The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

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Chapter 508: I Will See It to the End. (1)

Berhem wore a momentarily dazed expression. How could a countryside bumpkin know the royal family’s secrets?

“W-How do you know about the Shadow Knight Group?”

“I should be the one asking questions.”

“……”

Berhem could not endure this humiliation. But what could he do? His life was completely in that guy’s hands.

As soon as the godforsaken priest of the Salvation Society heard about Count Penris arriving in the capital, he fled without a second thought. With the Royal Knight Commander defeated, there was no one left to protect Berhem.

Ghislaine also checked for Placus and did not bother to ask further. It was obvious; she must have judged that the king was no longer useful and ran away.

After a moment’s hesitation, Berhem slowly spoke.

“Have you heard from Marquis Branford? I also don’t know much. Just that I am another ‘king’ of this country……”

“What? A king?”

“Y-Yes. It’s not that I rule the kingdom, but I knew I could wield powers like a king.”

“Please elaborate a bit more.”

“It’s a royal secret…”

“Then just die.”

As Ghislaine drew her sword, Berhem shouted in panic.

“I’m one of the three families that founded this kingdom!”

“Hm……”

“The founding king, the Shadow Knight Commander’s family, and Duke Delphine founded this kingdom together! The three families agreed to share the same powers!”

Berhem continued while sneaking glances at Ghislaine.

“That’s why the Duke’s status is only granted to the Delphine family within this kingdom. And the duke had the authority to overturn the royal family if needed!”

“Hmm……”

Ghislaine looked bewildered.

Normally, even a privy councilor doesn’t forgive treason. But to think that a duke had the right to overturn the royal family means he truly had power akin to that of a king.

“Then what about the Shadow Knight Group? Why don’t they hold titles?”

“They chose to hide their identities. They have become the rulers of this kingdom’s nights.”

“Why did the founding king give away such authority?”

“I don’t know. I can only guess it was an unavoidable choice. I’ve heard that the political situation was quite chaotic at that time. The three powerful families had to unite.”

“Is there no record of this? I thought the royal family valued such things highly?”

“There’s nothing, absolutely nothing. It is said that people deliberately erased all records from that time.”

After the fall of the Ancient Empire, countless factions reportedly scrambled for power. That too was just a tale passed down through oral tradition.

The common reasoning was that documents were lost during the chaos of war. It had not been long since history was properly recorded.

However, according to Berhem, it wasn’t that the documents were lost in war, but that the high-ranking officials of that time ‘deliberately’ erased them. While curious about the reasons, it seemed Berhem didn’t know either.

“The three families shared the same powers… How did things end up like this?”

“The royal family wanted to monopolize power by any means. After all, the representative of the three families was the royal family. They weakened their power over hundreds of years.”

“It seems they were somewhat successful.”

“I thought so too. But… the Shadow Knight Group had no interest in power. They only focused on protecting the royal family.”

“Hm.”

“The Duke’s family was the same. They didn’t engage in external activities and only focused on governing the south.”

In short, only the royal family tried to eliminate them. They merely succeeded in weakening them without actually getting rid of them.

With a trembling voice, Berhem continued.

“That’s all of it. This tale is merely something passed down quietly to the royal family. I don’t even know if it’s true or not, as there are no proper records.”

“Hmm… So what about this sacred relic?”

“T-That… It has been passed down since the founding king. They said it was a treasure to protect the royal family, but until now, I didn’t know it held divine power.”

“Is that all? From your expression, it looks like you’re hiding something.”

Ghislaine pressed the sword against Berhem’s neck with a chilling gaze. She seemed to suspect he knew more.

Berhem hesitated and then tightly shut his eyes. He had to answer the questions to survive.

“It’s the necklace of the saint.”

“A saint? Which saint?”

It was said to be something from the time of the founding king. There seemed to have been someone with the title of saint like Parniel back then.

Berhem slowly began to explain about the sacred relic.

“That necklace… belongs to the one called ‘the first saint.’ A saint who monopolized the love of all goddesses.”

“A saint? Wasn’t the founding king a man? Why is the saint’s necklace in the royal family?”

Berhem struggled to speak as Ghislaine pressed for more.

“The founding king… was said to be the saint’s servant.”

“…A servant?”

“Y-Yes. He attended to the saint…”

“That’s a royal secret!”

At Berhem’s words, even the attendants listening on the side were shocked. Were the noble bloodlines of this kingdom descendants of a servant?!

Ghislaine chuckled.

“This is surprising. How could a mere servant establish a nation? He must have been no ordinary servant.”

“N-No, it’s not a conclusively verified story! It’s just a myth passed down!”

“It’s usually like that, but if it’s a story only passed down secretly in the royal family, it’s different. Either way, why has the royal family kept this? They didn’t even know its power.”

