Kill the Emperor

Translator: AkazaTL

Pr/Ed: Sol IX

***

Chapter 119: Squeak Squeak Squeak

Ordinary practitioners of magic consider the realm of the 7th the greatest hurdle.

However, there are bound to be geniuses in this world to whom common standards do not apply.

Alexar, who was a genius of the century, did not experience great difficulty in entering the realm of the 7th, and although there were some difficulties in the realm of the 8th Circle, he succeeded in conquering it without major trouble.

And after breaking through the wall of the 8th, Alexar continued to grow at a speed truly like light.

In front of such a man, an obstacle that could be called a ‘hardship’ for the first time appeared,

And that was precisely the wall of the 9th Circle.

The wall of the 9th Circle was high and thick enough to make even Alexar feel overwhelmed.

Also, there was one more factor that made Alexar anxious as much as the height of that wall.

The time of war approaching moment by moment.

Around the time Alexar was tasting despair for the first time in front of the door of the 9th Circle, the empire's civil war finally broke out.

If he had decided to practice for 10 or 20 years with composure, the realm of the 9th would not have been so despairing.

However, time was not on Alexar's side.

While the hellfire of the civil war burned more fiercely day by day.

The power held by Gillian's camp, which had to push through the center of it, was too weak.

At that time, Alexar's mind was filled only with the thought that he must win this war somehow and make Gillian the Emperor of the Empire.

Thus, Alexar came to choose a gamble.

To achieve a goal that seemed impossible.

‘A bet with a demon. A contract of death where one gains magical power humans cannot handle if victorious, but must give everything to the demon if defeated.’

For the sake of his and Gillian's dream, Alexar chose to willingly visit hell where the demon was waiting.

-Get lost right now! You vile creature! Even the karmic fire of hell cannot burn your disgusting malice!

And in exchange for succeeding in the bet with the demon, Alexar was able to get his hands on the 9 mana rings he had desperately wanted.

Now that many things have changed.

I, Hein Reichart, stood at the crossroads of choice once again.

Normally, I had no intention of gambling this time.

Since I possess the memories of the past, conquering the wall of the 9th Circle would be easier than before.

‘I was able to return because I was lucky. If I had made even a single mistake, my soul would be wandering the bottom of the sulfur fires by now.’

Also, that gamble was too dangerous.

‘Zephyros…….’

However, a completely unexpected name discovered in the empire made my heart urgent.

‘I don't know how the situation will turn out. I will prepare insurance for now.’

Eventually, I had no choice but to wander in search of the demon's invitation that would guide me to the forbidden realm once again.

“Phew…….”

Wiping away the sweat that hadn't yet turned into steam, I glared at the darkness that resembled the soot of natural disaster.

Is it just a feeling?

The darkness shimmering over the stone wall of the annex where not a single point of light entered reminded me exactly of the demon's tongue coveting my soul.

***

The uncle of the current King ‘McPhein’ of the Esper Kingdom, and a noble holding the title of ‘Duke’, of which there are fewer than five in the entire kingdom.

‘Gilmore McBride’ let out a light sigh.

‘For what matter at this late hour…….’

The place where he was standing now was the residence where the Queen Dowager of the Esper Kingdom, ‘Yefne’, stayed.

Yefne was an elder of the royal family and a bigwig in the political world, exercising considerable influence over the overall politics of the kingdom.

But since such a person called him secretly at this late hour, it was natural for Gilmore to have questions about the intent.

“Your Highness, the Duke has entered.”

“Show him inside.”

Gilmore, who opened the door and entered with careful steps, bowed in a polite posture.

“I greet Your Highness the Queen Dowager.”

“Welcome. Duke.”

Yefne possessed a very petite physique for a noblewoman.

Whenever Gilmore looked at her eyes, he would feel the futility of time.

“Thank you truly for making this troublesome journey at this late hour.”

Yefne's eyes were cold enough that it was hard to believe they belonged to someone from a noble lady background who grew up precious like gold and jade since her youth.

It seemed that time had taken away the beauty of her youth and instead bestowed upon her the power of being the real power of the royal family and the heartlessness befitting it.

“The reason this person called the Lord so secretly is because I had one favor to ask.”

“Please speak. Your Highness.”

