Chapter 380: a.s.sa.s.sination Succeeded
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Pranav
Unexpected events were termed as “unexpected” precisely because they would occur without forewarning and they’d have consequences n.o.body would accept.
Back in my original world, Archduke Franz Ferdinand couldn’t be considered an important person. His death, or even the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s revenge, shouldn’t have been enough to affect the entire world. However, the international situation at the time was one where everyone was at the edge of exploding into war. Most countries had already begun preparing for war, and when this perfect “reason” appeared, it was merely the spark that ignited the dynamite. Germany happily took advantage of this to fan the fires of war, and this caused Russia, France, and everyone else to act as well. Thus began the First World War.
And things were similar in this world right now.
Bardi’s situation wasn’t great. Internationally, it was facing enemies on three sides.
To its west, it was at war with the Mage Country. In the south, it faced the droves of undead sending wave after wave of attacks at Nightrain City. To the east was the Holy Church’s vanguard army. As if this wasn’t enough, the sealed off Dragon World and the t.i.tan Giants in the capital city were together a ma.s.sive ticking time bomb that might just destroy the entire country at any moment.
This generation was one where power meant success, and the citizens of this powerful country never had to worry about their lives on a day-to-day basis. They never had to agonize over their next meal. Ever since two years ago, however, the comfortable lives of these citizens had met an aggrieved end. The citizens began acc.u.mulating grudges, which gave birth to anxiety and the desire to go to war. It was fortunate that Bardi kept notching up victories in battle—this helped them vent their anger. Yet this was also why they were so disrespectful to the amba.s.sador of another country.
The declarations of war from various countries against them had made them feel as if they were a tall tree battered by a rainstorm. At the same time, however, being enemies with the entire world made them feel both proud and angry. And this didn’t apply only to ordinary citizens. The n.o.bles, knights—all stratum of the social cla.s.s—thought this way as well. Merchants hoped to get rich, n.o.bles hoped to use this opportunity to seize more power, knights hoped to obtain glorious achievements, and the adopted princes hoped to perform enough combat accolades to obtain the crown. Or it would be better to say that some princes were scheming to steal the throne while other princes were on the frontlines.
And all of this was being watched over by the “almost dead” Emperor Orloss.
Perhaps I acted ridiculously. But before acting ridiculously I would always consider the situation and the possible consequences of my actions. I would only act after making a plan… Basically, I was the “thinking too much into things” type. This was just how I was, and it was quite difficult to change. My personality indeed gave me many unnecessary frustrations.
Directly speaking, I was actually more of the type: “You think I’m crazy? That’s because you don’t understand me. And if you understood me, you’d probably want to beat me to death…” Cough — cough —I seem to have gotten off topic. Getting back on point, before coming to Bardi, I had made up my mind about how to act here: like a tsundere—seemingly aloof and distant but actually easy to get along with.
To be more specific, I would act as high and mighty as possible, giving off an att.i.tude of “I don’t want to make a deal with you rednecks.” Then, I would use intermediaries to haggle and improve the deal I would receive before finally agreeing.
From a certain standpoint, that ridiculous Slime Calamity of mine was also aimed at cooling down the Bardi capital. That was why I’d ordered those b.a.s.t.a.r.d subordinates of mine to remain obedient and try their best to avoid any accidents. I didn’t expect something so major to occur.
“…How will the Bardi n.o.bles and royalty react? Listen to their citizens’ voices and start a new war, or suppress this issue in order to obtain more benefits through negotiation? What will the local domain lords do? Will they pressure the royalty into taking revenge? Also, what will the factions that supported Mills do?”
There were too many possibilities, and that caused me to freeze over. But when I looked at how all the Bardi royal knights were rus.h.i.+ng over and the dimensional teleportation doors that were suddenly opening up, I at least knew what I should do at this moment. There was no way I would let them catch my subordinates red-handed!
“Harloys, create some chaos.”
“I need some time to summon my Slime bodies.”
