The Price of Survival
If only I had stepped forward. One day after sending everyone away.
"Young Master!! Carix, Young Master!!!"
The princess's voice, a scream announcing the arrival of noon, struck the quarters like a thunderbolt.
"You've arrived."
"What is the meaning of this! A [Dungeon] appearing in the Marquis's iron mine—did you know about this!?"
"Please, calm yourself. This is coffee I brewed myself. Why don't you have a sip?"
"Huh? Oh. Thank you. Wow. This is delicious. ……That's not the point! I'm asking what is going on here!"
Lilit felt a sense of eeriness at Carix’s composure.
"There were prior signs. The demonic beast front in the eastern region has never been breached, yet casualties from demonic beasts were occurring consistently. This year, the number has increased to 1.4 times compared to the same period last year."
Carix simply sipped the coffee he had brewed, speaking in a leisurely tone.
"Weren't damages from naturally occurring demonic beasts just natural disasters that could happen anywhere?"
"A natural disaster is not an absolutely unpredictable catastrophe. The locations of beast appearances, the personal details of the victims, the characteristics of the hunted beasts, and the timing of their emergence—if you synthesize all that information, even a child could feel that something is wrong."
"That sounds like you're saying the Marquisate is less capable than a child… but since when have you been collecting such information, Young Master?"
"From the very beginning."
"From the beginning? When is that?"
From the moment I was born and realized this world was the setting of [The Night of the Silver Moon]. From the moment I learned to read. I knew she wouldn't accept that answer, so I decided to tell a convenient lie.
"Since my older brother passed away. I will soon be managing the vast territory of the Duchy, and isn't it the duty of a noble to protect the people?"
"Wow. That is surprisingly constructive, coming from a Young Master who prefers to crush his opponents before even finding evidence."
"I move when the circumstantial evidence exceeds a 98 percent probability, even without hard proof. In fact, not a single person I've killed was innocent."
"And what if someone falls into that 2 percent?"
"Then it's unfortunate. Fortunately, there hasn't been an 'unfortunate' person yet."
"The wives and young ladies of the ten families who were kidnapped for no reason—they must have felt quite wronged, don't you think?"
"Your Highness. Wronged and unfortunate are two different things. Do you truly believe those ten families were innocent, aside from their lack of involvement in my brother's death?"
"You even know about the evil deeds they committed?"
"I have been digging quite actively to uncover the truth about my brother. As I said, if I were to enter politics, a bloodbath would be inevitable—that is how actively I am digging."
"……Please, for the love of god, do not enter politics."
"I won't. It's too tedious. I intend to parry politics with a blade. Just like this current situation."
The more I learn about this man, Carix, the more I get goosebumps. Even as a princess who thought she had seen it all through the social circles, this man was accustomed to rolling in pools of blood, and he felt no hesitation in creating them.
Furthermore, the dungeon in the Marquis's iron mine—civilian casualties must be occurring on a massive scale right now. Yet, he had predicted it all and left them in danger simply because they were unrelated to him. The Marquis's knight order, currently missing their vice-captain who had enrolled in the academy, must be suffering immensely right now.
"You are… truly cruel and merciless."
"That is correct. Which is why I would advise you not to get close to someone like me."
"……"
And yet, why? Looking at Carix drinking his coffee with a peaceful expression, Lilit felt something… a profound sense of loneliness.
"Ah. But where did Count Dust go?"
"Naturally, he is moving to make Your Highness the king of the academy."
"Eh…?"
I only asked because I felt empty without Count Leng Dust, who always stood by his side, but the answer I received was absurd. What is he talking about?
"From now on, I will continue to interfere so that the Marquisate cannot respond properly, causing the damage to spread. And then, I intend to create the only person capable of dealing with it."
"A-are you a fucking lunatic?"
Who is the only person he is talking about? Lilit realized it immediately and cursed without thinking.
"I have told you several times, I am indeed a madman."
Did I really think this madman looked lonely just a moment ago? For the first time, Lilit began to reasonably suspect that she might be the one who was broken.
"Soon, Count Leng Dust will arrive with sufficient force and enter under Your Highness's command."
"Hey. Hey, you psycho."
"I tighten the noose around their necks, and Your Highness saves them. Isn't it a perfect plan?"
"Ugh! You madman! Are you truly insane? Why are you naturally making me an accomplice!?"
"For your information, the destination for this year's 1st-year external training was changed to the eastern territory yesterday. Lady Beatrix lobbied very hard. She wanted to hold the external training in her own territory to show off her family's prestige to other neutral nobles and those attached to the royal faction."
