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Joshua didn’t stop for a second when he returned to the capital. He had to verify the story he had heard several hours ago and come up with a countermeasure if it was true.
“Yo-Your Highness?”
Joshua met someone unexpected on the road to Lady Lucia’s house. It was the last place Joshua had expected to find him because it was the farthest place away from the imperial palace.
“Cazes? What are you doing here?” Joshua asked.
“That’s…” Cazes trailed off, unable to continue. For some reason, he was at a loss for words.
“So?”
Cazes hesitated for a moment and then gave up. “After the incident at the Agnus estate, I and the rest of the Auxiliary Battalion have been protecting the house.”
Joshua had to stop his jaw from dropping. He’d never ordered these knights to do that because he had already asked the Wild King to protect his mother. Joshua had assumed that Duke Altsma would be enough since he had become a Master a long time ago.
“…I’m pathetic,” Joshua muttered.
“Pardon?” Cazes asked.
“I still have a long way to go as a commanding officer and a son…” Joshua mumbled under his breath, and he sighed. “I’ve made you worry.”
“No, n-not at all. You’re only one person.”
These men were trying this hard for Joshua, but he had only thought about how to protect his dear people, not their feelings. However, he had to change that since he had declared he would become an emperor of a country.
‘…For now…’ For now, he had to take care of this situation first.
At that moment, Joshua’s eyes widened.
“The Wil-Wild King?” Cazes stuttered.
Joshua didn’t hesitate. He darted away like a loosed arrow.
“Your Highness…?” Cazes blinked confusedly for a moment, but he quickly turned his head in the direction Joshua had disappeared. “No way…”
Joshua was definitely headed to Lady Lucia, but the look on his face was…
Cazes felt an unsettling premonition and immediately followed Joshua. It didn’t take long for Cazes to find his knights lying on the ground and groaning in pain.
“Ca-Captain Cazes…!” a knight shouted.
“This… isn’t what I’m thinking right now, is it? …Why is no one answering? Where is Lady Lucia…?”
“I’m… sorry,” a different knight choked out, unable to contain himself. “The enemy was too strong… We had no other choice…”
The clear ring of metal made the knight freeze.
“That’s the wrong answer, Arun. Instead of making excuses, you should have protected Lady Lucia with your life.”
“Ca-Captain…” the knight stuttered.
“It’s said that a disloyal knight will pay with their soul, and that a knight who failed their mission pays with their life.” Cazes’s sword gleamed sharply before the execution. “So I assume you expected this.”
“Enough.” Joshua put his hand over Cazes’ sword.
“Yo-Your Majesty,” Cazes said.
“It’s my mistake, so why are you blaming him?”
“But…”
Joshua shook his head again and then locked eyes with Arun. “Don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault.”
Arun’s lip trembled. “Your Highness…”
Silence fell upon the area.
“I’m sorry. It’s embarrassing. I went on and on about trust, but I wasn’t able to give my people an ounce of trust… Despite everything else, I suppose I’m better than the Martial Emperor because I have colleagues who stay loyal to me even when it costs them their lives. Someone who receives trust he doesn’t deserve ought to take another chance to earn it.”
“Your Highness…!”
“Paying back for failing a mission with their life… Is actually really irresponsible. It’s better for them to invest the rest of their lives completing the mission.”
Cazes clenched his fists. The master of the Reserve Battalion knights was a person who could offer genuine comfort to another, instead of giving them sugar coated encouragement. This was the kind of person who should lead the Empire.
“I’ll… bring Lady Lucia home using any means necessary.”
“It’s okay. I already know where Mother is.”
The knights’ eyes widened.
“I-Is that true?”
Joshua nodded. “Anyhow, please gather everyone up because I have something I really have to say.”
“Yes, Your Highness, but…” Cazes paused, drawing a bemused look from Joshua. “You have guests in the palace right now.”
Joshua became more confused. “Guests?”
“Yes, that was why I was on my way to find you, Your Highness.”
“…Guests in a time like this…” Joshua looked in the direction of the palace for a moment and quickly discerned the identity of his guests.
