Chapter 124
Translator: Kell Editor: Weasalopes
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A Farewell Gift
Quinbland’s capital, G . Quinbland, was two times smaller than Ponsonia’s royal capital . Compare to G . Ponsonia’s crowded streets, G . Quinbland was well-organized .
These two nations had similar aristocracy, bureaucracy, and even laws and ordinances . But since Quinbland was founded later than Ponsonia, it was smaller overall, and therefore more organized . The empire studied Ponsonia, after all, so it made sense .
「Has there been any word from Unken?」
「There’s no need to be in a hurry, Your Majesty . It has only been a few days since you called for him . Unken’s loyalty is genuine . I’m sure he’ll be back with good news . 」
「But that Master Swordsman caused chaos and our army is in disarray . I want to know why Ponsonia retreated when they were winning . 」
Even though it was the middle of the night, light illuminated the spacious conference room . Only four men were present: the Prime Minister, the Minister of Military Affairs who wasn’t a military man, the Chief of the Intelligence Department, and the Emperor himself who sat on the most lavish chair gilded with gold .
「It’s only natural that I’m in a hurry . 」
About a hundred and fifty centimeters tall, the crown on his head looked too big for him . But it wasn’t because the emperor was young . He was, after all, seventy-two years old . Yet his face, in human standards, looked like that of a university student, or an adult who just started working .
His young appearance and short stature were due to him being a Man Gnome . Not many knew about this . As to why, the previous emperor Balzard—known as a tyrant and even now abhorred not only by the other nations, but the empire’s citizens as well—was, in fact, a Man Gnome . And the present emperor, Kaglai G . Quinbland, was also one .
「I understand how you feel, Your Majesty . 」the Prime Minister said . 「Anything from Intel Department?」
「We successfully made contact with Unken, but we have no info after that . 」the chief answered .
「Come now . You have to know that . 」the Minister of Military Affairs criticized . It was the usual from him . The man wanted the Intelligence Department—which was under Internal Affairs—to be transferred to Military Affairs instead .
「Sir Unken is a legendary man known as the Mist Assassin and the Silent Breeze . He’s beyond our grasp . 」
「I’m well aware of that . But your job is to keep track of him . 」
「It’s fine . I’m the one who summoned Unken, our trump card . It doesn’t matter what he does on the way . As long as he gives us information . 」
「Yes, Your Majesty . 」
「Our Emperor really is a benevolent man . 」
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The Chief straightened himself, and the Military Minister rubbed his hands together .
What a foolish man . Even in times of emergency, he can only think about expanding his power . The Prime Minister shot a glare at the Military Minister . Except the Emperor, all three of them were humans .
But was it really necessary to summon him? Unken, a Man Gnome over two hundred years old . The person His Majesty asked to kill his father .
Fifty years ago, the Empire was heading straight into ruins . The people suffered from heavy taxes, and the young ones were conscripted into the army . And yet Emperor Balzard continued to march his legion .
The likelihood of the Empire conquering the Kingdom of Ponsonia was high, but what would happen afterwards? Ponsonia was exhausted from defending . Even if they occupied the Kingdom, it wouldn’t recover rapidly .
If the other nations grouped up and attacked Quinbland then, the Empire was doomed . But there was a reason why foreign countries didn’t come to Ponsonia’s aid .
The matter was settled among the Man Gnome race . Kaglai, who was around twenty years old at the time, requested Unken to kill the Emperor .
It was top-secret information . Among the people present in this room, only the Prime Minister and the Emperor were privy to it . The Chief of the Intel Department and the Military Minister only knew Unken as a relative of the Emperor who excelled in espionage .
According to an expert in constitutional law, Kaglai’s ascendance to the throne lacked legitimacy since he was involved in killing his father and then taking his place afterwards . As such, the official report stated the Emperor died from an illness . Although many nobles in the Empire knew Balzard was assassinated, they thought the assassin was from Ponsonia or other foreign countries .
After Balzard’s death, Kaglai ascended to the throne and stopped the war . After signing a thirty-year non-aggression pact with Ponsonia, the Empire focused on recovery .
Thirty years for a Man Gnome, however, was a short amount of time . Ponsonia might still hold a grudge thirty years later and invade the Empire, but by that time, Quinbland should be prepared as well .
The only thing they failed to consider was the Master Swordsman—a beast in man’s clothing .
His Majesty is doing a great job governing the Empire . And he’s been Emperor even before I worked for the government . I’m sure summoning Unken was the right idea .
The Prime Minister fully supported the Emperor’s decision to rely on Unken for information as to why Ponsonia retreated . He ordered the Chief of Intel to prioritize Unken’s search, all the while watching the Military Minister so he didn’t do anything uncalled-for .
「So a distant relative asked you to kill his father? And that kid is now the Emperor . 」Hikaru muttered after hearing Unken’s story .
