The Failure Marquis Is A Genius [EN]: Chapter 173

20. Bloodline: The Persuaded Scoundrel

Blood is thicker than water. Is it true that family members eventually recognize each other? It’s hard to say. In any case, Pahel and Gazel shared a powerful connection without much conversation.

After that, the atmosphere softened considerably. Gazel showed Pahel favor, and Pahel respected Gazel in return. The Desert King listened to Pahel’s story with a much more serious attitude than before.

“The Emperor played his cards well. It’s impressive that you secured an opportunity from such an Emperor. It means your influence was significant enough for him to stake the fate of the nation.”

“It was merely a statement secured with His Highness’s support as collateral. Duke James is the real power in the Empire, and his forces are vast.”

The Desert King bringing his troops here was a major factor that ignited the Emperor’s emotions.

Let’s assume the Desert Kingdom’s army had stayed in their own country.

Even if the Emperor drew his sword against Duke James and asked the Desert King for help, it would have taken ages for them to arrive.

The power struggle between the two would have been decided long before that, probably ending with the Emperor’s defeat more than seventy percent of the time.

The belated appearance of troops would be of no help. By then, the Emperor’s head would be decorating the gallows.

But the situation is different now.

Thanks to Empress Sandy, the Desert King led his troops to the heart of the Empire.

A powerful force that can be wielded immediately, even if it’s a foreign army. The Emperor’s aim was to use this to reverse the seesaw that had tilted towards James.

The Desert King Gazel, as the commander-in-chief of a large army, immediately understood the situation. However, he maintained a skeptical attitude towards supporting Pahel.

“All the warriors of the desert are my brothers. They are grateful fellows who came all this way out of loyalty. I have no intention of sacrificing my precious brothers as chess pieces for the Empire’s pigs.”

Gazel, in turn, proposed to Pahel: wouldn’t he return to the Desert Kingdom?

The Desert Kingdom prioritizes strength over bloodline. Although my help was involved, Pahel broke through an army of 100,000. Gazel explained that with that kind of power, he was qualified to aim for succession.

However, Pahel is also a tough guy who was born in the back alleys of the Empire and survived to this point.

He is already the vice-master of the Black Night, the best information guild on the continent, and the heir to Sloth [a powerful and influential figure or organization].

All his connections and roots originate from the Empire, so it was unreasonable to go to the distant desert, trusting only one uncle he met for the first time today.

Gazel, who didn’t want to get caught up in the Empire’s power struggle, and Pahel, who had to survive by getting him on his side, held differing views from opposing positions, leading to only stagnant conversations.

The spark that flared up when Pahel’s identity was confirmed lost its light and faded.

At this rate, the negotiation will fail. I have no choice. I have no choice but to step forward again and pour oil on the fire.

“Gazel, are you one of the Seven Stars [legendary heroes or powerful figures]?”

When I, who had been taking a step back and only listening to Pahel and Gazel’s story, intervened, attention was focused.

“You’re stating the obvious. I participated in the final battle. I saw the scene of Kyle the Hero fighting the Demon King Baal up close.”

“What do you think about the Twilight Church [a secretive and malevolent organization]?”

“Are you talking about the pseudo-religion created by the remnants after Baal was sealed? We should deal with them as soon as we spot them.”

“That’s good. I happen to know a Twilight Church member. Please lend me your strength to kill him.”

The Desert King is not a fool. He understood the story about the Twilight Church that I brought up without context. Of course, he looked surprised.

“Are you saying that Duke James is a member of the Twilight Church?”

“He’s no ordinary Twilight Church member. He’s one of the Seven Cardinal Sins, called Pride.”

My relationship with Pride has continued since I was possessed by Zion Like.

Raul, the necromancer I happened to meet when I stood out in the family and received my first mission from Marquis Lloyd, was Pride’s subordinate.

The unpardonable guy who turned innocent villagers into ghouls, made them eat their families, and pieced together corpses to create an unidentified chimera.

Not only that.

When I was invited by Princess Rebecca to participate in the selection of a royal consort.

After overcoming all kinds of checks from the Hilton family and even defeating the paladin Johann to become the royal consort, Pride congratulated me by sending his disciple Urka.

The duel with Urka was dirty. I still remember it. The lich’s body, with only bones left that kept regenerating no matter how many times I cut it.

The lich, who claimed that his life vessel was with his master, Duke James, maintained a confident attitude throughout.

He kept bragging about immortality, so I tortured him continuously until he took his own life.

