Chapter 195: Miruam Elizabeth El Rath (7)

༺ Miruam Elizabeth El Rath (7) ༻

The army returned.

Now that their original justification of punishing the ones behind the attempted assassination of the princess was of no use, the united army of the Kingdom, the Old Faith, and the Guardian Alliance had no choice but to disperse.

The first to go were the guardians of the Alliance, followed by the soldiers of the Kingdom. The believers of the Old Faith scowled and gritted their teeth but couldn't do anything by themselves when the Kingdom had already shown their position by retreating their army.

"Korin. They all left."

"Wow. We can finally come out~"

Marie and Estelle hopped out towards me. Because of their social positions, the two of them couldn't openly show their support, so they had been hiding from the eyes of the army the entire time.

"Thanks for your hard work. On another note..."

Next was the core of our plan, Lady Josephine, who tapped on my shoulder a few times before looking around the surroundings.

"Quite the... damage you have done to the environment."

Josephine clicked her tongue as she gazed at the completely ravaged canyon. On the other hand, Marie and Estelle seemed amazed by the change done to the landscape and looked around in curiosity.

"It might be safe for now, but there will be follow-ups that need to be dealt with."

"Yes. I'm aware."

The army had retreated, so it was time to deal with Dana Shee now. We went back into Dana Shee and came across countless demi-humans.

"Fair King..."

"Korin Lork..."

Their eyes were all on me, which Estelle explained in a soft voice.

"Most of them should be very friendly. I spread the news while helping them as a volunteer."

"You did?"

"Un un. They need to know who it was that was fighting for them, right?"

She replied with a wide smile on her face.

"The Order will send essential supplies after this is over. Of course, it will be in the name of our Fairy King, Finvarra. A job well done, right?"

"You know, I needed them to call me a King here to provide justification behind my actions, but if they do that elsewhere, that will be an actual crime of treason, okay?"

"It's just an honorific title~. And a public propagandized image or two is a must to rule them properly~. So it's a job well done, yes? Yes?"

Well... To be fair, ruling them directly would be the best way to guide Dana Shee down the right path in the future. I wasn't interested in becoming a leader but...

"Yeah. Well done. It will be a lot easier thanks to that."

"Right? Give me a kiss then."

"Ehk?"

"A kiss on my cheek~"

"Ah, please! What is wrong with you!"

I shouted in disgust but Estelle kept on clinging with a smile for some reason.

"Noona, can you please save this for when it's just the two of us?"

"Korin?"

"Uhmm... Senior Marie."

"W, why am I 'Senior', and why is Her Highness 'Noona'? Is this discrimination?"

"What's wrong with you now, Senior..."

"...This is making me sad."

"Come on, Senior. You're not a baby."

What is wrong with these two ladies all of a sudden?

Turning around, I found Lady Josephine slowly shaking her head.

The little quarrel only came to an end once we arrived at the conference room of Mound, the Temple of Dagda, with the intervention of another person.

"Look who it is~ it's our hero. Fairy King, Finvarra."

The Queen of Cats, Ednar Illusan, walked straight towards us before suddenly whispering in my ears.

"I pledged to myself once again after seeing you this time around, that I want to tie your limbs, and eat you up until you beg and beg for mercy."

"Umm..."

"You know I'm still waiting for my one-night reward, yeah? I'm looking forward to it."

You mean the... SM right? Yes, I do remember but did you have to say that here?

"Korin?"

"Dongsaeng?"

"Student Korin. Don't forget you're still a student."

"...This isn't what it looks looks like!"

Their eyes were very cold. Fuu... This reminded me of the pranks and jokes Misha used to make back when I was on Earth.

It was a problem because she kept on making sexual jokes even in front of my friends. Both Fujiwara and Seyoung were giving her a serious look, but Misha never paused her tongue of destruction.

She was a very nice girl but was much more open due to her upbringing in the land of grizzly bears. Despite how beautiful she appeared when doing gymnastics, she was very different around her friends.1EDMin Note: So after a quick Google search of "Land of Grizzly Bears." I didn't find much. I initially thought it was either Russia or California and then another Google search later I found out Russia doesn't have grizzled bears. (You learn something new every day, huh?) So this is either California, the Northern U.S. including Alaska, or Canada. But considering that he says she did Gymnastics and Canada has a total of 0 Olympic medals in Gymnastics I'm leaning towards Korin talking about the Northern U.S. or California. Anyway, enough rambling about my curiosity on this throwaway line, go enjoy the rest of the chapter.

"Now... Let's go in."

Looking away from the cold gazes pointing at me, I entered the conference hall and saw the demi-human leaders.

Ednar welcomed me with an exaggerated set of movements before asking the crowd.

"Is there anyone who still refuses Korin Lork as the leader of Mound?"

"..."

"..."

None of them could say anything. They all knew that I was the one who single-handedly stopped the army and saved them.

"Fairy King Finvarra..."

Unlike the first time we met, their eyes were filled with goodwill and awe. Some of them, however, were different.

