I Am the Monarch – Chapter 139 : To Pershion Kingdom (4)

“You bastards! Walk properly!”
“You there, keep your head down! Only look at your feet while you walk!”

Cold and angry shouts hit the ears .
The soldiers on horses moved back and forth and glared .
The hundreds of people, with their wrists and ankles tied with hard ropes, moved their feet with their heads down .
Their appearances were literally a mess .
Their hairs were disheveled and grimy .
They looked horrendous .
But despite that, their faces somehow looked elated .

“You bastards! Don’t smile!”

One of the soldiers on the horses saw that look and shouted angrily .
The people **** in the ropes erased their smiles with effort and kept their heads down .

“Sons of **** . So you’ve won the war, is it? I’ve half a mind to cut off all of their heads, but…… tch!”

The soldier who shouted clicked his tongue with a regretful expression .
Another soldier came up and shook his hand .

“Don’t talk nonsense . The moment we chop off their necks, thousands of our prisoners captured by the Pershion Kingdom side will lose their lives . ”
“I know! I know that, and that’s why we’re sending them back so meekly like this!”

The two conversed with heavily contorted faces .
Their identities were the soldiers of Istel Kingdom’s Central Corp .

“Damn it . Those **** of the Istel Kingdom . ”

One of the soldiers spat .
The people walking along while **** with ropes shrank themselves even more in case they got caught up in any unnecessary spark .
They were the Pershion Kingdom’s soldiers who were captured by Istel Kingdom army in the war with Istel Kingdom and Byron Kingdom .
In another word, prisoners .
They were prisoners of war .

‘We’re now going home!’
‘We won the war and even kept our lives!’

The captives exhaled short sighs .
Those were sighs of relief .
Right after the war ended, the Pershion Kingdom and the Istel Kingdom began negotiating the prisoner exchange .
Thankfully, the negotiation finished without a fault .
It was because the Pershion Kingdom, the victorious nation, suggested to exchange each nation’s prisoners without any special conditions .
The Istel Kingdom, whose number of prisoners was much greater, immediately accepted those terms .

“Sons of **** . We will definitely return this humiliation one day . ”

The Istel soldiers spat out curses .
The Pershion prisoners, without showing any reactions, simply hurried their steps .

‘We just need to be patient for just a bit, just a little bit longer . ’

The Pershion Kingdom was now right in front of their noses .
Their hearts raced rapidly and their faces flushed red .
From the dreadful war, they were able to miraculously return alive .
Amongst those prisoners, men with familiar faces were there .

‘It’s much more easier than I had thought . ’

The person who was keeping his head down and moving along just like the others was in fact Roan .
He disheveled his hair, coated his skin with charcoal, and was heading towards the Pershion Kingdom while mixed amongst the other prisoners .
Of course, Harrison, Brian, and Clay could also be seen behind Roan .

‘Everything is going according to plan . ’

The Pershion Kingdom and the Istel Kingdom had just ended a war .
Obviously, any private travel through the borders was completely restricted .
It wasn’t possible to cross over from the Istel Kingdom to the Pershion Kingdom by ordinary means .
Clay, who had already predicted such a situation, proposed one solution .
It, was to use the prisoner exchange between the two kingdoms .
Even though the plan itself was an extraordinary plan, Clay’s talent, who was actually carrying out the plan, was even more outstanding and prodigious .
After meticulously analyzing the executives of the prisoner exchange, he used both a carrot and a stick by luring in both those who were greedy for wealth and those whose backs were fishy .
Once he spread the riches and blackmailed them, they fell and became Clay’s puppets .
Thanks to that, Roan, Harrison, Brian, and Clay were able to uneventfully mix in with the prisoners and head towards the Pershion Kingdom .

‘We just need to cross the border . ’

Once they cross the border, there was no more need to hide their identities .
No, instead, confidently revealing their identities would be much easier in proceeding with the job .
Roan tightly kept his head down and busily moved his feet .
The soldiers and the prisoners crossed the Istel Kingdom’s border gate and moved towards the middle of the buffer zone .

“Ah……”

The prisoner walking at the lead let out a quiet exclamation .
A flag that they had longed for so much was standing up straight in front of them on the opposite side .

< Pershion Kingdom . >

“Kuuhk . ”
“Huuhuhuhk . ”

The captives who saw the kingdom’s flag all cried out tears .

“Damn it! Quiet down!”
“Shut up!”

The Istel soldiers roared at them, but the cries didn’t die down easily .
But even so, they couldn’t beat or verbally abuse them as they wished .
Below the Pershion Kingdom flag, more than two thousand soldiers were lined up .
One wrong move and a battle could start .
In the end, the Istel soldiers could only push forwards the captives tangled in ropes forwards .

“Damn it . Pershion **** . Get the **** out of here!”

