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

Chapter 39

At the news that knights and soldiers were coming, Diego's frown deepened.

‘……Why are the knights and soldiers coming?’

It wasn't as if Diego had never met knights and soldiers before. Of course not. Diego, too, had participated in the war against the demons.

—Of course, Diego had bribed the nobles to be exempted from all combat. Even in that war that would determine the fate of humanity, the greed of the powerful held sway.—

That wasn't all. Diego had reigned as the head of the thugs in the royal capital under the protection of the nobles, and in return, Diego had provided them with various forms of entertainment.

He had met knights and soldiers every time. Occasionally, when the nobles summoned him, they would send knights and soldiers.

‘Even so, they've never sent knights and soldiers at such a late hour. And they've certainly never sent so many knights and soldiers. Damn...... something is strange.’

Like most criminals, Diego had good instincts and a sharp mind.

And right now, Diego's ‘instinct’ was warning him.

Danger— it said.

If Diego had known that the nobles had been purged, he would have fled long ago.

Thud!

Diego shot up from his seat.

“I'm going down to meet them, so don't mind me and keep having fun.”

“Boss, are you going down yourself? I'll go!”

At the loyal words of a subordinate thug, Diego waved his hand.

“No. Seeing as they’ve come at this late hour, it seems urgent, so I’ll go see them myself. You just drink.”

“Uh...... Yes, I understand.”

At Diego's words, the subordinate thug awkwardly sat back down. It was strange that Diego would meet the knights and soldiers himself, but since he insisted, there was no stopping him.

“Come on, come on! The boss is going, so don't butt in! Drink up!”

“Drink!”

“Kyaaa—!”

The subordinate thugs started drinking merrily again. They didn't think for a moment that anything would happen to Diego and themselves, who were under the protection of the nobles.

Glancing at his subordinates and the prostitutes, Diego thought to himself.

‘I don't know what's going on, but I'll watch the situation for a bit, and if something seems off, I'll run immediately. If, by some chance, those noble bastards changed their minds and sent knights and soldiers to take me down...... it'll take them some time to arrest the guys inside the hideout, so I should be able to escape outside the royal capital.’

Having been entangled with the nobles for quite a long time, Diego had expected that they could discard a ‘commoner’ like him at any time. So he was preparing his heart to flee, thinking that today might be that moment.

As expected of the leader of the thugs, Diego's intuition was somewhat correct. The knights and soldiers were indeed coming to get him.

However, there was something Diego didn't know.

Most of the nobles he had associated with were no longer of this world, and the force pursuing him now was not the nobles' force, but the royal family's.

Tat-tat-tat!

Diego descended the stairs at a brisk pace.

4th floor, 3rd floor, 2nd floor...... and just as he reached the 1st floor.

—Kwang!

Suddenly, the front door of the hideout was smashed to pieces. Through the broken door, knights and soldiers poured in. The helmet of the first knight to enter had three feathers attached, and his sword and armor were messily stained with blood.

That blood was clearly ‘fresh’. Meaning it had been shed just a moment ago.

The moment he saw it, Diego was filled with bewilderment, shock, and incomprehension all at once.

‘......Three feathers means the 3rd Knight Order? Those bastards are neither the Vaimal Ducal Faction nor the Panshin Ducal Faction. Why are they here? And that blood...... could it be they killed the subordinates on guard duty?’

Diego hadn't heard any screams or shouts of fighting on his way down to the 1st floor. Yet, the knights' swords and armor were stained with blood.

That meant the knights had mercilessly cut down his subordinates who were on guard duty. Without asking a single question.

Diego instantly realized that his uneasy intuition had been right.

‘F-fucked. I don't know why the 3rd Knight Order suddenly stormed in, but I'm really fucked!’

Diego, who was about to descend the stairs to the 1st-floor entrance, immediately turned around and scrambled back up to the 2nd floor. At the end of the 2nd-floor corridor was a secret passage known only to the executives, and he intended to escape outside the royal capital through there.

However, Diego’s fleeing back was caught by the eyes of a knight who had stormed the hideout.

“Hey, get that bastard!!”

At the knight's shout, the soldiers all chased after Diego. Without even looking back at the soldiers chasing him, Diego bolted.

“Shit...... Shit! Why the hell are they doing this all of a sudden!!”

Diego, who was running while cursing violently.

He hadn't become the leader of the thugs for nothing; his physical abilities were quite outstanding. So, he reached the end of the 2nd-floor corridor where the secret passage was located without being caught by the pursuing soldiers.

—There he is!

—It's Diego! We have to get that bastard no matter what!

—Hey! Stop right there, you bastard!

—What are you doing! Aren't you going to run?!

—Get him!!

‘You think I’ll stop just because you tell me to...... those sons of bitches!’

He could hear the soldiers' shouts from far down the corridor telling him to stop, but there was no way Diego would.

