A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

310 – The End of Dragons, the Beginning of Humans (3)

Sometimes, humans have to fight even when they know they have no chance of winning.

It is like that now.

No matter how much you try against the emperor, you cannot kill him.

The moment you try to cut off your head, an aura will be created in the air to protect your neck.

The moment he is about to stab my heart, he will twist his body and thrust the sword between his armpits, grabbing my face.

The moment he was about to cut his head in half, he would grab the vertically falling Aura blade with his hand and break the Aura.

However.

When it comes to fighting, it doesn’t always mean 1:1 confrontation.

Boom!

It splits the air.

The blade, swung horizontally, passes right in front of the emperor’s face.

If I hadn’t avoided it, my eye would have been cut horizontally.

However, the emperor easily avoided it by tilting his head back.

“Residual tricks.”

Even as a trick, the moment you swing the Auror blade, the Auror blade extends just a little bit further.

If he had easily dodged, his eye would have been cut by the trick, but the emperor tilted his head back and took a step back, making it easy to avoid even that.

“Your attack is-“

Before the emperor even spoke.

Wow!

I was already throwing myself towards the glass window.

The emperor’s bewildered expression could be seen for a moment beyond the broken pieces of glass-

‘As expected.’

Behind the emperor, people were seen kicking down the door and appearing.

4 people.

Man, woman, old man, young child.

People wearing uniforms of different colors.

It may feel like they gathered it together like this on purpose, but they are all masters and cannot be underestimated.

‘I didn’t feel it because of the emperor, but there is always a guardian by the emperor’s side.’

They may not have listened to the conversation between me and the emperor, but they are the ones protecting the emperor right next to him.

They probably broke the door with the sound of a sword swinging, but I had already broken the window and got out.

‘Damn.’

The emperor does not chase you.

However, the four masters scattered to the left and right of the emperor chase after me through the glass window I broke.

“Grey Gibraltar, why!”

A young man shouts at me.

“Your Majesty has shown you good will, so why do you!”

He didn’t seem to understand that I was swinging my sword at the emperor, even though I could inherit everything the emperor had if I stayed still.

‘What do you know?’

There is no need to deal with it.

As soon as I landed on the floor, I immediately kicked the floor and ran.

“Don’t miss it, Gray Gibraltar!”

Crash.

The four masters who landed after me started chasing me.

Ta-a-ang!

A magic bullet passes by my ear.

There was no musket, and when I wondered where she had fired the magic bullet, I saw that the woman was holding a very small musket in her hand.

“You fool who rejects His Majesty’s love, die!”

What does that woman think of me and the emperor?

As she was running through the silver factory, I briefly glanced at her face, but the look in her eyes made me feel quite uncomfortable just looking at it.

“Cluck, click. Gibraltar, Gibraltar…!”

The old man with the bald head probably has a grudge against Gibraltar.

“…”

And last.

‘It’s a familiar face.’

The most young annoying child among the eight gods of the empire.

A person who has a similar physique to Lord Mente before the curse was lifted, but is unable to break the curse of black magic and remains cursed even after becoming a master.

‘At least.’

Clearly, the opponent is the master net.

But until now, I have trained my sword only to kill the Habsburg Emperor.

“Go to the emperor and tell him clearly.”

I dodged the magic bullets, slashes, and memorizations coming from behind and spoke clearly to the four masters and to the emperor who was watching me from behind them.

“Even trash can be recycled.”

I jumped over the fence of the silver factory in one go and ran on the flat ground.

* * *

30 minutes later.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

Among those who had run after Gray Gibraltar, the young man returned and knelt down on one knee.

“I’m sorry.”

The emperor leisurely shrugged his shoulders while writing something like a letter.

A look of not expecting much was evident on his peaceful face, and the young man’s face turned red for a moment.

“Ain.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Would you be able to win if you fought 1:1 against Gray Gibraltar?”

“…I guess I’ll have to try it myself to find out.”

In response to the emperor’s question, the young man called Ain scratched his cheek in embarrassment, but nodded his head loudly, showing his confidence.

“I see.”

“Shall I issue a wanted order?”

“No. There is no need to give an excuse to history by issuing a wanted order. Even the momentary information that Gray Gibraltar was in the empire for a short time right before the declaration of war.”

The emperor lightly touched his watch with his finger.

“Leave it alone. Instead, give instructions to the entire empire. Catch the impure elements.”

“Are you planning on strengthening the guard and not actually catching them? Are you really trying to make them escape…?”

“Originally, I thought about taking him to the airship, but the moment I ran away, I realized that it was just my wish.”

The emperor crossed his arms and joked.

“Grey Gibraltar knew. That I was the biggest variable in the war… That I was trying to tie myself to this empire at all costs. Even I only understood my true feelings after Gray himself made the choice to run away during a conversation. He already had this in mind before he even stretched out his sword.”

“Then shouldn’t we hold on to it even more?”

“It’s okay. No matter how much you use the dragon within the empire, you won’t be able to catch it. It’s better to fight in Nostrum and Gibraltar.”

The emperor pretended to grab his own neck

“Only after driving it to a place where there is no place to run, Gray Gibraltar will not back down and swing its sword.”

“I will stop it.”

“You?”

“Even if I have to throw myself and have my heart pierced, I will definitely create an opportunity for Your Majesty to capture him.”

The emperor twitched the corner of his mouth at Ain’s words.

“Okay. Don’t lose that momentum. If it’s my first sword.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Good. What about seeing it from Franz?”

“There is no change. It is said that after securing only the Lady Sirene you mentioned, everyone in the count’s family was killed.”

