Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: The Awakened Ones
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“ARE YOU INSANE, CLAUDE? WHAT IN THE WORLD HAVE YOU DONE?”
Jess shouted with a face full of shock. I had turned myself in at the imperial palace and was now prostrated in the council chamber, bowing my head as I explained everything that had happened.
“Everything began that dawn. A young girl who had escaped from Verit arrived at my mansion and begged for help. She pleaded to save her family and the villagers.”
“What does that have to do with anything? For a lord’s subject to flee the territory is a grave crime! You could have just reported it to the Public Safety Bureau and been done with it!”
“I couldn’t do that.”
Unlike Jess, who was extremely agitated, I defended myself in an utterly calm voice.
“I may be lacking, but I bear the title of Saint, blessed by the gods. How could I simply stand by and let people starve to death under a lord’s exploitation?”
“Outsiders cannot interfere in Verit’s policies! This is an imperial custom passed down for a hundred years!”
“To me, all imperial territories are but one empire.”
At that moment, the surrounding ministers erupted in murmurs. It was the effect of me publicly declaring what everyone knew in their heads but hesitated to voice.
“The people of Elstone Earldom groaning under the Commander Army’s invasion, the residents of Yoton Bay suffering because sea serpents blocked their livelihoods, and Verit’s subjects starving due to their lord’s exploitation—they are all the same to me: subjects of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor.”
“You madman!”
Jess slammed the proxy throne and stood up. But the reactions of the ministers to his left and right were different.
—Indeed... In Prince Claude’s eyes, they all appeared as equal subjects.
—Well said. It’s just that Verit is such a special place...
—It doesn’t matter anymore anyway, does it? It was only ever abused to fill the belly of whoever was appointed lord.
Oh? The reaction is even better than expected.
Looking back on my nine previous regressions, a significant number of ministers had grown sick of Verit’s policies for their own reasons from the start.
If everyone had uniformly wanted to exploit Verit, they wouldn’t have plotted such a thing in the first place. Of course, Jess had thought differently from the beginning.
“You’ve gone truly mad! You refused half of Verit when it was granted to you as a territory! And now you drag down and illegally imprison a lord appointed by His Imperial Majesty, then strut before me claiming it was right?”
Jess, in his excitement, even pointed accusingly as he yelled.
Hm, something feels off.
Did he react this intensely before? His condition seems far worse than in my memory.
“Above all, a prince moving troops out of personal greed to occupy a territory! That alone is an unforgivable crime!”
“I did not mobilize any troops.”
“Don’t spout nonsense! Didn’t you just form a new knight order?”
“It’s a knight order that doesn’t even have five members yet. And I alone occupied Verit Castle and stopped the lord’s tyranny.”
“You alone? Ha! So like when you caught the sea serpent in Yoton Bay, you slaughtered all of Verit Castle’s soldiers with holy magic?”
“I didn’t kill anyone. And besides the holy magic you mentioned—Reverse Gravity—I also used elemental magic.”
As planned, I honestly laid out the facts. Jess’s face twisted, and he stupidly parroted back.
“Elemental magic? How could you?”
“The time I negotiated the treaty with the ogres, I was invited to their village and enjoyed a brief feast. There, I had a chance to commune briefly with Lukkar, the rock spirit, guardian deity of the ogres.”
“What? A spirit?”
“At that time, the rock spirit awakened the power of magic in me as a reward. At first, I wasn’t used to it and kept quiet, but that morning, when I heard the escaped girl’s story and got excited... I fully opened my eyes to the power of magic.”
Then, to prove my words, I created a small flame in my palm and floated it upward.
Fwoosh!
“Your Highness!”
In an instant, Phiren—Jess’s guard knight—stepped forward before the proxy throne, blocking Jess.
But the surrounding ministers reacted differently. Instead of feeling threatened by the magic, they all gazed at the flame in my palm and began marveling.
—Ooh, true elemental magic...
—My word, does that mean Prince Claude can wield both holy and elemental magic?
—This will go down in imperial history. Hasn’t it been since the Heroic Age that someone wielded two entirely different magics?
—A blessing upon the empire. It’s said that those who master two disparate magics become heroes who protect the empire...
Maximum reputation boost!
I could feel the ministers’ mood lighten just from listening.
This was one of the advantages of choosing elemental and holy magic as my starting point. That’s why I saved the reveal, holding it back until this very moment when I’d committed my reckless act, unleashing it dramatically.
“This...”
Jess wasn’t blind or deaf. Sensing the ministers’ mood shift, he instantly hardened his expression and scolded me sternly.
