WeTried Translations x Flame Comics
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 136: Duty and Succession (3)
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Gilles Ver’s tent was the largest and most lavish in the entire camp. After passing through the entrance, where military banners and house flags hung crossed, Gilles Ver sauntered over and took his seat.
“Sit wherever.”
“Mm.”
Ignoring Gilles Ver’s disdainful gesture, Ivan sat down and casually propped his feet up on the tea table. Gilles Ver’s eyebrow twitched.
“My armor.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
A servant approached and began removing his armor. Clunk, clunk. As the fastenings on the heavy armor came undone, Gilles Ver slowly shook his head.
“More leisurely.”
“...Pardon? Ah, yes, Your Highness!”
The servant began removing the armor at a turtle’s crawl. Oscar broke into a cold sweat.
What a childish contest of nerves. It was quite rude to do this in front of guests, and hardly befitting a noble.
He cautiously glanced at Ivan. Unexpectedly, Ivan looked perfectly calm.
With a clink, Ivan took a small metal object from his coat. On closer inspection, it was a comb. Ivan began combing his beard in an extremely relaxed manner, idly swinging the foot he had placed on the table as if this were his own bedroom.
When the strange contest finally ended, Gilles Ver grumbled as he watched Ivan continue combing his beard.
“Detestable bastard....”
“Are you done?”
“Yes!”
“Good. Let’s talk business.”
Ivan folded the beard comb, carefully wrapped it in a silk handkerchief, tied it securely, and tucked it into his coat.
This is driving me insane. Why did he even bring that?
Isabelle pressed a hand to her forehead.
“What business could you possibly have with someone who never sent a single letter despite being alive?”
“A letter...? Were you going through puberty? I had no idea.”
“Do you know that the Defender Duke has the power to order the summary execution of every person in this country? That is the power of a real noble, not some title a princess casually tossed your way.”
“You sound exactly like a teenager. Aging in reverse, are you? It’s good to see you getting younger as you age.”
“Do you two really not get along?”
At Isabelle’s question, both men looked at her and nodded at the same time.
Wow, they really do look close. That old man has friends. Unbelievable.
Isabelle shook her head and sat down. Once everyone had gathered around the table, Ivan lowered his legs and carefully wiped away his shoeprints.
“I’m not happy to see that bastard at all, but... Bella. It’s wonderful to see that you’re healthy. Has studying abroad been going well? There isn’t a single decent one among those Krasilov lot, so this uncle has been terribly worried.”
“Ah... yes... Thanks to Your Highness’s concern.”
“Your Highness?! Call me what you used to!”
“That... was when I was ten....”
“Come on!”
“Unca Gilles....”
“Adjutant! Adjutant! Bring me my safe! How much allowance do children need these days?!”
Watching him forget his age and make such a fuss, Ivan clicked his tongue. He must have truly wasted all those years. The Hero Party were all madmen, after all.
Beolgreen, Einar, and Enrika were all just as frivolous for their ages. Wasn’t maturing with time the basic nature of all living things? As the only normal person watching over that party, Ivan had suffered through quite a difficult time.
By the time Ivan finished reflecting, Gilles Ver was warmly greeting each member of the group.
It was a noble thing to do. Welcoming guests was a noble’s pride.
“Mm, Elphihara. It’s been a long time. Thank goodness you don’t take after your father.”
“Pardon...?”
“Honestly, aren’t you better than Beolgreen?”
“Ah... Hahaha!”
Or saying things like that.
“Aesidis! Oh... Einar’s child has grown so much.... Well, my sister-in-law had to be pretty.”
“Your sister-in-law? Einar is older than you, isn’t he?”
“Anyone your age who still isn’t married has no right to join this conversation.”
“This is making me dizzy.”
The conversation continued in that manner. Once he had finished welcoming every member of the Hero Party, Oscar quietly raised his hand, cold sweat running down his face.
“Father? I’m here too. I’ve returned after half a year as well....”
“Have you been well?”
“Yes... thanks to you.”
“Then that’s enough.”
Oscar nodded and lowered his hand. It was hard to tell which one was Gilles Ver’s child. Gilles Ver only smiled in satisfaction after stuffing a bundle of gold coins into Isabelle’s hands despite her refusal, then turned his attention back to the others.
