Victor Mort (9)

His life had quite literally been for Morteon. He had survived thanks to his brother, and he had fought for his brother. He had taken the place his brother left behind and tried to care for Mort. Because it was the land his brother had loved, and the people he had loved.

But this was what he received in return. A weak elder brother whose position had been stolen by his younger brother, and a shameless younger brother who had killed him and seized the grand ducal throne. Vassals who profited from such rumors and people who treated them as mere entertainment.

This was all they amounted to. The people his brother had cared for and Victor had protected.

Why did he survive and continue doing all this?

The dark thoughts that had lingered for so long raised their heads once more. Victor slowly leaned back against the Grand Duke’s throne engraved with a black lion. He asked his knights,

“What would Brother have done?”

“……He would have summoned the vassals and spoken with them. And he would have continued working diligently until the rumors disappeared.”

“But I don’t want to do that.”

Kaltz cut Leonard off before he could say anything. As though he already knew Victor could no longer be stopped.

Victor removed his gloves.

“Arrest Gillard and the servants. I’ll interrogate them myself.”

The square was stained with blood.

Victor Mort acted exactly as he had on the battlefield. Because of the sleepless Grand Duke’s cruelty, the screams did not cease even at dawn.

The vassals who had spread the rumors said they had received mining rights, land, and other rewards by claiming they were under the protection of the cruel new Grand Duke.

They, their families, and the attendants who had deliberately spread the rumors were all sent to the execution grounds. The servants of the grand ducal house met the same fate. With the exception of young servants or those who had no opportunity to meet the vassals, everyone was interrogated and likewise executed. The gold coins they had received in exchange for spreading the rumors were burned together with their corpses.

By the time the executions, which continued for fifteen days, came to an end, all of Mort was trembling in fear. Many vassals and servants left, while the survivors were so terrified that they could not even look at Victor.

Victor felt the same. His nature was somewhat cruel, and he did not regret killing those who had insulted his brother and himself, but seeing the frightened people brought him pain as well. Mort, which he and his brother had loved, was suffering because of him just like the Southern Kingdom had.

How had it come to this? The Grand Duke pondered with hollow eyes before reaching a single conclusion.

Perhaps it was because he had returned without properly finishing his revenge.

Just then, a letter arrived from the capital. The letter bearing the Emperor’s seal was wrapped in florid language, but its point was clear. He wanted to wage war against the Eastern Kingdom and turn it into a vassal state just like the Southern Kingdom.

Another war was absurd. It was a decision only someone ignorant of war’s horrors could make.

Normally, Victor would have protested at least once, but he accepted it in resignation.

If he refused to go to war, Mort would immediately become a target of the Imperial Family. And at the very least, he would be able to turn the assassins’ homeland into hell.

Victor accepted the Imperial command and assembled the knights once more. Then, together with the grim-faced knights, he departed south as quickly as possible.

For him, it was an escape.

The Emperor was greatly delighted to see Grand Duke Mort again. He greeted him with hollow praises, calling the Grand Duke the jewel of the Empire and declaring the loyalty of the Mort Knights truly admirable.

Even though he had started the war knowing Victor could not refuse to march.

Despite thinking that, the Grand Duke merely wore a polished smile. Then he made only one request.

“Please execute these men, Your Majesty.”

Victor listed the names of the nobles who had belonged to Command during the Southern Kingdom War. They were men whose appalling incompetence had killed countless people and even led to Morteon’s death on that island. He had originally decided to forget them, but now that he had resolved to finish his revenge, he could no longer do so.

He was already famous as a cruel Grand Duke. Staining his hands with the blood of a few more people, especially in the Emperor’s name, was nothing to hesitate over.

The Emperor readily granted Grand Duke Mort’s request. After all, he had promised to grant him any one request.

Moreover, he said accusations had already been made against them. They had clashed with other southern nobles while trying to claim a larger share of the reparations. The Emperor did not overlook the excuse that arose from the dispute.

Victor only marched out after witnessing the Imperial decree ordering their executions.

“As expected, fools never commit just one foolish act. To earn this much resentment……”

“…….”

Leonard, standing beside him, did not answer.

Ever since Victor executed the vassals, Leonard had continued avoiding the Grand Duke. The vassals had been at fault, but seeing so many people from his homeland massacred must have been difficult for him to endure.