“I don’t know, I really don’t. I was only told to keep it secret and take care of it. It’s supposed to be something very important. That’s why the royal family has created numerous myths to hide it.”

“Yet, you tried to pass it to the Duke’s family?”

“W-Well, of course! I thought it was just an ordinary necklace. I believed it only had symbolic significance.”

“Hm…”

“I thought since the Shadow Knight Group was gone, and if I just got rid of the Duke’s family, everything would end. So I thought there was no need to cling to something from the past.”

Ghislaine nodded. If he merely thought of it as an old object, it was understandable. Given he was trying to pass it along to the Duke’s family, it was clear the king didn’t know the full details.

Still, from the story heard from the king, a few assumptions could be made.

‘It certainly seems this sacred relic holds secrets. That’s why the Duke’s family is after it, and the Shadow Knight Group wanted to protect this necklace, right?’

For a long time, the royal family had kept secrets about the sacred relic. The remaining two families probably didn’t know of its whereabouts.

The Duke’s family wanted the sacred relic, while the Shadow Knight Group aimed to protect it. It appeared those three families had maintained a balance of power for so long.

As the founding king had anticipated, merely hiding the sacred relic allowed the royal family to stay intact.

Except for this foolish king, the duke and the commander of the Shadow Knight Group had clearly known the purpose of this sacred relic.

“What an interesting tale. Don’t you know anything more about the Shadow Knight Group? Why did they disappear?”

Actually, he roughly knew from Belinda, the deputy commander Meltir had teamed up with the Salvation Society for their ambush.

But he wanted to hear what the king thought. After all, it was about his mother.

Berhem hesitated again before responding.

“I… I allowed it to be destroyed.”

“What?”

“How can there be two suns under the heavens! My ancestors failed, but I will succeed!”

“What did you do?”

“The deputy commander, Meltir secretly suggested to me that he would kill the commander of the knight order. He said the Duke’s family members would help him. So…”

“So?”

“I permitted it and revealed the commander’s hidden location. It was a place only the king knew.”

“Ha.”

“People sent by the Duke’s family stealthily went there because the deputy commander misled them with information. They were going to wipe out the Duke’s family, but I was too weak…”

Berhem spoke proudly, but the more Ghislaine listened, the more dizzy she felt.

“……Wow, you told them to eliminate the very one keeping you safe? With outside forces, no less?”

“Profit! How could I just let someone with powers like the king be? Meltir swore loyalty to me!”

Ghislaine glanced back slightly. An immense killing intent was palpable.

Belinda, with tears welling in her eyes, had dozens of daggers floating in the air.

“So… you played a decisive role in taking out the commander?”

Not even Belinda knew about Anette’s hidden hideout. Neither did the deputy commander Meltir. That secret was only conveyed to the king by uniting families together.

If anything happened to the royal family, everyone was supposed to retreat here to find the Shadow Knight Commander.

Yet, Berhem was the one who leaked that secret!

“I didn’t even know that…”

Belinda thought Anette was ambushed elsewhere. No matter how many superhumans came, it was strange she, a formidable individual, had been caught.

In a hidden location, Anette probably felt somewhat at ease. Under those circumstances, being ambushed by numerous superhumans would have led to severe injuries.

Yet, she left without killing Berhem. She suppressed her desire for revenge to fulfill her responsibilities.

She must have known that Berhem had leaked the information.

How sad and painful must that betrayal have been? Belinda couldn’t even dare to imagine.

“You son of a bitch!”

Swoosh!

Belinda’s dagger shot out, embedding itself all over Berhem’s body. Berhem flew against the wall and got stuck there.

“Guah!”

With arms and legs pierced by knives, Berhem screamed.

“Why, why are you doing this! I’ve told you everything you wanted to know!”

Ghislaine shrugged her shoulders as she replied.

“This person is the last surviving member of the Shadow Knight Group.”

“W-What? Surely, all the members of the Shadow Knight Group must be dead!”

While Anette was distracted, the Shadow Knight Group’s quarters were simultaneously attacked. They had been strong, so they managed to hold out for a while, but they could not escape complete annihilation.

Only Belinda, a mere apprentice, survived just before dying when Anette arrived.

“P-Please spare me! I didn’t kill anyone myself! It was Meltir and the Duke’s family who committed the atrocity!”

“If you hadn’t mentioned the commander’s hideout, those bastards wouldn’t have easily moved.”

“Ugggh… How could the king do this! The members of the Shadow Knight Group should owe their loyalty to me! Wasn’t that our agreement?”

Berhem protested vehemently. Why did he have to suffer such a fate for crimes he didn’t commit?

He was the king of this nation, a father. It was unbearably painful to be oppressed by such foolish and trivial people.

