They Have No Choice But to Die
Even as the Tower Master, he couldn’t just fly straight to the imperial palace.
He had to obtain permission through proper procedures to enter the imperial palace. Meeting the Emperor required a separate set of procedures.
Until now, he had lived receiving exceptional treatment as the Tower Master and hadn’t needed to worry about such procedures, but now that he was essentially a noble with territory in the Great Empire of Neweiton, he paid attention to his conduct.
“I’ll get straight to the point and leave, Your Majesty.”
Of course, he wasn’t mature enough to recite long and tedious etiquette even in a private audience with the Emperor.
“I’ve confirmed the life and death of Grand Duke Gwendhill.”
“……!”
The Emperor, who had been holding his forehead, shot up from his seat.
So shocked that he swayed for a moment, the Emperor grabbed the armrest.
“Where is the Grand Duke?”
“He’s alive and well.”
Upon hearing that Leodelt Gwendhill had survived, the Emperor’s legs seemed to give out as he sank heavily into his seat.
Countless emotions flashed through the Emperor’s haggard eyes in an instant.
The Emperor let out a deep sigh, rubbing his face with dry hands.
“So where, where is he?”
The gaze flickering between his fingers was far from relief. The cold and meticulous planning in his eyes resembled a tactician rather than a strategist.
The Tower Master met the Emperor’s gaze, which didn’t deviate a bit from his expectations, and smiled faintly.
“The request Your Majesty entrusted to me was to find out about Grand Duke Gwendhill’s life or death.”
“……What do you mean?”
The Emperor frowned.
The Tower Master leisurely swept his long hair back.
“Life or death—I have no obligation to inform you of any other information.”
“Tower Master!”
The Emperor struck the armrest with his fist.
The Emperor, who rarely raised his voice, straightened his posture as if to control the intense emotions that had surged up.
“……Where is the Grand Duke, Tower Master?”
“Haha-.”
The Tower Master let out a light laugh before the Emperor of the Great Empire of Neweiton. The Emperor’s expression hardened.
“Your Majesty-.”
The Tower Master, whose eyes weren’t smiling though his lips were raised, took a step forward.
“The Magic Tower certainly formed an alliance with the Neweiton Empire, but that doesn’t mean I, the Tower Master, have become Your Majesty’s vassal.”
“…….”
“Shouldn’t we maintain boundaries with each other?”
The previous cooperation between the Emperor and the Tower Master was possible because, besides having a common enemy in Darhan Bridend, they each had clear objectives they wanted to achieve.
The Emperor was never swayed by personal feelings, and the Tower Master never reached for matters with no benefit.
An alliance could be maintained precisely because it filled each party’s interests and desires equally.
“I thought the Tower Master and I were of the same mind. Was I wrong?”
Hadn’t they agreed to stop and check the greed of the noble faction led by Darhan Bridend?
The Emperor looked at the Tower Master with a face that seemed almost betrayed.
“I’m not sure what you’re prioritizing over the Empire’s peace and our trust.”
The expression about having a thousand faces like a cunning serpent was accurate.
The Tower Master had suddenly become a shameless person who had betrayed his trust with the Empire’s Emperor.
Of course, the Tower Master didn’t care.
“Mm~ First, there’s a misunderstanding on Your Majesty’s part.”
The Tower Master said with a fresh smile.
“I accepted the request from Your Majesty rather than the nobles because I wished for the Empire’s peace, and to maintain trust with Your Majesty, I came to inform you immediately without hiding anything as soon as I confirmed Grand Duke Gwendhill’s life or death. If you expect more than that……. Hmm, then you can send an official document to the Magic Tower.”
It was a roundabout expression that this was the appropriate level for exchanging personal favors.
The Emperor fell into thought, mulling over the Tower Master’s words and attitude.
“Something must have happened to the Grand Duke.”
The Emperor tapped the armrest while looking at the Tower Master.
The Leodelt Gwendhill the Emperor knew wasn’t the type to leave the Emperor alone to be torn apart by the noble faction. Especially now, having fallen into a trap and been charged with treason, he would know that contact with the Emperor was most urgent.
‘There must be a problem with his safety.’
The Emperor looked down at the Tower Master intently.
