Chapter 254: The Return of the King

Siegfried clenched his teeth as he quickly calculated possibilities. After all, he was a man who solved his problems with his own abilities without depending on fate to help.

‘They used the carriage as bait. In that case, where is the real Queen Leila?’

He guessed they would try to trick him, but he never thought they would do something like this. Since the capital was under siege, he would eventually find her if he searched thoroughly, but the quickest way would be to make Rick talk.

“Keep him alive. But he just needs to talk, so do whatever is necessary to find the royal family…”

“Sir!”

At that moment, Jake ran towards Siegfried’s side and blocked something that had been flying towards him.

CLANGGG!

Aiming for Siegfried, a flash of light had flown through the air. That flash of light ended up being just an ordinary looking arrow.

“This…?”

There was only one person in the whole continent who could do something like this - Trike Low, one of Milton Forrest’s close aides. For him to show up here meant...

“It’s the Grand Duke!”

“His Highness, Grand Duke Milton Forrest is back!!”

The ground shook as the soldiers of the Lester Kingdom cheered from all sides. 

“WAHHHHH!!”

The roaring sound was announcing the return of Grand Duke Milton Forrest, the war god of the Lester Kingdom. 

“F*ck! He’s here already? How?”

Siegfried’s face crumpled. He had thought he would have two more days before Milton Forrest arrived. And that was only because he was expecting Milton to arrive quickly. However, Milton Forrest arrived even sooner than he had expected. 

Then, Rick spoke up from beneath his feet.

“Hahahah… You’re XXX.”

Siegfried felt his temper rise, but at that moment, he didn’t have the time to pay attention to Rick.

“Form battle lines! We’re responding immediately!”

He quickly got Jake and the Ghosts under control as he shouted out his order. 

***

Cough

“Tommy? Can you hear this? ”

With his consciousness fading, Rick called out to his friend lying next to him. Tommy’s body was getting rapidly colder and didn’t answer, but Rick continued to speak.

“It’s all… thanks to you… that Our Lord’s… family… is safe… so…”

Cough

Rick spat out blood from his mouth before continuing with a smile on his face.

“You don’t… have to be… the younger… brother. Let’s… be friends… again.”

Rick slowly closed his eyes.

***

“My Lord, the gates have already been breached.”

“Damn it…”

Milton gritted his teeth. 

Taking both land and sea routes, Milton had moved at maximum speed with minimal manpower but the gates had been still breached. 

“Run through everything that gets in our way! Charge!”

With Milton at the front, the Southern Knights chased after him. Jerome, Violet, Trike, and even Marquis Gotham, who had recently joined the ranks, all followed after him… The elites of the Lester Kingdom had gathered.

From amongst them Trike, with the best eyesight, spoke up.

“My Lord, I see Siegfried.”

“Where is he?”

“I’ll let you know right now, sir.”

Having said that, Trike concentrated his Aura on his arrow even as his horse continued to gallop forward. And then…

Bang!

A flash split the air as he released the arrow. Then...

“Tsk, he blocked it.”

When Trike clicked his tongue, Milton spoke.

“It failed?”

“Yes, sir. Jake was next to him.”

“I see. Alright.”

Milton clenched his teeth.

“Let’s go, Leonard.”

Leonard’s eyes flashed red as he galloped forward when Milton hit him with the whip. Galloping forward at a tremendous speed, Milton was able to reach his enemy before Siegfried could finish arranging his troops. 

“Piss off!”

Clang!

Milton’s blow destroyed the Republican soldiers in front of him while the knights who had followed behind him continued to pressure the remaining Republican troops.

“Kill them all!”

“Don’t let the invaders go!”

Perhaps it was because they had concentrated on destroying the capital after destroying the walls, but the Republican soldiers died before they could even respond.

‘It’ll be dangerous at this rate.’

Siegfried had thought his enemy would be exhausted, but when he saw that his troops were being unilaterally destroyed, he clenched his teeth.

“Ghosts, all of you will take the elixir!”

Siegfried decided to risk it all for his victory.

“The formation is the one-point breakthrough. I’m taking the lead. Follow after me closely!”

Then, Siegfried pointed his sword at Milton as he spoke.

“Charge!”

“Waaaaahhhh!!!”

“Long live Fuhrer Siegfried!”

It was the best choice he could make in the current situation where he couldn’t straighten out the Republican Army’s formation. It was an elite vs elite soldiers battle.

And his goal was…

‘I’ll kill him with this!’

Of course, it was Milton Forrest.

***

“Siegfried…”

When he saw Siegfried charging towards him, Milton charged towards him as well. 

“I’ll kill you.”

The fact that Siegfried had aimed for his family while he wasn’t there caused Milton to become enraged. 

‘I’m gonna kill him. I’m gonna kill him. I’m definitely going to kill him.’

