WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 115: The Rift of Time (5)

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Prisia was not the Empire's guardian Dragon, and every Emperor throughout history was a puppet whose personality had been overwritten by the First Emperor.

After calmly revealing the secret he knew, Alfred looked at the two with a grave expression. It was classified information that could split the Empire apart if it were true, yet the old mage did not seem flustered in the slightest. He remained calm, as if he had stopped being surprised by such things long ago.

Kyle, on the other hand, could only blink stupidly at the unbelievable reality before him. His head felt as though it would burst from the overload of information. More precisely, his mind refused to understand what he had just heard. More than ten years had passed since he fell into this world, yet he had never heard anything this shocking.

Elandor, which had endured for over a thousand years.

Its ruler, the Emperor... had actually been the same person from the beginning? And Progenitor Dragon Prisia had only been exploited by the First Emperor?

Kyle instinctively turned to the side. Elysia was staring at Alfred with vacant eyes.

It was obvious even from her expression how great the shock was. If Elysia, a member of the Imperial Family, reacted like that, then this was probably information known only to the Emperor and a tiny handful of others. The fact that the head of House Lucent, the Empire's most prestigious noble house, had been forced to die for learning the Imperial secret proved as much. It was a secret among secrets, one that could never be allowed to leak outside.

"Hm... Forgive me. I spoke too quickly. I couldn't accept it at first either, and I spent several days agonizing over it. It would be stranger if you accepted it without question."

Alfred gave a bitter smile. Kyle stared silently at the cup of water before him for a moment. The water inside had not decreased at all. He picked it up with trembling hands, wet his dry throat, then forced himself to speak.

"So... Prisia was never the Empire's guardian Dragon from the start? She wasn't the First Emperor's close friend, but someone he used unilaterally?"

Elysia, who had only now come back to her senses at Kyle's voice, looked at Alfred as if desperate for an answer. Unfazed by their almost accusatory stares, the old mage calmly nodded.

"That is correct. Hadn't you already suspected as much? If you have resonated with Prisia's Dragon Heart even once."

"And the First Emperor devoured the bodies of his descendants generation after generation?"

"Exactly as it sounds. Do you know Dawn, the Emperor's sword passed down through the Archandia Imperial Family?"

Kyle and Elysia nodded at the same time.

Dawn, the First Emperor's sword.

The vermilion sword, said to have been forged by melting down the light of early morning itself, was one of the treasures the Imperial Family valued most, alongside Prisia's Dragon Heart. In the Elandor Empire, Dawn, the symbol of legitimacy, was regarded as more important than the Emperor's crown. There was no need to explain how precious it was. It was said to have been completely steeped in the First Emperor's mana, making it fundamentally different from ordinary Solarium swords.

"That sword is the culprit that corrupted the bodies of every Emperor. It is nothing like the ceremonial crown, which is little more than decoration. The moment someone grips it, their mind begins to be eroded. Every Emperor was required to keep Dawn close, even while sleeping."

"Is that possible? A man who died over a thousand years ago interfering with later generations through a sword..."

Kyle asked in a doubtful tone.

"It isn't possible. Not for an ordinary human."

Alfred answered at once, then added,

"But the First Emperor was far from ordinary. Does it make any sense for an unknown commoner to appear out of nowhere, unite rulers from every region, and establish a unified kingdom? Even if Progenitor Dragon Prisia stood behind him, it was never something an ordinary person could accomplish."

"Then... Father gradually beginning to change at some point..."

Elysia, who had remained silent the entire time, finally spoke. It lasted only a moment. Her voice trailed off, and she bit her lip with a twisted expression.

She no longer called him the Emperor. For the first time, she used the word father. She had realized that the Emperor she had opposed until now was a separate person from her father. Watching her, Alfred spoke with pity.

"I'm sorry, child. You are probably right. The current Emperor and the Emperor of the past are likely completely different people. Usually, around ten years after ascending the throne, their minds are fully consumed. There is probably not even a faint fragment of their original self left anymore."

"...I see."

Elysia lowered her head deeply. Kyle glanced at her, then looked forward again and asked,

"How many people know about this?"

After a brief groan, Alfred rolled his eyes upward as he answered.

"I do not know how things are in the future you came from, but in my era, there were only two."

"One must be the First Emperor, who devoured his descendant's body... Who is the other?"

"Lorian Rovein, the head of House Rovein and the Chancellor at the time. He was the only person who shared the First Emperor's secret. Ah, that makes three if you include me. Though officially, I died and disappeared long ago."

The Elandor Empire had three ducal houses, the nation's founding contributors and pillars.

House Lucent, House Mortein, and House Rovein.

Though House Lucent had now declined to the verge of ruin, it had once been the Empire's greatest noble house and produced many outstanding mages. House Mortein was the opposite. It was a martial house that valued the sword above all else, to the point that Cassius Mortein, the head of House Mortein, was the current Commander of the Celestial Knights.

House Rovein, by contrast, had produced no exceptional swordsmen or mages. Instead, they were deeply involved in central politics. Most people born to House Rovein became high-ranking officials. Since they oversaw the Empire's major and minor affairs, they would have been the most suitable people to share secrets with the Emperor.

