Chapter 181 - Montpellier! Oh, Montpellier! (3)

Contrary to what the knight had said right before he lost consciousness, when Montpellier came to his senses, he had still not escaped The Capital.

He realized this immediately upon seeing the windowless room, which seemed to be a basement somewhere. If this were the Empire, there would be no reason to stay in such a shabby place.

"Ugh."

As he let out a groan of pain, the knights who had been whispering quietly among themselves approached.

"Are you awake?"

"Where are we?"

"This is a hideout in The Capital."

The knight spoke as if he were quite apologetic.

"The guards in The Capital were stricter than expected, so we couldn't leave."

With a stiff face, the knight explained that they had lost quite a few men because the Royal Knights and the knights of The Capital swarmed them like bees.

"If you, Ambassador, had checked the document just a little earlier, we would have rescued you long ago. Why did you check it so late? The magic we went to the trouble of preparing all became useless, didn't it?"

"There were eyes watching me, so I had to be careful..."

When Montpellier spoke with an intimidated face, the knight belatedly offered an apology.

"I didn't mean to blame you, Ambassador. It's just that it's a pity you had to suffer such hardships. Anyway, you've been through a lot. Please rest comfortably now."

"What are the plans moving forward?"

"Originally, some of us were planning to escort the Ambassador to the Empire, but since things went wrong, it seems we'll have to wait for our forces to attack The Capital, cause a distraction, and slip away during the chaos."

At the knight's words, Montpellier frowned.

"I think it will be difficult with only the people here. As you saw, the response of the knights and guards of The Capital was quite swift."

"Do not worry. We have plenty of men. They will all arrive here by this evening."

Montpellier was about to ask exactly how many that 'plenty of men' was and when the operation would take place, but he kept his mouth shut, afraid of arousing unnecessary suspicion.

"I need to rest a bit."

"I will wake you when the time comes."

Montpellier casually waved his hand and closed his eyes.

Having endured the whole night with a wet body and suffering a severe flogging, he was completely exhausted and fell fast asleep.

And it was quite some time later when he regained his senses.

'... Stop them.'

'... How did they get here...'

Noises echoed in his hazy consciousness.

"Aargh!"

A desperate scream pierced his ears.

"Gasp!"

Montpellier's eyes flew open.

The first things that caught his eye were fully armed knights and the hazy smoke filling the room.

"Ambassador! Things have gone wrong! The kingdom has found the hideout! Now we must scatter and each find our own way to survive!"

The knight roughly pulled him to his feet.

"What exactly is going on..."

"The Royal Knights and the knights of The Capital have completely surrounded the area! We tried to hold out and wait for our forces to attack The Capital, but they set fire to the place! If we stay here, we'll end up completely roasted!"

The knight, who had urgently explained the situation, grabbed Montpellier and headed up the stairs.

"Fortunately, it seems they haven't noticed the secret passage yet. While the other knights buy time, let us head west."

"What is in the west?"

"There is an abandoned fortress where our forces are stationed. Most of the troops will have already left to attack The Capital, but there should be enough men left to escort you and me to the Empire."

"Give me a sword as well. We don't know what might happen on the way."

At Montpellier's words, the knight took out a dagger from his chest and handed it over.

"Thank you truly. And I'm sorry."

At the strangely chilling voice, the knight flinched and stopped walking.

STAB!

At that exact moment, Montpellier stabbed the back of the knight's neck with the dagger he had been handed.

"Keuk..."

The knight spat blood and pushed Montpellier away.

"Why...?"

Montpellier, who had tumbled ungracefully to the floor, spoke while sitting slumped.

"I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry. It's nothing personal. It's just that the only thing waiting for me if I return to the Empire is the guillotine."

Then, the knight who he thought was dead turned his body. He clutched the back of his neck with one hand and held up his sword with the other.

Montpellier scrambled up in terror.

However, his body, ruined by the severe flogging, wouldn't move properly, and he ended up tumbling to the floor again before he could even take a few steps.

"W-Wait! Listen to me!"

Montpellier shouted urgently as he watched the knight slowly approaching him.

A look of sheer dismay was evident on his face.

He had planned to finish him off and escape without anyone knowing, but it seemed the vitality of a knight was far more persistent than he had thought.

"I-It was a mistake!"

Even as Montpellier babbled whatever came to mind, the knight steadily took steps and finally reached him.

SHAAK.

