Episode 210
“…What is this?”
The king, who was silent for a moment with a stern expression, opened his mouth in a slightly trembling voice.
“As I said, these are the heads of the rebel leaders, Your Majesty.”
“No, I know what it is, but why…?”
The king, who looked embarrassed, soon realized that all eyes in Daejeon were on him, and his complexion hardened slightly.
Then, after clearing his throat, he calmly continued speaking.
“Thank you for your hard work during this difficult time, Lord Logan.”
however.
“It was definitely difficult because the elites were missing.”
The king flinched again at those blunt words, and the audience’s attention turned to Logan again.
Among those gathered here, there was no one who did not know that the elites of McLane had come to the capital under the king’s force.
I was even more surprised because the rebels were defeated without difficulty even in that situation.
Naturally, the nobles could only wait with bated breath to see what Logan would do next.
To put it to the extreme, it wouldn’t be difficult for Logan to overthrow the royal family right now.
But fortunately, such an extreme situation did not occur.
“Of course, something like this should never happen in the future. For the sake of Her Majesty and the royal family. Never again.”
Everyone who heard those words could tell that they were a warning to the king.
The king’s face was red and he couldn’t open his mouth for a while with a stiff expression on his face, but he soon forced a smile and praised Logan again.
“Of course. I can’t tell you how reassuring I am because of Lord Logan. Thank you for your hard work.”
“As long as I am here, the kingdom will not allow ‘any kind of disruption’. Take care, Your Majesty.”
The King’s forced smile hardened the moment he met Logan’s cold red eyes.
Just as the atmosphere was about to become awkward, applause was suddenly heard.
match. match. match.
“Isn’t this a place to praise Lord Logan for his efforts in subduing the rebels? Your Majesty, we will quickly get rid of the ugly items.”
The words of the person who was bowing his head in the seat beneath the king.
Logan’s eyes naturally turned to him.
‘Did you say Cleo?’
At the call of the middle-aged official, the royal servants of the Inner Palace quickly rushed to collect the scattered supplies.
The quiet bustle blew away the awkward air that had been hanging around Daejeon.
The king nodded slightly as he looked at this and spoke softly.
“What the Head of the Palace House said is correct. Moreover, they say that Prince Logan, the pillar of our kingdom, has become the kingdom’s fourth superhuman. If that’s true, shouldn’t it be an occasion to celebrate this happy occasion? Lord Logan, is that rumor true?”
“You were lucky, Your Majesty.”
When Logan responded with a faint smile, gasps erupted from all over Daejeon.
“also!”
“The Star of Grandia!”
“He’s amazing for that age.”
Logan could clearly see that the king’s grip was tightening after hearing the praise. Furthermore, unlike the mouth that maintains a deep smile, the eyes are also hard.
But the king let out a soft voice again.
“As expected. Haha, you are truly a blessing to the kingdom. Lord Logan, how can you be so young…”
As if trying to hide his clenched fists or the embarrassed expression he had just before, the king stood up with his back in the hall and gathered in the main hall. Looking at the ministers, he spread his arms wide and shouted loudly.
“Now then, we will hold a grand party to celebrate the birth of the kingdom’s new superhuman and the subjugation of the rebels! All of you, large and small, must attend and make the event shine!”
Then he slowly came down from the throne and held Logan’s hand tightly as if showing off.
“Lord Logan, thank you for your hard work. It’s really disturbing to even imagine what this kingdom would have become without you.”
Aren’t you upset because I’m there?
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
The eyes of the two people looking at each other with smiles on the outside were not smiling at all, and both were aware of it.
On the surface, it seemed like the King and Logan had completely reconciled.
Only then did the nobles who noticed the two people begin to approach Logan’s side.
“Congratulations, Your Excellency the Marquis!”
“Congratulations on your sergeant!”
“Congratulations, Your Excellency!”
The king, who was watching with a gentle smile, was the first to leave Daejeon, maintaining a quiet and solemn expression.
While Logan watched with inexplicable eyes, the middle-aged official Cleoman quietly followed behind him at a trotting pace.
bang!
As soon as the door to the main hall closed, the king kicked the flower pot next to him.
He immediately realized his mistake when he saw the knight next to him flinch.
“Hmm, the flowers are poor. Refill them.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The king, who couldn’t bear to smile again, just made up excuses and walked faster.
Soon, when they reached an empty hallway, the King spoke quietly to Cleo who was following him.
“Look for it. Anything that could be his loophole.”
Crack.
The sound of teeth grinding.
Even at first glance, it was an unreasonable order.
Naturally, Cleo’s complexion hardened.
“In particular, investigate the suppression of this rebellion. No matter how much of a superhuman he was, he handled it too quickly. There must have been something unreasonable.”
In front of the king, who was spouting anger with a cold face, he could only nod.
* * * A party held in Daejeon.
By the time Logan had barely escaped the hectic celebration, the sun had already set and the moon was high in the sky.
Even the family knights were sent back to the mansion first.
Logan, who was trying to organize his thoughts under the calm moonlight, met someone he had not seen for a while amidst all the commotion on his way out of the castle.
“Master.”
“I’m late.”
“No, of course not. I know you came from the border. I also know that it was Your Majesty’s order.”
“Yes, I did.”
