Chapter 218

It Was Empty, But It Was Full (4)

“Sire!”

The old knight supported the king’s crumbling body.

“Sire! Sire!”

“Gwaalgh,” the king vomited blood. “I have only reached this far, and that was all thanks to the sword of the one who has served me. This can be called the end of a foolish king.”

“No will be able to say your Majesty’s courageous stand was foolish. You fought really well. You fought more valiantly than any knight.”

“I don’t like the words that come from my mouth. Now, I want to believe in your words. If there is just one wish, I hope that my son will think the same as you. This is the moment his incompetent father dies,” the king said.

Nogisa clenched his teeth as he saw the king baring his emotions.

“His Highness will be proud of your Majesty, prouder than anyone else,” Nogisa told the king, pretending that everything was fine. The king suddenly looked at the sky.

“I miss her.”

“The queen will also be proud of her Majesty,” Nogisa said as he saw the king’s slick, bloody smile.

“I don’t expect her to be. She would tell me I have neglected to polish my archery. She will give me that look of hers, telling me that if I were a better shot, I would’ve been more fortunate.”

The deeper the emotions contained in the king’s voice became, the more it faded. And in the end, it was no longer heard.

“Sire! Sire!”

Nogisa was terrified as he called out to the king.

King Lionel opened his closed eyes.

“Please raise me up. I don’t want to face my end while being propped up in someone else’s arms,” the king said as he shook, waking up.

King Lionel managed to stand and straighten his back with the aid of Nogisa. He then lifted his sword and pointed it at the Imperial Army.

“I will be with you.” Nogisa stood by the king’s side.

The paladins of the Empire stumbled back as they met the eyes of such wounded beasts. Instead of attacking, they beckoned other troops closer. The imperial archers who had formed up behind them raised their bows at once.

“I’m sorry. If you had met a competent monarch, you would have been well known to the world.”

“Don’t say that. I met a king who I would truly follow anywhere. And since I have been with you for decades, I have been able to keep my side of the bargain until the end.”

The old knight looked at the king with tears in his eyes. The blood from his back ran down his thighs and onto the ground.

‘Schlk~ Schlk~’

Nogisa spread his legs over the pool of blood before raising his sword.

‘Tscchk~’

The imperial archers released their bowstrings. As Nogisa watched the black rain of flying arrows, he blew his very soul into the edge of his sword. Then he swung it with all the strength that remained within him. His energy pierced through the sky and severed dozens of arrows mid-air in their descent.

There were still hundreds of arrows in the sky, however.

“Sire, I will go ahead and wait.”

The old knight, knowing that the end had come, embraced the king. As Nogisa faced the descending storm of arrows, his eyes widened. Right then- ‘Qshawahhh!’

There came a great frenzy as hundreds of arrows were swept away by a violent wind, as they were diverted and scattered in all directions. And- ‘Qshaw shahhh!’

Something huge fell over the Imperial Army with a great roar – like a fierce thunderbolt, like a sharpened spear. Dirt rose up into the air. In that sudden, surprising moment, the old knight gave strength to his eyes.

‘Grrraa~’

The sound of something giving a throaty growl came through the dust.

‘Aahhh!’

A terrible scream then followed.

‘Shaah~’

Another gust of wind blew, and the thick dust was swept away by it. Nogisa’s eyes widened, for he could not believe the sight that was unfolding in front of him. A paladin, the Empire’s pride, was flying through the air, stuck on a lance.

‘Kreee!’ cried a giant beast with an imperial soldier clenched in its jaws. Wyvern- It was the fiercest and most gigantic among Dotrin’s wyverns.

“Tchu. Somehow, I knew things didn’t feel right.”

The wyvern’s rider, the King of Dotrin, clucked his tongue.

“…!”

The Imperial Army only snapped awake when they saw the sudden appearance of Dotrin’s lord, and they pointed their swords and spears at him. Cautiously, the two paladins who had been spared by the aerial assault raised their swords and surrounded the wyvern.

The King of Dotrin didn’t seem to care about them, however.

“…!” The paladins’ pride was hurt, and they all rushed in. They could only take five steps before coming to a halt, however. At their feet, there was a thick line drawn over the ground, and they didn’t know when it had appeared.

“Don’t cross that line.” The King of Dotrin gave an indifferent glance at the paladins, then said to Nogisa, “The warlocks are coming. So try to bear with me for a little bit. I have spiritual gems with healing magic, but they won’t be helpful at all.”

The imperial paladin skewered on the tip of the lance spasmed a few times, still alive.

“Are you sure you came to save us? His Majesty’s wounds are serious. Why didn’t the returning wizards come with you? Where are the other reinforcements?”

Nogisa, fully alert, spoke quickly.

“I thought you were a silent man, but it seems you aren’t. Doris alone is enough to talk my ears off,” the King of Dotrin said with a groan, frowning.

“First answers first. I didn’t have a good feeling, so I hurried back here. Dotrin’s wizards are coming. Our warlocks use spirits in their healing magic, but that’ll enough to take immediate emergency measures.”

“Where are the reinforcements? Did you come alone?” Nogisa asked.

