EP.232 The Princess of a Fallen Kingdom, The First Resistance
The flowing land itself forms a valley.
Since a meta-conveyor belt must not have an elevation difference, when creating a path through the northern highlands, the Military Nation undertook a monumental construction project that would go down in history.
Normally, flowing water carves the land over a long time to form a valley, but the Military Nation made the land flow by having countless humans carve out the valley. A human feat that defied even the laws of nature. Even though it was the work of an enemy, she could not help but pay her respects.
No, were they really her enemies?
In her childhood, which she could not even remember, this country killed her parents. The soldiers who staged a coup executed the rightful rulers of the kingdom, King Grandiomor and the Queen, by slapping absurd charges on them.
Not satisfied with that, they tried to sever the bloodline of the noble royal family, of which only a few remained in the world. They committed the treachery of overthrowing the king.
Therefore, Yerienn Grandiomor ought to hate them...
That was what she heard, but indignation woven by knowledge is loose and easily scatters. No matter how much she reminded herself, Yerienn could not find any anger.
The last princess. The final descendant of the Grandiomor royal family, which had existed since primordial times.
However, the infinitely small girl before great nature was staring at the endlessly flowing land. Half-immersed in admiration.
Amidst that, a familiar white handkerchief caught her eye. Yerienn murmured.
"...That handkerchief."
The guardian knight standing quietly by her side, Sir Randemayer, nodded.
"It is yours, Princess. It really must be them..."
Muttering as if he couldn't believe it, Sir Randemayer soon looked at Yerienn with a gaze full of admiration. Filled with respect, awe, and deep affection, he said in an excited voice,
"You are amazing! How did you know they would come this way? As expected, someone who carries noble blood possesses foresight that ordinary people could never reach!"
These were the kind of people who would squeal that even Yerienn's whistle was a celestial melody. Even though she was used to them suddenly gilding her face with praise, she still felt embarrassed. Yerienn smiled awkwardly.
"Hehe. That's not it, we just had no other choice. Since we are based in the north, there's only one possible scenario where we can meet them. Strictly speaking, you could call it a gamble betting on a single card."
"Extraordinary insight and the heavenly luck that makes it possible. That is the very quality of a sovereign! You possess both, Princess!"
"Hehe..."
The supreme princess covered her face with a somewhat reluctant smile. Perhaps because his adoration was too great, the knight failed to read the anguish hidden behind Yerienn's face.
Sir Randemayer, who had been looking at the container, carefully brought up the next matter.
"By the way, Princess. If I may be so bold, may I say a word regarding the envoy?"
"If you're going to tell me not to go, don't. I've already made my decision."
"I beg of you, Princess! It is dangerous!"
Never tiring of it, Sir Randemayer audaciously attempted to overturn his lord's decision.
In a neutral sense, it was an act deserving of punishment, but knowing it stemmed from loyalty, Yerienn simply shook her head.
"The conclusion is the same. I will go myself."
"Please reconsider. It is dangerous. The opponent is..."
"I know. However, it is preposterous for someone seeking to utilize that power to shy away from danger out of fear. Sir Randemayer, I must go as your lord, and as the representative of the Resistance."
"Ugh...! Then, at least take a guard..."
"Isn't Sir Randemayer enough? You are the last knight of the kingdom, and the strongest knight of the Resistance. Or will you not protect me?"
"How could that be! I will protect you with my life! But...!"
There are things that cannot be protected by resolve alone.
25 years ago, when the royal castle burned and honor fell to the ground. When the true nature of a noble duel was exposed by a single human. Realizing this at the mere age of ten, Sir Randemayer gripped his spear shaft and let out a crushed voice.
"I will let it pass since the progenitor Tirkanjaka is a legendary vampire. But! The boy swordsman named Shei is a monster who equaled the Pinnacle at that age!"
"Sir. Don't worry about it. That boy is just a slightly young Pinnacle."
"That is what makes him a monster! A monster who could single-handedly destroy a nation!"
Beneath the value of noble duels, how greatly did knights rule this world.
However, after the value of duels was turned on its head, the kingdom's honor was utterly trampled. A duel started by a single person brought down the kingdom. The scattering of the kingdom's remnants, and their failure to rise again despite possessing such a mighty force, was because the very value they were protecting had been broken.
As long as the Pinnacle exists, no knights will be born. They will only die.
"If by any chance you were to be harmed, Princess...!"
"Sir. Hush."
Yerienn put on a deliberately angry expression. Randemayer immediately bowed his head and knelt.
Emphasizing her displeasure with a brief silence, Yerienn relaxed her expression and offered a merciful word.
"I am the princess of a fallen kingdom. Risking danger is part of my duty."
Randemayer did not reply. Not because he had nothing to say, but because of the rule that he could not speak unless his lord permitted it. Yerienn often used that rule, yet it still made her uncomfortable.
What exactly was a knight, and what was a king? Why did the people abandon the king? Perhaps this was the reason the king disappeared.
Yerienn spoke with a bitter smile.
"And, I assure you. They won't be that dangerous. That is my insight."
She merely took her words and named it insight; in truth, there was no basis for it. Driven into a corner, it was the sight of someone shouting that there was a way out while looking ahead at a swarming mass of enemies.
But there was no other choice. For those who have exhausted their stakes, every moment is an all-in.
