Players Enter the Stage (1)
Valua Kingdom's crown prince, Lu An, viewed the citizen militias—who kept igniting flames of resistance no matter how brutally they were crushed—as a major threat. He ordered the Rocksfield family to mobilize. Following that, he even dispatched the Kingdom's Seven Swords, the guardians of the capital Lutemine. As he sent out renowned knight orders and elite legions one after another, he aimed to suppress the simultaneous uprisings erupting across the kingdom.
But in the process, the kingdom's industrial base was destroyed, and local lords were slaughtered by the enraged citizen militias, sending the situation spiraling further into chaos.
"To suppress the rebels with minimal damage, we need well-trained knight orders!"
"But no more deployments are possible! Don't you know? If we send out even the knights left in the capital, who will defend Lutemine?"
"They fight like they don't fear death...! No matter how many we kill, they keep charging..."
The nobles at the war council vented their frustrations over the impasse, railing against the chronic shortage of troops like it was an old affliction. The kingdom's forces struggled against the surging waves of citizen militias. Adding insult to injury, soldiers who hadn't received pay for half a year were deserting without leave or even joining the militias, accelerating the collapse of the royal army.
"Where is Count Rocksfield?" Lu An asked.
One noble replied, "He's probably suppressing the southern rebellion by now."
The kingdom's hunting dogs, the Rocksfield family, continued to show unwavering loyalty to the Valua royals. Their valiant knights racked up victory after victory against the flood of citizen militias, barely holding back the kingdom's fracture. Without the Rocksfields, Lutemine would have faced the full wrath of the mobs directly.
"In this dire hour for the kingdom's fate, where the hell has the Kingdom's Greatest Sword gone?!"
A noble in charge of troop command bellowed his rage at the Kingdom's Greatest Sword, who had vanished without a trace.
Heinkel had disappeared. As if prophesying Valua Kingdom's downfall.
He had transferred all his accumulated wealth to the servants in his mansion, sending them back to their hometowns. With even the mansion's owner gone, the home of the Kingdom's Greatest Sword became an empty shell.
'Sir Heinkel, have you truly abandoned the kingdom...!!'
The handsome crown prince slammed the table, his face twisting in fury. Lu An was a prince with an arrogant, self-centered streak beneath his gentle facade, but he had always genuinely respected Heinkel, the Kingdom's Greatest Sword. He'd admired him since childhood, envying his unyielding strength that defied the flow of time. Lu An had even dreamed of reviving the declining Valua Kingdom to earn Heinkel's recognition.
"What of the message to the Holy Empire?!" Lu An shouted.
As the prince acting with full royal authority, he had requested aid from the Holy Empire. Bring in foreign troops to crush the militias. Realizing there were no other options, Lu An resolved to invite Holy Empire forces into the kingdom and have them suppress the rebels.
"Please reconsider, Your Highness! Even if the Holy Empire is our ally, we can't let foreign troops into our lands!"
The majority of nobles opposed Lu An's plan. Desperate as the situation was, inviting foreign armies required deep deliberation. Their reluctant expressions were only natural.
Lu An shouted again. "Then what do you suggest? Wait until the enraged mobs breach Lutemine and regret it then? If that happens, not just us here, but our families and retainers will be torn to shreds by the furious crowds! Is that what you want?!"
The prince glared at the nobles. Under his sharp gaze, they fell silent like honey-mutes.
'Once the rebellion is crushed and the kingdom stabilizes, Sir Heinkel will return...! He won't abandon the kingdom he's served for centuries so easily. This time, I'll prove my worth to him.'
Lu An bit his lip and stared at the military map on the table. Royal forces scattered across the kingdom. Citizen militias rising on all sides, encircling them. With the war deteriorating, new forces were needed. Lu An knew the current royal army couldn't suppress the militias, so he had requested military support from their ally, the Holy Empire.
* * *
Druin Ri, a retainer of Agares who had become a vagabond after rejecting the vampire queen's rule, wandered aimlessly while fending off bounty hunters. Each time, he piled up mountains of corpses. He severed the necks of justice-driven knights, killed soldiers hungry for promotion, and slaughtered even the greedy hunters dreaming of striking it rich—proving to the Holy Empire and 66 vassal states that his sword skills remained sharp as ever.
'What the hell is this situation...?'
In a remote minor kingdom between the Holy Empire and Valua Kingdom, Druin—hiding from pursuers in this nameless backwater—stumbled into an unexpected mess while walking a deserted mountain path.
