56. Succession (1)
56. Succession (1)
Having stirred a quiet storm with the imperial succession decree, the Emperor, Agares, continued with these words.
He had to bring up a topic that gave him a headache just thinking about it.
"...Right, the Demon Realm Army is invading?"
Marquis Kairos had relayed everything that God Inkrinu had said.
Brigitte nodded her head slowly.
"Yes, Inkrinu mentioned something called the <Book of Revelation> when he said that."
A chapter that saw the future.
To extrapolate from what Inkrinu had said, the <Book of Revelation> resembled a book of prophecy.
"Is it certain that the <Blue-haired Sword Saint> and the <Daughter of the Witch Who Fell into the Hell of Black Flame>, who actually appeared in the oracle, possess enough talent to sway the future of this empire?"
The fact that the two had come together was, in the end, half Inkrinu's pastime.
Though it happened through his amusement, their talent was undoubtedly the most exceptional in history.
So much so that it was separately mentioned in the <Book of Revelation>.
"I can vouch for that."
Yuma said, looking straight into Agares's eyes.
"The talents of those two truly are heaven-sent talents. The Blue-haired Sword Saint had already reached the level of Sword Master at the age of twenty. The mage is also growing steeply."
Agares decided to believe Yuma's words.
For he was someone who had saved the empire from crisis several times in just two months.
"I shall trust the eyes of the God of War. Very well. Then that means the probability is high that the Demon Realm Army's continental invasion, which was written in the Book of Revelation, is also true...."
Agares's eyes slowly closed as he said that.
Marquis Kairos, Schubertche, and Brigitte rushed to Agares simultaneously.
"Are you all right, Your Imperial Majesty!!"
Kairos stroked the emperor's shoulders, his brown hair mixed with sparse white strands fluttering.
"Let go... closing my eyes again seems better."
The emperor, who had opened his eyes for the first time in a long eight months, reached the conclusion that it was better to close them again...!
Hoooo.
The emperor let out a sigh so deep the world seemed to darken, and opened his eyes again.
"Demon Realm Army."
At the edge of his vision was Brigitte, the 1st Princess, who had been decided as the next emperor.
"Can you stop them?"
Brigitte clasped her aging father's trembling hand tightly.
"I will stop them. Somehow, that is my responsibility."
A relief that she did not say anything weak.
Yuma thought so and rose to his feet. There would be stories to finish among blood relatives.
Yuma opened the door and stepped outside.
'I should have come to check on the Emperor Agares myself.'
<Searching Eye>.
If I had looked at Emperor Agares with the Searching Eye, I might have detected the existence of 'God Inkrinu' beforehand.
However, he soon shook his head.
'It was a meaningless supposition.'
For when he first met Brigitte, he did not properly know what he could see with the Searching Eye.
And Brigitte had also said something.
When the emperor lost consciousness.
The only people who could guard the residence were those who had sworn the <Blood Pact>—people who had sworn that if the emperor was assassinated, they would die as well.
The rest were in a state where they could not even enter the residence.
That meant that even after he clearly knew what the <Searching Eye> could see, facing the emperor had been impossible.
Ddeureuk-
After waiting for about thirty minutes, the door opened.
Tuk—
"Yo."
Yuma looked at the person who had tapped his shoulder lightly.
Brigitte stared intently at Yuma's face.
"Thank you. I think I managed to convince Father quite easily thanks to you."
"Then the coronation ceremony is as scheduled?"
"Yes, twenty days from now. Father approved it too."
Night began to fall.
The sunset could be seen beyond.
Yuma and Brigitte descended from the Imperial Palace. Michael, Brigitte's direct guard knight who had been waiting at the bottom, moved with precise formality.
Countless nobles had gathered on the emperor's land. And servants sent by high-ranking nobles.
Most high-ranking nobles now knew that the emperor had awakened.
However, the nobles who could have an audience with the emperor were still limited, so everyone was cooling their heels below.
A week.
It would be about a week before the nobles could see the emperor's face.
When they descended from the Imperial Palace and reached a deserted area.
"Cough—!"
Yuma could not suppress the hemoptysis that boiled up.
Red blood flowed out.
Brigitte's steps came to an abrupt halt.
"Yu...ma?"
Her blue eyes widened.
Her face turned pale in an instant.
Her heart pounded loudly. As much as when she had heard the news that her father had regained consciousness.
Michael knew exactly what action he should take.
He spread the red cloak hanging from his epaulet wide—chwak!—and covered Yuma from three directions.