The knight raised his sword.

SLASH.

At the sound of something being sliced, Montpellier instinctively squeezed his eyes shut.

THUD. ROLL.

Then, hearing an alien sound, he opened his eyes slightly.

The knight who had been approaching with his sword raised just moments ago was now a headless corpse. A severed head with wide, unblinking eyes lay right in front of him.

WHOOSH.

The sharp smell of blood pierced his nose, and piercing through that came a fresh scent of grass.

And beside it stood a black-haired woman who had appeared like a ghost.

Pointed ears and a beautiful face.

It was the Half-Elf whom the prince commanded like his own limbs.

"How are you here..."

Startled, Montpellier looked around. Fear and expectation took turns appearing on his face, wondering if the prince had come here.

STEP, STEP.

Then, a group of figures emerged from the darkness lurking in the secret passage.

It was not the prince, but the Queen, leading the Royal Knights.

"There is a special elixir that the Rangers of the North use to track monsters. The smell is so pungent that you can track it from several days' distance just by the scent. Yesterday, I had a palace maid smear the elixir on your body."

Montpellier, who had been about to ask when she could have possibly sprayed it on him, recalled a certain woman who had poured a bucket of water on him the day before.

At the time, he thought it was just dung water, but it seemed that had been the elixir.

"I watched well as you stabbed the back of a knight who was prepared to lay down his life for you."

Montpellier stared at the Queen with a blank face.

He could not even imagine that the mother of a nation would be hiding in the darkness of a perilous enemy hideout, watching his actions.

Whether he felt that way or not, the Queen smiled refreshingly and spoke.

"Personally, I despise your kind. If it hadn't been for our promise, I would have cut off your head right here."

At the bloodthirsty words that did not match her smiling face, Montpellier froze.

"However, as the Queen, I know that your base methods are proof that your defection was sincere."

Only then did Montpellier realize.

That every moment, from the instant he was rescued by the Imperial Knight, had been the Queen's test.

"What if I had..."

Montpellier's lips quivered.

He wanted to ask what she would have done if he had taken the knight's hand and escaped through the secret passage. However, he couldn't bring himself to ask that question.

The cold glare of the Half-Elf, who was suddenly standing beside the Queen, and the Queen's smiling face sealed his lips.

"Congratulations, Ambassador. As of today, you have been reborn as a member of the kingdom."

The Queen smiled with a freshness that didn't match her age.

Goosebumps erupted all over Montpellier's body.

"Follow me, Montpellier."

The Queen's attitude, not even using honorifics, was completely different from before, when she hadn't forgotten basic courtesy toward the Ambassador of the Empire, even if only nominally.

Overwhelmed by her unapproachable dignity, Montpellier limped after her.

The knights exiting the secret passage ambushed the Imperial Knights hiding in the hideout.

"Watch carefully with your own eyes how the seeds the Empire sowed meet their end."

After hearing those words, Montpellier couldn't even blink, even as the smoke stung his eyes and made him shed tears.

It was as if the Queen was warning him that if he ever harbored ulterior motives later on, he too would end up just like them.

Montpellier trembled.

'Both the son and the mother are equally ruthless. I've been well and truly caught.'

He could only shudder in dread.

* * *

It did not take long for the disturbance to be settled.

The Imperial Knights, having inhaled the smoke for a long time, were already not in normal condition, and they were overpowered with anticlimactic ease by the kingdom's knights pushing in from front and back.

There were only two survivors.

Without leaving the scene filled with the smell of blood and burning flesh, the Queen personally interrogated the survivors right there.

"Speak everything you know."

"Seeing a mere bitch acting so high and mighty, I can tell what state the kingdom is in!"

The Imperial Knight growled like a wounded beast.

"You bitch who doesn't even know the virtues of a woman! Ptui!"

He even spat blood-phlegm-mixed saliva towards the Queen's face.

THUD.

A Royal Knight reached out his hand. The bloody phlegm struck and stuck to his combat gauntlet with a splat. The knight returned to his original position with an expressionless face.

The Queen also wore a face as if nothing had happened.

"No matter how much you ask, you won't be able to make me spit anything out!"

Even at the words of the knight who had prepared for death, the Queen did not bat an eyelash.

And she did not even ask a question again.

SHAAK.

The Queen drew a sword from the Royal Knight's waist and slashed it downward.

SLASH.

The knight's forearm was severed.