"Damn it, who sent you?!"
"The pursuit squad's already here?!"
A single carriage passing through the path. Mercenaries surrounding it like guards. They glared at Druin and yelled. Acting guilty, they spilled unasked info while pointing sharp weapons at him. Clearly rookies. Druin couldn't help smirking at their clumsy threats. Pathetic. If they knew the man before them was the worst criminal wanted for summary execution by the Holy Empire and 66 vassal states, they'd be horrified.
"That cart must be loaded with valuables. Why else would dozens of mercs guard a single carriage? Drop the carts and scram. I'm on the run and broke as hell."
Druin said, dropping his two longswords. He took a step toward the twenty-plus mercenaries.
At his threat, the mercs glanced at each other, then snickered. Thinking the sudden blocker was just a greedy bandit, they tried scaring him off.
"Bandits these days got no fear."
"You thought flashing threats would make us piss ourselves?"
"We've been stressing over that damn Valua princess... Time to vent on you first."
Facing the hulking, weapon-raised mercs closing in, Druin chuckled.
"Surrounded by a bunch of dudes, huh? I'm not some rape bait heroine from a doujin... Sorry, but I'm not gay, so no interest in a male gangbang."
What the fuck is this guy babbling?
Confused by Druin’s weird remark, the mercs pegged him as a lunatic.
"Kill him!!"
The moment the leader merc shouted, a sharp sonic boom erupted, sweeping the mercs away. Red paint splattered. Chunks presumed to be flesh rained down, rolling across the ground. Finally, a massive geyser burst, pooling blood.
"Die, you gays. Hope you reincarnate as straight dudes who fuck women properly next time."
Kicking a headless corpse's skull with a pop, Druin sheathed his blood-drenched blades and waded through the pile. He rummaged pockets, lit a cigarette, and headed for the coachmen guarding the carriage.
"A-ah, demon! How did he take out all those mercs at once...!!"
"Not a demon. Just a real fucking bastard."
Thus dubbing himself, Druin brushed past the trembling, terrified coachmen. Swinging his sword, he sliced open the carriage's tarpaulin. Cutting the ominously dark cover revealed the overloaded cargo inside. Boxes held fruits, wine, cigarettes—mostly luxuries.
Checking each box, Druin planned to hijack the whole carriage.
"W-wait! No, please wait, sir!"
A coachman rushed up, blocking him desperately. Trembling but arms outstretched pathetically.
"If I lose this carriage, I'm dead! Please... have mercy!"
"Eh, that much, huh..."
Would he kill the guy just for losing the cart to a thief? The coachman looked frustrated at Druin’s words. He had a reason but couldn't say it. Druin’s sharp eyes caught the coachman hiding something.
From the reaction, Druin realized and started tossing cargo out. Seeing trunks crash open, the coachman looked ready to faint.
"An elf?"
Beneath the piled goods, in a cramped space, was a woman. Gagged, handcuffed hands, shackled feet. An elf woman crammed in the suffocatingly tight carriage spot. Clearly to evade checkpoints. The twenty mercs were for smuggling her, not the cargo.
"Not goods smuggling—slave trading."
Druin chuckled, eyeing the coachman averting his gaze. He reached in, yanking the huddled elf woman out and dumping her on the dirt.
"Changed my mind. You keep the goods. I'll just take this elf. Was getting bored anyway—perfect timing."
"N-no! Take the goods instead!"
"Who you calling a retard...? Even ten carts of that shit ain't worth one elf."
Elf slaves were ultra-rare. Most continental elves had fled to Libria Peninsula; those remaining were mostly toyed with and sacrificed by humans. Surviving elves were few, making their slaves priceless.
"Already sold, huh."
A yellow mark pierced the elf's long ear—an earring forced through. The slave tag meant she was formally auctioned with a buyer.
"Who bought her?"
Druin asked, tapping his sword hilt. The hesitant coachman finally spoke.
"T-to Valua Kingdom's... royal castle... But with the civil war, we're taking backroads..."
"Royal castle means royalty. Some perverted royal bought her to fuck elf pussy."
"Rumor has it the princess... keeps buying up elf girls..."
It wasn't much of a secret among slavers. Valua's Katrin Valua, snapping up beautiful elf women one after another—the tale spread from trader mouths.
"That Valua princess bitch... plans to scissor with elf beauties? Can't let a male crash that party then."
Muttering something incomprehensible, Druin glanced at the elf woman, pondering her fate.