EP.149
North gate of the archipelago.
Ruid looked up at the castle wall while holding Rosalie’s hand.
“If we just drill through there, it’s straight to the imperial palace.”
“Congratulations in advance.”
It was a wall as high as Mount Tai.
Moreover, each brick of the castle wall was affixed with high-level magic, making it impossible for an ordinary person to dare.
Of course, this doesn’t apply to Ruid.
“huh. let’s go.”
‘This is really the last time.’
This is the final Maginot Line that protects the heart of the empire.
If you step on this place and pass by, who will be at the end?
One person came into Luid’s mind.
Emperor Lucius.
‘I’m sorry.’
I don’t know if he was a great emperor, but at least he was a good person to Ruid.
He is a very dear person and I still have no hard feelings toward him.
However, the end point of Irene’s plan is to change the emperor.
There cannot be two suns. So should Lucius be killed?
‘I’m not sure yet.’
Jerk.
Ruid has already arrived right in front of the castle wall.
An arrow filling the sky with black flew towards Ruid.
It was too much of a welcome to give to just two invaders.
Ruid stopped all the projectiles just by raising one hand.
Arrows and fire ice blocks.
It was truly spectacular to see such things suspended in the air.
I thought Ruid was pretty.
I thought about returning it like last time, but I decided against it.
No matter how much he thought about it, Ruid couldn’t think of a reason why he should kill an innocent person out of personal greed.
I don’t know if it’s rude to come to the North.
‘Okay, let’s go happily.’
Ruid lowered his hand.
The projectiles lost their power and fell flat on the ground.
The soldiers on the castle wall looked at him with expressions on their faces at a loss for words.
Ruid said [Fly] in a low voice.
The small body slowly floated and climbed up the castle wall.
I was planning to invite surrender with a small warning. I thought that if I did well, I could pass by peacefully.
But- Ruid saw it.
Academy students looking at him with scared faces.
“…!”
Luid’s pupils got bigger.
My thoughts stopped for a moment.
The distance between the academy and this place is quite far.
But why are academy students here?
“It must be the emperor’s trick.”
I made eye contact with Rosalie, who spread her black wings.
“He probably thought that if he brought someone with whom he was even slightly acquainted, he could stop Ruid’s steps.”
Rosalie’s fine eyebrows furrowed.
“This is an extremely unpleasant thought.”
“…I know.”
Luid’s eyes became cold.
“It’s unpleasant.”
**
dawn.
Operational barracks near the northern walls of the empire.
“your majesty. It’s dangerous here. Please evacuate first.”
Imperial Guardian Knight Reinhard bowed and said.
“Where are you running away to? There is no place to retreat. “If this is breached, it’s over.”
Lucius looked aloof.
Reinhardt looked at him with a confused face.
“Is there an attack yet?”
“yes. I’m just looking this way with a maid in a maid uniform. and…”
Reinhardt glanced in the direction where Ruid was.
“We made something similar to a barracks out of ice.”
“barracks?”
“It is a barracks large enough for one unit to stay, even if there are only two people in it.”
Reinhardt narrowed his eyes.
“What on earth does it mean?”
“I guess those two are Windsor’s entire army.”
Lucius clenched his fists.
“In other words, it would be easy to take down the empire with just those two people.”
The sound of Reinhardt biting his molars could be clearly heard in the barracks.
“…You’re arrogant.”
“Yes, Windsor is arrogant. “In the past and now.”
But Windsor isn’t just arrogant.
That was a well-founded confidence.
The character of Louis Christopher has already surpassed human limits.
“I have to do what I can.”
Lucius opened the tent of the barracks.
As I walked outside, Reinhardt quickly followed me.
Around them, soldiers filled with tension were taking a short break.
What stood out the most was the place where academy students gathered.
Some people were looking at the sky as if they were mesmerized, while others were shaking and hugging their legs.
There are only two enemies.
But they also have eyes and ears.