The King of Dotrin laughed and revealed the truth.

“The reinforcements are here with you, of course.”

He then placed his lance under his armpit, fixing it in place, and started searching through his pockets with his left hand. He searched back and forth. His relaxed attitude quickly changed. As he looked down upon the world from his wyvern, his eyes began rolling.

‘Shh~’

Then the hand that had been groping through his chest pockets gripped onto his lance again.

“This is my companion.”

It was said in a manly tone, but it was a poor excuse to tell the old man, especially as the King of Dotrin had forgotten to bring a most important thing.

“…!” the King of Dotrin shouted to the Empire’s knights in fluent True Imperial, avoiding the old knight’s gaze. Several imperial knights started laughing.

“Well, that doesn’t work either,” the king mused.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“In fact, I had an important object that would end this battle. I don’t have it with me, so the Empire’s lads don’t believe me.”

Nogisa asked what it was, so the King of Dotrin answered him in an anguished tone.

“The war is over. The Empire conceded defeat, promised to pay enormous reparations, and surrendered territories along the border so that their forces could return home.”

Nogisa’s eyes widened as if being torn open.

“I heard that the Crown Prince pressured the third princeps to approve a humiliating peace treaty. And the document of that agreement was borrowed for a while by a Wyvern Knight, who brought it to me. The Burgundy imperial troops who had been deployed to attack your returning fleet looked at the seal stamped on the treaty and turned their ships back, so the agreement is authentic. Without any doubt,” the King of Dotrin told Nogisa with a bitter taste in his mouth.

“But the problem we now face is that I have left the agreement with someone else. I was in such a hurry that I did not bring it along.”

“What the hell do you mean…” Nogisa asked, almost laughing, so great was anger.

“Well, it’s not really a big problem,” the King of Dotrin said with a bloody grin, “Until my knights bring the agreement, I will stop them, even if I have to stop them myself.”

It was that moment that the imperial troops, who had been mustering enough courage to attack, rushed in as they shouted.

“…!”

“Stay right here. If you’re somewhere else, something with a dirty temper will try to eat you,” the King of Dotrin said as a humorous smile played across his lips.

Nogisa could never think of the situation as being funny, however. A tremendous energy suddenly erupted around Nogisa, and the energy became flowing air, and the air started blowing as wind.

‘Qshaw ahhh!’

The raging wind turned into a frenzied tornado, and that became a great tempest.

“I’ll be back.”

Nogisa heard the voice exceptionally clearly even amid that mighty wind.

And at that moment, the storm swept into the Imperial Army.

‘Aaaargh!’

Screams and shouts could be heard in the wind. And all the while, someone was laughing insanely. Nogisa had no time to think about who that was. He desperately squeezed the remaining energy from his rings in order not to get caught up in the storm. He embraced the drooping king with both hands.

‘Kwsha~ Gsha~ Gshak~’

The storm, which was unlikely to last forever, slowly began to subside. The screams, pleas, and laughter were no longer heard.

And finally, when everything was over, Nogisa saw a field scattered with lumps of flesh that had been torn into dozens, hundreds of pieces – and the king’s wyvern, which stood in the middle of heaps of twisted and warped pieces of bloody iron.

The wyvern looked like an apex predator, and the man atop it, more so. Looking at that satisfied face, Nogisa wondered if the king had intentionally forgotten to bring the treaty.

The surviving imperial troops were terrified. They retreated. The King of Dotrin glanced at the fleeing imperials with a bored face, as if he had seen everything there was to see.

“The warlocks you’ve been waiting for have come.”

The king then suddenly lifted the tip of his bloody lance and pointed at the sky.

Nogisa threw his head back as he looked up.

One hundred wyverns were hovering over the battlefield.

‘Dukuduku~ Dukuduku~’

One instant later, Nogisa heard the sound of horses’ hooves thundering over the earth.

He shifted his eyes as he followed that sound and saw hundreds of mounted figures and thousands of infantry running in from a distance – flapping the black lion banner of the Templar Knights.

* * *

“Dotrin’s warlocks had the ability to blow a lungful of life into his Majesty at that moment, but they could not completely heal his wounds.”

Nogisa sighed, saying that the abominable wound the traitor noble gave the king had been the worst of all.

“His Majesty was unable to regain consciousness for a long time. After seeing this, Dotrin’s monarch said that the wounds were not the problem, but rather the fact that his Majesty had no will to continue with his life.”

I closed my eyes tightly, and old memories quickly came into my mind and then disappeared.

The king had aged rapidly from how he had been several years ago. Everyone had been concerned about this, especially when he had started to act energetically.

I had also been worried.

But I thought it was not so bad, as it seemed to be that the weakness and incompetence I had first seen in the king had been burned away by the fires of his newfound purpose.

However, it seemed that the fireworks that had raged within the king had been created by him squeezing out the last remaining spirit and determination that had existed in his soul.

Perhaps the king had lived so passionately to await the moment when he could take the traitor nobles down with him while fighting the Empire – waiting for when he would add the firewood of his life to the queen’s flames. And when he had finally achieved that purpose, there would be nothing left for him – no willingness to sustain his life, no regrets in accepting death.

