Chapter 79
Chapter 79
I will make you the Emperor.
“…….”
At those words that came out of Isaac’s mouth, I narrowed my eyes and met his gaze.
It did not seem like empty words or idle boasting, but the content itself was far too absurd.
Thinking the conversation would grow long, I moved further into the classroom.
I perched on one of the desks in the very front row and looked at Isaac standing on the podium.
“That’s an interesting thing to say.”
At my reply, which told him to continue, he smiled in a way that did not suit his rugged appearance.
“Before that.”
Isaac gestured toward Gareth, who had fallen onto his backside by the classroom door and was sitting there blankly.
Gareth soon realized his disgrace and flushed red, but he could not dare look in my direction.
He merely bowed his head to Isaac and left his seat.
“He’s talented, but still lacks experience. Don’t intimidate him too much.”
“A beast raises its cubs to be strong.”
“Unfortunately, he hasn’t reached a vessel of that caliber yet.”
A merciless evaluation flowed from his mouth without hesitation.
If Gareth had heard this, what kind of expression would he have made?
“So then, how exactly do you plan to make me Emperor?”
I looked at him with curious eyes.
When I was still in the Imperial Palace, there had been many who whispered such sweet words to me.
But all of them were worthless, and most were like wolves only interested in licking up the honey that stuck to my side.
When I sent him a look asking if he was one of those types as well, Isaac grinned and showed his confidence.
“Do I really look the same as the trash you’ve dealt with until now?”
There was certainly weight to his words.
Even so, it wasn’t something I could blindly trust.
Isaac soon supplemented his statement.
“Originally, I had no intention of revealing my status like this. I thought the Empire’s attack dogs would be more than enough for them.”
The anti-Empire faction’s original plan had been to abduct me.
Then, using that as leverage, they would drag the Empire to the negotiating table and seize a favorable high ground.
Of course, there was no guarantee the plan would succeed, but Isaac calmly said that he had been confident he would not fail.
“But the moment we saw you, we completely revised our plan. A cursed illegitimate child, the epitome of incompetence. Given the worst evaluation among all imperial bloodlines, yet in truth a lion hiding sharp claws while waiting for the moment to roar.”
Wasn’t it romantic? He spoke to me while spreading his arms exaggeratedly, like an actor standing on stage.
Of course, it wasn’t romantic at all, so I remained silently quiet.
When I showed no reaction, Isaac lowered his hands with an awkward expression.
“You’re a cold fellow. Usually, people play along at this point.”
“Sounds like you’re surrounded by sycophants. I’d recommend clearing them all out at least once.”
“Don’t they have their own charm when handled properly?”
“Are you really so desperate that you have to make use of people like that?”
“This is troublesome. It’s hard to earn your trust. Normally, just flashing the name ‘Sword Marshal General’ makes people fall over themselves.”
“That’s unfortunate. I’m not normal, you see.”
At my reply, Isaac gave a bitter smile and spoke.
“Anyway, let’s return to the main point. Originally, we planned to secretly contact the Second Imperial Prince, Darius. He and the First Imperial Prince, Carius, are similar in terms of the realm they’ve individually achieved and the forces they’ve built. Yet if he cannot inherit the throne simply because he was born later, what could be more unfair than that?”
“So you tried to balance things?”
“People with a blind objective tend to become foolish, but there’s nothing easier to handle than that. In fact, our discussions with them progressed quite far.”
So they had already made contact.
But that alone did not explain why he was telling me all this.
In response, Isaac smiled faintly and continued.
“But he’s excessively cynical and greedy. A textbook example of a second child. Even if he ascends the throne, who knows whether he’d keep his promises to us.”
“And then I appeared?”
“Yes. I can hardly imagine how many years of endurance you must have gone through. To reach such a level at that young age. There were rumors about you quietly circulating within the Imperial Palace, but to think you could conceal yourself this thoroughly.”
Wasn’t I the perfect candidate? Isaac burst into loud laughter.
“Won’t you join hands with us? This isn’t just about the Kingdom of Demedrio. We’ve built a force far larger than you might expect. There are many who do not welcome the Empire.”
“…….”
He seemed to truly believe that they could overthrow the Empire.
The fact that he was telling me everything so openly must have come from the confidence that he could kill me without a trace before any information leaked out.
“Even if I were to cooperate with you, as long as the First and Second Princes remain sound, that won’t be easy to realize. What do you plan to do about that?”
“That’s not a difficult matter. If there’s an obstacle, you simply remove it.”
Isaac answered immediately.
Removing them meant excluding the two of them entirely.
At that, I looked at him with an incredulous expression.
The reputation of the Sword Marshal General was considerable.
Not only in the Kingdom of Demedrio but across the continent, his name was known.
Many within the Empire acknowledged him, and his skill was so outstanding that even the Sword Saint had mentioned him before.
But the Empire was strong enough to belittle even Sword Masters as insignificant.
No matter how many kingdoms formed alliances and inflated the anti-Empire faction’s forces, why could they not step into the open?
‘Because there’s no chance of victory.’
Even if they gathered all their strength, it was insufficient against the Empire.
That was why they approached me to incite internal division, but unfortunately for them, they chose the wrong opponent.
“That’s a story that’s hard to accept lightly.”
“Of course, I expected that. For now, I’ll be satisfied with just a little help.”
At his words, a hollow laugh escaped me.
At some point, it seemed that in Isaac’s mind, my cooperation had already become a foregone conclusion.
‘No, even this could be an act meant to deceive me.’