The hem of the swordsmith’s clothes, who was smiling bitterly, was full of dust.
The Grand Duke, the second-in-command in this country, had his clothes stained with dust and his attendants were nowhere to be seen, so he probably ran alone as soon as he heard the news.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that His Majesty would handle things like that while I was on my way to the border. He told me to leave my hands and feet to deal with the rebels…” “It’s
all in the past. And I did it.”
Seeing his student’s proud smile, the swordsman finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Seeing as there is no major commotion, it appears that Your Majesty is safe.”
“…yes?”
“Oh, no. My anger was too much. You must have had a hard time, so let’s go to my mansion. Stella has been coming here these days and keeps looking for you…”
Logan let out a small sigh as he saw his teacher smiling bitterly.
It was only then that I figured out what the teacher was worried about that made him run like that.
“Did you think I would harm you, Your Majesty?”
“Honestly, I thought it was half and half.”
“Is it half?”
“Because it was something that would make you angry.”
“If I had intended to harm His Majesty, I would not have tried to put him on the throne in the first place.”
“Isn’t the situation different then and now?”
What would Master have done if I had attacked the king because of the changed situation?
Instead of spitting out the questions that were rising in his mind, Logan shook his head calmly.
“It’s no different. The threat from the empire still remains and I have no intention of continuing an annoying conflict even because of that. Nothing will change unless your Majesty tries to keep me in check.”
“…You’re still talking about that.”
“yes?”
Logan, who sensed a negative feeling in the tone of his teacher who at least understood what he was saying, asked back.
“Didn’t the emperor of the empire think highly of you? The emperor who didn’t even start a local war for over 10 years during his reign.”
“I am even more convinced after seeing him in person. The emperor is not a person who will give up his greed.”
“Are you saying that I would go to war with the kingdom to get you?”
“You’re going to win the world, not me.”
Were Logan’s words unexpected?
The swordsman’s expression became even harder.
“…It wasn’t my intention, but I felt something when I went to the border. A lot of troops were removed from our western border, that is, the eastern border of the empire, and taxes on peddlers were reduced a lot. Maybe it’s because of you, but I turned to a pro-kingdom policy. Still, “Do you think so?”
“Yes. It’s a deception.”
The swordsman paused for a moment at the extremely confident tone, but Logan looked into his teacher’s eyes and continued speaking.
“Don’t just look at the current phenomenon, but think about the rate at which the empire went to war after the end of the succession war in the past. Didn’t you agree in the past?”
“Yes, I did. Huh…”
“Master. So, please stop Your Majesty from keeping me in check. Now is not the time to cause trouble within the kingdom.”
“I really hope so too.”
Looking at his teacher’s empty smile, Logan responded with a deeply depressed expression.
“Master, please stop Your Majesty’s rampage. This must never happen again, not even for the sake of the kingdom.”
Just so I don’t really cross the line.
Did he guess what Logan couldn’t bear to say and swallowed?
Or maybe he read the determination in Logan’s eyes.
‘Huh. ‘What should I do about this?’
The swordsman could not say anything more.
And the day when he had to make a choice came sooner than he thought.
A few days later.
At a time when the capital was still buzzing with rumors about Logan and the suppression of the rebels, and Logan was trying to gather his troops and return.
The king summoned Logan along with the swordsmith.
“I meet the monarch of Grandia.”
“Welcome, gentlemen.”
The king, who had retired from Daejeon a few days ago with a pale complexion, looked motivated and seemed to have regained his vitality.
And the reason for that enthusiastic expression was immediately revealed.
“Lord Logan. I was so restless a few days ago that I didn’t realize it, but there are reports that there was some problem in suppressing the rebels.”
“yes?”
Both Logan and Swordsman tilt their heads.
“They say that most of the soldiers who made up the vast majority of the rebels are still alive, and that too under McLane’s protection.”
Logan’s expression hardened at the sight of the king smiling at the swordsman.
Are you coming to this now?
“Logan? What do you mean?”
When the teacher, who received the king’s gaze, turned to look at him, Logan quickly organized his thoughts in his head and opened his mouth.
“Oh, that’s it… They are soldiers who realized their mistake and immediately converted. Thanks to that, they were able to easily defeat the rebels.”
I barely managed to get the answer I had prepared just in case.
“Who would believe that more than 7,000 soldiers converted at the same time? Lord Logan, you need to give a more persuasive answer so that the Sword Lord can understand it.”
The king’s words came out right away as if he had been waiting, and both the swordsman and Logan were able to figure out his intentions.
‘Are you going to put pressure on me with my stubborn master in the background?’
I laughed out loud.
Everyone here knew that the soldiers had no choice but to follow the wishes of their superiors.
No, regardless of that fact, the nearly 7,000 soldiers are probably future knights and the kingdom’s military strength.
It is natural for a monarch to try to preserve it no matter what excuse he makes…
“The principle is to execute rebels by association. How dare you let that person live.”
This king was different.
“Lord Logan. If you don’t want to protect the rebels, shouldn’t you kill them all?”
How many days have passed and you’re doing this again?
‘Are you really going to see it through to the end, Your Majesty?’
The flame that started in Logan’s chest moved to his eyes.
The king, whether aware of the danger or not, was only looking at the swordsman.
Then the swordsman opened his mouth.
