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Chapter 84

“You said Duke Altsma sustained major injuries?”

Marco, the Swallow Empire's sage and prime minister, who had visited Duke Altsma on behalf of the emperor, responded almost immediately, “His wounds and bruises didn’t appear to be severe. But for many days now, he has been staring at nothingness. It looks like he sustained some kind of psychological trauma. I mean, after all, he was extremely confident that he would win the war.”

With a sour smile, Emperor Verona said, “I’ll visit him myself. I’ll provide the comfort my subject needs.”

“But, Your Majesty! He’s just a defeated general! He lost over half of our forces in one day and shamelessly came back alive! What kind of leader is he for coming back alive while almost everyone under him died? How could he deserve consolation? Please reconsider your decision, Your Majesty,” said a bald-headed man who was also a long-time rival of Duke Altsma. He was Duke Albert van Momori, another Master of the Swallow Empire.

Another man stepped forward. “Duke Momori is right, Your Majesty! In times like this, he should be punished rather than consoled! He brought us shame, so he has to be punished.”

“If Duke Altsma hadn't been over-confident and underestimated the enemy, this wouldn’t have happened! Our Empire suffered this defeat all thanks to his pride. He had a one-on-one confrontation with the commander of the enemy instead of a full-fledged confrontation with the enemy’s troops.”

“Even if he hadn't done the one-on-one duel, our troops greatly outnumbered Thran’s troops. The issue is the fact that he carelessly accepted the duel and was defeated, decreasing our men’s morale.”

Emperor Verona let out a long sigh as the vassals raised their voices in agreement with each other. Emperor Verona couldn’t hide his grief because he was well aware of their desires.

‘Our people are suffering, and we had just suffered a major setback. However, these people are still thinking about themselves. They are basically taking this chance to take Duke Altsma down.’?With a sour smile, Emperor Verona shook his head. ‘Why do I always think of 'him' whenever something happens?’

‘Brother Demero…’?Emperor Verona muttered to himself. He gazed outside the window and recalled the face of the man who was acclaimed to be the Empire’s Glory back then.

‘Well, even now, you're still our glory’.

Even if he could not compare to his brother as a charismatic leader, Emperor Verona was still the emperor of the country.

Emperor Veron opened his mouth with a stiff face and said, “The failure is not solely Duke Altsma’s fault. Who could have guessed that among the people of the Principality, there was an individual who could take on an entire army of elite soldiers by himself?”

“That…”

"Essentially, our lack of knowledge is arguably one of the most significant reasons why we lost; we assumed that Thran had not even a single Master…" Emperor Verona added.

The vassals remained expressionless. However, Emperor Verona kept his gaze on them as he added. “In times like this, it is important that we work together to find better strategies for the upcoming fights rather than punishing the one who caused us a single battle’s defeat.”

“I most definitely agree with His Majesty.”

Even Prime Minister Marco gave a slight smile and nodded.

The dark-haired Duke Momori, who stepped forward earlier, cautiously suggested. “I propose that we should send more soldiers and at least two Masters with them this time. It will be a certain victory on our side, and if Your Majesty agrees, I will take the lead.”

“That’s impossible.”

Prime Minister Marco shook his head while looking coldly at the one who spoke before Emperor Verona could even respond.

.

With a puzzled expression, Duke Momori asked, “What do you mean, Prime Minister?”

“We have lost our chance with the previous attack. We had already taken advantage of the late Prince's death to attack Thran. If we attacked them once more with a larger army, the eyes of everyone would surely be on us, and we will get cornered by then. Since our proactive attack failed, they’re definitely tracking our movements right now.”

“Yes, well—” Duke Momori started.

However, Prime Minister Marco interrupted. “Surely, the Duke is not thinking about doing the same thing as Duke Altsma? Ignoring the enemy's strength and attempting to crush them with an instant blow?”

Duke Momori felt a shiver down his spine after hearing Marco’s words.

“How is that possible? You know a knight must never be too prideful.”

Prime Minister Marco looked away from Duke Momori, and with a small smile, he said to the others, "Your Majesty, this is just my own opinion, but I believe that for the time being, it is better if we just keep an eye on the situation. There will definitely be opportunities in the future."

“If the Prime Minister thinks of it this way, then so be it. Does anyone have any objections?” asked Emperor Verona.

When the vassals didn’t say anything, Emperor Verona nodded and looked at Prime Minister Marco before asking, “What’s the latest news about Thran?”

Prime Minister Marco’s face stiffened. “They think that our proactive attack was very unethical and that we disrupted the continent’s long-standing peace. We are currently in a situation where we have to be wary of our neighboring nations.”

“And the man who defeated Duke Altsma is also the reason behind that?”

Prime Minister Marco nodded. “Yes. His name is Ulabis, the knight who showed no mercy towards Duke Altsma and forced the duke to his knees. The tremendous power he showed earned him the moniker of the Knight of Red Flame. He’s also very knowledgeable in the field of literature and martial arts.”

"I heard that whenever the Knight of Red Flame swings his sword, the ground would split open and flames would fly everywhere, is that right?"