“Your abilities are irrelevant. What matters is that you trampled a lord appointed by His Imperial Majesty as you pleased. This is nothing less than defying an imperial decree—treason against the empire!”
“Regent Highness, please stay calm.”
At that, Minister of Military Affairs Hops Count stepped forward.
“Though Prince Claude’s actions were radical, they were ultimately for the sake of the empire’s people. Considering the circumstances, at least charging him with treason would be excessive.”
“Hops Count! Are you saying Claude is innocent?”
“Not at all. However, from my perspective as Minister of Military Affairs, this incident is better treated as a minor lapse by an imperial who got swept up in emotion, rather than rebellion or treason. Above all, didn’t he come straight to the palace afterward to explain everything?”
“Kh...”
—Indeed. It’s hard to call this treason.
—Would a traitor come to the palace himself to confess his crime?
—More than that, Talisman Count... The rumors haven’t been good lately, have they?
—Not just lately—his past is dirty too. Even when he was young, he couldn’t keep his hands off his own goods...
—Didn’t Talisman Count go to Verit a few years ago because he got caught embezzling and needed to lay low?
—Lay low? He just hid until the rumors died down. Frankly, I’m glad it turned out this way.
The ministers’ opinion was clear as day. Judging he couldn’t impose proper punishment like this, Jess hurriedly waved his hand and raised his voice.
“Silence, all of you! I won’t decide this now. We’ll judge once the investigation team reports what actually happened in Verit!”
Then he glared at me as if I were his parents’ murderer. Sorry, but we share the same parents? Well, precisely the same father, different mothers.
“In the meantime, I sentence Sixth Imperial Prince Claude to confinement. Until the investigation concludes, stay in the Blue Lion Palace, a detached palace of the imperial grounds, and reflect!”
* * *
Three days after Claude returned to the imperial capital. The Talisman family, having heard the news, arrived at Verit Castle with hundreds of private soldiers.
“I am Rantel Baron, representing the empire’s greatest noble house, the Talisman family! Release our family head, Talisman Count, and hand him over at once!”
‘Rantel... Talisman Count’s nephew, right?’
Kyle, holding the castle gate, frowned as he eyed the opponent.
The young baron in flashy magic armor wasn’t a concern.
From the intel he’d gathered, none of Talisman Count’s relatives were proper knights. The problem was the knights in gray armor surrounding the baron.
‘That crude magic armor design... Baran Mercenary Knights.’
A knight order infamous for taking on any dirty job for the right price. Of course, armor alone revealed their identity, but gauging the knights’ true prowess was impossible.
‘State knight orders mark ranks on their armor, making it easy to distinguish, but mercenaries don’t, so judging strength is tricky.’
Even so, as someone barely handling low-grade magic armor, Kyle couldn’t guarantee victory against anyone. He cleanly gave up fighting personally and stepped back.
“Then I leave it to you, Meredes.”
“I’ve told you before, honorifics make me uncomfortable. I’m younger than you.”
Meredes, standing beside him, replied with an expressionless face. Kyle’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Younger than me?”
“I’m 16 this year. I heard Sir Kyle is two years older.”
“Uh... Well... Anyway, please take care of it.”
Meredes was a head taller than Kyle, and her face looked far too mature for 16.
Thanks to that, regardless of status, position, or gender, he’d treated her as an elder and used honorifics. To think she was actually younger.
‘Only 16, yet so bold... I wonder how she’ll fare in combat?’
He didn’t yet know how strong Meredes’s spirit magic was. Meanwhile, the enemy had seven knights total, so it was best not to provoke them and pick them off one by one.
But Meredes openly warned the approaching foes.
“Everyone, withdraw. His Highness the Prince commanded that no one be allowed into the castle without his orders or those of the imperial government.”
“And who are you? Judging by your clothes, some maid? Who do you think you are, stepping up like this? Hand over my uncle right now! Get lost!”
Rantel Baron glared and drew his sword. But Meredes didn’t flinch, replying calmly.
“I am Meredes, maid to Prince Claude. I say again: you absolutely cannot pass through here.”
“I said move! Unless you want to die!”
“I cannot move.”
“You impudent wench... What are you waiting for? Force your way through! Even if it’s a prince’s maid, killing a couple won’t matter!”
“Yes!”
In an instant, two knights before the baron charged at Meredes. But she reacted a beat faster.
“Kval.”
The moment she named her contracted spirit, the space ahead warped, and a giant made entirely of rock rose up.
“...!”
The sight was so surreal that the charging knights froze mid-step.
Meanwhile, the summoned spirit moved with agility belying its size. It leaped toward the hesitating knights in a flash.
Boom!
