Chapter. 14. One Empire, Three Legends (42)
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My memories from childhood are blurry, but there were definitely some things that were clear.
Because we taught them only what they really needed and gave them freedom, when they were young, they became close friends with their half-siblings.
When I got to see my father’s face, which I rarely see, at a public event, his golden face really looked like a god.
I, who thought I had suffered a minor injury, lay down and the priests of the Courage Church rushed to my mother’s palace.
Okay, this is it. Seven years old. A fever that boiled to the point of death. The reason why I suddenly thought of old times like this was probably because of the memories of that day.
It felt like I had woken up from a long sleep, but it wasn’t a good night’s sleep. It felt like I had barely opened my eyes after wandering around to death under the influence of drugs and hallucinations.
Prince Gainax was trembled as he opened the door to a secret passage known only to the royal family.
The fever that almost killed him was a reaction from the power that moved the empire penetrating the child’s body.
The reason why the royal family’s education was easy was because they grew up in the direction the empire wanted without any special education.
The reason my father’s face felt like a god was because the emperor’s face looking down at him had no emotions, like a stone statue in a temple.
Gainax, who was finally free from the shackles of the empire and the royal family, wanted to forget everything. Out of the realm of the empire, and in the name of Gainax, not the royal family. He wanted to start a new life by staying in a place where no one knew him or his mother.
“Hmm… Prince? “You know it’s not persuasive since you’re talking about using a passage exclusively for the royal family, right?”
Tap… tap… tap,
tap, tap, tap –
“Okay. Life is a comedy when seen from afar, and a tragedy when seen up close. If you know that the glamorous life of the royal family was a 500-year-old puppet show, it’s enough to make you sick of it. I understand, me too. Do you really understand? “Can you show me the tears you stamped on the handkerchief?”
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap,
tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.
“Oh really!” I won’t force you. I said I won’t! I have to take my mother, who is behind me, anyway, so it can be done if I go quickly, right? Prince, you said you beat up the royal family, so you are now a commoner, right? Hey commoner Gainax! Teldrat’s leading noble, Lucilla Aedran, gives this order as a noble! “Stop right now and obey my orders!”
….Quick!
“What do you think, is that what Gainax put down? A tragedy when you look closely? First of all, there are so many people in the world who are tragic whether you look at them from afar or up close! Even if you just go near the back alley, the air where people live is different! How will you live if you leave? Jewelry brought by the Empress? Do you know where to sell it to get the right price? Do you know how much that costs? Do you know that the moment you leave the capital, you will have to bathe in the blood of the bandits who came to you like you were ghosts? We all know. Hmm~ the smell of gold. “Yellow and shiny things have the power to attract people here.”
“…Miss Aedran.”
….Whoa.
okay. It’s a new life. A new life away from him as a member of the royal family.
That’s why Gainax was wondering the whole time he was walking down the aisle how to deal with this little noble lady who was annoying from head to toe.
Threaten them out? He no longer has that right. They abandoned their name as members of the royal family.
As she said, now that you are a commoner, do you understand? ….hate. As a swordsman, my auror was broken just a few hours ago, and I didn’t want to give up my self-esteem as a human Gainax.
Lucilla Aedran. She is known as the rumored ‘suitor of Teldrat’ and is a strange woman who never stops talking about what she has to say.
It was a ridiculous legend, but when I saw that woman swinging something like a cheap dagger from a street vendor, I thought it was just a rumor.
“Look at this beautiful color. As someone who belongs to the golden rank of Aedran, I have some knowledge, so I am confident that this soft blue color is a color that only comes from steel mixed with phaeradium. Hard yet flexible. An ideal metal that is both elegant and wild! However, it is a metal that is said to be a failure among all Faelradium alloy weapons made without a history of properly handling it, not only among humans but also among dwarves.”
“But no matter how you look at it, this doesn’t seem like a failure, does it? What did you engrave on the Phaelradium alloy steel, which is called ‘stubborn metal’ because you didn’t even listen to it? Wow, it is difficult to engrave magic inlay on soft metals like copper or gold in a large workshop, but this was engraved on phaeradium alloy steel! Gainax is a prosecutor. Regardless of the legend of the empire or the name Lionel, the sword of the first emperor, when you see something like this, doesn’t it make your heart pound and make you want to grab it?”