"A-are you using the academy students as hostages…!!?"
"Furthermore, it was supposed to be finalized three days ago, but I interfered, so it was only decided last night."
"O-oh! Father! I am here!! There is a madman here trying to overthrow the country by killing all the students!!!"
Lilit was truly horrified. She had wanted to know about various forms of strength, but she didn't want to know about this kind of madness. This man was telling her to negotiate by holding the lives of all 1st-year academy students hostage against the daughter of the Marquis, the most powerful faction in the east!
This wasn't the kind of excitement I wanted to experience!?
"When Leng arrives with sufficient force, let's go to the Marquis's daughter. Aren't you curious to see what choice she will make?"
"Waaaaah!! Y-you're crazy! You're insane!!!"
"You keep affirming it, so why do you keep repeating the same thing?"
Carix, brewing coffee with a smile in front of the princess, remained completely unshaken.
Cleora Beatrix was currently facing the greatest crisis of her life as a high-ranking noble lady.
"What… what kind of nonsense is this?"
The first external training for the 1st years. It was a very basic class where students, learning to fulfill the duties of a noble, would hunt demonic beasts in a specific territory, accompanied by carefully selected professors and escort knights to ensure their safety and help them gain practical experience. And the territory that hosted this class would naturally invite numerous noble heirs and other nobles, gaining an opportunity to show off the family's influence, wealth, and power.
That was why she had lobbied a significant amount of money to the board members and professors who decided the training location, and she had managed to make the Beatrix territory the training ground.
But suddenly, a dungeon in the territory? And a dungeon appearing in the iron mine, the family's most important resource? On top of that, the students out for external training were isolated among the demonic beasts that had burst out of the dungeon!? How could such absurd disasters happen one after another?
What was even more troublesome was that she was a 2nd year. She wasn't even participating in the 1st-year external training. Literally, only those who wanted to look good to her and those she had subtly pressured to look good were the ones currently trapped in this crisis.
She couldn't believe reality, and she couldn't breathe easily.
"W-we have to do something. Sir Daltian! Sir Daltian!!"
"Yes! My Lady."
"Immediately! Go to our faction's nobles yourself! We need support, we need the knight order's support right now!!"
The Marquis family's knight order was by no means weak. But the current situation, which had erupted so suddenly, was not something that could be handled by standing forces. Even if she tried to arm the farmers and miners from other mines to bolster their strength, it would take time.
That was why she had urgently requested help from neighboring nobles through the vice-captain of the knight order, whom she had brought in to deal with Leng Dust, the sword wielded by the Valentia family.
"Ugh… I shouldn't have called Sir Daltian!!"
As if to protest the fact that she had ignored the Valentia Young Master's proposal without even negotiating, Leng Dust had actively disrupted the power struggles of the noble factions. Because of that, grumbling began to emerge among the faction nobles, and to suppress it, she had followed the actions of the Valentia Duchy to the letter.
But to think that as soon as a 3rd-grade knight, one of their top assets, was transferred to the academy and left the territory, such a situation would erupt. This was truly an absurd case of bad luck.
"My Lady!! We have a big problem!!"
"Sir Daltian, what is it this time…"
He had returned only an hour after being sent to the faction nobles. But it wasn't a promise of quick support; it was proof that the accumulation of disasters was only just beginning.
"The Valentia Duchy is protesting loudly to the royal family and the academy about this incident!"
"What…? For what reason!?"
"They are saying that it is not a normal situation for the second son to be involved in another accident during a class, especially after the eldest son died while attending the academy. They are protesting as if they are about to declare war on the Marquisate, so even the nobles who were trying to quietly support us in this situation have had their hands tied!"
"W-what kind of madness is this!? If their son is so precious, they should be supporting us, not engaging in such absurd tyranny…!!"
"Their second son rolled down the stairs last time and didn't go on this training. That's why even more so…"
"Ha! He's acting like a madman just because he's the lucky one!?"
Nobles whose children were attending the academy were said to be preparing to organize knight orders to provide support, but their numbers were not large. Above all, since the majority of them were part of the Marquis's faction, the Duchy had even started an absurd protest, claiming that this situation was actually a self-staged drama.
The truth was obviously never that, but it was the Marquisate, the subject of this incident, that had to prove it. Moreover, if the situation dragged on, it would be discovered on what grounds the Marquis territory, which had been in such a dangerous state, was chosen as the external training area.
Cornered on all sides. It was not a situation that a single young lady in her early twenties, who was merely an heir and not the Marquis herself, could handle.
