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Chapter 246 - The Birth of a New Emperor (4)

However, curiosity prevailed over fear, and greed was even more insidious than curiosity.

According to the rumors, the palace was empty, which made it a treasure for the petty thieves who lived in the slums of Highlander. The day after Henry’s surprise attack, the low-life petty thieves were already drooling over the prospect of raiding the deserted palace.

“Are you going to go?”

“Of course. We can\'t live like this forever, right? Food prices are rising because of the war, and this is the only way to change this mundane life of ours.”

The seventeen-year-old Hans was an orphan who lived in the slums of Highlander. His close friend Campbell, another orphan, was the one who had gathered intel from other thieves.

Just like other thieves, Hans and Campbell also had their eyes set on the treasures within the palace. Rumors had been circulating for two days already, so as soon as Hans heard that several thieves had broken into the palace, he made up his mind.

“Let’s go, Campbell! We can’t just keep living like rats. Let’s seize the opportunity while we can and change our lives.”

“Well, I mean, I did fetch this information...”

Hans was bold, but Campbell was more timid, which was why he acted like a scaredy cat at Han’s urging to go to the palace. However, he knew deep down that Hans was right. The food prices had soared because of Arthus and his continental conquest. It had gotten so bad that they couldn’t even find corn soup anymore.

Hans, frustrated with Campbell\'s reluctance, gave him a stern look.

“For god’s sake, are you coming or not?!” Hans demanded.

"Okay, okay! I’ll go! You happy?” replied Campbell awkwardly, wanting to save face. However, despite his initial hesitation, he now seemed a bit more confident.

At Campbell’s response, Hans nodded approvingly, ready to make a solid plan. But at that moment, something unexpected interrupted them.

“The imperial army is back!”

“What?”

The people of Highlander shouted out the news that the imperial army had returned.

“What kind of bullshit is this...!”

Hans grumbled at the unexpected news, his thoughts running wild. He couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that the imperial army had returned so soon despite having left for the continental conquest not too long ago. He also wondered if they knew that the imperial palace had suddenly been assaulted while they were gone.

However, unlike Hans, who was frustrated and bewildered, people gathered eagerly to have a glimpse of the imperial troops as they returned.

“Oh, oh...!”

Kington was riding his horse at the forefront of the army, holding his head high like a general who was returning after claiming victory. The commanders from Faesiling and the Church of Peace followed behind him.

Everyone had solemn expressions, which actually puzzled Hans. Usually, the commoners could determine the outcome of a war based on the facial expressions and overall demeanor of the soldiers when they returned.

Things like smiling, waving hands, and cheering were signs of victory, whereas bandaged and sagged heads meant the opposite.

To Han’s dismay, the returning imperial troops didn’t really react in any way. They marched solemnly and in silence, heads held high, creating a somewhat grave atmosphere that left everyone puzzled.

“Damn it, what the hell is going on?” Hans grumbled as he kept watching the procession. He was frustrated by this silent and ominous march. However, he was more angry because the return of the army meant that they could no longer raid the palace that night.

Campbell sighed and said, “By the way, Hans.”

“What?”

“What happens now that the imperial army is back in the imperial palace?”

“...”

That was when Campbell realized that even though they had heard about the raid on the imperial palace, nobody knew whether the emperor was still alive.

***

Once the last soldier of the imperial army entered the imperial palace, the doors were tightly shut. Kington ordered some of the soldiers to fill in for the royal guards who had fled.

It was Henry who had come up with the idea of the imperial army returning to the palace. Given that the palace had been attacked out of the blue and the war had somehow ended, Henry knew that they had to calm down the masses as soon as possible.

Kington let out a deep sigh as he saw how much damage the palace had sustained.

“What in the world...”

There were broken pillars, and destroyed marble stairs; they had only been away for a few days and the palace was in ruins

Allen came to his side and added, “What a fucking mess.”

“W-what? Hey you! Watch the language! Even if the order of the empire has collapsed, this place shall not be ridiculed by the likes of you!” retorted Kington indignantly.

Allen merely chuckled at Kington’s response.

“Pfft, still acting like a noble even though you could end up dead at any moment...”

“What did you just say?”

“What?” said Allen in a mocking tone.“Draw your sword if you have a problem.”

Since Arthus, the one who had brought the continent together, was no longer here, the order of the empire was almost nonexistent. In fact, the hierarchy and order of the Aenia Empire depended solely on Arthus, which meant that Allen no longer had to bow to Kington.

“You... !”

Kington gritted his teeth. However, according to Henry, he was the only one alive among the Imperial Ten Swords, which meant he would be at a severe disadvantage if he started a fight as he no longer had the same amount of forces he had once had.

Thus, instead of acting in a belligerent manner, Kington composed himself and decided to act as rationally as possible. However, he had lived in a position of authority all his life, so his habits brought on by aristocratic power wouldn’t go away overnight.

Allen couldn\'t help but smirk as he saw Kington tremble in frustration. He then tore a piece of paper and cast it on the ground; it was the caller scroll Henry had given him.

Soon, Archmage-level wizards, including Henry, the former Imperial Ten Swords, and Ten, the man whom Henry had proposed for the position of emperor, teleported at the palace. Then Allen greeted Henry with a smile on his face.

“Welcome, Archmage.”