The rhetoric and praise continues without a break, as if you’ll lose your mind when you listen to it. Even Gainax couldn’t deny that it was at least an excellent sword. Even though Lady Aedran didn’t say it in detail like that, the moment I met it, I felt such a strong attraction that I almost reached out for it without realizing it.
Lion Sword Lionel. It is the sword that became the beginning of the swordsmanship he learned by the will of the Empire, and his auror, which is said to embody the swordsman’s soul, also took on that appearance.
A legendary sword came to him in the hands of a woman leading a great destiny.
So I felt even more rejected.
The sword that came to me as soon as I threw away the name of the royal family felt like a call from the empire that I could not escape.
“…No matter how many times I tell you, it won’t help, Lady Aedran. “It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s that I’m afraid.”
Yes, I’m afraid. His small self-esteem reminded him of many great reasons, but what came out of Gainax’s mouth was his honest, simple heart.
afraid. Let alone becoming emperor, I am afraid to even touch that object.
That sword symbolizes the empire itself, just like the name Lionel.
If the power of the empire came to him because it wanted him, it seemed clear that the moment it touched it, it would once again drag him into the turbulent waters of the empire’s fate.
“The person in front of Lady Aedran is probably 1st Prince Gainax. Mid 30s. “He possesses the qualities of a king and is known as a great knight.”
“Yes…”
“But that’s not who I see. All of that is just an image of the first prince created under the guidance of the empire. Now that I open my eyes, the image I see in the mirror is nothing more than the child who fell and cried in the palace garden before collapsing from fever. 1st Prince Gainax’s sword was broken and the prince’s power was scattered, so I assure you that even if I lift that sword, no miracle will happen. So, I hope you’ll stop and find someone else.”
“But-”
“I know. Without the prince’s name, I am just a big child. As the lady said, how much should the gold be sold for? What to eat from now on and where and how to live. I don’t know anything, but that’s also good. Because ‘life’ is essentially an undetermined path. It must have been unfamiliar and painful for me to learn ‘being lost’ only after I got older. “Isn’t that something we all have to endure and live with?”
“…..”
Gainax’s confident voice, as if he had woken up from a long sleep and realized something.
Lucilla could feel the sincerity in the prince’s awkward words, which were a mix of politeness and semi-respectfulness.
He was truly breaking away from the first prince of the past.
Uuuuung –
Lion Sword’s cry was heard through the silence between the two, but Gainax struggled to turn his head away from the strong attraction.
‘There will be an owner. A true master who will wield the sword, not someone like me who will be a sword sheath at best. It’s not me. I….’
Tap. Knock….knock.
The end of the long and narrow passage was visible. We are finally out of the capital of this damned All-Amperia Empire.
His hand became urgent as he pushed the key into the keyhole of the locked door. Now just go through this door. Eventually life will come to him too. Life as a human Gainax, not as a puppet of the empire.
It was brightly lit outside, so it must have been the entertainment district of the city. Saloon Street was built for aristocrats who could not relieve the excitement of late-night parties. It’s a good place to avoid snow.
Let’s rent a carriage and escape the empire with my mother. food. okay. I guess I should buy something like the dry goods that soldiers carried. You will also need to bring drinking water. There was a lot to do. That persistent noble lady and elf will be resolutely removed from here and now they will return to his life.
Kkeeeeeek….
The door opens and light leaks into the dark passage. Yes, it’s life. A life outside the imperial castle and out of the hands of the empire.
“Prince…”
This light announces the beginning of life –
growl –
“Aaaah!”
“Empire, empire, long live!”
“We will all become one and advance to the stars of eternity! The empire will also become a part of it and spread light forever!”
Kkeeeeeek…. Thump.
The old, heavy door to the secret passage was completely opened, and the prince froze at the sight of the castle city before his eyes.