Nodding, the old man added more . 「Only a few people know about this . If word got out, there would surely be a huge backlash from the nobles . 」
「Hmm . 」
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「That’s all you have to say?」
「It’s none of my concern . 」Hikaru simply told the truth .
Unken heaved a deep sigh . 「You really are one strange kid . What I just told you concerns the central figure of a whole nation . 」
「Yet it doesn’t affect me in any way whatsoever . 」
「It does, actually . 」
「How so?」
「Why do you think I told you such top secret information? Now that you know about it, you’re involved in this as well . 」
「You’re kidding, right?」Hikaru scoffed . 「I just want to go home before winter begins . 」
He really just wanted to go home . He was also curious how the Foundation Anniversary was going .
「Why do you even do all this? You were doing fine in Pond . You’re going to willingly put your life on the line just because a relative called for you?」
「That’s just how Man Gnomes are . We’re both soft and tough on family; everything revolves around family . I wanted to get away from all that, but it seems you can never truly escape from your own blood . 」
「Blood, huh…」
Hikaru thought over what Unken said . His body was Roland’s, but with a different soul in it now . And it was this soul that exacted Roland’s revenge for him . But was his soul actually influenced by the body?
No . I killed Count Morgstad on my own will . Not because of something ambiguous like blood ties .
Yet he also thought that perhaps the long-lived Man Gnomes had some sort of strong bonds that humans couldn’t even begin to comprehend .
「You want me to do something?」
「Oh, you’re willing to help? I wouldn’t have expected that . Ninety-percent I thought you’d just go straight home . 」
「I’m willing to repay my debts . But I won’t do anything that takes too long to finish . 」
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「Haha . Payment for teaching you how to dissect? That’s not what you said a while ago . 」
「Or I can go home now . 」
「I’m just joking . You’re a strange one, all right . You knew about that old story about the rabbit, too . 」
The excuse Hikaru used back when he hunted the Red-horned Rabbit . He was surprised when he learned Unken knew about it . It suggested that there were other people like him in this world . His question was answered when he met Selica, so it didn’t matter now .
「What do you want me to do? 」Hikaru asked .
「I want you to deliver a letter . 」
「A letter?」
「To the Emperor himself . 」
「Why don’t you ask your subordinates?」
「The Empire’s Intel Department is too weak . Besides, the letter is for His Majesty’s eyes only . The Department might keep the information for themselves . 」
It should be quite the distance from here to G . Quinbland . Though I won’t have any problem crossing the border and sneaking into the castle .
「I’ll deliver the letter and that’s it . Nothing else . How long would it take? I told you I want to be back before winter . 」
「I don’t know where you live . 」
「Forestia . 」
「Oh? I’m surprised you’re willing to tell me that . I see, Forestia . It’s an unstable country, but probably still better than Ponsonia and Quinbland . If things go well, you should be in Forestzard well before winter . 」
「All right . Give me the letter . 」
「Thank you . 」
「I gotta say, I’m paying a lot for your lesson on dissection . 」
Unken chuckled and reached for a piece of paper from his pocket . He quickly started writing .
Hikaru really didn’t care one bit about the war between Quinbland and Ponsonia . In fact, he only tagged along with Alice so he could see her master’s Soul Board stats . He did realize it was Unken along the way . His priority then changed and he wanted to know what the old man was doing here .
So why did he take this annoying errand?
He’s ready to die .
Hikaru had no idea what Unken wrote, but he knew that Unken wasn’t planning on coming back alive . Perhaps it was because he was aware that he didn’t have much longer to live considering his age, or maybe it was his loyalty to the Empire; it could also have something to do with his family—either way, Hikaru had no way of knowing . He had only one guess .
He’s going to assassinate the King of Ponsonia .
This was completely different from killing the Emperor . The old man killed him in his own land and with the help of the next ruler . Now he would have to sneak into an unfamiliar castle and kill the king without any prior rehearsal . It was only natural that he was prepared to die .
If he died, all they would know was that he worked as the Pond Adventurers Guild’s guildmaster . No one would find out about his real identity . He probably resigned beforehand to avoid problems too .
Should I tell him Lawrence and the others are trying to put the princess on the throne?
Hikaru thought better of it . What good would it do to tell him? In fact, Unken might even want to kill the king even more . Things would go much more smoothly if the king was assassinated and Lawrence supported the princess as the next ruler rather than staging a coup .
There was nothing Hikaru could do now .
「And done . 」Unken handed him a sealed letter . Glued, there was no way to check the contents . Hikaru put it away in his bag .
「I’m counting on you . 」
「Aight . 」
The wrinkles on Unken’s face ran deep . He looked like a crusty old man, but this time he gave a faint smile .
「Hikaru . With your abilities, the world will not leave you alone—whether you like it or not . You should keep that in mind . 」
「I gotcha . 」
Hikaru simply took the advice—not refuting, nor denying it . It felt like Unken’s farewell gift to him .
Unken disappeared, and so did Hikaru . The two parted ways without a word of goodbye .