Chapter 70

Leinrant (3)

“When did you start preparing all this?”

Leinrant’s reinforcements.
And with the knight order strength—the very thing they had lacked most in the current situation—finally secured, preparations for the attack proceeded at lightning speed.

The plan was a surprise attack at dawn.
While Laia’s army drew attention, the knight orders would infiltrate and assassinate Helian.

“I hinted at it from the moment the first letter arrived. I kept sending updates afterward as well.”
“Then… you knew from the start that Helian would end up like this…?”
“I suspected it. Though I didn’t expect things to escalate this quickly.”

The departure was tonight.
As I stared at the setting sun outside the window, Laia’s voice reached me.

“Aren’t you scared?”

I turned my head at her words.
Laia was standing there.

“Scared of what?”
“Planning and moving everything by yourself like this.”

As she spoke, Laia’s shoulders shrank slightly.

“All these people moved because of your decisions. I…”

“The one who made the final decision was Father. I only made the suggestion.”

The final authority belonged to Heinkel.
I had merely acted as the scout.

“That’s…!”

Caught off guard by my flat response, Laia’s face flushed red.

“Still, thank you for the compliment.”

Leaving her speechless like that seemed amusing, but since I couldn’t just ignore the question, I brushed it off with a grin.

“You can still laugh in a situation this serious?”
“You’ve gotta laugh when you still can. We’re already dying from anxiety as it is.”

As I said that, I looked down below the fortress walls at the knights inspecting their weapons and chatting amongst themselves.

“Even now, I’m sitting here thinking, ‘What if this all goes wrong…?’ while stressing myself to death.”
“…What the hell? You’ve been acting all cool this whole time.”

Muttering that, Laia walked over to stand beside me.

“So you actually are human after all.”
“Pretty useful for a pretty-boy noble, aren’t I?”
“Pfft—Puhahaha?!”

At that, Laia burst out laughing.

“What? You were still holding onto what I said back then?”
“You complained about me smiling, and now you’re the one laughing.”

As I pouted slightly while saying that, Laia smacked my shoulder.

“When you fight, I thought you were some kind of tin man. You don’t even blink.”

Looking at her face as she said that, I quietly felt relieved.

‘Looks like she’s loosened up a little.’

Leading others places a burden far beyond imagination.
You become responsible for the lives, futures, and everything else of those who follow you.

‘Unlike me, whose mind’s already over forty inside, this must weigh even heavier on someone as young as Laia.’

With a single gesture of my hand, someone dies.
With a single word from my mouth, someone survives.

Some people are crushed beneath that weight and lose their way.
Others avert their eyes from it and devolve into monsters consumed only by greed.

That was how I had been in my previous life.
And it was exactly what Helian had become now.

But if someone overcame all of that, then they could become truly great.

Just as Berkel had.

They could become a hero.

“You don’t need to worry. We’ll win.”

I said that to Laia, who still hadn’t fully stopped laughing.

Then, as if the anxiety she had briefly forgotten came rushing back, she asked me,

“How can you say that so confidently?”

The spirit in her eyes.
The determination.

It was the same light I had once seen in Delline.

“Because justice always wins.”
“…?”

At my answer, Laia looked even more confused.

“Um… was that supposed to be a joke?”

She asked with an awkward expression.

Considering everything I had done to Helian, it was only natural.

Using a duel as an excuse to turn subordinates into madmen.
Assassinating her son.
Killing her knights.

A man who had used every means possible to achieve his goals was suddenly talking about justice.

“No. I’m serious.”

But no—
precisely because of that, I understood it better than anyone.

I was a villain who had met his end before the brilliance of heroes like Berkel.
And because of that, I could be certain of their fate.

Without fail… they would win.

“Leinrant’s knight orders joined Lady Laia?!”

At Count Pensta’s horrified shout, Helian frowned deeply.

“No, what the hell were the Leinrant branch families doing?! How could they fail to stop this—!”

As Count Pensta exploded in outrage, the administrator bowed his head and answered.

“A-Archduchess Priscilla dispatched inspectors to every house.”
“Inspectors?!”
“Y-Yes…”

When questioned again, the administrator continued while trembling violently.

“They barged in claiming there were suspicious connections between the noble houses and the Imperial political faction. So…”
“And because of something that trivial, you just stood there and watched Heinkel march over here?!”

This time it was Helian herself who raised her voice at the administrator.

“Priscilla, that bitch…!”

Her clenched fist tightened further.

Priscilla Elcrayer.
One of the Empire’s Five Chancellors had moved against her at the same time.

‘The inspectors were only there to buy time. While that happened, she maneuvered things so Heinkel could strike at me…!’

A level of swift action unimaginable from the Leinrant of the past.
Which meant only one thing—

Heinkel had already decided to kill her.

“What do you intend to do, Archduchess Helian?! Once the soldiers learn Leinrant has turned against us, morale will—!”
“Our numbers and knight orders are still superior!”

Helian rose from her seat, cutting Count Pensta off.

‘Just because a few swordsmen joined them, they’re making this much of a fuss?’

She hated everything about the situation.

The endlessly delayed civilian conscription.
The hesitant Imperial Army.

And those cowards overreacting just because they heard the name Leinrant!

“Fine. Maybe this works out better.”

Recalling the army gathered beneath her banner, Helian let out a vicious smile.

“If I kill that bastard Heinkel during this opportunity… taking Leinrant afterward will only be a matter of time.”

It was then—

“Y-Your Grace!”

One of the commanders in charge of the wall defenses came rushing over and threw himself to the ground before her.

“We’ve confirmed Lady Laia’s army! They’re currently forming ranks in front of the eastern gate!”