The Tower Master might be willful and capricious, but he wasn’t so tactless as to fail to grasp the seriousness of a problem.
‘Yet he only came to tell me the Grand Duke is alive?’
It meant Leodelt Gwendhill’s current condition wasn’t good.
‘Or the current situation is one that would be troublesome if revealed.’
Despite confirming his life or death, the situation hadn’t improved.
The Emperor rubbed his face to hide his troubled expression. But that didn’t lift the deeply shadowed gloom.
“May I ask just one thing, Your Majesty?”
“Hmm, speak.”
“Your Majesty would consider the Empire’s peace more important than personal happiness, wouldn’t you?”
“Isn’t that the fate of one who sits in this position?”
It was an answer befitting an Emperor.
The Tower Master nodded once.
“Why do you ask that?”
“I became curious. Grand Duke Gwendhill has gone to countless wars by Your Majesty’s command, risking his life and winning victories to protect the Empire’s peace. I heard he was a true sword and shield for Your Majesty, never once complaining about the absurd reality.”
The Tower Master, who had been listing his thoughts in a monotone voice, tilted his head.
The more he spoke, the more boring a life it seemed.
“Living like that, was he happy?”
The Tower Master stared at the Emperor quietly.
“Didn’t he ever want to throw everything away and run, at least once?”
“…….”
For a moment, only the gazes between the two people passed back and forth in silence, not even the sound of breathing could be heard.
Then the Emperor suddenly let out a hollow laugh.
“Haha-.”
As if he had heard something amusing, the Emperor shook his head.
“Happiness. I didn’t know the Tower Master was such a sentimental person.”
Kindness appeared in the Emperor’s eyes.
However, to the Tower Master, the Emperor’s acting was transparent. The moment happiness was mentioned, the Emperor coldly revised his evaluation of the Tower Master.
“The Grand Ducal House of Gwendhill has possessed much for generations. They sit in the position of Grand Duke of the Neweiton Empire, so isn’t it natural that their duties would increase?”
In politics, sentiment was unnecessary.
There was only responsibility and duty.
“Born into the Grand Duke house. Grew up and became Grand Duke. Lived and found duty…….”
Among all that, there wasn’t a single thing Leodelt Gwendhill could give up of his own will.
Even the Tower Master, a complete stranger, understood this, yet why didn’t the Emperor before him?
The answer was simple.
‘Because he doesn’t see him as a person.’
The Tower Master smiled faintly.
“So that ‘natural’ thing ultimately took Grand Duke Gwendhill’s life.”
“…….”
“Having shouldered an unbearable burden that accumulated and accumulated, they have no choice but to die crushed by it.”
Leodelt Gwendhill was a sword and a shield. But there was no sword in the world that wouldn’t break, and no shield that could block everything.
In the end, the sword that was human broke, and the shield shattered.
[I like this life now. I want to protect my current life living as ‘Ren’.]
And only then could he become human. He became an ordinary person with emotions, a heart, who sometimes wavered, was reckless, and made mistakes.
“I hope Your Majesty will not be crushed by the weight of that throne you sit upon.”
The Tower Master left an elegant farewell and departed the imperial palace.
With each step on the thick carpet, the atmosphere of the imperial palace clung like something strangling the breath.
‘The Neweiton Empire will not fall.’
Instead, the Imperial House of Neweiton, which had lost its sword and shield, would fall.
‘From now on, those things called nobles will seize power and run wild.’
The moment the Tower Master left the imperial palace, the noble faction would swarm the imperial palace like a pack of dogs.
‘The Imperial House of Neweiton and the throne must be protected.’
The alliance was still valid. He had no intention of letting Darhan Bridend seize the throne.
However, the Magic Tower had no intention of stepping forward to take on the role of the Grand Ducal House of Gwendhill.
‘If he’s an Emperor who pushes all burdens onto one person and then whines about not being able to protect a throne in their absence, it would be better to replace him.’
The Tower Master was capricious.
If the Emperor, upon hearing about Leodelt Gwendhill’s life or death, had genuinely worried about the Grand Duke’s wellbeing first, he might have changed his mind and at least hinted at ‘Ren’s’ condition.
However, the Emperor’s concern and relief were focused entirely on the ‘situations’ surrounding the throne.