"Aaaah!! W-why is it turning out like this!! J-just send the knight order!! What is the royal family doing!! It's not just the children of the noble faction who are there, is it right to just watch this situation unfold!!!"
"The royal family… is also judging the Duchy's protest to be legitimate, and they say they have summoned the head of the family to ask why such a situation erupted…"
"Don't make me laugh! What is legitimate about this!? Are they trying to cut down the power of our faction by holding the academy students hostage in this emergency situation! There is no way this is legitimate!"
Her breathing became shallow, and her heart pounded loudly. It made no sense. It felt as if the whole world was tightening its grip to socially annihilate her and her family. There was no reason for the Marquisate, the most powerful family in the east, to collapse like this.
She couldn't even rationally judge where and how things went wrong, or why it was turning out this way.
"W-wait, the princess! Princess Lilit is also a 1st year! Is the King participating in this prank by risking even the princess's life…!"
"W-well, Princess Your Highness… is also said not to have participated in this external training."
"……Ha? Hahahaha!! Ahahahaha!!!"
Is this God's prank? How could only the princess and the heir to the Duchy, who were at opposite ends of the spectrum from her, be the only ones spared from this mess? She felt as if the heavens were truly playing a prank to kill her.
"……What do I do?"
There was no way. Politics is such that if you make one mistake, everything you've done until now explodes in a chain reaction, and the power of that explosion is much stronger the more you have suppressed it with the family's power. The ruler of the east. The owner of the kingdom's iron and copper mines. If what the Beatrix Marquis family had done until now were to explode with full force in a situation where every noble had no choice but to turn their backs on them?
Her family would be finished.
"A, ah…"
Cleora shed tears without even being able to blink. She should have accepted the Duchy's proposal back then. She should have reduced the faction fighting and cut off those who had made mistakes that day. She thought she could sufficiently downplay it as a children's fight. To maintain the faction. To absorb the power of the fallen noble families around them and to strengthen their cohesion. She had only pursued such short-sighted gains, and in the worst timing, she had created the worst enemies with her own hands.
If it had been a territorial war, it would have been different, but the demonic beasts bursting out of a suddenly appeared dungeon and devouring the 1st years would happen in an instant.
"D-Daltian."
"Yes. My Lady."
"Prepare for departure. Bring my equipment."
"……My Lady?"
"Even if I die…… I must be the first to die. If the 1st years are annihilated first, then there will truly be no room for excuses."
The mind of a noble lady, accustomed to politics and shrewd, had found the optimal answer. Until the coalition of knight orders from the parents who would become the support force arrived, someone had to buy time. And the most suitable existence for that someone was herself. If she went first and became food for the demonic beasts, the family… might be able to survive.
"Sir Daltian, take the fastest horse and return to the Marquis knight order immediately. I will head to the front line with the private soldiers."
"My Lady!! I will go with you…!!"
"You…!! ……You must serve the head of the family to the end. This mess is all my fault. The power of a 3rd-grade knight is a major force that must be wielded when collapsing a 4th-grade dungeon."
"Kuh…!"
She was only twenty-one. Naturally, there was no reason she would want to die. Yet the world was forcing death upon her. No… the karma she had accumulated until now was returning as death.
"Departing immediately."
"""……"""
From the mansion in the capital where the academy was located, she headed to the slaughterhouse with only 20 private soldiers. All of them naturally wouldn't want to die, but there was no helping it. She was merely dragging them along with the forced comfort that if the family were safe, their families would be greatly compensated for their lives.
Just as she was about to pass through the gates of the capital.
"Y-Your Highness?"
The figure of Princess Lilit, standing guard as if blocking the other side of the gate, came into her view.
"T…! This time! 4 percent of the profits from the iron mine where the dungeon erupted to the Duchy. 6 percent to the royal family, each for 20 years. 3 percent of the profits from the remaining mines for 15 years to the victims. And provide the best compensation to those who are injured or die in this battle and their families. And purchase more than 5,000 tons of western grain every year for 5 years at 10 percent above market price. This is the final proposal of the Valentia Young Master."
"!!!"
Count Leng Dust and the royal knight Jena. And the 60 Valentia knights and 300 private soldiers gathered as if they had known this mess would happen. The words proposed by the princess, who stood at the head of them, riding a white horse with her noble blue hair tied up and wearing armor, holding a document, were a final opportunity that she absolutely shouldn't take, but absolutely couldn't refuse.
"Sob, sob… Your Highness…! Save…! Please save me…!!"
To the twenty-one-year-old lady, it was poison that looked like light.