I Didn't Want to Become the Emperor of This World

Chapter 38

The royal castle of the Plank Kingdom was largely composed of three buildings. The West Palace, the Central Palace, and the East Palace.

The ‘West Palace’ was built so that envoys from other nations, guests of the royal family, and nobles who visited the royal capital could stay. The ‘Central Palace’ was for the royal family to reside in, and the ‘East Palace’ was for the royal family and nobles to evacuate to in case of an emergency.

Although the purpose of each palace had faded after the nobles gained power and the royal authority weakened, there were originally such reasons for dividing the royal palace into three buildings.

After Leonardo purged the nobles, each palace was finding its proper role. Only the royal family resided in the Central Palace, and the nobles who survived the purge were staying in the West Palace.

—Although it was practically imprisonment—

However, there were people other than the nobles staying in the West Palace, and they were ‘Yoanna’, whom Leonardo had saved from the market in the royal capital, and the orphans she was raising.

As mentioned before, the West Palace was a building for the guests of the royal family, so they were staying there.

***

One in the morning.

Yoanna, who was staying in the West Palace, was awakened from her sleep by a young but charismatic and strong voice coming from outside.

「”......If there is anyone who mistakes this 'war on crime' as an attack on the commoners of our own kingdom, then throw such thoughts away―.”」

‘This voice is...... His Highness the Crown Prince’s voice, isn't it?’

The Crown Prince Leonardo, the benefactor who had saved her when she was caught pickpocketing in the market of the royal capital.

Although she hadn't met him since coming to the royal palace, Yoanna thought of the Crown Prince every day.

Strictly speaking, Yoanna couldn't get Leonardo out of her head. It was only natural, as he was the benefactor who had saved her life, and his appearance was also so mysteriously beautiful that it was beyond words. To Yoanna, Leonardo was truly the ‘prince on a white horse’ that only appeared in fairy tales.

Leonardo’s resolute voice continued to be heard faintly from outside.

「”This 'war on crime' is not an attack on the commoners of the Plank Kingdom. Absolutely not.”」

At those words, Yoanna became wide awake.

‘......W-war?!’

Startled, Yoanna shot up from her bed.

“Umm...... sister, why?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Sorry. Just go back to sleep.”

At her movement, the child sleeping next to her frowned and tossed and turned, but Yoanna was more concerned about the Crown Prince’s words than the worry of having woken the child.

‘......War? What does that mean?’

Unable to hide her confusion, Yoanna got out of bed and headed to the terrace. She was about to step outside onto the terrace to hear Leonardo's voice more clearly.

Opening the terrace window, Yoanna looked outside. Along with the cold dawn air, clear moonlight and starlight were pouring down from the sky, and the light was shining on the knights and soldiers gathered in the training grounds.

The guest room in the West Palace where Yoanna was staying was on the 5th floor, so she could see the knights and soldiers gathered in the training grounds at a glance. They looked small from above.Nevertheless, there was one person who stood out, the blond-haired child standing on the platform—Crown Prince Leonardo.

‘For an army to be gathered like that...... are they really going to war?’

Although she had never been to war herself, Yoanna had indirectly experienced the ‘war with the demons’. So she knew well how scary and how painful war was.

As she came out onto the terrace, Crown Prince Leonardo's voice began to be heard clearly by Yoanna.

「“A week ago, for the first time in my life, I left the palace and went out into the streets of the royal capital. And I saw it. I saw that the people of this kingdom were living in hell.”」

―…….

「“This war on crime is about rescuing the good people of the kingdom from that ‘hell’. And the ones who created that hell are the thugs and trashy merchants; they are my enemies and your nemeses.”」

―…….

「“People were dying because they had nothing to eat. They had no clothes to wear, so they stole and wore the clothes of the dead. The sick were just waiting to die, and the hungry were waiting for the sick to die just to take their belongings. People like that were all over the streets.”」

―…….