"If the head of House Rovein knew the First Emperor's secret, then they have likely maintained a cooperative relationship with the Imperial Family for generations."

"That would be so."

"Who exactly is the First Emperor? He subdued Progenitor Dragon Prisia and has changed bodies among his descendants for a thousand years. Is he truly human like us?"

Alfred could not answer immediately. After agonizing over it for a long time, he barely managed to speak.

"Who exactly the First Emperor is..."

"......"

"I cannot answer that either. There may not be anyone who knows for certain. Who he is, whether he is even human to begin with, what his purpose is, or what he wants. But..."

After a brief pause, he continued.

"There were rumors that he was something beyond human. An unknown commoner established a kingdom centered around Archandia through overwhelming force and charisma... Some said he was a divine messenger who represented the will of a transcendent being. Others said he was darkness itself, born from the deepest void. Or perhaps he was simply a hero of the age who was fortunate enough to encounter a great opportunity."

"Is that why every Emperor without exception started wars?"

"Yes. The First Emperor was strangely obsessed with wars of conquest. Since he has taken the bodies of his descendants for over a thousand years, perhaps it is not strange that he starts a war every time."

As Kyle continued speaking with Alfred, his gaze fell. At some point, he had gripped the cup covered in condensed droplets with both hands. Its cold surface pressed against his palms.

When Kyle did not continue his questions, a lonely silence settled over the wooden house. Elysia had remained silent ever since learning the truth about her father. The old mage quietly watched the two of them.

"That is all I know. What will you do now?"

Alfred broke the silence first. Kyle raised his head slightly and looked into the wrinkled golden eyes watching him.

What would they do...

There were many choices. Returning to their original future came first. Even after that, there were countless things Kyle could do. Yet from the past until now, Kyle had only been looking toward one thing.

"You told us your secret without holding anything back, so I suppose I have no reason to hide mine either."

"What do you mean...?"

Alfred looked confused, unable to understand what Kyle meant.

"I-Izra's Thorn?"

Kyle rolled up his sleeve and drew up mana without using his ring. Alfred's eyes widened as though they would tear apart when violet thorns burst through Kyle's skin in a shower. He slammed both hands on the table and rose from his seat. The old mage was genuinely horrified by the thorns protruding over the blood dripping down in beads.

"How...?"

"......"

"Izra's Thorn was forbidden by the Sacred Treaty even in my era..."

"It was the Empire's doing."

Kyle's voice sank low.

"Both I, the final Commander of the Knights of Ash, and my mentor, the previous Commander who was like a second father to me and has already died, fell victim to Izra's Thorn. And one of the sacrifices used to create them was Elysia's mother. A woman of House Lucent, your descendant."

Alfred's eyes shook violently. His gaze moved back and forth in confusion between Kyle's bleeding forearm and Elysia.

"There has only ever been one thing I wanted."

Kyle spoke to Alfred.

"Revenge."

"......"

"Both Elysia and I want the Empire to fall. We want the Emperor dead as well."

"That..."

"Even if they did not know the Emperor's secret, it does not change the fact that most Imperial nobles took part in wars of conquest. The people they massacred and killed will not return. They were blinded by the profits war brought them, and they did not feel even a trace of guilt."

The Emperor himself was no different.

The moment his personality was consumed by the First Emperor, he should have been considered dead. He was no longer Elysia's father. To Kyle, he was the one who had destroyed everything that had been his second family and his home. To Elysia, he was the culprit who killed both her father and mother, leaving her to flee alone to the Federation. The conclusion had been decided from the beginning.

"We will return to our original world."

"......"

"And once we return, we intend to finish what we still have to do."

"Even if death awaits at the end?"

Kyle nodded without the slightest hesitation. Elysia did the same. At their response, Alfred turned away with a troubled expression.

"The Emperor is certainly abnormal. He subdued Prisia and has lived for more than a thousand years."

He spoke in a heavy tone.

"But he is not all-powerful. Elandor did not become an Empire until well over five hundred years after Prisia's death. He must have limits. I do not believe this meeting is a coincidence. Meeting you in a past more than three thousand years ago may itself be part of Prisia's design. For some reason, I feel that strongly."

The old mage suddenly looked up. The fruit growing from branches that hung down like roots above his head gave off a faint glow.

Magical plants he had created by hand.

A sight he had watched for a year.

Yet it felt a little different now. Alfred neither liked nor believed in the word fate, but at this moment, he felt a powerful force at work. It was like an immense wave that could not be resisted. If fate truly existed, then surely this was what it felt like.

"I understand your resolve."

Alfred slowly lowered his gaze and looked at the two who still sat before him.

"I will help you return."

Kyle and Elysia looked at each other. When they turned forward again, Alfred was smiling gently at them.

"There may be a clue where you first woke up. A way to return to your original world. I was still the Empire's greatest mage, after all. Surely I can manage at least that much? If we are lucky, we may even be able to resolve Izra's Thorn."

Footnotes:

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