As a result, I was able to prevent Pride’s ambition to hold the Elden Kingdom in his hands by using the Hilton family as puppets, but I faced the misfortune of becoming Pride’s target.

As soon as I finished dealing with the Elden Kingdom, Sloth came to kill me himself, and Pride’s influence must have played a role to some extent.

Therefore, I disguised myself as the adventurer Khan and built up my strength in the shadows for a long time.

As a result, I became a Sword Master and no longer needed to hide my identity, but that didn’t mean that my bad relationship with Pride was over.

Rather, by getting involved in the assassination attempt on Empress Sandy, I was once again in a confrontational position with Pride.

There is one unexpected thing here.

Pride and I have never met face to face.

In fact, we are strangers who have been giving each other big middle fingers. Like online trolls who would fight on sight if they met, my inner intimacy and hatred have long since pierced the ceiling.

I don’t know about Pride, but I’m sure he feels the same way about me.

I kindly explained these behind-the-scenes stories to the Desert King Gazel.

The story related to Pride shows that I am not a meddling busybody who interferes in other people’s national affairs, and at the same time, it proves that Duke James and the Seven Cardinal Sins, Pride, are the same person.

“Did you say Lloyd Count?”

“That’s right.”

“If what you say is true, then as one of the Seven Stars, I must deal with Duke James.”

“Perhaps now, with the Emperor rising up, is the only opportunity.”

I showed all my hidden cards.

The decision is up to the Desert King.

The Desert King looked deeply troubled. From now on, it’s a matter of trust and intuition. I might have colluded with the Emperor and spouted nonsense.

Of course, my story is hard to make up even if I tried. Still, there’s always a chance in a million. Gazel, who carries hundreds of thousands of lives on his shoulders, had to be careful.

“If you’re worried, remember the feeling you had when you first saw Pahel. What did you feel as soon as you saw Pahel?”

“I was sure he was my blood relative. It’s hard to explain.”

“That’s it. How did you feel when you heard my story? Follow the first thought that sprang up like a spring, the instinct and intuition of the moment.”

I took Gazel’s bottle and poured it into my mouth. More than half of the strong liquor that remained quickly seeped into his stomach. I don’t know what kind of body he has, but even after drinking the liquor, Gazel’s eyes became clearer.

Clang!

Gazel, who threw the empty bottle on the floor, got up. On his turned back, angry muscles twitched.

“There is a famous saying in the Vernus Kingdom. 『Entrust yourself to the sandstorm. The god of the desert will guide you to the oasis.』”

“That’s a great saying.”

“I never dreamed that the desert sandstorm would blow all the way to the distant Empire.”

“It will be quite a rough and harsh wind. Are you really okay with that?”

“If the end of the journey is an oasis, then I and the warriors of the desert will be able to endure it.”

Gazel made a decision.

It was the moment when the protection of the desert was with us.

* * *

“Umm… a little lower than there… no, a little higher… that’s it! There!”

Melbus Great Plains.

The Emperor’s camp.

In a vast military tent, a man was getting a massage, covering only his vital parts.

The room was filled with the scent of raspberries. The floral scent was so strong that it stung the nose and made the mind dizzy.

Two alluring beauties hovered around the man, constantly caressing his body like bees seeking flowers. The shadows cast by the lamplight vividly depicted their seductive figures.

‘This is why I can’t let go of power.’

That was the thought of Crown Prince Alex, who was receiving the massage.

Since he was young, his mother had said. If you don’t have ambition, you’re not a man. Alex agreed with that opinion.

Although he was the second son, he never gave up the throne. He nonchalantly played the role of an unmotivated younger brother under the first son, Reynold. But inside, he was sharpening his sword.

Anyway, he was a half-brother with a different mother. Even if he was a full-blooded brother, Alex would have killed Reynold.

Fortunately, his brother Reynold was caught up in the absurd idealism of family affection.

Family affection in the Imperial Family?

Even a stray dog would laugh.

A beast cub kills its siblings as soon as it is born to take its mother’s milk. The Imperial Family is no different. It’s the fault of the fool who got caught.

When he lured Reynold, the ‘former’ Crown Prince, to the hunting grounds and killed him, it was truly exhilarating. The expression stained with betrayal stimulated his peripheral nerves every time he remembered it.

Of course, it wasn’t easy. He couldn’t do it alone, so he borrowed the power of the Twilight Church.

He only received help after offering his life vessel to the Twilight Church leader, but anyway, he rose to the position of Crown Prince because of it.