"Compose yourself."
Michael's words were courteous.
Unlike right after Yuma had defeated Kainegal, the 7th Seat of the Ten Seats, he had no choice but to treat Yuma differently.
He was the Grand Marshal who had led the war against the barbarian nation Pyneton to victory.
And he was Yuma, who had been confirmed for the Grand Duke position as Brigitte was chosen as the imperial successor.
Slowly...
Yuma wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief. And he stroked Brigitte's cheek, who looked as if she might cry at any moment, with his right hand.
"Don't worry. This is just a temporary backlash from that previous matter. I'll be fine within a month."
That previous matter.
Brigitte immediately understood what Yuma meant.
It must have meant the matter of facing God Inkrinu.
Brigitte's lips were trembling at the edges. That was a response born from fear.
The fear of possibly losing something precious.
"...A month?"
"Yes."
Brigitte's voice kept trembling.
Yuma.
The man who had become her sword. And the man who had believed in her and followed her until now.
Someone she could not keep as a subordinate.
So she had started treating him as a friend. Brigitte had always carried a little anxiety.
Whether this person named Yuma, almost like a blessing, would someday disappear like a phantom.
Whether he would vanish, saying she had been dreaming some delusion, that she had harbored some vain hope.
And that worry disappeared after the conversation she had with him in front of the oracle.
- I'll ask you, Brigitte. What do you want to do?
Yuma asked, and so.
- Two people. I don't want the two who came for me to die. If it were just me dying alone, maybe.
She had answered like this.
The look in Yuma's eyes after that exchange of questions and answers was infinitely warm.
So much so that even in his cool ultramarine eyes, that warmth was visible.
Brigitte was able to feel relief at that look.
At last, I had been acknowledged by Yuma.
Because she could be certain of that.
A low voice seeped into Brigitte's ear.
"Trust me, I've never lied to you, have I?"
Brigitte barely managed to nod her head, which would not bow easily.
"That's right, you've never lied... Yuma."
She could not completely erase the anxiety.
For the amount of blood coughed up was by no means small, and its color was murky, so Yuma's words alone were not enough to dispel that anxiety.
She wondered if they were not words Yuma said to set her mind at ease.
In that fleeting moment, she had doubted dozens of times.
But still, Brigitte decided to believe Yuma's words as much as possible.
Because she did not want to embarrass Yuma.
"I'll believe you, those words. Yuma."
Yuma stroked Brigitte's right cheek once more.
The shakiness of Brigitte's trembling shoulders slowly subsided. Yuma confirmed that change in her body, which even Brigitte herself did not perceive.
Yuma slowly nodded his head.
"...Yes, trust me. It's all right to start walking again. Michael."
"Understood, Yuma-nim."
Slowly....
Michael gathered up the cloak he had spread again.
Clomp, clomp.
The group began to walk again.
***
"Heeek!"
A wide vacant lot behind the 1st Princess Palace.
A Cat Tribe swordswoman perked up her scarlet ears and sharpened her senses.
Because Cloné's magic was flying toward her.
It was an ice arrow made of high-density ice.
When Hestia let out a scream that left her breathless, Cloné burst into a giggle.
"You dodge well but you overreact, unni."
Hestia puffed up both cheeks and pouted her lips.
"Hey, it's scary! Your magic is so fast."
Cloné thought that sight was quite cute.
Hestia placed her right foot firmly on the ground and slowly rotated her leg to the right, centered on her knee.
It was a process of loosening her legs.
'...If it were Bel, she would have dodged more easily.'
Talent.
Somehow, she knew how to use her body more efficiently than herself, a Cat Tribe member.
No, beyond efficient. More than that.
Never in her life had she ever been dissatisfied with her own movements.
Considering physical conditions alone, her own Cat Tribe body was far superior. Flexibility. Elasticity.
However, Bel's talent was not limited to physical abilities.
Extreme efficiency.
Bel moved far less than she did and dodged far more.
Hestia knew her own limits.
'I can never win with a sword.'
She could not beat Bel in swordsmanship.
So she had to prove her usefulness to Yuma in other ways.
She would have to perform the role of a scout infiltrating the enemy camp in advance, like she had done on the battlefield against Pyneton last time.
'I have to do something.'
She still did not want to give up standing beside Yuma.
Hestia placed her hands on her hips and said.
With a confident posture.
"Let's do it once more, make it a little faster this time!!"
"Okay, unni."
Cloné smiled faintly.
The two's training continued until dusk.