chapter 31 (Assassin 6)

The Emperor nodded his chin at Van Ester's words. Van Ester just laughed, as if he was having fun.

"Not to mention anything else, that child alone, is sufficiently amazing to fill the shoes of the old captain. I didn't think the current imperial guard captain was so talented, despite being so young."

"Well the Empire is the stronghold in the world, things like race, creed, religion, have nothing to do with competence and loyalty. It doesn't matter if the guard was an elf or an Orc. If they're loyal and reliable, then it's only obvious they can reach that position."

"I know. It's just funny, how you can say that when it's not something that's necessarily true with humans, as we're discriminatory by nature…. Also what about the opinion of the kid who received the position? Are they sure they want it?"

"That's what he wanted. He could have been given a much better position with his accumulated merits, but he was obsessed with the position, being the captain of the Imperial Guards."

"I suppose that makes sense."

Van Ester stroked his chin. He seemed to be pondering for a while, and then soon grinned.

"It would be fun to meet that kid."

"Enough about that. I heard you were on the outskirts of some territory in the empire. Why did you come back there?"

The emperor did not even know the name of the Halvark estate. It was close to the capital, but it really was a small estate with nothing valuable and small in population. It was not worth the Emperor's knowledge.

"Yes, I saw an interesting boy out there. But what's so important about it? Do you want to meet this boy?"

Van Ester couldn't wait. He found this current Emperor, bearing the Inak household name, a very interesting child as well. He looked just like the previous Emperor, but Van Ester did not know much about him, and wanted to use this as an excuse to see how the Emperor would act.

"Hmm."

The emperor leaned his back as if he was not interested in Van Ester's silly shenanigans. He gave up everything he had just to succeed as the emperor, he couldn't afford to be interested in such silly little meandering jokes. Even if it was a swordmaster talking to him.

If a swordmaster simply said it was fun, then it at least wasn't anything threatening to him. Therefore, he would just rather press onto more difficult topics.

"Let's stop chatting and get to the point."

He did not appreciate such irrelevant stories. Suddenly the Emperor sat up in his chair and his eyes glistened. His gaze locked with Van Ester's and the eyes of a tired child crushed by reality were no longer present. A cold and heartless ruler, who would do anything for his empire replaced his tired visage.

"The things you said… they must be true."

"Yes."

Van Ester nodded. The emperor gave a dry smile.

"The great hero had done a great job of cleaning up the remnants of the Demons around the world. I can't believe he completely left his country and people to do such a thing and not even return."

"I don't want you to curse him too much. He must have had a hard time.", Van Ester spoke in a calming voice.

"But this is the result. The cracks in the fissure were eventually re-opened, and the darkness reappeared. As a result, even you're being chased right now."

"Don't worry. I'm not weak enough to die from silly things like that. My first priority is to find a new hero. However, if I do, I wish the Empire would cooperate with him."

"Hmm."

The emperor touched the crown. An emotionless voice rang out.

"No, there will be no support."

"…what?"

At that moment, Van Ester's face was distorted. At the same time, a crushing and heavy pressure swept through the room, emanating from Van Ester. The knights behind the emperor didn't even have the willpower to pull out the sword from this pressure, but the emperor's face, which received the full brunt of the force, did not change a single bit.

"You must be kidding. You know what's going on right now and how dire the situation is."

"This Emperor can't joke with you sadly, High Count Van Ester."

Van Ester gripped the sword. The guards tried to move out and surround him, but they couldn't even lift a finger because they were suppressed by the intangible pressure that was building more and more. The emperor calmly opened his mouth, although the atmosphere seemed to burst at any moment.

"That's not the only problem. Funnily enough, I actually can't afford to do so."

Van Ester slowly relaxed his strength at the sight of the emperor's tired face that had reappeared as if he found the whole situation a nuance. The suppressed groans burst everywhere.

"What happened?"

"The majority of our Empire's heroes disappeared more than two decades ago. We weren't able to say anything… Naturally it brought chaos to the world."

"Wait… because I was the first to leave… Don't tell me the others left as well!?"

"You didn't realize? You must have been truly hiding in the corners of the continent to not be able to realize that."

"...."

Van Ester was silent at the emperor's words. The emperor waved his hand. The guards' movements relaxed and their images disappeared. The space around the two distorted and the Emperor released a magic spell. There were only the two of them within this secluded space.

"Not all the heroes have left, so it was still somewhat peaceful on the outside looking in, from the civilians perspective that is. Ian the Brave was one of them. But now… they've become the problem."

"…what….do you mean….?"

"It's not just that the heroes of the past have died. Some are no longer… how do you say it? They no longer wish to bear goodwill towards humanity."

The Emperor spoke calmly as he dropped the heavy words.