Episode 219 Actually, there could have been another way.
If the situation hadn’t developed so quickly, Logan might have waited patiently.
May the king effectively surrender and admit his mistakes.
Because swordsman Felix Esperanza’s stubbornness was not only directed towards his students.
This stubborn teacher still takes his side, and the king’s stubbornness will one day crumble in front of the teacher who has the faith to never give up.
‘Of course, even if that were the case, there is no guarantee that I would be able to wait that time.’
But I didn’t have time to test it now.
It indirectly confirmed the king’s will not to back down.
If that’s the case, then he too just hits straight on.
“There is an urgent matter at the estate. His Majesty is shaking McLane! I have to go. Now!”
“…I will solve it myself.”
“If you leave, Master, your Majesty will immediately try to kill me. If that’s the case, I won’t tolerate it any longer.”
“Then even if we send Esperanza’s elite….”
“This is not a problem that can be solved that way!”
Two red and blue eyes collided in the air for a long time.
The swordsman soon let out a deep sigh and took a step back.
and.
Ugh.
The moment the red light flashed, the cage door opened.
The iron bars were cut with Auror.
“Are you sending it away?”
“…I’m not sending you away.”
Logan pauses at the answer that is completely different from his actions.
“I’m giving you a chance to choose.”
“A choice?”
“I will admit that there is truth in what you say. However, I cannot give up my position that a subject has a duty to protect.”
Logan’s eyes turned to the open door.
“I am doing my best to release you. Still, if you must go now, go. But if you continue like this, you will truly be a traitor, Logan.”
The teacher turns around with an indifferent, pained expression.
The words he uttered with difficulty resonated for a long time in the prison where only Logan remained.
Logan, too, could not help but feel an increased burden on his heart.
‘I can’t help it now, Master.’
The moment golden light flashed in Logan’s hand.
The shackles on his limbs broke without strength.
* * *
– Logan McLane escapes prison!
The news caused tense tension throughout the kingdom.
This was because everyone had a feeling that the worst situation would happen soon.
just as expected.
“I declare Logan McLane a traitor and order his subjugation! All nobles, gather your troops in front of the castle!”
The king’s angry shouts echoed throughout the palace hall.
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The atmosphere seemed to be heating up as the new ministers forcibly appointed by the king responded with one voice.
Daejeon was soon engulfed in silence due to the fact that only one person did not respond.
The eyes of everyone in Daejeon turned to the swordsman, who had his eyes tightly closed from the moment the word traitor was said.
The king also looked at him with a cool smile.
“Grand Duke. Your loyal subjects are waiting for you. Are you going to just watch and watch over the traitor who is disrupting the country?”
At those words, the swordsman slowly opened his eyes.
“There are still many doubts about that unpleasant incident. There is not enough evidence, so if His Majesty forgives Logan with a big heart, there will be no rebellion.”
After hesitating with complicated eyes, the words came out with a small sigh.
The king looked at the swordsman with calm eyes.
“Logan McLane actually disobeyed the king’s orders and escaped from prison, thereby wasting the opportunity to allay suspicions against him. Isn’t that right?”
“…That’s right.”
The swordsman reluctantly nodded as the king stared at him intently.
OK.
“Still, do you support Logan McLane? Was the Archduke a person who valued personal ties more than royal authority?”
“…Is that possible, Your Majesty?”
When the swordsman answered with a heavy expression, the king smiled happily.
“It is time to re-establish the authority of the royal family, Archduke. Please think about the future of the kingdom rather than personal relationships. If even you turn your back on me, what good is the bloodline of Grandia in this position?”
“Your Majesty is the rightful monarch who continues the legacy of Grandia. It is difficult to accept such words.”
“No, no. The only person I can trust right now is the Archduke.”
The king said so, got down from the throne, and approached the swordsman.
The king looked into the eyes of the swordsman who was facing him for a long time and then quickly grabbed his hand.
Then he bowed his head towards him.
“Your Majesty?”
“That!?”
When the embarrassed ministers mumbled and even the swordsman’s eyes wavered.
“I ask you, Grand Duke, that every citizen of this country may know that the authority of this royal family still lives on.”
The king bowed his head in front of his subjects and did not let go of his hand.
“Your Majesty. Please raise your head.”
With those words, the swordsman knelt down on one knee.
Then, with a deep sigh, he spoke word by word as if he was breaking something and making a declaration.
“I will follow the king’s orders and subdue the traitor with my own hands.”
The nobles of Daejeon held their breath.
The moment a smile appeared on the king’s stern face.
The unbelievable decision of the swordsman spread across the country faster than the wind.
* * *
– Geomgong himself decided to subdue McLane.
“Ah. What nonsense!”
“What nonsense!?”
“It’s real!”
It was such an unbelievable story that everyone who heard the rumor asked it back two or three times.
It was said that just two years after the end of the civil war, the protagonists who led the end of the civil war started a new civil war again.