The whole city was on fire. The streets, squares, and beautiful mansions of nobles.
The place where the passage led was not an entertainment district. What he thought was the light of the entertainment district was the light of the burning castle city, and in the city covered in flames, people who had lost their senses were constantly praying, swallowing their melting skin.
Towards that bright red moon that seems as if I could reach it if I stretched out my hand towards the sky.
The executioner was moving among them. Among those who happily exposed their melted skin, those holding worn-out swords and axes cut off the heads one by one, as if harvesting them. Like cutting down a rotten log.
click!
Without realizing it, there was a small hand blocking his hand from pulling out the broken knife.
“Gainax.”
“…Lady Aedran.”
“If you are so determined, I will not force you any further. Not that way, but this way. There is a path that the saint and our group came through. I don’t know how far the fire has spread, but I think it is at least safer than the direction Gainax was planning to go. “I think moving away from the capital even one step faster is a good choice for your safety.”
“….or not. “Aren’t you losing your steps?”
….Wow!
At those words, Gainax tightly gripped the handle of the sword that had been split in two.
This is correct and is reasonable help based on reason. After looking at it calmly, I realized that the direction he was going was in the middle of a fire full of monsters and maniacs.
But why? Why don’t my steps drop like this? What makes him hesitate for the freedom he longs for so much and makes him so angry?
‘no way. Is the ghost of the empire still within me? Is it holding my steps as it sees the burning Holy City?’
After tenaciously following him in his agony, Lady Aedran finally made eye contact with him.
“As you said, you are free now. The imperial castle has collapsed, there is no way to know whether the emperor inside it is alive or dead, and the power of the empire has fallen into the hands of witches. “Do you know what this means?”
“I…”
“Gainax, as you said with your own mouth, you are now free! It means that everything you feel, do, see and think right now is purely the will of the human ‘Gainax’. Tell me, Gainax. “What were you going to do before I stopped you?”
“I…”
I tried to run away. I thought I would leave my mother here in this secret passageway for the royal family, full of all kinds of physical and magical defenses, and stop those people walking into the fire and kill those monsters roaming the streets.
Reason…. Is it a thought that needs a reason? People are dying before your eyes and the city is burning?
Silence and confused eyes going back and forth between the city engulfed in fire and his sword.
Lucilla, seeing that, smiled and let go of his arm.
“Gainax? “Can you please lend me a knife for a moment?”
….shake.
Lucilla casually leaned Lionel, who was wrapped in cloth, against the wall, and confidently asked for Gainax’s sword as if it were something she had entrusted to him.
“Quickly. “It’s a broken sword, so I won’t be able to use it properly.”
“Young lady… how can you be so calm after seeing this scene?”
“Profit radish heavy….yes! Phew! “If you go around with our warrior, you will all get used to it.”
Stumble!
When it comes to a warrior, I’m talking about that great saint who shattered his aura with his bare hands.
He swung the lion sword like a dagger, but Lucilla, who managed to lift the sword cut in half in his hand, put the piece of metal on her shoulder with difficulty and said.
“…I guess I’m not cursed.”
“What is that-”
Wow!
Before Gainax’s question could be finished, Lucilla threw her whole body around and swung the iron piece she was carrying on her shoulder.
To the wall. To be exact, this is the place where the handle of Lionel, the legendary lion sword leaning against the wall that shared the fate of the first emperor, is located.
When a beginner swung the sword, it was so broken that it could not be seen, and it crashed into Lionel’s handle, making a clanging sound.
That was a crazy act that even Gainax, who had lost 50,000 won in the empire, would be shocked to see.
“What… are you doing! Lady Aedran!”
“Oh my waist… whatever. That’s why I wasn’t going to use it, Lionel. It is inevitable that the value of the item will drop, but if the customer wants it, whatever. “We have to do at least a little processing.”
Gainax looked at Lionel, who had fallen on the floor with Lucilla.
Lion Sword Lionel. The sword of the great first emperor, who once competed with the claws of a dragon without a single flaw.
The handle of that legendary sword. The part where the lion head sculpture was, as if it were alive and moving, was badly broken and rolling around on the floor.
