Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 63

63.

“Your Highness!”

Marquis Mike shook his head in disbelief.

“The knights who were tracking the bandit group are all dead. Thanks to their sacrifice, we were able to notice the existence of the Orc Legion… and the Western Allied Forces were formed. I wish Gale were alive too, but…”

I cut off Marquis Mike’s slightly agitated voice midway.

“Gale is alive, Marquis.”

I said calmly.

“It’s not a baseless conviction. It’s true that it’s a reckless operation, but it’s also a necessary one. The Orc King is just a subordinate.”

“Your Highness.”

Marquis Mike’s voice trembled.

I tried not to show my emotions and attempted to explain objectively.

“An unknown, immense evil seed is using the Orcs to cast a dark shadow over the Empire. The evil seed, which has not yet gained power, will try to absorb Gale’s power.”

“Your Highness, what on earth…”

At this point, I gave Marquis Mike a clue that could serve as evidence.

“What was the condition of the knights’ bodies who were dispatched to eliminate the bandit group?”

Marquis Mike’s eyes narrowed.

The lords of the West only considered the fact that the knights had died at the hands of the Orcs as important.

The condition of the bodies was also reported to the central government only as a formality.

‘Karen recognized the existence of Goran by reporting the condition of the bodies killed by the Orcs. She also found the treasured sword while searching the Dark Forest.’

Since I don’t know the exact location, I wasn’t very interested in the treasure.

It would be nice to get it, but Gale was more important than that.

Seeing Marquis Mike unable to answer, I quickly continued.

“All the mana was drained. Ordinary Orcs only cannibalize and do not absorb human mana.”

Marquis Mike’s mouth dropped open.

“Could it be…”

“Yes. It’s a trace of black magic. It means there’s another evil seed behind the Orc King right now. No matter how much of an Orc King he is, he can’t use magic that absorbs mana.”

I also mentioned additional evidence.

“Orc shamans use shamanism, not magic. And all the shamanism of Orc shamans is in the form of curses. It means there is another being who absorbed the knights’ mana.”

Only then did Marquis Mike seem to understand the situation.

“Are you saying that the being used Orcs to catch the knights?”

“Yes. Didn’t it actually happen?”

Marquis Mike let out a low groan.

Marquis Mike was somewhat relieved because some soldiers were dispatched from the center, and even the elites of the Atran and Riverhill families came down.

Marquis Mike seemed embarrassed when a variable he had not even thought of came out.

“The war with the Orcs will be much more difficult and… intense than you think.”

“If it’s a black magician who can create an Orc King, it certainly doesn’t seem like it will be a simple defensive battle.”

I nodded.

‘About Ram and Thompson…’

After organizing my thoughts for a moment, I spoke slowly.

“Ram and Thompson are not people I can control.”

“Your Highness!”

Marquis Mike’s eyes widened.

Marquis Mike seemed even more surprised than when I was talking about Goran.

I smiled bitterly and continued.

“I think you already know, Marquis? Their families and I have a hard time coexisting.”

“Your Highness is the Crown Prince. From His Majesty, this empire…”

Rather than listening to Marquis Mike’s long-winded words in principle, I made him face reality.

“I don’t have in-law families like Atran and Riverhill, and I don’t have the reputation of Princes Ted and Chen. Why is this Western Expedition important to me?”

Marquis Mike couldn’t say anything.

“Protecting the people of the West and protecting the lords are secondary purposes. Even if you curse me as a cruel person, the truth does not change. My strongest motivation is to improve my reputation through the defense of the West. That’s the only way to increase the probability of protecting my position, even a little bit.”

Marquis Mike said with a deep sigh at the bitter truth.

“The center… is truly complicated.”

I still said calmly.

“Gale is a top-class Sword Expert that His Majesty also acknowledged would soon cross the wall [reach the next level of mastery]. If even he is absorbed of his mana by the evil seed…”

Marquis Mike now clearly felt the seriousness.

“His Majesty will somehow protect the center, but considering the distance and time, the West will surely be destroyed.”

I nodded heavily.

“Yes. Probably. As you know, forcibly absorbing the mana of a Master-level powerhouse is not easy, even for a black magician.”

Marquis Mike agreed.

“Yes. That level of powerhouse has a very strong mentality and does not easily collapse to black magic. The reason Gale’s body was not found is because the evil seed used Orcs to trap him, break his mentality, and then fully absorb his power.”

As expected, Marquis Mike had considerable common sense as well as combat experience.

He quickly inferred what would happen in the future through what I said.

I nodded and concluded.

“There is something Marquis Mike can do.”

* * *

I told them that I would rest today under the pretext of fatigue from the march, and then start a full-scale defense meeting from tomorrow.

The reaction of the Western lords was, of course, not very good.

“The lords came out quite harshly.”

I chuckled at Ken’s words.

“They have a lot of complaints, even though they didn’t think of solving it themselves and only waited for the central dispatch.”

Ken also smiled at my words.

“Ram and Thompson subtly defended the lords’ complaints.”

“It’s only natural that those two can’t stand to see me doing well. I think it’s okay to leave them alone.”

David slipped in.

“You had a long conversation with Marquis Mike yesterday. Did you persuade him?”

