WeTried Translations x Flame Comics
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 134: Duty and Succession (1)
──────
* * *
As Ivan had reflected before, the Maximilian he remembered was a man straight out of a typical JRPG hero story. Bright, kind, and upright. The kind of picture-perfect Hero who might have appeared in a 1990s RPG.
Gilles Ver de Etakrikh, on the other hand, was more like the protagonist of an old-fashioned hero story.
A country knight from an insignificant house who came to the capital, earned a title through his own strength and skill, joined the Hero Party after the Demon King rose to power, and even married a princess.
If it had been a fairy tale, it would have been a perfect story from beginning to end. Ivan sometimes thought of it bitterly.
Because if that man's life were told as a fairy tale, it would be a rather cruel one.
-I am... Huff... Gilles Ver of Tilles...! An Initiate Knight of the Eastern Knights... Hngh! An invested knight of Saint Clovis...! Huff!
Ivan had first met Gilles Ver at the entrance to a fortress shattered by a Taurus invasion.
The first scene he remembered began with a knight's cry. Dressed in blood-soaked armor, he stood with a half-broken shield and spear held upright.
-I stake my name, my house, my country, and the name of my lord. Huff...! Here and now, though I spend my one life... Huff! I swear upon what honor I have left...!
Gilles Ver tore off his helmet, flung it to the ground, and swept back his hair.
He bound his sweat- and blood-soaked hair behind his head, shook his head a couple of times, then stood tall.
Taurus corpses lay strewn around him. Alone before the fortress gate, he held his spear and faced forward.
Countless Tauruses snorted in excitement. They stomped the ground as though ready to charge at any moment.
Before that overwhelming violence, enough to make any man's knees buckle, Gilles Ver shouted with blazing eyes.
-A hundred will die beyond this point!!
His spear scraped sharply across the ground. The Tauruses who had entered through the shattered outer wall faced off against the lone knight on the drawbridge before the inner gate.
Starting with whoever came first, in order, exactly one hundred.
He did not think he could kill more than that. But he would reach that number before he died.
The young, inexperienced knight made that resolute declaration and raised his spear.
In the battle that should have gone down as the Eastern Front's most terrible defeat, the fortress Gilles Ver defended held fast after three days of fierce fighting.
When Ivan and Beolgreen arrived, Gilles Ver stood before a mountain of corpses, asleep on his feet with his eyes closed.
That was why Ivan had thought the man was the Hero. Gilles Ver had likely thought so too. Until Maximilian appeared, no one could deny his nobility or strength.
What light could be called radiant before the sun? Gilles Ver's tragedy began there.
He came from an insignificant house and had dared to make a woman of the royal family his wife, so he had needed to prove his worth time and again.
He was a husband who cherished, loved, and remained faithful to the wife who had become his shackles, all his life.
He was a knight who remained loyal even to the royal family that had gradually begun to look down on him after comparing him with Maximilian and finding him less useful.
Nobility and inferiority, a desire for recognition and diligence, boldness and timidity, all tangled together. He was a deeply human knight.
Which was why, in Ivan's view...
Had this complicated man, impossible to define in a single sentence, been a knight in a fairy tale, he might have remained an even more brilliant model of chivalry.
Unfortunately, this world was too cruel a place for people from fairy tales.
Even after the Demon King died, when he returned as one of the strongest men in the world.
Even when his reputation, achievements, and personal strength had already surpassed the authority of the royal family.
Even when he had a wife of royal bloodline and a grown son, in a position where he could have claimed a right of succession to the Tilles royal family if he wished.
Even when he was named Defender Duke and granted the title of Etakrikh (étatcri), receiving orders to stand as a shield before every arrow aimed at the royal family.
-I so vow.
Even as the royal sword touched both his shoulders and was lowered, he quietly bowed his head and swore.
He was a knight of Tilles.
He was the knight of the Hero Party.
He was a knight.
That was the simplest sentence Ivan could think of to define the man. Nothing needed adding, and nothing could be taken away.
No one but him could call himself a knight. He swore loyalty, faith, diligence, and chastity, while suffering from the pain and anguish of being human, from inferiority and insecurity. He was forever tormented by those conflicting emotions.
And yet he did not break. He merely vowed to do what was right, humbling himself as he did so. Gilles Ver had lived his life trying to prove himself. He was that kind of knight.
EP 21. Duty and Succession.
Pavel stood at the train station with a tired expression, alongside men who looked even more exhausted. Ivan spotted them, briefly left his group, and approached.
“Well, if it isn't our busy commander.”
“Pavel, are the preparations complete?”
“Who do you think I am?”
Pavel waved a hand. The men standing stiffly beside him answered in trembling voices.
“R-reporting! As ordered, we've put every bat around Lady Itouale's estate under surveillance!”
“Quiet.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“Agents these days don't seem to understand what it means to be quiet.”
Ivan gave a brief shake of his head. Pavel grinned at the sight.
