Chapter 243 : Chapter 243
Chapter 243
Ferbias Caseptus Cordis was the emperor.
The one above all others.
The master of the thousand-year Great Empire Cordis.
The man whom all looked up to.
And yet, he couldn't understand why he felt so conflicted.
He had no idea why he kept repeating these curses.
‘Damn this, Golden Throne!’
He had dreamt of it his entire life.
He wanted to become emperor and rule this country well.
He didn't know about it, but at one time, he had been sincere.
That's why he worked hard, that's why he strove, and that's why he achieved it, yet life hadn't ended.
Life continues even after achieving one's goal.
He felt weary.
‘If only I could sit here, on the Imperial Throne… I thought it would all, all be over….’
It had been 7 years since he became emperor.
He suddenly craved tobacco.
During his school days, on especially hard days, he used to sneak a high-quality cigarette away from the teachers' eyes.
Puffing on the smoke like that calmed his heart a little.
But what is an emperor, what is dignity, that
Even at a glance, it was no ordinary luxury item.
A product of Volmark, the finest of the fine, its fragrance wafting even before being lit!
Ferbias unknowingly swallowed hard.
“…Hah. Weren't you the one who always nagged me to maintain my dignity?”
“That would be unacceptable in the Imperial Palace. But are we not already outside now?”
Ferbias's hands trembled as he accepted the cigarette.
“To see Your Majesty suffering is a great suffering for me as well. Please catch your breath for a moment.”
“…Hah. You really are a natural-born flatterer.”
“Even Your Majesty acknowledges my talent for flattery, does he not?”
Kentil was a Four-Star Mage.
He flicked his finger, and the tip of the cigarette was cut off and lit.
Ferbias inhaled the smoke deeply.
Only then was he able to form a satisfied smile.
The inside of the carriage soon filled with smoke.
Since the cigarette was truly first-class, a strange woody scent wafted.
Ferbias Caseptus puffed on the smoke just like that.
Outside, a forest was gradually beginning.
“The Sobel Mountain Range, I see.”
He couldn't even freely smoke a single cigarette.
As he was trying to suppress that feeling, Director Kentil spoke to him.
“…Your Majesty.”
“Did I not tell you to be quiet until we arrived, Director Kentil?”
“…It seemed you were in need.”
Kentil took a thick cigarette from his breast.
“We will arrive soon, Your Majesty.”
“Have you sent a word?”
“Yes.”
Ferbias chewed on the cigarette.
‘In the end….’
Near the Sobel Mountain Range, there was a splendid mansion.
It was the residence of the noblest person in the Cordis Empire, second only to the emperor.
Soldiers tried to block their way, but upon recognizing that their emperor was in the carriage, they quickly moved aside.
‘…So I've come to visit him on my own two feet like this.’
Ferbias Caseptus exhaled smoke and stroked his beard.
‘…Ah, my great father, Continua the Great Emperor….’
***
Continua was in the middle of drinking wine.
Just like 7 years ago, he was enjoying a Volmark-produced red wine.
With no food to accompany it, he just kept glugging down the red liquid.
Even in his old age, his golden eyes showed no sign of fading.
He stared deeply into his wine glass and spoke.
“Look here, Hermai.”
His drinking partner was Hermai Merhes, the retired Grand Dean of the Imperial Academy of Magic.
Continua clinked glasses with him and continued.
“His Majesty the Emperor has come to visit.”
“…It has been a long time.”
Ferbias Caseptus bowed his head.
As the emperor of Cordis, he rarely had occasion to bow his head to others.
But it was a different story when the other person was the former emperor, his father, and the Great Emperor.
Continua received the emperor's greeting but paid it little mind.
“What brings you here, Your Majesty the Emperor?”
“…Please speak comfortably, Father.”
“I cannot do that. The laws of the Imperial Household are strict.”
Continua chuckled.
Was it because of the alcohol, or thanks to his retirement?
It was a more human expression than before.
“For now, Hermai, bring His Majesty a chair and some wine. We were also drinking without snacks, so there isn't much else to offer.”
“I will take only the chair, Father.”
Ferbias sat down across from Continua.
Hermai Merhes stood up without a word, yielded his seat, and then withdrew with Director Kentil.
It was a conversation between father and son, between the former emperor and the current emperor.
It was not a place for them to interfere.
“Hmm.”
Continua spoke while holding his wine glass.
“You have smoked tobacco, Your Majesty? The highest-grade Volmark product.”
“…You even know that?”
“Because a sweet Padan-tree fragrance like this is rare.”
He emptied his glass and filled it once more.
Then he lifted the bottle and offered it to Ferbias.
“Will you really not drink? It is very good wine.”
“…We are in the midst of war.”
“Ah. Right. That's right.”
Continua quickly withdrew the bottle.
The alcohol was getting to him, and he was acting somewhat playful.
Ferbias was bewildered by his father's appearance.
He had never once imagined that Continua the Great Emperor, who was always stern and serious, could have such a childish side to him.
“My, I am so behind on the news. Though it can't be helped, trapped in a small villa like this.”
“…If anyone heard you, they would think I had imprisoned you, Father.”
“Is that not the truth, Your Majesty?
I understand you personally commanded that this old man be confined.”
“…I was able to give that command only because I knew you were not someone who would be confined just because I ordered it.”
“You have a smooth tongue.”
Continua laughed.
The wrinkles around his eyes deepened.
Being over seventy, his back was starting to bend a little.
And yet, his golden eyes seemed to have grown even deeper than before.
Ferbias worried whether his own eyes could ever shine with such a light.