The reason Allen welcomed Henry, as opposed to Kington, who just ignored him, was simple. Henry had Valhald under his command, and since Valhald was Allen’s idol, his role model, the Mercenary King naturally respected Henry as Valhald’s superior.

At his greeting, Henry nodded and replied, “Did you enter the imperial palace quietly like I told you to?”

“Yes, of course. We all kept a straight face until the last soldier made it into the palace. There’s no way the commoners can guess as to how the war ended.”

“Good. Now, let me introduce everyone to the person I proposed to take the throne. Everyone, this is Ten.”

Henry introduced Ten while looking at him with a gentle smile. Unlike Henry’s warm attitude, Ten was as stiff as he could be. At this, Henry burst out laughing and pushed Ten forward, which startled him.

Ten tentatively took two steps forward and stuttered, “Ah... Uhm, he-hello everyone... I... Uhm, I am the owner of the Million Gold Organization! No, no, this isn’t it... I... Um... I, I am... Ten...”

Due to the extreme pressure, Ten stuttered a lot and soon sagged his head in embarrassment. He wasn’t acting like his normal confident, cheerful self. However, it made sense for him to act this way. After all, throughout his life, Ten had only done some money lending and assisted Henry.

Because of that, Ten couldn’t help feeling insignificant in this situation. Not only was he supposed to be the new emperor, but he had to introduce himself in front of two Knight Kings along with the Archmages of the Magical Spire and other big names from St. Hall and Faesiling.

“You’re telling me this guy is supposed to be the new emperor?”

Naturally, Kington was the first one to complain; he was displeased with the idea of having someone like Ten ruling almost the entire continent. He didn’t think Ten could handle that much responsibility.

While maintaining a gentle smile, Henry responded to Kington, “So?”

“What?"

“If you have a complaint, just say it to me directly. Don’t grumble like a bitch.”

“W-what...?”

“You want me to say it again? Stop being a bitch and say what you really want to say.”

“...!”

Kington stared at Henry, bewildered.

However, Henry didn’t care how shocked Kington was and continued, “Kington, I feel like you’re still not getting the picture, so let me make it clear for you. The moment Arthus ran away, you stopped being a noble, or anything for that matter. That being said, if you want to keep what you have now, you better know your place and think before you run your stupid mouth.”

Kington was utterly shocked. Henry had always spoken less respectfully to those who weren’t wizards from the Magical Spire, but this was just outrageous.

Henry suddenly confronted Kington and humiliated him because he belittled Ten, the man he trusted and recommended for the throne, and to insult Ten like that meant insulting Henry himself.

Of course, Henry also ripped into Kington in order to show support for Ten and give him the confidence he needed. He wanted to make it clear to Ten that Kington, the current Knight King, could be subdued with just words.

After being scolded by Henry, Kington\'s face got so red that it seemed like it would explode any moment. At this, Allen, McDowell, and Von turned their heads and chuckled.

Henry then turned to everyone else and said, “There is a lot to do, and just because we put someone on the empty throne doesn’t mean the empire will run itself. We need to get the administrative parts of the empire up and running smoothly again. And above all, it doesn’t seem like we have enough time to fix the flawed administrative system anyway, so...”

Henry snapped his fingers as he finished his sentence. Then, Ten, who had been standing still with a blank look on his face, began to glow brightly. The dazzling light seemed to cover every part of his body, but that wasn’t the real surprise.

“...!”

Once the light faded away, everyone looked stunned.

Ten had suddenly transformed into the former emperor, Arthus Highlander, when moments prior he looked like an ordinary middle-aged man.

“...!”

Even Ten was surprised by his sudden transformation. However, Henry grabbed onto his shoulders and said to everyone, “Until we find Arthus and dispose of him, I plan to use Ten as Arthus’ clone and take care of the administrative part of things as usual.”

“Huh...?”

After hearing Henry’s plan, Masila burst into laughter, but it wasn’t to mock him. Rather, she found his plan so ingenious, but also so absurd, that she couldn’t help laughing. She was genuinely impressed.

Henry continued, “I’ve heard that strange rumors have been circulating in the capital after the court ladies fled from the palace. So right now, we need to show that Arthus is safe in order to stabilize the public opinion. After we deal with Arthus, we’ll establish a proper empire. But, of course...!"

Henry turned his head and stretched out his hand to point at the school head wizards.

“These folks are the wizards of the Magical Spire that worked with my master when he was alive to make policies. Therefore, I will gather wizards with outstanding talent in politics who are not Archmage-level to come up with new policies suitable for the new empire for the time being.”

Henry’s plan was to take people who didn’t excel in combat and make use of them in the political sphere. There weren’t that many of them, so Henry didn’t think it would be a problem.

“Next, we’re going to prepare for Ten’s official speech as emperor. We’ll have him appear in public to let the people know he’s still alive and also to rescind the execution order for the wizards.”

After he finished telling everyone the next courses of action, Henry took off one of his hands from Ten’s shoulders.

Ten looked at Henry in surprise. His jumpy reaction caused Henry to laugh.

“I know this is rather uncanny, not looking like your normal self, but... can I trust you with this?”

“Oh, of course! Just leave it to me!”

“Okay, then. Let’s start your lessons on how to become emperor in a short period of time.”

“Yes...?”

With that, Henry started his lessons for Ten on how to be emperor.