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“W-wh-why do you have that?!” Tremblin stuttered.
“You already said my response, Your Grace,” Joshua said.
“What…?”
“‘That’s not the answer to my question.’” Joshua smiled.
Tremblin gaped at Joshua, astounded by the audacity of Tremblin’s words against him.
“I know His Majesty’s last location,” Joshua declared.
“Is-Is he alive?” Tremblin gasped.
“I’m not sure,” Joshua said with a shrug, “but I know who can give you an answer to that.”
“Who is it?!” Tremblin yelled anxiously.
“I already told you that it’s Heimdall.”
“Wait, did that man named Heimdall harm His Majesty…? That son of a bitch!” Tremblin shouted with murderous intent.
“I’ll take that as a yes to my proposal.” Joshua turned away from Tremblin.
“Wa-wait!” Tremblin reached out his hand.
“I’ll get going then…” Joshua disappeared immediately, it was like he had never existed in the first place.
That was the last memory Tremblin had of Joshua Sanders.
* * *
“Our commander is alive,” Cazes said. Despite his succinctness, his words had a tremendous impact on everyone.
“…Huh? What are you talking about? You know it’s still the middle of the day?”
“Well, you’re right, since the man before us really is our commander Cazes.”
In fact, these knights were reacting gently.
“Do you want us to reaffirm our love for you just like my lover does?”
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“Did you eat something weird during lunch?”
“Has he gone senile?”
“Well, you can get age too.[1] ”
The knights giggled at their silly comments, but Cazes was unphased.
“I’m not talking about me… I mean our real commander.”
The knights all seemed to turn into stone sculptures at the same time.
“…Ah, cut it out.”
“What? Our real commander? You’re not talking about the man I’m thinking of, are you?”
“You don’t have to say that kind of stuff. We’re different from those unloyal bastards that left.”
“Well, I understand why you say such stuff since half of us already left.”
Despite the knights’ reactions, Cazes still looked straight into the knights’ eyes.
“Vice commander Ranger! Sir Viper! What is seriously up with the commander today?” One of the knights shouted with a frown. “We already feel uneasy about our current situation, so why would he say such stuff? Jokes are only funny if you know why the person is joking…!”
The knight’s fervent speech petered off when he realized that Ranger and Viper were acting similarly to Cazes.
“…No way,” the knight gasped
“It’s actually ‘yes way,’” Ranger said.
The knight’s eyes widened.
“I myself have seen the commander’s traces,” Ranger continued.
“Oh my god…” The Auxiliary Battalion’s knights’ jaws dropped. Some knights even shed tears. It had been way over three years—no, it had been almost four years if they considered how their real commander had been accused of high treason and hunted down. How many hardships had the knights gone through in the meantime? In fact, some knights had secretly resented the commander.
Of course, most of those knights had already left and joined the other battalions, but the other knights had silently stayed in the Auxiliary Battalion. In some ways, they were the true knights of the Auxiliary Battalion, so it was only natural that they were filled with emotion.
“…There are less than one hundred knights even if we count both the Eleventh and Twelfth Battalion’s knights,” Steven quietly said; he was one of the Eleventh Battalion Knights and the first to recover from the shock. There were one hundred knights in one battalion, so the Auxiliary Battalions were only nominally a battalion.
“That's why I’m worried,” Steven continued.
Cazes quietly looked askance at Steven. The other knight looked at the floor.
“…The commander might be disappointed in us.”
Cazes smiled slyly.
“Who do you think our commander is?”
Steven’s eyes widened.
“There are countless heroes who left their names in the history of the continent, but he’s at the zenith of those heroes. Our commander is the Hero King.“
Silence fell upon the room as they processed Cazes’s words.
“Ah…” Here and there, the knights gasped in astonishment.
One of the knights suddenly held up his sword and fervently shouted.
“…Ah, ahhhhhh!”
However, that was just the beginning.
“Ahhhhhhhh!” Almost a hundred knights roared, shaking the ground and sky. Cazes’s smile deepened the longer their celebration stretched.
“…Wait!” Ranger shouted, but the knights were not listening
“Our commander is coming back!”
