Chapter 94 : Chapter 94
Chapter 94
The King’s statement that he had one year left to live.
At those words, Jereuth frowned slightly and asked again.
“What do you mean you have one year of your lifespan left?”
At Jereuth’s question, the King took off his shirt without a word.
Jereuth was a little taken aback by the King’s action of suddenly taking off his clothes. But more than that action, Jereuth was even more taken aback by the scar on the King’s torso.
On the King’s torso was a dark, reddish-purple scar that looked ominous at a single glance.
A scar the color of deathly purple.
“……What is that?”
The King stroked the scar and replied.
“I don’t know either. What is certain is that this disease is eating away at my lifespan, and I don’t have much time left. Only about a year.”
“A year? How do you know that?”
“You will also know when your time comes to die. When, and how you will likely die.”
“……”
“Jereuth. I don’t care what you curse me with. But please believe one thing. I made the best choice for this kingdom within the time and energy given to me. If I hadn’t prevented the division of the kingdom, this kingdom would have been destroyed long ago. And if I had forcibly checked the nobles, Leonardo would not have even had the chance to seize power and would have been killed by the nobles. Then eventually, this kingdom would have died along with me when I died of this disease.”
“……”
“I truly did everything for the kingdom. Please believe me.”
From the beginning until now, the King’s voice was filled with sincerity. Jereuth was not one to not know such sincerity from his old friend.
But no matter how much the King’s words were the ‘truth.’
For Jereuth, it was not something he could just forgive.
“……I’ll be honest. I resent you very much. I feel resentful and I hate you. You spoke as if you had your own reasons for abandoning your responsibility as a king, but I can’t understand it.”
“……”
“You were the greatest king in the history of this kingdom. You nurtured not only me but dozens of great knights who made a name for themselves in the war against the demons, and you built a Mage Tower that was not shameful compared to any kingdom on the continent and raised powerful mages. In this small kingdom.”
“The reason I could nurture the knights was thanks to you, and the reason I could build the Mage Tower and raise mages was thanks to Victoria—”
“No, it was you who accomplished it. In your past as a great king.”
“……”
“I don’t understand why you, who possessed such great abilities, killed your entire family to prevent the division of the kingdom. And I can’t understand why you couldn’t check the nobles and ruined the kingdom. I still resent and hate you very much. No, I’m disappointed. You could have made a better future.”
At Jereuth’s words, the King fell into thought. It was because his words sounded as if he couldn’t trust him anymore.
“So you can’t trust me anymore? You can’t enter the Minotaur’s dungeon with me?”
“No. I believe you.”
“You believe me?”
“Yes. I don’t know why, but it feels like you are telling the truth.”
“……Thank—”
“But I’ll ask one last time. Was there no better way than to neglect your family and the kingdom to prevent its division? No, do you think there wasn't?”
To the calmly asking Jereuth, the King answered as if spewing out the numerous worries he had had until now.
“There might have been. A better way.”
“……”
“I have wondered countless times, ‘Is this really the best way?’, ‘Is there no better way?’, ‘Is there no future where at least one less person dies and suffers less?’, ‘Did I really have to kill my wife and son for such a pathetic future?’.”
“And you still made that choice despite all those worries?”
“That’s right. Because I believed that it was the choice for this kingdom, for Leonardo. It was the only future.”
“……”
“And probably… Leonardo will also have to face such worries countless times. He’s probably doing it now too.”
At the King’s answer, Jereuth nodded his head.
Then he opened his mouth again.
“May I ask one more thing?”
“Ask.”
“You said that falling in love with Victoria was a ‘mistake.’ Your foretold future? You said it was something that wasn't in it.”
“……”
“Then… was becoming friends with me also a mistake? Something that wasn’t in your so-called ‘foretold future’?”
Jereuth asked cautiously, but.
The King’s answer was simple, clear, and honest.
“It was a mistake. You and I should not have become friends. We should have been in a relationship of just a king and a knight, that’s all.”
“……”
“It was the same with Victoria. Victoria should have remained only as the Head of the Mage Corps. Not the queen.”
“A mistake… I see. Then do you regret it? Becoming friends with me and falling in love with Victoria?”
“I have absolutely no regrets. If I went back to that time again, I would love Victoria and build a friendship with you. And you and I would fight over Victoria again and get black eyes.”
“……”
“Do you remember? When the two of us fought and each got a black eye, Victoria gave us another one on the other side to match?”
The King, who had been talking seriously, brought up a story from the past with another joke.
It was King Philip’s unique way of speaking.
Jereuth, who had been serious the whole time, let out a dry laugh at the sudden memory of the past.
