Surviving As The 5Th Prince Of Hellman Kingdom [EN]: Chapter 96

096

“What’s your name?”

“…Jubar, Jubar Hines.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-seven.”

“What was your occupation?”

“I was a hunter.”

“How long have you been imprisoned? For reference, today is September 15th, 499 in the Royal Calendar.”

“A little less than two months.”

“Can you explain the circumstances of your abduction by Radwan?”

Jubar closed his mouth for a moment.

The large-eared man, who had been writing down Jubar’s personal details while keeping his eyes fixed on the documents, stopped moving his pen.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to…”

“I was on my way to my in-laws’ house with my wife and son.”

Jubar interrupted the large-eared man and began to tell his story.

“My wife was from the city, so it would be easier to get Genesia, the cure for the Red Star Fever, if we went to her parents’ house. I was planning to have my pregnant wife stay there until she gave birth.”

“…You were going together?”

“Yes.”

The large-eared man didn’t ask what happened to Jubar’s wife and son. There were no pregnant women or young boys in Radwan’s underground prison.

After a few more questions, the large-eared man put down his pen.

“Now, go out and wait. You’ll be given travel expenses to return to your hometown.”

Even after his words, Jubar couldn’t get up from his seat.

“Is there something you want to say?”

“…Is he really dead?”

“Radwan, you mean? He’s dead. His head was cut off, and his body exploded. Even a demon wouldn’t survive that.”

“…Can you tell me who you are?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”
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Jubar had plenty of opportunities to take his own life in the underground prison. He had witnessed several people, consumed by fear, end their lives by banging their heads against the wall or refusing to eat.

Radwan didn’t pay much attention to what ordinary adult men did inside the prison.

At first, Jubar could only watch in despair as his wife, and then a few days later, his young son, were dragged away. The driving force that kept him from giving up was revenge.

He endured with the thought of chewing and swallowing Radwan’s head, even if it meant becoming a chimera mixed with monsters.

…But now he was told that the object of his revenge was dead.

Returning to his hometown, Jubar collected the belongings of his wife and son and made a grave.

Unable to find any more meaning in life, he hanged himself from a large tree overlooking his son and wife’s grave.

His consciousness faded.

Just as he was about to join his family.

Crack! The branch broke.

“Why! Why can’t I even die the way I want to!”

Jubar looked at the sunset sky and cried out in tears.

It was then.

“Hey, since you’re going to die anyway, shouldn’t you at least stick an arrow into the hearts of the X-like bastards in this X-like world before you go?”

A man holding a newspaper that couldn’t be found in the South approached him.

“Do you know? It seems Radwan was only following the instructions of the Runtia Dukedom… Cough, cough. Ah, X-like Red Star Fever. Oh, don’t worry, I’m cured. The healer said it’s a side effect. Well, that’s not important, would you like to read it? Can you read?”

Jubar stared blankly at the newspaper the man handed him before slowly opening his mouth.

“…I can’t.”

“I see, I’ll have to read it to you again.”
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Clatter, clatter.

Against the backdrop of the sound of horses’ hooves, Jubar was reminiscing about what had happened just three months ago.

“Jubar! Jubar! What are you spacing out about?”

Jubar, startled by the sound of his colleague calling him, shook his head violently.

“It’s nothing. What time is it?”

“A little past 3 AM.”

“Are we arriving in about an hour?”

“Yeah, so you need to prepare yourself.”

“Okay…”

He once again reminded himself of the information about the beast he was about to hunt.

The second son of Baron Lirus.

A lecher whose lower body controls his brain.

The number of married women and virgins who took their own lives because of him is fourteen.

‘He’s a 2-star knight, right?’

The general consensus is that even capturing a 1-star knight who has just awakened their magic requires ten ordinary soldiers.

The number of people moving to capture him is currently thirty. More than half will lose their lives.

Jubar knows it too.

The moment the nobles draw their swords, 4-star and 5-star knights will be deployed, and the revolt they started will be extinguished in an instant.

He felt like it didn’t matter since he had already given up on his life.

He just wanted to stick arrows into the hearts of the bastards who created this X-like world. As many as possible.

Jubar began to inspect his bow, thinking that way.

But he didn’t know.

The revolt that would start in the Lirus barony would not be extinguished so easily.

***

An emergency cabinet meeting was held.

The reason was, of course, the large-scale revolt that had occurred in the South.

When the news of the revolt first came, the Southern nobles’ reaction was lukewarm.

The Lionel Kingdom had been going on for 500 years.

How could there not have been a revolt before?

‘There hasn’t been a revolt that lasted more than fifteen days.’

That’s how history went.

The resistance of the ruled, who had risen up against the ruling class that monopolized the ability called ‘magic,’ was like a child with a paper sword running at an adult with a gun.

Everyone was saying that the revolt would be completely put down in at least a week.

But this time it was different.

The Southern nobles themselves would be in trouble if they suppressed the forces that had started the revolt.

As the chairman of the emergency countermeasures committee, I stood in front of a map of the Lionel Southern region. More than half of it was painted red.

It was the area where the revolt had occurred.

I pulled out the pointer and looked at the ministers gathered in the conference room.

“As you all probably expect, the areas painted in red are the areas where the kingdom’s people have risen up.”

“It’s a riot, Fifth Prince.”

The Minister of Industrial Resources, whose territory was 80% red, challenged my statement.

A smirk came out.

“If you want to emphasize it as a riot so much, then do so.”

