Terminal 3

What was the King of the New World plotting, that he made killing the prime minister the condition for my freedom?

‘Because it’s impossible for the royal family to kill the prime minister on their own?’

No, that couldn’t be it.

Having played through the rebellion route thousands of times in the game, I knew just how powerful the royal family truly was.

“Then maybe he wants me to handle the dirty work while he conserves his own power?”

Hmm, better than the previous theory, but it still doesn’t make sense.

It wasn’t as if I was a trusted contractor who’d worked with the royal family multiple times, and from their perspective, there was no reason to go through such unnecessary trouble.

‘He even went as far as keeping me locked up for a whole week to set this up…’

It didn’t make sense to claim he did it purely for amusement, especially now that I knew the King of the New World valued his time more than anyone else.

In the end, I narrowed the possibilities down to two, two theories explaining why the King gave me this order.

“Either there’s some reason he can’t harm the Chancellor himself.”

Or—

‘There’s a specific “benefit” that only triggers if I am the one to kill him.’

Of course, this was all just speculation. I still had no idea what the ‘reason’ or ‘benefit’ might be.

“Looks like you’ve got a lot on your mind all of a sudden.”

At that moment, the King of the New World prodded for an answer, and I finally came to my senses and spoke.

There was only one answer I could give, after all.

“Fine, I’ll do it. I didn’t like that bastard anyway.”

“Ah, because of that incident…?”

Hmm. If he meant that incident…

“Let me say this in advance. I had no involvement in that matter whatsoever.
It was an act carried out solely at the Chancellor’s discretion.”

He seemed to be referring to the Icerock Expedition. As expected, the Royal Family had a rough idea of what we were thinking.

“So, make sure to release that grudge of yours in the right place, in a healthy manner.”

The King of the New World said this, but my feelings toward the Royal Family didn’t exactly soften.

 

Even if the Chancellor had plotted it alone, it was the Royal Family who had granted him that much power in the first place. To me, turning a blind eye to evil and allowing it to happen were equally forms of contribution.

‘…Still, if what he said is true, it does make me feel a bit easier.’

He bore some responsibility, yes, but there were degrees to this kind of thing. I felt there was still room for leniency, and my resentment toward the palace was not strong enough to charge at them for.

Or maybe I was just thinking this way because, realistically speaking, hating the royal family wasn’t going to help me survive in this world.

Anyway.

“Well then, let’s end the conversation here—”

“Wait!”

I quickly stopped the King of the New World as he moved toward the Life Preservation Device. There was one last question I wanted to ask, even though there was no guarantee he would answer.

“Down there.”

“……”

“What was it that’s imprisoned down there?”

At my question, the King of the New World stared at me silently for a moment.

“Well, it seems you’ve forgotten your manners now that you’ve achieved your goal.”

Uh…

I hadn’t meant to, but I shamelessly kept silent and stared back at him, clearly waiting for an answer.

After a brief pause, he finally spoke.

…Strictly speaking, it wasn’t an answer.

“How did you know something was imprisoned there?”

Answering a question with a question.

After a moment of hesitation, I decided to be honest.

“I heard a voice begging to be let out. It sounded like a young girl, probably around ten years old.”

From that, I made a reasonable deduction:

That ten-year-old girl might be the Witch of the Earth.

“…I see.”

“So what’s the answer?”

Once again, the King of the New World took a moment, wearing a deeply contemplative expression.

Was it really that difficult a question?

It certainly seemed so, given that even after I’d said all that, he still didn’t give a clear answer.

“…Bjorn Jandel. You know nothing. Nothing about how this world continues to survive. Nor do you know how great a sacrifice we are making for such a world.”

“……”

“That’s enough for now. We’ll continue this conversation once everything is over.”

That was it?

Feeling cheated by his answer, I tried to call out to him again, but in the end, I couldn’t act on it.

Because just as I took a single step forward—

“…His Majesty said the conversation ends here.”

The knight drew his sword and blocked my path.

“……”

Seeing that the King of the New World did nothing to stop him, it was clear the conversation really was over. So, I just stood there like a dog that had lost its bone.

Ssssh.

Right in front of me, the king shed his clothes without a trace of shame and stepped into the device with practiced ease.

Whirrrrrrrr.

The machinery began to whirr, and the strange liquid bubbled up in a violent churn that slowly calmed as the king closed his eyes.

‘He really looks like he’s sleeping…’

Thus, my brief yet strangely long audience with the King of the New World finally came to an end.

***

“Follow me.”

After watching the King enter the device and fall asleep, I followed the overbearing knight back up. In the audience chamber, which now felt strangely empty, I heard something unexpected.

“His Majesty instructed us in advance. No matter what you request from now on, we are to do our utmost to comply and cooperate.”

Oh? Is that so…

Seems I wasn’t being told to kill the Chancellor completely on my own from scratch.

“What do you want?”

I already knew what I was going to say.

“I want to finish watching what we were viewing earlier.”

“…I’ll have it prepared.”