“Wait a moment, you bastards!” Ranger yelled using his mana.
The knights simultaneously turned in Ranger’s direction discontentedly, their eyes silently asking why Ranger had to ruin the moment.
“Tov has something to say!” Ranger said and pointed somewhere.
The battalion headquarters’s door had been opened wide, and another knight was standing beside the door, baffled.
“Umm… I don’t know why you all are doing that, but I have big news.”
“Tov! You won’t think of it as big news anymore once you hear our news!”
“It’s not just big news. Hahaha!”
Tov ignored them. Before the knights could break into another uproarious celebration, he shouted at the top of his lungs:
“Exactly one week from today, Berche’s Bloody Battle is going to take place! And…” Tov trailed off for a moment before resuming. “The next emperor has been decided internally!”
The inside of the headquarters turned as quiet as the grave. The knights were stunned by the unexpected news.
“Wh-what…?”
* * *
The Military Advisor Duke Zegar tun Reye visited the Kir Palace, also known as the First Prince’s Palace, to make his report.
“This year’s Berche’s Bloody Battle is going to be a tournament.”
“A tournament?” the First Prince Kiser asked, tilting his head in confusion, from atop his seat in the reception room.
“We’re using the method of the Masters' Battle since it’s the first time Berche’s Bloody Battle is being opened to the public in the long history of the continent,” Zegar explained.
“From what I’ve heard… each battalion will be going through group battles too,” Kiser mentioned.
“Yes.” Zegar nodded with a heavy heart. “The Second Prince, His Highness Kaizen, was very insistent, so…”
“Kaizen did?” Kiser’s eyes widened.
Zegar smiled and began to tell a shocking story.
“It’s because Duke Tremblin declared his support for you, Your Highness. The Empire’s nobility are already praising you and calling you the next emperor.”
“…It hasn’t been confirmed yet,” Kiser replied.
“That’s not it.” Zegar continued to smile.
After he had reappeared, the Sword Emperor had declared his support of the First Prince. Whatever his reasons were, the winner of the battle for succession had already been decided.
“Why do you think Kaizen insists on having group battles?” Kiser asked.
Zegar broke away from his thoughts.
“I’m assuming he wants this group battle to be his game changer,” he replied.
“By game changer, you mean…?”
“His Highness is thinking that he’ll be able to change not only Duke Tremblin’s mind but also other nobles’ if his knights win in the group battle,'' Zegar hypothesized.
Kiser pondered that for a moment.
“This Battle is going to be public, an unprecedented event… so he’ll be able to turn the tide around if his knights acquire victory before the eyes of everyone on this continent?”
Zegar nodded. “Your assumption is right, Your Highness.”
“Hmm…” Kiser groaned.
“Are you worried, by any chance?” Zegar asked.
“…Nothing is absolute in this world.” Kiser donned a slight, discontented frown.
The Imperial Knight Order had twelve battalions—no, eleven battalions because the Reserve Battalion had been merged into one—and each battalion was going to fight against another battalion, flying the flag of the prince they supported. The First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth Battalions were currently supporting Kiser. On the other hand, the Second, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Battalions showed their support for Kaizen.
If Kiser only considered which battalions supported him, his knights’ abilities were significantly higher, but Kiser was careful, meaning his current assets weren't enough to put his mind at ease. On top of that, this three-year civil war would be decided by the result of this Berche’s Bloody Battle.
Zegar shook his head.
“You don’t have to worry about that, Your Highness.”
“…Pardon?” Kiser tilted his head in confusion.
“You can leave the matter to me,” Zegar mumbled. His smile deepened, making Kiser quiet.
“But… what will you do with the Eleventh Battalion Knights?” he cautiously asked.
Kiser’s eyes turned uncharacteristically cold.
“There is something that I’ve realized again and again over the past three years.”
“…I beg your pardon?” Zegar asked.
“In politics, respect is a useless piece of trash. If they have no intention of joining our side… then I’ll have to eliminate the potential source of trouble.”
Kiser leaned against his chair.
“That’s an excellent decision, Your Highness,” Zegar said with a contented smile. “You have to root out the source so it can never become a problem. I’ll prepare accordingly, then. ”
With the conversation finished, Zegar stood up from his seat.
