NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 68
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Ruinong, who were practically refugees entering without permission, gained citizenship after being recognized for their contributions by the Valtarian Imperial Family.
It was a joyous result.
From now on, the Ruinong would be under the protection of the Empire.
The fact that the mysterious race, known as the mascot of the Saintess Party, was living huddled together in the Marquisate of Hohenberg became widely known. The citizens of the Empire began to show interest and curiosity towards the Ruinong race.
“I could make a huge profit by letting people touch and pet those cute fairies. Should I build a Ruinong experience hall in the Marquisate of Hohenberg…?”
If I could exploit the vanity of nobles who spare no expense for new thrills and excitement, there’s no doubt I could rake in a fortune.
And if I prominently promote the Marquisate of Hohenberg with the Ruinong as mascots, it would gain fame in no time.
Ding!
The chance to get rich quick seemed to sparkle right before my eyes.
“No! To use the Ruinong as a way to make money… Absolutely opposed!”
The blonde princess shouted as she hugged the Ruinong, who were busily sucking on candies with both hands. She looked very resolute, like a mother desperately trying to protect her children from wicked outsiders.
I scratched my head with an awkward expression.
“W-Well, of course, it was just a joke.”
“Liar. It was definitely not a joke.”
Oh, sharp as always.
Clearly, you are the villainous princess opposing the heroine…
With Elizaveta’s piercing gaze, I raised both hands in surrender.
“I want the Ruinong to experience the outside world and learn happiness and joy. Until now, they have lived for a long time isolated in the suffocating underground world, right?”
Elizaveta let out a wry smile while petting the Ruinong’s heads. The Ruinong then cheerfully laughed and lovingly placed a flower crown they had made on the princess’s head.
The villainous princess and the Ruinong.
Such a strange yet fitting relationship it was.
As I gazed at their beautiful figures, I decided to put the Ruinong experience hall plan on hold.
“But can I freely pick the flowers in the sponsorship?”
“Who cares? Who would dare question the princess?”
I expressed my regret to the gardeners gazing in horror at the ruined flower beds. They must have put a lot of effort into beautifying the Emperor’s sponsorship for a long time.
I felt awkward at the disheveled state of the garden.
“Lord Edanant.”
While I was absentmindedly watching Elizaveta and the Ruinong having a cozy picnic,
A priest in vestments approached.
He was a subordinate of Zebeline from the Holy Kingdom.
“The Saintess calls for you.”
“Me?”
It was still quite a while until the promised time…
Is something happening?
Nodding at Zebeline’s message, I stood up.
*
A shocking piece of bad news flew in that the Pug Kingdom, which had miraculously revived from the onslaught of black magicians, had perished overnight.
The king and nobles had been slaughtered.
The perpetrator, surprisingly, was none other than Sword Saint Regnas.
The country of the sword saint, located on the northern outskirts, was destroyed by the sword saint’s hand. As the news traveled rapidly from afar, it shocked not only the Emperor of the Empire but many world leaders.
“Did the Sword Saint really kill the king?”
“It’s the news sent by the barely surviving crown prince. It must be the undeniable truth.”
Sword Saint.
The greatest swordsman equipped with holy justice and chivalry.
The sword saint, who had vanquished the great demons of the abyss to save the world, betrayed the oath of loyalty to murder a king.
Unbelievable.
How can I accept this?
Barbarossa let out a heavy sigh, pressing his temple. The tragedy caused by the sword saint in that remote village was bound to create a shockwave throughout the continent.
“We need to verify the facts immediately!”
“I cannot possibly believe it! How could the Sword Saint commit such an outrageous act…!”
The ministers serving the Emperor were also in disarray.
Sword Saint Regnas was the one who had recorded many heroic tales alongside the hero Maximilian. Accepting that such a hero committed regicide was hard to swallow.
“Your Majesty…! Crown Prince Erik has just arrived at the Imperial City.”
“Bring him in quickly!”
The exiled crown prince of the fallen kingdom, who had survived the disaster against all odds, arrived at the Imperial City of the Valtarian Empire through a warp gate.
Upon hearing the news, Barbarossa immediately gave commands.
“Your Majesty, the crown prince of the Pug Kingdom requests an audience.”
“Let him in.”
How much time had passed?
Knights clad in dazzling armor entered, escorting a man wearing a hood.
The Emperor signaled them with his eyes.