The princess did not know the kingdom's appearance. She wasn't even sure if the country described in the heroic poems was precious enough to risk her life to restore.
However, countless people saved her, cared for her, and loved her. Yerienn could not abandon those who had cared for her.
Even if she wasn't a princess, as everyone's daughter. Yerienn intended to fulfill her duty.
Having steeled her resolve, she smiled softly and called her friend.
Having no interest in the kingdom's restoration, and thus unbound by duty.
The precious friend who lost her friends, her future, and her right arm to the Military Nation.
"And, because Siati will help me."
Boarding the meta-conveyor belt, the Resistance princess who visited the container we were staying in faced an awkward situation.
'Uwaaa... I didn't expect this at all...'
Agreed.
It was good that the Resistance approached with such vigor. The fact that their leader was the princess of a fallen kingdom was also something I knew by reading the regressor's thoughts.
Well, to rally the remnants of a fallen nation, one would at least need to be of royal blood. To continue resisting for nearly 25 years, it was important not to lose spirit, first and foremost.
However.
"Ahaha! It's so nice to see you, Historia! So! So very much!"
I didn't expect a survivor of Hameln to be by the princess's side.
"Huey, you too! I never thought I'd reunite with a familiar face in a place like this!"
Should I greet her, or not?
A prosthetic arm attached to her right arm. Skin tanned rough from spending so much time under the sun. And yet, a creaking smile that seemed somewhat broken.
Historia squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away. But bound as she was, she couldn't avoid it. The prosthetic right arm grabbed her chin.
It was a fearless act. Even bound, a Six-Star realm master could easily crush a person. For someone from the Resistance, which opposed the Military Nation, to approach so closely was audacious.
The princess, hiding behind her guardian knight, rolled her eyes.
"S-Siati. That person... is a Six-Star realm, right? Even if she's tied up, getting that close is a bit... dangerous, I think."
But Siati didn't stop. Instead, Historia retreated just as much. Overwhelmed by Siati's vigor, she tried to turn her head as if wanting to look away.
However, the traces of the past clung to Historia like eyelids. Having reached the pinnacle of Qi Gong, even with her eyes closed, she could perfectly visualize Siati's figure. The violent momentum, the heavily excited breath, and the unnaturally moving right prosthetic arm, which barely clung to the edge of the uncanny valley.
"Ah, don't worry, Princess. I told you. I'm besties with a high-ranking official of the Military Nation."
Siati pulled on Historia's shoulder. Historia desperately tried to pull away, but bound and unable to use her strength, she had no way to shake Siati off. Their chests touched, and a blatant gaze was directed at Historia. Historia clenched her teeth and cast her eyes down.
"Moreover... my precious friend. Is my savior who saved my life. When she searched the bottom of the Hameln river to save me... you have no idea how happy I was."
Fearlessly grabbing the face of a Six-Star realm master and rubbing her cheek as if toying with a prisoner, Siati smiled a smile full of ecstasy.
"Because it means even monsters have a human heart! Because it means we can wound the daughter of the Military Nation, who seemed invincible, with our own power!!"
Hameln, the bottom of the river.
The children decided to walk along the riverbed with arms linked.
Since there was a high risk of being swept away by the current alone, they planned to hold onto each other like iron chains.
However, a few, including Siati, who had completely abandoned hope, chose to just be swept away.
Saying that a few corpses floating away would deliver a greater shock, they decided to embrace the corpses of the children killed by Nicholas and the beasts and throw themselves into the water.
The children tearfully grabbed Siati. But Siati's resolve was firm.
They needed scapegoats anyway, and the more dead people there were, the less the Military Nation would suspect. To make it look like a suicide incident, they also needed genuine drowned corpses.
She herself, groaning as her lost right arm and worsening wounds festered, was the perfect candidate.
Surviving like this would amount to nothing; she would rather die and inflict even a little damage on the Military Nation.
Half-serious, half-resigned, she smiled and said so.
It was an excuse to brush off her friends' dissuasion.
However.
To the children who had become one through repeated hardships, the grand justification that it was okay to give up on life was far too sweet.
Although it wasn't her intention, her words reached the children's hearts.
They, who had been abandoned, already had enough reason to give up on life. However, the instinct of life imprinted in their bodies had been holding them back.
Humans often learn the ability to give up their lives for something invisible. The harsh teaching of the Military Nation—that one must sacrifice even their life for the country—was also a part of it.
That reversed direction, aiming at the Military Nation.
For their friends.
For those who would survive.
To torment the hateful country.
The children walking along the riverbed with arms linked, one by one, released the strength in their arms and shoulders. Instead of taking their next step, they lifted their planted feet.
The chains that supported each other snapped strand by strand and flowed down the river.
No, perhaps. An invisible, powerful chain bound them all and dragged them away.
Historia, who had come down the river to look for the missing children, witnessed the scene and tried to save the children being swept away. However, no matter how strong the power, even the daughter of the Military Nation could not hold onto lives that had given up the will to live.
In the horrific tragedy before her eyes, the lives Historia saved by swimming out herself... ironically. Were only a few, including Siati, who had floated away first.
They swore to kill the Military Nation even if they died, and threw themselves into the Resistance.
Not as remnants of the old regime, but as the true Resistance born and raised within the Military Nation—they were born in this way.