Side Story 17. Spider Trap (6)
Side Story 17. Spider Trap (6)
As with other countries' palaces, the empire’s palace had a sword line. The sword line was a restrictive boundary that disallowed any weapons from being carried past it. Beyond this line was where the emperor stayed, and only those guarding the emperor were allowed to carry weapons for emergencies.
However, unlike other countries, in the empire, no one was allowed to carry weapons, even the imperial palace guards and the knights guarding the emperor. This was due to the massive magic circle that covered the empire’s palace. The magic circle immediately killed anyone that entered the inner palace while armed, making it impossible to invade the palace even if one was a member of a battle race.
However, there were exceptions to those who could possess weapons within the magic circle. One was the emperor himself, who was being guarded by the magic circle. The other was the head of the Imperial Guard Division charged with protecting the emperor until the end, and the last person was Glont von Asilante, the person standing at the peak of the empire's army. Other than the emperor, these two people had special passes.
"Step aside."
Unlike usual, Glont spoke to the chief attendant with an indifferent voice. The dull voice did not contain even a trace of killing intent or martial aura, but it gave the chief attendant goosebumps.
When the chief attendant saw Glont acting in such an uncharacteristic manner, he instinctively stepped in front of him and bowed, blocking his way. "Your Highness, this is the place where His Majesty lives. Please allow me to temporarily take the treasures of the Empire that protect us."
When the chief attendant bowed down, the servants and knights around him were surprised, as he never bowed to anyone aside from the emperor. However, they were even more startled by the following answer.
"I refuse."
This was because no one in the history of the empire had refused the chief attendant’s request to collect their weapons. No matter the fact that he was allowed to enter while armed, the request from the emperor's proxy could not be ignored. In this unprecedented situation, the people around the area looked at the chief attendant and Glont nervously.
"You have no authority to collect my sword. Move aside."
When Glont's speech changed from formal to informal, the onlookers were shocked and forgot to breathe.
"Then please cut me down to pass through." When the chief attendant told Glont to kill him in a peaceful voice, Glont frowned and reached for the sword handle at his waist.
"G, General! Please calm down!”
"This isn’t like you, Your Highness!"
In the rapidly unfolding situation, the imperial guards stationed between the inner palace and the outer palace raised their hands to block Glont.
"Get lost."
The imperial guards groaned at the voice full of killing intent.
"Ugh!"
"Ugh!"
The imperial guards that tried to stop Glont knelt as they received a large shock from the intangible martial aura.
Glont took his hand off the sword handle and stood in front of the chief attendant. "Excuse me. I got too worked up. I apologize for being too rude to you. So, step aside."
He returned to his previous emotionless voice, but the servants, including the chief attendant, trembled with cold sweat. "I, I- I can’t….”
As the chief attendant obstructed Glont’s way, ready to die, the door to the audience room opened, and a familiar voice was heard. "It's fine, Chief Attendant. There is an imperial order to bring in General Glont.”
The voice belonged to Duke Asteria, who still had some sky blue streaks amidst his gray hair. "Tsk, did this old man really have to drag himself here to be a messenger for you?"
Glont bowed his head, ashamed at Duke Asteria's grumbling. "I'm sorry."
"But you still seem capable of recognizing me."
"Ohoho, why didn't you ask those below you to do this…?"
When he saw Duke Asteria, Glont seemed to have regained some composure. The duke snorted at Glont's question, "Why? If it's not me, wouldn’t you split them in two? Tsk tsk. And don’t you think your skills are past the point where you need blades like that?”
Glont flinched at the duke’s belittling gaze.
"Are you going to just keep standing there? If you’re going to keep His Majesty waiting any longer, you might as well not come in and just go die outside."
Glont shrank at Duke Asteria’s poisonous remarks. He felt as if all his inner thoughts had been read.
"Let's go in."