"A-Aargh!"

The knight screamed.

This time, the Queen cut off the opposite hand.

The slash that severed bone and flesh in a single strike was no less than that of any knight.

"The kingdom will perish! The Imperial Army will burn the royal palace down without leaving a single foundation stone!"

The knight spat out curses like a scream.

The Queen drew her sword again.

This time, it was a leg. After that, it was his remaining leg.

With his limbs severed like that, the knight wailed like a beast in a pool of blood.

The Queen gestured with her chin. One of the Royal Knights stepped forward and applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

The Queen stepped forward again.

The Queen flayed the knight's skin as if filleting a fish. Montpellier couldn't bear to watch the sight any longer and turned his head.

"Montpellier. Have you forgotten my order."

At the Queen's cold voice, Montpellier forced himself to turn his head back.

The horrifying torture continued.

Montpellier had to watch the scene while retching multiple times.

The Imperial Knight, who had resolved to die and insulted the Queen, was now crying like a child and begging her to kill him.

The Queen did not stop her hand.

She flayed his skin, gouged his eyes, and cut off his nose.

"I-I will speak!"

Eventually, the knight opened his mouth.

"H-His Majesty the Emperor commanded that upon the outbreak of war, exterminating the bloodline of the Royal House of Leonberk must be the highest priority. If that proves difficult, he ordered the massacre of at least the King, the First Prince, and the Second Prince. By now, the legions on the front lines must be mobilizing with the exact same instructions."

The Queen looked at Montpellier with a coldly chilled face.

"I-I had absolutely no idea!"

The terrified Montpellier hastily waved his hands.

The Queen withdrew her gaze.

"T-This is everything I know. So please, just kill me no..."

SLASH.

Before the knight could finish his plea, the Queen swung her sword. With a single strike, the knight's head was cleanly severed.

The severed head, smeared with terror and agony, happened to roll right in front of Montpellier.

"H-Heeek!"

Montpellier collapsed heavily onto his rear. His trousers quickly became soaked, and the stench of urine wafted out.

"Tsk."

Clicking her tongue coldly, the Queen commanded the knights.

"That one will be useful, so lock him in the palace prison."

The Imperial Knight, who had been staring at his comrade's gruesome corpse while half out of his mind, was dragged away.

"Clean this up without leaving even a corpse. There is no place for them to be buried in the kingdom's soil."

"As you command!"

At her subsequent order, the Royal Knights shouted in unison.

"I shall return to the royal palace."

The Queen left the scene. The knights threw torches onto the site and disappeared after the Queen.

The remaining soldiers secured the perimeter so the fire wouldn't spread, endlessly throwing firewood. So that when those flames finally died down, not even a corpse would remain, just as the Queen had ordered.

* * *

That evening, after the Empire's remnants were wiped out, a military force of thousands revealed themselves in The Capital.

And in their center, the flag of the Bourgogne Empire fluttered.

They surrounded The Capital, waiting for something.

However, even as the night deepened, the event they were waiting for did not happen.

Eventually, when day broke, a knight who seemed to hold a rather high rank among those standing at the front of the forces stepped forward and shouted.

"If you hand over the bloodline of the Leonberk family, we will withdraw without causing any harm!"

There was no answer. The knight shouted in an even fiercer voice.

"Are you going to stand by and watch countless people of The Capital die because of a mere few dozen individuals! Is that your justice!"

What returned was still only silence.

"The King you sought to protect has already fled! The First Prince has disappeared as well! The remaining royal family members are hiding behind your backs, only looking out for their own safety! They are not worth sacrificing your lives for, yet do you still wish to die for them!"

This time, there was an answer.

Only it wasn't the sound of a person speaking, but the sound of something sharp cutting through the wind.

THWACK.

An arrow sprouted from the forehead of the knight who had been loudly blabbering.

It was dead center between his eyebrows, without a single inch of deviation.

"The sound of a dog barking was so noisy that I could no longer stand by and watch."

And a step later, a clear and resonant voice echoed out. The military forces surrounding The Capital looked up at the top of the wall all at once.

There stood a middle-aged woman.

A heroine clad in iron armor, wearing a golden crown on her head, gripping a well-worn longbow in her hands.

"If there is anyone else who wishes to bark, step forward."

The woman spoke as she nocked another arrow onto the bowstring.

"For today, I shall personally teach the etiquette of men to dogs who know no manners."