“So, did you come to introduce these children? Are you preparing the next generation?”
“It’s still too soon.”
“What do you mean? They’ve grown splendidly.”
Gilles Ver looked over the group with warm eyes. They had become fine young people.
Their retirement had not been that long ago. In truth, they still considered themselves active. Even so.
Knowing that the next generation had grown like this was deeply satisfying, especially for a personal noble who could not pass down his title.
The Defender Duke’s title existed only alongside the office. It was a duty that could not be inherited. A Defender Duke was, by nature, a knight who protected the nation. It had to be earned through ability, not status.
Of course, as one descended from the royal family, his son would inherit the ducal title. But what meaning was there in being a duke in name only, a statutory noble with neither land nor office?
Oscar had grown remarkably. That was enough. Gilles Ver had not been pleased when he sent Oscar abroad to study, but it was different if Ivan was at that school.
Ivan was not especially good at teaching people, but he was at least someone Gilles Ver could trust.
“Dismiss the others.”
Ivan tapped the table.
“Everyone, leave. I have something to discuss with the Duke of Etakrikh.”
“Hmm....”
Gilles Ver nodded to the servant glancing at him. Only after the servant and the group had left the tent did Ivan meet his gaze.
“What are you doing?”
“Hunting a dragon.”
“Why is it taking so long?”
“Because it flies. On top of that, annoyingly enough, it’s nocturnal. Want to come tonight?”
“Lady Itouale asked me to. She said you were careless, so I should help you.”
Ivan looked at Gilles Ver with icy eyes. Yet scattered within those cold eyes were fragments of concern and doubt.
“What are you after?”
“What do you mean? I’m just...”
“No, stop with the pretty words. This force is excessive for hunting one dragon. I saw that your supplies had been cut off on the way here. It couldn’t be cheap to maintain this many troops. The Eastern Knights alone should have been enough from the beginning.”
How many troops were generally needed to face a dragon? Accurate historical records existed on that subject.
With ordinary soldiers, trained professional troops, one needed roughly three to four thousand.
Dragons could use magic, breathe fire hot enough to melt castle walls, and fly through the sky. Their scales could easily stop spears and swords even without enhancement, and with magic, they could defend against artillery as well.
If one had to compare them to something, they were closer to bombers. Without anti-aircraft batteries, bombers were infantrymen’s nightmares. So, with preparations sufficient to engage a dragon flying through the sky, a force of around three to four thousand soldiers could manage it.
That was a story about ordinary people.
Gilles Ver and the Eastern Knights he led required a different calculation.
Gilles Ver was strong enough to hunt a dragon alone. If the Eastern Knights joined him, even if more than ten dragons appeared, they could eliminate them without losses.
The force was excessive. Leading this many troops on campaign had weakened the supply lines, to the point that the great nobles could hurt him simply by exploiting that gap and scheming behind his back.
There was no way Gilles Ver did not understand the importance of supplies. During the war, nothing had been a greater enemy to soldiers than logistics.
“Hmm.”
The smile vanished from Gilles Ver’s face. He let out a quiet sigh, his expression stiff.
“Ivan, this could be construed as meddling in internal affairs. Just take your time sightseeing and go home.”
“I can’t do that.”
“I’m not saying this for my sake. If you get involved in this, you’ll see some ugly things. The retirement you wanted badly enough to hold your own funeral will become impossible.”
“I don’t care.”
Ivan firmly shook his head and looked Gilles Ver straight in the eye.
“Count Orléans, Count Grandmartel, and Count Vermonfort. I heard the three of them are trying to remove you. Wasn’t the whole situation strange from the beginning? A dragon appears at exactly the right time and sends you outside the royal capital.”
“Yes, it was deliberate. They wanted to get me out of the way. Isn’t that obvious? I don’t know where or how they obtained a dragon, but they must have prepared for a long time.”
Gilles Ver shrugged.
“I deliberately went hunting, dragged things out, and drew my forces away. With me gone, those bastards will no longer hide their ambitions. I know.”
“Then why...?”
“Legitimacy, Ivan. To nobles, that matters most. It is the only thing of value.”