“It’s fine if you just make a concealing smokescreen.”
While my Dark Elf subordinates froze, astonished at their own actions, numerous powerful individuals were rus.h.i.+ng over to the scene and numerous royal mages were teleporting here. I unhesitatingly hid myself in a shadow and then reappeared in front of everyone clad in my blood-red dragon armor.
“I honestly thought that my first public appearance in this form would be a bit cooler.”
I wielded my sword in one hand and blocked off the charging royal knights. The sword energy I casually flicked at them forced them back, while the walls of ice I summoned would be capable of obstructing them for at least several seconds.
My breath was filtered by my dragon armor and came out as half dragonbreath fire and half blue ice. Compared to the past, this ice dragon armor, which was Erebella’s new form, was capable of noticeably increasing my powers over ice.
“Idiots, follow me! I’ll deal with you all later.”
I intentionally lowered my voice, and it sounded even stranger through the armor’s filter. But my Dark Elf subordinates would definitely recognize my voice. And, at this time, Victoria was still carrying that injured male Dark Elf.
“Take him along with us.”
Black smoke filled this entire area, and both sides of the street were in flames. From the gutters and sewers appeared my army of Slimes. Indeed, Harloys was experienced when it came to creating chaos.
“Why aren’t you leaving?”
I turned around and found out why that Dark Elf had refused to run away all this time. He had been using his cape and body to protect a little girl. Judging by the girl’s gray skin and round human ears, this girl was a half-blood human and Dark Elf hybrid!
“Take them both with us. I’ll be the rearguard.”
*Boom!*
The royal mages had arrived through their dimensional teleportation doors. The fireb.a.l.l.s they summoned rained upon us and the ice walls were demolished, and the fierce winds they called started to blow away all the smoke.
“Hahaha! I, Poison Dragon Samar, didn’t even need to personally act. A few novice subordinates of mine were more than enough to kill off this idiot. As expected, this so-called hero prince was nothing much. Ha, this was way too easy.”
I continually waved my sword, sending out ice magic and sword energy. Meanwhile, I was secretly delighted at my usual habit of overthinking things. If it wasn’t for the fact that I had researched about a Dragon Bloodline Sword Saint a.s.sa.s.sin, I would have been hard-pressed to find a proper scapegoat.
Of course, Poison Dragon Samar was a desert-based a.s.sa.s.sin living in the west of Eich, so why would he run all the way over to the center of Eich to a.s.sa.s.sinate a prince of Bardi? Even though he was clearly of a Green Dragon’s Bloodline, why would he have Red Dragon Bloodline abilities and know how to use ice magic? All of this would be impossible to explain, but this didn’t actually require any explaining.
All I needed right now was a scapegoat, even if it was one anyone would see through and not believe in. As long as there was a scapegoat on the surface, it would be possible for us to negotiate.
If the a.s.sa.s.sin was caught right there on the spot, the situation would likely become impossible to negotiate as that would definitely hugely affect the Bardi Empire and Mage Country’s relations.h.i.+ps. I couldn’t count on the furious people of Bardi to look at the big picture, as right now, they would only want to take revenge and catch the culprit.
A large amount of smoke still remained and obscured people’s vision. The Sword Saints among the Bardi royal knights were sending out waves of sword energy at me. However, I didn’t have to prepare to defend—it would be impossible for a newly-minted Sword Saint to be able to pierce my dragon armor from so far away.
Meanwhile, the royal mages who arrived through their dimensional teleportation doors found themselves obstructed by the chaotic crowd. Not only that, they came under magical attack from my silly cat, so it would be impossible for them to do anything for the time being.
I could sense that my Dark Elf subordinates had successfully escaped. Now that they had left, I of course had no intentions of staying behind. Since a prince was a.s.sa.s.sinated right in front of them, the royal knights, who viewed honor as more important than their lives, would use their full might. Several of them were actually quite strong. The moment all the smoke was blown away, even I would find it difficult to leave.
