Abandoned by my Childhood Friend, I Became a War Hero

→ Airship (3) ←

A red trail cut through the air in a straight line, and the blood-crimson spear was embedded in the deck wall.

“Arrgh!!”

A spine-chilling scream filled the space.

Katarina, who couldn’t miss this opportunity, immediately rushed at the enemy.

“Haap!”

When two sword auras clashed, it was not easy for one side to gain the upper hand.

So Katarina aimed not at Alfred’s sword, but his arm.

The deep blue sword aura drew a straight path, and soon Alfred’s right arm flew through the air, scattering blood.

Thump!

“Arghh!!”

Being pierced by the spear and losing an arm would have been enough for an ordinary person, but the opponent was a Master Class who had transcended human limits, a dangerous being that could cause anything to happen even in this situation.

That’s why Elizabeth stepped in. Her snow-white hair lightly floated upward, and her pupils slitted like a snake’s.

She, emitting a fierce light in her eyes, commanded Alfred.

“Stop.”

The power of a higher being that enslaves the minds of mortals, the Dragon’s authority.

At the Dragon’s authority, Alfred stopped all his movements. The horrible screams, the kicks filled with pain, everything came to a halt as if time had stopped.

That ended the fight. The only thing indicating that time was still passing was the red blood flowing from Alfred’s severed arm.

“Your Highness, the princess! Are you okay!? I apologize, I failed to respond in time-“

“…I’m fine, Katarina. Let’s deal with what needs to be done first.”

“Yes, yes! I understand, Your Highness.”

Katarina, who had served the princess for a long time, knew well how to handle such situations.

With a familiar attitude, she tied Alfred’s severed arm with a cloth to stop the bleeding. This was to obtain the necessary information to find out who was behind the assassination attempt.

After she finished the hemostasis, she sighed, relief and guilt mixing. She felt deep remorse for not being able to properly protect her lord, who she should have protected.

If that instructor hadn’t thrown the spear at the right time, she would probably have regretted this moment for the rest of her life.

But she was sure he didn’t seem to have a spear when she first saw him…

“…Huh?”

Katarina’s gaze turned to the spear lodged in Alfred’s shoulder, and at the same time, she was taken aback. The appearance of the spear was very familiar.

In fact, she had only seen it once with her own eyes, but that one time was so intense that she couldn’t possibly not recognize it.

That day she saw one of the seven heroes of the continent, Malevolent Star, in person.

The spear that Malevolent Star had was very similar to the one in front of her eyes now…

“…Eh?”

When Katarina recognized the Ajetus and froze like a statue, Elizabeth was calming her surprised heart, maintaining her composure.

It was not the first time she had faced the brink of death. However, the experience a while ago gave her a premonition of an inevitable death.

The moment she nearly died so vainly was a considerable shock to Elizabeth, but as a princess, she did not have the luxury to be engulfed in shock leisurely.

Even in such a situation, she had to stand straight and maintain the dignity of the royal family. This is what qualified her to be an empress, and this was the difference between herself and her siblings.

“The situation has calmed down, everyone please return to your positions.”

Despite the assassination attempt just a moment ago, the calm attitude of the princess, who didn’t even blink, was admired by all the crew members on board, and they returned to their duties.

After giving instructions to the crew, Elizabeth’s gaze turned to Eon, to thank her instructor. However, Eon was not even looking this way, turning the turbine again.

A baffled smile appeared on Elizabeth’s lips at his indifferent attitude. Despite having just saved the life of the imperial princess, Eon seemed to feel no emotion about it. As if it was something he was supposed to do.

Therefore, Elizabeth decided to focus on what she had to do now. She could express her gratitude later.

Elizabeth stood in front of Alfred, who was completely frozen. Alternately looking at the Ajetus and Eon, Katarina, who had been groaning incomprehensibly with expressions like “Uh, huh?”, finally regained her senses, guarding the princess at her side.

Elizabeth’s eyes slit once again.

“From now on, answer my questions without falsehood.”

The Dragon’s authority could only issue one command at a time, and excessive use not only posed a risk of permanently damaging the opponent’s brain but also quickly exhausted the caster’s mental strength.

Therefore, getting the maximum effect from a single command was the correct way to use the Dragon’s authority. When the existing command was canceled, Alfred, who had been standing still, writhed and let out the breath he had been holding.

“Huuh!!”

Elizabeth threw a question immediately without giving the other party a chance to catch his breath.

“Who are you? Are you really Colonel Alfred?”

The crew of the airship were all selected trustworthy personnel. The same was true for Colonel Alfred.

He was an imperial soldier with a rigid personality, deeply connected with the Marquis Kalshtein, and above all, he was not an expert of master class level. That was why Katarina was taken aback when Alfred suddenly drew his sword.

When everything was revealed, Alfred let out a heavy laugh and spoke.

“Heh… No, Your Highness. Alfred is not my name… I am Heinrich.”

“…Heinrich? Heinrich von Dils?”

She couldn’t not know that name.

Heinrich von Dils. The head of the imperial intelligence agency.

He was the one who provided information about the safety of this airship.

At the appearance of a more formidable figure than expected, Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and said,

“I thought the intelligence agency was neutral. I didn’t even think the head of the agency himself would get involved.”

“I tried to make it seem so… If I couldn’t do even that much, how could I call myself the head of the intelligence agency… But the intelligence agency is neutral. All of this… I did it alone.”

Alfred, or rather Heinrich, tried to show a relaxed attitude in front of the princess, but due to the spear lodged in his shoulder, he couldn’t speak properly from the considerable pain.

