CH 256

Day 63 – The Kingdom, Roadway.

I was finally able to send out an envoy to the『Frontier 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 Frontier’s 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 King’s stand-in, but it won’t go that way. In the first place, the Second Prince has rose in rebellion, occupying the Capital, so I can claim that I’m unable to make it official until it’s 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 won’t 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 won’t be able to show my face before the brother.

As much as I dislike that brat, since I’ll be handing a young man of a foreign country, moreover, one that has Mellotosam-sama’s favor, I’ll make it up with my life once everything settles down. I’m sure no one needs a head of an incompetent king’s 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 won’t ask for forgiveness, not like I could even if I wanted. It’s only natural that I will be resented, hated, bashed, and condemned.

But the Kingdom needed that brat’s life. Even without begging for forgiveness, I will pay with my head later.

It’s as if he doesn’t 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 Mellotosam’s 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 master’s relic. The very source of this conflict.

Handing it to the church is vexing, but I can’t allow the blood of the frontier, of the Kingdom’s subjects to spill.

That thought alone has brought me this far. I’ve 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 doesn’t matter anymore. Everything was too late from the very beginning, and I’m a clown who came on his own to have the finishing blow delivered to the kingdom.

A disgraceful end, not only what I’ve 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-sama’s 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 of『Kill』. There wasn’t any talks (start) to be had, I’m 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 master’s 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!

For the one lacking in talent or ability, being born into the royal family is a tragedy. Despite being blessed with life of abundance and splendid education, it is precisely that exceptional guidance and training that allows one to truly grasp the depths of one’s incapableness, incompetence and powerlessness. That’s why I at least did what I could to be a good tool for the brother, the King. Even if I couldn’t be an outstanding tool, I would’ve been content with being useful, an easy to use instrument. Since that was the only use I saw for myself, I single-mindedly devoted myself to being loyal, diligently doing my work, doing my best to avoid bringing shame to the royal family.

But the First Prince borrowed the power of his mother’s Great Marquis House, seeking authority without realizing his incompetence. He didn’t even have the pride of royalty.

But in the end, it was I who brought shame to the royal family, sullying the king’s authority with my disgraceful ineptitude. Obeying without thinking for I lack in ability, doing nothing as I was afraid of doing anything unnecessary for my lack of talent, it’s only natural that I couldn’t fill the king’s role. I knew it, I understood it painfully well. That’s why I kept struggling, at least until the brother recovers, I thought, as I thrashed around until I finally chose the worst possible finale and jumped into it head first.

So my foolishness is going to be the end of the Kingdom? Even if a puppet kingdom remains, with that pig prince as a king the royal family’s pride is no more. He won’t bother with governing for the sake of the subjects.

Royal Family, founded for the sake of people with support of the people and vassals, will see it’s long legacy come to an end with my incompetence. Helped by its subjects and sustained by the vassals, it will end up repaying that debt with ingratitude. Everything is over. The last foolish ruler destroyed it all.

It’s silly regretting this now, but if it comes to a meaningless end, then let’s at least put up the last futile resistance.

「Hey, brat! Run away. …And sorry.」

Looks like the last folly of the kingdom’s last foolish ruler is going to be covering for a rude, impudent brat. If it wasn’t for me bringing him here, he wouldn’t have died, the only thing I can do now is to die while trying to shield him! I’m a no good knight, who has no proper swordsmanship, talent, or even sufficient Skills. A useless feeble knight who can’t even protect a level 20 kid, even stalling for time is too much for me. But I can’t die after him.

Wait, what?

「Eehm, Old man substitute? No, you aren’t a substitute, you yourself are an old man enough, but you are standing in for another old man, so old man substituting old man? Anyway, old man. Don’t get in the way, okay? The handover is complete, so it’s too late, the delivery was accepted, returns are not possible. It’s payment with life on delivery, so I’m going to charge it from them? Kind of?」

The brat stepped out. Dismissing my words by claiming that it’s too late. It’s only natural that I would be disparaged, I don’t even have words to apologize to him, and even if I died trying to cover for him, there is no way to survive. It is a matter of course that a foolish ruler that couldn’t save his kingdom, his subjects, and even dragged a foreign brat into this, would be cursed, bashed, and resented. But why would he step in front?

「Can you get any dumber? Why would they diligently come with lance-armed heavy infantry to ambush unarmed envoys? Why wouldn’t you scout ahead and confirm the terrain? There is no such plain in this area, you know? Fighting a war without a map is way too stupid, ah, damn I really hate this! Like, what was the point of all the preparations that I’ve done so far? Is how staggeringly dumb it is? And the prince is a pig? Hey, why did you even make a pig into a prince? Previously there was an orc mayor or something, and now a pig for a prince? Are you that starved for personnel? Didn’t you have at least an orc around? They are at least humanoid, so compared to a pig… Hm? Wait a moment, I sort of feel like it doesn’t matter at all! I guess?」

「Tear that brat with a nasty look to pieces! Chop off his limbs, and leave him alive! He dared to call my Noble Self, the future King, a pig. I won’t let him die so easily. I’ll torment him to death, torturing him until he weeps『Please have mercy and grant me sweet release of death』!」

An insolent brat until the end, but for that pig it’s just perfect, I excuse him that one! Well done! Rather, a pig is too nice for him. We are both stains on the royal family’s name, but possessing no pride of royalty being a pig is enough for him. But I can’t let this brat suffer, first I’ll be your opponent…? Opponent? Where did the opponents go?

Below. They are in the ground, sinking into the soil… What is this?

「GYAAAAAAAAAAH, help, help me…」

「Sa-sa-save me, please…」

「GUWAH, I CAN’T GET OUT! I CAN’T!」

「Pull me out! I’m sinking! Hurry…」

「Gyaaah! Breathe! I can’t bre—」

「Someone, help me, someone! Shit, don’t pull me!」

「Why! There was no swamp here a moment ago…」

「My armor! I can’t 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, it’s 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 army’s duty, but did you help the people from the villages that you attacked when they were crying for their lives? No, you didn’t, 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? Don’t tell me that you thought that anyone would mourn your deaths? No no no, you can’t be complaining about getting cruelly killed after murdering others like that? If you don’t like that, you should have stuck to being proper soldiers, but it’s too late for that. Yeah, I’m not saving you, okay?」

The brat is talking, but there is no one left to hear him or answer. They don’t 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, you’d usually end up drowning? The surface isn’t solid anymore, so the more you struggle the faster you will sink, and if you don’t struggle you will sink anyway, and if you don’t sink, I’ll 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 couldn’t 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 Mellotosam’s 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 didn’t understand back then, and I still don’t understand it now, but at least now I understand that I don’t understand. And that it’s terrible enough to scare the God of War himself.

That brat is dangerous. Even destroying a country isn’t out of question for him.