◈ 497. [Side Story] Calculation (3)
Standing in front of the kings, Lily was clearly nervous.
Lily, who had been swallowing her dry spittle, looked back at me.
“Me, me… majesty. Do I have to… … ?”
“then. And you will do very well.”
I patted Lily on the shoulder gently.
“Please, Lily.”
“Okay… It is.”
Dragging the wheelchair, Lily stepped forward. The stares of the kings fell upon Lily.
Among the kings, an old man with a long white beard asked curiously.
“Who are you?”
“I am… My name is Lily.”
“Where is the royal family? Or which faction’s father-in-law?”
“I am a commoner of the Empire. And I am the senior wizard of the front line here.”
“Commoners? Besides, he’s a senior wizard… … ? After all, doesn’t that mean you’re a mercenary Naburang?”
Anger crept across the king’s wrinkled face.
“This is a place where heads from all over the world gather to talk about the future of the world! This is not the place for a commoner mercenary who doesn’t even know the subject! Can’t you just step back!”
“Ugh… !”
Lily, shrugging her shoulders, tried to step back.
widely!
But I stood firm behind Lily and grabbed her wheelchair.
After smiling softly at Lily, who turned pale, I looked ahead.
“This wizard, Lily, has been a valuable companion since I first entered the battlefield.”
I growled ferociously as I glared at the old king with a dissatisfied face.
“You have been through unimaginable and rugged battlefields, and you have burned and defeated countless monsters.”
“… .”
“She is a commoner mercenary. But he is also a warrior who has accomplished great feats. Please give me the proper treatment.”
The old king reluctantly turned his head away. I smiled at Lily one more time.
“Lily. are you okay.”
“… .”
“therefore… please.”
Lily’s complexion turned pale, but she bit her lip once and held Sid tightly in her arms… … .
I opened my mouth slowly.
“… The first time I came to the front here was two and a half years ago.”
Lily started talking calmly.
What I asked of Lily. that… It was to tell the kings what she had experienced here on the monster front.
That was it.
Lily was trembling at first, but soon calmed down and continued talking calmly.
slowly. without hesitation. just quietly.
How did it flow into such a southern outback?
He was seriously injured in the back while marching with the prince sitting in the commander’s seat by parachute.
I couldn’t walk for the rest of my life and became a body that had to use a wheelchair.
I wanted to retire, but the commander didn’t allow it, so I ended up working at the alchemy workshop.
While sitting in a wheelchair, fighting pouring monsters and going to the dungeon under the lake… … .
I met God Hand.
Since it was the Elf who killed his family when he was young, he hated God Hand as well at first.
But little by little, we started to open up to each other.
eventually fell in love
The brutal battle, the heartbreaking misunderstanding, and the night of the festival that came… … .
Passing the happiness that seemed like a moment, winter is coming.
I lost my god hand.
Before she even despaired, she found out that she had conceived a new life in her belly.
After many nights of anguish and tears… … .
Lily made up her mind.
to live with this child.
“… .”
I stood upright behind Lily and listened to all of this.
The two-year story was long, sometimes chaotic, sometimes emotional. But it was all true.
At first, the faces of the kings, who didn’t know why they had to hear this all of a sudden, grew serious.
Through the Spider Queen, the Vampire King, the Wolf King, the Goblin God King… … Up to Medusa just a few days ago.
What kind of work has she, an ordinary human being, done against countless legendary monsters? What fights her comrades have been fighting.
And this child in my arms, Sid… … how you were born
The short story is over. Lily gasped for breath.
“Thank you, Lily.”
In the silence of the conference room, I smiled at Lily.
“Sid and you both look exhausted. take a break.”
“Your Highness.”
Lily bowed her head to the kings inside the conference hall and then slowly exited. Serenade gently pushed Lily’s wheelchair away.
“It’s a moving story.”
The old king with white beard from a moment ago tilted his chin while holding his chin.
“But why did you tell us this story?”
“Here is the monster front and… The banner that the World Defense Front, which will be launched here, must uphold was just in the story.”
I looked around at the kings and smiled.
“everyone.”
and asked
“What makes us human?”
***
The kings could not answer the sudden question. I continued
“What makes us human? What makes us different from those monsters?”
what makes a person a person
What separates people from monsters?
The kings fell silent at the sudden question, and I looked around at them in turn.
“What makes us who hate each other come together and talk? What do we all have in common?”
“… .”
“I think it is… I think the point is that we can try to understand each other no matter how much we hate each other.”
Know. That it’s obvious and clichéd.
But sometimes people need the obvious and banal stories.
“We are different.”
I gave strength to my voice.
“Just because we heard Lily’s story a moment ago, can we, who can walk on both legs, understand 1 in 100 of Lily’s situation, which has to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life?”
no.
it would be unreasonable
“Lily’s entire family was killed by goblins when an elf slave brought down the town’s barrier when she was young.”
“… .”
“But does hearing such a story give us full understanding of her hatred of elves and her fear of goblins?”
no.
it would be unreasonable
“Nevertheless, her heart that came to love an elf. And how she decided to give birth and raise a mixed-race child born from her relationship with the elf after losing her lover.”
I shook my head slightly.
“How dare we understand?”
It’s impossible.
decidedly unreasonable but.
“But we can try to understand.”
