CH 45

anslated by SoundOfDestiny

A few days after the battle for the fortress of Blaine. At the Royal Palace of Zain.

“….. So, Raidorl is victorious?” 

“Yes! His Royal Highness’s brother fought like in the myth! As the holder of the holy sword, he has fought very well!”  

Granard Zain, the king of Zain Kingdom, covers his face with his right hand after listening to the report messenger sent from the fortress.

His face has an expression of blatant unhappiness on it, as if he is not expecting to hear the news of a victory.

Unaware of the king’s gloomy face, the messenger soldier excitedly recounts the details of the war.

“His Highness received a thunder strike by the enemy’s holy sword and then to His highness counter it with his jet-black sword….Originally, we wanted to help, but we did not dare to. No one can touch the two who are, one with a valkyrie and one with a devil.”

“…..Enough.”

“Eh?”

“I said enough, you may excuse yourself.”

Granard waved his hand as if he were chasing a dog away and ordered the messenger to leave.

The messenger, with a curious expression on his face, had no choice but to obey the king’s order and walked out of the throne room, his lips pursed in frustration at not being able to finish Raidorl’s tale of heroism.

When the messenger had left, Lockwood, who had been sitting next to the king listening to the report, spoke up.

“I’m glad to see that the Empire’s threat has been neutralised, Your Majesty, Granard.”

“Yes, it is indeed a great honor.”

The king’s face is twisted in discontent, despite his short answer.

His complex face shows his joy at the victory of the kingdom’s army and his inferiority at the success of his brother, whom he had neglected. 

“If I had wanted to, I would have been happy to see my foolish brother go toe-to-toe with the enemy.” 

Granard folded his hands in front of his chest and blurted out his true feelings. Lockwood’s lips pursed in disbelief.

“Your Majesty, that’s no way to……”

“I’ve said nothing wrong. Now that the Empire’s threat is gone, he poses a threat.” 

“I can’t deny that……”

Lockwood frowned bitterly at the king’s words, which he could no longer mend.

“Is this …… no longer possible to reconcile?”

Lockwood hoped that the two brothers, Granard and Raidorl, would be able to reconcile and rebuild their war-torn kingdom together. 

With Granard in charge of politics and Raidorl in charge of military, the Kingdom of Zain would certainly have developed further if they had been able to complement each other. 

But, in order to do this, it is essential that Granard bows to his brother and asks for forgiveness, even if only in a token way…… but the way Granard is acting now, there is no chance of that happening.

“His Royal Highness Raidorl is certainly spiteful, but he was also rational. He never seemed to be dominated by revenge. I would have thought that His Majesty would have apologized for his neglect, even if it was unofficially. …..”

Granard no longer sees Raidorl as his brother. He only sees him, but as a political rival who wants to take his place on the throne.

Lockwood, who knew the two brothers well in the past, felt a pain of regret.

Granard, sitting on his throne, glares sharply at Lockwood, as if he knows what the Prime Minister is thinking. 

“O Prime Minister! I am the king of this kingdom. Don’t think about anything else.”

“…… of course I know.”

“He has even placed a curse on me. Think of him as a traitor who threatens the kingdom.” 

“..yes..”

Granard’s chest still bears the imprint of the curse.

The court magicians have been mobilized to try to break the curse, but the formula used by Raidorl is different from the contract curse generally used on slaves and criminals, and even by doing analysis is difficult.

Even old Bavarois, the chief court sorcerer, was spooning, his white bearded face troubled.

“The curse may exist more than two hundred years old. It may take at least six months to break the spell, as most of the writings of the time have been lost during the witches’ terror. I wonder where His Highness got such a formula.” 

But the old Bavarois is still working hard, even cutting down his sleep. Lockwood wondered if he would be able to keep up his strength.

“As soon as the curse is lifted, we will strike down Raidorl as a traitor. Make your preparations while you still can.”

“With all due respect, ……, we do not yet know how the Empire will turn out. It is possible that they will send more troops to attack us, so it would be premature to dispose of His Highness.”

Lockwood shook his head at Granard’s relentless instructions.

“We have captured the Empire’s sword-bearer, haven’t we? Then we can make peace with her as a hostage. As long as we can avoid war, Raidorl is at our disposal.

“……..Will it work?”

Lockwood asks himself in his mind.

It is true that the capture of the Empire’s Princess and keeper of the holy sword, Célia Von Althlein, would be a serious bargaining chip.

If it weren’t for his brother, Granard would be a very capable negotiator, and it wouldn’t be difficult to win the peace.

“But…… the Empire’s emperor in the past..” 

It is rumoured that the man who became Emperor a few years ago, Zacharias Von Althlein , has a thirst for war.

How could any honest negotiation work with a man who had usurped the throne by killing his pacifist predecessor and was now waging wars all over the continent in order to conquer it?

“I can’t kill His Highness Raidorl now, in case the worst happens…….There are still two holy swords of the Empire.”

Better yet, the curse will remain and never be able to be lifted. 

Lockwood’s head was in his hands as he searched for words to appease his lord, thinking of the unbecoming of a vassal.