Do Your Own Revolution-Chapter 179
< Emperor-003. >
“Your Highness!”
As Friedrich entered Ruin, a commercial district located in the central region and one of the Imperial direct territories, knights in white uniforms came to greet him.
“Are you unharmed?!”
“It was our oversight. We never imagined they would attack in such a brief window……”
“Think nothing of it. I’m alive, and that’s what matters.”
Friedrich waved his hand dismissively as the knights bowed their heads with grim expressions.
Seeing the golden imprint on their right arms, the same as the one worn by Andrei who guarded the prince’s side, Kalkas could easily deduce who they were.
‘Leonhardt Knight Order. The Third Prince’s inner circle.’
“Finally, I can breathe easy.”
As they boarded the carriage prepared by the knights, the prince’s body relaxed as if the tension had finally left him.
“Are you sure about this? There’s no guarantee there aren’t traitors among them.”
“The Leonhardt family is a hardcore knight family that always maintains distance from imperial politics. They may have fallen out of favor with the magic nobles, but they’re not the type to collude with them.”
Perhaps upset at the doubt cast on his family, Andrei’s shoulder twitched slightly, but Friedrich quickly intercepted his response.
“Besides, if they had really betrayed us, do you think we could have entered this city with all our limbs intact?”
The prince gestured with his chin toward Andrei.
‘If Leonhardt had betrayed us, would this guy have left us alone?’
Understanding the meaning, Kalkas smiled and nodded.
“So we’re safe until we reach the palace.”
“That’s right. No matter how powerful a Knight Order is, they can’t target a royal’s life in the middle of an imperial direct territory.”
The Knight Order could only directly target Prince Friedrich within the contaminated zones.
If they killed the prince there, they could disguise it as a monster attack.
As proof, once they left the contaminated area, the knights’ attacks completely ceased.
Instead, they were replaced by constant surveillance and nightly assassination attempts.
It was far from a peaceful journey, but it was much better than facing attacks from knights bearing imprints.
“So, what brings the Empire’s Third Prince, who should be at the imperial palace, to this frontier?”
“I went to lay railroad tracks in the Empire.”
“Railroad? You mean the one the Republic built?”
“The Empire had them too, before the Great War.”
Friedrich looked out the window as he answered.
“Let me ask you something. How long would it take to travel from Ruin to the capital by carriage?”
“Roughly three days?”
“And the cost?”
“At minimum, two gold pieces.”
“That’s an amount that not only ordinary imperial citizens but even minor nobles would hesitate to pay.”
Horses bred to withstand contaminated environments.
Specially manufactured carriages and drivers prepared for monster attacks.
Mercenary escort fees.
And the brokerage fees needed to arrange all of this.
In the Empire, traveling between cities required such enormous costs.
“That much expense just to move between cities. When transporting goods in bulk, the costs become astronomical.”
“……”
“That’s why the Empire, despite its vast territory and resources, remains fragmented with each region forced to be self-sufficient.”
They were stagnating, blocked by barriers.
“And such conditions…”
Looking at the view of Ruin city spread out beyond the window, the prince continued.
“Have allowed the magic nobles who control the outer regions to wield power no different from kings.”
“……”
“And the imperial family has ended up virtually surrounded by these overgrown magic nobles.”
Blocked by contamination, blocked by Knight Orders.
The imperial family, which should control the nobles, couldn’t even detect what they were plotting behind the scenes.
This current situation, where a mere count had infiltrated the imperial core and brainwashed the emperor, was no exaggeration to say it happened because of this.
That’s why Prince Friedrich thought.
To change the Empire, they first needed to open it up.
“A railway connecting all regions of the Empire, centered on the capital.”
“……”
“Once completed, imperial citizens and goods will be able to move freely without being blocked by contamination.”
People coming and going, logistics flowing.
Cities other than one’s own territory.
Gradually broadening their perspectives by seeing different worlds.
If that happens, imperial citizens would no longer have to live as nobles’ slaves.
They could dream of freedom as human beings, not slaves.
“It was His Majesty’s long-cherished project as well. Just as we started construction on the first line and participated in the groundbreaking ceremony……”
“And this mess erupted on your way back.”
“I let my guard down, thinking we’d taken the first step toward reform.”
It made sense.
A large-scale distribution network centered on the capital.
Once completed, the capital at its center would accumulate immense wealth.
It meant the magic nobles’ ruling system, maintained throughout imperial history, could be shaken.
“Besides the Knight Orders, there are many who oppose the railway construction. Large merchant groups, mercenary guilds… If they put these groups at the forefront, it would be simple to disguise assassination attempts.”
Hearing Andrei’s additional explanation, Kalkas’s expression turned strange.
“Hey, Freddie.”
Freddie? What’s that?
Your nickname. Too bothersome to say your full name.
I rather like it.
After this exchange, Kalkas looked at the prince and asked.
“How old are you anyway?”
“I turn eighteen this year.”
