A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

148 – Even if Everyone Becomes Your Enemy (3)

My happiness is Astasia’s happiness.

Astasia’s happiness is the death of the Habsburgs.

Why?

To put it to the extreme, the Habsburgs view Astasia as a thorough tool.

At the moment of her birth, she was used as evidence for the alliance with Ipheria Industries as the ‘daughter of Erwin Ipheria.’

The crown prince joined hands with Ipheria Industries and acquired some of the empire’s capital, and based on that, he took firm power.

As he grew up, he was used as the ‘only royal grandson’ and as a shield to keep other children in check.

They made it known to the other children that if they showed their abilities, they could push away Astasia and challenge the imperial power at any time, and made them compete with each other to become shadows that move according to their own will.

Currently, it is being used as a tool to seduce ‘Gray Gibraltar’.

Just as he established alliances with several other families by sowing the seeds of the imperial family, the Crown Prince views Astasia as merely a useful person to obtain Gibraltar.

A ‘honey trap’ to conquer the Gibraltar Gorge, the biggest obstacle to conquering Nostrum.

The conquest is not about conquering with iron blood, but with the beauty world, but in any case, wouldn’t it be best to open the gate of the canyon and enter bloodless without a war?

From the empire’s perspective.

Even if all of Ipheria Industries’ resources were turned into war materials to produce airships, the airships unfortunately are vulnerable to safety.

Why is an airship that can sufficiently defend against the Dragoon Knights so dangerous?

I know the answer.

“Astacia.”

About future ‘air warfare’.

“What would happen if an airship was flying in the sky and a sword master swooped down on the deck from above?”

“It’s going to fall, right?”

“Yes. I’m going down.”

Tactical Master Drop.

The first military power based on heroic universalism, boasting history and tradition in the Kingdom of Nostrum for 500 years.

“If a sword master destroys an airship, it will have the same consequences as a ship being stranded at sea. In fact, it is even more terrible.”

“You can still swim away from the sea, but if you fall from the sky, you die.”

“Yes. I don’t know if you have a floating magic or something like a portable wind stone to slow down the fall when something is falling, but it’s a war and we have hundreds of troops on board, so that won’t be easy.”

“Hmm… I think I’ve heard this before somewhere…”

“It is in Kingdom Historiography.”

The location was the sea, not the sky, but the situation was similar.

“400 years ago, there was a sea king who devastated the imperial fleet that passed through the Sirene Strait and attempted to land in Nostrum.”

“Isn’t he… The founder of the Sirene territory?”

“Strictly speaking, he is not the progenitor. The Sirene territory claims that he is a distant ancestor of our family, but in reality, he was just an ordinary young man from a fishing village.”

It’s a normal story in Nostrum.

An ordinary young man from a fishing village left the village for a while and headed to the city. When he returned, he heard that the fishing village had been looted by the imperial army.

The young man who entered the army to seek revenge was chosen by the king to lead the navy, became a sword master, and single-handedly destroyed the entire imperial fleet.

Sink one ship, then jump to the ship and land on the deck, and then when the ships run away, swim or run on the water to attack the ship.

“Of course, if you are a master, you can run on water, but it is difficult to run directly in the sky.”

From noble mtl dot come

“Uh, um…”

“But if you target an airship floating in the sky, jump on it without assuming it will fall, and land successfully, wouldn’t it be possible to transfer in the sky?”

“That might be possible, but Nostrum has a drake, right?”

“That’s right. There’s no need to make this assumption. It’s easier if the Master just climbs on the drake.”

In other words.

“One day, with the help of magic engineering, there will come an era where humans can fly in the sky without mana. Just as the Empire was able to think, ‘Maybe we can win this war’ against Nostrum with the development of magic engineering. .”

To summarize.

“A small musket may be developed that can kill even a hero with a simple pull of a finger. A time may come when all humans are equally killed with one shot.”

The advancement of technology has made the universalism of heroes fade.

“But at least not now.”

