Chapter 264 : Chapter 264
Chapter 264 : Watchdog
Even searching for my first love wouldn't be this poignant.
..........I wanted to say that out loud, but I swallowed it down hard.
"We finally meet, Gunt."
Gunt was sitting on the single-seat sofa right in front of me. I was certain it was him instantly. I didn't even need the Ghost Eye. The unique aura possessed by noble blood wasn't something that could be hidden by a mere mask.
"I agree, Bihen Benkou. As expected, you were alive."
I scanned the surroundings. The spacious interior was quiet to an unpleasant degree. It was only me and Gunt.
"It seems you knew I'd come from the start."
"It is slightly different. I did not predict that you would come; I merely believed that you would without fail."
I sat in the chair placed directly in front of Gunt and leaned back askew. My muscles, which had been tightly on edge, relaxed languidly.
I scratched my chin while scanning the rest of the surroundings.
"It doesn't look like a trap."
It wasn't particularly a joke, but Gunt let out a chuckle.
"A trap? I am not so foolish as to play such crude tricks on the strongest man in the Kingdom."
"Anyone would think this place was prepared just for me. There's no one else here."
"Assuredly, there is no human in Simone who would care about something like 'The Irreversible Consumption of Mana and the Forced Reduction Theory'."
"Honestly, I didn't care either. It's just that the place where the gold coin rolled and stopped happened to be here by chance."
"By chance.........."
Gunt leaned his body forward slightly. His gaze beyond the mask quietly scanned me.
"No matter how outstanding a mage I am, I do not know how to cast a spell that foresees the gold coin you would hold in your hand and guides it here. That is the domain of miracles, not magic. However, there is one thing I can say with certainty. There is no such thing as an event that simply happens in this world."
".........."
"The gold coin you dropped, that fleeting whim, and the time I spent waiting for you here. All those pieces have aligned, and that is why we are sitting opposite each other now. Scholars call that causality."
I slowly straightened my body from where it had been leaning against the backrest. I decided not to bother drawing my sword.
"Well, there's a truth that's far more certain than that noble law of causality you speak of."
".........."
"The fact that if I set my mind to it, I can blow off that smart head of yours."
I could see Gunt's pupils trembling subtly behind his mask. I shrugged my shoulders.
"Stop wagging your tongue and just answer what's asked. Why did you spread the rumor that I'm dead? Going to all this trouble, at that."
"Because that option is advantageous to us, as well as to you."
"Us?"
"Those who wish to set right the legitimacy of this twisted Kingdom."
Gunt opened his mouth after a brief silence.
"Those who hope Adeline Conwell reclaims the throne from the usurper's son."
During the long silence that flowed, Gunt watched me without rushing. He seemed to be measuring the scale of the shock I received.
I couldn't lose to this. I removed my emotions as much as possible and answered.
Instead, honestly.
"I'm disappointed. Then shouldn't I be included in that 'us' too?"
For some reason, the strength left my legs. I naturally sat back down in my seat.
"Anyone watching would think I'm not on Adeline's side."
"It seems you address her so comfortably when the two of you are alone."
In that brief moment of hesitation, Gunt spoke first.
"You cannot become part of 'us', Bihen Benkou. Because from the beginning, the objects we wish to protect are different."
"What do you mean?"
"We wish to protect this Kingdom, but you merely wish to protect a single woman. Am I wrong?"
A brief silence flowed. To be trapped within that noble framework Gunt offered, the truth inside me was far too crude and rough. Perhaps because of that, my throat stung.
"I don't have such a grand cause to begin with."
Only then did Gunt take off his mask. A slight bewilderment was visible.
"Then, are you saying there was no justification for all the battles you have fought on this land until now? That the blood stained on your blade carried no purpose, no value?"
I nodded my head without hesitation.
"Yeah. I've just done what I believed was right."
".........."
"That's it."
Gunt's body slowly leaned backward. As if consciously trying to keep his distance from me.
"......At any rate, the fact that you are an Imperial citizen does not change."
Yeah, it was a proud fact. Though I didn't quite know why a corner of my chest throbbed all of a sudden.
"Your sword might be able to protect Adeline, but it cannot create her qualifications as a queen."
".........."
"A queen established by an Imperial swordsman—would history tolerate that?"
A monarch born from the tip of an outsider's blade would possess a fatal defect in their legitimacy.
The real reason Gunt made me a dead man and erased me from this board was, in the end, to keep Adeline's ruling foundation perfectly clean.
"Bihen Benkou. I am sorry, but you—"
"Anyone listening would think the King has already changed. Are you that confident?"
"Of course."
Gunt arrogantly crossed his legs. Placing his clasped hands on his knee, he leaned his body toward me.
"Since the topic has arisen, I shall ask. Then what scheme did you possibly possess to accompany Adel so confidently?"
Let's settle this clearly at this point. Although I don't like it much, this one thing is certain.
'Gunt isn't an enemy.'
Just because they're people who don't follow Zisair doesn't mean they're all the same.
'A loyal minister who can't let go of a helpless king, a knight silently following his given mission, a loafer-like knight who just has strong convictions..........'
Each has their own story, and it is the same for Gunt.
'His father, Archduke Langdros, who was the late king's political enemy, and the tragic death of Adeline's mother, Princess Isabel Aleos. And blocked by the unwritten rule that royalty cannot interfere in state affairs, his current situation of remaining within the ambiguous boundaries of a scholar, mage, or advisor.'
