Surviving As The 5Th Prince Of Hellman Kingdom [EN]: Chapter 142

142

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Klaus Lovitz.

The Nineteenth Prince of the Empire, Charles, had a friend, yet more than a subordinate, in a subtle relationship. Klaus’s official position was the Black Knights’ Quartermaster.

While Charles was out for a moment, Klaus, who was dealing with a mountain of paperwork, decided to escape.

He hadn’t slept properly for two days.

“This isn’t an escape, it’s survival.”

Klaus muttered to himself as he secretly headed to the Knights’ warehouse.

As soon as he arrived at the warehouse, he looked around like a thief, repeatedly checking that no one was there. He carefully opened the door and went inside, cautious not to make any noise.

Creak- Clunk.

Klaus felt good the moment the door closed.

Rummage, rummage.

He rummaged through the boxes, took out a hammock, and skillfully set it up. After grabbing a blanket, he lay down in the hammock.

With a happy expression as if he owned the world, he gently closed his eyes, but soon opened them again.

‘It’s too cold.’

Late December.

It was the height of winter.

Even inside the warehouse, it wasn’t a cold that could be blocked with just a blanket. Unlike the Black Knights, who could spend a winter night in a snowfield with just a blanket, he was just an ordinary human.

After a moment of contemplation, Klaus took out a bottle of strong liquor from his space expansion pocket [a pocket with seemingly infinite space, often used in fantasy settings].

Gulp, gulp, the liquor went down his throat.

He felt his body immediately warm up.

“Kua! No need for a heater.”

Feeling good, he lay back in the hammock and closed his eyes again.

But.

Even though he thought he would fall asleep as soon as he lay down when he entered the warehouse, he became more and more awake.

“Ah, damn it.”

Because of his unique constitution.

Whenever Klaus drank alcohol, his mind became clear, and his brain worked better than usual. Sighing, he gave up on sleeping and rummaged through his space expansion pocket, taking out a scroll and unfolding it.

It was a map of the Hamel Empire.

Klaus’s gaze turned to the heart of the Empire, the Imperial Capital.

‘The Emperor doesn’t have much time left.’

He recalled the Emperor, who was unable to get out of bed and whose health was deteriorating, and gave a bitter smile.

He was full of energy, but suddenly he had many minor illnesses and rapidly weakened.

‘Was the Mandra fruit the problem?’

Based on Klaus’s brilliant plan, the Black Knights had obtained it, and the Emperor had readily accepted it.

The Mandra fruit, which turned golden when the one who ate it felt good.

Feeling good while being hunted?

Klaus managed to solve that difficult problem.

-Make them unaware that they are being hunted.

-Oh, what do you mean? Tell me more.

-Are you aware that there are monsters that get drunk on alcohol? Mandras especially enjoy eating fermented fruits. It doesn’t seem to help them maintain their huge bodies. Why is that? Isn’t it because they get drunk? They must also enjoy leisure.

According to his plan, ponds full of strong liquor were created throughout the Mandra’s path.

But then, an unexpected situation occurred.

The Mandra was stronger than expected when it came to alcohol. So, in the end, ‘that’ was used.

A special additive that shows humans a moment of heaven but turns them into addicts. ‘That,’ which triggered the eternal enmity between the Brissen Alliance and the Hamel Empire, was mixed into the ponds in large quantities.

That’s how the Black Knights obtained the Mandra’s golden fruit…

‘It felt a bit strange, didn’t it?’

Mysteriously, it felt like something terrible would happen if you ate it.

Still, gold is gold, so the people around the Emperor would take care of it, he thought, and presented it to the Emperor without mentioning that he had used ‘that.’

He even thought it would be better if something went wrong after eating it.

‘But who knew something would really go wrong.’

It is not certain whether the Emperor’s health deteriorated because of the Mandra fruit. It is not uncommon for an old man who thought he was healthy to not wake up in bed the next morning.

Still, Klaus somehow felt that the reason for the Emperor’s sudden deterioration in health was due to the Mandra fruit.

‘Well, does it matter?’