Following Duke Asteria, Glont slowly entered the audience room. In the audience room, there were three key government officials, including the emperor, the head of the guard division, and the prime minister.
Stepping into the audience room, Glont tried to greet the emperor according to the proper procedure but was interrupted as the emperor said, "Let's skip the greeting. I’m not in the mood right now. Guild Director, Intelligence Director, I'm sorry, but the two of you should step out for a moment. It won't be too long.”
At the emperor's order, Hildegarn, the former Director of the Adventurers’ Guild, and the young Intelligence Director of the Empire’s Secret Counterintelligence group, Pelgrant, bowed down as per imperial etiquette and slowly departed from the audience room. Now, only the emperor, the head of the guard division, Glont, Prime Minister Arcanta, and Duke Asteria remained.
"Since the two of them have left, let's just begin. I will listen to what you have to say first."
At the emperor's words, Glont nodded. It was an act that did not conform with imperial etiquette at all, but no one said anything to him here. "Not too long ago- no, everything hasn’t been examined yet, but it's been confirmed that the Empire’s army has been slaughtering the people for quite some time.”
Arcanta opened his mouth. However, he was stopped by the emperor and Duke Asteria. Glont looked at Arcanta with a cold gaze and clenched his teeth. "Why? Aren't the people of the Imperial State also the people of the Empire? And while killing the wanderers, didn't you think that the original citizens of the Empire would also inevitably be killed?"
At Glont's sharp voice, Arcanta closed his mouth. Looking at the silenced prime minister, Glont took a document out of his pocket. "This is a summary of the materials I collected. Please note that the amount of evidence was so great that I could not bring all of it here, Your Majesty."
The emperor skimmed through the documents and frowned. "Is it true that you collaborated with the former emperor- no, my father, Arcanta?"
The emperor interrogated the prime minister by referring to their personal names rather than their positions and titles. It was a question for his friend Arcanta, not his subject, the prime minister.
"Yes… It's true."
When Arcanta admitted it, the emperor’s frown deepened. "Then, did you also have a part in slaughtering the wanderers of the Imperial State... No, the citizens of the Empire?”
“…….”
Arcanta did not answer the emperor's question. The slaughter of the people was clearly contrary to the emperor's policy for harmony. In a broad sense, it was no different than rebelling against an imperial order.
"Answer! Why? Arcanta!" The emperor angrily questioned him.
Arcanta bowed his head. "It was for the Empire."
"Killing people?!"
At Arcanta's excuse, killing intent was explosively released from Glont’s body. The head of the imperial guard quickly responded and moved in front of the emperor, and Duke Asteria stood behind the emperor in a timely manner. Arcanta directly received the intense killing intent, and he was forced to kneel as his whole body trembled.
"What are you doing in front of His Majesty, Your Highness!?"
At the cry of the head of the imperial guard, Glont took a deep breath and withdrew his killing intent. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but that trash is saying something ridiculous."
At Glont's words, the emperor grasped his startled heart and calmed Glont. "I understand. But shouldn't we still listen to Arcanta's excuse? Don't you think so?"
When the emperor asked for agreement, Duke Asteria nodded and grumbled. "That's right. That damn young fool is trying to kill this old man. His Majesty has that rockhead to protect him, but what about me? Hey, you punk! Do you want to get beat to the point of creating dust on a rainy day!?"
"I, I'm sorry."
"Tsk tsk. How is it possible that you haven’t changed since you were young? I thought you became a little calm after I almost cut your throat while you were recklessly running wild, but it seems you still can't control your body with your petty sense of justice?"
Glont shrank back at Duke Asteria’s scolding. When he was young, during the postwar period, he ran wild, burning with a sense of justice. However, when he was almost executed by Duke Asteria, Anemone saved him. When he mentioned that old story, Glont had nothing to say. Still, Asteria's nagging was more effective than a hundred words trying to calm him down.
"The knight of justice seems to have composed himself to some extent, so let's continue, kid,” Duke Asteria said coldly, causing Arcanta to tremble lightly.
