Chapter 38

“It took you a while to get here. But I like the numbers.”

The troops gathered one after another.

Ferbias nonchalantly counted their numbers.

More than two thousand had newly appeared.

“Yes, if you're going to call it a Grand Convergence, it has to be at least this much. To play house in dribs and drabs would make the name of the Great Empire a joke.”

The thousand he had originally brought and the two thousand that had newly gathered.

A total of three thousand soldiers had gathered on one plain for the name of Ferbias Caseptus.

Leniar bit her lip.

“…You managed to gather such numbers, older brother.”

“Thank you for noticing, Leniar. I had quite a hard time avoiding your eyes. Just how many spies have you planted.”

The silver-haired princess wrinkled her nose.

“You had this phase in mind even before the Succession War began, didn't you?”

This was near the capital, Lutilium.

No matter how much support he had as the First Prince, it couldn't have been easy to gather three thousand elite soldiers.

It would have been impossible if he hadn't prepared long in advance.

“And the Grand Convergence you forced was also a smokescreen.”

“Ah, then.”

Ferbias wore a leisurely smile.

Even while searching for the Ten Treasures, he had been gathering troops behind the scenes.

He had deliberately and splendidly summoned a thousand elite soldiers, and in that opening, he had separately stationed two thousand troops near the capital.

For the very end, the end of the Succession War, for this very moment.

“I acted like a brat with a temper and drew your attention. I let you laugh, thinking, 'Ferbias finally couldn't control his temper and did something foolish'.”

He had deliberately acted like a reckless fool.

Brainwashing Dean Cornelius, holding the Grand Convergence and spewing insults at Hermai Merhes without a second thought.

And then look, never mind Secundus, even Leniar had failed to notice the movement of such a large force.

He contorted his features, which resembled the Great Emperor's.

A kind of relief was in it.

“But I was upset that you were all so easily fooled. Did I normally look like that?”

“……”

Leniar glanced at me.

In truth, she had felt a strange inkling right after the Grand Convergence, but she had dismissed it as insignificant.

It was because there was something that weighed more on her mind, me, who knew the secret of Prince Etsi.

If I hadn't been there……. No, 'if's were meaningless.

“I'd appreciate it if you'd understand. I didn't want to go this far, but you two joined hands and left me out, so I got jealous.”

“So what are you going to do, older brother? Are you saying you'll use force?”

“What a barbaric thing to say. They are just there.”

The First Prince waved his hand, and Secundus Debius opened his heavy lips.

“Hmm. And how are we to believe that?”

“What will you do if you don't believe it?”

“I plan to do as you wish.”

“How frightening. Have a little faith, my brother.”

Though he said he was frightened, the sly smile did not disappear.

Ferbias Caseptus stroked his beard.

What he had started to grow in imitation of the Great Emperor in his youth was finally starting to feel a little familiar.

It had always been awkward, but now, somehow.

“I have absolutely no intention of doing anything to you with them.”

“Then what are these troops for?”

“It's a minimum safety measure, containing my wish that you do not refuse my proposal.”

Don't worry.

I have no intention of forcing an unreasonable proposal on you.

Wouldn't that lack dignity?

Ferbias laughed heartily.

Neither Secundus nor Leniar laughed along.

They just sharpened their gazes.

“And also, they will serve as witnesses to what is to come.”

“…Witnesses?”

The new force of two thousand had raised their flags in various places.

They were the influential nobles from near the capital.

But upon closer inspection, it wasn't just those who showed strong support for Ferbias.

Those who had maintained a neutral stance had also raised their flags and come out.

“Hey, Dean.”

Ferbias whipped his head up.

He looked at Hermai, with whom he had been growling at.

“Truly, I have called them as witnesses. It should not yet be a major violation of the rules.”

“…Hmm, it's very borderline. What is it that you intend to prove.”

Hermai Merhes looked down at Ferbias.

The First Prince's golden eyes flashed with vigor.

The long, white-bearded magician couldn't help but be reminded of the Great Emperor in his youth.

“The true qualification of an emperor.”

“You speak of things beyond your station.”

“Whether it is beyond my station or not, I ask you to listen.”

Hmm?

Hermai's eyebrows arched.

Ferbias feigned politeness and bowed.

“For I will now make a proclamation.”

***

A few men in robes emerged from Ferbias' camp.

They were magicians familiar to Hermai as well.

They surrounded Ferbias and muttered some kind of incantation.

It was a kind of illusion magic.

Hermai did not stop them.

‘The time has come.’

The prince's illusion was large enough to fill the plain.

Ferbias shared his vision with his illusion.

‘Beyond all that time, my, this Ferbias', time has come.’

A force of three thousand five hundred, a group of nobles from Volmark, the military, and the capital.