I pointed to the territory managed by his eldest son and continued.

“According to my informants, the number of people participating in the revolt in this area is over 70% of the territory’s people. That’s a tremendous number. You can assume that everyone who has the strength to hold a stick has participated. Isn’t that amazing?”

The plump cheeks of the Minister of Industrial Resources trembled.

“What should we do? Should we punish all the instigators and participants as we have done so far? I don’t know who will sow the seeds when this winter is over.”

I pointed to an area.

“It’s the territory of the Lirus barony. It’s the area where the revolt first occurred. The baron, enraged by the murder of his son, even mobilized the Knights. The result… I think you all know.”

The fathers, mothers, wives, siblings, and young children of those who were captured and executed by the Knights rushed to the lord’s castle with sickles and plows.

The territory’s people, who had been suffering from tyranny, chose to throw themselves at the Knights’ swords instead of hanging themselves.

More than 80% of the territory’s people disappeared.

All that was left for Baron Lirus was an empty territory and the position of lord.

He will not be able to secure the taxes to be sent to the royal family from this year and the taxes to be paid to the knights and soldiers.

It was a downfall.

“H-How about just identifying and punishing the instigators…?”

“That’s right! Revolts have occurred simultaneously since the Lirus barony incident! It’s very organized! There’s definitely someone behind it. Fifth Prince! You must have figured out who’s behind it, right?”

“Unfortunately, I haven’t identified the identities of those who planned this revolt either.”

“H-How can you say such irresponsible things!”

The Minister of Industrial Resources, who had his feet on fire, rebuked me. I slightly twisted the corners of my mouth and glared at him.

He immediately backed down and averted his gaze.

“I’m offended. And isn’t there originally a separate place to figure that out?”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Miloa, the Minister of Information of the Royal Secret Service.

She bowed her head deeply.

She was in trouble because a report that a revolt might occur had been submitted in the past, but she had missed it, and an unprecedented large-scale revolt had broken out.

Miloa also seems to have never imagined that a large-scale revolt would occur in which the Southern people would take themselves hostage.

The things I had done so far had returned as a huge tsunami.

“So Evan, what do you think? How can we quell the revolt?”

The First Prince, who was sitting next to Miloa, asked me.

“We need to hear their story.”

“Story… you mean?”

“Shouldn’t we at least properly listen to what they want?”

“That’s ridiculous! Are you saying we should bow our heads to the rioters first!”

“That’s right! Negotiations!”

Including the Minister of Industrial Resources, several ministers were in an uproar at my words. They were the ones who had a significant relationship with the areas where the revolt had occurred.

I looked at them with cold eyes and opened my mouth.

“Then, we can just catch them all and kill them.”

“Th-That…”

“Kuh…”

To be honest, I could have just been a bystander in this revolt in the South.

There is little chance that the revolt will spread to the Northern, Western, and Eastern regions. I had already uprooted the corrupt nobles to the point where they could cause a revolt.

So, I could just watch the Southern forces shrink on their own and focus on strengthening my internal affairs.

Still, the reason I’m standing in the cabinet meeting and talking so hard is to reduce the sacrifices of the Southern people.

If I stay still, the Southern nobles will eventually draw their swords. And in this atmosphere, the Southern people will resist to the end.

Perhaps the number of Southern people who die in the process of the Southern nobles suppressing the revolt may be greater than the number of Southern people who died in the First Lia War in the ‘future’.

“Still, negotiations are not possible! Once we listen to the unreasonable demands of the ignorant, there will be no end to it.”

“That’s right! We need to find another way.”

“Count Miloa! Does the Royal Secret Service have any information?”

“That is… I’m sorry.”

“What are you doing these days!”

I shook my head at those who were raising their voices unnecessarily.

It seemed that they didn’t have the slightest intention of talking to the Southern people who had started the revolt.

The cabinet meeting ended like that, and I returned to Emerald Palace and headed to my office.

I handed my coat to Alfonso and threw myself on the sofa. He hung the coat on the hanger and asked.

“Your Highness, how was the meeting?”

“How could it be? I just wasted meaningless time.”

“Does that mean no measures have been taken?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, isn’t that natural for the Southern nobles? The demands of the areas where the revolt occurred are obvious. Isn’t it about changing the owners of the territories?”

Alfonso is right.

It’s not that the Southern nobles don’t have the power to suppress the revolt. How many magic awakeners are among those who participated in the revolt?

If they suppress the revolt, the territory will be ruined. But they can’t listen to the demands of the territory’s people who started the revolt.

They were in a dilemma.

“What are you going to do?”

“About what?”

“The revolt in the South, you’re not just going to stand by and watch, are you? If you leave it alone, won’t the Southern nobles end up self-destructing?”

I looked at Alfonso with a fresh look. Has he become able to think for himself to that extent?

“…That look is a bit much.”

“It’s a compliment.”

“I know that’s not true.”

I chuckled and got up from the sofa.

Then, I went to the window and looked at the snow-covered garden and opened my mouth.

“Before the Southern nobles self-destruct, I need to meet the person who planned the revolt.”

“What? Didn’t you say you don’t know their identity?”

“I didn’t say I don’t know their location. Have the Black Wyvern ready because we’re leaving as soon as it gets dark.”

“Understood.”

The mastermind behind the large-scale revolt in the South, without giving the Royal Secret Service a chance to intervene, is definitely someone I don’t know.

I was very curious about what kind of person they would be.