Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 96

The Throne

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The city was silent.

As silent as a monastery.

A stillness that seemed to suffocate the very air settled over it.

“······.”

I spurred my horse, slowly making my way down the city’s central road.

Behind me followed my kin, conscripted soldiers, and the forces of Thurdret.

We were to hold a triumphal procession as the conquerors of Germania.

Though the sound of countless soldiers’ footsteps echoed, an unnerving silence persisted.

Gulp…

Over the sounds of footsteps, I could hear the nervous swallowing of the crowd.

The citizens of Olhus remained silent, their eyes wide with fear as they looked at me.

“Hic···!”

I scanned the gazes of the crowd.

They watched me from both sides of the road, huddled on rooftops, hidden behind cracked windows. The emotion in their eyes was uniform.

“They’re all afraid.”

Skadi’s whisper confirmed what I already knew.

The citizens of Olhus feared me.

They feared that I, Edar, might punish them for their betrayal.

The citizens looked at me with fear.

“Father is a conqueror, after all. He can do anything. The fate of a conquered city is always like that, isn’t it?”

Rachel looked at the crowd with disdain.

In her eyes, Olhus was a city of traitors who had betrayed their own people.

I turned my gaze away from the crowd and looked toward the front of the procession.

Thud, thud…

The sound of weary footsteps.

A man in splendid, now-tattered clothes walked alone.

He was bound with ropes and kept his head bowed low.

His expression was hidden, but I imagined it was full of humiliation.

The King of Germania, Christian.

That was the name of this fallen leader.

“Your Majesty···.”

A sob escaped from the crowd.

Some soldiers frowned and glared at them, causing them to stifle their cries, but soon tears burst out from all directions.

“Idiots.”

Pasimea clicked her tongue, touching her ear in annoyance.

The reactions of the other kin were similar.

“Leave them be. You can’t stop it by force.”

Just as Duke Thurdret was seen as a leader by the citizens of Kiruna, the citizens of Olhus regarded Christian as their leader.

Seeing their leader paraded as a criminal on the open road, they understood that Olhus would never regain its former glory, and that they, as citizens, had lost their own honor.

“To cry over the loss of glory built by betraying their own kind.”

Gehard sighed and shook his head.

“There will be a lot to fix, Your Majesty.”

“Yes. This is just the beginning.”

I twisted one corner of my mouth up in a wry smile and looked toward the royal palace.

The wide-open main gate was visible at the end of the road.

And so were the signs of chaos scattered around it.

“Someone has been here before us.”

Nuadil chuckled.

The area from the royal palace’s main gate to the audience chamber was a mess.

It looked as if an earthquake had struck.

Fallen flags, broken pottery, peeled-off gold leaf.

What could it mean?

A thief had ransacked the place.

“The outside is mourning departed glory, but the inside is facing reality.”

The culprit was obvious.

The servants and guards who had been in the royal palace, people like that.

When the city decided to surrender, they must have fled to save themselves, taking whatever they could as severance.

“They even stripped the throne.”

“Power is fleeting.”

I looked up at the throne, its gold leaf now gone.

A place that would have been the most splendid in the human world until this morning.

Now, only a damaged throne remained in front of the ruined royal court.

“Go up, Father.”

Skadi reached out toward the platform.

“······.”

I ascended the platform, straightened the throne, and stood before it.

“It’s not that high.”

Laughter rippled through the audience chamber.

I looked at those lined up below the platform.

On the left were Thurdret’s vassals, on the right were my kin and the prisoners.

The prisoners turned their heads away from my gaze, while the vassals and kin smiled at me.

“What do you think I should do now?”

“Declare an empire and become emperor!”

The old vassal Helmut raised his voice without hesitation.

I nodded.

“Then what is needed?”

“The thrones of Wallachia and Germania!”

“Yes. Wallachia and Germania.”

I looked at Christian among the prisoners.

He was turning his head, but he must have known I was watching.

He flinched and bowed his head even deeper, trying to ignore me.

“Germania is here. Then what about Wallachia? Do I have the throne of Wallachia?”

Helmut blinked and closed his mouth.

I wasn’t actually the King of Wallachia.

I had only virtually taken Wallachia into my hands.

“Pave.”

At my call, the fat man standing behind my kin came forward.

He held a wooden box wrapped in purple silk in his thick hands.

He stopped below the stairs and stretched out his hands.

“I am Pave Kusrorf. The King of Wallachia.”

A gasp filled the audience chamber.

No one but my kin would know his true identity.

How would even the nobles of Germania recognize him?

I met Pave’s gaze.

“I hereby abdicate the throne of Wallachia to you, Edar Lundringgen, Great Lord of the Oroko Plains, Margrave of Northern Wallachia.”

The drunken appearance he had shown at our first meeting was gone.

His hazy eyes were now filled with firm determination.

This was the Pave Kusrorf I remembered.

I smiled and nodded.

“Calliope.”

She, who was standing below the platform, unwrapped the silk and opened the wooden box.

Inside were the crown of Wallachia and Kusrorf’s signet ring.

“I, Edar Lundringgen, will receive the throne of Wallachia from you, Pave Kusrorf.”

For a moment, Pave’s expression crumbled.

The burden of a lifetime had been lifted, and his mask had slipped.

His expression quickly regained its solemnity, but I had seen it.

“You’ve worked hard, Pave.”

Pave paused for a moment at my smile and then bowed his head.