「“Coward that I was, I didn't have the confidence to face them, so I ran away from them and headed for the market. I held the foolish delusion that the people living in the market might be a little more lively and better off. But...... I saw something even more shocking there.”」

Leonardo’s voice was filled with feelings of regret and anger. As a result, anyone listening to his speech couldn't help but pay close attention to his words.

It was, of course, the same for Yoanna. At some point, Yoanna found herself concentrating on every single word from Leonardo with all her mind, as if she were a soldier in the training grounds.

「“I met a girl my age in the market. A child named ‘Yoanna’. That girl made a living as a pickpocket. Just to survive, to feed other children in the same situation as herself, she had to pickpocket.”」

―…….

「“The girl who tried to pickpocket Commander Jereuth was, of course, caught. But after hearing her story, I tried to let her go. Then, a thug named ‘Diego’, who claimed to manage the market, showed up. Knights, and soldiers. Do you know what that thug tried to do to the girl who was caught pickpocketing?”」

At Leonardo’s anger-laced question, a few knights and soldiers nodded their heads. As they were of commoner origin, they knew what thugs did to people caught pickpocketing in the market.

In an atmosphere where the knights and soldiers were in agreement, Leonardo put more strength into his voice.

「“That thug tried to cut off the little girl's wrist. The wrist of a child who had no choice but to steal to survive, that thug named ‘Diego’, who manages the market with the nobles at his back, tried to cut it off.”」

―…….

「“Of course, pickpocketing is wrong. I'm not saying it shouldn't be punished. Thievery must be punished. But the ones who created a situation where that child could only survive by pickpocketing—the nobles who exploited the people to satisfy their own desires, the thugs who received power from those nobles and ran rampant, and the wicked merchants who colluded with them to line their own pockets—they are the real bastards.”」

As the Crown Prince's speech continued, the morale of the knights and soldiers was changing. If at first they felt burdened by the thought of having to attack the commoners of their own country, now that burden had almost disappeared.

Above all, the knights and soldiers were deeply moved by the fact that the Crown Prince had personally experienced the life of the common people. The knights and soldiers knew all too well that it was not an easy thing for a person at the pinnacle of power to go to the very bottom.

Just as the atmosphere was reaching its peak.

Crown Prince Leonardo brought the speech to its climax with a shocking statement.

「“However, an existence even more trash-like than the nobles, the thugs, and the wicked merchants, is me, ‘Crown Prince Leonardo’. Because I did nothing while this kingdom fell into such a state.”」

―……?

「“That's right. I am trash who lived in hiding, just reading books and watching the nobles' moods, thinking it was enough as long as I could live comfortably by myself. As such a sinner, I know that one day I must stand before the people and receive the punishment they mete out. But, being a coward, I want to atone for my mistakes before I am punished by the people of the kingdom.”」

―…….

「“That is also why I purged the nobles. And as an extension of that, I now intend to subjugate the thugs and wicked merchants, the legacy left behind by the nobles. That is the ‘war on crime’ I am asking of you all.”」

With these words from Leonardo, new ‘information’ was injected into the minds of the knights and soldiers. The information that, 「’This war on crime is an extension of the purge of the nobles.’」.

Unlike the knights and soldiers whose fighting spirit was now ablaze, Yoanna, who was listening to Leonardo's words from the terrace, was in a daze.

‘W-wow, the Crown Prince remembers my name? And from what he's saying, it sounds like he's going to punish the thugs and bad merchants for my sake...... Is that right?’

Yoanna felt an unidentifiable emotion. It was a feeling she had never felt before in her life.

―…….

Leonardo paused his speech for a moment. The quiet stillness of the dawn, which had been driven away by his restrained yet anger-filled voice, once again enveloped the training grounds.

「“Ms. Elly, the flag.”」

As that silence briefly passed, Leonardo received the royal flag from the maid standing behind him. Then, he passed that flag to Jereuth, who was sending a passionate gaze from the platform.