From the beginning, the two of them had tried to kill each other, but now, Milton was truly exuding a murderous rage. 

“Milton Forrest!”

“Siegfried!”

Finally, the distance between the two shortened and they both swung their swords.

CLANG!

***

Milton Forrest, age 34.

Siegfried, age 37.

Later on, historians would say this was the last battle in the hero’s era when the two young heroes clashed for the last time. They would also say that while the 3rd Ideological Conflict had killed about half the young men in the entire continent, it was the last war. 

Of course, wars weren’t completely stopped. However, 300 years later, with the invention of firearms and the disappearance of swords and spears, the way wars were fought changed greatly. In that sense, this war, where humans faced each other directly on the battlefield and fought with strength and intelligence, was recorded as the last war. 

The way history judged these two heroes, who had left a big mark behind in history, was varied. Some historians would say that Siegfried, who moved through the era without any foothold had the better ability, while others would say that Milton Forrest, who made better use of the talented people around him than using his own abilities was the wiser monarch.

Who was the better hero? Who was more suited to the times?

The evaluations were varied, but one thing remained unchanged.

Who was right?

The answer was obvious. In history, the winner was always right.

***

Cough

Siegfried spat out blood as he felt a burning sensation in his stomach. At the end of 200 exchanges, Milton’s long sword had stabbed Siegfried’s abdomen. 

Siegfried had already used up his energy in the battle while Milton was in great condition. From the start, there had been a significant difference in Aura between the two of them, and once the fight between the two of them got longer, this was the result. 

Jake and the Ghosts had tried to protect Siegfried but they were stopped by Jerome and the Lester Kingdom’s knights and they couldn’t do as they intended.

“......”

Milton didn’t say anything. He just pulled out his sword and stepped back as he stared at Siegfried.

“Why… are you… looking at me… like that?”

“Hm… what do you think?”

Milton couldn’t answer him. Somehow, he felt like he was currently looking at a mirror image of himself as he looked at Siegfried. He knew that they were completely different, both in thought and personality, and even the way they had grown up… But disregarding all that, he felt like he was looking at another side of himself as he looked at Siegfried.

‘Perhaps, that could have been me.’

Whatever the reason, they had given it their all as they fought for hegemony in the current era. Regardless of whether it was right or wrong, the only difference between the two of them now was whether they were the winner or the loser.

Maybe that was why, but Milton couldn’t be happy about defeating his archrival.

“Sir!!”

While Milton wasn’t paying attention, Jake shouted as he ran at Milton.

“Keugh…”

CLANG!

It was a powerful blow, but Milton blocked the attack. In fact, if he considered Jake’s skill, the attack could even be considered light. And the only reason for that was…

“Huff… Huff…”

Perhaps he had overdone it in his haste to get to Siegfried? One of Jake’s arms had been cut off and his body was covered in wounds, wounds that weren’t small at all.

“I’m sorry, My Lord. He escaped me.”

Jerome got to Milton a beat later. Jerome had thought they were evenly matched, but the moment Jake had seen Siegfried seriously injured, he charged forward, enraged, and Jerome hadn’t been able to contain him. 

“No, it’s alright.”

Milton didn’t blame Jerome for it. In fact, if Jerome couldn’t stop him, then no could.

“Sir, let’s escape for now.”

Jake quickly mounted his horse with Siegfried on his shoulder. 

“Don’t let them escape!”

Jerome chased after him as he ordered the other knights to encircle Jake. But…

“Get out of my way!”

Jake wielded his sword, almost blinded by rage. His overwhelmingly devastating charge broke through the Lester Kingdom’s elite Northern Knights and 20,000 elite troops.

Jerome and Milton tried to chase after him but…

“Block them!”

“His Excellency must be saved!”

“Long live Siegfried!”

The remaining Ghosts hindered their movements and Jerome and Milton couldn’t continue their pursuit. The Ghosts, a highly trained and elite force that Siegfried himself had raised, the strongest force in the Republic, disappeared from history defending their master. 

***

“...Jake… Is that you?”

“Sir, are you awake?”

On top of the galloping horse, Siegfried managed to weakly speak.

“Yes… where are we?”

“I’ve abandoned the siege, sir. I’m guarding you now.”

“Huff… huff huff… In the midst of that… you brought me… here…”

Cough

“Sir, please stop talking. You need to get treated, urgently.”

“Right… as long as… you are… with me… we can do it… again… From the start... just the… two of us…”

“Of course, sir. If it’s the two of us, we can start all over again.”

“Right… yes… and… we’re not… losers… ye...t…”

“Yes, sir. We can start over again.”

“......”

“Sir… Sir!”

“......”

Siegfried couldn’t answer any longer. 

