CH 112

An easy request

Translated by SoundDestiny

Edited by Zil

“The Empire has two demands: the release of our daughter, Célia Von Althlein, and  our subordinate, General Gracos Barzen. And the return of the holy sword, Claíomh Solas.”

“…hm? Is that all?!”

Raidorl unintentionally uttered a suspicious voice at the words uttered from the emperor’s mouth.

The request that Zacharias had made had nothing to do with the duel, but was something that Raidorl was going to ask for sooner or later.

This is too light a demand for a victorious Empire to make on a defeated kingdom. At the very least, it is a cession of territory. Raidorl was prepared for the possibility of the kingdom becoming a vassal state, but he was taken aback by the unexpectedly simple demands.

“Oh, and I’ll give you back the fortress of Balmes and the border territories under Imperial control.”

“What?!”

“I’ve checked. I know you have men who are survivors of Arbeil and Ilkas family. I’ll give them back their lands too. Rejoice.”

“That’s ridiculous……. Did you hit your head?”

The proposal was so outrageous that Raidorl couldn’t help but utter a few rude words.

There was no negotiation, and it was only natural that the Imperial side had made compromises that were to their disadvantage.

It’s not just that they’ve been so generous, it’s that they’ve been so generous that it’s almost eerie.

“What do you think you’re doing? You’re the ones who started the war, and now you want to give back all the territory you’ve taken? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Kah,Ka,Kha..I’m not joking. I’m always serious.”

Laughing amusedly at the surprised Raidorl, Zacharias sits back in his chair and crosses his legs.

“If you had been a man who only ended up being chosen for the Holy Sword, I would have destroyed this country as quickly as possible. Now that you seem to be qualified to rise to the heights, there’s no need.”

“……that doesn’t make any sense”

“Don’t you remember? Well, it doesn’t matter.”

Zacharias shrugged his shoulders with a wry smile and tapped his fingers on the wooden round table. It was a pompous manner, or a way of withholding important information.

Raidorl opened his mouth to question the stern-faced emperor, but before he could speak, Zacharias spoke up.

“The Kingdom of Vein, the Republic of Raaslama and the Kingdom of Sarain.”

“Hmm?”

“Elfland of Jana Forest, Arshat Cat and Beast Tribe, Tusamarka Underground ……”

Zacharias banged on the round table and rattled off a few words.

Unable to understand the sudden change in the subject, Raidorl’s brow furrowed and he looked at him suspiciously.

“The Saint-Germeus bloodline and the Kingdom of Shaitan. These are the names of the countries and tribes that the Empire has destroyed since he became emperor. The number of lives taken is in the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, maybe even over a million. What do you think, it’s a lot of killing.”

“……..”

“He is also known as “the cruel emperor without blood”, “the devil who spits in the sky”, “the subhuman hunter”, “the natural enemy of fairies” and “the father killer”. A tyrant indeed. He’s also called the High King, what do you think?”

“Are you boasting?　Are you trying to tell me that I should be grateful that this country wasn’t destroyed too?”

(TL: Yes, Raidorl. I think you should, this emperor got no chill to prepare for what is coming to them) 

Raidorl’s lips twisted into a spiteful grimace. But Zacharias, unusually for this man, looked back at Raidorl with a serious look in his eyes.

“He is the bloody High King. A war-haunted man. But ……the truth is, he was not fighting for no reason at all. The war was not fought for the sole reason of wanting to fight. There is a firm cause for his supremacy. He has been waging wars of aggression against countries all over the continent for a certain purpose.”

“Purpose ……?”

Raidorl covers his mouth with his hand and ponders.

The only reason he can think of for a country to destroy others is to enrich itself. But from the way the emperor is talking, it seems that this is not the only reason.

“You don’t understand, do you? You didn’t even know why…”

He squinted at Raidorl, who was pondering at what he said, and Zacharias looked away with a vexed look in his eyes.

His eyes seemed to be looking at someone else, not at Raidorl. Behind the stern look was a feeling of hatred.

“The purpose for which he plunged the continent into war is….. [the witch revival worships Walpurgis]. It is to confront the end of the world, which will surely come sooner or later.”

(TL: Walpurgis is a german folklore)