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ED: LonelyMatter
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<b>Part 4</b>
 
The birth of the Six Kingdoms began during the reign of the third Emperor Grantz, when the younger brother of the emperor, rebelling against persecution, was defeated in battle with his elder brother and fled to this land.
After being completely defeated by the third emperor of the Grantz, the emperor’s brother decided to consolidate his power and establish a new country, Greif, under the control of the powerful families that ruled the region at the time.
He then divided the land among the descendants of the “Five Black Heavenly Generals” who survived, recognizing their sovereignty and entrusting them to rule as they pleased as an independent nation.
However, the other nations insisted that there should be only one king, and an alliance was formed to create six united nations, with the brother of the emperor as the first unified king.
The first unified king was the emperor’s younger brother, who vowed to rise again, but fell ill in the middle of his dream. Coincidentally, it was the same year that his elder brother, the third emperor of the Grantz, committed suicide.
Since then, with the great power of Felzen between them, the Six Kingdoms have developed without being influenced by Grantz while inheriting the emperor’s brother’s desire to overthrow Grantz.
Greif was the suzerain state of the Six Kingdoms. Its capital was Fierte. It was a generous city that accepted various races for the reason it was founded, and half of the city’s population was made up of different races due to its thriving maritime trade with other countries.
Currently, the news of the Grantz invasion of Azel had reached the city, but due to the distance, there was still no sign of uneasiness on the faces of the people. They were going about their daily lives as usual.
On top of a hill overlooking the port city stood the luxurious and gorgeous royal palace.
It was the royal palace of Fierte, where the current unified king resides. However, the current unified king was on a sickbed and had not been seen at all recently. Nevertheless, the national government had not been paralyzed because the unified king had an excellent entourage. They were currently gathered in the throne room.
“Prime Minister, I hear that Azel is under invasion. What should we do?”
The one who said this was General Ramses de Maspero, who was in charge of the entire army of the Kingdom of Greif.
He was a popular figure among the people as a warrior among warriors with impeccable character.
His gaze was fixed on the blank throne and Nameless standing next to it.
No one had ever seen the brown hooded figure’s true face. His gender was unknown, and his age was also unknown. Originally, he was just a guest general of the kingdom of Urpeth.
Now he was the Prime Minister of the Greif Kingdom.
How did he manage to rise to the position of Prime Minister of Greif when his true identity was so thoroughly concealed?
“About what?”
“I am asking you if you are going to stand by and watch Azel perish.”
There was no appearance of the lord on the throne. He is still ill. That is a well-known fact.
But it was frustrating to have to go through Nameless, even in this emergency.
“What does His Majesty the Unified King say? Do you expect us to just stand by and watch Azel perish?”
Nameless drew an arc around his mouth as if to taunt Ramses, whose words grew stronger from frustration.
“His Majesty has asked us to hold fast the defense of Greif.”
“You mean to abandon Azel? You want us to abandon a bond that has lasted for a thousand years?”
Ramses, who intended to remain a general of the Six Kingdoms and not just of Greif, could not contain his anger.
But Nameless, looking annoyed, brushes away Ramses’ heat with his hand.
“That is the way of the survival of the Six Kingdoms. The bonds of the Six Kingdoms that have endured for a thousand years―it’s a beautiful thing to say, but what is the reality?”
“What?”
“The three countries of Urpeth, Scorpius, and Tigris have all lost their royal bloodlines, haven’t they? The former ties are as good as dead. Has any country sent reinforcements to Azel?”
“…That’s…――but! With the word of the unified king, the Six Kingdoms will be united. That is the unwritten law imposed on the kings of each country!”
Ramses’ voice was hoarse, and he frantically turned his head to squeeze the words out of his throat.
“Above all, Greif, as the leader of these nations, must protect them from foreign enemies! In fact, Azel has sent a request for reinforcements! Wasn’t that the reason you were gathering an army!”
“No, that’s not it. It was only to protect our own country. It is not to save other countries.”
“…Wha…”
Ramses could only groan as he was told in a nonchalant tone.
Seeing him like that, Nameless was dismayed, and his disappointment was evident in his words.
“Ideals are not the same as reality. You are a little too stuck in the past.”
Ramses was a general who tended to value history. Perhaps because of this, he tended to lump the Six Kingdoms together. This was unavoidable given the unique circumstances that led to the creation of the Six Allied Nations, but in Ramses’ case, perhaps because of his single-minded nature, once he made up his mind to do something, he went ahead and did not change his mind. He was unable to recognize that Greif was Greif and other countries were other countries.
“General Ramses, go back to your defenses. If the commander leaves the field, it will cause unnecessary anxiety among the soldiers.”
Nameless forced the conversation to end and turned to walk past Ramses.
But Ramses’ thick hand clutched his shoulder and blocked his way.
“I’m not finished yet! Since when did Greif become so weak that it is confined in fear of invasion by another country?”
“You make me wonder. Have you forgotten the tragedy that once took place―what the unified king did to defend his country?”
“…..That is.”
Ramses was unable to continue. His face fell as if Nameless’ words were too much for him to bear.
With nothing left to argue with, Ramses slumped his shoulders, and Nameless slipped past him to the exit.
“It’s impossible to become a powerful country after all this time. The Six Kingdoms had already been destroyed by the decision of the unified king at that time.”
“That is not true…”
In contrast to the previous, Ramses’ words were weak. Nameless’ footsteps echoed in the throne room as if he were laughing at Ramses.