Would the presumed leader of the anti-Empire faction handle matters this sloppily? Especially when dealing with someone like me, whose very existence was practically an irregular.
I had to keep every possibility open.
He might have been pretending to approach only me while secretly contacting Darius as well.
And most importantly, there was the change in the course of events.
If something were to happen to Carius or Darius here, it could cause a distortion in the story I knew.
The probability of the larger framework changing was low, but wasn’t it said that even the flap of a small wing could bring about a great storm?
If either of them were injured or even killed, the Emperor would surely rage at the loss of imperial authority.
His wrath would undoubtedly turn the Kingdom of Demedrio into a wasteland.
‘He’s not a man stupid enough to be unaware of that.’
Talking about negotiations while holding hostages only worked when both sides were of similar standing.
A kingdom like Demedrio would be engulfed in flames across its entire territory in less than three days.
“Well, rather than nitpicking with words, it’ll be faster to show you directly. Look forward to what will happen at the Academic Festival.”
Isaac said that today wasn’t the day and promised another time.
When his presence finally disappeared, I muttered quietly.
“Crazy bastard.”
With a small sigh, I shed the arrogance I had been putting on.
If you want to hide your enemy, deceive your allies first.
Before him, I had acted the part of a lion hiding its claws.
Fortunately, it worked to some extent, and I was able to end the conversation with Isaac amicably.
“What am I lacking that I’d side with you lot.”
The anti-Empire faction were among the most vicious beings in this world.
For the sake of splitting the Empire, they thought nothing of sacrificing the lives of a few underlings, while obsessively guarding their own safety.
Of course, the Empire was no different, but they took it to an extreme.
‘They were the ones behind Petra’s death, too.’
Even now, recalling that scene made one side of my chest ache.
Still, the variable known as the Sword Marshal General was something I hadn’t anticipated, so it seemed worth making good use of this opportunity.
According to his words, he seemed to be planning something involving Carius and Darius during this Academic Festival.
Of course, I didn’t particularly like those two either, but they were figures of some importance even in the war against the demon realm forces.
I couldn’t just let them fall in a place like this.
“Well then, shall I make some preparations myself?”
Catching a big fish like the Sword Marshal General.
In that case, the bait had to be suitably grand.
Contrary to Isaac’s bold boasts, the Academic Festival proceeded smoothly without any major incidents.
From the first day through the third, presentations and debates were held on topics prepared by each academy.
Occasionally, there were results that even I found impressive, but most of them made me wonder whether they were truly useful.
Leysias, who was very much a mage and scholar by nature, seemed to find even that interesting and wandered around expanding her knowledge.
Because of that, I moved around alone until the second day, but on the third day, Petra joined me after her presentation ended.
“But is it really okay for us to be together so openly like this?”
She moved around with me without caring about others’ eyes.
When I asked, feeling slightly uneasy about it, Petra shrugged and replied.
“Most of the representative teams already know your status anyway.”
She smiled faintly, saying that times like this were exactly when we should be together.
“By the way, I guess the terror attack will happen at the closing ceremony.”
While watching a presentation from one of the academies, Petra subtly looked around.
I had already told her about the conversation I’d had with Isaac.
That the anti-Empire faction was plotting something during the Academic Festival period was practically a given.
Although the Kingdom of Demedrio was in charge of security, we needed to stay alert in case they were part of the same group.
Even if they claimed their target was another prince, they could always suddenly change course and attack me or people near me.
“That’s probably the case. That way, it won’t raise as much suspicion.”
If a terror incident occurred while the King of Demedrio was present, it would become easier for Isaac to move.
Not only the kingdom’s knights but also imperial knights had secretly come to guard the princes, but if he personally stepped in, it would be difficult to stop him.
“Alright, then go and fight well.”
Petra lightly pushed my back.
Since the third day had begun, the Sasu Seat tournament in which I participated was being held.
Representatives from the academies gathered to compete in each field.
At a glance, they all seemed fairly average, but every one of them wore a confident expression, fully believing they would win.
“…A first-year?”
My first opponent was a man named Basic from the Tertermian Academy of the Gaisha Kingdom.
Facing a guy who was at least a head taller than me and covered in bulky muscles made a hollow laugh slip out.
“I had high expectations since it’s Bayern Academy, but to think they’d send out a little chick like this.”
He looked at me with annoyed eyes.
He seemed quite confident in his skill and was already looking down on me.
In response, I smiled and flicked my sword lightly.
“You may have been born first, but getting there doesn’t care about age.”
At my remark telling him not to boast about age if he didn’t want to die, his expression hardened and he narrowed his eyes.
“…Let’s see if you can still spout that kind of nonsense in front of my sword.”
With those menacing words, Basic swung a greatsword as large as his own body.
In response, I lightly gripped my sword’s hilt.
Slice.
“……?”
He was crossing past me in an awkward posture.
He turned to look at me with an expression that showed he couldn’t understand what had just happened, but not understanding didn’t change the outcome.
Clang.
A harsh sound rang out across the stage.
Basic stared at his greatsword, which had been cut almost in half, with an utterly unbelieving expression.
“…Th, this is.”
“Winner, Ostia of Bayern Academy!”
Countless people who had been watching the duel erupted in cheers.
Breathing in the heated atmosphere, I took a deep breath.
When I looked toward where the Bayern Academy students were seated, most of them wore shocked expressions.
And among them, two people seemed to dislike the sight of me and frowned slightly.
“Nice.”
Isaac had called me a lion hiding its claws.
But now, I had no intention of hiding my claws anymore.