Having reached the secret passage, Diego immediately threw the expensive sculpture that decorated the end of the 2nd-floor corridor to the floor, shattering it.

Crash—!

It was a pricey decoration worth over 10 gold, but it had no meaning now. What was important to him now was only the square red button hidden behind that decoration.

When he pressed the red button, a wall made of magic disappeared, revealing a dark passage.

Vwoooom—.

This secret passage, which had not been opened for a long time, was a passage Diego had invested a huge amount of money to create as soon as he became the leader of the thugs.

“Heok…… heok……!”

Forgetting even to close the secret passage door to prevent the soldiers from following, Diego ran through the dark passage, panting for breath.

“Shit, shit!”

Diego kept cursing, but he began to feel a little relieved. The end of this passage led outside the walls of the royal capital, so if he could just get to the end of the passage, he would be safe for the time being.

‘Once I get out of the royal capital, I’ll flee to the mountains. Then, whether I join a band of thieves or enter another city, I'll be safe for now!’

He hadn't managed to grab a single coin as he fled in such a hurry, but if he sold the luxurious accessories he was wearing, like his earrings and rings, he would be able to raise the money needed to escape.

‘And after I escape...... I don't know which noble bastard sent those knights, but I'll kill him for sure! Son of a bitch!’

Diego still thought it was the nobles who had sent the army. It couldn't be helped.

There was no way the fallen royal family would have the capacity to mobilize an army.

Running at full speed, Diego soon reached the end of the secret passage. He could feel the musty air of the passage gradually clearing.

‘I'm here! I'm saved!’

Without a care for what happened to his subordinates, and thinking only of his own safety, there was a moment when he was filled with hope. But it was only for a fleeting moment; as soon as he emerged from the passage, the sight of knights and soldiers made his selfish hope disappear like a bubble.

“H-how are you here......? How did you know the end of this passage......?”

As Diego asked blankly to no one in particular, one of the knights leading the waiting soldiers stepped forward and answered.

“Because I made this passage.”

“You made this passage? Ah, no, what do you mean you made it, sir? Why would a knight make a lowly path for someone like... like me... haha...?”

As Diego babbled in a servile and bewildered voice, the knight who had stepped forward took off his helmet to show his face.

Seeing the man’s face, Diego’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You, you...... Ray? Are you Ray?”

“You still remember my face, I see.”

“R-Ray, how did you become a knight...... sir?”

“How did I become a knight? By distinguishing myself on the battlefield, of course.”

“Distinguishing yourself......?”

“While you were wiping the nobles' asses and wagging your tail at those bastards playing thug, I went to the battlefield for this kingdom. And I caught the eye of Commander Jereuth and became a knight.”

“J-Jereuth, you mean that commoner-born knight commander?”

“Yes. The Commander said he had met you, don't you remember? You should have met him when he came to inspect the market with His Highness Leonardo.”

Diego couldn't understand a word Ray was saying.

‘......The commander of the 3rd Knight Order has met me? And what's this about the Crown Prince? A market inspection? When on earth?’

Several questions arose. But Diego quickly judged that solving such useless questions was not his priority right now.

‘In any case, it's a huge relief that it's Ray blocking this passage. We were on pretty good terms, after all...... If I talk to him nicely, he might let me go.’

Ray was a former back-alley assassin. His main clients were people who had been wronged, and Ray would carry out revenge on their behalf.

It was the same before the war with the demons, but even after the war, the public security in the Plank Kingdom was terrible, so there were quite a few back-alley assassins like Ray.

Since the law didn't protect the people, people armed themselves or hired the strong to protect themselves.

Unlike Ray, who had been famous since the past, Diego was a request deliverer who received and passed on requests to the back-alley assassins—a so-called ‘errand boy’.

Diego had done his best to flatter Ray, who was one of the top assassins in the back alleys.

Just like he had wagged his tail at the nobles after becoming a thug.

‘Although I haven't seen Ray since he was dragged off to war...... if I appeal to our connection from back then, it'll work out somehow! We really weren't on bad terms!’

Diego immediately knelt before Ray and pleaded with tears.

“R-Ray! Please save me! We-we were comrades! I don't know why you've come to capture me, but I—!”

“The reason I've come to capture you is because you're a thug. If I must give you a reason.”

“C-came to capture me because I'm a thug? Did one of the nobles order you to capture me?”

“A noble...... Ah, you wouldn't know.”

“Wouldn't know? What?”

“All the nobles you know are dead. Strictly speaking, most, if not all of them.”

“……?”

Most of the nobles are dead? Those nobles who lived as if there was nothing in the world to fear?

To Diego, it was a completely outlandish statement.

“The one who purged the nobles was His Highness, Crown Prince Leonardo. And he has declared a ‘war on crime’. A war against thugs and wicked merchants like you.”

“P-purge? And a war on crime......?”

“Yes.”