「“Commander, although this is the flag of a cowardly and weak royal family, please lead the 'war on crime' with this flag at the forefront. Together with the heroes gathered here in these training grounds.”」

「“......Yes, Your Highness!”」

Jereuth's voice, carried by the Voice Amplification Artifact, also spread across the training grounds.

After giving the flag to Jereuth, Leonardo stepped back. Jereuth then gave Leonardo a more polite salute than ever before and stood at the very front edge of the platform with unhesitating steps.

Then, Jereuth gripped the royal flag tightly and shouted thunderously.

“Is there still anyone here who thinks our enemy is the people of the Plank Kingdom?!”

The old general's voice was so thunderous that it could be heard even by the soldiers at the very back without the help of the Voice Amplification Artifact.

At his roar, all the knights and soldiers gathered in the training grounds answered in unison.

―......There are none!

“Then is there anyone who is ashamed to fight under the flag of His Highness Leonardo, who called himself a sinner?!”

―There are none!

“If there is, speak now! My honor does not permit me to fight alongside such a man!”

―There are none!!

The adrenaline of the knights and soldiers exploded.

Carrying that momentum, Jereuth shouted louder than ever before.

“Tonight, we carry out His Highness's will! Raise your swords!!”

―Waaaaaaah!!

***

Outside the royal castle, in the royal capital.

―……Waaaaaaah!!

The resounding cheers of the knights and soldiers for Leonardo’s speech were faintly heard by the people of the royal capital as well. It was only natural for them to hear it, as a loud noise had come from the royal castle in the quiet dawn.

However, not many people paid attention to the sound. The poor did not have the peace of mind to be interested in such things, and the wealthy, like the thugs and wicked merchants, were too busy laughing and chatting late into the night.

In the midst of this, the gates of the royal palace quietly opened, and knights and soldiers on horseback galloped out forcefully.

―Dududududu……!

―Cheok, cheok, cheok, cheok, cheok……!

The number of knights and soldiers was about 2,000.

It was not a number large enough to shake the earth.

However, as they began to run within the royal capital, the ground rumbled, and the feeling of the ground rumbling was enough to draw people's attention.

***

The thugs' hideout in the center of the 1st market in the royal capital.

This hideout was not as grand as a nobleman's mansion, but it was so brilliantly decorated that it was hard to believe it belonged to a commoner, and it was a place where the thug who ruled the royal capital, ‘Diego’, and the thugs under him, played, ate, and drank every day.

Literally a ‘hideout’.

An odd sound reached the ears of Diego, who was drinking in the hideout.

―Dududududu…….

―Cheok, cheok, cheok, cheok, cheok…….

At the sound of hooves and footsteps from outside, Diego frowned while drinking and asked.

“What’s that sound?”

It was a question from a man of power, but none of the thugs around, nor the prostitutes serving them, could readily answer.

They were just bewildered, flustered by the feeling of the ground shaking.

“It's the sound of horse hooves, isn't it?”

“Who could it be at this time of night......?”

“Don't you hear the sound of people moving too? Just like soldiers moving.”

“The ground is shaking.”

Although they were thugs, these were men who had once gone to war against the demons.

That's why they could gradually deduce the source of the faint vibrations and sounds.

This was definitely the sound of an army on the move.

―Dududududu……!

―Cheok, cheok, cheok, cheok, cheok……!

As the feeling of the ground shaking gradually got closer, a strange tension arose among the thugs. They didn't know what that sound was, but it was clearly coming towards them.

Diego, annoyed, gestured with his chin to the lowest-ranking thug sitting at the end of the table and said.

“Hey! Open the window and look outside.”

“Ah, yes!”

The low-ranking thug, who received Diego's order, immediately opened the window and looked outside. However, even after looking outside, the low-ranking thug said nothing to Diego. As if he had seen something he shouldn't have.

“Hey! What is it?!”

“……”

“Hey, you bastard! I asked you what it is!!”

Only when Diego shouted again did the underling who was looking out the window turn around and say hesitantly.

“......Kn-knights and soldiers are coming?”