CH 551

The royal mausoleum is not only the final resting place for royalty.

It is also where those who have achieved great accomplishments worthy of being buried alongside the royals are laid to rest. Being interred in the royal mausoleum, despite not being a royal, signifies tremendous honor and recognition of one's contributions to the empire.

As such, those buried here are inevitably great heroes or renowned figures from history.

In conclusion, Olivia's suggestion to loot the mausoleum to bolster the Death Knights is, in terms of practicality, the best choice.

Assuming it is successful, it is a much better location than battlefields such as Serandia.

Replenishing the Death Knights is virtually impossible at the allied base, and as long as they avoid being seen at the royal mausoleum, they should be fine.

Of course, Charlotte turned pale and trembled at the thought.

"If it must be done... I suppose we have no choice..."

As much as she wanted to protest against the idea, she believed she had no right to do so and sat down hesitantly.

"But will the remains properly become Death Knights?"

"I'm not sure, as I haven't done this sort of thing often. But the important thing is, there are many heroes who haven't been buried for long."

Olivia grinned.

My sister...

My sister is frightening these days.

"There are heroes who entered the royal mausoleum after contributing during the Gate incident, and even before that, there was the Demon War, right? Among the casualties of the Demon War, those who particularly stood out were likely to be buried in the royal mausoleum."

"Ah..."

"I suppose that's true..."

Charlotte nodded with a miserable expression.

It was an era where heroes were bound to be numerous.

Thus, Olivia's claim that there would be an abundance of remains in the royal mausoleum to serve as material for the Death Knights was undoubtedly true.

Countless sacrifices were happening, and they would continue until the war ended.

The living are dying.

But does that justify exploiting someone's death?

It's uncertain.

There's no guarantee that this immoral act won't lead to another.

However, the necessity of it remains unchanged.

No one could deny Olivia's words that there was nothing to hide considering the lives of the living were at stake.

------

Should what we are about to do be called grave robbing?

Grave robbing typically involves plundering the items buried with the deceased. However, we have no interest in those items and are instead looting the remains themselves. Morally speaking, it's an act even worse than grave robbing.

Winter.

Just as the allies were regrouping, we too were planning to strengthen our forces by raising the remains in the royal mausoleum as Death Knights.

To do so, we would have to leave Edina and head to the Imperial Capital.

There would be three members in total.

Olivia Lanze, who would be responsible for raising the Death Knights; Harriet de Saint Owan, who would assist with transportation and prepare for emergency escapes; and myself, to handle any physical emergencies.

Airi could be helpful, and Charlotte even more so, but there was no real reason to bring them along. What Charlotte would see would be unbearable for her, and Airi, as a demon, would face constraints in her actions.

"Tsk, I thought I'd finally get a date alone with Reinhardt, but of course, someone has to tag along."

Olivia frowned as she looked at Harriet preparing the casting.

"Without me, how do you plan to get to the Imperial Capital?"

,

"You could just leave us there for a couple of months and then come back to pick us up, right?"

"Was it really necessary to take this long in the first place?"

"You never know what could happen with people. Didn't the alliance troops say they'd take a break too? I wanted to take a break with Reinhardt as well."

Olivia smirked at me, as if to say that we could spend the time doing various things until spring arrived.

What is she trying to say?

"Considering the state of the Imperial Capital, I doubt you'd say that."

"Hmm... is it really that bad?"

"It's not something I can easily explain, but... you'll see when you get there."

If we really wanted to rest, Edina would be better. The Imperial Capital was not a place where one could entertain thoughts of relaxation.

The Imperial Capital in our memories was intact, but the gloomy atmosphere that pervaded the entire city had turned it into an ashen city.

After all, we were going there to secure powerful undead.

"Don't talk nonsense when you should be careful not to incur divine punishment, sister."

"Technically, since we're awakening them with divine power, why would we be punished? If it's a blessing, then it's a blessing."

"Why does this sound right when you put it that way?"

Harriet continued casting, seemingly tired of the argument.

That's right.

It's not about incurring divine punishment; it's because Kier's power is divine power in the first place. It's not punishment for raising undead with Kier's power, but rather a blessing in itself, isn't it?

I'm slowly getting dizzy.

"Let's go."

Blue mana lines began to boil from Harriet's body, and soon, with a flash of light, we left Edina.

------

An alley in the Imperial Capital.

As soon as Olivia arrived via Mass Teleport, she pinched her nose.

"...What is this smell?"

Harriet, who also had a weak stomach, retched as soon as she arrived.

The alley was filled with a nauseating smell, a mix of rot, decay, and an indescribable sour odor.

Even for an alleyway, this was extreme.

Despite the cold winter temperatures, the smell remained potent.

