WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 94: 14. The King's Silence (12)

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"Counterintelligence, the Counterintelligence Command...?! I clearly saw them leave Pritchenkaya, so how...?!"

Darkness was not quiet. The tense breathing of the nobles filling the salon, the frantic beating of their hearts, all of it assaulted the ears.

At this point, he could distinguish friend from foe by their heartbeats alone. That was why Ivan preferred night raids. Agents who had received sufficient training could identify the enemy without markers.

In the dead of night, an interior stripped of all light was dark enough to blur even its outlines. It would not be enough to disrupt a superhuman's heightened senses, but anyone unaccustomed to darkness training could not avoid a decline in combat ability.

Every agent here had received Ivan's personal "help" with darkness training.

"I will see the results of your training."

The agents flinched at Ivan's words.

"There will be no limits on your field of fire. In the sacred name of the Krasilov Royal Family, I will carry out judgment for the crimes of civil insurrection and treason committed here. From this moment on, your guns and swords will be blind."

-Sshing.

Ivan slowly raised the axe blade.

His voice was flat and numb as he finished speaking into the darkness.

Their guns and swords would be blind. In other words, they were not to consider differences in rank.

The moment Ivan finished, the agents drew their weapons. Startled, the nobles staggered back toward the center of the hall.

"Stop! You cannot do this! I am this country's Minister of State Affairs! Such barbarity without even a trial!"

"A trial?"

"Yes! It has only been days since we declared that even the royal family is equal under the constitution! If I have committed a crime, it should be addressed openly, under the law! I demand a trial!"

"Granted."

Ivan stepped toward the shouting duke.

"Under authorization from the sacred Krasilov royal family, I will now pass sentence upon the criminal under the Counterintelligence Command's emergency judicial authority. Do you have a defense?"

"What is this...! Are you playing some kind of joke on me...?!"

"The criminal's defense is concluded. Witness, do you have anything to add?"

Dmitry, standing beside him, answered with a broad grin.

"I will serve as witness! The sentence I pronounce is death!"

"Stop! What nonsense are you talking about?! What is this supposed to...?!"

"Under the witness of an officer from the Command vested with judicial authority, this trial will be formally submitted to the royal family. The sentence I pronounce is death."

Ivan raised his axe toward the duke. Just as he was about to bring it down, a sword shot out from the side.

He could gauge the direction of the attack from the sound of the blade cutting through the air alone. Ivan quickly leaned his head back and stepped away.

"Your turn has not come yet."

"The third son of Viscount Yermof."

Count Yelchinopov kept his sword raised as he bit down hard on his lip.

"That cannot be. I remember your voice now. Ivan Petrovich... Ivan the Executioner. You are alive?"

"The Executioner...?! He was alive?!"

The duke shouted in terror. Count Yelchinopov clicked his tongue and retreated.

"I confirmed the body myself. You should have been dead."

"..."

"What is it? Right, there is no need to speak with a corpse. That is like you."

Yelchinopov gave a dry laugh and held his sword at an angle.

"I cannot survive against you. Yes, now that I see that axe, I understand. Let us negotiate."

"Negotiate?"

"Spare me. I do not want to die."

"That is called begging."

Cracks spread across the count's expression. He bit his lip and continued.

"What do you think will happen to this country if you kill us all? Hm? Every noble here is a landed noble. Do you think the nobility will remain still once they learn of our executions? Do you believe the kings who have ruled this country until now spared nobles because they were fools?"

His words were true. They could not execute nobles thoughtlessly.

Not because of the law, but because their power came from their territories. There was a reason the Crown Prince faction's nobles had not been killed even when the Crown Prince had attempted a coup.

Assassinating a noble in the capital was easy. Hiding their death was not.

Every noble living in the capital was a senior official in the administration. If such people were killed and the news leaked, the landed nobles would rise up at once.

This country could not endure another war. With even the military divided among the factions of each noble house, a country with no true central army could not withstand a civil war.

That was why the nobles here had never imagined the Princess would dare do this.

But this had been a two-pronged operation from the beginning.

"The Counterintelligence Command is outside Pritchenkaya."

"What...?"

"You did not think the agents here were the full strength of this Command, did you?"

There was no need to explain this. It was not the efficient conduct expected of a trained agent.

For some reason, Ivan wanted the nobles here to die after tasting a little more unpleasant... despair.

These traitors.

He did not want to see them smiling to themselves, leaving behind final words that said, "You're finished!" Their downfall deserved to be far more miserable.

"Count Yelchinopov. You have two sons and a daughter."

"W-why bring that up now...?"

"Other than the son in Pritchenkaya, you have one son and a young daughter in your territory. Congratulations. Your daughter has inherited your city, Nizhgorod."

"What?"

"The Yelchinopov countship of Nizhgorod will now be governed by your daughter. The professional personnel of this Command have decided to support the unfortunate administrative vacancy without compensation. Be grateful for the royal grace."

Ivan turned his head toward Duke Sheremov.

"All your children have grown, but your son born out of wedlock is still an infant. The Sheremov duchy of Yelavinsk has now passed to that son. Close your eyes without worry. Your other two sons will soon follow you."

"Y-you murderer! You filthy hired killer, how dare you, how dare you!!"

"How dare I."

Ivan's eyes burned a vivid blue in the darkness.

"How dare you traitors who sought to violate the authority of the royal family. How dare you, who gnawed away at the legacy built by the previous king, who gave everything in the last war. How dare you vermin, who craved rights without accepting the duties of peace."

"I was on that battlefield too! Do you think you fought the war alone? Hm? Everyone here is a war hero! We all poured every last asset into the war and won the rights we deserved!"

