Chapter 49 Ravens(3)

Translator: BaeBae Editor: BaeBae

[Why did youWhy have you returned so late, your majesty.]

His voice that was composed from magic, echoed in a low voice, that irritated the hearer.

But listening to this voice, Juan felt right at home.

Lars lifted his head and with his shaking hands felt around Juans face.

It appeared Juans face didnt seem familiar to him. Lars soon realised the rudeness of his action as he quickly withdrew his hands.

Its alright. Not once did you show an irresponsible side in the past. Do what you want.

Lars still hesitated aftering this, but slowly he stretched out his hand and gently placed his hand on Juans face again.

[Its a weird feeling, your majesty, knowing that youre smaller than me. Before, you were like the sky, out of reach.]

Even I havent yet got used to this face. Anyways. It seems you were able to recognise me from the start. The others wouldnt believe it even if I would tell them Im the emperor. Some even refused to, even in the face of overwhelming truth.

Lars had no reply.

Realising that he couldnt see Larss expression, Juans feelings turned bitter.

His radiant smile, sheepish grins.. He could do nothing but only let Lars continue to touch his face.

What exactly happened. I heard youre

A traitor.

Juan didnt finish the sentence but thought Lars would likely know what he is talking about. Larss hands stopped then shook. Juan felt some rage starting to boil from him.

[Thats not the truth, your majesty. The empire is being deceived by the general.]

General? You mean Vares Valte?

[Yes. At the time, I sensed a suspicious atmosphere in the empires inner circle. From somewhere within a disturbing aura was brewing, its target set on your majesty. I thought it was related to the fissure but..]

Fissure? [1]

One of his old enemies that he never got the chance to finish off.

Juans eyebrows furrowed at hearing the unexpected name.

He didnt expect to hear this name now.

Come to think of it, he wouldve guessed that humanity wouldve fallen to the fissure when hed died, but surprisingly the empire was doing a good job keeping them at bay.

[Yes. However, I wasnt all too sure. When I passed on my troubling fearsto my acquaintance, he was also quite concerned. So in the end, we joined forces to look into it more.]

Acquaintance? Who?

[It was Dain Dormunt.]

Juans face suddenly distorted.

High magician, Dain Dormunt.

He was a teacher and a father to Juan.

But then committed an unforgivable crime just after Juan had ascended to the throne.

Dain endlessly apologised, but Juan simply couldnt forgive him with that. His fault wasnt something that could be reversed back.

Anger rose on Juans face before slowly subsiding. He understood why Lars had gone to him specifically.

It doesnt surprise me that you chose to discuss with him. It would be hard to find someone that knew magic as well as he does. He wouldve taught you magic that I refused to teach Anyways. What did you guys find out?

[That Gared Ga-in, your eldest had plans to harm you.]

Lars hesitated before replying, as he didnt even want to mention any of this to Juan.

[After finding out, Dain immediately headed to the palace to inform you, while I took the Hugin knights and made my way towards the capital. However, as I was based in the south, it was likely that I would be too late to do anything. So I tried to let Hamon know at least. But..on the way, the capitals knights stopped us.

Knights from the capital?

[Yes. I didnt have any idea why the knights under the General were trying to stop us. So thinking that it may be a misunderstanding, I tried my best to persuade him. However, I wasnt able to meet Vares Valte that day. So not wanting to simply backoff, I could only draw my sword.]

Then for a moment, Lars went into a silence. Juan had an idea what his silence represented.

[For 4 days, night and day the battle commenced. I didnt like long fights, nor were my knights used to long drawn out battles. Despite that, we gave it our all. But, on the fourth day we received the word that..your majesty had already passed.]

.I see.

[Later we heard that you didnt pass but was critically injured. But my knights had lost the will to fight. Additionally, we were branded as traitors. We had lost our emperor and lost the honor that we had fought for you. Unable to hold out, I decided to round up whatever force that remained and hid in the Laus ranges.]

Finally, Juan started to understand the picture.

He felt that Larss words werent a lie, but he couldnt afford to be naive.

If Larss story was true, then it looked like the Capitals knights contributed to his assasination. However, the Capitals knights main priority was to protect the capital from external forces. It was only natural that they tried to stop the Hugin knights seeing them suddenly move towards the capital.

The Capitals knights could have not known anything about the assasination.

[Theres something I wanted to ask your majesty. Eldest brother.No, I mean Gared Ga-in. When I heard that he had assassinated the emperor, I couldnt believe it. Even when Id heard that your majesty had passed away, it was still hard to believe. Maybe I thought he was falsely accused just like me..]

No, Gared did indeed stab me. I saw it for myself. His hand and his knife stained in my blood. His eyes.

Lars momentarily went quiet.

Gared was the only relative that Lars found himself getting along with. Gared who was virtuous and considerate.

Acknowledging Gareds betrayal was difficult on him.

As much as Juan found it difficult.

[Then Im not sure if the rest did really betray you or not. Regent Hamon Helwin and captain of the imperial guard Yenoa Weaver were executed, Gared Ga-in and Dain Dormunt went missingIts hard to judge who the real traitors and loyalists are.]

Juan noticed Lars didnt mention the last of the six apostles that were rumoured to have caused his assasination, but let it slide. He didnt want to hear his lovers name at this moment.

I too find it difficult. Before I came here, I wasnt sure if you had actually betrayed me or not.

[Then, has your majesty really returned? For the empire? To get revenge? Also Im curious to know how you manage to return. Its certainly conceivable that your majesty was able to beat death but, its been so long..]

Im not sure. I really dont know how I managed to return.

Juan said truthfully.

