Chapter 232: The Princess of a Fallen Kingdom, the First Resistance
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 232: The Princess of a Fallen Kingdom, the First Resistance
The Land That Flows Like A River carves its own valley.
The Meta Conveyor Belt could not have any variations in elevation, so when creating a path through the northern highlands, the Military State undertook a construction project of historic proportions.
Normally, a valley is formed over long periods as flowing water erodes the land. But the Military State had countless humans carve out a valley to make the land itself flow. It was a human achievement that twisted the very laws of nature. Though it was the work of her enemy, she couldn't help but feel a sense of respect.
No, are they truly my enemy?
In a childhood she couldn't even remember, this nation had killed her parents. The soldiers who staged the coup d'état had executed the rightful rulers of the kingdom, King and Queen Grandiomor, after charging them with laughably fabricated crimes.
As if that weren't enough, they had tried to sever one of the last remaining noble royal bloodlines in the world. They had dared to commit the heaven-defying sin of overthrowing their king.
Therefore, Yerien Grandiomor was supposed to hate them…
So she had been told. But resentment woven from knowledge is a loose thread, easily unraveled. No matter how she tried to steel her heart, Yerien could not find any anger within it.
The last princess. The final descendant of the Grandiomor royal family, a line stretching back to ancient times.
Yet before the vastness of nature, the girl, who was herself infinitesimally small, simply stared at the endlessly flowing land, half-lost in wonder.
Then, a familiar white handkerchief caught her eye. Yerien murmured.
"…That handkerchief."
Her guardian knight, Sir Landemeyer, who stood silently by her side, nodded.
"It is yours, Princess. It seems it truly is them…"
Muttering in disbelief, Sir Landemeyer soon turned to Yerien with a look of awe. His eyes filled with respect, reverence, and adoration, he spoke in an excited voice.
"Incredible! Your Highness, how did you know they would come this way? As expected of one who carries the noble bloodline, you possess a foresight that we mere mortals cannot hope to attain!"
These were people who would swoon over the heavenly sound of Yerien's whistling. Though she was used to them putting her on a pedestal, it still made her feel shy. Yerien managed an awkward smile.
"Ehehe. It's not that. We just didn't have any other choice. For us, based in the north, this was the only scenario in which we could meet them. You could say it was a gamble, betting on a single card."
"Exceptional insight and the divine luck to make it possible. Those are the true qualities of a monarch! And you, Princess, possess them all!"
"Ehehe…"
The exalted princess hid her face with a slightly reluctant laugh. Perhaps his adoration was too great, for the knight failed to read the anguish hidden behind her smile.
Gazing at the container, Sir Landemeyer cautiously brought up his next point.
"However, Your Highness. Forgive my impertinence, but may I venture a word about the envoy?"
"If you're going to tell me not to go, then don't. I've already made my decision."
"I implore you, Princess! It is too dangerous!"
As if he would never tire of it, Sir Landemeyer audaciously attempted to reverse a decision made by his liege.
It was an act of insubordination, but knowing it stemmed from loyalty, Yerien simply shook her head.
"My conclusion is the same. I will go myself."
"Please reconsider. It is dangerous. Our opponents are…"
"I know. But for someone who intends to use their power to shy away from risk out of fear is a contradiction. Sir Landemeyer, as your liege, and as the representative of the Resistance, I must go."
"Kuh…! In that case, at the very least, take an escort…"
"Isn't Sir Landemeyer enough? The last and strongest knight of the kingdom, and of the Resistance. Or will you not protect me, Sir?"
"How could that be! I will protect you with my life! But…!"
There were things that resolve alone could not protect.
Twenty-five years ago, when the royal castle burned and honor fell to the dust. When the true face of the sacred duel was exposed by a single man. Having realized this at the tender age of ten, Sir Landemeyer gripped the handle of his spear, his voice strained.
"Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka is a legendary vampire, so I can accept that. But! The young swordsman named Shei is a monster who fought Sunderspear to a standstill at his age!"
"Don't worry about it, Sir. That boy is just a slightly younger Sunderspear."
"That's what makes him a monster! A monster who could destroy a nation on his own!"
Under the value of the noble duel, how long had the knights reigned over this world?
But after the value of the duel was turned against them, the kingdom's honor was trampled to pieces. A duel started by a single man brought the kingdom to its knees. The reason the kingdom's remnants scattered, the reason they could not recover despite their considerable power, was because the very value they sought to protect had been broken.
As long as Sunderspear existed, no new knights would be born. They would only die.
"If, by some chance, any harm were to befall you, Princess…!"
"Sir. Shush."
Yerien feigned an angry expression. Landemeyer immediately bowed his head and knelt.
After emphasizing her displeasure with a short silence, Yerien's expression softened, and she offered a benevolent word.
"I am the princess of a fallen kingdom. Taking risks is part of my duty."
Landemeyer did not reply. Not because he had nothing to say, but because of the code that forbade him from speaking unless his liege permitted it. Yerien, despite often making use of this code, found it uncomfortable.
What was a knight, and what was a king? Why did the people abandon their king? Could this be the reason kings vanished?
With a bitter smile, Yerien said, "And I assure you, they won't be that dangerous. That is my insight."
She called it insight, but it was just words, with no real basis. She was already cornered, looking at the enemy-infested path ahead and calling it an escape route.