Whether the driving force moving him is bloodline vengeance, long-standing guilt, or the minimum conscience remaining as a noble royal doesn't matter. I don't care much, either.
'......What's clear is that we're in the same boat.'
Therefore, there's no need to hide my cards right now.
"Didn't you say it with your own mouth? That I'm an Imperial citizen. So I should follow the Imperial way."
Gunt's eyes narrowed.
"......The Imperial way?"
To Adeline, who vowed vengeance while walking into the lion's den herself, I only said that I'd go to the Imperial Capital together.
I didn't even utter such ticklish promises like guarding her side until the end or being together forever.
Because there was something I had to do.
Something only I could do.
"I'm going to eliminate Philinus II and Zisair."
"W-What......? Assassinating a nation's King and Chancellor simultaneously? A-Are you in your right mind right now?!"
"Is it that surprising? If you knew this, you'd completely faint. If not for this meeting today, you would've been included too. Just so there wouldn't be even a slight setback in Adeline's succession to the throne."
Gunt's Adam's apple bobbed heavily. Looking at his stark white face, I continued speaking.
"And it's not an assassination; I plan to kill them openly in a place where everyone is watching. That way, everyone will realize and snap out of it."
"R-Realize what......?"
The answer didn't come out immediately. My mouth felt bitter.
I barely opened my mouth.
"The fact that a massive enemy called the Empire has breached right before your nose. And their overwhelming power."
"..........!"
"I intend to engrave that deep into the bones of your Kingdom's people."
Did he say it earlier? That there's no such thing as an event that simply happens in this world.
My regression. The reason I obtained a second life.
I feel like I finally understand now.
Perhaps I've been running toward this very moment.
"Haa.........."
Gunt let out a sigh and shook his head from side to side. He looked utterly repulsed.
"Is your design to cover chaos with even greater chaos..........?"
"As expected of a smart person, your understanding is quick."
"Y-You are insane. It makes no sense. Voluntarily acting as the vanguard of the Empire to incur the hatred of the entire Kingdom? Right now, you possess an immense renown in this Kingdom beyond what you can imagine. Yet, not only are you tearing down the reputation you have managed to build up with your own hands at this point, but you are also going to become a public enemy? Just...... why on earth are you going to this extent?"
I realized for the first time. The fact that someone recognizes and watches my solitude is quite a comfort.
Perhaps because of that, the corners of my mouth twitched without me realizing it.
Staring at Gunt's trembling eyes, I murmured lowly.
"There's no plan more perfect than this for Adeline to sit on the throne as a savior."
If I had to make it even more perfect, there was also an ending where I met my end at Adeline's hands after eliminating Philinus II and Zisair.
But I still had things left to do.
'Ghost Demon.'
The last evil spirit left on this land. Because I had to completely uproot his existence, I couldn't just die obediently yet.
Instead, I'd have to live while hiding my identity forever. At least until I left this land.
'..........'
The people flashing through my mind right now.
It was a permanent farewell to them as well.
'Well, it's not much different from dying.'
I raised my head. I consciously straightened my features.
"Somehow, I've ended up in a position to ask you to handle my rear. This is why you never know how things will turn out with people."
I intentionally raised my voice slightly to lighten the mood, but Gunt was the exact opposite.
"I finally understand now. Why you went out of your way to bring a bizarre name like the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to the forefront. Your design was to draw a line thoroughly with Conwell. Did you intend to shoulder all of this alone from the very beginning?"
"You're overestimating me too much. I'm not a person who thinks deeply like you. I said it earlier too, when I feel something's right, my body just moves first."
It was true that I wanted to appear separate from Conwell, but the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult hadn't been created within some grand plan to begin with.
"......Honestly speaking, I am surprised. No, I am awed."
Gunt added after letting out a long, groan-like sigh.
"In human history, there is no means that binds a community together faster than a massive rage. You intend to make Adel a hero who saved the country by becoming a public enemy of the Kingdom yourself. With such a narrative, Adel will undoubtedly be revered as a sage king in an instant. A sage king who resolved the chaos and protected this land from foreign forces."
He slowly approached me. His gaze had cooled down chillingly.
"If you choose to ascend the guillotine yourself, I shall not stop you. No, even that is actually beyond my capabilities. However, Bihen Benkou, understand this clearly. Within the revolution of blood you have planned, Adel will absolutely not enjoy only the glory you desire."
A deep shadow was cast over Gunt's face. He wrinkled his forehead as if forcing out a painful memory.
"Before being a monarch, as a single human, have you ever thought about the loss and sadness Adel must experience? I watched such an Adel from up close in the past."
".........."
"The 'John Langdros Aleos' of the Aleos royalty died at that time. Solely for the crime of being a bystander."
Suddenly, the words Adeline had murmured while looking down at the back of her hand brushed past my ears.
—Unfortunately, my garden was under a damp shade. The shadow of the royal palace was far too massive to clear away with the slender sunlight that was my mother.
Her voice, which had been damply soaked, overlapped with Gunt's face standing before my eyes now.
—This cold and angular disposition of mine might ultimately be the most potent fruit that can be borne by a tree that grew up feeding on malice instead of sunlight.
..........It wasn't just Adeline who grew up feeding on malice. Here, another twisted fruit existed.
Gunt added as he cleared his burning voice.
"Fear is stimulating, but it evaporates just as easily. People might yield to fear, but they do not follow it."
He continued speaking solemnly.
"We must create the qualifications of a king for Adel. The qualifications of a true king that no one can deny."