“W-why?! Of course, I lived a bit of a bad life, but...... that was because the nobles made me, I couldn't help it! But to send knights and soldiers for that is ridiculous! In the first place, I'm a commoner of the Plank Kingdom! To wage war against your own kingdom's commoner, is the Crown Prince insane?!”

“…….”

“Rather, as a thug, I managed the lawless royal capital and controlled the people, which is how people were able to live at least like this! If I hadn't stepped up, you, who were a back-alley assassin, should know well what this royal capital would have been like! It would have been an even bigger mess! Shouldn't I be rewarded, not punished, for preventing that mess?! In place of the K-King, who did nothing, I maintained the discipline of the royal capital! I did!”

Diego did his best to defend himself.

To prove his worth. To try to turn his crimes into achievements.

And he appealed to his personal connection with Ray.

If Ray hadn't heard Leonardo's speech, his heart might have been swayed by Diego's plea.

Diego's words were terrible sophistry, but within that sophistry, there was a mouse-tail's worth of reason and logic. Reasons and logic like ‘I couldn’t help it because the nobles made me do it,’ or ‘If I hadn’t managed the lawless royal capital, it would have been a bigger mess.’

In fact, to some extent, to a very ‘small extent’, those words were true.

Above all, the statement ‘it is not right to wage war against a commoner of the kingdom’ would have made Ray hesitate.

But Ray, who had heard Leonardo's speech, was not swayed.

“You couldn't help it because the nobles made you...... Did the nobles hold a sword to your throat and threaten you? Saying they would kill you if you didn't act like a thug?”

“Th-that's not it, but—.”

“If they didn't threaten to kill you, did they say they would cut off your wrist if you didn't follow their orders? Like you did to people?”

“…….”

“Let me change the question. You said you managed the lawless royal capital, right? But did the lives of the people in the royal capital get even a little bit better because of that?”

“That......”

Diego couldn't answer. Not only did he have nothing to say, but he also knew that if he gave the wrong answer, he would immediately pay a terrible price.

“And one more thing. You said it was insane for His Highness the Crown Prince to attack you, a ‘commoner of the kingdom,’ right?”

“Y-yes! You admit that too, don't you?!”

“I admit that. But......”

Ray trailed off and took another step closer to Diego. Then, he spoke clearly into his ear.

“You are no longer a commoner of this kingdom. You are trash who has gnawed away at the future of the kingdom as much as the purged nobles. His Highness Leonardo, whose word is law, has decided that you are not a person of this kingdom.”

“…….”

“My mission was to arrest or execute insects like you who escape through this secret passage. Still, for the sake of our past connection, I will give you a choice. Will you die here by my hand, or be arrested?”

Throughout his speech, Ray's voice was extremely solemn. There seemed to be no room for persuasion.

Since there was no room for persuasion, Diego ultimately had no choice but to take a desperate measure. After all, he was the leader of the thugs; he couldn't just be taken down without putting up any resistance.

“You, you son of a b—!”

Diego spat out a harsh curse and tried to throw a punch at Ray's face.

But.

Swish—!

Before Diego could even get up, Ray drew his sword from its scabbard and cut Diego down.

He had drawn his sword faster than Diego could get up from his position.

Fortunately, perhaps, what Ray cut was not Diego's neck. It was his wrist.

Diego clutches his arm and screams.

“Ugh, uwaaaaaaak! M-my arm!!”

“I told you. While you were playing thug in the royal capital and wiping the nobles' asses, I was killing demons on the battlefield. Did you think you could do anything to someone like me? Know your place.”

“Guwaaaaaak!!”

“You don't know what I and the knights had to go through to protect this kingdom from the demons. Our Plank Kingdom's forces were small, so we had to fight more fiercely and horribly than the armies of the great powers in the allied forces of humanity. We had to prove that our kingdom was worthy of being part of the human alliance.”

“Gyaaaaaaaaak!!!”

“If we hadn't, our kingdom would have already been destroyed by the demons.”

Glaring at Diego, who was writhing on the ground clutching his arm, Ray spoke to his soldiers.

“Stop the bleeding so he doesn't die. If he keeps screaming and gets too loud, shut him up.”

“Yes, sir!”

The soldiers approached Diego with ropes. His mission completed, Ray cast his gaze beyond the walls of the royal capital.

‘I don't think I've lived a righteous life either. To be honest, there probably aren't many who have lived a dirtier life than me. I made money off people's lives, after all. But...... I, too, want to atone for the wrongs I've committed, just as he said. Starting from now.’

The ‘he’ Ray was thinking of was Leonardo.

The Crown Prince who, at only twelve years old, said he had lived his life wrongly until now and wanted to be forgiven for his own mistakes.

The ‘war on crime’ that had begun in the early dawn was slowly drawing to a close.

Although thugs were still secretly active in cities other than the royal capital, it was clear that they too would be dealt with without much difficulty.

‘After that, His Highness will bring prosperity to this kingdom. Surely.’

So Ray thought.