"Let's get out of here."

"Ugh, I feel like I'm going to vomit... bleh..."

"No! Don't actually vomit!"

"If I do, catch it with your hands..."

"Seems like you can endure it since you're still talking nonsense. Let's hurry up."

The fact that she could talk nonsense meant she could endure it.

I also wanted to leave this place quickly, as the mysterious smell was unbearable.

Ugh!

But then.

The sound of someone 'really' retching came from behind.

"...Your Highness?"

"...Is she really doing it?"

Olivia stared blankly at Harriet, who was shivering with her hand against the wall.

-Ugh, ugh... ugh!

She was trying to force down the urge to vomit?

"Don't hold it back! Just let it out!"

When I think about it, Olivia is from the streets.

But our princess, Harriet, was a real princess, not someone who could handle such things.

------

"..."

"Vomit girl."

"Stop it! Stop calling me that!"

At Olivia's words, Harriet's face turned tearful and her eyes welled up.

It was true that I had exposed our princess to many hardships, but now, on top of everything else, I had to watch her retch and vomit in an alleyway.

Harriet's eyes were filled with tears, which she blinked away.

Despite this, Olivia seemed concerned. When she gently patted Harriet's back, Harriet's eyes widened, and she seemed to feel much better.

"Don't underestimate the power of the Holy Order's leader."

"That's not your power, it's the power of the gods. Why do you act like you're so great?"

"If that power manifests through my body, why is it the power of the gods and not mine?"

"Reinhardt, the gods must be crazy. They give their power to people like this. Isn't that right?"

Harriet looked at me, as if seeking agreement.

"S-sorry..."

"Why are you sorry?"

"Ah, nothing... just..."

I accidentally apologized.

Oh! The gods must be strange because I am strange!

Both Olivia and Harriet seemed to have developed a passive disrespect for the divine.

Olivia seemed to think she was the amazing one, not the gods. Harriet believed the gods were mad.

Anyway, we left the alleyway and entered the street.

We wore our robes inside out, and Harriet cast a spell to keep passersby from recognizing us.

We arrived in the southern Wenster District of the Imperial Capital.

It was a place closer to the temple than the palace.

"Shouldn't we drink something?"

"…Mmm."

Even our thick-skinned Harriet would have cried and made a scene if this had happened in the past.

Meeting that brutal person must have been hard on her.

A pervasive gloom could be felt throughout the streets, but I decided to buy a drink for Harriet to wash her mouth.

"…Damn, why is a bottle of water three silver coins?"

Not only were there few places to buy, but the prices were also outrageous.

It was just water.

The price of water in the Imperial Capital had gone mad, costing three silver coins for a bottle.

Harriet rinsed her mouth with the water, guilt on her face.

"We don't need to check the other prices."

Olivia seemed to grasp the situation in the Imperial Capital from the price of a single bottle of water and clicked her tongue.

We walked through the streets, seeing the hungry faces of the people and the clearly starving passersby.

Death lurked in the battlefield, but here, death came in the form of hunger.

It was winter.

Fortunately, we didn't witness it, but homeless people who had lost their way would freeze to death in the alleys.

"This place is relatively better. The situation in the refugee areas on the outskirts is even worse."

The Imperial Capital had lost its ability to support the excessive population.

Yet, the empire had to maintain a massive army.

Those neglected in between perished.

"Why are people gathering over there? Is it a distribution?"

“Line up! Line up!”

Following Olivia's pointing finger, we saw people bustling in one corner of a square.

We thought it might be food distribution, but it wasn't.

"It's a recruitment office."

Harriet recognized what it was.

Security guards controlled the crowd from above, and above them, people dressed as imperial officers shouted loudly.

Their voices were drowned out by the clamor of the people.

"In the army, at least you won't starve."

Olivia said with a bitter smile.

If they were going to starve to death, they might as well enlist. Dying by a monster or by starvation was the same.

It wasn't for a lofty cause, humanity's mission, or dedication.

Becoming a soldier meant at least not starving.

Ordinary, expendable soldiers were replenished in this manner, and it wasn't such an unexpected thing.

Thrown into battle with no proper training in weapons, wearing shabby armor and carrying a single spear, they were mere cannon fodder.

These people would avoid starvation only to be endlessly replenished and sent to their deaths.

"If we do our job right, the war will end sooner, and that'll be good for them too. Let's not waste our time looking elsewhere and focus on where we need to go."

At Olivia's words, Harriet and I follow her lead.

Her words were optimistic, yet eerily cold and calculated.

But that was the reality of the situation.

"Sis... this is kind of scary."

"If crying could end all of this, I'd cry for everyone in the world. But that's not the case, is it?"

"..."

