Ram
“Really?”
When I showed indifference, Catherine seemed disappointed.
“Don't you want to ask who he is?”
“I'm not very curious.”
"Oh for heaven's sake! At least pretend to be curious!"
She looked like she was going to roll on the floor and cry if I didn't ask her right away. Really, this palace is full of annoying people.
I had to leave it in the pantry.
I sighed, imagining her reaction if she knew what I was thinking.
“Who is he then?”
“It's the Wolf King!”
Wolf king? I don't know who this is, but the title alone makes me cringe.
“You don't mean you haven't heard of him, right? He's the most famous person on the continent right now!”
Catherine was shocked by my indifference.
"He is the young king of the new kingdom, the Adamant Kingdom! King of Knights! Conqueror of the West!"
Modern Adamant Kingdom?
I had never heard of this name before I died.
“When was this country founded?”
“About a year ago.”
A kingdom so young that the ink on the map has not yet dried.
“Is he that famous?”
"Of course! He's the one who destroyed Lionel's kingdom and almost united the entire West!"
I stayed in place.
The West has always been a breeding ground for monsters and barbarians, kingdoms that appear and collapse like mushrooms after rain, and do not last. The only kingdom that lasted a full century was Lionel.
And Lionel... is the home of the Third Empress, the family of the mother of these two children.
Her disappearance from the map means that Prince Idun and the little princess no longer have any support.
“They say he can kill a hundred monsters single-handedly! And now he has come to the empire for a monster extermination campaign!”
A hundred monsters?! Exaggerated nonsense. Confronting one monster puts the knight's life at stake, so how about a hundred?
Wait…
I suddenly remembered the mysterious man I saw next to the Emperor. The one wearing black armor and golden eyes.
“Does the Wolf King have golden eyes, by chance?”
"Oh my God! How did you know?"
Catherine's eyes widened in surprise.
“They say those eyes are scary, like the eyes of a monster.”
She frowned, turning to Edun and Emilia playing in the dirt.
“Brother, what is this red?”
"Ladybug. Never seen one before, Leia?"
"No! She's beautiful, like a ruby!"
They were laughing innocently, but inside me I trembled with a vague feeling of anxiety.
***
Slit—.
Blood splattered, and the monster's skin split and its entrails spilled out. The Imperial soldiers stared at the scene with their mouths open.
It's really amazing.
Even Emperor Cavilius III, watching from behind, seemed interested.
He was a former mercenary, no wonder.
Three days had passed since Caiden, King of Adamant and Commander of the Knights, had led his campaign against the monsters at the empire's borders. Half of the Imperial Cavalry forces failed to be reduced, but he built his miracle in just two days.
incision. Smear. incision.
The sounds of tearing flesh filled the air. The soldiers were disgusted, but Kaiden remained expressionless.
“My lord, I told you to leave the autopsy to us!”
His deputy Oliver shouted, also drenched in the monster's blood.
“I finished the difficult chords, you finish the rest.”
Kaiden smiled faintly, then jumped off the body.
"Come on! What are you waiting for? Get moving!"
The Adamant Knights flowed with agility and experience, while the Imperial Knights seemed faltering by comparison.
“At this rate, we'll be home sooner than I thought.”
“Hopefully, Oliver.”
“Of course! I have a wife like a rabbit and three kids like foxes.”
He laughed while wiping his face, then remembered:
“Oh, I have to buy rose oil for my wife.”
“Rose oil?”
“A gift. As for the smell of blood, my children do not know it. I wash well before returning.”
Then Kayden looked at him:
“Sire, why don’t you buy a souvenir as well? They have jasmine oil here.”
Kayden, for a long time, has been accustomed to jasmine soap. Strange for a man.
“Aren't you tired of the same smell?”
"never."
“Really, why Jasmine in particular?”
“It makes me feel at home.”
Oliver shook his head, sighing. He no longer tried to understand his master.
“It seems that the title of God of War is not an exaggeration.”
The Emperor himself approached, smiling a false smile.
“Your sharp sword could be dangerous if it was directed at humans, not monsters.”
Kayden smiled softly.
“My men are human beings who understand chivalry, not mindless monsters.”
“Huh, maybe trained humans are more dangerous than monsters.”
The Emperor's blue gaze trembled for a moment.
Kaiden replied with a confident smile:
“But a person must know where to use his strength... and where not.”
The Emperor raised an eyebrow:
“Where should they be used? Where should they not?”
“Power exists to save lives, not to take them.”
Kayden smiled sweetly.
“Respect for the lives of others is the duty of every person born as a human being.”
Oliver's face twitched. Everyone knows that the Emperor killed his half-brothers to take the throne. However, Kayden says it to his face.
The Emperor laughed vaguely, then left at the invitation of his minister.
Oliver sighed angrily:
"He hates you now. Why did you provoke him?!"
“He started, and I responded. Where did I go wrong?”
“It is the Emperor himself!”
Kayden feigned innocence:
“Then I must become Emperor sooner, for your convenience, Oliver!”
“Sire! This is the Ventrum Empire! Don’t say that!”
Kaiden smiled slyly:
“As for that phrase... that strength saves lives... I didn’t come up with it.”
"What? From where then?"
“From a hired assassin who once tried to assassinate me.”