“What about a rebellion in the territory?”

“I haven’t woken up yet.” It’s only 6 a.M.”

“I see. Well, from the perspective of the people of the county, it would be absurd. When I woke up, the imperial army was stalking the county, there were airships in the sky, and the county castle was occupied by the imperial army.”

The emperor put down his pen and picked up the speech he had edited.

“Then, I must make a statement. Why the Imperial Army suddenly occupied the County of Sirene.”

“…”

“I had a lot of concerns. What cause should we start a war with? All the people of the empire know that there is a real cause because of their own pocketbook, but at least the outward expressions need to be refined to some extent.”

“As a cause to remain in history.”

“Yes. I did…But I thought of a good cause.”

The emperor stretched out the edited speech and took out a square magic stone from his arms.

“We kept trying to communicate with humans, but all we got back was the claws of the beast.”

“…”

The lid of the magic stone opened with a clicking sound.

And soon a blue flame flowed out from within.

“We tried to live in peace against the beast called Nostrum, but it’s a different story when the beast throws its fur and feces all over the place, and even goes beyond swinging its claws at people and even tries to bite people.”

“Mad dogs are slaughtered, is that right?”

“If I were to express it in the most refined way possible, I would say, ‘Nostrum is so barbaric.'”

“…I feel like it’s not enough to justify it.”

The emperor lightly shrugged his shoulders at Ain’s words and lit up his speech.

“That was the first draft. But after talking with Gray Gibraltar, my thoughts changed.”

“What are you trying to say…”

“Is there anything else?”

The emperor picked up the gold lying on one side of the desk.

“Everything was an act for today. Everything that has happened so far was just a battle of numbers for this day.”

“Over there… “

“If you’re curious, just quietly listen to the speech. This is what I learned while talking with Gray Gibraltar.”

The emperor crumpled the gold in his hands and picked up the coat that was draped over the back of his chair.

“No matter what justification is given for war, in the end, the essence does not change.

* * *

Running through the wilderness, crossing the forest, running with all my might.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.”

I’m so out of breath that I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve run such a long distance so quickly.

When I was young, to be precise, when I was training before my return, I ran faster than when my father suddenly put shackles on my ankles and told me, ‘Ride from the castle to the canyon in 30 minutes.’

But it has to be.

Even if it’s a one-way trip now rather than a round trip, you have to drive from the end of the empire to the canyon.

‘The good news is that you can see the city.’

If you have a city, there is no need to run anymore.

Although we must try our hand at some expedients and crimes, it is not easy to choose means and methods in the current situation.

‘A typical imperial provincial city.’

Buildings can be seen in the distance.

You can see the uniform brown brick houses that only those who have visited the empire can see.

Ta-ah.

They take advantage of the opportunity when people aren’t looking and enter the city right away.

Unlike Nostrum, there are no castle walls or fences, so they enter the city and seep into the alleys, running like joggers from dawn along the roads.

A house built to exact specifications and without any individuality.

Buildings built to fit roads where straight lines intersect, so everything is straight except for signs and windows.

I hid in a city where buildings were built with the sole purpose of pursuing speed and efficiency, without any sense of leisure.

‘Where am I?’

Read the imperial language.

The imperial administrative system called ‘Tierra Leone City’ was written in imperial language on the nearest building.

‘Is it an industrial city away from Crown Princess Isabella’s domain?’

My memory is vague, but I have been there.

I remember that there was a factory near here where imperial airships were repaired in large quantities –

[Ah. Notice. Dear citizens of Tierra Leone City, Reported from Tierra Leone City.]

Along with the wave of mana, the voice spread throughout the city and flowed into my ears.

[After a while, there will be a declaration from His Majesty the Emperor. Citizens, please stop what you are doing and listen to His Majesty’s declaration.]

As soon as the broadcast started, citizens began to come out of the building one by one.

“What…? What on earth is your Majesty…?”

“Aren’t you giving a New Year’s speech?”

“Oh my. There’s already so much fuss over gold, so what’s the point of giving a speech…”

“It can’t be helped.” They say it’s a place where gold pours like water.”

No sooner had the citizens finished saying that they were bitter but understanding towards the emperor of the empire.

[Hello, citizens of the Thersian Empire.]

The emperor’s declaration spreads throughout the city through voice amplifiers installed throughout the roads.

[Saint Geo Nostrum has died.]

“…”

Silence fell over the city.

There were people who momentarily asked ‘Who?’, But that question was not because they did not know who the person corresponding to that name was.

[However. Still. In the Kingdom of Nostrum, gold is still pouring out of the ground.]

Someone said.

At least the magic that turns people into gold will end when Saint Geo Nostrum dies.

[If things continue like this, beyond the canyon, gold will cover all the lands of the empire.]

It wasn’t so.

Gold is still increasing.

[It is war. This is our struggle to survive from gold.]

Gold that is almost infinite.

[Before we drown in gold, we will control all the gold.]

Conquering that gold is conquering Nostrum.

[Follow me. Empire. The gold is there.]

January 1, Year 100 of the Imperial Calendar.

[Nostrum’s golden plains and golden dragons will all be ours.]

Emperor Habsburg von Tersian declared war.

[The Empire will take Nostrum this time.]

To control all the gold on the continent.

[Empire. Pick up your gun. The gold is yours.]

To steal the gold.

[So, we will move on. Rather than a world where everything is solved with the miracle of a dragon, it is an era of humans overcoming adversity with wisdom.]

The emperor declares.

[To an era where common sense prevails.]

The end of extraordinary sense.