The King's Bargain
"That place usually accepts people as a matter of course, doesn't it!?"
"Such common sense does not exist here. So, why am I in the royal castle?"
This was unmistakably the royal castle—an unknown place where the entire capital, including the Academy, was visible through the window. If any other location offered such a view, that would be a problem in itself.
"Hmm~ I thought this was your first time here, yet you figured it out right away."
"Anyone with eyes could tell just by looking out the window. More importantly, where exactly is this?"
It was definitely the royal castle. Yet the number of presences felt within the building was far too few. Excluding the princess before me, roughly thirteen? Every single one seemed to be a knight capable of handling mana, and it didn't feel like a prison. Why had I been brought to such a place?
"Haa. Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused when you collapsed?"
"I was only unconscious for two days, was I not?"
"…How did you even know that?"
"From the degree of muscle stiffness, thirst, hunger, and the fatigue evident in Your Highness's skin and the dark circles beneath your eyes?"
"Don't use other people's faces as calendars!?"
The sight of the princess snapping at me was, as expected, amusing. Enough to make me think it had been worth the risk to keep her alive.
"Sigh. It hasn't been made public yet, but there was also a crisis that even Second-Class Knight Jena couldn't handle. Father—His Majesty the King—personally led the knight order here."
It must have been right before I collapsed. Fortunately, the Marquis had, as I hoped, been suppressing the restoration of the broken barrier wall from the outside. The moment the Royal Knight Order, the King, Jena, and the court mages arrived, they completely collapsed the barrier through the entrance I had prepared.
"Immediately afterward, the Marquis collapsed from mana exhaustion. The moment the barrier fell, I used clairvoyance to signal Father, and thanks to the court mages and the church healers who rushed over at once, Sir Dust managed to pull through."
"So Leng survived."
"Ha! Do you know what the real problem was?"
"I was about to say it wasn't… but from your expression, I find myself wanting to hear it."
"You nearly died! What kind of lunatic squeezes out every last drop of mana like that!? It wasn't just mana exhaustion—you were like a corpse with no mana left at all!!"
The princess's golden eyes glistened. Yet the claim that I had nearly died from it felt somewhat exaggerated. I had lived perfectly well without it, and now it was supposedly a new organ that would kill me if acquired. Truly, fantasy made no sense.
"On top of that, seventy-seven students died. All the teaching assistants and professors perished!!"
Damn it. There shouldn't have been any surviving students.
"The two who survived will have to live with lifelong mental and physical disabilities. I was the only one completely unharmed, so really…"
How fortunate. It seemed that even if they had seen me, they wouldn't have been able to speak.
"You must have been dragged through investigations."
"Ugh. I really thought I was going to die. I'm exhausted too…"
Normally, in such incidents, victims would be protected and allowed to rest before being questioned upon recovery. But with dozens of nobles and commoners dead and all the professors and assistants slain, no such consideration could be given to the sole surviving princess. She had apparently spent until dawn testifying about the incident again today before rising early to come to my room.
"And… that's not all."
"Hmm?"
"The reason you're in this room. I arranged it."
The princess spoke with pride, offering a plain plain compared to the Marquis's.
"Since I saved Your Highness, receiving a single room in the royal castle is hardly excessive, in my honest opinion."
"Not that! The one who resolved this incident, the rescuer, the one who defeated the Mazok! Do you have any idea how much trouble I went through to fabricate that!?"
I let out an involuntary exclamation of admiration. To think this dopamine addict had shown such consideration—I truly hadn't imagined it.
"When Jena went to fetch you, the incident where Count Dust clung to you instead. I turned all the testimonies from everyone who witnessed it into errors and lies, made Sir Dust and Jena the heroes of this incident, and brought you here to hide you."
"But was that possible? I doubt His Majesty the King would have stood idly by."
"Of course I couldn't do it alone. Father helped. Even when moving you here, he hid you more thoroughly than I did."
"You've been asking where this is since earlier, right? This is the Inner Sanctum, a hidden space used to conceal the identities of foreign royalty or high-ranking nobles who have sought asylum for unavoidable reasons. It's an impenetrable and secret place reinforced by the full power of the court mages and ancient artifacts. From outside the outer castle, this castle isn't even visible."
Such a place existed. No wonder I had felt confused upon seeing the capital from this angle through the window—since it couldn't be seen from outside, even I couldn't help but feel disoriented.
"Ah. But is Leng really all right? He was letting his mana run wild for the last ten seconds or so."
"Ah. Count Dust…"
Leng had truly been in danger. Especially after running wild for ten seconds, he should have died under normal circumstances. It seemed the Mazok had knocked him unconscious by striking his head, cutting off the rampage and allowing him to barely survive.