“The conversation is over. General Ramses, return to your guard.”
With these words, Nameless opened the door and stepped out into the corridor.
He turned his attention to the room of the unified king.
There were no soldiers standing guard in the corridor, no nobles standing around talking.
Outside the window, the room was filled with hot, dry air, but inside the room, the air was stagnant and chilly.
No one was around, and like the bottom of a body of water, there was nothing but silence in the air. This only added to the sense of stagnation.
Passing through a luxurious door, Nameless placed his hand in front of an empty wall.
Then a small sound came from within the wall, and a hidden door appeared in front of him.
Nameless took out the key and entered the room with familiar movements.
As he approached the ornately decorated bunk, he saw an unusually thin man lying on it.
It was no exaggeration to say that he was nothing but skin and bones. If it were said to be a mummy, anyone would believe it.
However, Nameless did not appear to have changed, perhaps because he was a familiar figure.
“How are you feeling, unified king?”
As he called out, his eyelids lifted, heavy and thin. The eyes that were visible were golden but cloudy.
His breathing was so weak that it seemed as if it would cease at any moment. Still, the unified king slowly opened his mouth.
“…..Are you satisfied?”
The unified king spun his voice, his eyes still looking at the ceiling as he asked the question.
Was he losing his sight, or was he too lethargic to even move his gaze?
Either way, they were alone in the quiet room, close enough to talk without seeing each other.
“Yes, I have finished what I have to do in this country.”
Nameless said and pulled out a small sword from his sleeve.
The light of the blade glinted in the candlelight, and the unified king finally turned his gaze to Nameless. He did not look surprised but only gave a small smile.
“…..I see, then that’s good.”
“Is there anything left you want to say?”
Nameless said and raised his small sword.
“…..I’m sorry.”
After hearing his last words, Nameless thrust the small sword into the unified king without hesitation.
“――!?”
The unified king did not make any effort to avoid the blade, nor did he show any resistance.
Rather, he clutched Nameless’ shoulders with great force and held him close as if to assist in his own murder.
The unified king gritted his teeth and held back a scream, his bloodshot eyes wide open as if something was searing into them. Even as blood bubbles gushed from his mouth, his gaze remained fixed on Nameless’ face.
Gradually, the unified king’s strength drained out of his body. The hand that had pulled Nameless’ shoulder fell onto the bunk. The sound was as light as a leaf.
Confirming the death of the unified king, Nameless left the corpse with a small sword thrust into his hand.
“I am tired of hearing your apologies.”
Saying this, Nameless reached out his hand to the unified king’s face and gently stroked his scabbed cheek with his fingertips.
For a while, Nameless continued to look at the dead body of the unified king, and then his mouth, which was hidden by the hood, twisted in a self-mocking manner.
“Goodbye.”
A farewell speech.
But there was no regretful color in his voice.
“――Father.”
With these final words, Nameless disappeared without a sound.
All that was left was silence, or rather, a great darkness fell in one corner of the room.
The candles in the candelabra were extinguished.
A wind blew in the windowless room.
A strange air concentrated near the bunks.
Soon, two men appeared in the dimly lit room, taking on human forms.
“If you put them in the same category, it makes me sick, but I think that the two races, the ‘human race’ and the ‘demon race,’ share the same intensity of resentment.”
“Hydra, that’s not important. We’re going to retrieve it quickly.”
Both of them were wearing hoods so no one could see their real faces.
But the man called Hydra’s mouth was twisted in a hateful way that made it obvious that he was in a bad mood.
“Ladon, how long shall we repeat this kind of work?”
Once feared by the people as the twelve demon lords, they were destroyed by the God of War. However, their resentment did not fade away even after a thousand years. Even now, under the oracle of the Faceless King, they had changed their name to “Black Death Village” and were still active in the shadows.
“Until the God of War―no, until the usurper’s soul is destroyed. Is this answer not to your satisfaction?”
“No, I understand more than well enough.”
But Hydra’s disapproving attitude remained unchanged.
“If so, then you should obey the order of the Faceless King without questioning it.”
Ladon shook his head and sighed as if it was too much trouble to deal with him.
“Otherwise, we will never regain our former glory.”
“I know.”
There was no point in arguing in a place like this. Perhaps sensing this, Hydra let out a wild snort once, then, with eyes wide open, breathed out his own. Then, approaching the dead unified king with his eyes wide open, Hydra stretched out his hand.
“It is a pity that he was murdered by his own son, but I cannot feel sorry for him. It is rather heartbreaking to be of his blood.”
He touched the unified king’s face and thrust his fingers directly into his eyes.
“You are all too intricately entangled. You have stirred up resentment, anger, and hatred on our side. You have been too much trouble for us, you livestock.”
Hydra pulled out his finger and looked into the golden eye held between his fingertips.
“If it turns out to be the real thing, I’ll admit that the livestock had its uses…”
Hydra handed the eye to Ladon so that it would not lose its shape.
“We can’t tell. At best, we can only hope that it is not a ‘failure’ like Selene’s.”
Ladon said with a polite gesture as he placed the ‘eye’ in a container.
“Ladon, what are you going to do now? Are you going to deliver the eye to the Faceless King?”
“No, I have been ordered to lend you a hand for a while.”
There is a slight heat in the damp air.
“Is that so―then there is one thing I want.”
“What do you want me to procure?”
A muffled laugh came from Hydra.
“――It’s the spirit magic pill.”
 
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