Pfft—.
“I remember. And then Victoria chose you. Not me.”
“Because I was better looking than you. I looked just like Leonardo when I was young, didn’t I?”
“You’ve definitely gone senile. His Highness Leonardo resembles Victoria’s looks. You are far from handsome. Honestly, you look like you belong selling bread and soup at a street restaurant.”
“Do you even look in a mirror when you say such things? From what I know, even the demons on the battlefield were scared off not by your name and skill, but by your face.”
The two old men, sharing a memory of the past for a moment, smiled at each other without a sound.
But even though they were smiling at each other, Jereuth’s anger had not completely disappeared. Jereuth was still deeply angry that the King had ruined the kingdom and let the woman he loved die.
Also, Jereuth couldn’t understand what the King meant by things like ‘foretold future’ or ‘things only royalty can know.’ It just felt like the truth.
‘But… for now, I will put aside my anger. Along with my curiosity about the things Philip said.’
The reason Jereuth was hiding his anger and curiosity.
It was because the important thing now was not to express his resentment towards Philip.
The important thing now was that the King had said he would enter the Minotaur’s dungeon.
Jereuth looked straight into the King’s eyes and continued.
“You said you would conquer the Minotaur’s dungeon, right? And that you yourself would become a living sacrifice.”
“That’s right. As a gift for Leonardo.”
“Hmm… honestly, I don’t know if that’s possible. You and I are too old to enter the Minotaur’s dungeon. Our skills have gotten rusty. That dungeon was quite tough even when we were both young, wasn’t it?”
“That’s true.”
“And we don’t have a great mage like Victoria. Of course, Seria is comparable to Victoria, but that woman won’t be able to enter the Minotaur’s dungeon with you.”
“It’s a problem of the ‘Condition of Trust.’ Only those who trust each other deep in their hearts can enter the Minotaur’s dungeon.”
“That’s right.”
Jereuth nodded and finished his words with a worried expression.
But contrary to Jereuth, the King smiled.
“We don’t need to bring a mage. We can just push through with brute force.”
“Brute force?”
“Yes. There’s a guy who can beat an Ogre Lord with his bare hands. I wonder if he’s still the elder of the Giants.”
“You mean ‘Barut’?”
Barut was an old adventure companion of the King and Jereuth. Along with the Dwarf ‘Grombrindal’ and the Elf ‘Victoria.’
The King nodded and replied.
“Yes, ‘Barut.’ I believe that guy will help us. Do you remember what he said when you were going to be the sacrifice to seal the Minotaur back then?”
“How could I forget. It was, “‘I don’t care if tens, hundreds of thousands of other humans die when the Minotaur is resurrected. I don’t care if the continent becomes a sea of fire. To me, the life of one friend is far more precious. So Jereuth, I will never tolerate your sacrifice. No one here will.’” Yes, that guy… he will definitely help us.”
That was the reason why Jereuth had not been able to extend the Minotaur’s seal in the past. It was because of Jereuth, who tried to sacrifice his own life for the greater good of preventing a crisis that would one day befall the kingdom, and Barut, who could not tolerate losing a ‘friend.’
In the end, after that argument, Barut and Jereuth had even come to blows. At that time, Barut was three times bigger than Jereuth, so it was an absurd fight, but surprisingly, Jereuth did not fall behind in the fight itself.
That was Jereuth back then.
Jereuth, who was reminiscing about the past for a moment, continued to ask.
“But Philip. Even if Barut helps, his role is fixed. The role of lifting the giant iron ball blocking the dungeon passage.”
“We can entrust that to another Giant. We’ll enter the dungeon with two Giants. If Barut decides to help us, any Giant will be able to enter the Minotaur’s dungeon with us. Because Giants have great trust in each other and show infinite trust even to their comrades’ comrades.”
“……Ah.”
Taking two Giants with them.
Jereuth had not thought of that simple method. It was because the ‘standard’ that a mage was absolutely necessary to conquer the Minotaur’s dungeon was ingrained in his mind.
‘If another Giant lifts the iron ball, Barut and I can somehow conquer the dungeon by ourselves. If Philip helps to some extent… it won’t be difficult. I don’t know how well Philip is, but.’
Jereuth showed confidence that just the three of them could conquer the Minotaur’s dungeon. That was how overwhelming the martial prowess of the Giant elder, Barut, was.
Especially in a relatively narrow cave like the Minotaur’s dungeon, Barut would show power that humans could not imagine.
Jereuth continued.
“Then the four people to enter the dungeon are decided. Me, you, Barut, and another Giant. That’s a total of four, so one person is left. Who are you thinking of taking?”