"But… they say a drop in his level due to aftereffects will be unavoidable."
"It can't be helped. It's because the weak Leng failed."
While someone else had danced with the princess in an empty state and endured, he couldn't last even that short while when told to hold on for a minute and instead went berserk. It was an ending that made me feel no reward for having trained him.
"Still, I received a report that he briefly opened his eyes last night, ate, and fell back asleep. Once I confirmed your condition, I was planning to go see him again right away. Jena is with him now."
"Thank you for your concern."
I now clearly understood why the princess looked exhausted and how she had handled things afterward. But another question inevitably arose.
"So, does His Majesty the King know about me…"
"He knows. I couldn't help you if I lied even to Father."
"I see. Then, perhaps my father…"
"The Duke is on his way. He received the letter the evening of the incident, so if he's riding hard, tonight. At the latest, he'll arrive tomorrow morning."
I was done for. Father knew I had been hiding my abilities, but he surely didn't know I possessed combat strength enough to fight a Mazok. Moreover, if the King had discovered my talent, troublesome words or requests might come my way.
'The Academy's miniature political arena is already bothersome enough, and now the King is involved…'
But even I could do nothing in a place where the parties involved weren't present right now. In the end, accepting the princess's consideration and resting in the room for another day, the King arrived at the hidden castle where I was, accompanied by my father.
"Carix…!!"
"Father."
My father, whose usually neatly groomed hair was disheveled from rushing, charged at full speed, and I had no choice but to embrace him with equal force. Whew. If I hadn't reinforced myself with mana, I might have fallen over. His legs seemed fine too, which was good to see.
"You fool!! I told you to come back alive, not to die, yet you went and fought a Mazok!! It wasn't even something you were directly involved in—what were you thinking, going to a place like that!!"
I understood it was out of worry, but everyone was making such a fuss. I had only slept for two days due to mana exhaustion, yet anyone would think I had come back from the dead like Leng.
And Father, while I appreciate the words, the timing isn't great.
"No, come now. Still, he went to save my daughter. …So what, would it have been fine if the princess had just died to the Mazok…"
The King grumbled behind Father as if truly sulking. Perhaps Father and the King were on friendly terms? It was somewhat strange that the escort knights behind the King also remained motionless, as if they knew what was going on.
"Father. I'm fine. I wasn't seriously injured…"
"Not seriously injured, my foot! I heard everything!! Your mana was completely depleted! That's something that only happens to corpses that have gone berserk with mana!!"
Just who was spreading that rumor? I ought to find that bastard first and sew his mouth shut.
"Duke. Calm down a little. The Young Duke looks flustered."
"Your Majesty! I am grateful that you saved and treated my son! However, from now on, we will care for him in our territory!!"
"No, no. Where do you think you're going right after arriving? It's been half a year since I last saw the King, and now that you've seen your son, you're going to take him away immediately—what country's etiquette is that?"
"No! The Academy can no longer be trusted!! We sent Deolis away like that and respected Carix's opinion to let him enroll, but an Academy where even a first-year encounters a Mazok that a Second-Class Knight can't handle!? Anyone can see there's definitely a worm eating away at the country from within!!"
At Father's sharp point, the King gave a bitter smile, and I sighed as well, understanding it. This was, frankly, the natural outcome. The Academy, which had been desperate to cover up the murder of the Young Duke who had been a third-year last year. When I unofficially looked into it, it was full of trash, overflowing with people who needed to die. And now, even the schedule and movement information for the first-year external training had been leaked, leading to this idiotic situation where a Mazok appeared directly. For any normal parent, forgetting about maintaining the Monster Front or noble duties, it was only natural to demand they properly catch the spies and conscript instead.
"That's also why I came in person—to hear from you and your son about that matter."
"Why on earth would you discuss that matter with my son!!"
"Count Berzen. Huvel. Marquis of the Gillos border. And Professor Bierson. If I mention up to here……"
Hearing the list of people "I had killed" recited by the King, I calmly met his gaze. We hadn't even exchanged formal greetings yet, and this was quite an aggressive approach.
"It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty. I am Carix Valentia, heir to the Valentia ducal house."
"Hmm. Just as the kingdom's intelligence bureau reported. Cold and cruel, calculating, with no hesitation in choice or execution. Normally, if one's own deeds were discovered, a bit of flustered reaction would be normal, but you respond as naturally as if you had expected this to happen."
"There are no secrets in this world that last until the grave. Moreover, even if it was the kingdom's sovereign who sought to uncover it, enduring for half a year is something to take pride in, not shame."
"……"
The King's expression hardened. The noble speech might have sounded odd, but to summarize: [King: I know what you did.] [Me: So what. You didn't know they were involved in my brother's death. Is incompetence something to brag about?]