No, in fact, they know better than ordinary soldiers.
What kind of power does a wizard have that surpasses that of a single human?
“your majesty.”
The old man lowered his head.
The man who looks significantly older is named Clifford.
It occurred to me that Lucius had aged a lot while I hadn’t seen him.
“I followed the Emperor’s orders first.”
But the spirit was still there.
Archmage Clifford was a solid force.
Lucius said with a smile.
“Speak. “The greatest wizard in the empire.”
“Why did you summon the academy students? According to the first emperor’s will, convocation of students is prohibited even in times of war.”
Lucius quietly looked up at Clifford.
I thought that perhaps his spirit was not just due to his ability, but also to his enormous size.
“Didn’t you say it with your own mouth? We should no longer be tied down to figures from the past that were a thousand years old. “We must escape from the shadow of the first emperor.”
Clifford didn’t want to have unproductive conversations with Lucius.
So I went straight to the point.
“It only takes one old man to stop that bastard, so defeat the academy students.”
“You?”
“A handshake, Your Majesty. “How can that bastard not know this intention?”
The Academy students, whom I know at least, appeal for sympathy.
Everyone thought so, and even Lucius knew it.
but-
“Do you really think that was the intention?”
“yes?”
“I’m just appealing to sympathy.”
The look in Lucius’ eyes when he looked at Clifford was strange. Clifford’s expression hardened.
“Then what is your intention?”
“Simple.”
Lucius stared somewhere.
Clifford also followed his gaze.
I thought I was looking at where Ruid was, but I wasn’t.
The place where Lucius’ gaze rested was a little further away.
“Because it has the best chance of winning.”
A female knight wearing brilliant silver plate mail was riding a horse.
Blonde hair fluttered in the air, and two blue pupils were clearly visible even from a distance.
Clifford’s eyes trembled slightly. Because it was a familiar face.
Clifford unconsciously recited the name of that brilliant female knight.
“Amelia Windsor.”
**
A temporary barracks made of ice blocks.
Inside, there were tables and chairs taken out of subspace.
Ruid sat on a chair higher than his height and shook his legs.
‘As expected, the northern part is an igloo.’
Squeak-
Rosalie poured the tea with elegant manners.
Ruid held the steaming tea cup in both hands and drank a little.
“Why did you stop?”
Rosalie seemed secretly dissatisfied with not finishing her work quickly.
“If you want, Lord Ruid, you can take over that castle without causing any harm to the academy students.”
“To them, I am just an invader.”
Ruid blinked.
“If I did something like that, they would think of me as some kind of demon lord.”
I looked up at Rosalie.
Rosalie, who met clear blue eyes, slightly averted her gaze.
Rosalie, a vampire who was close to evil in her own way, felt burdened by the innocent pupil of a young human.
“Irene said it too. I need a reason. So, I’m going to make a justification. “I’m thinking about that method now.”
Rosalie bowed politely.
“…Excuse me. “Luid, you had everything in mind.”
“…Then I thought you didn’t think anything of it? “For 20 hours.”
“yes.”
Lloyd was taken aback by such a firm answer.
‘Don’t I have too little trust?’
Anyway, I finished the apple juice.
At that time, the ground shook slightly. Ruid took the glass from his mouth and set it down. Rosalie said.
“Here now….”
“I know even if you don’t say it. “That’s what family is.”
A moment later –
Ruid jumped off the high chair and walked outside.
“Louis.”
The first thing I saw was Amelia, drenched in sweat. Behind it was a familiar face.
Damon Hersey Asha.
These are people I like, but these are faces I don’t really want to see right now.
“Stop it here. “Louis.”
Ruid turned his head without answering.
“It’s enough.”
Amelia grabbed Ruid’s small shoulder.
“It’s not enough. “Because the empire is still intact.”
“That statement seems a little questionable.”
Damon stepped forward.
Although he is still arrogant, he has a particularly cold expression.
“I heard that the empire shouldn’t be okay.”