Looking down on those who held the power of the Great Empire, Ferbias spoke.

“I, Ferbias Caseptus.”

The form of the prince with blonde hair and golden eyes was massive.

His figure was visible from anywhere on the plain.

“The First Prince. The eldest of His Majesty the Great Emperor Continua. I have stood here with a long-held question.”

His tone was not the usual arrogant one.

He was polite, with a sunken voice.

As if he even possessed humility.

“His Majesty the Great Emperor Continua said, the emperor is the one who stands the highest.”

The gazes of the crowd gathered on his illusion.

It was a meticulously planned stage.

It was a time he had been waiting for.

Ferbias continued without a single waver.

“So it is a question. The Succession War, the Ten Treasures? Is the winner of a treasure hunt the highest one?”

Some had already guessed his intention.

Leniar de Volmark was one of them, and her already pale face turned even paler.

“It would not be so.”

The First Prince's nose wrinkled.

Everyone saw it clearly.

Every gesture, every frown, was clear to all three thousand five hundred.

“It cannot be so!”

His voice was as booming as the size of his illusion.

It crossed the plain and reached the hills.

Perhaps even to the capital, Lutilium.

“I really do not know.”

There was a sign of agitation in his voice.

“How can possessing many treasures be a qualification for an emperor? How can one say they are worthy of standing at the highest place?”

The three thousand five hundred soldiers gathered here were particularly spirited among the youth.

That's why they had taken up horses, spears, and swords.

The crowd became agitated without even realizing it.

I felt it and clicked my tongue softly.

There was no way to stop it.

“To find treasures using spies and scouts, to sit on them and hide them……. Where is the nobility in this. And where is the dignity? Is it just that I,Ferbias, do not know.”

Ferbias stroked his beard as if in thought.

Regardless of his inner thoughts, he looked quite plausible.

He had been growing his awkward beard for this moment.

A serious appearance at a glance was effective in drawing the support of the majority.

“I am an immature person. So I have no patience.”

Ferbias raised his hand.

“Even if I receive more support, have a more outstanding soul, and hold a deeper resolve and a more just right……”

His figure was still visible to everyone on the plain.

There was a ring on his hand.

One of the Ten Treasures, the ‘Ring of Shem’.

“…To think that I could be played by how many of these things I've collected……”

The ‘Ring of Shem’ was thrown to the ground.

“…I can't stand the anger!”

The ring soon rolled on the ground, and even that was visible to the crowd.

Gasps of admiration came from all over, and Hermai's eyes blazed.

That ‘Ring of Shem’.

The Treasure that Hermai had made and the Great Emperor had given authority to.

To insult that was a rebellion against the Imperial Family.

If he were not the First Prince, he would have been fried by lightning without a second thought.

However, the old magician decided to wait a little longer.

It was because his appearance, which seemed to be overflowing with vigor to the point of running rampant, resembled the Great Emperor.

Ferbias also panted and bowed his head.

“-I ask for your apology for my rash action, Dean. I had no intention of insulting you. I have always held you in high esteem.”

Hmph.

The great magician with the long, white beard snorted.

He didn't know if Ferbias' words were true, but it seemed to be working well with the crowd.

His apologetic appearance made his anger seem just.

“-I have no intention of insulting tradition. How could I possibly know all the deep intentions of the Azure Sky Emperor. I was just frustrated by my own foolishness.”

Even a tradition that cannot be understood must be respected.

Ferbias bent down and picked up the ‘Ring of Shem’ again.

Then he placed a hand on his chest.

Every action was for show.

It was an already thoroughly planned stage.

Blood flowed from Leniar's tightly bitten lips.

“Still, the question remains.”

Thousands of pairs of eyes poured onto him.

“What is a true emperor? What kind of person must one be to sit at the pinnacle of the continent?”

The First Prince was delighted.

To stand before thousands and preach his will felt as if he had found the meaning of life.

There was no reason for his words not to gain power.

“Cordis must know.”

Ferbias Caseptus, the First Prince.

“It must be known to everyone in the Empire.”

He shared the vision of his illusion.

Three thousand five hundred youths were looking up at him.

There were many who had originally been on his side, and many who had been against him.

But they all had fervent faces.

The desire to fantasize about the Empire he would one day rule and its brilliant future welled up, but he forced it down.

Instead, he took a deep breath.

“…And I too, earnestly wish to know.”

A recital as if exhaling deeply.

But so that everyone could hear.

“So, my dear siblings, let us compete with all our might.”

Leniar clicked her tongue and Secundus' face hardened like a stone.

Not only Ferbias' forces, but also the youths of their factions seemed to be greatly impressed.

