Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 98

98.

After returning to the Western Command yesterday, I rested well in the evening.

Marquis Mike suggested providing the soldiers with alcohol and meat, which I approved.

And Ken finished his preparations to return to the Imperial Palace.

“Be careful on your way back,” I said.

Ken smiled broadly and nodded.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Be cautious. The two families might resort to desperate measures.”

“Yes. I’ll be on my way then, Your Highness.”

Ken mounted his horse, and Ram also got on his.

Ram’s mana core had been sealed by Gail. This alone was devastating for Ram, a knight. But Ken also used an item to suppress all of Ram’s physical abilities.

Ram seemed to struggle just to stay on the horse.

It was hard to imagine anything happening to Ram with Ken escorting him to the capital.

Still, I cautioned Ken.

“Always be wary of Ram.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Ken soon departed from my camp.

* * *

After a simple breakfast, I headed to the headquarters tent.

Everyone was already waiting for me when I entered.

Marquis Mike, the Western lords, Riorden, David, and Gail were all present.

I sat in the commander’s seat and gestured for the others to be seated as well.

“What’s the situation with the Orcs?”

Marquis Mike replied.

“They seem very agitated. There was no attack last night. Normally, they would be setting up camp in front of the walls to prepare for an attack, but there’s no sign of that.”

I nodded.

“They must be confused since the Seed of Evil is dead. Is the Orc King visible?”

One of the Western lords answered.

“No. We haven’t identified any Orc that we suspect to be the Orc King yet.”

He was the lord in charge of scouting the Orc camp.

“How is the morale of the soldiers?”

Marquis Mike smiled brightly.

“It’s better than ever. We hung the Seed of Evil’s corpse on the watchtower. Everyone senses victory, and morale is higher than ever.”

Not only the soldiers, but the lords also seemed invigorated.

I calmly began to speak.

“The number of Orcs is roughly between thirty and forty thousand. If we include all the Orcs coming down from the Forest of Darkness, it will be close to fifty thousand.”

The expressions of the Western lords darkened.

They had been so caught up in the high morale that they had momentarily forgotten the pressure from the sheer number of Orcs, but my words brought it back into sharp focus.

“If we include the Orc King and the Orc shamans, it’s best to assume that the enemy’s strength has become even greater.”

Of course, I wasn’t just trying to focus on the negatives.

“But we have Sword Master Gail, and I can also contribute, so we should be able to handle them.”

Marquis Mike cautiously asked.

“Commander, what about the Attran knights and Riverhill mages…?”

The story of Ram and Thomson was bound to come up.

They had seen Ram when they greeted us yesterday, and everyone guessed that he wasn’t in a normal state.

They must have been quite curious throughout the day.

I didn’t hide anything.

“Gail took care of everyone except Ram.”

The atmosphere inside the tent instantly froze.

The Western lords were trying to figure out what to say, and Marquis Mike’s expression was stiff.

“Attran and Riverhill were cooperating to kill Gail and me. We found a memory crystal [a device that records memories] in Thomson’s possession, and their conversation was recorded, including their plans during the fight with the Seed of Evil.”

I deliberately paused for a moment.

Soon, I spoke with emphasis.

“I went into the altar where the Seed of Evil was, and Gail was injured in battle with the Death Knight outside. Ram and Thomson tried to kill Gail, taking advantage of his injury, but… they underestimated the Sword Master too much.”

Gail slowly spoke.

“Attempting to assassinate the Supreme Commander of the West and the Crown Prince is an unforgivable crime. I executed them summarily on the spot, and Ram was deliberately left alive as a witness. The knights have imprisoned all the mages who remained in the camp.”

The temporary camp was once again filled with silence.

Marquis Mike, who had sorted out his thoughts to some extent, stepped forward.

“Commander.”

“Speak, Marquis.”

“Did Ram and Thomson really try to assassinate Your Highness?”

Did Marquis Mike not trust me?

I didn’t show any displeasure and accurately conveyed only the facts.

“Yes. There is evidence and there are witnesses.”

Even if only one of the two was missing, there would be room for doubt, but with both evidence and witnesses, the truth was undeniable.

“I’ve often heard stories about the central government… Beregon, Duke Austin seems to have lost his mind. To dare to think of assassinating the Crown Prince.”

Marquis Mike shook his head as if he couldn’t understand the two dukes.

The lords seemed to agree with Marquis Mike’s words, judging by their similar expressions.

“You could have executed Ram, but you deliberately sent him up with Ken…”

At the words of another Western lord, I acknowledged that it was a good question.

“Have you thought about the aftermath of the war? The reason I kept Ram and the mages alive is because of that.”

“The aftermath of the war?”

I nodded at Marquis Mike’s question.

“Yes. If this war were a war of conquest, there would be damage, but there would also be spoils to recover from the damage. But our enemy is the Orcs, and there are no spoils to be gained from them.”

Did they think I was being somewhat materialistic?

The expressions of the Western lords and Marquis Mike changed subtly.

I continued calmly.