“huh. “You heard correctly.”
“What do you plan to do from now on?”
“I will destroy you.”
Ruid tried to speak as calmly as possible. To make it seem like a person without emotions.
“You say bloody things so casually.”
“Just a moment, Louis.”
Amelia said urgently.
“Why are you doing this all of a sudden? Destroy the empire! “Louis doesn’t like that.”
She seemed to have no understanding of the current situation.
Lloyd also didn’t have the confidence to make Amelia understand.
‘It’s difficult.’
I just do it because I can.
“Then let me explain. “Amelia.”
At that time, Rosalie, who had been quiet, came forward.
Amelia, who was sitting, stood up and looked at Rosalie with hostile eyes.
Rosalie didn’t care at all and walked right in front of him and looked him in the eyes.
The two hands were together and the action itself was a flawless etiquette, but the vampire’s unique chill made the atmosphere cold.
“There are three main things.”
“…Three things?”
“The Emperor’s direct order of knights made a fatal mistake against the son of the House of Windsor. “I hurt him and dared to point my sword at Mr. Ruid.”
“That has already been done…!”
Rosalie interrupted Amelia’s words.
“You tested His Excellency the Duke’s patience by demanding that Windsor be held accountable for his efforts to save the lives of Academy students whose lives were in danger.”
“I had doubts about Windsor, who had been loyal to me for three thousand years, and there was no reason for Windsor to endure such doubts.”
Rosalie looked at Damon and spat coldly.
“More than anything, they tried to trample on the North.”
“This cannot be forgiven.”
Rosalie lowered her head as if her role was over.
“That’s why.”
Amelia bit her lip slightly and raised her voice.
“That is no reason for Ruid to participate in the war. “My little brother is still 12 years old.”
“This is Ruid’s own will.”
“what?”
“Lord Ruid witnessed with his own eyes the sight of over 200,000 imperial troops trying to trample on the North, and he was so enraged that he chose to deal with it himself.”
Amelia slowly turned her head and looked down at Luid.
“Rosalie is right. I’m not acting according to anyone’s will right now. “I do it because I want to.”
This was the moment when Amelia’s confidence, who thought this was all Irene’s plot, was shattered.
“All of this… is Louis’ will?”
She couldn’t believe it.
That his younger brother, whom he believed to be kinder than anyone else even though he had a few quirks, made a decision on his own that would destroy a country.
That was a very different move from the Luid that Amelia had known until now.
That’s why she couldn’t say anything.
“Is the tearful sibling fight over now? “Then now it’s my turn.”
Damon seemed as if nothing had happened, as if he had known all of this from the beginning.
He stood in front of Ruid and spoke with a stern expression.
“I understand your thoughts. However, I have no interest in the praise that someone has given me. If you thought that was what I wanted, you would be greatly mistaken. Let’s see on the battlefield. “I want to cut off the enemy’s head right now, but I’ll give it to you based on our past affection.”
And he extended one hand towards Amelia.
“Amelia Windsor. I think highly of Nenyeon’s abilities. “If you choose this side, I will treat you with no regrets after the war ends.”
That was truly a Damon-like story.
That sounds crazy.
However, it was such a proud action that no one could argue.
“…Even if my younger brother did something worse, I would never point my sword at my only younger brother. “Damon.”
“Right.”
Damon didn’t have any regrets, perhaps because he wasn’t expecting it. I just coldly turned my back.
At that time, Ruid made eye contact with Hercy.
Hersy, who normally would have smiled brightly, also turned her back, deliberately avoiding eye contact.
Ruid looked at Damon’s back and opened his mouth.
“You want to become emperor, right? “Damon.”
Damon’s steps stopped.
“Then stay still. “In two hours, the empire will be destroyed.”
Damon turned his head slightly and spoke quietly.
“Good luck.”
And then he walked confidently with one hand in his pocket.
He seemed like a person without any fear.
It was the most confident back view of any person that Ruid had ever seen.