“Fuck.”

I could only swear.

‘From here on out, this fight is for me alone as the Veil of Winter.’

‘Someone needs to remain and take care of this mess. The difficult work, I leave to you, nephew.’

The last conversation I had with my uncle ran through my head.

Just remembering it reminded me of my helplessness at that time, and my insides boiled. My heart felt as if it was plunging into the depths of sorrow while I so clearly remembered the appearance of my uncle and the last goodbye he had given me.

The figure of the king in his bandages became superimposed over those painful memories.

The dark shadow of death that was circling the eyes of the aging king fluttered before my eyes.

Perhaps if the king died, he would also become one of my burdens. Like the death of my uncle. Like the queen’s death. Like the death of the half-elves.

“Everyone is on their own in this world. Yet, I don’t even think about myself… So anxious am I about all the burdens I fail to bear.”

After I spoke such nervous words, Nogisa continued the tale as if he hadn’t heard anything.

“In any case, we owe a lot to Dotrin this time. It is thanks to Dotrin’s monarch that we were able to escape from the Imperial Army and that his Majesty, who had been unconscious, regained consciousness.”

“After you were freed from the Imperial Army, what made his Majesty regain his consciousness?”

I didn’t dare to even guess. I knew that a few words couldn’t reignite the flame of a candle that had reached its end, with even its wick being all burned out.

“I don’t know in detail. I can only guess that his Majesty woke up after Dotrin’s king whispered something into his ear.”

Unfortunately, the old man said he knew nothing. I tried to clear up the questions swirling in my mind. Right now, it didn’t matter what the descendant of the Sky Blade had said to the king.

“How much time is left for his Majesty?”

The Nogisa became very reluctant as he heard my question. It seemed that he did not want to mention the end of the person whom he had served. I persuaded Nogisa that I needed to know how much time remained so that I could prepare for the future.

And after a long time, Nogisa managed to tell me that the time remaining to the king would not exceed four months.

“Good. Okay.”

After hearing this general estimate, I asked Nogisa to retire from my palace. Instead of leaving, he knelt in front of me and started begging that I punish him for not protecting his master.

So, I asked him who had kept the king alive. I asked him who had committed the sin of harming the king. The old man, his shoulders drooping, left my room immediately after saying his goodbyes.

As I looked at Nogisa leaving, I thought about it all. I wasn’t sure, but if the king’s condition did not improve, it was clear that the old knight would not be able to overcome his own guilt.

That wasn’t what I was hoping for.

According to the king’s own words, Nogisa was a valuable talent who should continue to devote himself to the kingdom. I didn’t want to see such a talented man break his sword while watching his master die. And I also did not want another member of the Leonberger family to be dying of wounds inflicted by the Empire.

And all the time, I hoped that the kingdom would remain intact until it finally regained its former glory. I didn’t hope this due to the promise I had made to my ancient friend – my heart just wanted it. It didn’t matter to me from what kind of mind the idea had originated; all that was important was for me to possess the means to achieve the goal.

“Gunn.”

When I whispered her name, the half-elf suddenly appeared.

“The Elven swordsingers are staying in the outer keep of the palace.”

Gunn stared at me.

“Go there and find the High Elf.”

The half-elf frowned with those fine eyebrows of hers, then softly spoke.

“High Elves never talk to half.”

At her words, I responded by saying that the lesser High Elf would not dare dismiss a messenger I had sent due to his arrogance. He was a guy who hadn’t even achieved his purpose of paying off the elves’ debts by serving me, for the war had suddenly ended. He would be very eager to make contact with me by now.

“I don’t have much time, so I have to ask you to do it right now.”

I grabbed Gunn’s arm before she left.

“Don’t be overwhelmed just because his pedigree is not the same as yours,” I urged Gunn, adding, “Don’t forget that I’m always behind you.”

Gunn widened her eyes as she looked at me. Then she bowed her head and quickly left the room.

I was left alone with my thoughts of the king on his bed.

“He is leaving to me everything I wanted,” I scoffed. I never thought about seeing the day – and I was certain that I had to prevent it.

That is why I had decided that I had to make the irresponsible king live and fulfill his responsibilities. To achieve that, the High Elf had to come. To be precise, that wasn’t all I was waiting for: An arrogant High Elf that had not yet fully reached maturity. No…

Even the noblest of faeries were only allowed one of it – Nectar.

It is the elixir of knightly rebirth. If you breathe in only a lungful of it, you can regain your lion’s pace even if you lie upon the threshold of death. This was the identity of the thing I so eagerly awaited.

“His age is past the age when High Elves get their Nectar.”

And I knew that this was the first outing into the world for the foolish High Elf.

“How convenient that fact is,” I murmured to myself as I started to draw conclusions about the situation.

Perhaps Arnand’s Nectar had been included from the beginning among the gifts sent by the elves who wanted to improve their relationship with me.

Of course, even if the High Elf didn’t know how scary the world was, he still knew he was an elf, so he might not agree with me at all.