“The West has suffered the most damage in this war, and of course, it’s the lords and their people here. Marquis, you even demolished the lord’s castle to reinforce the walls. Will the central government properly compensate for that?”

No one could answer.

In the meantime, the West had been suffering from the monsters of the Forest of Darkness, and people were dying of famine as if it were natural.

Things had improved slightly with the Emperor’s care since the founding of the Empire, but it was not a fundamental solution.

I got up.

“I plan to get the spoils from the two families. If the Riverhill family has a magical item that can solve the famine in the West, I’ll take the item, and I’ll receive as much wealth as possible from the Attran family to comfort the fallen soldiers.”

Marquis Mike stood up without realizing it.

“Yo, Your Highness, those words…”

He was so surprised that he forgot the title of commander.

I smiled and replied.

“Yes. I’ll turn a blind eye to the crime of trying to kill me. In return, I’ll receive a kind of Western development fund. In addition to wealth, it would be good to ask the Riverhill family for various items. The land in the West is barren, so there must be items related to farming.”

Marquis Mike and the Western lords showed no reaction.

They were just staring at me.

How much time had passed?

Marquis Mike knelt down in front of me first.

“I have lived as a knight all my life, and I swore chivalry to His Majesty when the Empire was born. And today, in this place, I want to swear chivalry to Your Highness, who will be the next owner of the Empire.”

The Western lords knelt down at the same time behind Marquis Mike.

* * *

There were no Orc attacks even at noon. It seemed they were waiting for the Orc King.

We couldn’t open the gates and go out to fight, so we were just thoroughly guarding the walls.

And I received the Western lords’ oath of allegiance.

No imperial family would ever tolerate treason. But I said that I would negotiate with the two great ducal families of the Empire solely for the sake of the West.

Even if they didn’t know much about central politics, the Western lords knew how much I had used a golden opportunity for the West.

It was a chance for me, who had no strong maternal relatives or power, to seize the lifelines of the two famous families.

“I didn’t expect the Western lords to pledge allegiance so quickly.”

That was David’s assessment.

I found the kettle in my tent and boiled water. I wanted to have a cup of strong tea for the first time in a while.

I smiled.

“Didn’t you hear about the culture of the West from Ken? Maybe if a battle breaks out and I play an active role, their loyalty will deepen even further.”

“Did you plan all of this?”

I shrugged.

“I acted on my personal judgment following Ken’s plan. Ken probably expected that I would receive the loyalty of the Western lords after he returned, right?”

David spoke his honest feelings.

“If Your Highness truly wants to understand the difficulties of the Western people, is it necessary to negotiate with the two famous families and keep them alive? They committed truly unforgivable crimes, and it’s an opportunity to eliminate Riverhill and Attran at once…”

I cut off David’s words.

“I think the result and the packaging were good.”

David closed his mouth.

“I gained loyalty by emphasizing patience and sacrifice. You’re asking why I made such a choice to gain loyalty when there are other ways to help the Western people. You want to point out that my intention to help the Western people in the process of receiving the Western lords’ oath of allegiance was not pure.”

It was David who helped the poor before seeking revenge [referencing a past event].

I brewed tea and continued.

“I need the West. So I gave them what they needed. Have you ever heard the saying that giving and taking is the basis of politics? I have to be better at politics than anyone else in this empire to survive.”

And I added calmly.

“Doesn’t the fact that the Crown Prince is good at politics mean that the people will be comfortable when he becomes Emperor in the future? Was the politics in the process of winning over the Western lords only for the lords, that is, the nobles, or was it for the imperial citizens living in the West?”

Gail, who had been listening quietly, also looked at me with quite surprised eyes.

David bowed his head.

“I… I was short-sighted.”

“It’s not that there shouldn’t be pure oaths of allegiance, a clean heart that loves the people… It means that a choice with some political aspects is needed based on those things.”

I patted David on the shoulder.

“You can keep watching over me forever. The time spent on talent is not a waste. I’ve grown quite fond of you while fighting quite a few battles with you.”

David bowed his head.

“I also have many mountains to climb in the future. I lost a subordinate for the first time in the West. As Ken said, the path I have to take… may be a devil’s path that creates puddles with blood and piles up mountains with corpses. But I believe that at the end of my path, I will eventually benefit everyone.”

“Your Highness.”

I offered tea to David.

“The aroma is good. How about a cup, Gail?”

“Thank you.”

I handed a teacup to Gail and said.

“The number of Orcs is so large that we can’t fight in the open, so we have to fight a defensive battle from behind the walls.”

I missed Ken at times like this.

“If you see the Orc King, Gail, take care of him.”

“Yes.”

I wasn’t too worried about the war itself.

Now that Goran was dead, the Orc Legion was no longer special.

‘Of course, the Orc Legion is also formidable… especially with the King.’

After drinking all the tea, I said to the two.

“Let’s go. I need to see the Orc camp from the walls. And… David.”

“Yes.”

“There’s a lord in charge of scouting, right?”

David nodded.

“It’s Baron Hamilton.”

“Okay. Call Baron Hamilton.”