You’re a year older than me then.
Kalkas asked again with a sour expression.
“You’re spearheading such a massive project before you’re even twenty? Is that possible?”
“It wasn’t easy.”
They had to hire people to clear contamination from railway sites and exterminate monsters.
They had to exploit landowners’ interests to persuade those opposing construction, and clash with businessmen to secure lacking funds.
In the current Empire where Dvorak held all imperial authority, every moment was a crisis, and everyone they met was an enemy.
“But somehow, I managed it.”
“……”
“Despite appearances, I’m quite intelligent, you know.”
Prince Friedrich tapped his forehead as he spoke.
What an insufferable bastard.
Even while muttering this, Kalkas’s lips were smiling.
‘The foundation of magic nobles’ power. You’re saying you’ll destroy it?’
He’d thought him just a senseless fool. But that wasn’t it.
This guy was even crazier than he’d imagined.
***
“Here you are.”
At the Leonhardt family mansion.
Friedrich, holding his favorite tea set, offered a steaming cup to his newly made friend.
Slurp- The tea was drawn into his mouth with that sound.
“How is it?”
Freddie asked with a satisfied expression.
“It’s sour and bitter. Tastes bad.”
At Kalkas’s response, cracks appeared in his smiling face.
“The acidity and bitterness are precisely balanced to better appreciate the aroma……”
“Aroma? You mean this weird musty smell?”
Further discussion would be meaningless.
Thinking this, the prince set down a pile of sugar with a thud.
“Just add however much you want and drink it.”
“Oh, sugar. But you seem kind of angry?”
“No, not at all.”
Getting angry at someone who doesn’t know taste would only hurt myself.
Speaking with a notably heated voice, the prince began making another cup.
“Hmm…?”
Red tea rising in the teacup.
Watching this, Kalkas asked curiously.
“You already made one for Andrei. Why are you making another?”
Want another cup? I’ll give you mine?
I won’t drink it.
Friedrich said with a meaningful smile.
“We’re expecting a guest.”
“A guest?”
How can you receive guests when you’re being chased by knights?
Just as he was thinking this.
“Your Highness.”
A Leonhardt family knight approached and whispered to Friedrich.
“Someone has come to see you. However……”
His expression suggested trouble as he whispered.
After listening for a moment, the prince spoke with a calm expression.
“Show them in.”
“P-pardon? But that person……”
“It’s fine.”
As the prince said this, the knight slowly nodded and gestured.
“Enter.”
As the door opened with those words.
Finally revealing himself was a young man with red hair.
“Wait. That emblem……”
“What the hell!”
Swoosh-!
Seeing the emblem on the young man’s chest, Andrei and Kalkas drew their swords simultaneously.
In this tense situation.
Only the two people at the center maintained their composure amid everyone’s wariness.
“You did well to find me here.”
“I merely deduced the most likely location.”
The two continued their conversation matter-of-factly, as if this meeting had been expected.
“Let me formally introduce myself, Your Highness.”
The man who saw Friedrich’s face bowed respectfully.
“My name is Karl Buckenheim. I am the son of Count Buckenheim, the knight family guarding the western front.”
Buckenheim.
The warrior mage group at the forefront of the magic noble faction.
The wariness of the two men with drawn swords increased further.
“You’re that young lord who’s Margaret’s right hand.”
“More call me her pet dog than right hand, but…”
“That’s what fools who can’t see the bigger picture say.”
The prince spoke while looking at Karl.
“Margaret is a mage who uses powerful mental magic, but she doesn’t possess the military strategy to utilize it.”
“……”
“That meticulous approach in brainwashing His Majesty couldn’t have come from her mind.”
And finding his exact location at this timing was the same.
Information about his arrival here shouldn’t have reached the capital yet.
Nevertheless, he had precisely located him here in Ruin.
That level of insight was something that arrogant woman didn’t possess.
“The series of plans to brainwash His Majesty and usurp imperial authority.”
“……”
“You were the mastermind behind it all, weren’t you?”
“Correct.”
At Karl’s single word, the others’ auras grew even fiercer.
A situation that could explode at any moment.
In that tension, Friedrich carefully observed Karl’s face.
Fine features and sculptural appearance.
And within them, churning, ice-cold rage.
Moreover, most importantly……
‘Indeed, I can’t see it.’
Though he drew upon his power, he couldn’t see the future this man would create.
Just like when looking at his own reflection in a mirror.
‘An inflection point in history. A spark that will change the future, is it?’
Though what kind of future it would be, he couldn’t know.
Having finished his thoughts, Friedrich asked him.
“Why has the Buckenheim scion come to find me?”
Kalkas slowly drew up magical power, and Andrei moved to shield Friedrich.
But at that moment.
“To make a proposal.”
“……A proposal?”
“Prince Friedrich.”
After a brief pause, Buckenheim spoke words no one had expected.
“Would you join me in killing Margaret Dvorak?”
Author's Thoughts
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