Anxiously, Jake called him again and again, but Siegfried didn’t answer.

“Aaaaahhhhh!!!”

Jake screamed and cried bitter tears as he held onto Siegfried’s dead body.

The leader of the Ghosts and the man considered to be the strongest in the Republic after the death of General Barron, Jake was Siegfried’s right hand and the most loyal aide. No one found out where he had disappeared to. However, 150 years later when someone discovered Siegfried’s tomb, it was assumed that Jake had been the one to build it.

***

“Huff… huff… damn it…”

Eliza ran and ran. In fact, Eliza was the first person to run the moment it was known that Milton Forrest had appeared. While she wasn’t afraid of Milton Forrest, she was afraid of the woman who was assumed to be with him.

“Shit… huff… huff… here… should be… okay…”

Eliza finally stopped. But then…

“Where do ya think yer going?”

For a second, Eliza thought her heart had stopped beating. She moved her stiff body and turned around. Behind her was the person she wanted to see the least. 

“B… Bianca…”

“Talking to me so informally? Ya wanna die?”

“Ah… ah…”

Eliza flopped down.

Bianca slowly approached Eliza as she spoke.

“I missed yah so much, younger sibling.”

“Um… uh…”

Eliza couldn’t stand up on her feet, but she still tried to crawl backwards as she tried to escape. Eliza had always been confident and arrogant, even to Siegfried, but in front of Bianca, she was different.

These two were siblings who had been taken in by a witch’s clan and taught magic. And for magicians, being a high-ranking magician meant that their will was absolute. Unlike with swords and knowledge, the world of magicians was one where barriers could never be crossed if their ranks were different.

In other words, Eliza would never be able to win against Bianca.

That was why Eliza ran away again and again. She knew that she would be no better than a trapped mouse if they were to ever meet. That was why she ran away. 

But, they met like this.

“Let’s see… ya have so many charges against ya.”

Bianca took out a scroll from her breast pocket. 

“Reading and stealing the forbidden book, poisoning the teacher who tried to stop ya, experimenting on human bodies and recently summoning the demon… and Ballock at that? Oh, how very gutsy of ya.”

“That… that’s…”

“Of course yer gonna die…”

Bianca[1] let out a sigh as she continued. 

“As yer blood, let me ask ya something.”

She continued on calmly.

“Why’d ya do it?”

“Keu…”

When Bianca asked why, Eliza gritted her teeth.

“Why…? Why did I do it? Let me ask you something. Why not me?”

“......”

“You didn’t even want to be the successor. But those old biddies tossed me aside and picked you as the successor?! Why?! Why not me?! Why can’t I be the leader of the witch’s coven? Why?!”

Bianca sighed as she watched Eliza scream at her.

“Yer really asking ‘cause ya don’t know?”

“......”

Bianca looked irritated when Eliza didn’t answer her.

“It’s the witch’s coven. Witch’s coven. So how ya be it? Yer a BOY!”

“Keugh…”

“Why can’t ya listen to me?![2] I didn’t want it, and said that it was fine if ya took over. But the elder refused. What do ya want me to do about it?”

“I… I can also do it…”

“I never said ya couldn’t! Why can’t ya understand?!”

When Bianca tried to browbeat Eliza into understanding, an equally enraged answer came back.

“Why not me? What am I lacking?!”

“Yer not lacking anything! It’s the fact ya have something extra that ya can’t do it, ya dumb bastard!”

Then, Bianca let out a deep sigh before continuing.

“Eliza? This son of a b*ch even changed his name into a girl’s! Yer not Eliza, yer Elliot.”

Bianca pressed a hand to her forehead. It seemed like she had a throbbing headache just thinking about it.

“I’ve been dealing with yer mess for 20 years on the continent, trying to stop it. Ya know how troublesome that was?”

“......”

“Even if yer my younger brother, there’s a limit to what I can tolerate, and ya’ve gone over it. Hooo…”

Bianca let out a sigh.

“That’s enough now. It’s time for ya to die.”

“Don’t… don’t be ridiculous… keu…”

Eliza, no, Elliot was about to argue when he clutched his chest and collapsed.

“K...keughh…”

“I am Bianca Cornelius, the leader of the Witch’s Fence. By my authority, I am placing judgement on my witch kin, Eliot Cornelius…”

Keu… Keuaaagh…”

Elliot trembled in agony as he felt like his entire body was drying up. 

What Bianca was using right now was a punishment given to the lower ranks of magicians of the same line.

It didn’t matter whether they were strong or weak or even rebellious. 

As absolute superior beings, they had the authority to pass judgement onto those who were of a lower rank than them. 

“To be silent in your eternal sleep.”

By the time Bianca finished talking, Eliza became a completely dehydrated mummy and collapsed.

“Haa… it’s over now.”