Of course, he was worried, but it was a hundred times better to become the master of the Empire even if his life was held hostage than to live as a perpetual runner-up, and he had no regrets.

However, he planned to wipe out the Black Night, the thief guild that was directly involved in Reynold’s assassination and illegally occupied the back alleys of the Empire, no matter what happened after he became Emperor.

Clang, clang, clang.

Alex frowned at the unpleasant metallic sound.

A giant armored knight wearing full plate armor entered as the tent opened.

The knight did not raise his visor even indoors. Is that why? From a distance, it looked like a tin can was moving on its own.

The stuffy air turned cold at the same time as the knight appeared. The two maids next to him were terrified and their lips turned blue.

“Your Highness, the Emperor is calling for you.”

A voice that sounded like scraping iron.

Normally, there would be no reason to be guarded by such a gloomy guy, but there was an unavoidable reason for this.

Recently, the knight who was guarding him was easily defeated by a foreign brat named Henon who accompanied Old Man Orneo.

He kept him by his side because he was an Imperial Knight, but he was nothing more than a parasite. Enraged, he tried to replace all the Imperial Knights. The terrified knights all stepped forward and stopped him.

At that time, he received a call from Pride, who had recommended Alex for the position of Greed [one of the Seven Cardinal Sins]. How about using the knight he sent as a guard?

The suspicious Alex decided to accept only one for now. But what was this? That one person defeated all of his bodyguards. Even in a multi-to-one fight, not a one-on-one.

After that, the knights guarding Alex were replaced by a group of knights sent by Greed.

They always wrapped their bodies up, causing fear, but Alex liked this point.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.”

“Wait a minute.”

Alex, who changed his clothes, headed to the Emperor’s tent. People parted like waves along the path he walked. They also sent fearful glances at the following armored knight.

The sweetness of power was felt. I’m glad I became the Crown Prince. He met the Emperor with a triumphant heart.

“I greet Your Majesty.”

“Yes.”

The Emperor’s gaze turned to the armored knight behind Alex.

“Ah, that knight cannot take off his helmet due to personal reasons. I hope Your Majesty will understand.”

“What?”

Sir Hans, the commander of the Knights, who was listening next to him, stepped forward in anger, but the Emperor raised his hand to stop him.

“It’s okay. It can happen.”

“Your grace is boundless.”

Alex predicted why the Emperor had called him.

He expected to be ordered to lead the vanguard in the all-out war with the Desert Kingdom.

That’s what he wanted.

He hadn’t shown any particular achievements since becoming the Crown Prince. He wanted to take this opportunity to defeat the barbarians of the desert and prove his qualifications.

He didn’t need to worry about force.

With the group of unidentified knights sent by Pride, the great executive of the Twilight Church and the pillar of the Empire, Duke James, he could wipe out the barbarians like bugs.

A completely irrelevant question came to Alex, who was dreaming of a rosy future.

“Alex, I want to talk a little about Reynold today.”

Did the old man take the wrong medicine? Why is he like this today?

From the name Reynold, a sense of rejection rose. It was a topic that was nothing more than his weakness.

But Alex has been living in the Imperial Palace for twenty years now. Maintaining a calm expression, he naturally made a sad expression.

“My brother was a wise man. His virtuous nature and upright spirit were a model for everyone. If he hadn’t suffered an unexpected accident in the hunting grounds, he would have become a wise ruler who would lead the Empire’s brilliance.”

A canned model answer. I wonder if the Emperor will like this. He glanced up and looked for a reaction.

The Emperor had been expressionless all along. He couldn’t guess his inner thoughts at all.

‘Why are you suddenly bringing up the story of a dead person?’

The Emperor asked Alex, who was grumbling inwardly, once again.

“Alex, is it really true that Reynold died in an accident?”

“I don’t know why you’re saying that, but my brother was chased by a monster and fell off a cliff with his horse. I saw it clearly with my own two eyes.”

“Really?”

“I swear it’s true. Didn’t I bring the head of the monster that harmed my brother? All the court doctors judged that it was a fall from a fall.”

“…I see.”

The Emperor turned around.

At the same time, the Imperial Knights, including Hans, surrounded Alex in a circle.

Alex, who realized that something was going strangely, stepped back slightly.

“Your Majesty, I am somewhat confused right now.”

“There’s nothing to be confused about. Alex von Aulschmantz Calon, I strip you of the Calon surname given to you. Also, I abolish the position of Crown Prince, so pay the price for killing former Crown Prince Reynold.”