Chapter 156
Chapter 156
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 156
Chapter Title: 65. Flowers Bloomed by Death (1)
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Yalta suddenly stabbed Graham in the chest and clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Mmph..."
Graham collapsed, sensing his death.
"I didn't want to kill you, Sir Graham. Damn it, if only you'd just set the fire like I told you..."
Yalta muttered to himself, ruffling his hair with his eyes closed.
Graham knew that once the mumbling ended, Yalta would take his life completely.
Graham blinked.
He'd expected his life to flash before his eyes before death, but it didn't.
Instead, there was only calm.
So when someone suddenly appeared in midair, Graham couldn't help but be surprised.
It was a boy with salmon-colored hair.
Inariel, the grand archmage he'd glimpsed from afar a few times.
Graham had no idea why he was here.
While Yalta's eyes remained shut, Inariel looked down at Graham with a complicated expression before waving his staff.
A wind blew in.
And with that, Graham's time froze.
When he blinked again, he wasn't in his tent anymore—he lay collapsed in a rainy forest.
And standing before him, in Inariel's place, was Brioll's third prince.
"Your Highness..."
He opened his mouth.
He'd thought the hole in his chest would prevent him from speaking properly, but fortunately, he could still talk.
The prince approached and knelt on one knee.
"Inariel brought you here, Sir Graham. I killed Yalta."
"Ah..."
Graham smiled faintly.
Killing Yalta—truly, the third prince was no ordinary man.
Even on the brink of death, he felt a strange pride toward the prince.
It was odd.
Graham couldn't pinpoint where these feelings came from.
Why was he drawn to this third prince? Why did he wish for his success?
Was it simply because the prince possessed the rare qualities of a true knight?
In that moment, a vision passed over Graham's sight.
Flames roared from all directions.
He walked through the burning palace.
At first, he didn't recognize the place, but then he realized it was Brioll.
He blocked the path of someone fleeing.
They exchanged swords. The opponent was covered in wounds, barely able to move, yet resisted fiercely.
The determination in that blade was so immense that even Graham struggled to parry it.
But in the end, he brought him down.
The man slumped against the wall and looked up.
Black hair.
Black eyes.
Unmistakable symbols of the Brioll royal family.
Graham soon recognized the bloodied face.
'Sir Graham.'
The man said.
'Won't you spare me?'
In that instant, Graham felt shame.
The figure reflected in his eyes contrasted sharply with his own image in the man's black pupils. He was the unjust invader; the other was a knight fighting to the end.
The man gave a bitterly wry smile.
'I can't die here.'
Graham opened his mouth, then closed it again.
And thought.
What would he have said in that man's place?
He would have simply begged for death.
Yet this man pleaded for his life from the enemy.
For him, duty was not something he could abandon of his own will.
Graham closed his eyes, lost in thought.
He didn't know what punishment awaited him for this, but it surely wouldn't be pleasant.
Even so, for some reason, he didn't want to kill him.
So without a word, he stepped aside.
The man looked at him with a strange gaze. He seemed to chuckle lowly.
Then he rose, limping away into the distance.
'Thank you.'
Those were his last words.
Against the backdrop of towering flames, he vanished somewhere with that pitiful gait, abandoning his palace.
That was what had happened.
He didn't know when or how.
But the man from that time gazed down at him now with the exact same eyes.
"Your Highness."
"Sir Graham."
"I thought those words back then were just a story."
Before coming to Yoheim, Graham had visited the third prince for a talk.
Just before departing, the prince had whispered in his ear.
'Sir Graham. Truth is, you spared me back then. On the day the palace fell, you chased me down but pitied me enough to hesitate and let me pass. So you're my lifesaver.'
He'd assumed it was made up.
But it had happened, somewhere, sometime.
"I remember now."
The prince's eyes widened.
Graham tried to laugh. He wanted to burst into loud guffaws, but his body, so near death, managed only a faint wheezing.
Trash. Pathetic human.
Every story the prince had told him was wrong.
Not a single one had hit the mark.
The prince knew nothing about him.
Graham's shoulders shook with laughter. Blood trickled from his mouth.
"Stop, Sir Graham. Why are you laughing all of a sudden?"
Graham felt unburdened.
Like the weight on his shoulders had finally lifted.
But at the same time, guilt washed over him.
The burdens he'd carried wouldn't vanish—they'd crush the prince with even greater force.
Yet he believed the prince could handle it.
"Your Highness. I'll be watching. Make everything right, as you desire..."
His consciousness faded.
Graham tried one last time to gaze clearly at Brioll's third prince, Yuri Brioll.
Those black eyes were as steady now as they had been then.
Graham felt at ease.
"The best thing I ever did..."
His eyelids grew heavy. Soon, a black curtain shrouded his vision completely.
In the darkness, Graham smiled brightly.
"Was sparing you back then."
That was the end.
Graham Hartpol, exemplar of knights.
His heart stopped.
Yuri stared silently down at Graham's head as it lolled free.
For some reason, facing death had made Graham recount events from his past life.
Whether he truly remembered or his dying brain hallucinated the stories Yuri had told him, Yuri couldn't say.