I went back and watched the video the King had shown me. But since I did not have all day…

“Can I watch it while skipping ahead?”

“I’ll adjust the playback speed.”

The video began playing at eight times speed.

Even so, it ended much sooner than I’d expected. Well, the video itself had been short to begin with.

“What about part two…?”

“There is none.”

“So that’s the end…?”

The montage showed my Anabada Clan gathering the surviving explorers at the front line and forcing their way through the encirclement, ending with their arrival at the barbarians’ holy land. The reason it ended there was simple.

“Our enemy knows the royal palace better than anyone else.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“This foolish action was taken because they have already prepared methods to avoid our ‘eyes.'”

According to him, the video could be recorded thanks to a strategic device owned by the palace, and the prime minister interfered with it right at the point where the footage ended.

“The King of the New World said this alone would be enough to bring you to your knees.”

‘Now then, what should I do next…’

After a moment of thought, I asked the knight his name, and for some reason he flinched.

“……I see no reason for us to exchange names.”

Oh, what’s this?

I only asked because I didn’t want to keep calling him ‘Knight Guy’ from now on.

Smirk.

If he was going to act like this, as a Barbarian warrior, I couldn’t just let it slide.

“Ahem! Do you intend to defy the royal decree!”

The knight’s lips twitched as he sized me up as though I were an idiot. I was honestly used to that look by now, but this time it felt completely uncalled for.

“Didn’t you say it yourself? That His Merciful and Wise Majesty told you to do your best to listen to whatever I demand and to cooperate.”

As I calmly explained, the knight, who had initially scoffed at my supposed nonsense, gradually grew visibly conflicted.

His expression seemed to say, “Huh?” Then he frowned, as if thinking, “Wait. Is he right? If I refuse to answer, would that mean disobeying the king’s orders?”

An error born of excessive loyalty to the king.

Eventually, the knight let out a sigh and revealed his name.

“……It is Astarotta Berun.”

Hmm, it’s a more ordinary name than I expected?

Since he didn’t want to exchange names, I wondered if it was because it was a name famous enough for me to know or something like that.

‘Then what was that reaction just now?’

Did he just not want to exchange names with a Barbarian like me?

“Astarotta… It has a nice ring to it, a pretty name.”

I tossed out the bait casually.

And judging by his instant reaction, I’d hit the jackpot.

“My name is by no means girlish.”

“I never said it was girlish?”

“……”

Astarotta fell silent, realizing too late that he had essentially confessed it himself.

“Anyway, since we’ve ended up like this, I look forward to working with you. Elizabeth.”

“……It is not Elizabeth, it is Astarotta.”

“Ah, my apologies. I must have been mistaken.”

Realizing I was teasing him, he stopped responding and went silent.

Of course, it didn’t mean much.

The advantage of being a barbarian was being able to exploit even such trivial weaknesses against an opponent.

“……Enough. So what’s your plan now?”

He clearly changed the subject, and I didn’t push him further.

I mean, I’m not a psychopath.

I only mess with people when there’s a reason.

And that reason was—

“I don’t know yet. But there is something you need to do.”

“Say it.”

“Bring Raven here first.”

Knowing her personality, her heart must be in her mouth by now.
***

Ricardo Lühensprache.

The leader of Orcules, and the man commonly referred to as the ‘Traitor.’

Having finally met the man he had previously known only through reports from the Department of Intelligence, the marquess felt unsettled.

“Traitor.”

He was certain that the fearsome nickname would be stripped from the man after this event, regardless of whether it ended in success or failure.

Because the one who bore that title wouldn’t be him anymore.

…No.

If the operation succeeded, the nickname itself might vanish. There would be no one left who dared to challenge the kingdom’s authority.

…I must be overthinking things.

The marquis refocused his attention on the man before him. He had lost himself in self reflection at a moment when he should have been taking the first steps toward carrying out his original plan.

“I heard you requested a private meeting. If you have something to say, speak freely.”

At the marquis’s invitation, the man began to speak slowly. True to his nature, his words were brief and to the point.

“Bjorn Jandel has been spotted on the front lines.”

“……I see. Thank you for informing me. I will look into the rest myself.”

Faced with such straightforward intelligence, the marquis fell silent for a moment before nodding. Seeing that his business was concluded, the man turned his back and left the room.

Tap. Tap.

The marquis’s expression remained unchanged, but his constantly moving fingers betrayed his growing agitation.

“Bjorn Jandel……”

He had hoped that the man might have died when the prison collapsed.

But of course, that had been too much to expect.

“In the end, it comes back to him again……”

It was not particularly surprising.

At first, he had seemed like nothing more than a nuisance. Yet perhaps, even back then, the marquis had sensed it deep down.

That a day like this might come.

That this man could become the greatest obstacle to achieving his ambition.

Thump.

The marquis’s heart began to pound violently.

And yet, nothing changed.

The moment he had hoped would never arrive had finally come.

“Everything follows the natural order.”

Now, he would simply leave it to fate.

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