Having power did not mean one could immediately lead troops and execute nobles. That was impossible not only for the Defender Duke, but even for the king of this country.
Power did not guarantee a system. A social order had to be established under reason and law. A society where power itself became the basis for every action would ultimately be no different from the demonfolk.
Look at the demonfolk. The moment the Demon King died, they scattered. With their central figure gone, the demonfolk warlords willingly stabbed and devoured their former comrades for the remaining scraps of profit.
Would humans be any different? If the ruler’s strength became the basis of authority, that could not be called a nation.
The Defender Duke was a title meant to protect the country.
It granted the greatest authority and the greatest duty to the strongest person. It was a tremendous honor and, at the same time, a tremendous shackle.
The rights of a personal noble could not be passed down to descendants, and even the royal family could not ignore his authority. Yet it all ended with him.
Even burdened by those shackles, Gilles Ver had willingly given up every other right due to him. To protect the kingdom.
Protecting a country did not simply mean blocking foreign enemies. It included protecting the nation’s heart, its system, its laws, and every citizen who believed in them and lived under them.
The strong could not be allowed to exploit the weak as a matter of course. Every matter arising when people dealt with one another had to be settled on rational grounds.
That was Gilles Ver’s duty. He would not personally execute the nobles who restrained him and gnawed away at the country. He would only wait until they acted.
Like a lion before the hunt, lying in wait silently. Without even breathing, utterly still.
So that foolish prey could roam about without fear.
When that moment came, this country would become his hunting ground.
“...Right. I suppose you have your own plans.”
Ivan shook his head and leaned back in his chair. Thinking about it, Gilles Ver had understood politics better than anyone else in the Hero Party.
That was excluding Beolgreen, of course. Elves were political creatures simply by being alive.
Gilles Ver snickered at Ivan’s words.
“Oh, right. Do you know where that dragon has made its nest?”
“I heard it was in the Vernina Mountains.”
“The largest and most rugged range in the northeast. But you see....”
Gilles Ver grinned and spoke in a suggestive tone.
“A strange structure was found near its nest.”
“A strange structure?”
“We searched every possible shelter it might use as a nest nearby, and we found something strange in one cave.”
He tapped a corner of the map.
“Traces of an underground structure that was never recorded. You’ve seen something like that before, haven’t you?”
“...A dungeon.”
“Yes. Doesn’t it bring back memories?”
“Hmm....”
Considering the map’s scale, the points Gilles Ver had marked were quite far apart.
If all those points were part of one structure, it could potentially span most of the underground beneath the mountain range.
Like a dwarven city. A dungeon of that scale, with no record of it.
Digging beneath a mountain range and constructing buildings was not something an ordinary workforce could accomplish. It was closer to a massive undertaking that required labor on the scale of an entire nation.
The fact that something like that lay buried beneath earth and stone without appearing in any records meant only one thing. Ivan already knew of ruins of that kind.
He had often seen them when he traveled with the Hero Party.
They were ruins from ancient times, when gods walked the earth. From the days when today’s religions were treated as nothing more than individual sects.
Ancient vaults filled with unimaginable treasures. And according to academy common sense, this was likely a level-up event.
‘Was it a linked quest...?'
Ivan could not help smiling when he saw Gilles Ver’s grin.
Right, he was saying he would yield this to the youngsters of their generation. What a shameless bastard.
“The hunt comes first. Lady Itouale wants you to return home now. Lady Etakrikh likely feels the same.”
“Mm, well. I’ve stalled long enough. Since the supply line was cut, those bastards seem ready to move soon.”
“Then let’s finish this quickly.”
They still did not know what the great nobles had prepared. It was impossible even to guess.
There was no way this country possessed a method to kill Gilles Ver out in the field while he led the Eastern Knights.
Therefore, Ivan had to stay with Gilles Ver until this operation was over.
Even if a plan capable of killing Gilles Ver truly existed, their arrangements could not possibly account for Ivan as well.
Back when the Hero Party had a scout they could trust, they had even broken through the strongholds of the Seven Dragon Generals without suffering losses.
According to Krasilov tactical doctrine, when one possessed sufficient strength, one should voluntarily walk into the enemy’s trap. That way, they could face the very best their enemies had prepared.
Footnotes:
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