“I’m thinking of taking Leonardo. Barut will trust my son, and if Barut deals with the monsters, we don’t need to bring any more combat personnel.”
“……You’re going to take His Highness Leonardo to the dungeon?”
“Mhm.”
King Philip, nodding calmly.
On the other hand, Jereuth was lost in thought again.
‘His Highness Leonardo also said he would enter the Minotaur’s dungeon. But that’s because there’s a condition for entering the Minotaur’s dungeon that requires a ‘royal.’ Now that Philip is going to the dungeon, His Highness Leonardo doesn’t necessarily have to go.’
The reason Jereuth was thinking this was obvious. It was because he was worried about Leonardo.
It might be a different story if Leonardo were a robust young man, but realistically, it was too much for him to enter the Minotaur’s dungeon within a year.
‘I’m confident in conquering the dungeon. But in that dark dungeon, His Highness might get hit by a stray arrow.’
Jereuth could not take such a risk.
“Taking His Highness to the Minotaur’s dungeon is too great a risk. I am against it.”
“Of course, it’s true that it’s dangerous. But I really want to take Leonardo to the dungeon.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
The King answered shortly and looked at a corner of the room. The place where he had handed the sword to Leonardo earlier.
“I want to show Leonardo my end. Because I have only shown him a miserable appearance my whole life, I want to show him the image of a king who sacrifices himself with dignity and responsibility at the very end.”
“……”
“And Leonardo will not die in the Minotaur’s dungeon. Absolutely not. So you don’t have to worry.”
“How can you be so sure of that?”
“Because Leonardo still has a lot of ‘diary’ left to write. Unlike me.”
“A lot of diary left. Does that mean His Highness has a long future ahead of him?”
“Well, something like that.”
“……What? What’s with that ambiguous answer.”
“There’s something like that.”
To Jereuth who asked again, the King replied with a faint smile and finished his words.
“I want to leave for the Wasteland of Ruin with Leonardo as soon as possible. Not only do I not have much time left… but for the first and last time, I want to spend time with my son without caring about anyone’s eyes. And to properly teach him swordsmanship.”
“……”
“If I knew I would look forward to spending time with my son like this, I would have done so when my father was alive.”
***
After Jereuth went to see the King.
Since Olivia and Elly also left together, there was no one in the room.
‘But I don’t know what Olivia had to say to Elly that she didn’t say it in front of me and went elsewhere to do it.’
Earlier, Olivia had called Elly ‘Head Maid’ and took her away. So it was probably about official business like managing the royal palace.
‘But if it’s a conversation about official business, isn’t it better to have it in front of me? That way, any issue can be decided on a little faster.’
Various questions arose, but Olivia and Elly had already left. I decided to think about the conversation they had later, and I decided to check the <Future Diary> that I had kept under my desk.
‘I received a sword from the King and decided to learn the sword from him. So I need to check how the future has changed.’
My original ending was to die in the Minotaur’s dungeon. I had challenged it with Jereuth, Hagen, and Seria, but because I was a ‘problem child,’ the conquest had failed.
But since I had decided to learn the sword from the King in earnest, that future might have changed.
No, it had to have changed.
Rustle—.
I opened the very last page of the <Future Diary>.
But.
‘……Why is it blank?’
My ending was clearly ‘to die by a gargoyle in the dungeon.’
But now, there was no ending written in the diary.
‘This has happened before. Then when I made a certain decision, the content changed… Is it the same this time? But what did I do for the ending to become blank and unknown?’
Of course, a blank ending was better than a death ending. But the fact that the future had become unknown was not a very good situation either. Because, in any case, it wasn’t a ‘happy ending.’
I stared at the diary, wondering if a new ending would be written, but there was no change.
“Hmm……”
In the end, I decided to check the future closest to the present. If the ending hadn’t changed even though I had decided to learn the sword, at least the future closest to the present would have changed.
I opened the front part of the diary.
Rustle-.
And as I thought, new content was written in the future closest to the present.
However… the content was something I had not expected at all.
…….
After I received the sword from the King.
Jereuth, who had gone to see the King with a rough demeanor, came to my room again. Elly and Olivia had not yet returned.
Since Jereuth had come at such a late hour, I had expected that he would have something important to say to me.
“Your Highness. I have come to tell you about the schedule for your trip to the Giant’s village.”
Going to meet the Giants. That was a very important story. As I had expected, Jereuth brought up an important topic.
But I had not expected the ‘schedule’ that Jereuth had prepared.
“I think it would be good if you depart tomorrow.”
“……?”
“And the King, Philip, has also decided to go with you.”
……Departing tomorrow, and the King is going too?