With a light, straight motion, it slammed down its fist.
Crack!
Like an empty can crumpling, a sound rang out, and both knights bounced off the ground like skipped stones, flying backward.
“No...”
Rantel Baron stared in shock at the knights who’d rebounded to their original spots.
“What is that thing? What’s that rock lump? Where did it come from?!”
‘The Pebble Spirit... I thought it’d be something cute, but...’
Kyle, watching from the opposite side, stuck out his tongue. A rock mass the size of an ogre moving more nimbly than an average knight was unbelievable.
In the meantime, the spirit raised its massive leg and stomped the ground.
Boom!
Then, as if taunting them to come at it, it crooked its finger toward the baron’s group.
“That rock dares provoke us? What is it? Some giant wearing rock armor?”
“Likely spirit magic... Baron, please fall back with the family soldiers. We’ll handle this.”
The mercenary knight leader gestured to the remaining knights, issuing orders as he slowly advanced. The baron glared anxiously at the knights and warned.
“I shelled out 300 gold to urgently hire you lot, fewer than ten! If you don’t want complaints, earn your pay!”
“...”
The leader nodded, drew his sword, and swung it experimentally.
Slash!
Wind pressure surged from the blade, deeply gouging the ground. Kyle, watching from afar, gasped in tension.
‘Gale Blade? A mercenary knight who’s a Knight Expert?’
Knight ranks were determined by the performance of magic armor they could wear or specific techniques they could wield.
Among them, to reach the third rank, ‘Knight Expert,’ one needed to wield the technique of generating wind pressure from the blade to attack foes—the Gale Blade.
Or wear mid-grade magic armor.
Of course, it paled compared to the highest rank, ‘Knight Master,’ or the one below, ‘Knight Commander.’ But by common standards, this was already superhuman.
“Meredes! The opponent’s a Knight Expert! Watch out for the wind pressure!”
Of course, saying this to a mere maid ignorant of knights wouldn’t help.
From Meredes’s perspective, her only concern was time. Once the spirit was summoned, the enemies dragging it out was far more dangerous.
‘8 minutes left. I have to repel them all in that time.’
Meredes hid her impatience behind her blank expression. From sporadic tests in the forest, the Pebble Spirit’s summon limit was 9 minutes max.
Once the time expired, the spirit vanished unconditionally, and it couldn’t be resummoned for at least 3 hours, no matter what.
‘But Kval is strong. I don’t know what a Knight Expert is, but he’ll repel them all this time too.’
But this time, the enemies’ tactics were more cunning.
The leader spread the remaining four knights wide, then slowly closed in from all sides, dividing the spirit’s attention.
They looked formidable, though she couldn’t tell how. With her limited experience, Meredes could only command the spirit to attack.
‘Fight! Kval!’
Groar!
The Pebble Spirit roared as if waiting, launching itself at the knight to its left and swinging its fist in one motion.
Boom!
The knight couldn’t even react to the sudden attack and flew backward.
Meanwhile, the other three knights charged together, unleashing attacks on the spirit.
Clang!
But against the solid rock, they only left scratches. Ignoring the blows, Kval swung its arms like windmills.
Whoosh!
“Dodge!”
The clinging knights hurriedly pulled back. And right then.
Crack!
A fissure split across Kval’s thick forearm mid-swing.
The leader had created it with a distant wind pressure blast. Using the forward knights to draw eyes, he’d waited for his chance, then dashed in at high speed, swinging his sword himself.
Crunch!
That blow severed Kval’s right arm, sending it flying. Meredes clutched her own arm as if it were hers and cried out.
“Kval!”
Groar!
The spirit, unperturbed, wildly swung its remaining left arm.
But the leader, goal achieved, leaped back, instantly widening the distance.
“Back to encirclement! This time, take the left arm!”
He commanded his mobile subordinates. The three knights swiftly scattered, and Kval reflexively spun, wary of foes on all sides.
Groar! Groar!
‘What was that just now? How can a sword cut rock? And Kval’s body isn’t ordinary rock?’
Ignorant of knights, Meredes could only panic. Kyle anxiously scanned the battlefield, pondering.
‘Encirclement formation... Standard knight tactic against small numbers. But she’s not coping at all. What to do? Should I join to break the flow? Or retreat now?’
Claude had said to hand over the count if things got dangerous. The decision was ultimately Kyle’s.
But right then.
“Excuse me. Excuse me. Sorry. Please step aside just a bit. I need to go forward. Sorry. Make way, please.”
A soldier of unknown affiliation, his face covered in beard, wormed through Rantel Baron’s army and arrived before the castle gate.