He was already feeling murderous due to the Emperor’s constant unreasonable demands. It was just the moment he was about to make it happen himself if he didn’t collapse on his own.

Sip, he took a sip of alcohol, and his eyes gleamed.

It was a time when the jackals aiming for the throne were watching each other. It was too early to show military movements because the Emperor was not dead yet and it was winter.

He would have judged so himself.

‘If our foundation was solid.’

If they also moved like others…

Scenarios after the Emperor’s death was officially announced began to unfold in Klaus’s mind.

In it, Charles and his ending were consistent.

Death.

Death.

Death.

Escape overseas.

.

.

.

At best, escaping overseas and preserving his life was the best outcome. Thinking about it again, there was no answer if he moved after the Emperor’s death.

‘We mustn’t move the same way as others.’

Prince Charles, who has insignificant justification and power to inherit the throne.

It is difficult to increase power in a short period of time, but it is not impossible to create justification.

If Charles is declared the Crown Prince before the Emperor dies, there is no better justification than that. But that is an impossible story.

The Emperor’s obsession with power is fanatical.

Most of the Empire’s intellectuals judged that it was impossible for the Emperor to say that he would hand over the throne to someone himself.

‘If, just if, the Emperor appoints a Crown Prince before he dies… it would be the First Prince, who has assisted him for many years.’

Klaus shook his head.

It was a meaningless assumption. He was also one of those who thought the Emperor would hold the throne until he died.

The Emperor is nothing to worry about.

What Klaus is aiming for is something more authoritative than the Emperor’s mouth.

‘Soon, we will steal the Imperial Seal.’

The Imperial Seal.

The Emperor’s seal that has been with the Hamel Empire since its beginning. A sacred object known to grant the one who obtains it the world.

In Klaus’s scenarios, Charles’s future began to change.

Attention.

Death.

Attention.

Escape overseas.

.

.

.

Compared to before obtaining the Imperial Seal, when death was the only outcome, Charles’s future had changed so much. There were quite a few futures where he would use the Imperial Seal to cling to other princes and princesses and become ‘notable.’

‘…No, no, no.’

Klaus shook his head violently and frowned. He didn’t follow Charles just to become the second-in-command for a week.

Prime Minister.

The position he desires, who spent his childhood being abused as an illegitimate child and a magic non-awakened in the Lovitz Duchy, is only the second-in-command of the Empire.

His goal is to become the Prime Minister and erase the Lovitz Duchy from the list of nobles.

To do that.

‘Prince Charles must become the Emperor.’

Attention.

Escape overseas.

Attention

.

.

.

In the countless scenarios, Klaus, who was sipping from the bottle while looking at Charles’s future, suddenly smiled.

He saw it.

Charles sitting on the throne.

As Klaus was satisfied and brought the bottle to his mouth again.

Thump! Whoosh—

“What, what!”

Suddenly, the warehouse door opened, and a fierce winter wind blew in.

Klaus was startled.

He quickly turned his gaze to the door. Charles with an unusual expression. His already cold impression was heavily frowned.

“I wasn’t playing around! Do you see this? I was seriously thinking about our future.”

Klaus hurriedly raised one hand. He intended to show the map.

“You weren’t playing around, you were drinking.”

Perhaps because of the alcohol, he raised the hand holding the bottle instead of the map.

“Haha, haha.”

Klaus lowered his hand, laughing awkwardly.

Still, he was relieved that Charles didn’t seem to be frowning because of him, as he didn’t say much.

As he was hurriedly getting out of the hammock, Charles opened his mouth.

“The entire Khan tribe is moving towards the Berrington Fortress of the Lionel Kingdom.”

Thump.

“Ugh!”

Whether it was the shock of Charles’s words, Klaus, who was getting out of the hammock, lost his balance and fell, rolling on the warehouse floor.

“Ouch.”

Klaus, who got up rubbing his shoulder, looked at Charles with serious eyes.

“The entire Khan tribe? Is that true?”

“It must be true. That’s what they’re saying at Dongmak.”

Klaus frowned.

The image of Charles sitting on the throne that he had seen a moment ago disappeared without a trace. In none of the scenarios he had imagined had the Khan tribe taken such an unexpected action.