The reason why the duke was angry wasn’t because of a sense of justice from the slaughter of innocent people like Glont. His freezing cold voice was a reprimand for temporarily handing over military power to his greatest political enemy, the Blood Emperor.
The Blood Emperor was a political monster that should never be given even a small opening. He had no idea how much of a private force he created by now from taking advantage of that gap.
"I fully understand that Your Majesty would like to operate under a harmonious policy to accept the wanderers, who are of the same ethnicity. If you take a look back in history, it's a great policy that's beneficial and could realistically be carried out to serve as the foundation for strengthening the Empire."
At Arcanta's words, the emperor looked at the prime minister with puzzled eyes. "So why?"
"However, harmonious policies take too much time. The three kingdoms, including the Empire, have already spent nearly 500 years divided. For Your Majesty’s policy to take root, you would have to wait for at least an entire generation."
"The national policy should be overseen for 100 years. With that much time, wouldn't that be enough? Even if I cannot achieve it, my future successor will take over and watch it take root."
Arcanta bowed his head. "There's not enough time for the Empire to do that."
"What…?"
"There is a vast Demon’s Territory above the Empire and enemies below. In this situation, we can't have trouble within the country."
"By trouble, do you mean the Resistance?" The emperor guessed.
Arcanta nodded. "Yes. Furthermore, the Empire has expanded too quickly. As a result, the area to compete for dominance has widened, and the Trade Union and the Magic Kingdom have also turned into potential adversaries. Originally, according to the plan, the Imperial State should have been cornered but not collapsed yet."
In the past, the balance between countries was broken by the extreme variable known as Doomstone Blade. This caused the Imperial State's collapse, and although this was an opportunity for the empire, crises have always accompanied opportunities.
"A country that has expanded rapidly since ancient times has been hit by misfortunes inside and outside the country. As proof of that, a number of years ago in the Demon’s Territory, wasn’t there a flood of demons? Perhaps it's because of the unidentified organization called the Twelve Zodiacs. In other words, the Empire already has internal troubles. We can't add another internal trouble on top here."
Glont protested against Arcanta's claim. "You don't know if they'll cause internal trouble! Even if you're concerned about potential issues, it's enough to take the time to deal with only the soldiers! Why did you kill innocent children?!"
"Didn't I already say the reason? We don't have time. There was no time to put in the effort to weed them out. Also, you can't ignore them just because they're young. Didn't you experience it enough during the last war? Cornered rats do everything within their means."
Arcanta's words reminded him of the young soldiers from the past Imperial State. The Resistance’s formation could be traced back to the resentment of the wandering people.
The Resistance was the family of the wanderers. A child who grew up with such resentment would become an enemy of the empire. However, the massacre could conversely create a sense of crisis and cause a backlash. Most importantly, the wanderers were burdens for the empire to carry.
"Are you trying to argue about how right you are?!" Glont roared.
Arcanta swallowed dryly and replied, "No, it's wrong. It's something deserving of going to hell. I won't make any more excuses."
In response to Arcanta's answer, Glont pulled out his sword from his waist and pointed it at Arcanta’s neck. "Good! If you don't have any more excuses, I’ll at least hear your will."
When Glont pulled out his weapon, the head of the imperial guard drew his own sword tensely, but he stopped at Duke Asteria's hand gesture.
Arcanta closed his eyes as if he had already made up his mind and said his last will. "Your Majesty, I have written the future guidelines in a book. Among them, please put currency reform first. General Glont is a necessary talent for the Empire, so please spare him and keep him next to you."
Arcanta had already accepted his death when Glont had discovered his trail. Even if it wasn't Glont, he knew Duke Asteria would try to kill him since he collaborated with the Blood Emperor, so he was prepared to die from the start of this operation.
"I am sorry that I could not support Your Majesty until the end."
When the last will was given, Glont swung his sword.