Several soldiers couldn’t hold themselves back and spat out curses .
Once the captives departed from the Istel Kingdom side, an incredible number of prisoners from the Pershion Kingdom side also began to move .
Unlike the Pershion prisoners who numbered in the hundreds, the Istel Kingdom prisoners reached several thousands .
Just by seeing this, it could be guessed just how perfect of a victory the Pershion Kingdom had achieved .

“Move quickly!”
“Don’t even look behind you!”

The prisoner exchange finished rapidly without any incidents .

“Booooo!”
“Waaaah!

The moment the prisoner exchange ended, boos and cheers noisily echoed from each sides .
In any case, there was zero possibility of a battle starting in the current situation .
Since that would mean the start of another war .
Because of that, both sides’ soldiers and prisoners could cheer and jeer as much as they wanted .
The side that won, the Pershion Kingdom, cheered and the side that lost, the Istel Kingdom, jeered .
A noisy battle of sounds went back and forth for a while .

“Alright . This much is enough . ”
“Let’s go back!”

The two sides, as if rehearsed, returned through each sides’ border gates .
The ropes that bound their wrists and ankles had already been untied a while ago, but that didn’t mean they could get out of formation as they wished .

“There may be the enemy spies . Check the identities at the gate . ”

Because there were numerous cases of mixing in and sending spies during a prisoner exchange, it was a process that always had to be done .
Although this wasn’t quite an agreeable procedure in Roan’s position, there wasn’t any need to be concerned .

‘It was exactly because of a situation like this that I received Prince Simon’s permission before coming . ’

Currently, Roan hadn’t come to Pershion Kingdom for personal reasons .
He was, at that moment, a formal diplomat who came to the Pershion Kingdom as a representative of the First Prince Simon of the Rinse Kingdom .
The border gates appeared as he thought of various things .
The executive of the prisoner exchange only then lined up the prisoners at one spot, and ordered the soldiers to check their identities one by one .

“Soldier Rams of the Camet Troop Third Squad, Northern Regional Corp Second Corp . ”
“Squad Captain Corey of the Ilian Troop Tenth Squad, Northern Regional Corp Third Corp . ”
“Soldier……”

The identity check proceeded quickly and precisely .
One of the soldiers stood up in front of Roan .

“Name yourself and your affiliation . ”

He spoke in a cold and businesslike manner .
Roan cheerily smiled and put a hand inside his chest pocket .
From deep inside, he took out a dirty cloth .

“What’s this? I said name yourself and your affiliation . ”

The soldier frowned at that sight .
Roan paid no attention to him and carefully opened the dirty cloth .
Inside, there was a clean piece of cloth sewed on with highly beautiful and elegant drawing and writing .
That was in fact the emblem of Regate, symbolizing Simon’s status and prestige .

“I said name yourself and your affiliation!”

The soldier shouted once again .
As the situation became noisy, multiple soldiers and the executive swarmed up .
With fierce eyes, they glared at Roan .

‘A spy?’

The lights in all of their eyes were saying so .
Roan, without minding them, raised up the emblem and spoke with a confident and soft voice .

“I am Baron Roan Tale, representative of the Rinse Kingdom’s First Prince and the great lord of the Regate, Simon Rinse, and an official diplomatic agent . ”

Boom .

Immediately, silence fell through the area .
The Pershion Kingdom’s soldier, all with confounded looks, stared at Roan .
The one who broke the silence was Roan .

“Guide me to the capital, Althus . ”

A dauntless and daring mannerism and speech .
A look that naturally exuded dignity .
Roan didn’t lose spirit even in front of a foreign kingdom’s soldiers .
That was the true bearing of a great general .

*****

“A representative of Rinse Kingdom’s First Prince Simon?”
“Yes . He says he is Baron Roan Tale . ”
“Roan Tale? By Roan Tale, perhaps……”
“Yes . However we look, it seems he is the Crimson Ghost . ”
“Hmm . The Crimson Ghost……”

A short groan leaked out .
The person who leaked the groan was the Pershion Kingdom’s first prince, Reitas Pershion .

‘The Crimson Ghost showed up at our kingdom?’

He too had heard a lot about the Crimson Ghost, Roan Tale .
Reitas raised his head and looked his aide and a noble of the the kingdom, Baron Baite Inges .

“Are you certain that he isn’t a representative of Rinse Kingdom’s king but the First Prince Simon?”
“It is certain . They say that he had definitely named himself so . ”

Reitas creased his brows .

‘Not the king, but the first prince sent a diplomat?’

It was ridiculous statement .

“And the purpose of the visit?”
“He said that it is for friendship between the two kingdoms . He is currently coming to Althus Castle . ”
“Hmm . ”

Those words weren’t something that he could believe so easily .
The Rinse Kingdom was currently in a middle of a competition for the succession of the throne .
It wasn’t a situation where any one prince could show diplomacy .