“How can they answer comfortably when the commander himself has come out to direct the operation? They were shaking just from hearing your name.”
“Hmm.”
“Did I ever tell you why I became captain of the Royal Guard?”
“No.”
Ivan's indifferent response made Pavel grin.
“Having a diligent superior over me was too exhausting, so I figured I'd take the highest seat myself and live as leisurely as possible.”
“And?”
“I've been thinking I ought to become commander of the Counterintelligence Command soon too. Our commander is far too diligent.”
A reigning monarch's prince consort could not hold an official post, especially one connected to the military. After Ivan married Elizaveta, the position of commander of the Counterintelligence Command would naturally fall to Pavel.
Everything was going according to plan. Pavel said with a sly grin, “I've planted moles among the three snakes too, and we'll personally oversee Lady Itouale's safety. Before long, Count Grandmartel will receive some sad news concerning his son's disappearance.”
“How do you intend to approach him?”
“We'll tempt him by guaranteeing support. For now.”
“What about the Eastern Front?”
“I've sent a few people there too. The Foreign Intelligence Bureau is as unreliable as ever, but they say they'll do their best. All we can do is trust them.”
According to what Eugene had confirmed, Count Grandmartel had at least some kind of connection to the demonfolk.
It was impossible to know how far that connection extended, but the investigation had to begin with Count Grandmartel.
Pavel looked Ivan in the eye and slowly nodded.
“So don't worry and go. I'll personally submit the report to Her Highness. Hunting a dragon, huh? Hell, that's exactly the sort of job I should be taking.”
“You?”
“What? You didn't know why my spear is called the Dragonstrike Spear? One jab from this, and dragon or whoever, bam.”
Pavel chuckled and patted Ivan on the shoulder. Ivan casually avoided his hand, gave a light nod, and left.
Pavel watched Ivan and his group disappear into the crowd, then turned away.
“Assign someone to him. Someone quick.”
“Yes, Deputy Commander.”
“Tch. There must be something going on whenever that bastard is in such a hurry. He's unnecessarily tight-lipped.”
Pavel scratched his head and grumbled. Having a diligent superior in his later years really was exhausting.
For someone so meticulous and thorough, Ivan had remarkably bad luck. Pavel could not help worrying about him.
As his older brother, he could hardly sit still. He needed to arrange at least one line of support in case of an emergency.
If that bastard came back beaten to a pulp again, the Princess would hole herself up somewhere out of sight and sob.
“He should just get married and retire already.”
The fool had a habit of stepping into the mud for no reason. It was nerve-racking just to watch him. He could rest as comfortably as he pleased, yet he insisted on doing this.
Pavel snorted and shook his head. He was hardly one to talk.
* * *
“Brother, there's something I need to tell you.”
“Say it.”
Ivan nodded as he read the report. Inside the rattling train carriage, Eugene spoke in a low voice.
“You know that quest that appeared this time? Do you remember one of the additional objectives, [Keep the total number of destroyed estates at fifteen or fewer.]?”
“Hmm.”
“We've already lost two. [2/15].”
“...”
It meant at least two estates had been destroyed.
Ivan set down the report and frowned. Even with Gilles Ver there, that had happened? Against just one dragon?
Dragons were, of course, incredibly powerful creatures. As individual beings, they had almost no natural predators.
But their greatest weakness was that they were territorial creatures. It was rare for more than one dragon to settle in the same territory. In other words, if one had appeared, it was the only one nearby.
One dragon could never threaten Gilles Ver.
“You know, that Hero Party knight. Mr. Gilles Ver. One of the quest objectives was to keep him alive.”
“Don't tell me he's dead?”
“No. He's still listed as alive, but the fact that we have to keep him alive means...”
“It means he could die. I know.”
“Then doesn't that mean one dragon isn't the problem?”
“Correct.”
Ivan nodded. Wasn't that obvious?
“It said, ‘The seed of a long war, continuing since the Eastern Front, is now beginning to ignite.’”
“Yes.”
“It is the Tauruses.”
The long war on the Eastern Front had been waged by the orcs and Tauruses. The races once ruled by Tumor of Mount Tai. Before Maximilian killed Tumor, they had literally crushed every country east of Tilles.
After Tumor's death, they had lost power and split apart, which should have made them even easier to handle.
This was within the expected range from the start.
‘The Tilles royal family won't fundamentally collapse just because someone is playing puppet master behind the princes.’
The central objective of this mission was ensuring the survival of the Tilles Royal Family. That meant the hostile faction was trying to bring down the royal family.
To overthrow the royal family, the first step would naturally be removing the Defender Duke. At the very least, they needed to draw Gilles Ver's attention elsewhere.
The dragon's appearance had been suspiciously well timed. If this too was part of the three grand counts' plan, their objectives and actions would likely look something like this.
1. Use the dragon's rampage to bind Gilles Ver and the Eastern Knights in one place.
2. Join hands with the Taurus tribes and create tension on the Eastern Front.
3. While the Eastern Front's legions are tied down by the demonfolk, seize the empty capital.
4. Drive out the royal family and take Tilles for themselves.
In other words, if the three grand counts truly intended to finish off the royal family, this was the broad strategy that could be inferred from Eugene's quest.