I stared at the old king.
“I can only listen to the story of the commoner mercenary and try to count the pain. Just as you who have gathered here treat your subjects badly.”
People don’t understand each other’s differences.
Those born in the desert do not understand those born in the snow, and those who have not experienced war do not understand those who have experienced it.
Those who face the monster and those who do not have no choice but to see the world differently.
“We are different. It’s bound to be different. Different origins, different backgrounds, different values, different situations… … Everything is different.”
There are more reasons to hate each other than to cherish each other.
There are things in this world that can never be forgiven. There is a gap that will never be filled. That is an undeniable fact.
“But we are the same. Even so, we gathered here.”
Even if we shout indistinctly and use evil at each other across the valley that can never be bridged. because we can talk
Nevertheless, because I try to understand… … He is still human.
Thanks to these efforts, the world has not yet lost its shape.
‘Lily and God Hand were completely different beings.’
The location of the disability was different, the race was different, and the gender was different.
Lily lost her family to elves, and God Hand lost her country to humans. There were countless reasons for each other to hate each other.
However, the two tried to understand each other.
And as a result, a new life was born.
So I considered this birth great. And in this birth, I saw the way the front here should go.
“The banner of the Kaiju Front is simple. It is to kill monsters and protect people.”
From the beginning until now and in the future. this is unchanged
“And people are beings who try to understand each other. I will define it that way here on the front line.”
It’s okay to have that much in common.
At least to that extent, we are the same person.
And as a human being, I will do anything to protect it.
I paused between stories to catch my breath when the old white-bearded king growled.
“… So what are you talking about?”
I faced the old king. he yelled.
“We can understand each other, so what? Are you saying that these people who hated each other until just yesterday can hold hands and dance here?”
“… .”
“It’s ridiculous, the 3rd prince of the empire. Why do you tell us such dreamy stories when it is not enough to win our hearts by sprinkling gold and profits?”
The old king’s voice grew stronger.
“Do you think the front line can be maintained only with the ideology of catching floating clouds? Are you trying to keep us on the front lines with just such a cause and cause?”
“Can’t we?”
“what… ?”
“Can’t we keep you all here on the front lines only with your ideals, your cause, and your just cause?”
The old king’s face was distorted with absurdity, but I smiled.
Isn’t this a fantasy world? Isn’t it a world where kings fight each other with romance?
If so, wouldn’t it be nice to look forward to that kind of romance that pursues the ideal before a few pennies?
“Those who will remain on the frontlines here must be people who make an effort to understand each other, even if they are different.”
I raised my voice.
“It doesn’t matter if you’ve been an enemy, a different class, a slave or a master. For the next year, on the front here, everyone is equal and one army, with only one purpose.”
I raised my index finger.
“It’s all about protecting ourselves and our people from monsters.”
“… .”
“If anyone disagrees with this purpose and this banner, please get off this front immediately. No need.”
“What do you say… ?”
The faces of not only the old king who spit out in bewilderment, but also the faces of many other kings hardened in astonishment.
I snorted. So, did you think I would beg you to join the world defense front?
Did you know that you would cry and beg, holding on to your pants crotch, promising gold and interests?
Thousands of words.
Rather the opposite.
“If you don’t agree with the ideals of this banner, you don’t have to be here. Please get out of the world defense front as soon as possible.”
Then the old king, whose face turned red, kicked off his seat as if he had waited and stood up.
“How arrogant, young prince! Do I look funny enough to stay here after hearing that!”
I smirked at his back as he was about to turn around.
“But after saving the world, it will be interesting to see what will happen to the prestige of the countries that did not join the front here.”
“… ?!”
“What are you doing? Come on. Turn your back on the war to save the world and leave quickly, swearing at me for not giving you gold coins and interests.”
The old king’s shoulders stiffened. I grinned.
“That cowardice will be remembered for a long time to come. Everyone in the international community will laugh forever.”
Think about it, kings.
One way or another, the world defense front will be established.
And we will fight to save the world, upholding a noble cause and carrying pure ideals on our backs.
And unless the world perishes. If you can somehow stop the monster.
The World Defense Front, an alliance of various countries formed around the Empire, will naturally exert a tremendous influence on the future world.
‘Stop whining about the one-year draft, you short-sighted idiots.’
If we don’t join the battle on the world defense front here now.
One year later, no, from now on, the country will be isolated from the international community, and the next hundred years will collapse.
How can you wear a crown on your head if you can’t even read the flow?
‘I’m not the one begging you to fight here on the monster front.’
Politics is, after all, a struggle to frame a composition.
And the frame is how to draw a different picture at once according to flipping.
‘It is you who have to beg.’
Even if the Everblack Empire falters, I’m still the loser of the world, and I’m the one most likely to become Emperor right away.
The new world order led by me is the world defense front here. There is even a cause and a cause.
On the contrary, it is in your situation that you have to cry and beg for us to fight by your side, even if you give up gold and profits. Fools… … !
“Prince Ash… .”
The old king looked back with his teeth trembling and chewed it up.
“Now me… Are you threatening us?”
“you’re welcome. I am begging you. very eagerly.”
I smiled kindly at the kings. The kings were watching me with tired eyes.
no it’s real I’m begging you. Sincerely. Purely.
However, it is up to each individual to accept this as a threat.