“You broke Lionel’s sword…?”
“Just in case, I’m a merchant, I’ve never learned swordsmanship, and of course I don’t know how to use an Auror. “Please don’t misunderstand.”
“But now…”
“It’s something that’s 500 years old, right? If you handle it roughly, it might get a little damaged, right? Actually, I fleshed it out a bit to hand it over to them, but it’s an antique. It’s an antique. Just a pretty good sword. It’s an old sword, but it’s clear that it’s at least much more useful than the club-like sword you were trying to carry, Gainax. Okay now? “You don’t have any feelings of rejection anymore, right?”
“Um… um…”
Gainax didn’t know how to react.
It was just a prank, like a trick, and the essence of the sword was not lost just by removing one decoration.
– Crispy!
The moment he saw the lion’s head decoration being shattered by a broken sword swung by a delicate noble lady as if she was falling, he felt something hard inside him.
Like a curse being broken, what crumbled along with the lion head decoration was the strange attraction that had resonated in his heart from the moment he faced Lionel.
‘Maybe it was me who couldn’t let go of that sword.’
A sense of duty. In a corner of his heart, he thought it was a fate he could not escape. In the end, I worry that if I am the one chosen by fate, everything will go wrong the moment I leave this place.
It’s funny, but even though he wanted to escape from the position of emperor, he was worried about the safety of his people who were dying in vain.
It wasn’t that the sword was pulling him in, but that he was unable to escape from it. Gainax let out a sigh of relief as his intoxicating sense of duty disappeared like this.
The Lion’s Empire is over.
The broken lion head decoration seemed to represent those words.
….Suddenly.
Gainax carefully picked up the sword lying on the floor. As she said, the ‘good nameless sword’ had a similar weight and balance to the sword he was using, so it seemed like he could wield it familiarly.
In the end, just like the family of prosecutors. Seeing Gainax unable to hide his satisfaction as he swung his new sword, Lucilla smiled brightly and cleared the way for him.
“Go, free man Gainax. Like you said, now take control of your own destiny.”
“…I still have no intention of becoming the emperor of the empire. From your perspective… would that be okay, Lady Lucilla?”
A small thought stopped him in his tracks. Lucilla Aedran A woman from Teldrat.
She, too, was guided by some fate to come here and carry Lionel with her. If he moves like this. Wouldn’t her fate also be that she won’t be able to find her own path?
“oh. “Are you worried, Gainax?”
“I know well the future of those caught up in fate.”
Lucilla smiled brightly at the sight of him standing still, putting the broken decoration she had picked up in her small pocket.
“What am I? The woman of Teldrat is a legend, but. After all, I am Lucilla, a merchant. If Lionel had entrusted his fate to a merchant, he should have been prepared to sell it at a somewhat undervalued price. A merchant is a person who moves goods and goods from place to place. How to use it is up to the buyer. “As a transporter, I think I have done my job if the item has found its owner.”
In the first place, I thought it was ridiculous that the lion sword was an antique and was trying to get away with it by getting full price.
A woman who just a moment ago had been pushing hard like a street vendor, was seen off by lifting her skirt like a girl from a fancy house.
The little joke that continued towards the end showed that she really didn’t think this was a big deal. It seems like he really thinks about moving things around. This is the image of a person who finds his own path even in the swirling fate he pursued.
“He’s a merchant… so he’ll have to pay the price.”
“to? now?”
“….later. I’ll settle the bill after I come back and talk about it. “It is safe here, so please stay here with your mother.”
“Yes, well… But how much will you give me specifically?”
Crack!
Gainax threw himself into the burning city before Lucilla finished speaking.
‘Because she seems like a woman you can’t expect anything from like a handkerchief.’
Tuhwaak!
When he swung the hand holding the sword with strength, the aura that poured out like a waterfall cleared away the fire that was blocking his path and created a path in front of him.
Auror. It is known to embody the soul of a prosecutor.
It wasn’t so overflowing that it covered the sky like it was when he was the first prince, but Gainax liked it much more now that it had solidified into the shape of a sword.
