Return of the Unrivaled Spear Knight

Side Story Chapter 281

As expected, Duke Voltaire instantly protested.

“Wait! That’s preposterous!” he shouted.

“Why? I’m still your empress. Unless you need me on the battlefield?”

“Avalon is the most dangerous place on the continent right now—the Battle God himself is leading the invasion. I can’t let you go there!”

“‘It’s dangerous if I’m going there to join the war,” Anna answered with a shrug.

Voltaire flinched. “What did you just say?”

“I'm going to Avalon as a diplomatic representative of Swallow, not to fight in the war.”

“Why in the world would you do that…?”

“As empress, I should exploit the current situation to reap as many benefits for Swallow as possible.”

The longer the conversation became, the louder the nobles’ murmurings grew.

“Let’s say that Swallow attacked Hubalt’s capital and caught them off guard. Then Avalon would be grateful to Swallow, wouldn’t they?”

“Well…”

“Which is why I should ask Avalon for a reward. That’s what diplomacy is about.”

“There’s no way that Avalon will agree to that, they won’t trust us. They’ll think we have a secret plan of our own…”

Voltaire’s voice died out because he noticed that Anna’s eyes were on Kireua.

“That’s what he says,” Anna said. “What do you think, the Second Prince of Avalon?”

“I trust you more than anyone else,” Kireua firmly answered.

Voltaire almost cussed aloud.

“Even without that, we haven’t yet decided to launch the attack on Hubalt, to my knowledge!”

“I believe we have, Duke Voltaire,” Arash interjected.

Voltaire glared at her.

-What is the meaning of this?

-I could ask you the same question. I thought you agreed on attacking Hubalt to keep the Killian family in check.

Voltaire’s eyes turned cold.

-Don’t forget about your Forbidden Seal.

-Which is precisely why you should trust me. I can only tell you the truth.

-Are you sure that it’ll be enough to keep Duke Killian in check? And inside the vault…

-Fortunately, she was able to activate the Vaikals.

Voltaire’s eyes immediately lit up with joy.

-Is that true?

-Yes—so we should mobilize all available troops in Swallow for the attack, including the Killian family’s forces. They are still part of Swallow.

-What are you going to do afterward?

-We’ll use the Vaikals to attack the Killian family.

-Strike when their troops are away… What are our odds?

-It depends on how much you help me. Hitting the Killian family without an adequate justification will only end up harming us, so we need to have everything in place before the mission. After fabricating evidence of the Killian family plotting treason, we need to get as many allies as possible.

Arash’s Forbidden Symbol showed no reaction, which meant that she was speaking the truth.

“Ahem.” Voltaire awkwardly cleared his throat and stepped forward. “Excuse me. I let my emotions get the better of me.”

Those around Voltaire and Arash had already noticed that they were talking telepathically.

“You must be tired after your return, coronation, and visit to the vault, so I would like to ask for your forgiveness for pressing you…”

“Hmph. Isn’t it too late for you to say that?” Anna grumbled.

Voltaire silently cursed her, but continued, “…Why don’t you rest for now? We can discuss this afterward.”

As he politely bowed to Anna, Voltaire sent Arash one more telepathic message.

-Let’s talk about this in private.

* * *

When things were more or less sorted out, Kireua was assigned to a guest room in the palace.

“You can rest here.” Arash pointed at the door to the room.

“I suppose I should be honored to have a princess guide me?”

“Feel free to reach out to me whenever you need anything.” Arash turned to leave. “Now excuse me. There is someone I have to meet—”

“Wait.” Kireua grabbed Arash’s arm.

“…Yes?”

“I would like to ask for two favors from you.”

Arash turned to look at Kireua. “I’ll decide whether to grant you these favors after you tell me what they are.”

“My first favor… is to open up a teleportation gate to Avalon.”

Teleportation gates were usually managed by the Magic Tower, but they needed permission from the country where the exit gate was installed. Using a teleportation gate without permission from the destination country would trigger their mana jamming barrier, shredding the traveler.

Arash nodded. “Don’t worry about that one. Her Majesty has declared she will go to Avalon, so I will make all possible preparations to ensure a safe journey.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem. What’s the other favor?”

Kireua silently looked at Arash for a moment; a lot of the enmity was gone. “I heard the story from Anna—no, the empress. She told me about my teacher’s death.”

