Day 63 The Kingdom, Roadway.
I was finally able to send out an envoy to theFrontier Subjugation Force, the army led by the First Prince, getting the word through.
I made the point to put the blame for disobeying the Church and the nobles entirely on that brat, asserting the Frontiers innocence. I even obtained their agreement to sign off on keeping their hands off the Frontier in exchange for the brat and the treasures of the dungeon master.
This is where the battle, the negotiations, begin.
They will likely want me to yield the throne to the First Prince as the Kings stand-in, but it wont go that way.
In the first place, the Second Prince has rose in rebellion, occupying the Capital, so I can claim that Im unable to make it official until its retaken, and have the First Prince liberate the capital, after which I can establish a proper regency to limit his powers, and then make moves to prevent the Church and Great Nobles Houses from controlling him.
And once they sheath their swords, common soldiers wont be able to find it in them to point their weapons at the royal family again, much less at Princess Shariceres. Use that opportunity to dismantle and then reorganize the royal army, and have the nobles pledge their fealty anew.
I ruined everything after the brother fell ill, so at the very least, I have to return everything to the way it was before, or I wont be able to show my face before the brother.
As much as I dislike that brat, since Ill be handing a young man of a foreign country, moreover, one that has Mellotosam-samas favor, Ill make it up with my life once everything settles down.
Im sure no one needs a head of an incompetent kings substitute, but this is the only thing I can offer in compensation, not as royalty or a ruler but as myself.
Incompetent, inept, lacking in talent in ability who simply was born into the royal family, the only thing I have left to offer in apology is my life. I wont ask for forgiveness, not like I could even if I wanted. Its only natural that I will be resented, hated, bashed, and condemned.
But the Kingdom needed that brats life. Even without begging for forgiveness, I will pay with my head later.
Its as if he doesnt comprehend the situation in the slightest. The brat is standing aloof.
The insolent irritating cheeky brat. Through sheer luck he obtained a nice life and even a status. The Kingdom was thrown into disarray, suffering because of those treasures. That brat is a blight of this land.
But Lord Mellotosams words are also true, he is innocent, but he will have to die. That is a crime of my incompetence. As displeasing and infuriating as he might be, his death is the fault of my incompetent self.
The gorgeous silver armor is beside him. That has to be the dungeon masters relic. The very source of this conflict.
Handing it to the church is vexing, but I cant allow the blood of the frontier, of the Kingdoms subjects to spill.
That thought alone has brought me this far. Ive finally reached this point.
But it all was for naught.
Regardless of whether we are willing to hand over the brat and the armor or not, we have ourselves surrounded. Negotiations and agreements were all lies. Soldiers that were lying in ambush cut off all our escape routes.
So from the very beginning, they had no intention to negotiate. And compared to the few dozen soldiers that we brought, they came with an exaggerated force of hundreds, no, maybe even a thousand?
A thousand soldiers that appeared out of thin air, were they concealing themselves with some sort of a magic tool from the Church? Well, even if we established that, it doesnt matter anymore.
Everything was too late from the very beginning, and Im a clown who came on his own to have the finishing blow delivered to the kingdom.
A disgraceful end, not only what Ive done had no meaning, but it also only pointlessly enlarged the damage, as my incompetence paid with evil for good, a comical end fitting for an incompetent person like myself.
I even forced my own way against Mellotosam-samas objections to take the brat with me all the way here. Thinking that it will finally mark the beginning of negotiations.
Confirming the figures of the brat and the beautiful silver armor, their only response was a single world ofKill. There wasnt any talks (start) to be had, Im just a stupid fool that unwittingly came to his death (goal).
And I even dragged the brat that Mellotosam-sama considers his benefactor into this. A stupid idiot that came to hand over dungeon masters weaponry to the enemy.
The First Prince Gvaday is looking down on this with a look of contempt. You are an inept fool too, you pig-faced failure of a prince!
Below. They are in the ground, sinking into the soil What is this?
GYAAAAAAAAAAH, help, help me
Sa-sa-save me, please
GUWAH, I CANT GET OUT! I CANT!
Pull me out! Im sinking! Hurry
Gyaaah! Breathe! I cant bre
Someone, help me, someone! Shit, dont pull me!
Why! There was no swamp here a moment ago
My armor! I cant take it off! Someone, take it off! Please
A, AAH, GAH. Guobughbugh
Heavy infantry that were surrounding us are helplessly sinking into the swamp in their prized heavy armor. Rather, its that heavy armor that they are so proud of that is killing them, preventing them from escaping with its weight.
The negotiation site that until a while ago was just a flat plain, turned into a deep swamp, and that swamp became hell for the soldiers.
Help you? Save you? Well, did you? Helping the people is the armys duty, but did you help the people from the villages that you attacked when they were crying for their lives?
No, you didnt, far from that, you killed them. Do you seriously think that after doing that someone will save you when you cry for it? You fell so low in the military that you are no different from bandits now, so how about you go even lower and just sink to the ground?
I mean, it would spare the effort of burying you, so everyone will rejoice? What? Dont tell me that you thought that anyone would mourn your deaths? No no no, you cant be complaining about getting cruelly killed after murdering others like that?
If you dont like that, you should have stuck to being proper soldiers, but its too late for that. Yeah, Im not saving you, okay?
The brat is talking, but there is no one left to hear him or answer. They dont have such luxury, raising heartbreaking screams they are miserably buried into the ground, sinking, drowning.
Swallowed by the quagmire the soldiers are trashing and struggling, crying in terror as their bodies are devoured by muddy soil. Without a chance for a fight, they sink and vanish, unable to escape the weight of their heavy armaments.
What! What is this! What have you done, you bastard, WHAT HAVE YOU DOOOOONE! GUbah!
All of the troops are sinking into the ground. And only that brat is standing there aloof in his black mantle. Standing there without any changes to his look, as if nothing happened at all.
No, it was a swamp from the very beginning, you know? If you jump into the middle of a swamp that merely had its surface hardened a bit, wearing heavy armor, youd usually end up drowning?
The surface isnt solid anymore, so the more you struggle the faster you will sink, and if you dont struggle you will sink anyway, and if you dont sink, Ill drown you? Well, you are sinking. Or rather, go sink yourself.
A serene silence had descended. No shrieks and no wailing could be heard anymore. Only us and the First Prince are left in the quiet swamp. The Pig couldnt bear the terror and lost conciousness, but he has sunk only up to his neck.
His head is burned. I have no idea what just transpired, how it came to be, and why it turned out like this, but I understood that we survived, had the First Prince captured and the meaning of Lord Mellotosams words.
If you are going to take him with you, please keep this in mind. True terror is incomprehensible. The ability to bring to life events that cannot even be understood is the most terrifying thing of all. While simple strength can be gauged, the true strength is terrifying only.
And that is indeed unfathomable. Being unable to understand is what strikes true fear into the heart. Please be careful, I wish you luck.
Those were the words that Lord Mellotosam gave me before the departure. I didnt understand back then, and I still dont understand it now, but at least now I understand that I dont understand. And that its terrible enough to scare the God of War himself.
That brat is dangerous. Even destroying a country isnt out of question for him.