“What we need to do hasn't changed.”
“Hunt the dragon? Wouldn't it be better to go after the grand counts directly in this situation?”
“The risk is too great. We're foreigners.”
It would very likely be seen as interference in domestic affairs. Until their treason surfaced, those men were still the princes' supporters.
Assassinating them directly would create a serious problem of interference in domestic affairs. The quest's reward was [Extend the continued existence of the Allied Kingdoms by ten years]. If they acted that way, it could instead shatter the alliance between Krasilov and Tilles.
So there was ultimately only one way to resolve the situation smoothly and bring it to a soft landing.
“If we bring Gilles Ver's dragon hunt to an early end and return to the capital, their plan will end in failure.”
The grand counts' plan began by tying Gilles Ver down. The moment that failed, their treason would be stopped before it began.
After that, we could hunt down the nobles with the Defender Duke's authority behind us. The dispute over the succession would end as soon as Gilles Ver returned, so there would be no need to bear the burden of interfering in domestic affairs.
That was what Maria's request had meant. It would be the most effective move Ivan could make as a foreigner.
The only variable was whatever might cause Gilles Ver to die.
There was no point worrying about that now. There was too little information, and Ivan could not even imagine a means capable of killing Gilles Ver in this age.
‘Unless one of the Seven Dragon Generals steps in personally.’
Ivan looked over his group, who were chattering away, nodding off, or staring blankly out the window, and shook his head.
That was impossible. No Seven Dragon General would be insane enough to set foot in Tilles while Maximilian was alive and well.
What worried him was common sense.
‘They're still first-years.’
Even Harry Potter had not fought the British Heavenly Demon to the death in his first year, so there was no way the final boss battle had already been arranged.
‘Still.’
Ivan considered Eugene quietly. He had expected the boy to be useful, but he was even more capable than expected. With a little more training, he might make a decent agent.
The Status Window provided not only a person's real name and race, but also whether a specific person was alive or dead. Depending on Affinity, it offered broader information about a person's condition.
Under the specific condition of a quest, it could even provide briefings on battlefield conditions that changed in real time.
‘If he can survive after deployment to an operational area, this boy could become the finest early-warning system, regardless of his training.’
After that brief reflection, Ivan reopened the report and began reviewing the materials summarizing Tilles's military facilities.
* * *
[Ivan Petrovich Yermof]
[Affection toward Individual: Yevgeny Novikov Karamzin]
[29 (Neutral)]
“...What?!”
Inside the carriage, which had fallen quiet, Eugene jolted upright in shock.
Why had the score gone up so much?!
His Affection had gone up? Why?
Eugene stared at Ivan with horror in his eyes.
Calm down. It could be a misunderstanding. No, even if it isn't, so what? Even if Brother has that kind of preference. Right, I'm an Earthling. I can understand it. All I have to do is refuse, right?
Eugene instinctively buried himself in his seat.
“What is it?”
Ivan's cold eyes fixed on Eugene. Eugene bit his lip and carefully chose his words.
“By any chance, and I really mean by any chance...”
“Speak.”
Had the situation changed? Ivan narrowed his eyes and waited.
“Aren't we all from Earth? The twenty-first century, I mean.”
“...?”
“We're Korean! And of course I don't discriminate against anyone based on sexual orientation. I mean, I'm completely straight, but that doesn't mean I discriminate against people for that sort of thing.”
“...?”
Eugene squeezed his eyes shut and forced out the words.
“By any chance, are you gay...?”
After all, Isabelle's Affection was only twenty-seven, even though she had made kimchi for Ivan and even burst into tears in front of him.
Every woman who followed him around every day saying she liked him had Affection in the twenties. The person with the highest Affection was his long-dead former king. According to the statue's description, he had been a huge, muscular man.
Why had he never even suspected it until now? Eugene cautiously opened his eyes.
“...”
Five seconds.
After only five seconds of meeting Ivan's gaze, he reconsidered. Ah, those were absolutely not the eyes of a man looking at someone because he was gay.
The stare was so chilling that he could feel killing intent.
“Or not...!”
“...”
Ivan silently turned away and resumed reading the report. Wiping away his cold sweat, Eugene cautiously tapped the Status Window.
[Ivan Petrovich Yermof]
[Affection toward Individual: Yevgeny Novikov Karamzin]
[27 (Neutral)]
‘So this isn't judged by Affection...’
It was usefulness!
Then the two-point deduction was because he had said something stupid and become slightly less useful.
Tch. Then that meant Miss Isabelle was useful enough to make kimchi dishes.
Eugene sighed and pressed a hand to his brow.
‘No, wait.’
Of the living people with more than fifty points, only two were women. Then those people were...
As Eugene agonized, the train crossed the Saint Matilene Plains of Tilles.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried