Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: The War Hero Pretends to Disappear (1)
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The imperial capital of the Empire, its highest point.
No one could enter the top floor of the imperial palace without permission, and there, upon the throne of steel, sat a petite girl with black hair.
She appeared to be around 140 cm tall—a black-haired girl who likely needed a step stool just to climb onto the throne.
The uniform she wore resembled that of the Empire's soldiers, but the custom-made garment tailored to her small frame somehow made her look like a child playing dress-up in military clothes.
Yet this tiny girl with black hair and red eyes was none other than the emperor who had sought to dominate the entire continent.
The little tyrant. The ruler of blood. The apostle of war.
If one word could encompass all those epithets, it would be "Child Empress."
Having ascended the throne at age eight and declared war, the Child Empress was now twenty years old. She stared intently at the wide, rectangular magic engineering device before her—a monitor measuring 85 inches across.
"......It's no good, is it."
Beyond the monitor.
It relayed a live feed from some location in real time, following someone's gaze as the view shifted rapidly. The screen showed a forest engulfed in flames.
The Empire's masters, fighting desperately against a single man, staking their lives.
Each one wielded an Empire magic artillery weapon equipped with a pseudo-dragon heart, a mana core.
Even alone, they could raze a county to the ground as a matter of course—and depending on the person, devour an entire kingdom whole. These were the Empire's strongest warriors.
And yet, in that burning elf forest, all of them had knelt before a lone swordsman.
"As expected, no matter how many times we try, that monster can't be beaten."
Gazing at the man on the monitor who had plunged his greatsword into the ground amid the inferno, the Child Empress clenched her fists tightly.
Master Cadensia. The Dark Elf's defection.
Truth be told—it had been unexpected.
She had anticipated some discontent, but never imagined that someone would steal the Empire's magic artillery weapon, Pafnil, and flee with it.
Such a thing was a "first."
During the armistice negotiations, the Child Empress had let her guard down slightly, her resolve softening just a bit. But she could never have dreamed that someone dissatisfied with the armistice would act on their twisted convictions the very next day, rushing off to burn the World Tree.
On the other hand, she felt relief.
Because the Red Devil happened to be there.
She knew that the monster—who had spread crimson mana wings behind him and subdued the Empire's mana core-wielding masters with a single greatsword, unscathed—happened to be in the Elf Kingdom.
—Come.
The Red Devil commanded.
—Attack me with everything you've got. Separate from the armistice, I'll give you a chance to kill me.
His own death.
The Child Empress realized.
"Going to such ridiculous lengths just to avoid marriage."
Pretending to have been struck down by the Empire's assassins, then vanishing while concealing his identity.
He must have arranged something with the people of the Wilhelm Barony to some extent.
Even if not, those who served the Wilhelm Barony would never believe the Red Devil was dead.
They knew.
The extent of that monster's power.
...When all the Empire's masters had been subdued beneath a single sword in less than thirty minutes, who could possibly believe that "Hans Wilhelm went missing after being targeted by the Empire's assassins"?
No one would.
But they had to believe it.
Why?
Because that monster willed it so.
"Haa...."
The Child Empress pressed a hand to her forehead.
This was a warning.
His disappearance would plunge the continent into chaos, but the Empire could never ignore the armistice and ignite war again.
Even if he feigned death, the moment they tried to restart the war, Hans Wilhelm would reappear.
"This time as well, thwarted by that Red Devil in the end."
The Child Empress slumped back onto the throne with a long sigh.
"O God. Why grant the Empire the power to rule the entire continent, yet bestow upon them the strength to defy the Empire in a single individual?"
Powerless, the Child Empress could only listen to the Red Devil's declaration resounding from the monitor.
"We'll report it like this: All other Empire masters suffered fatal injuries and perished. The Dark Elf, Master Cadensia, self-destructed against Hans Wilhelm. He then vanished, gravely wounded. Got it?"
"Urk...!"
The Empire's masters knelt on one knee or barely leaned on their staves, glaring at me with faces drained of fighting spirit.
"Are you insane?"
A mage in a witch's hat shouted at me.
"Do you have any idea how much chaos your disappearance will cause on the continent...!"
"That chaos is something humanity must endure."
"What?"
"A hero too powerful is essential in war, but if he lingers afterward, he's a liability to both the Alliance Kingdoms and the Empire."
"...Absurd."
A bespectacled woman in robes gnashed her teeth at me.
"No more hero, so we must grow strong to protect ourselves? You're just running away because you don't want to marry that 37-year-old spinster!"
"It's not because she's a 37-year-old spinster."