Auror. It is a self-cutting ego’s favorite, so it is obvious that a purely controlled royal family cannot make it bloom.
Over the past 34 years, it has been proven that at least as a knight, he was purely himself, free from the will of the empire.
“In that long life, the moment I held the sword was truly me… Is that what you mean?” A
monster
with a melted corpse appeared in front of Gainax, who was intoxicated with appreciation.
“Hahahaha….Knight Gainax. “For a guy who’s aged 7 to 27 years, it’s a good start!”
The knight, who finally realized that he had truly regained himself, flew away with a smile of liberation.
Because everything in his life was dominated, at the center of it all he was a knight’s auror trained purely with a sword.
Gainax’s auror, which finally revealed its blade from a large, ornate golden scabbard,
was
emitting a solid silver light, as if it had been pulled out by refining the metal.
****
Flames and screams enveloped the castle city. A silver aura dividing the space with a clear metallic sound.
There were people watching Gainax in the sky with a red moon.
“What do you think, Bell Bo?”
“For a guy who hasn’t even lived for half a century, he has quite a bit of a waist. “I could use an axe.”
“It’s my fault for asking you, whose brain is already the dust of a coffin. Swordsman, what do you think? “Do you think the author is suitable to become the master of the covenant?”
“….At least. “I see you as someone who will not be easily swayed.”
“If you have time to talk, get off and run, you guys! Because the wind is blowing like crazy, the moment we picked you all up, we were already at capacity! It’s much later than the scheduled arrival time! know!”
“Wizard. Thanks for your help. Thanks to that, we arrived in time.”
“Why are you so grateful, Archduke Schwarz? As they say, that kind of wind must have blown and carried us all away.”
“Glen! I’ve seen you since you were a snot, you bastard! You have no right to say anything! Why did you say such a damn thing about burning the seed in the first place? “That Geombagi rode alone, leaving all his children behind.”
“Where does the duke go without a servant? That’s why I put you in the luggage compartment!”
“It’s a place where cold winds blow, so it’s not a place for people to ride!”
Over the capital. Inside the Wind Wizard’s instrument.
Today, the old wizard, who was flying to the capital riding on the strangely strong winter wind, pushed the balloon to a place where there were all kinds of debris, no matter how much he coaxed him, so he had no choice but to pick up a variety of people who were flocking towards the capital. In the end, it took longer than expected. It was too late.
-I’m so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so The the so the the owner is always the owner… “
Look at this. “You said it was okay.”
“…Glen. “You’ve had an odd personality since you were young.”
“It must have been from the time the old man took my snacks and ate them.”
“…You damn bastard. “It doesn’t taste cute.”
“If I’m cute at 60, that’s senility.”
“I’m 113 years old, you idiot.”
“So I’ve been like that since I first saw you. “He’s a senile old man.”
He was a guy I was disgusted with every time I met him, but he had one ability that I was sure of, so I had no choice but to burn him in the end.
Especially when I saw the sky dyed red and full of curses.
The old wizard who was measuring the clouds in the sky turned his head to the young wizard who was adjusting the wind of the balloon.
“You see the wind better than me, who is old, so let me ask you. I think the person down there will be the master of our covenant. “Where is the wind blowing?”
A wizard quietly stroking his beard and playing with the static electricity that bloomed between him.
The green-robed wizard responded to his question by measuring the wind passing by his fingertips.
“I think we need to go a little further.”
“hmm? “Is there someone else other than down there?”
“I think he’s right… I think we have separate seats.”
At the green robe’s words, the loose air in the instrument tightened sharply.
“Is that in front of me?”
“yes. Mr. Scallard. “I’ll drop you off there.”
The green-robed wizard took in the silver sword light of the castle city for a moment and turned the balloon.
‘This is probably because the wind is blowing like that.’
Wizard Astrad raised the corners of his mouth at the familiar wind blowing from the tower that grew beyond the walls of All Amperia and seemed to pierce the sky.
I think of the big saint who always leads the wind.
The balloon carrying the pledgers was heading towards the eye of the storm.
****