"He’s like a legendary magic swordsman, Your Majesty…" replied Prime Minister Marco.

“Bad news!”

All of a sudden, the doors separating the court from the rest of the imperial palace opened. Someone ran in and prostrated in front of the emperor.

“A messenger?” Prime Minister Marco muttered to himself. He saw the red flag on the messenger’s back, indicating that the messenger’s news was urgent.

“Your Majesty! Please forgive the rudeness!” The messenger hurriedly caught his breath before eventually announcing, "The Principality of Thran has already announced their next ruler!"

“...!”

It sounded absurd to both Emperor Verona and Prime Minister Marco, but it seemed that it wasn’t a joke.

“What?”

"Insane…"

“Isn’t Thran one of our vassals? How dare they do something like that without our permission?”

The nobles in the imperial palace erupted in rage.

According to the long-standing custom, the Principality of Thran’s reigning ruler had to tell the Imperial Palace of the Swallow Empire about who would succeed their throne in advance. The successor would then pay respects to the Emperor of Swallow at the Imperial Palace.

From Thran’s point of view, it was humiliating, but it was only natural for Swallow. The latter saw it as Thran’s act of respect for the motherland. The act was known as the Oath of Allegiance on Swallow’s side, and it was a practice that had started long ago.

“Perhaps they did that to ‘ensure’ their independence. Or is he…”

Emperor Verona noticed Prime Minister Marco muttering to himself and decided to ask the messenger, "Who is the next ruler?"

“Yes?”

"Who is the next ruler of Thran?” Emperor Verona changed the question.

“That’s…” The messenger gulped a mouthful of saliva as he met Emperor Verona’s deep and restrained eyes, and he carefully replied, "The successor of Anthony de Val Agretta III—the 17th Prince of Thran—will marry Prince Anthony's daughter in the near future. Knight Ulabis is his name…"

"It is also rumored that he will take the Agretta surname."

Once the messenger’s words fell, the imperial court was enveloped in deafening silence.

***

‘Demonic Spirit Lugia.’

Joshua muttered with a solemn look as he walked on the streets.

In the end, Lugia provided him with no additional information. However, Joshua had always felt that his regression was somehow linked to Lugia. Now, Joshua couldn’t deny this reality anymore.

‘Demonic… Demonic Spirit Lugia…’

Was it actually sleeping, or was it just pretending?

Joshua glanced at Lugia on his back and reminisced.

A demonic spirit.

Demons were stronger than any other species. It was a well-known fact that the top 100 demons had enormous power, and they could match even dragons in battle. Meanwhile, the eight demon kings with the power of "Evil" possessed strength equal to that of an elder dragon since they were practically gods among demons.

The strongest demon king was equal to a Dragon Lord.

‘They weren’t considered gods for no reason…’

How could he have regressed if it weren’t for the power of a god?

“...?” Joshua’s train of thought disappeared as he suddenly stopped walking. He had already arrived at his destination, and there was a confusing sight close to it.

'What are they doing gathering there?'

There was a bunch of kids standing at the entrance to the academy.

“Oh, there he is!”

“He’s finally here!”

“...”

Joshua took a step back when he noticed the children running over in his direction.

"Agareth and Icarus?" Joshua muttered at the two familiar faces in the crowd.

“How come you’re always so late? The school is in complete chaos right now because of you!”

“What are you talking about?” asked Joshua.

Agareth shrugged, and he mischievously said, “Surely, you are not expecting this from us as Duke Agnus’ son, do you? Do you remember what you said when you protected us?”

“Hey, you can’t do that to Mister Joshua.” Icarus smiled slightly in response to Agareth's mischievous words. “This is rather—”

“What exactly is it?” interrupted Joshua with a puzzled look.

Agareth stared directly into Joshua’s eyes and said, “I don't want to run away anymore.”

“These students have assembled to protest the school's disciplinary action against you.”

Joshua’s eyes widened.

“Agareth went through a lot. However, we managed to gather a lot of people who felt the same in a short period of time,” said Icarus.

Agareth smiled. “It was nothing. Everyone gathered here not for me but because they felt the same.”

“You said the social ethos at the Imperial Academy is decided by the students and that the Academy should hear the students' voices and decide on their course of action, right?”

“It was just an excuse on the surface. You know I can’t say I'm just going to do what I feel like doing so blatantly in front of Duke Agnus, right?” asked Joshua.

Icarus shook his head. It seemed he found it ridiculous as he said, “We will be filing a petition opposing the disciplinary action the academy will take against you.”

“There are roughly a hundred people from Araksha demanding your punishment. However, they can’t possibly defeat us because we have a few hundred members.”

“...”

Agareth tilted his head and stared at the silent Joshua before saying, “Huh? You're not actually touched right now, are you?”

"I can wipe your tears for you, if you want." Icarus chimed in and patted his own cheek, seemingly glum at Joshua’s lackluster response.

Joshua finally smiled softly as he looked at them. His smile was as warm as the sun shining brilliantly in the sky.