Then, the knights swiftly pulled back the hood of the man.
“Oh my, what in the world…!”
“What a hideous wound. Could it be that it was the Sword Saint who did this?”
His once handsome face was nowhere to be seen.
The crown prince’s appearance, covered in bandages like a mask, was truly pitiful.
Deep scars would surely be etched into his face.
The vivid bloodstains visible beyond the bandages told the grim story.
“I ask, Crown Prince. Is it true that the Sword Saint killed the king of the Pug Kingdom?”
“Y-Yes! The treacherous rebel ambushed the royal castle and murdered my father and the nobles!”
The number of people killed in the massacre was as high as several hundred.
The perpetrator was undoubtedly Regnas von Pug.
The only survivor of the massacre recounted the grim circumstances of the blood-soaked scene. The Emperor and ministers swallowed hard, nodding their heads in solemn silence.
“Why has the Sword Saint, who was missing along with the Saintess, just now appeared? And why did he suddenly commit the heinous crime of killing the king? Does the crown prince not have any inclination of the Sword Saint’s actions?”
Barbarossa asked in a solemn voice.
Crown Prince Erik gulped down dry saliva before speaking.
“How can I know the intent of a traitor…! My endlessly benevolent father took in Regnas, who was wandering the streets with his widow mother, and treated him like family. Yet, ungratefully, Regnas committed the act of murdering my father who showed him mercy!”
Erik emphasized that he was an unjustly swept victim, omitting the misdeeds he had committed against Regnas and his mother.
He needed to evoke sympathy.
He had to gain some favor from the Emperor of the Empire by any means.
With the king and nobles slaughtered, the Pug Kingdom was in ruins. The crown prince, fleeing from the liberated citizens from tyranny, had become practically penniless.
If he returned to the kingdom, he would surely be killed by the enraged citizens.
So the fallen crown prince repeatedly stated his pitiful circumstances, watching the Emperor closely.
“It’s undoubtedly true that the Sword Saint killed the king and nobles. For now, the crown prince should receive treatment for his grave injuries. Until the details are unraveled, I will treat you as a guest of the Imperial Family.”
“I-I am deeply honored… Your Majesty!”
He had murdered his sworn lord and adoptive father, the king.
That was indeed the undeniable truth.
Barbarossa swallowed his heavy silence and gestured for the fallen crown prince to be sent off.
“How did the noble symbol of chivalry, the sword saint, become a king assassin?”
King assassin.
A derogatory title for one who betrayed their oath of loyalty and killed the king.
The Sword Saint had fallen to being called a king assassin.
Countless leaders across the continent would both fear and despise him.
Calls to publicly declare the treacherous criminal as the Empire’s enemy would soon flood in. For the king assassin’s blade might turn toward other kingdoms.
*
The Sword Saint massacred the king and nobles.
I felt my head spinning at the shocking news brought by Zebeline.
Could this be some kind of cruel joke?
I thought for a moment, but Zebeline’s expression was deadly serious.
“That can’t be! Maximilian, with his damned personality, might do that, but Regnas would absolutely never commit mass murder!”
Despite being a swordsman who had vanquished countless great demons, Regnas had never once turned his blade against a human.
He drew his sword to protect humanity.
That’s why he swore he would never strike humans for any reason.
Sword Saint.
Regnas, with his noble character, truly lived up to the name of the sword saint.
He had risen above a dark past.
He cast aside smoldering thirst for revenge and carried the mantle of holy justice.
He led the brutal war to victory to protect the beloved Saintess and countless humans.
It cannot be.
Regnas is absolutely not the kind of person who would commit such a tragedy.
I could assertively guarantee Regnas’s noble character.
“Then should we meet with the crown prince of the Pug Kingdom? He just arrived at the Imperial City.”
“…Yes, of course.”
Erik von Pug.
He was the scoundrel who had abused Regnas during his childhood.
And he was the human scum who had plotted to poison Regnas’s mother.
Last time, when Ludmilla set out to assist the Pug Kingdom, he had remained silent. No matter how sinister the den of scoundrels was, the kingdom needed to be protected.
But now, there was no need to hold back.
He was merely the fallen crown prince who would lose the power he had once overestimated.
While spouting his treacherous tongue, he’d likely exaggerate the calamity caused by Regnas. I had to contact that despicable scoundrel to uncover the detailed account of the events that transpired in the Pug Kingdom.