Chapter 210

“What on earth is this?”

The king, who had been speechless with a rigid expression, opened his mouth with a slightly trembling voice.

“As I told you, these are the heads of the rebel leaders, Your Majesty.”

“No, I understand what it is, but why…?”

The king, who showed signs of being flustered, soon hardened his complexion upon realizing that all eyes in the great hall were on him, and then coughed dryly before continuing calmly.

“You’ve worked hard in such difficult times, Logan.”

However,

“It was indeed difficult without the elite forces.”

At those straightforward words, the king flinched again, and the eyes of the assembly once again focused on Logan. Everyone gathered there knew that the elites from the Maclaine family were in the capital by the king’s strong command.

Even in that situation, it was surprising that Logan managed to suppress the rebels without any problems. Naturally, the nobles could only hold their breath and watch what Logan would do next. To put it in extreme terms, it would not be difficult for Logan to overthrow the royal family right now.

Fortunately, such extreme situations did not unfold.

“Of course, these kinds of things must not happen in the future. For the sake of Your Majesty and the royal family. Never again.”

Everyone could tell that those words were a warning to the king. The king’s face turned red, and he could not open his mouth for a while, but then he forced a smile and praised Logan again.

“Of course. I cannot tell you enough how reassuring it is to have Logan. You’ve worked really hard.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“As long as I am here, the kingdom will ‘never allow any disorder.’ Rest assured, Your Majesty.”

The king’s forced smile froze the moment it met Logan’s cold red eyes.

Just when the atmosphere was about to turn awkward, the sound of applause broke in.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

“Isn’t this occasion meant to honor Logan for quelling the rebellion? Your Majesty, we shall promptly remove these ghastly items.”

These were the words of someone who had been bowing from behind the king. Logan’s gaze naturally turned towards him.

‘Cleoh, was it?’

At the middle-aged official’s call, the royal attendants from the inner court scurried to quickly collect the scattered heads. The quiet bustling cleared the awkward air that had been circulating in the great hall.

Witnessing this, the king, with a gentle nod, continued soothingly.

“The words of the palace manager are wise. Moreover, since Logan, the pillar of our kingdom, has become the fourth superhuman of our kingdom, it’s proper to have a celebration for such good fortune. Logan, is the rumor true?”

“I was fortunate, Your Majesty.”

As Logan responded with a faint smile, exclamations burst out from various places in the great hall.

“Indeed!”

“The Star of Grandia!”

“He is truly remarkable at such a young age.”

The praise that reached the king’s ears made his grip tighten, noticeable to Logan. Moreover, his lips maintained a deep smile, but his eyes were rigidly frozen.

Nevertheless, the king once again spoke with a soft voice.

“So it’s true. Ha ha, it’s truly a joyous occasion for the kingdom. Logan, how did someone so young…”

As if trying to hide his clenched fist or the flustered expression from before, the king, who had gotten up with his hands behind his back, spread his arms wide while looking at the gathered officials and proclaimed loudly.

“Now, let’s hold a grand party to celebrate the birth of a new superhuman in the kingdom and the quelling of the rebellion! All high and low officials must attend without exception to grace the occasion!”

Then, the king slowly descended from the throne and took Logan’s hand as if to show off.

“Logan, you’ve really worked hard. If it weren’t for you, I can’t even imagine what would have become of this kingdom.”

Is it me that troubles you?

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Externally, the two men smiled at each other, neither really laughing. Both were aware of this fact, but to the onlookers, it appeared as though the king and Logan had completely reconciled.

With that, the nobles, who had been watching for cues from the two, finally began to approach Logan.

“Congratulations, Lord Marquess!”

“We celebrate your good fortune!”

“We congratulate you, my lord!”

The king watched with a soft smile but was the first to leave the great hall with a quiet and dignified face.

Unable to interpret the king’s pondering gaze, Logan watched him go, with only the middle-aged official Cleoh quietly following behind with quick steps.

Bang!

As soon as the doors to the great hall closed, the king kicked over a nearby flowerpot. Realizing his mistake as the accompanying knight flinched, the king quickly said,

“Hm, the flowers are weak. Refill them.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Lacking the strength to feign a smile any longer, the king simply quickened his pace with a contrived excuse. When he finally reached an empty corridor, he spoke quietly to Cleoh, who followed him,

“Look into it. Anything that could be a weakness of his.”

Grind.

Teeth clenched; the command was overly burdensome. Cleoh’s complexion also turned rigid, yet,

“Especially investigate matters related to the suppression of the rebellion. Even if he has become a superhuman, he dealt with it far too quickly. There must be something forced in what happened.”

In front of the king, expressing his anger with a cold face, Cleoh could only nod.

* * *

At the party that continued in the great hall,

By the time Logan managed to escape the hectic celebration, the sun was setting and the moon hung high in the sky.

Even the knights of his house had been sent back to the residence beforehand. As Logan was about to leave the castle under the tranquil moonlight, organizing his thoughts amid the commotion, he met someone he hadn’t seen for a while.

“Master.”

“I am late.”

“No, it is natural. I know you came from the border on the king’s orders.”