“Did you set up this airship?”

“Yes… I disguised myself as the captain and installed a small bomb in the engine… I wanted to blow up the airship with a bigger bomb, but if it was any bigger, Dr. Brown would have certainly noticed… So I disguised myself and waited for the right moment inside the airship.”

“I see. Truly the head of the intelligence agency. No one suspected that you weren’t Colonel Alfred. Most of the crew of the airship have been following Colonel Alfred for a long time.”

“Heh, I’m not as good as Sylvia, but it seems my disguising skills are still useful… After all, I was the one who taught her how to disguise.”

Heinrich’s gaze turned toward the engine room. More accurately, he was looking at the back of a man silently turning the turbine.

“I think that man realized my disguise as soon as he saw me… Truly a discernment worthy of his reputation… Ha ha.”

“……”

From the moment he arrived on the airship, Eon’s gaze was on Heinrich. The reason why his eyes were unusually cold was because he had already noticed Heinrich’s disguise.

From that moment on, Eon must have been keeping a close eye on Heinrich.

Elizabeth asked the most important question.

“Who ordered you to assassinate me?”

At that question, Heinrich twisted his lips.

“Order…? There was no such person, Your Highness.”

Under the effect of the Dragon’s authority, lying was impossible. This meant his words were the truth.

Elizabeth’s expression hardened.

“So all this was your own doing?”

“That’s right, Your Highness. The Crown Prince only intended to cause a small commotion on the airship. He planned to show your confusion in front of the people to humiliate you. But I saw this as a golden opportunity.”

“A golden opportunity…?”

“You wish to become the empress, Your Highness. But while the Demon King is still alive, if a powerful empire splits due to the succession to the throne! When the Demon King appears again, which country could stand against the Demon King’s army!?”

Heinrich shouted passionately.

His pupils were shining with the madness of conviction.

“If only you, Your Highness, disappear, the imperial succession would be clear… The empire must not be divided. Under a strong successor, we must unite more than ever…! Only then can we maintain a grand and powerful empire…! All of this was planned by me alone, for the glory of the empire!”

Upon hearing Heinrich’s confession, Katarina’s expression twisted in anger.

“You, you dare! To use such a reason to harm the Princess!”

It meant that all this was orchestrated for the Crown Prince. He must have feigned neutrality all along to use it decisively at the most crucial moment.

Everything that needed to be heard had been heard. There was no more information to dig out, but if they kept him alive and had him testify in court, it could deliver a significant blow to the Crown Prince.

Then, a low and heavy voice cut off her thoughts.

“He’s lying.”

Without her noticing, Instructor Eon had approached her and Heinrich.

“Instructor Eon?”

“The turbine should be fine for a while.”

Elizabeth didn’t particularly worry about the turbine, but when she glanced at the engine, she noticed that the turbine was still running at full speed even without him.

Elizabeth asked in a puzzled voice.

“Lying? Under the Dragon’s authority, he can’t lie.”

“He must have skillfully twisted his words then. It’s not exactly a lie, but neither can it be called the truth.”

“…!!”

Hearing Eon’s words, Elizabeth realized the part she had overlooked until now.

And the parts she had found strange until now fell into place like a puzzle.

Heinrich had skillfully guided the conversation to make Elizabeth hostile towards the Crown Prince. But even if Heinrich’s plan succeeded and Elizabeth died on the airship, it would have been difficult for Prince Wilhelm to shake off the huge political stigma. The indelible stigma of having dirtied the Empire’s dignity to kill his own sister.

Even if Elizabeth survived and got out of here, it wouldn’t have been bad. Between Elizabeth, who would have believed Heinrich’s confession as it was, and Prince Wilhelm, an irreversible gap would surely be formed. The competition for the throne would become increasingly fierce afterward, potentially escalating to a point where they threatened each other’s lives.

In such a situation, who would be the one to benefit the most?

Someone who disguises the murder of the Third Princess as an accident, and frames the Crown Prince with political stigma.

When the two royal siblings start to fight each other, the person who benefits by simply sitting back and watching is…

Elizabeth’s pupils emitted a red glow.

“Who is the real royal who wishes to become the emperor?”

“……”

“Speak up!”

“Cough-!”

Instead of answering, Heinrich vomited a violent stream of blood from his mouth. This was a symptom often seen in those who resisted the Dragon’s authority.

Heinrich looked at Eon with eyes full of hatred as he shed bloody tears.

“Why… damn it…! Why on earth are you on the side of the Third Princess…!”

“Hmm?”

“You, more than anyone else… should have an overflowing resentment against the Empire… Aren’t you resentful of the royal family that abandoned you and your colleagues…?”

Eon paused for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.

“I was resentful.”

“So then…!!”

Eon slightly shook his head and said.

“However, I’m not on the side of the Third Princess.”

“I’m simply protecting my student.”

Elizabeth stared at Eon in surprise. Heinrich did the same.

He stared at Eon with a dumbfounded expression, and eventually burst into a maniacal laughter.

“You madman…! You’re meddling in the struggle for the throne for such a petty reason? Rejecting all that power and fame, staying quiet as a dead mouse all this time, why on earth! Do you know that making this choice will create an enemy? The Third Princess will eventually fail to become the empress and die! You’ve stirred up all this trouble to protect one student, even making the future emperor your enemy!?”

Eon nodded his head.

“There’s no reason why I can’t.”

Heinrich gaped blankly.