* * *
It took about a week to get from the Agnus estate to the Agnus’ residence in the capital. Although the mansion had already become ruins, there was a sealed pitch-black room underground. Only the occasional clank of metal indicated that something was inside the sealed room.
After some time, the old hinges turned with an unpleasant squeal.
It was immediately followed by the sound of footsteps. The sounds stopped when the person reached the dampest and deepest corner of the sealed room.
-You were here? That’s why it took really long to find you. You’re a mess.
The voice spoke with clear confidence, as if the darkness in the sealed room wasn’t a problem.
-Who could have imagined this? An emperor who ruled a country for dozens of years now looks like a beggar… Oh, come to think of it, I’ve been very rude, haven’t I?
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A pool of red light appeared in the pitch-black room, revealing its interior.
It was horrible. The dungeon was hundreds of square meters at least, but rotten skulls and bones fouled the floor. The place was empty except for a single occupied room. Inside was a beggar whose head hung powerlessly, his limbs bound by metal shackles that were thicker than an adult’s forearm.
The wicked red light was bright enough to light up the entire dungeon, but there was something almost bizarre about the light.
More importantly, the beggar was still not moving one bit…
-It doesn’t look like you’re dead nor like you gave up on your life… Then… are you just stubborn? Well, you might think differently once you see this face. Keep in mind that I’m someone who can make your wish come true, so why don’t you just try raising your head a little?
The beggar didn’t even answer. Meanwhile, the wicked light lighting up the dungeon thickened.
-Well, yeah, since when did I bother persuading a human…? If I want something done, I can just do it myself.
Right after the voice spoke, the metal shackles tying the beggar down shook fiercely. That wasn’t the crux of it—the shackles made from ebonstone, a mineral sturdier than iron, exploded. the ebonstone fragment dropping on the ground. The beggar slowly yet finally raised his head as the ebonstone fragments dropped to the ground.
Although it was difficult to see due to his ragged hair, the beggar’s eyes gradually widened.
“Joshua…Sanders…?” he muttered in a voice that resembled the grinding of rusted metal.
A man with Joshua’s trademark deep blue hair and red spear stood before the beggar. After looking at them for a long time, the beggar shook his head. “No… No, you… aren’t him.”
-Woah?
Lugia exclaimed.
-A lion is still a lion even if it loses its teeth, huh? You have quite an eye.
“…Who are you?”
-Wrong question. It doesn’t matter who I am to you right now.
The beggar flinched, the first time he’d offered any reaction. “…I see.”
-Right? The important part is whether or not I have the power to make your dream come true.
The beggar smiled crookedly. “You sound like you know what my dream is.”
-Isn’t it obvious?
The beggar crossed his scrawny arms. “Try me.”
-Unifying the continent.
The beggar went still as a statue. “Unifying the continent…”
-I like the look on your face.
Just like Lugia said, the beggar would have snorted in disbelief if Lugia had said revenge, but it became a totally different story when the spear mentioned the unification of the continent. It was the beggar’s one and only life-long dream. Becoming a Master or an emperor was just a means to achieve that goal. Even when his mana hall had been pierced with that damned black greatsword, his heart was filled with that sublime desire.
“Kek… kekekeke.” The beggar laughed.
At that moment, a change took place. Although the beggar’s body was dying, his soul was reacting fervently, and the wicked light was also gradually becoming more brilliant.
“Yeah… it’s different with revenge, but I can’t give up unifying the continent. Hehehe…”
-You certainly aren’t disappointing.
The doppelganger that looked like Joshua smiled slyly as if he and Lugia, which was in his hands, shared the same emotions.
-Do you regret the fact that you couldn’t achieve your dream?
“A dream is just a fantasy for weaklings. This continent was mine from the start.”
-Then are you angry with those ignorant people? Like Aden von Agnus, who put you in this state?
“No, I’m angry with myself for letting those idiots bring me to this state.”
-Then take my hand. Your revenge, the goal you haven’t achieved… I’ll give you the power to do it all.
“Hehehe…” The beggar slowly looked up at the ceiling with half-opened eyes. Black demonic power seeped out from the ceiling, and the doppelganger beamed.
-I welcome you, Marcus ben Britten, the most sublime soul in the Human Realm.