But it brought comfort.
And a greater sense of duty.
Gazing at Graham's peacefully closed eyes, Yuri wiped at his own.
"Lord Inariel."
He called out. Inariel approached from a distance.
"Did you two say your farewells properly?"
"Yes. Thank you."
"What about the body?"
"Sir Graham..."
Yuri stood.
"We'll leave him here."
"Here?"
"Yes."
Then Yuri drew Graham's sword and plunged it into Yalta's face.
"Like this."
If word got out that he'd killed Yalta, his name would appear on the Ten Supremes' list.
That would make the empire wary of Brioll too soon.
Not yet.
"We'll say the deranged Yalta set the fire and rampaged madly, and Sir Graham stopped him but they killed each other."
"Right."
Inariel nodded.
"That works."
He swung his staff.
The battlefield from Yuri and Yalta's clash subtly altered. Changes appeared on Yalta and Graham's bodies too.
Now it looked like the two had fought.
"Can't even call you 'kid' anymore. Killing one of the Ten Supremes."
"He was never a kid to begin with."
Yuri looked up at the sky.
"When will the rain stop?"
"Who knows..."
Inariel glanced upward. Thick storm clouds blanketed the heavens.
"Graham was someone even I held in high regard."
"Anyone would."
"For his sake, a bit more heavenly weeping won't hurt."
Yuri chuckled.
"Yeah. You're right."
The two began walking out of the forest together.
Suddenly, Yuri draped an arm over Inariel's shoulder.
The height difference made it perfect for leaning on.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm exhausted. Cut me some slack."
Yuri had pushed beyond his limits too, leaving his body a wreck.
Inariel furrowed his brow.
"Consider it an honor."
"Will do. Oh, right."
"What?"
"I need to grab the slime mask..."
"Go get it."
"Too beat to move..."
"..."
"Wish someone would bring it..."
"Tch..."
Days had passed since the rain quelled the forest blaze.
With their commander gone, the imperial troops floundered in indecision before blindly charging the forest.
No retreat left, they threw caution to the wind.
Alloy's brigade countered efficiently using terrain, but the imperials pressed on toward the woods beyond, unconcerned.
A bloody melee erupted.
Casualties mounted.
Even among them were Yoheim's new heroes.
"Hopper! Hopper!"
"Count Seckner, I'm done for..."
"We can't go out like this!"
"I'm sorry."
Hose's acting was abysmal, but Count Seckner was remarkably dense.
"I'll fight to the end for Yoheim. Even in death, I'll watch over her. My lord count."
"Hopper!"
Hopper staggered like a wounded man before charging the enemy.
"Raaah!"
Count Seckner shed tears as Hopper's form vanished amid imperial ranks.
"Hopper..."
Similar scenes unfolded elsewhere on the battlefield.
Among the three sworn brothers, the long-bearded Lowe, fairest of them, fell into peril first.
Deep in enemy lines to stop them from setting fires, he'd swung his crescent blade until an imperial sword felled him.
Imperials surrounded him.
Seeing it, Javed rushed after into the fray.
"Brother Lowe!"
Javed stood by him, slashing relentlessly with his spear.
But numbers began overwhelming him too.
It was desperate.
"W-We have to save those two!"
"Assemble a rescue squad now—"
"Chief!"
As the irregulars pushed recklessly to save them,
Someone bellowed.
"Everyone, hold position!"
It was Yubi, eldest of the sworn brothers.
He declared,
"Charging in means nothing but a dog's death!"
"Ch-Chief!"
"Stay calm! Discipline is life. They broke it by rushing ahead—this is their burden to bear."
His voice suppressed emotion.
Yubi, who cherished brotherhood like life itself, speaking thus stirred hot passion in the irregulars' hearts.
"But."
Yubi raised his twin blades and continued.
"I'm different."
"Chief!"
"I, Yubi, swore to the heavens with my two brothers in that sweet potato field. Though born on different days, we die on the same! That's an order! From now on, the irregulars follow Sir Gonte's commands!"
"Chief!"
"No matter what happens to me and my brothers, you stay back."
"No...!"
"My final order. Survive. It was a pleasure fighting with you, my comrades."
With that, Yubi charged enemy lines to rescue his brothers.
His twin blades danced.
"For Yoheim!"
Displaying burning patriotism and unbreakable brotherhood, he vanished into the ranks.
"Ahh..."
Soon, flames erupted from the imperial formation where they fought.
The three battled foes to the last in the inferno, becoming part of it to devour the imperials.
A heroic end.
Hopper, Yubi, Lowe, Javed.
Like comets, the four who saved Yoheim returned to the heavens as abruptly as they'd come.
But their sacrifice wasn't in vain.
In their place bloomed the flower of patriotism.
"We'll never forgive them!"
"Don't let their deaths be wasted!"
"Exterminate the imperial scum!"
"Charge!"
Yoheim's forces were weak no longer. Witnessing their comrades' falls, they reborn as a fearless army bound by camaraderie and patriotism.
Yoheim's wrathful host pushed back the imperials.
And the next day,
Shocking news spread across the continent.