It was likely more the influence of the atmosphere than true impression, but would they be youths if they could distinguish such things?

“So that no one can doubt, without the need for complicated rules, let us just take and be taken from each other with all our might. Let us prove our qualifications to each other that way.”

Ferbias looked down at his siblings.

The magicians under his command gestured and the figures of Secundus and Leniar also appeared as large illusions on the plain.

They feigned composure, but they did not have the same confidence as Ferbias.

“As it happens, the three of us have exactly three of each, do we not?”

A declaration.

One that could not be taken back.

“I will only move those who I originally brought with me, so you may use all your means.”

A deep sense of defeat was on the faces of Secundus and Leniar.

It was a checkmate.

If he said that he would cut back his own strength and that his siblings could use all their strength, and they ran away, they would be branded as cowards.

They were left with no choice.

“A ten-day war. This is my proposal.”

***

‘-Ah.’

Leniar just let out a small sigh.

‘Truly a disgusting man, my older brother.’

This Succession War, it was just one unreasonable act after another.

‘To just take and be taken from each other for the Treasures? What a grand way of saying 'let's make the previous fights, which were disadvantageous to him, null and void.’

Including the prize for the last contest, all the Treasures could be exchanged in this fight.

Since it was no different from nullifying the previous progress, could there be a greater stretch than this?

‘This is more of a child's game than anything, but I can't back out. How sickening.’

Look at the excited fervor.

It had heated up to the point of being uncontrollable.

The three thousand five hundred gathered on the plain were those who flaunted their presence within the Empire, or the children of such people.

She could not back down.

“How can I refuse?”

The First Princess, Leniar de Volmark, covered her mouth.

She tried her best to hide her sense of defeat.

She had been completely played.

However, there was room to overturn it.

If there was no room, she had to make it and overturn it.

“I, this Leniar, will gladly accept my older brother's proposal.”

“Hmm. I too will gladly accept.”

Secundus also opened his mouth.

“However, it is a question. If you wanted a war, you should have said so from the beginning.”

He had no hesitation.

When it came to war, Secundus had accumulated days that could not be compared to the other two.

His confidence was even greater than before.

“Still, I will gladly clash with you.”

The giant prince raised his head.

His eyes blazed with fighting spirit.

The two hundred young men standing behind him were the same.

“Alright, my dear siblings, now you are like the blood of Cordis.”

Ferbias laughed loudly.

He looked at the sky and said,“Everyone has agreed, Dean!”

“I have already heard everything.”

Hermai Merhes had a displeased face.

“A ten-day war?”

He had been played by Ferbias as well.

Still, he saw the First Prince in a new light.

He had thought he was just full of pride.

The old magician waved his hand, and the illusion that had filled the plain disappeared.

It was a simple matter.

“Alright, it's your blood that will flow, not mine.”

Ferbias, a thousand noble soldiers.

Leniar, three hundred northern warriors.

Secundus, two hundred youths of the military.

All will take and be taken from each other for the Treasures with all their might, and the one who has the most at the end will be the victor.

They will become the master of everything.

They will sit at the highest place on the continent.

“I approve this as the final contest.”

A thunderous voice echoed.

“However, the contest will begin at dawn tomorrow. This was the command of His Majesty the Great Emperor.”

The command to hold the contest at dawn every day was a direct order from the Great Emperor Continua.

It could not be changed carelessly.

Ferbias also shrugged his shoulders as if it didn't matter.

He had already achieved most of what he wanted.

“Rest, Your Highnesses. For this is truly the final contest.”

‘Ferbias' final blade has been revealed. Along with the truth behind his unnecessarily grand rampage.’

I, Shion Pollinglight, observed.

‘A ten-day war, the same as before.’

Behind the three princes and princesses, but in front of the three thousand five hundred soldiers.

Standing beside me was the Third Prince, Kateka Keshulei.

My pupils were as blue as ever.

More so than the heavily clouded sky.

‘I was worried because of Yosef's sudden action, but it seems there won't be any difference.’

I looked.

The three princes and princesses who had fled from the Grand Convergence.

They were hiding in the curtain.

The Fourth Prince Nebulo Le Etier, the Sixth Prince Babato Lurudis and his wet nurse, the Second Princess Santia Hostanio.

‘Ah, finally……’

I, Shion Pollinglight.

Had returned as the Fifth Prince Zionis after crossing 19 years of time.

With my royal guard Pies Roesti, with Mana Armor Valziart in my possession, I had lent a hand in Secundus' faction.

I had watched the Grand Convergence in hiding, and finally.

‘The end of the Succession War.’

I had made a vow.

That I would reach that Imperial Throne, the master of Cordis.

And the fight for the throne had reached its final stage.

‘It's finally time for Shion Pollinglight.’

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