"The only duty you showed was pouring wine over soldiers' corpses!"

Ivan bared his teeth and snarled.

He remembered what the nobles in the rear had done.

Because of this year's poor harvest.

Because the tenant farmers were lazy.

Because magic bandits swarmed the roads made dangerous by the long war.

He remembered the nobles of the rear territories offering excuses as they tossed out rotten food like it was charity. It arrived days late even then, and he remembered the soldiers forced to take up spears and swords while starving.

He remembered the victory banquets.

Even while one front burned at the hands of the Seven Dragon Generals, they held extravagant feasts to celebrate a single local victory and boast of their greatness.

He remembered the nobles' greasy lips. While even the Royal Guard survived on thin gruel, the lips of a "supply lieutenant colonel" who strutted about were slick with oil.

He remembered the greatest king in history.

Though he knew everything, he remembered the king gathering every last ounce of strength he had, even the strength needed to punish the nobles in the rear, and personally leading the campaign at the front.

He remembered that giant sharing the food of common soldiers and giving Ivan even the refreshments prepared as a small luxury.

So how dare they.

How dare the nobles of a country preserved beneath that man's sacrifice gather here, hoping to lay their hands on his granddaughter.

A trained agent did not act according to emotional fluctuations.

So, at this moment, Ivan acted not as a trained agent, but as one surviving soldier of the Royal Guard.

"I will ask one last time. Where does your loyalty lie?"

"To this country, to this country's royal family...!"

-Slice.

Ivan's hand blurred. The axe blade shot out in an instant, struck the duke's Adam's apple, and passed through.

Even the count standing right before him could not react to that speed. Not a drop of blood clung to the axe blade as it glided past like flowing water.

Ivan spun the axe once, repositioning it as he spoke.

"Even if it was a lie, you will die as a loyal subject. It is an end that does not shame your noble blood. Be grateful for the royal grace."

"Ivan Petrovich!!"

The sword came down toward his head. Ivan leaned back, slipped clear of its path, and retreated.

The exhaustion from his duel with Adel had not faded. His muscles screamed, his joints creaked, and his overloaded nervous system rang sharply.

It did not matter. A trained agent did not stop an operation unless he died, and fortunately, Ivan was still alive.

At least, he intended to remain alive longer than these men.

-Clang!!

He tangled his axe with the blade and knocked it aside.

Count Yelchinopov's face twisted. How? His strength, his mana reserves, his condition, all of it was ruined enough that it would not have been strange for him to collapse at any moment. How could he possibly?

Was the difference really this vast? No. It could not be. He was a knight who had trained with the sword his entire life, a great noble whose body had been strengthened with elixirs and magical artifacts.

Nobles were not weak. A bloodline that had built up such a long history could never be frail.

Yet he was being pushed back by this man, who was nearly dead. His sword was forced away. Each time the axe swung, he could barely keep up.

Why?

-Clang!!

Sparks flew again. His vision flickered in the brief flash that burst whenever their blades met. Count Yelchinopov looked straight at Ivan, glaring right in front of him, and realized.

It was neither a difference in mana nor a difference in strength. Only one thing moved that man now.

Duty.

Forcing a scrap of mana through his body, endlessly accelerating a nervous system overloaded to the point of snapping, dragging torn muscles and crushed joints into motion.

His whole body must have been wracked with pain enough to shatter him, yet even so.

He swung the axe faster, brought it down harder, and drove his assault onward.

In skill and in will, he had lost to this man.

-Clang!!

At last, the sword was knocked away. Count Yelchinopov laughed weakly.

The axe blade slipped into the back of his neck, then withdrew.

Ivan shoved the collapsing count over with his shoulder and looked around, axe still in hand.

"..."

The sobbing of resigned nobles and the tense stares of the agents were clear even in the darkness.

Ivan cracked his neck and opened his mouth.

"Are you waiting for me to finish everything? Or was your darkness training insufficient?"

Startled by his words, the agents seized their weapons and rushed the nobles.

There was no unexpected resistance. Ivan had already identified everyone who might resist.

Every so often, Ivan shot those attempting to use seditious relics, inherited artifacts, or magic as he surveyed the room.

Their training was not as poor as he had expected.

That was all he thought.

"This brings back memories, sir."

"Dmitry."

"Her Highness said to bring both of you to her once this is over."

"To the East Court?"

"No, to the royal castle. She said she would permit you an audience with His Majesty. Will you go now?"

"I will."

Ivan turned and walked away. Dmitry followed at his side and draped a coat over Ivan's shoulders.

"It is chilly, sir."

"It is summer."

"Then loosen that expression. Is this not a good day?"

The sky outside the estate was clear without a single cloud. A large moon rippled high above.

The faint smell of grilling meat drifted in from beyond the streets.

The clash of weapons and the nobles' screams gradually faded, until silence finally settled over the surroundings.

Walking through the familiar city streets at night, Ivan nodded.

The Crown Prince faction in Pritchenkaya would never gather again.

Every noble who had doubted the Princess's authority was gone, and those nobles' territories would be put to more "efficient" use under royal administration.

The peace this country had long desired had finally arrived. There was no longer any threat of civil war. It would have been better to find the missing Crown Prince, but even if he returned, he had already lost his base of support.

So now, at last, this city was peaceful. Pritchenkaya and the Krasilov Royal Family had succeeded in completely resolving their internal troubles.

"Yes. It is a good day."

Only then did Ivan nod. Dmitry snickered and whistled.

Soon, a carriage came racing down from the end of the street and stopped before them.

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