Im not even sure that Im really back. In many ways, Im not the same emperor that many have waited for so long. Ive lost my power and my mind isnt what it was. An emperor that claims himself as such but nobody acknowledges, is nothing but a blasphemous maniac.

[Isnt that what I am.]

Lars replied in a joking tone.

Juan put his hand on Larss skull that had no traces of his older appearance.

Like his outer appearance, Lars seemed different, his mind not like his old self.

However, he was glad at least Lars wasnt one of those that betrayed him.

So. What happened to you to look like this?

Lars was jiggling the Indeterminate polyhedron in his palm with his bony fingers.

Juan saw the Indeterminate polyhedron absorb bits of the gloomy energy that was radiating from Lars.

[After we fled to the Laus ranges, our order held out the enemy while waiting for an opportunity to strike back. The empire was in a state of anger and loss from losing your majesty, and so were we. But even though we were demoralised and outnumbered we were able to fight back evenly. As you already know, our speciality was defensive warfare.]

Juan smiled.

Juan could imagine enemies pushing deep into Laus mountains, then slowly dying from no water, no food, drying up in virtually a desert like environment.

[However it all changed with the introduction of these Paladins. It was as if..they had your majestys essence in small doses. They called this grace.]

To his adopted children and a few select, Juan did give share his power for them to use.

That power didnt make them equal with Juan who had the strength to overcome gods, but it certainly made them transcend over human limits.

It seemed this power endured even though he had died.

[From then on, slowly we saw more defeats than victories. A lot of knights died. We had to find a way to be on equal grounds with these Paladins that was using your majestys power. Sothats when I sought my old connection.]

Nigrato.

God of death, who had lost all of his followers and found himself unable to grasp an opportunity to revive.

Lars nodded sturdily.

[Yes. In the past, my body was used as an offering for him, so I was able to drag out his essence that still remained on his altar. Plus your majestys power was with me so I was confident that I could contain him. And so, in the end I was able to absorb his strength and had become an incarnation of death.]

Juan lightly sighed.

Many made the same mistake Lars did and was made into an offering that fertilised evil. It appeared Lars also knew what he did was a mistake.

[However, the more I used his strength, his presence inside me kept growing larger. Soon I found myself hearing Nigratos voice more than your majestys voice. At some point I lost the confidence to suppress him much longer.. and this was when I decided on an assasination attempt on Vares Valte while I still had some form of consciousness left. I could saw with my own eyes that he was destroying the empire that your majesty had worked hard to establish.]

Right. And then the attempt failed

[Yes. After that, Ive self confined myself to this room so that I wouldnt use any more power. Except when Id revive fallen fellow knights of course. You may have seen an undead knight on the way here. They said they would be ashamed to meet the emperor in death when theyd been accused as traitors, so I couldnt stop myself as I had the same line of thought as them.]

And that Indeterminate polyhedron..?

[Its to suppress Nigratos power. Since Annabelle got it for me, Nigratos voice has subsided. Its quite effective.

Its an item with its origins unknown, Lars. Be Careful not to be overly reliant on it.

[Yes of course. But right now, I dont have many options.. If I was to lose control to him, then I would no longer be me and youll be seeing someone entirely different. Im glad that I got the chance to meet you again while I still have control over myself. I still cannot believe that youve returned and Im seeing this.]

Lars went into his pocket and pulled something out. A small box wrapped around silk.

Lars respectfully handed the box over to Juan and lowered his head.

[Your majesty, its something that Ive kept for you. Through the long fights, it was my all to defend this one thing till your return.]

Aftering saying so, Lars slowly opened the box. Juan couldnt believe his eyes.

Inside was a decorated ring with a Sun and a flaming eagle engraved on it.

The seal of the emperor.

The ring that he had used when sending official documents.

The ring even contained power which could be used to restrict the contents of the letter available only to the sender and the recipient chosen.

How is this in your possession?

[Forgive me your majesty. Before everything happened, Hamon asked to keep it safe just in case. I was framed as a traitor because of this, but I never gave up protecting it. There was a time when I thought Hamon had planned this to frame me, but now Im not much sure about anything.

Rather than Juan, it was an item that Hamon mostly kept and used for work related to the empire.

In the past, not once Juan had thought this item was something of importance.

Whenever Juan shared this thought to Hamon, he often shook his head with a serious look, branding him foolish.

Your majesty. The reason why people follow you isnt because entirely just because of your strength, but the authority granted to you. Authority isnt something that everyone has. Its something that is given by a collection of peoples agreement. And this seal and the crown are the physical representation of their agreement.

Juan had many things to say to that.

However, Hamon always clicked his tongue and ignored his sentiment.

Juan, whod just recalled an old memory smiled bitterly as he lifted the ring.

The ring that was made for his finger when he was the emperor, was so big that it didnt even fit on his thumb.

Hamon who was rather thin never put it on his finger but grabbed it with his fingers when stamping it on documents.

If hed given this ring that held so much importance to none other than Lars, then it was very likely he had suspected something was about to happen.

Its not an item he would have given so that youd be branded a traitor.

[Why do you think so, your majesty?]

Hamon considered this ring like a smaller version of me. No, maybe in some ways he considered it more important than me. If he had ill intent, then he wouldve hid it somewhere in his quarters. The fact that I died in the north and you were based in the south..I think he was trying to seperate it as much as possible from danger.

[Danger?]

Juan turned his head towards the north.

The danger that not only the empire but also the imperial palace could fall into the enemys hands. And it seems Hamons concern was right on mark.

[1] Yeah, I didnt know what they were talking about as well lol So I had to read ahead. Apparently, theres a fissure on their northern border that has dangerous things?, crawling outI think.