Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Revelations and the Grand Design
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What the hell was Juras trying to say?
Even Anton had his eyes wide open.
"Ah, you killed my father? What do you mean by that?"
"To begin with, Anton. Do you really think your father was such a weak man? That Gallean, whom even I respected immensely, would simply take his own life out of guilt? Not a chance."
"…!"
"I've said it time and again, but everything has its hidden side. At the time, your father did carry guilt for what he did. But he had no intention whatsoever of killing himself over it. If anything, he resented the one who gave that order—his godfather."
"Godfather… King Parain?"
"Your godfather labeled them bandits and ordered their subjugation. Gallean thought he was just suppressing bandits, and only realized who he had killed by the end of the operation."
"No way…! He deceived my father!"
"Your godfather was just as cunning as I was back then. And there was a political motive behind it as well."
"What could that be…?"
"To subdue a rival. At the time, your father was a significant threat to your godfather. He planned to use this incident to tame Gallean… but in the end, Gallean rebelled against him instead."
King Parain had been keeping the military's top figure, Gallean, in check from the start.
"At that time, it hadn't been long since the noble system was abolished, so there were plenty of suspicious elements from noble backgrounds. They were egging your father on to oust your godfather. In that situation, Gallean harboring resentment toward him was ideal. They even reached the stage of putting it into action."
"My father plotted a rebellion?!"
Even Anton didn't know the full story. He was sweating profusely in shock.
"Honestly, it was a pretty dangerous situation. Your godfather intended to ruthlessly prune all the rotten branches. But his opponent was the military's top dog. If Gallean had rebelled, even your godfather would have struggled to win. That's why I stepped in."
Juras told King Parain that if he resolved this rebellion, he wanted the position of Grand General and Prime Minister.
"After that, I secretly went to your father. And I told him: the bloodline of the Pensilon Empire still remains. The legitimate heir of Pensilon is alive."
"…!"
"If he rebelled, I threatened to kill that heir. It was to weigh whether his intent to rebel stemmed from true loyalty to Pensilon—or just personal ambition. Gallean then went to your godfather, conveyed the Oath of Quinter, left you his last words, Anton, and took his own life. Well, in the end, it was suicide out of loyalty to the Pensilon Empire. I'll give him that."
A murderous silence fell.
It lasted only a moment. Eonia muttered softly.
"You monster…!"
Everyone deeply agreed with Eonia's words in their hearts.
I couldn't help but ask.
"The legitimate heir you told Gallean about… was that me and Arios Almain?"
"…Heh."
For some reason, Juras laughed meaningfully.
"No, I was talking about you alone."
"What about Arios Almain? How did you capture him as a slave? Did you track him down like you did me?"
"Not at all. Didn't I say I was the first to find your mother? I didn't have time to find the others first. As for him… he probably escaped cleverly. Even I couldn't track him that far. And later, someone came to assassinate me."
"That was Arios Almain. The fact that he tried to assassinate you means he knew Crossing was the mastermind behind exterminating the Pensilon revival forces."
"Something like that. I had a bit of trouble, but I subdued and captured him. His attitude was so poor I couldn't use him. By then, he was a useless card anyway, so I just sold him off as a slave to some other kingdom."
The truth of the past was revealed.
It was a tale woven in the stickiest depths of malice.
'In the end, this only strengthens the theory that I'm the main villain…'
The protagonist, Cassius Lloyd, sees Crossing as his archenemy. Crossing is obviously the final boss in the game.
And Als is likely on Crossing's side.
After all, Juras knew from the start that Als was of imperial blood. He'd prepared him as a countermeasure against the protagonist down the line.
'Ymir's failed assassination attempt on the protagonist fits that context too.'
Crossing must have incited it. I don't know how they sowed discord, but if things stayed as they were, Als would be in danger, so eliminate him first.
Whether Ymir knew Cassius Lloyd was Arios Almain or not, she prioritized Als's safety above all and carried it out.
"Young master. Let's get out of here now. We can't stay with a man like this!"
Ymir cried out in agitation. The other retainers silently agreed.
Crossing—this Juras Pamillion—was far too dangerous. That was their message.
But I didn't.
Sadly. Because Juras's actions made rational sense.
He was terrifyingly calculating and cunning, but that very trait made him reliable.
So I wanted to hear one more thing.
"The past is done. It's all in the past anyway. I'm not planning to resent Crossing or King Parain over it. I already knew you were a dirty bastard."
"Hahaha! That look in your eyes. You've figured out what I'm aiming for. As expected, you can actually hold a conversation, unlike the other vermin."
"I can guess what you're aiming for, but I'd like to hear it straight from your mouth. The assassination of Byullang's king. Its purpose."