Victor had neither investigated nor punished House Odo in particular, but that only tormented Leonard more. He found it deeply painful to see his friend and liege violate the code of chivalry.

Victor looked at the countless soldiers following behind him.

This time, Victor marched as supreme commander. Unlike before, when he had been unable to carry out even a single operation as he wished, the young Grand Duke would be able to lead the entire Imperial Army and trample the Eastern Kingdom.

The Grand Duke spoke.

“I should tell you before we depart. From now on, you are the vice commander of the knight order.”

“……Why me instead of Kaltz?”

The Grand Duke’s yellow eyes glanced toward Leonard.

“Because I need someone who will stop me when I do something wrong.”

Leonard pressed his lips into a straight line. Victor said nothing more and pulled on the reins.

The Eastern Kingdom was an unfamiliar land. Half of its territory consisted of the Black Mountains, and its language and culture differed somewhat from those of the Empire. Like the Southern Kingdom, it had an official name, but it was difficult even to pronounce in the Imperial language. If it had to be written, it would have been something like ‘Ilium Narangd.’ In their language, it meant the Orange Kingdom.

True to its name, most of the Eastern Kingdom’s land consisted of orange-hued desert, and its people wore distinctive ornaments, including long earrings and gold chains.

The most unusual thing of all was the existence of mages.

“Mages are extremely rare even in the Eastern Kingdom. Usually, only members of the royal family or nobility are born with magical abilities, and by using special medals, even non-mages can temporarily use magic.”

“Yes, I know.”

At the Grand Duke’s cold reply, the intelligence officer lowered his head.

“However, there are almost no mages capable of breathing fire or calling down lightning like those in old tales. Most mages create illusions that obscure the enemy’s vision or use magic that strengthens the body.”

Victor frowned as painful memories resurfaced.

The assassins who had used magic to block his sight and hearing. This was the land where they had been raised. The hatred he had never forgotten filled his chest once more.

The Imperial Army now stood at the Eastern Kingdom’s border. Constantly plagued by hordes of monsters descending from the Black Mountains, the Eastern Kingdom was far better defended than the Southern Kingdom. Its walls were sturdy, and its soldiers were numerous. They resisted far more fiercely than the soldiers of the Southern Kingdom had. From their perspective, the Eastern Kingdom had truly been invaded for no reason at all.

The Empire had declared war over a minor territorial dispute, but anyone could see that it was merely a great power’s excuse for invasion. It was said that rumors were even spreading within the Eastern Kingdom that the bloodthirsty Grand Duke Mort had started the war.

Victor did not care. He had come to the battlefield to flee his homeland, so the claim was true to some extent.

He recalled Morteon sitting him down as a child and teaching him about chivalry.

‘A knight must never kill others recklessly or take revenge too far, Victor.’

Victor gripped his sword tightly.

‘I know.’

‘But Brother. I simply couldn’t do that.’

The conquest of the Eastern Kingdom was truly difficult. Unlike in the previous war, the staff officers were competent and the battles were conducted more efficiently, but the Eastern Kingdom’s army was strong.

The mages were particularly troublesome. Illusion magic was manageable because it did not cover a wide area, but enemies whose bodies had been strengthened by magic were difficult to face. Only powerful high-ranking knights could properly fight units of mages.

So Victor allowed each knight order to act independently, while he also led the Mort Knights around to defeat the mages.

Victor protected the knight order even more excessively than he had during the Southern Kingdom War. This time, he truly did not want to lose even a single person. The Grand Duke always charged into the enemy formation first and sought out enemy commanders and mages to cut them down. By the time the knight order followed him, there were occasions when no survivors remained.

No matter how strong he was, it was reckless. But his knights did not say much.

Only Kaltz made a curt remark.

“Does doing that help you sleep better?”

“I don’t know.”

“Just sleep at the proper time. It’s unsettling when Your Highness sits in front of the tents in the middle of the night. Apparently, yesterday a messenger from Command thought you were a ghoul.”

The knights burst into laughter at Kaltz’s cheekiness. The knights of Mort did not remain gloomy all the time. It was for their liege’s sake, as well as their own.

Besides, the situation was certainly better than before. Every order was reasonable, and the battlefield was not a sweltering tropical island.

Victor quietly lowered his head and polished his sword. He was grateful for his comrades’ consideration.