That too, teacher and disciple.
Superhumans who are the heroes of the kingdom.
“Isn’t this going to be a really big problem this time?”
“No way!”
“Why is there a war every year for this country?…”
Those who heard the news were busy worrying about the future of the country.
Of course, the shock to those involved was bound to be greater.
And that wave exploded from the swordsmith’s mansion in the capital.
“Your Excellency, this is not the case! You have made the worst decision!”
Adjutant Lewis shouted with an angry expression that he rarely made.
“…Do you really think that way?”
“Yes! That’s right. It’s not just me, it’s the same for anyone in the world. Why would Lord Logan, a superhuman, attempt an assassination with poison? Unless you’re a fool, you can only see this as a false accusation!”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“…You knew that and yet you said that? You were going to subdue McLane?”
“It can’t be helped, Louis.”
“How can that be inevitable!? If you had opposed it, your Majesty would never have advocated war alone! This is a decision that will ruin the country!”
A decision that ruins the country.
Those painful words were pierced into the swordsman’s heart.
And as if those words were a trigger, the disciple’s words that could be said to be the cause of this Satan appeared in my mind one after another.
– The empire is preparing for war.
– It is clear that His Majesty has made a final move that cannot be defeated!
– I don’t have time for this now.
‘Logan. It’s not that I don’t understand your thoughts. But the method is wrong.’
It was not simply a decision made by the monarch’s force.
I think there was some truth to what the disciple said, but there was no basis for it.
For the sake of his groundless logic, the disciple ignored and undermined the authority of the king and royal family that had been maintained for a thousand years.
‘I told you to wait so long.’
A painful, painful heart.
But the disciple ultimately chose his own path.
The weight of his life as a king’s sword forced him to choose the other side of his discipleship.
so.
“For the sake of the future, we must properly establish the authority of the royal family, the center of the kingdom. That will ultimately be the way for the country.”
“Your Excellency. The royal family is not everything in the kingdom.”
“It’s not everything, but it’s the fundamentals. That’s why I’m trying to protect the fundamentals.”
“The kingdom does not belong to the royal family, but to the people, Your Excellency!”
“Only when the royal family stands upright will the people feel comfortable!”
“Your Excellency…”
A sigh came out of Lewis’s mouth in frustration.
His venerable lord was in some ways too stubborn.
So much so that it’s difficult to even try to persuade them.
but.
‘I have to say this.’
Louis took a deep breath and knelt down as he looked at his master, whom he had served his entire life.
“Sir Logan McLane is, by all accounts, a hero to the kingdom, and the majority of people think that Your Majesty is being unreasonable. Public opinion within the Order is also not good. I have followed you all my life, but this doesn’t seem to be true. Sir. No, my lord. Please. Please think again.”
Lewis spit out those words with the feeling that he was literally coughing up blood.
The request for reconsideration is not empty words.
For the first time since the Esperanza family became a dukedom, people were criticizing the matriarch’s choice.
However, despite his earnest request, the swordsman’s response was calm.
“Is that so as expected?”
“Master? Then?”
The face I looked up at again with some anticipation.
But his master just shook his head with a bitter expression.
“Yes. You might think so. But I can’t help it. I have lived my whole life as the king’s sword. Moreover, I cannot refuse His Majesty’s order, which I took the initiative to put on the throne.”
“Master!! There will be a lot of opposition even within the family!”
“Then you can leave.”
“…yes?”
“This is a message not only to you, but to all of your vassals.”
Lewis looked at his master with confused eyes.
Because I couldn’t understand what he was saying.
However, after a long sigh, a story that he had never imagined came out of the swordsman’s mouth.
“If you think my intentions are wrong, you can leave. You can go to McLane or somewhere else.”
“Your Excellency! What is that…!?”
How could a knight leave his family even if he had a different opinion with his lord?
The swordsman’s words only felt like a declaration that blocked any counterargument.
“I’m just following the path I think is right.”
The swordsman’s heavy voice filled with agony rang out.
Louis, with a more serious expression on his face, had no choice but to leave the office, leaving his master behind.
Around the time when such a situation occurred at the Geomgongga.
Logan was already entering McLane Town.
* * *
“It is the Archduke!!”
“The Archduke has returned!”
“What!? Really!?”
“Open the door!!”
A commotion broke out among the knights and soldiers guarding the eastern gate of the town.
Logan once again realized the urgency of the situation as he saw several times more security forces than usual on Logan Street.
“Confucius. I’m glad you’re safe…”
“What about your father?”
“He is in the official residence. Now that I have sent the message…”
“No, I’m going.”
Logan rode on without listening to the knight’s reply, and had just arrived at the town’s official residence.
“Logan!”
“Prince Logan!”
“Grand Duke!! ”
He couldn’t help but smile, forgetting for a moment the urgent situation as he watched the human waves of his parents, fiancee, servants, and other retainers rushing toward him like lightning.