“What does the Lord think about the person named ‘Kunde Ceciliano’?”

After ceremonial greetings were exchanged a few times, the Queen Dowager immediately revealed the reason she called Gilmore.

“I do not like that person. Should I say his actions are very uncomfortable?”

“Is there a reason you think so?”

“Does the Lord not know as well? That he is coveting things beyond his station using that meager merchant guild as a price.”

Facing the Queen Dowager's raised eyes, Gilmore nodded silently.

“I hear that His Majesty intends to confer a Duke title upon him along with the territory already granted. That cunning man has stolen His Majesty's heart too easily.”

There is bound to be a reaction to everything in the world.

Kunde's entry into the political world of the Esper Kingdom was no exception.

On the surface, it seemed as if Kunde, having gained the young King's favor, was on a roll, but,

On the flip side, there existed gazes that looked askance at his rapid expansion of power.

“And I believe this is not the thought of this person alone. I heard the Lord also consistently offered advice around the time that man Kunde began to gain His Majesty's trust?”

Only now could Gilmore understand the reason the Queen Dowager called him.

He was very famous within the kingdom for two reasons; the first was the fact that he was the only 7th Circle mage in the kingdom, and…….

“That we must not tolerate a vulgar merchant buying honor with money and recklessly stepping into state affairs.”

The second was that he was a bone-deep aristocrat.

“I have indeed offered remonstrance to His Majesty a few times. Saying that it is not good to keep a greedy person close.”

“Then your heart must remain unchanged even now.”

“Of course. Your Highness Queen Dowager.”

“Then please lend your strength just once more this time. I can no longer watch the man named Kunde clouding His Majesty's insight as he is doing now.”

Hearing Gilmore's answer, the Queen Dowager nodded with a satisfied expression.

“Your Highness, if Your Highness's thoughts are so, how about speaking directly to His Majesty?”

“……Does the Lord not know as well? That His Majesty does not listen to a word I say…….”

The Queen Dowager's complexion darkened immediately.

King McPhein and the Queen Dowager were certainly biological mother and son who shared blood, but ever since McPhein grew up, the relationship between the two was very bad.

“His Majesty is still tender-hearted and cannot distance himself from those who spout sweet flattery. Please, Lord, lend strength to this person's opinion.”

Looking at Gilmore, who was publicly the Duke of the nation and privately her brother-in-law, Yefne conveyed her request with sincerity.

And Gilmore responded to the call with a heavy bass voice that resonated in the heart.

“Do not worry too much. Your Highness. Although my power is meager, this humble one will fulfill my duty for the sake of His Majesty.”

***

“It's been a long time. Have you been well?”

Even though the meeting with the Queen Dowager ended at a very late hour, Gilmore did not sleep upon returning to his residence.

Instead of going to the bedroom, the action he chose was to activate the ‘Crystal Ball’.

“I greet Your Excellency.”

And what revealed itself beyond the crystal ball was a middle-aged man who had grown a stylish brown beard.

It was ‘Kunde Ceciliano’.

“I am on my way back from visiting the palace a little while ago. The Queen Dowager called me and asked me to lend my strength as she intends to drive you out.”

Gilmore's expression, bursting into laughter with Kunde in front of him, had the face of a cunning and heartless ambitious man, not the King's uncle famous for his gentle nature.

-Did such a thing happen?

“Yes. As expected of the cunning wench who drove out my brother's legal wife and snatched the Queen's seat. In the eyes of that wench, whose talent for smelling things out is quite decent, it seems the vulgar merchant Kunde Ceciliano who clouds His Majesty's ‘insight’ was that bothersome.”

-Oh my, by the way, did something like ‘insight’ ever exist in His Majesty to begin with?

“How would I know? Hahaha.”

Gilmore burst into loud laughter once and spoke.

“Anyway, thanks to the Queen Dowager displaying her clumsy good sense of smell, things have become quite interesting. Since it has come to this, I should loudly chatter remarks denouncing you at the royal audience starting immediately tomorrow. So that our Queen Dowager can feel relieved.”

-Considering His Majesty's nature, he will wrap around me even more in rebellion against Your Excellency.