‘Then that must mean there is another underlying motive besides creating a friendship between the two kingdoms……’

And a goal that is advantageous for Simon, a goal that Simon needs at that .
Reitas fell into thought .

‘The timing too is strange……’

Until now, there was no significant dealings between the Pershion Kingdom and the Rinse Kingdom to speak of .
Since there is the Byron and the Istel between the two kingdoms and because of the long distance, there was no real need to trade .
Suddenly, Reitas’ eyes widely opened .

‘Perhaps is it because of Manus?’

Reitas’ face stiffened .
The reason that the Rinse Kingdom, and the First Prince Simon at that, who should be in middle of a competition for the throne, had sent a diplomat .
Considering the various circumstances and the timing, there was a high probability that it was related to Manus .

‘Is the goal not a friendship with our kingdom but with Manus?’

It wasn’t a bad choice from Simon’s position .

‘Since that side should know that Kallum and I are friends……’

But even so, it couldn’t be helped that the situation itself felt irritating .

‘An attitude that ignores me, the kingdom’s first prince . ’

Of course, this was only if Reitas’ prediction was correct .

‘I should watch for now . ’

He raised his head and turned to Baite .

“I don’t know what kind of scheme it is, but he is the kingdom’s honorable guest for now . Greet him courteously . ”
“Yes . Understood . ”

Baite immediately lowered his head then exited the office .
Reitas, who was left alone, rubbed his forehead with his right hand and closed his eyes .

‘Simon, Roan……’

The two names rolled within the mouth .

‘The things are slowly getting bigger . ’

And at a much faster speed than what he thought .
Reitas exhaled a short sigh .

‘Is there truly no other way……’

For an instant, a pained look flickered past .
But soon, a cold and sharp air gathered in his eyes and mouth .

‘It cannot be helped . Since I can’t have the seat taken away even if there is no other choice . ’

His face was a one that looked to have firmly decided on something .
That day at that moment, Reitas cleared up one concern that had tormented him .

‘I’m sorry . ’

The same words circled inside him again and again .
But only Reitas could knew whether those were his true feelings or not .

*****

“Althus Castle is quite plain . ”

Brian looked outside the carriage and muttered .
Clay smiled cheerfully and answered .

“It is since the Pershion Kingdom is a small nation compared to our Rinse Kingdom, the Byron Kingdom, and the Istel Kingdom . ”
“Is it? Even so, I thought it was a kingdom with quite a long history . ”

Bryon looked at Clay and tilted his head .
Clay closed the book he was reading and turned to Brian .

“The Pershion Kingdom was also a strong kingdom that once conquered the continent’s northeast . But as inept kings ruled over multiple generations, rebellions endlessly appeared from various regions and was divided into tens of big and small kingdoms in the end . ”
“Ah, I know of that story . Afterwards, Lloyd Von Pershion came to rule, conquered most of the small nations, and raised the current Pershion Kingdom . ”
“Yes . But despite so, they had lost more than half of their lands compared to before . And the one who united those other lands and raised a new kingdom was the very Madison Von Light . This is the founding story of the Light Kingdom currently at the continent’s northeastern end . ”

Brian nodded at Clay’s words .
It was because he remembered the continent’s history he had heard during his days at the academy .
At that moment, Harrison, who had been listening to the story, squinted and asked .

“Then, the Pershion Kingdom and the Light Kingdom must be sworn enemies, no?”

As soon as he spoke those words, Roan and Clay answered at the same time .

“No, instead, they’re significantly close . ”
“That isn’t so . Instead, their relationship is more closer to brother nations . ”

At those words, Harrison made a slightly surprised expression .

“How is that so, sir?”

He tilted his head as if he simply couldn’t understand .

“That’s because in the last several decades, the king of Light……’

The moment Roan’s words reached that point .
The Coachman’s voice was heard .

“We have arrived at the capital, Althus Castle . But……”

His voice was slightly flustered .
At that moment, an officer riding on a war horse approached next to the carriage .

“Prince Reitas Pershion has came out to greet you! We need to stop the carriage .

It was a completely unexpected welcome .
No, situation .

“Then do so . ”

Roan answered briefly then straightened his clothes .
Clay faintly smiled and cautiously spoke .

“It seems the Pershion Kingdom’s First Prince is also feeling a bit hot . ” 1

Roan formed a peculiar expression at those words and shook his head .

“Perhaps . We won’t know until we meet him . Whether he is heated……”

The carriage’s speed gradually slowed down .
Roan looked out the window and murmured with a quiet voice .

“Or whether he is ice cold . ”

Whatever it was, it wasn’t an easy situation .
But if it was the latter .

‘We may have to worry about our lives . ’

< To Pershion Kingdom (4) > End .

Translator : CSV

 

Korean phrase 몸이 달다, literally means “body is heated” and is synonymous with “anxious”