‘If he’s a proper Emperor, he should be able to buy time at least.’
Until Leodelt Gwendhill returns, that is.
The current Emperor was wise enough and skilled enough in schemes to protect his position without borrowing the power of the Grand Ducal House of Gwendhill. So in the face of crisis, he should be able to prove his ability to maintain the alliance and protect himself.
There was no one-sided trust. Moreover, isn’t help originally something that’s given and received mutually?
“Then, next~”
The Tower Master cast a teleportation spell.
The next destination was the Grand Duke’s residence of Gwendhill. Fortunately, he was able to meet the knight with long gray hair in one go.
“How did you break through the magical barriers of the Grand Duke’s residence?”
Toward the intruder who had suddenly appeared in the study of the Grand Duke’s residence, the knight with long gray hair, Jed, emanated sharp energy.
No matter how much he was the Tower Master, he had no choice but to react sensitively to unauthorized intrusion.
“It’s me, the Tower Master.”
Regardless, the Tower Master sprawled on the two-person sofa and crossed his legs.
Jed checked the study windows and outside the door just in case.
“Aren’t you going to ask why I came?”
“…….”
Jed silently organized the piles of documents on the study desk.
“Did you find any clues?”
“No.”
The Tower Master pulled out Leodelt Gwendhill’s portrait from his chest.
“I found someone who looks exactly like him.”
“……!”
Jed turned around immediately.
His ice-cold expression rapidly melted away.
“Where, no, where is he?”
Jed quickly approached the Tower Master, saying how could a face in the portrait be common.
The Tower Master looked up at Jed with his chin resting on his hand.
“If I tell you?”
“I’ll go fetch him right away.”
Jed shot back quickly, as if asking what kind of obvious question that was.
“What if he refuses?”
“What kind of word games are you playing now…….”
“The person who looks exactly like this portrait said he didn’t want to. He said he likes things as they are now.”
“……There’s no way our master would say such nonsense.”
Toward Jed, who frowned at the incomprehensible words, the Tower Master raised the corner of his lips.
“Well. He said it very clearly. Looking me, the Tower Master, in the eye and saying he’s happy now.”
At the word happy, Jed was flustered for the first time.
It was a word their master would never utter.
“……Are you sure you identified him correctly?”
When Jed expressed doubt, the Tower Master burst into laughter.
“Why? Is it strange that your master is happy?”
The Tower Master straightened up, fixing his long hair. Then he turned his back to Jed and stretched vigorously.
“He seemed to be eating well, resting well, doing well, and though he seemed to have been seriously injured, his recovery seemed to be going smoothly.”
“……!”
Though the Tower Master spoke in passing, it was quite specific, as if he had checked closely.
Jed grabbed the Tower Master’s arm.
“Tell me. Where is our master?”
“Will you go to find him? Even if that’s not what your master wants?”
“Even if that’s so, we must bring our master to the Grand Duke’s residence. Isn’t he being targeted from all sides?”
“Will your master be happy if he comes here?”
“This is our master’s home.”
The Tower Master glanced down at Jed’s hand gripping his arm as if to break it, then chuckled. Then he snapped his fingers.
“Ugh-!”
In an instant, a strong force grabbed Jed by the nape and threw him.
“-Wait!”
Jed shouted as he got up from the wrecked desk in the study. But the Tower Master had already disappeared.
Documents fluttered to the floor.
“Sir Jed?”
Servants who had heard the commotion from outside came running.
“Summon all the mages in the territory immediately.”
“Pardon?”
“We need to analyze the teleportation coordinates left here.”
Jed gripped the scattered documents.
If his master’s life or death had been confirmed, as his knight, he should go to meet him.
“Happiness?”
More important than happiness was that person’s safety.
Jed’s priorities were firm.
****
The knight with light green hair who had been continuing his search alone, Hiro, went to find the frontier soldiers.
“I heard you’re looking for a hidden village.”
“Ah, yes. I’m looking for someone.”
“Then you don’t need to climb the mountains around here. There’s only one village. Still, if you’d like to go, shall we go together?”
“Oh, would that be alright?”
“Yes.”
The tall soldier, Tristan, nodded to Hiro.
“I was planning to climb the mountain soon to repay a debt of gratitude.”