“It will turn out that way. I thought there was a need to insert a spy into the enemy camp before carrying out the great undertaking. But I never dreamed I would be playing the role of the spy.”

Towards Gilmore, who was bursting into laughter soaked in the fun of mocking the Queen Dowager, Kunde spoke in a secretive voice.

-Your Excellency, by the way. Apart from this matter, I have a request to make…….

After hearing all of Kunde's request, Gilmore burst into laughter once more.

“To think the unparalleled Kunde Ceciliano suffered humiliation. It is a truly amusing matter.”

-I am ashamed to say it, but it is so, and through this incident, a slight setback has occurred in our plan to procure military funds through Nihelm.

“Oh my, that won't do, will it?”

-Therefore, I am asking, could you sound out the inside of that guy called the Grand Duke of Zodiac?

Although he didn't confess everything to Gilmore, in fact, recently Kunde had been experiencing difficulties in various fields.

Annoying matters had burst out simultaneously, starting with the civil riot in the Mahatdur territory.

And,

‘It's strange. The timing when that guy called the Grand Duke of Zodiac scratched my nerves and when things started to go twisted matches oddly.’

Of course, there was no clear evidence.

However, the animalistic intuition that had allowed Kunde to roll on a winning streak so far was saying that behind the hand messing up his affairs, someone's intention, not simple coincidence, was intervening.

“I understand. If you say so, I will try to make contact. After I release an atmosphere in all directions that I am trying to keep you in check in the court, I will send a message to him saying I need information related to you. Then he will think we have the same enemy, so he won't suspect me.”

Although he was saying this, in truth, Gilmore was not listening to Kunde's opinion seriously.

He did not think a noble of a small country like Zodiac had the capacity to shake the board of the Esper Kingdom.

However, since his number one henchman spoke like this, he thought he should try making contact.

“Now, since the time is quite late, let's stop our headache-inducing talk around here and have a drink.”

-Will you do so? Your Excellency.

Gilmore raised the glass in which brown liquid rippled, and shouted a toast filled with the ambition he had hidden all this time.

“For our foolish Queen Dowager!”

***

Fwoosh!

Thanks to the assigned servant managing it faithfully without skipping a day, the wick of the lamp soaked in plenty of oil flared up as soon as the fire was lit.

Watching the flame burning using ‘Gilmore's Letter’ that arrived a little while ago as food, I thought.

‘The field mouse was squeaking unusually loudly, and eventually, the sewer rat hiding behind it reveals itself.’

This sewer rat from the Esper Kingdom was pretending to be quite noble, but he could not hide the vulgarity close to his nature.

Because the smell of filth from the sewer he couldn't hide was vibrating even from the letter he sent using his brain in his own way.

Of course, this kind of one-sided denunciation might be somewhat unfair from Kunde or Gilmore's perspective.

Since there is no way they could know that the treason they had meticulously plotted and the covert operations carried out as part of it were recorded intact in the ‘Records of Covert Activities of Each Nation Before Unification’.

‘……I should give a reply for now, right?’

Unlike the cold sneer that rose on my lips, the movement of the quill pen navigating over the white paper was neat beyond compare.

Sizzle!

I soon completed sealing the letter to be delivered to Gilmore using wax infused with sealing magic.

Of course, even if we exchange letters like this, there was no way the cunning Gilmore would give me truly important information.

However…….

‘Through the nuance of Gilmore felt in the letter, I will be able to read at least the timing when that guy Kunde will play his tricks in earnest.’

Having finished the appropriate response to the squeak squeak duet of the cunning field mouse and the greedy sewer rat with this, I turned my gaze to the clock.

By now, the servant sent to Sherazade must have delivered my memo.

-I have a place to go around 11 o'clock, so be ready.

Perhaps holding this letter, she is,

“What? Where are you trying to go again? Surely we don't have to fly again?”

Tilting her head like that.

‘I have about thirty minutes of spare time.’

Confirming that I had a little spare time until the defensive posture simulation training in the afternoon, I immediately closed my eyes.

Since I will probably have to busily roam here and there tonight, I felt I should catch some sleep, however briefly, using the spare time.

‘I saw the traitors of the continent well, so what kind of faces will the rats of Eldrigal be making?’

Ending with that question, I fell into a short but deep sleep.