"What?"
"It's the forced marriage. Anyone hearing would think I hate it because of her age."
Age doesn't matter.
Well, one could make allowances to a degree, but if that 37-year-old spinster took good care of herself and was as healthy as someone in her twenties, I could bear the risks just fine.
"Even a witch over a hundred, if she looks like she's in her twenties and we truly love each other, age means nothing."
"Eut...!!"
Several of the Empire's masters flushed red and faltered for a moment, but I waved them off lightly and retrieved my greatsword.
"One warning. If anyone pulls a 'personal deviation' rampage like Master Cadensia, I will reappear. Even if it's not as Hans Wilhelm."
"What, planning to show up under an alias or something?"
"Not a bad idea. In any form, don't cross the line."
I seized the mana core that had fallen to the ground.
The mana core Cadensia had brought to burn the World Tree—Pafnil, the pseudo-dragon heart—contained more mana than an average master possessed.
"We even stamped the armistice agreement. We've spilled plenty of blood on both sides, so let's stop fighting and live in peace now, yeah?"
"...You think that's possible?"
"Probably not. Realistically speaking."
An armistice in name, but in truth, a mere truce.
The scars etched across the continent over twelve years hadn't healed, nor would the wounds in the hearts of those who lost loved ones ever fade.
Even so.
"At least it'll be better than before the armistice."
I had no intention of becoming a symbol of peace itself.
But as long as the Empire knew I lived—no matter how the world turned—I alone served as a powerful deterrent.
"Should the Empire ignite war once more, or fan the flames of conflict."
Whirrr.
I channeled mana into the mana core Pafnil and hoisted my greatsword high toward the sky.
"I will reappear. Right in the heart of the Empire's capital."
"...!! Ev, everyone, evade!!"
"Officially, this is Master Cadensia's self-destruct attack, right?"
I poured the rampaging mana from the core into my greatsword and thrust it skyward with all my might.
"I am now death."
To suppress the flames of war.
That day.
The continent witnessed it.
In a certain region far from the elf forest.
A crimson mushroom cloud erupting toward the heavens.
And...
"...You're saying the master has gone missing?"
Robert, the butler of the Wilhelm Barony, was utterly dumbfounded by the sudden news.
"That's right. My deepest condolences. From the traces of battle... it seems nine Empire masters took part in the assassination."
"......."
"Well then."
After the captain of the Royal Knight Order offered perfunctory sympathy and departed.
"Ha."
Butler Robert scratched his head and looked up.
"That setup?"
There wasn't a trace of worry or concern on Robert's face.
"Empire masters succeeding in assassinating the master? No way. ...If that were possible, the armistice never would have happened."
Who would believe it?
Hans Wilhelm's death.
Those cheering the fall of the Continental Shield probably just wished it true for their own gain.
"Hmm... three years at most, no, maybe just one at the shortest."
Robert spoke leisurely, then shifted his expression.
"Uh, ugh...."
"Look here, from the Wilhelm..."
"Hwaaaaaaaa!!"
The moment someone approached, Robert collapsed as if his strength had failed him and began to wail.
"Master! Why, hwick, how could this happen!!"
"Ah, no, I mean...."
"Without the master, who will protect the Grates Kingdom—no, the continent! Hwe, hweeeee!!"
Robert wept loudly.
The performance was a bit peculiar, but his master was not one to squander an opportunity.
And this was precisely the behavior his master expected from him.
He must have felt apologetic for not giving prior notice, trusting that Robert would catch on regardless.
A feigned disappearance to escape.
For a capable butler, there was only one course of action.
"Goddess!!"
Robert would wait.
For the day his master returned, escorting the lady of the house in a white carriage and wedding dress.
"How, how could this be! Goddess!!"
"Calm down. Sir Wilhelm is...."
"He didn't die! The master, the master...!!"
Hans Wilhelm's death.
"There's no way he could have passed!!! "
Denying it more fiercely than anyone.
The Alliance Shield, Hans Wilhelm.
Missing.
Several days later, in the forest of a small kingdom.
"Kyaaa!!"
A white-haired young lady out for a stroll in her dress spotted something in the woods.
"Wh-what is this...!"
A black-haired young man collapsed by the riverbank, clad only in a black robe.
"Miss! What's wrong all of a sudden...? Kyaa!"
"Emma! Fetch help! Hurry!"
The white-haired woman personally supported the youth and helped him to his feet.
The woman didn't notice.
As she struggled to prop up the larger man, the moment their skin touched, the supposedly unconscious youth's eyes twitched ever so slightly.