Nothing could be resolved by shedding tears, so we didn't cry.

Just as I had changed, just as Liana had changed, Olivia had changed too.

------

The royal mausoleum housed the graves of not only the royal ancestors but also the great heroes and prominent figures who had accomplished extraordinary feats alongside them.

Before setting out, we received ample information from Charlotte about such matters.

Even though we claimed to have no interest in the royal remains, Charlotte had helped violate her ancestors' mausoleum and facilitated the use of wicked power there.

It was a difficult decision Charlotte had made on her own.

We were crossing the bridge connecting the southern and northern parts of the Imperial Capital.

To the north, the Imperial Palace Emperatos stood atop a hill, and to the south, the Temple was visible.

The vast refugee camp on the outskirts of the Imperial Capital was not visible from the city's central locations. It was perhaps better that way, as seeing it would only bring despair.

"It seems things are serious if even the magic train is out of operation."

"Indeed."

Resources, including magic stones, were so scarce that the magic train, the core means of transportation on the Imperial Capital, was not in operation except for military and administrative needs. So we traveled on foot.

We felt the reality that most of the empire's national power was consumed in constructing and operating the Titans, as we observed the halted magic train on the Imperial Capital.

How were they coping with the monsters that occasionally raided the refugee camps?

It was better not to see and be plagued with such unnecessary thoughts.

Olivia muttered as she looked at the distant castle.

"Even heroes have ranks... Well, that's natural, I suppose."

Not every person who achieved glory could be placed in the royal mausoleum.

Only a select few war heroes enjoyed the honor of being interred in the royal mausoleum. Generally, such honors were granted to the deceased, and very few living individuals had already secured such distinction.

In any case, not all heroes resided in the royal mausoleum.

"We could just raid the national cemetery in the northern part of the Imperial Capital instead of the royal mausoleum..."

According to Charlotte, the national cemetery in the northern part of the Imperial Capital also contained the remains of individuals who had accomplished great deeds.

It made sense since not all heroes could be placed in the royal mausoleum, which would be overcrowded.

The privilege of sharing a tomb with the royals was not something everyone could enjoy.

Therefore, the national cemetery was naturally larger in scale and housed more remains than the royal mausoleum.

The Great Demon War and the Gate Incident.

At least those who die in the two wars, the Great Demon War and the Gate Incident, and achieve great feats are more likely to be found in the national cemetery rather than the royal mausoleum.

Strictly speaking, those whose remains haven't yet decayed or who have a higher chance of returning are there.

"It's easier to enter the national cemetery on the outskirts than to sneak into the royal palace. I think we should try going there first," says Harriet.

Olivia shrugs at Harriet's suggestion. "What are you talking about? We're going to both."

"… I thought you'd say something like that." Harriet sighs.

"We need to use everything we can. Who knows? Maybe one of the famous heroes will wake up and help us?"

The five hero companions.

Ragan Artorius.

Ragdina Olfi.

Seijaria.

Mullerun.

Sheidin.

Their tombs are undoubtedly in the royal mausoleum.

"Of course, we'd need the assumption that the corpses are there, and we can raise them."

"I can't not go. I don't know how helpful the undead versions of the hero companions would be, but still."

Of course, it's only possible under the assumption that there are properly preserved bodies.

Charlotte made sure to tell us this.

Ragan Artorius's tomb is in the royal mausoleum, but there is no body inside.

Neither Ragan Artorius, who fought and disappeared with the Demon King, nor the Demon King Valier's corpse is present.

Ragan Artorius's body is gone.

So, we can't revive him.

However, the other four heroes' remains were retrieved.

Although some can only be called incomplete remains, they were recovered.

So, excluding Ragan Artorius's tomb, the bodies of the other four heroes are definitely in the royal mausoleum.

"Ragan Artorius is impossible, but for the others, we have to try because we never know."

Olivia says that, looking at me as if she knows.

"Can we call this revenge, Reinhardt?"

Technically, we're reviving those who contributed to my father's death as undead to fight.

"If it helps, it helps. If it doesn't, it doesn't. Is there a need for such grand words?"

"Sometimes, you seem to have no emotions at all. Especially in this regard."

Well, that's because he's not my actual parent, so it can't be helped.

If I were the real Valier, I would have hated Ellen, and things wouldn't have turned out like this.

But I didn't say that.

There can be no affection or attachment to the Valier Senior. We've never even had a conversation.

But there is some guilt.

Valier wished for the Gate Incident not to happen.

But in the end, I was the cause of the Gate Incident.

Valier Senior's desire was forever destroyed because of me.

From there stems a sense of guilt and responsibility.

That's the extent of the feelings I have towards Valier Senior.

However, I couldn't say those feelings were insignificant.