Then he handed the items to Calliope and stepped back.

“Let go! Let go!”

Christian was dragged forward by the kin and forced to kneel before the platform.

“You bastard! Do you think you can become king just by doing this? The throne is not something you can have just by taking it! The crown means nothing! I will not abdicate to you!”

Pasimea snatched the crown and ring from the struggling man.

“Wallachia and Germania.”

Calliope, holding the crown and ring of Wallachia on the left side of the platform, and Pasimea, holding the crown and ring of Germania on the right side of the platform, stood ready.

“Look. I have obtained these two. Then? How many human nations are left in this world?”

Gehard held up his fully opened right hand.

“They can be counted on this hand.”

“That’s right. And the land they have is not even half of what these two countries combined have. With this, I have placed most of humanity under my influence.”

I raised my right hand and took off Thurdret’s signet ring.

“Wouldn’t you say I represent humanity?”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

I stopped the vassals who were about to shout cheers by raising my other hand.

Then I dropped Thurdret’s ring.

“Huh···.”

Perhaps I had made a mistake.

The vassals who mistakenly thought so swallowed their breath.

I had dropped the symbol of the family at this important moment.

Crack!

“It’s not a mistake.”

Calliope crumpled the crown and ring of Wallachia with both hands.

Crack, crack, the sound of metal grinding, reducing the symbols to a round lump of gold.

She nonchalantly threw it next to the ring I had dropped.

Rumble—

“Wh, what···?”

“Your Majesty? What is this all about···.”

Whoosh!

Pasimea melted the crown and ring of Germania with fire.

The flames emanating from her hand melted the gold, which flowed down her hand like liquid.

Drip, drip, a few rubies separated from the liquefied crown and ring.

There was nothing left of their original form.

“······.”

Now no one asked me any questions.

The shock must have been significant.

“······.”

An even heavier silence than when I first entered the city descended.

In the midst of it was Christian, who was still cursing at me.

I smiled; his reaction was quite pleasing.

“Didn’t you say the crown means nothing? Christian?”

“······.”

Christian frowned and gritted his teeth.

“Forget Germania and Wallachia. Those are titles created by other races. What meaning is there if I inherit them and create an empire?”

I clenched my fist tightly and thrust it forward.

“I will not inherit the previous history. I don’t need the history of livestock. The history of humanity starts now. From today, Germania, Wallachia—those names will be demoted to local designations, and this country will be called by only one name from now on.”

That is, the Empire.

“The Empire. I will not attach anything to that name. If anything is attached, it will only be humanity—those two words. The Human Empire. I will not allow any other name. Therefore, I declare: The Empire for Humanity is founded at this moment. And I, as the Emperor of the Empire, represent humanity.”

“Arrogant bastard!”

Christian’s neck veins bulged.

“Even the great races dare not call themselves an Empire without a qualifier! And you, just because you have two thrones, call yourself an Empire? Are you being so arrogant just because you are powerful among humans! Which of the other races will acknowledge your power!”

“I don’t need anyone’s recognition. But if I had to, I have already received recognition from other races.”

“What?”

I looked at Thurdret’s vassals and asked.

“Do you know about the Grand Assembly?”

Of course, they wouldn’t know.

They shook their heads.

“Then do you know that the races you call great gather in one place to discuss the governance of this world?”

Only then did the vassals nod.

“That is called the Grand Assembly. Eight races lead that place.”

Dragon, Elf, Dwarf···

I recited the names of the races that held seats.

They perked up their ears, encountering knowledge they had only guessed at.

“The seats of the Grand Assembly are eight, according to the number of races. And recently, one more seat has been created there. Do you know why I am saying this?”

Those who had been blinking in confusion widened their eyes.

They realized that the ninth seat was mine.

“Could it be···.”

I smiled at Helmut’s murmur.

“That’s right. That seat is mine. The ninth seat that humanity has not had. That is what I, I personally, have. Then what is there that prevents me from representing humanity?”

“Li, lies! You heard a story somewhere and are spreading nonsense! How could a human do that!”

“You believed it was impossible, and I believed it was possible.”

And you were weak, and I was strong.

Enough for even the other races to have no choice but to acknowledge it.

Christian trembled and opened his mouth.

The moment he was about to scold me again and spew curses,

“Listen.”

I unleashed the light of my soul.

“······!”

Christian raised his hand to block the light.

The noble prisoners showed the same behavior.

But Thurdret’s vassals did not block the light.

They had seen the light in the darkness.

“Soon the Grand Assembly will call me to question what I have achieved. Then I will declare, as one who holds the ninth seat of the Grand Assembly, that it is time to bring humanity to the world stage.”

I strained my voice, suppressing the surging headache.

“And I will demand that I not be the one in my seat, but that humanity be placed there. That I, an individual, do not represent humanity, but that the Emperor of Humanity holds the ninth seat. Do you know what this means?”

Of course, my demand will not be met.

The other races will never put humans on an equal footing.

Rather, my demand will cause another war.

‘But it cannot be avoided.’

As it has been in the previous two Grand Assemblies.

I must face it with everything I have.

Otherwise, they will try to take everything I have.

“Then we humans hope that you will be our eternal Emperor.”

Helmut understood the meaning of my words and bowed deeply.

“Always allow us to praise you with all our hearts. Your Majesty.”

That’s a tough request.

I thought so and sat on the throne, enveloped in radiance.