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Chapter 352

The other man didn’t seem to react at all.

“At this rate, it’ll hinder our great plan—”

“How has the Swallow Empire been doing after the war ended?” the man quietly said. Jabel flinched.

“They haven’t made any official announcements yet,” Jabel answered.

“It sounds like they’ll do so soon.” The man stroked his chin.

“Yes, that’s right.” Jabel readily nodded. “It’s not actually good for us…”

The man silently listened.

“Cerona Bel Grace, Lucifer’s wife, came to the fore and is taking action to prevent the victory from turning into a victory for the entire continent,” Jabel continued.

“I’m guessing the actual reason is to have her revenge,” the man said with a faint smile.

Jabel nodded. “I also think so. This will be the perfect time to regain the name ‘Grace’.”

“Using a national crisis to save her family…” The man trailed off and quietly chuckled. “I see the Swallow Empire is near its end.”

“…Are you okay with the current situation?” Jabel carefully asked.

“Everything is fine. The current situation is actually good for us since we only have to pay attention to Hubalt.” The man stopped tapping on the table in the dark, sealed room, and stood up from his seat. “Tell the apostles to prepare to step into the light.”

Jabel’s eyes bulged.

“Th-then…!”

“The world is changing, so wouldn’t it be better to act in accordance with the change?” The man smiled.

“Of-of course!” Jabel hurriedly replied.

“I definitely didn’t expect the rivalry between the two empires would come to an end this quickly. On top of that, it’ll be difficult to make the puppet named Kaiser into an emperor…” The man trailed off and looked straight into Jabel’s eyes. “Listen.”

“Yes! I’m at your service,” Jabel said with sparkling eyes.

“The Joshua I know will definitely head to Reinhardt right away.”

Jabel was surprised. He hadn’t expected the man to say that.

“When you talk about Reinhardt, do you mean Erhaim? If he already defeated the Empire’s army, then wouldn’t it be better to withdraw the army and aim for the throne…?”

“His colleague is still there,” the man explained.

“Colleague…?” Jabel was dumbstruck. Joshua had the power to play a major role in achieving the victory, but was he going to throw away this golden opportunity for the sake of his colleague?

‘After winning a grand victory, these pigs are so happy that they can’t think clearly right now. This is the perfect chance to completely overthrow the Empire…’ Jabel thought.

“He’s confident that he can do both,” the man said as if he’d read Jabel’s mind.

“Well…” Jabel understood right away.

“Meanwhile, we’ll prepare to greet the returning guest.” The man smiled.

Jabel nodded.

“From now on, we’re going to step into the light and take over Avalon. Ultimately, we’ll conquer the entire continent.” The man then slowly walked to the sealed room’s window. “How’s the Emperor?”

“He’s breathing, but he still doesn’t listen.” Jabel shrugged.

“…Three years will be enough.” The man’s eyes turned cold. “Bring him here right away.”

Jabel’s eyes widened for a moment before he stood straight.

“I’ll do so, Heimdall.”

* * *

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Erhaim, formerly known as Reinhardt, was the key city of the continent. In that city, Hansen was pounding metal as usual.

“Hey, Hansen!” a man shouted.

Clang! Clang!

Despite the visitor in the forge, Hansen didn’t stop because his inspiration as a craftsman had come for the first time in a long time. It was a very important moment—if the forging process went well, he would be able to create the greatest masterpiece in his entire blacksmith’s career.

“You know, this is not the time for you to focus on making swords,” the visitor commented.

Clang!

“Gosh, they will take everything away once war breaks out, so why would you bother working that hard on it!?” the visitor shouted.

Clang!

“You’ll seriously regret it if you don’t listen!” the visitor yelled in an attempt to intimidate Hansen.

Clang!

Hansen happened to finish forging just then, so he irately put down his hammer and glared at the uninvited guest. His death glare made the middle-aged man, who looked like the stereotypical example of a merchant, take a step back.

“…Smith, I warned you to not talk to me while I’m working…” Hansen growled.

“Hear me out first!” Smith, the middle-aged man, quickly took the initiative. “A war finally broke out between the Swallow and Avalon Empire!”

“…War?” Hansen smiled coldly. “I’d call that a one-sided plundering, not a war, and it’s probably over—”

“Avalon won!” Smith shouted.

“Yes, Avalon…” Hansen stopped moving. “…What?”

“The Avalon Empire won the war, thanks to the Hero King! Our king returned and led his army to victory!” Smith excitedly yelled.

The tongs in Hansen’s other hand dropped on the ground with a clang.

“Isn’t it incredible?! From what I’ve heard, the Swallow Empire will soon officially declare that they lost and will issue compensation for all the damage that they caused by their war crimes!” Smith exclaimed, his face reddened with excitement. “So maybe we can also—!”

“Nonsense,” Hansen interrupted. He picked up his tongs from the ground. “Nothing is certain yet, so don’t make a big fuss out of it.”

“But…”

“You seriously want the higher-ups to torture you for your loose lips, don’t you?” Hansen sarcastically commented. That was when Smith finally shut his mouth.

“…Tsk.” Hansen quietly clicked his tongue and picked up the heated metal with his tongs. Although Smith had unexpectedly interrupted him, Hansen had to finish working on this piece.

Hansen rapidly quenched the very hot lump of metal by dunking it into the water. If he moved a little bit quicker, then by the end of the day he would be able to complete a fine sword which everyone would desire…

The sudden sound of footsteps made Hansen tilt his head in confusion.

As usual, the world didn’t always go his way. A new visitor approached.

“I want to hear the conversation you had in detail,” the visitor requested.

Hansen gave the guest a baffled look.

“…You’re…?”