It was a rather dangerous conversation. Unlike the princess's tantrums, if the King said "That bastard is a criminal. Arrest him," then law or evidence would no longer be an issue from there. But if they captured me and listed out those deaths one by one, I would expose what they had done in reverse. And that would mean announcing the Academy's corruption and the kingdom's incompetence in maintaining the conscription system to the entire world. In that case, would the nobles side with the King or raise their banners against him? At the very least, they wouldn't side with me, who had committed crimes to carry out revenge, but no one, including the common people, would acknowledge the royal family's justification.
"How bold."
"It is merely the petty trick of a small-minded man."
The King's near-threat was something even a small-minded man's petty trick could sufficiently handle. When the conversation completely broke off at such a rebuttal, Father stepped between us.
"Is this how you reward the rescue of the princess?"
"……Pfft! Ah! My apologies. I was merely curious, seeing how deeply my daughter—who excessively reveres strength—was infatuated, just how remarkable a man he must be. Raise your head, Young Duke. As you said, I only learned the results by piecing together the incidents that erupted belatedly. I have no particular intention of questioning that."
"Thank you."
"But if I may add one more thing out of concern, it would be good to observe at least the minimum line. You surely don't not know the fact that innocents were mixed in."
"Not knowing is not proof of innocence. Anyone who enjoyed what was gained from my brother's death is by no means innocent before me."
"……How extreme."
"Those who took my brother from us were extreme as well."
"Carix…"
So don't touch it. Don't interfere. There's nothing more disgusting than belatedly brandishing morality and legal standards when they had stayed still while I was being robbed. If they had stayed still when it was necessary, then even if they found out later, they should stay still forever. I crafted the gentlest smile possible and "threatened" the King.
"Duke."
"Yes."
"You've raised your son very well. I can see your younger self in him."
"……"
It seemed the message had been properly conveyed as the King chuckled and shook his head. He appeared to understand that no matter what he said, I wouldn't stop, and that the moment he tried to stop me, my sword of revenge that had slain even a Mazok would tear apart even the kingdom without discrimination. The princess was in that state, yet the King was quite clever. But Father was the same type as me? That didn't seem right.
"Then let's leave the greetings at that and sit down to discuss something important."
Feeling a slight doubt that this wasn't the important matter, the King naturally dismissed his escorts outside and took a seat. Father began brewing tea with an unconvinced expression. Hmm. He should leave the tea brewing to me.
"With this incident, the fact that there are Mazok-collaborating trash inside the Academy and the kingdom has become an open secret."
There was no reason to ignore the King's gesture inviting me to sit as well, so I took a seat, and he began speaking.
"However, finding them while upholding law and justice is not an easy task. But my honest feeling is that I want to draw my sword right now and tear apart all the Academy professors starting from them."
It was only natural. Four royal knights had been brutally murdered, the princess had nearly died, and a considerable number of noble scions and talented commoners had been completely wiped out. Someone had to take responsibility, and the management of the Academy was the royal family's authority. And having authority meant bearing responsibility as well. It must be giving him a headache.
"But I can't suddenly become a tyrant and sweep away even the professors who might be allies without evidence, so is there no good method?"
So he had come to me. After prefacing that he knew what I had done, probing as if testing, and since the result seemed to pass within his own standards, he was asking me for advice. This was quite a favorable situation for me.
"There are conditions."
"Hoh. I asked for a method, yet you present conditions. Have you already thought of a way?"
"One month is enough. If Your Majesty assists, I can clean them all out at once."
"…The line?"
"If my ducal house acts unilaterally, it would cross it, but if Your Majesty consents, it would barely touch it."
"Not upholding it, but touching it…?"
"Yes. It touches it."
The power and authority of the royal family and the King. That existed far above even the ducal house. Using this, it wouldn't be difficult to single out the spies all at once and eliminate them.
"I see… Then shall I hear the conditions first."
"The condition is that after confirming whether the traitors are eliminated or dealt a near-annihilating blow through the method I mentioned, you swear on mana resonance that you will unconditionally grant what I ask afterward."
"……I'm afraid of what you might ask?"
"Do not worry. It won't be anything particularly difficult."
I quietly moved my hand and lifted the teacup in accordance with etiquette. Hmm. This was the first time drinking tea brewed by Father. …It tasted worse than Leng's.
"Then tell me. What is that method."
With the King's face looking at me as if anticipating what I would say, and feeling that he slightly resembled the princess, I affixed a smile and spoke.
"That is…!!"
"Carix!?"
"It does not cross the line. It merely steps on it slightly."
""……""
The kingdom would be shaken by chaos, but originally, surgery without anesthesia hurts the same whether for a person or a country.