Arash quickly realized what Kireua was talking about.

“Can you tell me what happened and why he made that choice?” Kireua requested.

For a long moment, Arash was silent. She finally sighed. “It’ll take quite a long time. Shall we go inside and continue?”

Arash stepped inside the room before Kireua could answer.

* * *

One day before Ulabis’s execution, Arash came down to the dungeon to check on him. However, her jaw dropped in dismay after seeing Ulabis’s condition.

“…Oh, my…”

Ulabis was in a lot worse condition than Arash had expected.

“Why did you treat him like this? I told you that our goal is to eradicate the remnants of Thran’s army. That is all.”

“Umm… He was like that after the Grand Duke’s visit, so we don’t really know what happened…”

Arash groaned quietly. She couldn’t hold the guards accountable if it was Lucifer’s deed.

She faced Ulabis and she pitied him. Ulabis was famous across the continent, but here he was slowly dying on the cold floor. It seemed Ulabis’s mana hall had been completely destroyed because Arash couldn’t sense any energy from him. Judging from the way he sprawled on the floor with his limbs twisted at bizarre angles, his muscles and tendons must have been ruined. Unless he received thorough treatment right away, he would never be able to move on his own again.

‘Perhaps it’s already too late…’ Arash thought as she entered the prison cell.

“…Please kill me.”

The voice was almost inaudible. In fact, she would have missed it if she hadn’t been watching him.

“Please,” Ulabis repeated.

“…You’re going to be executed tomorrow even if you hadn’t asked.”

Ulabis chuckled. “No, you’re the smartest person in the world, so I know you won’t kill me.”

Arash knew that Ulabis was right. His execution was simply a show to lure out and eradicate the remaining opposition in Thran, but if Swallow proceeded with the Flame Emperor’s execution even after accomplishing the initial goal… the remnants wouldn’t be their only problem. The entire kingdom would rebel, which would be the worst possible situation for Swallow.

Thran was already oppressed, so killing their king would be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“I’ll… ask again… Please… kill me...”

“…Do you really think I’ll do that for you?”

“Of course.”

The conviction Arash noticed in Ulabis’s answer made her frown. “Why do you think so?”

“We have the same goal.”

The hair on Arash’s neck stood up as she sensed the insight in Ulabis’s response. She glanced over at the guards, verifying that they were at a safe distance. Ulabis was obviously crippled, so they must have thought that he was not a threat.

“…How much do you know?” Arash asked.

“The Killian family has been working in Thran’s shadow for such a long time, so of course I did the same in Swallow.”

“I don’t understand. If you knew about the Killians’ scheme, why didn’t you do anything about it? I’m sure you could have stopped it long ago.”

“Because it’ll be helpful to Thran in the long run.”

Arash’s lip trembled.

“I trust my country. The Killian family set the stage, and I’m sure that my people will be able to take it. The play will reach its climax with my death.” Ulabis looked up, revealing the sharp eyes of a king instead of the dull eyes of a broken prisoner. “Kill me for my Thran.”

Arash gave him a long, slow look before drawing something from her inner pocket.

“…Drink this at dawn.”

“What is that…?”

“It’s poison.”

Ulabis's eyes widened for a moment but he quickly regained his composure. “Can you help me out? As you can see, it’s a bit difficult for me to drink on my own.”

Without a word, Arash put the bottle in Ulabis’s mouth.

Ulabis silently expressed his gratitude with his eyes.

“…There’s no need to thank me. Just like you said, this is for my goal too.”

Ulabis grinned and gulped down the poison.

“Wh-what are you doing? I told you to drink it at dawn.”

“I’m still only human,” Ulabis calmly answered.

All humans would falter before death, so Ulabis left no room for him to reconsider his decision.

“…Don’t blame me if you die before the execution.”

“Don’t worry. I believe I’ve trained myself enough to hold out until the execution.” He smiled gently. “It was a very good last meal.”

* * *

“…That’s the end…”

Arash stopped talking and handed Kireua her handkerchief.

“…Why are you giving me this?”

“You’re crying right now.”

Kireua held up his hand and felt his cheek, belatedly realizing that it was wet.

“…I’m sweating.”

“Is that so?” Arash looked outside the window. “It is indeed hot. Maybe summer will arrive soon.”

A bare tree stood outside, ravaged by the raging winter winds.