The past was just the past.
What mattered was the future.
*
*
*
Juras got straight to the point.
"Als, in your view, what's the biggest obstacle to continental unification?"
"The alliances, I suppose."
"Exactly. National interests are so tangled that any hint of danger prompts them to form alliances. Bekavia and Albad did it, Caliper too. Madon fell because we struck fast without giving them time to ally, but even they could have held out longer if delayed."
"…I see."
I think I knew what Juras was getting at.
"Byullang United Kingdom is the epitome of that."
"Right on the money. Think about what happened to Madon's puppet army. Byullang builds power by drawing in alliances. Even if we pour everything into conquering Albad Kingdom, we won't destroy it. As Albad weakens, Byullang will beckon them into the alliance. Byullang profits while Albad seems destroyed yet isn't."
That swollen Byullang has a glaring weakness.
"Even if Byullang somehow builds a unified kingdom that way, it won't last. One incident like the king's death, and it explodes into fragments. That can't be called continental unification."
Juras had told me at the last party: even in the king's death or national crisis, they chase only their own gains without sorrow. That's Byullang's reality.
It wouldn't change even if they unified the continent.
"So Byullang needed to be crushed quickly. It's nothing but a hindrance to unification, yet its power is immense. That's why we decided to dismantle it from within. For that, I'd planted spies in Byullang ten years ago, biding my time. Svenner did the same."
"Svenner saw Byullang as an obstacle to unification too?"
"Precisely."
"So you noticed Svenner's inside job operation. Since you were thinking the same…"
"That, and my spies gave me a good grasp of Byullang's internals."
Byullang was indeed a massive hurdle. Even if it unified the continent, it'd last three days at most—just as Juras said, it had to be toppled somehow.
Juras had long known Byullang's Achilles' heel was its king, Wilfried Schwarzer, and was waiting for the right moment.
'With Svenner invading in force now, it's the perfect time to trigger it.'
That framed Svenner as the assassin, clearing Crossing from suspicion.
Byullang's collapse was now a matter of time. At most three years. After that, it'd splinter apart.
'But how does he plan to conquer Byullang? Crossing doesn't border it…'
Something flashed through my mind.
"Don't tell me the Madon southern territories you acquired were…!"
"Correct. A bridgehead for striking Byullang."
In the territory negotiations with Caliper, Crossing stubbornly demanded Madon's southern lands—which bordered Byullang.
"But it won't be Crossing conquering Byullang."
"Not Crossing…?"
"No, you'll be the one conquering Byullang."
With that, Juras laid out his shocking scheme.
"For the next two years, Crossing will deliberately rule Madon's occupied southern territories with harsh oppression. The people's resentment will boil over, naturally. That's when you'll rise in revolt there."
"I can guess why, but… say it yourself."
"Heh, just as you guessed. Crossing lacks sufficient pretext to attack Byullang. Forcing it would provoke Albad, Bekavia, Europer, Tunkai, Svenner—all of them. We could end up surrounded by an alliance. So we need a third party's hands for Byullang."
That third party would be the nation I establish.
"Starting from Madon's southern territories, you'll sweep through Madon's western puppet forces, then ultimately all of Byullang's lands. In sync, we'll handle Albad and Bekavia. Svenner won't sit idle and will target Europer, Tunkai, and Ballast. The continent will divide into three."
Svenner, Crossing, and the nation I rule.
Juras was proposing a tripartite division of the realm. His scheme didn't end there.
"The continent splits into three, but you and Crossing are secretly blood allies. Effectively, Svenner faces a 2-vs-1. They'll be trapped."
"They won't let it come to that."
"That's why we must appear hostile publicly. It won't be hard. If you rebel in our territory and found a nation, enmity forms naturally. After that, we keep up appearances with token hostilities while doing our parts. I'll conquer the north, you the south, narrowing the map to three nations."
There it ends. Crossing and I, thought to be enemies, join forces, destroy Svenner, and unify the continent.
Essentially a bipartite division—in our overwhelming favor.
"What then?"
"We merge the nations. You can rule the unified state if you want. I've confirmed this with my godfather."
"…Not you?"
"I'm not interested in the throne. I just want to witness history's flow. After unification, I'll watch your nation from afar."
He was utterly unbelievable, but his words rang true to me.
If I truly couldn't trust him, I could just abdicate the throne and hand everything to Crossing—the unification would still succeed.
Juras's grand vision was flawless.
"So, what will you choose?"
Will I betray Crossing over past sins and take another path?
Or forget the past, join hands with Crossing for the future?
Juras watched with amused curiosity, as if my choice didn't matter.