“Right. That’s what happened.”

The sword master, with a bittersweet smile, had dust all over the hem of his garment. It seemed as if, hearing the news, he had hastily come alone without even a servant—befitting the attire of the kingdom’s second-in-command, the archduke tainted with dust.

“I apologize. I did not expect His Majesty to handle matters in such a way while I was at the border. Ordering you to deal with the rebels after stripping you of all your resources…”

“It’s all in the past now. And I managed.”

Seeing his disciple’s proud smile, the sword master finally let out a sigh of relief.

“It seems that His Majesty is unharmed, judging by the lack of any great commotion.”

“…Yes?”

“Ah, never mind. I was overly worried. You’ve worked hard; come to my residence. Stella has been looking for you lately…”

Logan let out a small sigh at the sight of his master’s wry smile, finally guessing what had prompted him to rush here.

“Did you think I would harm His Majesty?”

“To be honest, I thought it was fifty-fifty.”

“Fifty?”

“It was a situation that warranted your anger.”

“If I had any intention of harming His Majesty, I wouldn’t have bothered to have him ascend the throne in the first place.”

“That was different from now, wasn’t it?”

What would you have done if I had attacked the king because of the changed situation?

Instead of voicing the rising question in his heart, Logan simply shook his head.

“It is not different. The threat of the empire remains, and for that reason alone, I do not intend to continue with tiresome conflicts. There will be no change as long as His Majesty does not try to restrain me.”

“…You’re still talking about that.”

Surprised by his master’s negative tone, Logan asked in return,

“Wasn’t it you who said that the emperor highly regarded me? That emperor who, even after more than ten years of reign, did not even initiate a local war.”

“I am more convinced of it after meeting him in person. The emperor will not give up his ambitions.”

“Even at the risk of waging war with the kingdom to take you?”

“It’s not just me he wants; he aims to have the world.”

Perhaps it was unexpected for the sword master, as his expression suddenly hardened.

“…I’m not sure if it’s because of you, but there have been significant troop withdrawals from our western border, that is, the eastern border of the empire. The taxes on commerce have also been reduced significantly. It may be a move towards a more friendly kingdom policy. Do you still think so?”

“Yes. It’s a deception.”

The sword master hesitated for a moment at Logan’s confident tone but Logan continued, looking into his eyes.

“Do not just consider the current situation. Think about the number of wars the empire has waged since the end of the imperial succession struggle. Did you not agree with me before?”

“Yes, that’s true. Huh…”

“Master. Therefore, please stop His Majesty from restraining me. This is not the time for internal strife within the kingdom.”

“I too truly wish that was the case.”

Seeing his disillusioned master’s smile, Logan replied with a heavy expression,

“Please prevent His Majesty from going out of control. This cannot happen again, for the sake of the kingdom.”

Logan swallowed the words he did not dare to say. Perhaps the sword master guessed them, or perhaps he read the resolve in Logan’s eyes.

‘Hah. How to handle this matter…’

The sword master found himself unable to say anything further. And the day when he would have to make his decision came more quickly than thought.

A few days later,

While rumors of Logan and the suppression of the rebellion still buzzed around the capital, and Logan was preparing to return with his army, the king summoned him again, this time with the sword master present.

“We welcome the lord of Grandia.”

“Come in, my lords.”

The king, who had left the great hall a few days ago with a pale complexion, seemed to have regained his vigor and was looking enthusiastic. The reason for his lively expression quickly became clear.

“Logan. A few days ago, there wasn’t time to notice due to the commotion, but there has been a report of an issue with the suppression of the rebels.”

“What?”

Both Logan and the sword master were puzzled when,

“The vast majority of the soldiers that made up the absolute majority of the rebels are still alive, under the protection of Maclaine.”

Smiling at the sword master, the king’s expression caused Logan’s face to harden.

This, now?

“Logan? What does this mean?”

As the surprised master turned to him, Logan quickly organized his thoughts and spoke,

“Ah, those… they realized their wrongs and immediately defected. Thanks to that, it was easy to quell the rebels.”

The king, as if he was waiting, interrupted Logan’s barely prepared answer,

“Who would believe that over 7,000 soldiers defected at the same time? Logan, you need a more convincing answer. Even the sword master must be persuaded.”

The king’s words made it clear that he was pressuring Logan by leveraging the stubborn sword master.

‘Trying to push me using the master as a backdrop?’

A hollow laugh escaped Logan’s lips. Everyone in the room knew that soldiers usually follow the will of their superiors. Besides this fact, nearly 7,000 soldiers could potentially be future knights, part of the kingdom’s military forces. It was only logical for any ruler to preserve them by any means necessary…

“It is a principle to execute all related to the rebellion, applying collective punishment. Yet, to keep the actual perpetrators alive…”

This king was different.

“Lord Logan. If you’re not trying to shield the rebels, then shouldn’t you kill all of those scounds?”

After all this time, again with this?

‘Do you truly want to see this through to the end, Your Majesty?’

As a flame began in Logan’s heart and climbed up to his eyes, the king, either aware of the danger or not, was only watching the sword master.

And the sword master spoke.