I nodded.

I shared the results of yesterday’s conversation with the two.

“Marquis Mike will continue to defend this place as the temporary commander-in-chief. The best thing is for the Orc Legion to start advancing before we save Gale.”

“There will be a gap?”

At David’s words, I spoke a little more hopefully.

“Not just a gap, but if the place where Gale is trapped is the main base of the Orc Legion in the Dark Forest, the main base may be empty when the Orc Legion advances.”

Ken seemed more curious about Marquis Mike’s thoughts than that.

“How did you persuade him?”

“Marquis Mike is a true aristocrat.”

Ken narrowed his eyes at my words.

“A true aristocrat?”

“Yes. Marquis Mike is a person who is faithful to the original purpose of the class system.”

Ken still said cautiously as if he couldn’t believe it.

“We can’t trust all aristocrats.”

David also seemed to strongly agree with that part and chimed in.

“Your Highness, the Marquis is an aristocrat to the bone.”

I told the two about Marquis Mike, whom I felt after talking yesterday.

“I trust him because he is an aristocrat to the bone. What is the duty of an aristocrat?”

Ken and David couldn’t answer easily at my words.

“The virtues of an aristocrat are loyalty and responsibility.”

It was a fact that all aristocrats had forgotten, but as an aristocrat, responsibility and loyalty were the most important status.

“The virtue of an aristocrat is to be loyal to the imperial family above, and to regard and care for commoners and slaves, that is, the people of the territory, like children.”

The two were lost in thought for a moment.

I continued without paying attention.

“Marquis Mike sacrificed everything for the lives of his people. He noticed the existence of the Orc Legion and immediately evacuated them. If it were another aristocrat?”

Ken said quietly.

“They would have confiscated all the property under the pretext of war and set up the elderly and children as shields.”

I looked around the tent.

“And even demolished the lord’s castle.”

Only then did David nod as if he agreed with my words.

“He certainly has a sense of responsibility as an aristocrat.”

“That’s right. This is the original duty of an aristocrat. And loyalty. Marquis Mike is neither a noble faction nor an emperor faction, but neutral.”

“Isn’t he loyal to His Majesty?”

I shook my head at David’s question.

“No. He is loyal. But he is different from the emperor faction nobles who absolutely support all of His Majesty’s policies. He is one of the people who consider His Majesty’s expansion policy to be very dangerous. He even opposed the Eastern Expedition right away.”

Ken rejoined the conversation.

“He can oppose the expedition because the West is in danger right now.”

“He opposed the conquest of the Pyreon Kingdom even before he noticed the existence of the Orc Legion. He is the one who even sent a letter directly to His Majesty. He is a person who gives sincere advice without hesitation because he is sincerely loyal to His Majesty.”

“He’s a great person.”

Ken and David were also impressed.

“I learned a lot through yesterday’s conversation. Marquis Mike will properly check Ram and Thompson. Do you know what he said?”

Ken and David tilted their heads at my question.

I burst into laughter as I thought of last night.

-In war, disobedience is a major crime that can be executed on the spot. The two have not received any positions from His Majesty. They only participated as representatives of the Knights and Magic Corps. You can advise the commander, but disobeying orders is literally disobedience and violating military law.

When I told them as it was, Ken laughed loudly, and David also had a refreshing expression.

“The two dukes have fallen into their own trap.”

I shrugged at Ken’s words.

“Maybe? Because they couldn’t even imagine that I would give up the commander’s position and act separately.”

I started talking about the Gale rescue operation in earnest.

“David, how are the evaluation competition participants?”

David reported his results.

“Everyone said they would participate in the operation. But if the operation is successful, we will have to give them several rewards. Some of them want to enter His Majesty’s direct organization, which is the original reward of the evaluation competition.”

I had fully expected that much.

Why is the evaluation competition so prestigious and has so many participants?

It was all thanks to my father’s reputation.

Apart from being the emperor, my father was the best knight, elementalist, and skilled magician on the continent.

The benefit of being under my father’s command was enormous.

My father, who was not from a prestigious noble family, achieved the empire all thanks to his skills.

And the mana breathing technique, which is the basis of that skill!

Many people were dreaming of becoming members of the organization directly under the Emperor in order to learn that mana breathing technique.

“How many are there?”

I guessed that at least half of the participants wanted to enter the organization directly under my father.

“Everyone except Riorden.”

Ken groaned at David’s words, and I laughed in vain.

“Everyone?”

David corrected my words.

“Riorden wanted to become Your Highness’s direct knight with me.”

“Okay. I saved at least one person, Riorden.”

What a relief?

Riorden, who was a strong candidate for the championship, surprisingly wanted to be with me.

“Then we can accept the resources of some of the participants and Count Boopen’s knights and depart. We have to proceed immediately before Ram and Thompson pick a fight. Ken, you meet Count Boopen’s knights.”

Ken nodded.

“Yes.”

I smiled and patted Ken on the shoulder.

“The defense operation will not be easy. Please take good care of Marquis Mike and this place.”

Ken also smiled faintly.

“Of course, Your Highness. As Your Highness’s subordinate, I’m also thinking of building quite a reputation.”

For some reason, I felt a chill in Ken’s smile.