But there was no other choice. For those who had lost all their chips, every moment was an all-in bet.
The princess did not know what the kingdom was like. She wasn't even sure if the nation described in epic poems was precious enough to risk her life to restore.
However, countless people had saved her, cared for her, and loved her. Yerien could not abandon those who had raised her.
Even if not as a princess, then as a daughter to them all. Yerien intended to fulfill her duty.
Her resolve firm, she smiled gently and called out to her friend.
A friend who had no interest in restoring the kingdom, and was therefore not bound by duty.
A precious friend who had lost her friends, her future, and her right arm to the Military State.
"Besides, Shiati will help me."
*
After boarding the Meta Conveyor Belt and arriving at the container we had been staying in, the princess of the Resistance found herself in a difficult situation.
‘Heeeh… I didn't expect it to be like this at all…’
I agreed.
It was good that the Resistance had approached with such vigor. I also knew their leader was the princess of a fallen kingdom, having read the Regressor's mind.
Well, to unite the remnants of a fallen nation, someone of royal blood was probably necessary. To continue resisting for nearly twenty-five years, the most important thing was to not let one's spirit be broken.
However.
"Ahaha! It's so good to see you, Historia! So! So very good!"
I never expected a survivor of Hamelin to be by the princess's side.
"Huey, you too! To think I'd be reunited with such dear faces here!"
Should I greet her or not?
A prosthetic arm where her right arm should be. Skin tanned and coarse from long hours under the sun. And a creaky smile that seemed broken somewhere deep inside.
Historia squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away. But bound as she was, she couldn't escape. The prosthetic right arm seized her chin.
It was a fearless act. Even tied up, a member of the Six Generals could easily crush a person. For a member of the Resistance, an enemy of the Military State, to get so close was reckless.
The princess, hiding behind her guardian knight, darted her eyes back and forth.
"Sh-Shiati. That person… she's one of the Six Generals, right? Even if she's tied up, isn't it a bit, um, dangerous to get that close?"
But Shiati didn't stop. Instead, Historia recoiled as much as she could. Overwhelmed by Shiati's intensity, she tried to turn her head away as if to escape.
But the traces of the past clung to Historia like eyelids. Having reached a masterly level of Qi, she could perfectly picture Shiati even with her eyes closed. The violent aura, the heavily excited breaths, and the unnatural movements of her right prosthetic hand, which teetered on the edge of the uncanny valley.
"Ah, don't worry about it, Princess. I told you, didn't I? I'm close friends with a big shot from the Military State."
Shiati pulled Historia's shoulder. Historia struggled desperately to get away, but bound and without using her strength, there was no way to shake Shiati off. Their chests pressed together, and an explicit gaze fell upon Historia. Historia clenched her teeth and lowered her eyes.
"What's more… my precious friend is the savior who saved my life. When she pulled me from the bottom of the Hamelin River… you have no idea how happy I was."
As if toying with a prisoner, Shiati fearlessly forced Historia's face up, rubbing her cheek against it. A smile of pure ecstasy spread across her face.
"It meant that even monsters have a human heart! It meant that even the Daughter of the Military State, who seemed invincible, could be wounded by our power!"
Hamelin, the bottom of the river.
The children had decided to walk along the riverbed with their arms linked.
Since there was a high risk of being swept away by the current alone, they planned to hold onto each other like a chain.
However, Shiati and a few others who had completely abandoned hope chose to simply let themselves be carried away.
They decided that a few floating corpses would create a greater shock, and planned to embrace the bodies of the children killed by Nicholas and the beasts and fall into the water.
The other children tearfully tried to stop Shiati. But her will was firm.
She argued that a sacrifice was needed anyway, and the more dead there were, the less suspicious the Military State would be. To make it look like a mass suicide, they needed real drowned bodies.
Having lost her right arm and suffering from a festering wound, she was the perfect candidate.
If she was going to survive and become nothing, she would rather die and cause the Military State even a little bit of damage.
She said this with a laugh that was half-sincere, half-despairing.
It was an excuse to push away her friends' attempts to stop her.
However.
To the children, united by repeated hardships, such a grand justification for giving up on life was far too sweet.
Though it wasn't her intention, her words reached the children's hearts.
For those abandoned children, there were already more than enough reasons to give up on life. It was only the instinct for survival, etched into their bodies, that held them back.
But humans can learn to give up their lives for things unseen. The Military State's own harsh teaching—that one should be willing to die for their country—was a part of that.
That teaching was now turned back against the Military State.
For their friends.
For those who would survive.
To torment the nation they hated.
The children walking along the riverbed, arms linked, one by one, let the strength drain from their arms and shoulders. Instead of taking the next step forward, they lifted their planted feet.
The chain that had supported them broke, link by link, and was swept away by the river.
No, perhaps it was an invisible, powerful chain that had bound them all and dragged them away.
Historia, who had come downstream searching for the missing children, witnessed the scene and tried to save them as they were carried off. But no matter how strong she was, not even the Daughter of the Military State could hold onto lives that had given up on living.
Amidst the horrific tragedy before her eyes, the lives Historia managed to save by swimming out herself were… ironically. Only a few, including Shiati, who had been one of the first to let go.
They threw themselves into the Resistance, vowing to destroy the Military State even in death.
And so, the true Resistance, born and raised in the Military State rather than being mere remnants of the old regime, was born.