“Are you leaving already? Why don’t we dine together since you’ve already come all this way?” Kiser asked.
“No, I don’t think I can.” Zegar shook his head. “It looks like I won’t have enough time to prepare everything even if I get moving now…”
Kiser seemed disappointed.
“In that case…”
Zegar bowed and bid his farewells to the Prince.
“I’ll see you in the colosseum where the Berche’s Bloody Battle will take place a week later, Your Highness.”
* * *
After finishing a little act in the palace, Cain, Icarus, and the others were in a shabby inn on the outskirts of Arcadia.
“It feels like things have gotten out of hand,” Cain muttered.
“Wait, get away from me first before you talk any further,” Icarus interrupted and pushed Cain away. “It’s really cramped in here!”
Cain shrugged. “Well, we don’t have any other choice. This room is for one person and yet four people are inside it…”
“Phew.” Icarus massaged her temple. “So, as a person who made things get out of hand, do you have any countermeasures? If anyone notices the true identity of the doppelganger when it participates in Berche’s Bloody Battle…”
“Don’t worry about that, because I have a plan.” Cain pounded his chest confidently.
That made Icarus instantly narrow her eyes.
“Out of everything I’ve heard today, that was the most untrustworthy…”
“Even if anything goes wrong, I’ll make sure I’ll at least take responsibility for your life, Icarus,” Cain assured her. She snorted.
“No, thank you.”
After quietly watching their conversation for a while, Lilith joined in.
“A doppelganger is known to not only copy one’s appearance but also one’s abilities, so we won’t have much problem if the doppelganger can move as skillfully as Joshua…”
Despite that, Lilith looked worried.
“Two things are bugging me,” she said.
“Two things?” Icarus repeated.
“First of all, a doppelganger can’t speak; second, the doppelganger’s copied ability and appearance don't change from the time that they were copied,” Lilith explained.
Icarus nodded with a heavy heart; she had expected these issues to some degree.
“I admit that, unlike someone, my master is normally quiet… but not enough so to put our minds at ease. The ones with sharp eyes will notice that something is up in no time.”
“You’re not talking about me when you say ‘someone’, are you?” Cain interrupted.
“On top of that…” Icarus continued, completely ignoring Cain. She looked at Lilith. “You said ‘from the time that they were copied’, so that means that the doppelganger has the abilities of my master from three years ago, right?”
Lilith nodded. “I guess so?”
“I’ve heard that after this technique called materialization was created, it made a great difference between ordinary knights and the knights that had learned the technique. The same goes for the knights of the Avalon Empire.”
Cain chuckled. “I understand what you’re thinking… but you’re worrying about useless stuff.”
“…What?” Icarus asked.
“Have you forgotten already? Our master already became a Superhuman like me way over three years ago,” Cain reminded Icarus. She shut her mouth.
“It’s impossible for me to imagine our monstrous master losing to someone,” he finished.
“That’s…” Icarus trailed off.
“In the current Avalon Empire…” Cain’s face turned a bit serious. “…nothing unusual will happen unless the Sword Emperor Duke Tremblin himself takes action.”
“Ah…” Icarus gently exclaimed. “Come to think of it… I was really surprised because I didn’t expect the Sword Emperor to show up at a time like this.”
“That would mean our rea’ master is close by,” Cain said.
“What do you mean?” Icarus asked.
“You know how he causes all kinds of troubles and accidents wherever he goes? It’s like the world revolves around him.”
“…I can’t deny that.” Icarus chuckled.
“And about the doppelganger’s appearance…” Cain’s eyes shone for a moment. “I have a solution for that.”
“Stop stopping and tell us already,” Icarus urged.
Cain grinned. “We already know the best expert in creating artifacts.”
“…Ah!” Icarus’s eyes widened in realization.
“This is exciting. I’ll be able to hear that ice witch lady’s voice soon,” Cain muttered with inexplicable excitement.
1. The raw is 그것도 먹는 거긴 하지(You can eat age too). This is Korean wordplay. If literally translated, Koreans say they eat age, so yup. If you eat too much age, then you can go senile. ☜