How long had it been? It surely hadn’t been long because Smith stared at him like he’d just seen a ghost. The attention-grabbing man with his frog-like eyes stood on the side of the forge; he was Hansen’s customer and the owner of the sword that was soon to be completed.

“A Wilhelm Knight…” Smith mumbled.

“Please,” the man requested

* * *

“My king did…”

Kingaitu returned to the castle with a smile on his lips. He had just heard that his king had returned alive several days ago. He’d really wanted to return as soon as he heard the news. However, he couldn’t abandon all the citizens while they were being persecuted.

“Even during that kind of moment, my king did wonders again…” Kingaitu mumbled.

“Hey, frog!” A knight of the Hubalt Empire suddenly appeared at the end of the hallway and swaggered toward Kingaitu. Kingaitu’s face hardened—he knew this knight.

“Were you slacking off in this kind of place? That’s unfair. Your subordinates are so busy picking up horse dung over there that they can’t afford to take a break,” the knight said with a smirk.

“…I’ve already finished what you asked me to do,” Kingaitu said.

“Huh? What I asked you to do?” The Hubalt knight tilted his head in confusion and soon came to a realization. “Oh, yeah! Did I ask you to pick up pig poop here?”

Kingaitu didn’t answer.

“We’re seriously understaffed, so help out others when you’re done, okay? Those men are your subordinates, right?” The knight instructed, finishing with a provocative pat on Kingaitu’s shoulder. “…Huh, are you frowning?”

“No, sir.” Kingaitu shook his head.

“Hmm…” The knight studied Kingaitu’s face to see if he was speaking the truth, but chuckled. “I’m joking, joking.”

Kingaitu stayed silent.

“You’re the leader of the great Wilhelm Knights, so how can I ask you to pick up animal dung too?” The knight tightly grabbed Kingaitu’s shoulders and stepped back. “Don’t frown. I was just messing with you.”

Kingaitu didn’t answer.

“Since there would be no one in the stable by now…” The knight trailed off ominously, making Kingaitu flinch.

“…What do you mean?” Kingaitu asked.

The knight shrugged. “Well, I sent your colleagues to an arena.”

Kingaitu’s eyes widened. The word “arena” shocked him more than he thought.

“You never said you were going to do that!!”

“Gosh! You surprised me!” The knight’s face crumpled. “It’s not like I was the one who decided to send them to the arena, so why would you fucking yell at me, you son of a bitch?”

Kingaitu belatedly realized his mistake and shut his mouth, but the knight was already furious. He poked Kingaitu’s forehead. “We’re in an age of war, aren’t we? You classless vermin wouldn’t know, but raising the soldiers’ morale is more important than anything else.”

Kingaitu didn’t answer.

“And do you know how important the arena is in improving morale?” the knight asked.

Kingaitu silently clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails dug into his flesh. In the past, the Masters’ Battles had been held on that sacred ground, but it wasn’t the same sacred ground anymore. It had long ago turned into a garbage dump where people enjoyed unrestrained gambling.

“Are you angry? Huh? Are you frustrated?” the knight asked.

Knigaitu stayed quiet.

“Then you should have behaved better in the first place. You shouldn’t have acted like such an opportunist, talking about Nagasin’s will or something, you idiot.”

The knight kicked Kingaitu.

“…Agh!” Kingaitu collapsed to the ground.

The Hubalt knight huffed and puffed in anger. “If you really don’t like the arena, you can tell me anytime since you’re not the one who has to prove your loyalty to the Empire.”

Once again, Kingaitu didn’t answer.

“A brothel is more effective in improving the soldiers’ morale, so there is no harm in that. Come to think of it, you have quite a pretty sister, right?” The Hubalt knight smirked.

Kingaitu lowered his head and coughed up blood.

The man speaking to him was the Holy Empire of Hubalt’s so-called “holy knight”. Ever since the Pope lost power to the Emperor, all the knights had been acting like this trashy knight.

“I got your filthy saliva on me because you coughed, you bastard. Ptooey!” The knight spat a glob of phlegm squarely on Kingaitu’s forehead. “Why don’t you try feeling what I feel? I’m going to keep an eye on you.”

Nevertheless, Kingaitu couldn’t do anything because he knew who would suffer if he caused trouble…

* * *

Kingaitu walked through the center of Reinhardt like a zombie.

“Woah!!!!”

Kingaitu still had a long way to go before he arrived at his destination, but he could already hear the roar of the enormous crowd. Although his destination had once been his pride, he didn’t want to go or see the place now—but he had to go for the sake of his colleagues.

He accidently bumped into someone because he walked with his eyes to the ground, so he immediately bowed.

“I’m sorry…”

Even though he quickly apologized, the person didn’t move or say anything. Kingaitu was going to speak again.

“Why don’t you raise your head?” the other man asked.

Kingaitu’s lower lip trembled.

“I’ve been following you since you left the castle… but it’s been really hard to see your face,” the man gently said.

Kingaitu’s lower lip trembled even harder. This was the first time in ages that he’d heard the man’s voice. Kingaitu had been desperate to hear that voice even if only in his dreams, so he really couldn’t believe what was happening right now.

“How have you been?” the man asked, as if to reassure Kingaitu that he wasn’t dreaming.

Kingaitu slowly raised his head and froze because it felt like his brain had stopped working.

He let out a choked sob. “Ho-how…?”

“If you’re asking how I’m here right now…” The man shrugged. “...it only takes half a day to get here from Einberg.”

There was no way it took half a day. No matter how close Einberg was to Reinhardt, it would at least take three whole days on horse.

But it wasn’t impossible for the man before Kingaitu.

“My… king…” Kingaitu’s eyes were already bloodshot.