***

An emergency cabinet meeting was held.

The topic was the enormous intelligence brought by the Royal Secret Service: the Khan tribe’s invasion.

“We must concentrate all of the Kingdom’s forces on the Berrington Fortress as soon as possible! We must show those barbarians a lesson so that they never covet the Kingdom again!”

Bert, who had recovered from the ruins of Danar and jumped out of bed, spoke passionately as the Minister of National Defense.

He was really about to lead all the troops and move to the Berrington Fortress right away.

“All the troops! It’s the time of year when monsters pushed back from the Belkas Mountains due to territorial disputes pour out!”

“It is impossible to mobilize all the troops from the East either. Don’t you know that the Arya Kingdom is constantly aiming for our country?”

The ministers, deceived by Bert’s excellent acting, hurriedly calmed him down.

“You people! Do you think the entire force I mentioned is really the entire force! Of course, we have to leave at least a minimum force in the rear.”

“Ah, I see.”

“I opened my mouth just in case.”

“This old man seems to have been a little excited too. I raised my voice like this in front of His Majesty… Please forgive my rudeness, Your Majesty.”

I nodded slightly.

The ministers began to share their opinions busily again.

Then an important question came up.

“But, what exactly is the total strength of the entire Khan tribe?”

“Uh… well….”

“The Lan tribe leader, who often invades the kingdom, was a 7-star warrior, right?”

They had always only dealt with one or two tribes of the Khan, so they didn’t have a good sense of how strong they would be when they were all united.

Their gazes were focused on Milroa.

“I’ll just talk about the core forces. One 8-star, six 7-star, and more than thirty 6-star. I’m only mentioning those who have been officially confirmed. Because the Khan tribe is closed off, there is a high possibility that there are more who have not been revealed.”

“Huh….”

“Six 7-stars….”

“Is that almost twice as much as the kingdom….”

The kingdom’s officials, who usually called them barbarians and ignored the Khan tribe, had slightly pale expressions when they heard the strength of their combined forces.

“Then, Duke Fran….”

Count Royce, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who did not know about the secret alliance with the Khan tribe, mentioned Fran, the kingdom’s only 8-star mage.

I hurriedly cut him off.

“She’s excluded. Think of her as non-existent.”

Fran had declared that she would leave the kingdom immediately if she was dragged into the battlefield.

Even if that wasn’t the case, she was in the middle of developing the Titan. It was taking a little longer than expected, so it seemed like they wouldn’t be able to mobilize the prototype before the recapture of the Northwest, but that was a good thing.

I was already wondering whether to use the prototype if it came out before that.

The first time is scary because it’s hard to deal with. There were many more opportunities for the Titan to appear at more important moments.

“She is dedicating herself to the kingdom in other ways, so be careful not to let strange stories reach her ears.”

I warned, looking around the crowd with stern eyes, and everyone swallowed hard and nodded.

The conference room became quiet.

I slowly opened my mouth.

“I hope you don’t get too scared by the numbers you see. 90% of the barbarians’ forces are warriors. It is very difficult for them to deal with flying airships. It would be good to show them a lesson this opportunity so that they can never invade the kingdom again.”

Everyone’s expressions brightened at my words, which had no trace of anxiety.

“That’s right! Unlike those barbarians, we are a civilized country with airships!”

“If we just shoot from the sky and run away, what can even the Khan tribe’s chieftain do? He’ll probably just throw an axe.”

“Rumor has it that Nurugal threw an axe and split a Hamel Empire’s medium-sized airship in half….”

“That was a medium-sized one! Wouldn’t the kingdom’s large airship, the Golden Dragon, be okay?”

“I guess so?”

“But if we mobilize all the airships, how much money would that be?”

“That’s a bad thing. We’re about to pour several years’ worth of the kingdom’s budget into a fight that won’t get us anything.”

“That’s right. At such an important time when the kingdom is developing….”

The officials whispered.

Why wouldn’t we get anything? I tried to manage my expression to avoid smiling. To deceive the enemy, you must first deceive your allies.