At the messenger’s report, Helian’s eyes widened.

‘This soon?!’

As someone who had pressured Leinrant for decades, Helian couldn’t help but be deeply shocked.

The invasion began almost simultaneously with the news of Heinkel’s arrival.
At the very least, it was nothing like the command style of the Heinkel she knew.

‘It’s not that bitch Laia either. Then this movement means…!’

Swift action that didn’t even allow time to respond.
Bold decisions.
And hidden within it all, a dagger-like move waiting to strike.

As far as she knew, there was only one person in Leinrant capable of schemes like this.

“Klein Leinrant…!”

Crunch!

At the sound of Helian grinding her teeth, Count Pensta widened his eyes.

“You’re saying all of this was planned by a brat who’s only fifteen?!”
“And wasn’t it because we were toyed with by that fifteen-year-old brat that things spiraled this far in the first place?”
“Ghk…!”

Just as Pensta found himself unable to respond—

KWA-BOOOOM—!

With a thunderous explosion, part of the mansion violently shook.

“What the hell?!”
“An earthquake?! Or a mage attack?!”

Amid the panicked soldiers, a horrified report reached Helian’s ears.

“I-Intruders inside the inner fortress! They’re carrying Leinrant’s banner!”

And at the same time—

“Y-Your Grace!”

Another messenger from the walls rushed in, throwing Helian into even greater confusion.

“Lady Laia’s forces have begun advancing! They are charging toward the walls!”

“I never thought we’d be visiting Paul Wyvern like this.”
“No kidding.”

The secret passage Laia had provided.
It had already been sealed off by Helian’s knights, but unfortunately for them, Heinkel was with us.

Rumbleeeee…!

An entire section of the stone wall collapsed, and Leinrant’s knights immediately surged through the opening.

“Damn it, what is— Gaaah?!”

Caught completely off guard by the ambush, one of Helian’s knights collapsed on the spot.

The main command belonged to Heinkel, while Delline acted as support.

“Damn it, why is Leinrant here?!”
“Form ranks! Knights, deal with them immediately—!”

Like a kicked hornet’s nest, soldiers and knights flooded out from every direction.

“What about the conscripted troops?”

At the question from beside me, I answered calmly.
As always, the Banshee’s Soul Map floated above my left hand.

“They aren’t here. Nothing but monsters empowered by Helian.”

“Then there’s no need to hold back.”

As soon as he said that, Delline drew his sword and swung upward toward the soldiers.

And—

KWA-BOOOOM—!

As though a giant had swung a blade, dozens of soldiers were blasted backward alongside a deafening explosion.

‘No matter how many times I see it, his mana reserves are monstrous.’

This wasn’t a spar or a duel.
This was Delline fighting in an actual war.

The overwhelming mana pouring from his body rendered formations and tactics meaningless.

When a single swing wipes everything away, how could ordinary soldiers possibly stop him?

Rumble…!

Even after sending dozens of knights flying, Delline’s sword aura still had power left over, carving deep scars into the surrounding walls and buildings.

“The Red Chariots will hold back the swarming soldiers. The Black Shields will clear the path.”

Heinkel spoke while looking down the route carved open by Delline’s strike.

“Delline.”
“I know.”

Perhaps because it had been so long since he’d fought seriously, Delline dusted off his hands and addressed the knights.

“The Thorn Hammers come with me. We need to prepare for Lady Laia’s forces!”
“Yes, sir—!”

The dozens of knights who received the order immediately sprinted toward the gate with Delline.

“Klein.”

The moment Heinkel called out to me, I answered at once.

“Helian is in the center of the fortress. Count Pensta is with her as well.”
“Good. Secure the count alive. I’ll handle Helian.”

Just as Heinkel finished speaking—

“No. I’m afraid you won’t be able to do that, Duke Heinkel.”

With a twisted voice, a group of knights revealed themselves.

“The Blue Roses… Helian’s knights.”

It was the Blue Rose Knight Order, the knight order Helian herself had established within Leinrant.

‘Though they’re no longer knights anymore. Just monsters.’

Pitch-black dead skin.
Bloodshot eyes.
And grotesque mana slowly oozing from their bodies.

Seeing their demonic appearance made me sigh involuntarily.

“Move aside. I don’t have time to waste wrestling with the likes of you.”
“Kahahaha!”

Mocking Heinkel’s cold voice, the knights all drew their swords at once.

And simultaneously—

GRAAAAAAH—!

With horrifying shrieks, the real monsters began appearing one after another.

“Undead…”

Collapsed masses of flesh whose original material couldn’t even be guessed.

But the poison they emitted would be lethal to knights.

“I’ll handle the undead.”

With those words, standing behind Heinkel, I immediately activated a summoning gate to call forth Skeletons.

“No. There’s no need.”

However, Heinkel raised a hand and stopped me before speaking.

“Now that Helian herself has become a monster, you are the one who understands these things best.”

“Conserve your strength.”

After saying that, Heinkel slowly drew the sword at his waist.

“No matter if you’re the Empire’s greatest knight!”
“There’s no way you can stop this many monsters!”

The knights shouted as their blades simultaneously targeted Heinkel’s neck.

“His Grace has drawn his sword.”
“Everyone evade! Brace for the shockwave!”

At those words, the knights and I instantly lowered ourselves.

Slash—!

As casually as brushing dust off his blade, Heinkel swung his sword in one broad horizontal arc.

And in the next moment, what we saw was—

“Huh?”
“W-What…?”
“N-No way…!”

Dozens of knights who had charged at Heinkel were sprawled across the ground—

split cleanly in half horizontally.