Since heroism has yet to completely disappear, both those who lead it and those who oppose it are heroes – sword masters.

“The advancement of technology has made life more convenient, and in the end, in order to ultimately win, you have no choice but to win as a ‘master.'”

I’ve been thinking about it for quite some time.

“Others can be cajoled, persuaded, or subdued in different ways: by making them dependent on drugs, by financially bankrupting them into debt, or by holding their family or future hostage or as collateral.”

“…The others.”

“This method will work for everyone except one person.”

It doesn’t work for the Habsburgs.

“Therefore, I have been building up my strength to deal with the Habsburg Crown Prince.”

We must become strong.

“In that sense, let me introduce you.”

“Introduction…?”

“A person who can be called my fourth teacher.”

Me.

“Even if I fail, so that you can live free from the Habsburg orders.”

“…”

“I will introduce you to someone who will help you develop the strength to cut the cord of your own blood, rather than living as a puppet who listens and follows orders for the rest of your life just because you are a child.”

Not only me, but also Astasia.

“Astacia. I know you don’t want to show me like that.”

“…”

“So while you come here and deal with’her her’her her, I intend to take care of her her her her personal her affairs her her her at her her mansion her her her her. “

As I walked, I arrived at the old orphanage building.

“This way.”

“…Pegasus?”

In front of the old orphanage building.

A winged horse with white fur stands calmly in front of the entrance to the nursery, and the fragrant scent of flower tea wafts from inside.

“As you may have noticed, there is a ‘powerful person’ in here.”

When I open the door, there is a woman with silver-gray hair with a hint of blue sitting on the sofa, dressed modestly.

“…”

She is not an ordinary woman.

As you can tell just by looking at her pointy ears, this woman is an elf.

“This person…”

Astasia looked at the elf woman and let out her saliva.

Because it has a face similar to yours?

Or because you instinctively feel something?

“Hey… “Who are you?”

Even if you know, it doesn’t mean you’re pretending not to know.

Because she really didn’t know, she couldn’t help but ask me who the elf in front of her was.

“She’s an elf, why is she wearing an academy uniform instead of just underwear?”

I flinch.

The ears of the elf wearing a similar-looking uniform worn at Orosol Academy twitched for a moment, and I was speechless for a moment.

“This is one of her, her natural friends, her, her-“

“Let me introduce myself.”

“…?”

A more cheerful voice than usual.

“My name is ‘Sylvie’ and I was dispatched from the Elven Forest.”

“…”

“I am an elf diplomat active in the County of Gibraltar under the orders of Grand Elder Apheria.”

The woman who called herself Sylvia ran her hand over her her ear her her her, and soon her mana her her began to sparkle and her ears her she became human-like.

“Wow!”

“This is how I usually operate, and I don’t reveal myself as much as possible. And not only my existence, but also the elves themselves are secret, so you’ve probably never heard of elves being active in the County of Gibraltar!”

As she spoke, the tone of her voice began to rise, as if she was gradually gaining confidence.

“Are you Astacia, the imperial granddaughter of the Empire?”

“Ah, yes, that…”

“Wow! It’s an honor to meet you.”

“…”

I don’t know how to clean things up, but I don’t know.

“Let me introduce you once again. Sylvie, a dispatcher from the Elven Forest, a friend of nature. I’m speaking politely for the sake of convenience, but um…”

Err, I don’t know.

“Since we are 17 years old, you said we should consider our age in human years, right?”

“Uh, well, so… “

Sylvie played with the mole next to her lip for a moment.

“…I’m 16!”

I finally committed to it.

“…Then, please take care of me, Sylvie.”

“Uh, hey. Could it be that I fight against this elf…”

“Do your best to improve your skills. I’ve been dealing with opponents who are dying for the past two years.”

Well, whatever.

“You and I must become stronger.”

Through Platinum Sutra Aiferia, Astacia will develop the strength to protect herself, and I will also have to become stronger in other areas.

“While we are like this now.”