But he couldn’t just die like this. To survive, he teamed up with the Salvation Society. He had to survive by any means necessary.

Bleeding profusely from his hands and feet, Berhem pleaded.

“Please, please free me! I’ll forgive the rebellion! I’ll just heal and live quietly from now on.”

Ghislaine shook her head as she raised her sword.

“That’s not possible. You have to die for everything to be clean.”

In truth, even a powerless king posed no future threat by sparing him. He could easily be locked up in some tower.

However, if he lived, many people would be inconvenienced.

Seeing the bloodstained sword in Ghislaine’s hand, Berhem turned pale and shouted.

“Y-You said you’d spare me! Didn’t you hear everything I said?”

“I never said I would spare you if you talked. I was just curious.”

“……Y-You! Argh!”

Berhem tried to reach out, but a dagger was firmly embedded in his arm, preventing any movement. He only felt increased pain.

Gasping for breath, he glared at Ghislaine with bloodshot eyes.

“Grr… I’ve made a mistake. If only the commander of the Shadow Knight Group were alive… You bastards would never have dared to come here.”

“……Hmm.”

Ghislaine scratched her chin. It was a bit awkward to reply now.

“Would you have dared to rise in rebellion if Marquis Branford were here?”

That was a valid point. They were supposed to fight the Duke’s family, and he was trying to avoid turning the entire kingdom against him.

But what good was regret now? The king himself had pushed all those barriers away.

“Is your last will over?”

As Ghislaine prepared to behead him without a word, Belinda shouted.

“Your mother is Lady Anette!”

Berhem, on the brink of death, turned to Belinda with a dazed expression.

“What?”

“Lady Anette is the wife of Marquis Perdium!”

“W-Wha… What?”

“Lady Anette ultimately passed away due to injuries received from you. However, she met Marquis Perdium and left behind you and the young lady. So this is the revenge of Lady Anette against you! Never forget it, even in death.”

Belinda had no intention of letting Berhem go. She wanted him to realize fully what he had done.

Indeed, Berhem stared blankly at Ghislaine while mumbling.

“Y-You… are the son of the Shadow Knight Commander? That woman was alive?”

“Yes. In a way, you could say it was thanks to you that I was born.”

“Ugh, ugh… Aaaaah!”

Berhem screamed, shedding blood tears.

He couldn’t believe it. In the end, wasn’t it the result of the actions he and the Duke’s family had taken long ago that blocked his path?

Her child had grown and was now blocking the Duke’s family and sweeping through the royal family. Her husband was heading to the capital to become the new king.

How could such a cruel fate exist?

He hadn’t known, and he had proudly boasted that he had killed your mother.

“Ahhh! That woman continues to block my way until the very end!”

Perhaps he should have left her alone. If he had, he might have been able to enjoy a long life while the royal family was still protected.

…No, in fact, he should have ensured she was dead back then. Even if he had to search the entire kingdom for her.

At that time, Berhem hadn’t found Anette’s body. He was filled with dread and bolstered the Royal Knight Order, feeding the Dragon Heart to the knight commander Count Palantz.

It wasn’t until a decade later that he thought Anette was dead and finally relaxed. Of course, afterward, Marquis Branford seized power, and he had to suffer from inferiority once more.

But that shouldn’t have been the case. He shouldn’t have just stopped at bolstering the knight order, but rather sent the strengthened knights to ensure that Anette was captured and killed.

Berhem could only scream in regret and despair mixed with anger. Was it the side effects of the treatment? Now blood was leaking from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

Ghislaine spoke coldly to Berhem.

“The dynasty of old ends today. A new dynasty will rise now.”

“Shut up! You fool…!”

Swish!

Before Berhem could finish his words, Ghislaine’s sword moved. Berhem’s head cleanly severed from his body.

His face only carried resentment and fury.

As Ghislaine wiped blood from her sword, she muttered.

“Then why poke a stick at someone who’s just minding their own business?”

Both the Duke’s family and the king. Why stir up trouble with someone who could get away with anything, causing this mess?

Still, she felt a bit of relief. She was not entirely satisfied, but had learned a little more about the sacred relic. She could find out the rest while wiping out the Salvation Society.

In essence, she had also taken revenge for her mother (again?), and that part pleased her quite a bit.

Soon, the king’s head hung on display for all to see in front of the castle. People cheered upon witnessing it.

“Wow!”

“The mad king is dead!”

“We are liberated!”

The capital was engulfed in a festival-like atmosphere for several days.

Ghislaine confiscated the food that the nobles had embezzled and distributed it generously. People could finally eat and rest without worries.

And finally, when the Perdium Army arrived in the capital.

Zvalter could only be astonished at the scene laid out before him.

Countless people flooded out from the capital, all kneeling before him and calling out in unison.

“Please become our king!”