It seemed that no matter how hard he thought, they would not.
“In any case, did you not inherit everything? I heard the Horm conquest was successful, and that you used up all the calamities this old man had prepared in the West.”
Ah, come to think of it, I never told Karkarsso to return.
My apologies.
Continua scratched his head, recalling the Six-Star Mage he had sent to Schmeizen.
But he soon forgot.
Getting old means forgetting often.
“The Two-Flame Grand General to the Throat Gate, and the Three-Mi Grand General to the Waist Gate…. How can the West possibly resist such a large army?”
“……”
Ferbias bit his lip hard.
As expected, Continua knew the war situation inside and out.
Those words were mockery.
It was ridicule directed at Ferbias, who had deployed two Grand Generals and still couldn't break the West's defenses.
The emperor's pride was wounded, but he didn't show it.
Instead, he bowed his head deeply.
“…Father’s….”
Ferbias's lips trembled.
“…I need your help, Father.”
“What help could a back-room old man offer?”
“…The Empire still longs for Continua the Great Emperor. It has even reached a point where there are those who do not listen to my words….”
“My. How absurd.
They dare disobey the emperor's word?
Such shameless people exist?
Tell me, Your Majesty the Emperor.
Who on earth are they?”
Continua mocked his son once again.
Ferbias had a sudden doubt.
Continua had not called him by his name even once.
Perhaps, just maybe, even now that he was emperor, did he not know his name….
He felt a sense of humiliation.
But he suppressed it.
He broke his pride once more and continued speaking.
“…Father, please move your three trusted retainers.”
“My three trusted retainers, you say.”
The old man finally erased the smile from his face.
“You must mean Deballo, Cansella, and Hermai.”
“…That is correct.”
“First, you must understand, Your Majesty the Emperor. I am their friend. But you are their master. You shouldn't be tattling to me because they don't listen; Your Majesty should have resolved this himself.”
Continua turned his head.
He raised his voice toward Hermai Merhes, who was waiting on the terrace.
“More importantly, Hermai!
Did you dare to ignore His Majesty the Emperor's command?”
“How could that be possible?”
The Six-Star Mage replied.
“However, he gave commands that were beyond my abilities, so I had no choice but to apologize on occasion. I am, after all, already retired.”
“Then it couldn't be helped.”
“Yes. It could not be helped.”
A grinding sound was heard.
In the words exchanged by the two old men, barbs aimed at Ferbias were hidden.
They were openly ignoring and looking down on Emperor Ferbias.
Ferbias wanted to raise his voice right away, but he couldn't.
He couldn't win over Continua the Great Emperor's three trusted retainers that way.
“…Still, I ask you again, Father.”
“Ah, of course.
Since Your Majesty is even making a request, how could I refuse?”
Continua filled his glass.
“Hermai, you are to go to the Great Imperial Palace with His Majesty.
And relay this to the other two.
Tell them His Majesty the Emperor is displeased, so they should please listen to him.”
“Yes, Your Great Majesty.”
Hermai called Continua 'Your Great Majesty'.
Even though Ferbias was the current emperor.
Ferbias couldn't say a single word in response.
“Is that all, Your Majesty?”
“…Thank you, Father.”
“But do not think it is too easy. Even I find those three difficult to handle.”
“……”
Continua filled his own glass and then filled another empty one.
Then he held it out to Ferbias.
“Well, our talk is over, so will you really not drink the wine?”
“…As I said, we are in the midst of war.”
“Yes. If that's the case.”
The old man emptied the glasses without hesitation.
He drank one, and poured the other on the floor.
The sight of his father pouring the wine intended for him onto the floor added to Ferbias's humiliation.
“You may leave now, Your Majesty. This old man must finish his drink.”
***
Secundus Debius was stationed.
At the Waist Gate, the border between the West and the Empire, there were seventy thousand Imperial troops.
Three-Mi Grand General Secundus was their supreme commander.
He smiled as he looked over the various reports.
‘Hmm. It is going well.’
He was secretly cooperating with Shion.
Of course, they couldn't exchange messages or anything; it was more to the extent of observing each other's strategies and playing along sensibly.
Still, it was effective, and he had been able to save many lives.
‘We’ve had several large battles like this, yet few have died. Moreover, the war is gradually dragging on….’
He glanced outside the barracks.
The soldiers were bustling about.
After going through the Horm conquest, his objective had become singular.
For as many lives as possible to enjoy life for as long as possible.
It was a dream so naive he'd be embarrassed to show it to anyone, but it was his undeniable wish.
‘…Sister Leniar’s preparations are also proceeding smoothly, and in Horm as well…. If things continue like this, peace will come….’
His plan was to break the Empire into pieces.
There could b a robust body incomparable to any other, he was indescribably tired.
‘…If things just, just continue like this….’
A man burst in.
It was Kateka Keshulei, with dark circles under his eyes and a somewhat weak impression.
“…Brother!”
“Hmm. What is it, Kateka.”
“…An urgent report… has come from the Imperial Household…!”
e no peace on the continent without breaking apart Cordis, which couldn't control its own oversized body.
At least, that's what Secundus Debius thought.
‘…Yes….’
But he was weary.
Even with“Give it here.”
Secundus took the urgent report.
His eyes widened gradually as he read it.
“…They're sending reinforcements? Suddenly? Moreover, the general leading the reinforcements is… oh….”
An unbelievable name was written.
Deballo Debius, the Grand General.
“…Grandfather?”
Secundus Debius gripped his face in his hands.
Things were going seriously wrong.
In a direction he could never have predicted.