“Dragon wings.”
The blood-red dragon wings from my armor looked like they sprouted out of my back. This time, I thanked the seemingly useless ability to fly with dragon wings that my armor possessed. It would be impossible to explain myself if I used my War Angel wings to fly away.
“Ha! Ninth Prince, I’ve completed the task! Remember to pay me what you promised. Otherwise, you’ll meet the same end as Mills.”
Before I left, I made sure to once again claim responsibility for this deed in the name of Poison Dragon Samar. Then, I declared that this was all because of the princes’ internal conflicts. As I flew away, the mages flung thunderbolts at me that whizzed under my feet.
******
“Aren’t you all so capable? Why are none of you saying anything right now!? Don’t you all know that a war might break out because of this one swing of your sword!?”
My angry roars echoed throughout the airs.h.i.+p. Before me, Diana, Yawen, and Victoria were kneeling with their heads lowered, as if they were naughty children receiving a lecture.
Cher was lying down next to us. The moment Cher heard about Diana slaying Prince Mills right in front of everyone, she fainted. To the side, however, were my other heartless b.a.s.t.a.r.d subordinates who were actually enjoying the show.
Right now was obviously not a good time to return to the emba.s.sy hotel. That would be no different from giving our lives over to others.
Fortunately, Glina had come over here from the Northlands in the small ambush squadron airs.h.i.+ps. Reyne had also sent Diana and Victoria over in an ambush airs.h.i.+p as well. This meant that I happened to have a few airs.h.i.+ps on hand that could be used to escape.
We left only a few people at the emba.s.sy hotel. Everyone else was currently on the airs.h.i.+ps.
Should I say that it was to be expected of veteran criminals? My subordinates’ abilities to escape were maxed to the fullest. The moment this incident happened, they were already prepared to run away. They had actually been waiting for us on the airs.h.i.+p.
“Didn’t I tell you all that you were forbidden from going outside? Why did you all go out anyways? Where’s the discipline and respect for authority!? Diana! You’re a leader, so how can you lead like this?!”
I continued scolding them, but my mind was racing at top speed, trying to think of a way to deal with the situation.
There wasn’t much we could do. It was quite obvious who was responsible for the a.s.sa.s.sination, and it would be impossible to deny. The situation, in fact, would mostly depend on how Bardi wanted to deal with it.
“d.a.m.n it, the right to be proactive is now in their hands.”
As for why I was scolding them? Actually, I didn’t feel like my Dark Elves had done anything wrong. That deep crimson light that was almost to the point of purple was the best evidence that Mills had deserved to die. But the Dark Elves had made a mistake—how could I possibly let them lead if I didn’t scold them publicly and punish them?
“Boss, stop acting. Everyone knows you’re not really angry. If you were angry you wouldn’t mince words and would directly act. If you keep scolding them, big sis Diana might take it too hard and want to commit suicide.”
Glina jumped out to intervene. It seemed that ever since she started hanging out with Mars and Omar, her words became more and more masculine—or perhaps I should say became vulgar like a mercenary’s. Yet, from another standpoint, since Glina had managed to get rid of the threat of demon blood within her and no longer had to seal herself in, she was now far livelier than before.
“No! Committing suicide after making a mistake is an irresponsible action. I shall bear the burden for our actions. Milord, please hand me over to the Bardi Empire.”
Diana lifted her head and looked at me with an expression filled with resolution to sacrifice herself. It seemed that although she had improved her conviction, her intelligence hadn’t improved at all.
When I looked at this “good guy” Dark Elf, who had an expression that read “I’ll take all the responsibility so that n.o.body else has to be punished,” while my “granddaughter” tugged on my sleeve with a joking expression, I suddenly didn’t feel like saying anything else.
“Forget it. I’ll go to the capital to check how things are tomorrow morning.”
Just as I made the decision to check the situation tomorrow, someone came looking for us.
“Is Roland here? Cher, why are you collapsed like that?”
“Mom?”