Bianca let out a sigh of relief.

***

Five years later.

“Ugh… At this rate, won’t I die from overworking again?”

As the god of war and the great hero of the Lester Empire, Milton Forrest stretched from behind a large pile of documents.

After the war, the Lester Kingdom had seized supremacy in the continent and had become an empire.

The Andrews Kingdom had already lost its strength, and with Siegfried gone, the Republic had no power as well.

While a couple warlords had challenged Milton in order to become the second Siegfried, none of them had the charisma to bring the Republic together.

In the end, the Republic split into five parts. Milton acknowledged three of them and accepted them as allies. 

By using them to keep the other two Republics in check, he was able to protect his country without having to personally fight.

Since then, he had faithfully devoted himself to paperwork as a monarch of a nation.

While Leila had said she was in charge of the internal affairs of the country, the post-war process, the diplomatic issues with their allies, training the knights, maintaining the troops, etc… He had a lot of work to do. 

Count Sabian, no, now he was Duke Sabian; he had once been a tactician in the war, but now, he helped Milton at his desk, not at the battlefield.

And another of Milton’s right-hand, Duke Jerome Taker; he was sworn in as the dean of the Academy of the Knights in order to train the future knights. 

Now that there was no need for him to go out to the battlefield, Jerome had decided he would do his best to train his juniors.

“Shall we take a break, Your Majesty?”

“Hm… let’s.”

At Duke Sabian’s words, Milton left his desk and looked out the window as he drank his tea.

Outside, there were two tombs. 

Milton had picked the most beautiful place in the estate of the Grand Residence of the Grand Duke and personally carved two tombstones.

A benefactor of the royal family and a hero of our country. A loyal knight and a dear friend. May you rest in peace.

These two men had fought by Milton’s side for the longest time during the war and had defended the royal family in the last crisis. 

No one dared to go against Milton when he said that he would entomb them in the Grand Residence. 

As long as the Forrest line continued, the two of them would continue to be honored.

The tomb of Marquis Catel was built in the former Strabus Kingdom, his hometown, and while Duke Palan was said to have been buried in his family mausoleum, he was actually buried next to Queen Irene. 

‘Sadness and happiness… I guess time really is the cure.’

Milton smiled bitterly as he drank his tea.

At that moment, his office door opened and a young lady came in.

“Father.”

Milton flinched at the cloying sweet voice.

“Ah.. um… Bess, you’re here?”

“Yes, Father. It’s Elizabeth, your most beloved daughter.”

“Right. So what brings you here today?”

“It’s nothing important, Father. I just wanted to ask you for a favor, nothing else. You’re going to buy it for me, right? Right, Father?”

Elizabeth hooked her arm around Milton’s and acted cute. 

Watching his daughter like this, for a second, Milton couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

“What is it that you want?”

“It’s um, it’s a bit expensive?”

“You always want something expensive.”

“Heehee…”

Having said that, Elizabeth took out a sheet of paper from her pocket.

“I want a commerce permit for a large ship traveling to the Waterport Kingdom. And allow my foundation to help with the relief activities in the Republic, and I also need a license to develop the coal mines in the North.”

“Why? No, nevermind. I don’t want to know…”

“I’m glad you asked, Father.”

‘Damn it. Why did I ask?’

Milton was regretting it, but it was too late. Elizabeth was excited. She had already prepared materials in advance to help with her explanation.

“First, I’m planning to increase my personal funds by increasing the volume of trades. Then, I’m going to use that to get coal from the North and create a market for coal-fueled stoves in the Republic. By doing that, the economy will grow while the funds will…”

“Alright, enough. Stop…”

If he let her continue, she would talk nonstop for three hours. Milton knew that his daughter would really do that, that’s why he had quickly stopped her.

“Whyy… I can still explain for five more hours.”

Milton let out a sigh as he looked at his disappointed daughter. 

“Haa… my dear daughter, can’t you just want a dress, or a carriage, or a jewel like any other girl your age?”

“Even if I don’t want that, people are desperate to give those to me, Father.”

“...Well, you’re not wrong.”

“And things like that won’t help me solidify my status as an heir nor will it help me become a great monarch. I want to quickly become a great monarch like you and mother and have the two of you retire.”

“......”

Milton’s daughter had a very clear idea of what she wanted in her future.

Elizabeth hugged her father’s arm and made a cute pout.

“So daddyyy… buy it for me. Please? Pleaseeee? Daddyyy…”

This was Empress Elizabeth von Lester, who would later lead the Lester Empire to its heyday. 

1. Raw said Eliza, but I think that’s a mistake since Bianca’s the one talking

2. Here, the author used 누나, a boy’s older sister, but English dgafs about like that. And I didn’t want to all of a sudden use noona when all this time, I’ve been trying hard to keep it western