Why do you have to become this strong?

“Our greatest enemy is getting stronger even at this very moment.”

* * *

“It’s ugly.”

Isabella fell to her knees, her hair scattered in the wind.

“Vampires do whatever they want, but I actually work to ‘replace’ the blood.”

“Everyone, shut up…!”

Isabella shouted sharply, her eyes bloodshot.

“Oh, how could you do this to me? I-I have done so much for the empire!”

“I understand that you worked hard for the Terscian Empire. You tarnished the image of the imperial family by being extravagant, you used abusive language and insulted people, and you continued to cause class conflict between nobles and commoners, resulting in a Nostrum-style class system. I also admit that he tried to commit a rebellion by gathering public opinion among the nobles to return.”

“…”

“Thanks to you, I was able to clean it all in one go, rebel.”

The crown prince, who dipped all of the gray-white steak into bread with the sauce, slowly stood up from his seat.

“His Majesty the Emperor collapsed from old age, and the Crown Princess planned a rebellion. Under him, the knights who followed the Crown Princess… Her father’s men were also there.”

“That’s because you tried to assassinate His Majesty!”

“Assassination? Me? Ha.”

The crown prince giggled and walked towards the railing.

“He collapsed from cardiovascular disease while trying to use a nutritional tonic produced in Gibraltar in a different way, and I tried to assassinate him?”

“That nourishing tonic, Caroline, was a gift from you!!”

“It should have been used as a good herbal medicine for restoring vitality to the elderly. If you use it in a way that is not intended for use, you are responsible for it. Or is the ‘target’ you were trying to use it for the problem?”

“…!!”

“Isn’t it a shame, Isabella? I don’t care if you have an affair or have children with an old man who is as old as your father, but even now, in this situation, you lie to me.”

As the crown prince smiled and spoke, Isabella trembled with her hands and ground her teeth.

“Well, it’s okay. All the vampires in the empire, including you, will be cleaned out anyway.”

“You turned a bald person into a vampire, sprinkled the kingdom with vampires, and then you said something like that…?”

“Could you say ‘Blood Elves’ instead of vampires? Unlike those who have been reduced to bloodthirsty beasts and demons, these people are still ‘true ancestors’ in their own way. Well, since they are going to die anyway, let me say one more thing.”

Cheolkeong.

“They’re all going to die anyway. They too.”

The crown prince picked up a musket with a stake on the end.

“The continent belongs to humans. We will no longer allow the human world to be controlled by the demi-humans left behind by the Gold Dragon. The Thersian Empire is the result of a war between the kingdom’s guardian dragon and the evil demon dragon- white dragon who envied him over humans. It was the history of a proxy war, but that dirty history must now come to an end.”

“You, you… !”

“You don’t understand what I’m talking about, do you? Isabella. You have no interest in this at all. If so, let me explain in an easy-to-understand way.”

Crash.

“Humanity will no longer return to the past, but will remain faithful to the present and move toward the future.”

The crown prince loaded the musket.

“Free from the remnants of the dragon and the rule of the demi-humans, humanity will enter a new era. Under the name of me, Habsburg.”

“…Anyway, a hero will be born in Nostrum and it will be ruined.”

“I’m familiar with that curse.”

The crown prince chuckled and twitched the corners of his mouth.

“People who died to me always said that. But I’m also a petty and clumsy person, so I don’t want to send the soon-to-be-dead off with a smile like that.”

Saaa-

“Your son, your daughter.”

An ultramarine blue aura began to appear on the stake attached to the end of the musket.

“I took it back because it was of no use, but it was tasteless.”

“…What?”

“The seeds I sowed have borne fruit.”

Ta-ang.

“I just ate the fruit again.”

* * *

The way the Crown Prince increases mana is through robbery and absorption.

The principle is based on ‘Mana Drain’ developed by the wizard hero of the Kingdom of Nostrum.

It steals mana from all objects that have mana and makes it its own.

There are no exceptions.