as crown prince wasn't entirely the emperor's will.
The two grand dukes, especially Carlos Grand Duke, had heavily influenced it.
So I had no choice but to shrink before them.
The emperor Deus was the most terrifying being in the world.
Yet a house even he couldn't touch!
"I'm disappointed, Thebeus."
I shook my head and clicked my tongue.
"...Did you just say you're disappointed in me?"
The laughter vanished from Thebeus's face in an instant.
It was natural for his steam to leak when someone he'd underestimated uttered the word 'disappointed.'
But I truly was disappointed.
"Calling the killing of things that can't even flee a 'hunt.' I think I know why you're still lingering in the rear like this."
The northern campaign had begun over half a year ago.
And this was the outskirts of the Locari Mountains.
The very first area Carlos Grand Duke would have swept clean.
The rear of the rear, truly.
Thebeus was whiling away his time slaughtering the remaining stragglers in the safest spot.
"What did you just—"
"Thebeus. You haven't experienced a proper battle yet, have you?"
"......"
"Hm. Looks like you made a big mistake in your first fight. I can't imagine Carlos Grand Duke assigning his own son to mop up rear remnants otherwise."
Thebeus's face turned not just pale, but ashen.
It was the truth.
He'd botched his first battle and been relegated to the rear.
'Just a hunch, but it hit the mark.'
I'd suspected as much.
Carlos Grand Duke's sons were all prodigies of note.
Unlike the princes, their rivalry was fierce among themselves.
It was normal to be desperate to rack up achievements at the front lines, so being safely in the rear meant an unforgivable blunder.
And he was venting that frustration by wiping out every village.
I smirked and said,
"A mistake even Carlos Grand Duke can't forgive. I get it. Did you piss yourself?"
"...Shut your mouth."
No matter how much killing you've done, you never get used to the tension and brutality of war.
But as a grand duke's son, you must remain composed even then.
Carlos Grand Duke never forgave weakness in his children.
Be strong, stronger still.
If you wet yourself and couldn't even swing your sword properly in disgrace, demotion to the rear was only natural.
Shing!
Thebeus drew his sword.
But it wouldn't reach.
S slash!
In an instant, Thebeus's sword was severed.
Croft. This place was within his absolute domain now.
"I cannot forgive attacks on Your Highness, Lord Thebeus."
There would be no second chance.
He nailed that down.
At that, hundreds of surrounding knights drew their swords.
"Sir Croft. This isn't the palace; it's the North."
"I cannot forgive attacks on Lord Thebeus either."
Indeed.
Knights were knights, after all.
I wondered what would happen if they fought.
Croft and Edis. And three hundred skilled knights.
Either side would suffer heavy losses, that much was certain.
I shrugged.
"Thebeus. If I've offended you, my apologies. We just need one guide."
"After all that, you want a guide?"
"Thanks to you wiping out every village around, we couldn't find a single living soul. I'll admit my nerves are frayed after days in the frozen snowfields."
"You've insulted my honor. I challenge you to a duel, Reinhardt."
What nonsense.
Despite my whole speech, his stubborn refusal to accept it.
Didn't he realize digging in his heels here would be admitting he was scared?
And that was his true feelings.
Proof that he believed the grand duke's house ranked above the imperial family.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have immediately bristled at a slight to his pride and invoked honor.
It wasn't just Thebeus; it reflected the entire grand duke's house.
I sighed, and Croft stepped in to mediate.
"Lord Thebeus. Do you truly desire internal strife?"
After all, they were all subjects of the same empire.
Fighting each other in this war would benefit no one.
Croft's cold gaze swept over Thebeus and the knights.
Gulp!
No matter their age or experience, no one here could take him one-on-one.
No, even if they all rushed him, they couldn't guarantee killing Croft.
That was the kind of existence he was.
To the empire, to the knights—Croft.
"Enough. Sir Croft, accept the duel."
"...Your Highness!"
"But on one condition."
Just fighting blindly would be suicide.
Thebeus had been demoted to the rear, but he was still a grand duke's son.
A monster with genius rivaling the princes.
Especially Thebeus, who had reached the level of Sword Master with his swordsmanship.
So, I laid down a condition.
"One of us must die for it to end."
Everyone stirred at my condition.
A duel where one must die.
Such a thing couldn't possibly stand.
No matter who died, it would end in disaster.
The knights thought:
'Bluff.'
'The crown prince really has gone mad.'
'Pfft! The powerless crown prince challenging Lord Thebeus to a deathmatch?'
'Does he think we won't accept?'
'Tsk tsk, he doesn't know Lord Thebeus at all.'
Such a bluff.
It might work on others, but not on Thebeus.
'I'll make him beg and plead to stop.'
As Thebeus grinned and moved to accept—
Flash!
In that fleeting moment, a blue light emanated from the crown prince's body.
Manifested mana.
An aura all too familiar.
Something I'd seen plenty from the Sword Masters under Carlos Grand Duke!
"A-Aura...?"
One of the knights murmured.
Everyone heard it.
Aura. The symbol of a Sword Master—why was it coming from him?
It didn't last long, but it was definitely aura.
Still incomprehensible, but if the crown prince was a Sword Master...
This fight was Thebeus's certain defeat.
'Thebeus becoming a Sword Master is still in the future.'
The current Thebeus wasn't a Sword Master.
At best, not even up to the 1st Prince's pure swordsmanship.
So, I straightened my shoulders, met everyone's eyes, and spoke.
"A deathmatch. Even if I die, Sir Croft won't hold you accountable. I swear it on my entire honor. Right, Sir Croft?"
"......Yes. If Your Highness wills it, I shall obey."
Croft agreed.
All the 'show' was over.
All that remained was pressure on Thebeus.
"Thebeus, draw your sword."
"......"
Thebeus clamped his mouth shut.
He had no choice.
The crown prince's incompetence was long confirmed by the grand duke's house.
Yet he was a Sword Master?
'Was it a trick?'
I didn't know.
He was clearly mad, but I hadn't expected him to have the skills too.
But what if the 'incompetence' had all been an act until now?
Just playacting to become crown prince?
What if he actually had talent equal to the other princes?
You couldn't fake aura.
That confidence, that demeanor—it was the leisure of a true powerhouse.
'Why now, of all times?'
His mind was a mess.
If he'd hidden it all this time, why reveal it now?
'Damn it.'
Thebeus inwardly shook his head, bit his lip hard, and said,
"...We don't have a guide either. No need for them, so we killed them all."
"Then we'll take those kids."
Northerners find their way in unique ways.
Even children could point the direction sufficiently.
Thebeus frowned.
"Take one."
"I'll assume that's permission and take both."
"Reinhardt...!"
How far would he humiliate him?
Thebeus grabbed Reinhardt's shoulder.
As he turned, their eyes met.
'What...?'
Thebeus faltered in that instant.
He had no choice.
Reinhardt's eyes.
'This bastard's gaze...'
An abyss without end.
Was this what a true madman's looked like?
He'd never felt this from his father.
It felt like plummeting into an endless void.
"Touch my body without permission again, and I'll sever your wrist on the spot."
And at that gaze and tone,
Thebeus unwittingly released his shoulder.
This wasn't just a simple madman.
This was unmistakably the demeanor of a ruler.
In that moment, he was dominated.
Overwhelmed.
'Damn it all...!'
Realizing that, Thebeus trembled.
[In the North] End