"I assume it would be difficult for Sir Ku Shee... to make it out alive. Is that correct?"

Voiced out one of the beastmen that used to follow Ku Shee. They could not stop their leader from being dragged away from them, but that was what Ku Shee himself wanted as well.

"He'll probably die."

He had killed too many people. Regardless of how the beastmen thought of him, he was a great sinner in the eyes of the Kingdom.

Considering how the future of Miruam's subjugation of Mound was the set of guerrilla battles led by werewolves against the Kingdom, I had to get rid of any of their questions and dissatisfaction here.

"The golden wolves will now be the ones leading the beastmen. Ren and Ron - they are pure-blooded descendants of the Wolf King."

They had been the leaders of wolves even in the game and beastmen had the tendency of assigning a lot of meaning to bloodlines, so it shouldn't be too big of a problem.

"Speak up right now if you have anything you want to say. I will not allow anyone to carry out hostile actions against the Kingdom from today onwards."

"..."

Some understood Ku Shee's sacrifice while others could not, but regardless of their personal take on it, Dana Shee had to obey the laws of the Kingdom from now on.

"Don't worry. I will make sure to drive it into the minds of the young ones."

Saying that was the Chief Elder of Mound, Leprechaun. He was a kind-hearted shoe-making fairy and was one of my supporters from the very start.

"Beastmen... To be precise, the ones that had been following Ku Shee carrying out fights will leave Dana Shee and join my guild."

"Are you... telling us to leave our homeland?"

"It's just going to be for one year. After that, you can do whatever you want. I can introduce our golden wolves to you in the meantime as well."

Ku Shee was from a very noble status for beastmen. He was like a descendent of a duke, but golden wolves were literally descendants of the King. As soon as I mentioned them, the beastmen also turned quiet and swallowed any of their frustrations for the time being.

"Putting that aside, what's going to be happening now?"

"There will be an official group of messengers coming from the Kingdom. They will check the state of the city and talk about taxation."

"We are poor. Frankly speaking, most of our income comes from working as mercenaries or through Illusan's business."

"Don't worry about that. We will be supporting you for the time being."

As soon as I said that, Marie and Estelle took a step forward.

"Firstly, we will be providing you with food. When I had a look, I saw there was a severe shortage of food, which is probably because of how hard it is to farm underground."

"Hmm? How much are you thinking of...?"

Leprechaun, who had always been greatly concerned about the food shortage of Dana Shee, flickered his eyes after hearing that.

"Hmm~. Let's start off with 100,000 tonnes of potatoes."

"Hukk!"

"H, hundred thousand tonnes?"

"T, that much?"

"I can find jobs for you as well. We are always looking for helpers for agriculture, animal husbandry, mining... and also physical jobs like bodyguards for businesses or roads."

Next up was Estelle.

"There will also be supplies and volunteers coming from the New Faith. You would know because of our previous interactions, but the believers of New Faith don't have a prejudice against you guys, so don't worry about that."

"Mhmm... If you say so, Saintess."

"But Saintess. Remember that the god we serve is Dagda, who has built these underground cities. We have no plans of following the god you serve."

"Ah... Don't worry about that either."

Estelle then took out the large cauldron from behind her back. It was the divine artifact which the world knew as the Holy Grail. She also took out a large club along with it.

"T, that's...!"

Leprechaun was astonished. Not only that, but the old fairies who had lived through the era of gods all recognized the cauldron and her club.

"That's Lord Dagda's club!"

"Even Undry..."

Some of them even got down on their knees after seeing Undry.

"I met him in Mag Mell. I am his descendant, and Undry has acknowledged me as its master as well."

"Ohh... So the Saintess was—"

"A descendant of Lord Dagda..."

They were already fond of Estelle, the Saintess of the New Faith, but now they were even on the verge of worshiping her. Estelle grinned before locking her arms around mine.

"And Korin-dongsaeng is the official inheritor of Lord Nuada the God of the Sun, so~ I look forward to your missionary work in the future~!"

"Like I said, I'm not going to act as a god, okay?"

Things went pretty well in Mound.

When I went back there after some time, I found them worshiping me as the new God of the Sun and Estelle as the Goddess of the Earth.

***

After the huge storm of demi-human subjugation died down without leading to much of anything, the capital city was in an uproar for quite a while.

The resident registration of demi-humans, the sudden act of betrayal from a hero, and his trial as a Justice of the Peace. There were many talks about it, and some voiced out how my Legal Immunity shouldn't be permitted and how the trial should therefore be nullified, however...

'They're missing the core now.'

Everything went wishy-washy since Miruam, the head of the greatest faction of the Kingdom, wasn't making a move. Seeing Deputy Minister Gorgol of the Administration department vehemently speaking for the rights of demi-humans at the royal conference... was rather bizarre.

You weren't that kind of person before, were you?

Since Princess Miruam's faction was keeping their silence, everything ended peacefully.

The royal court was satisfied by the fact that they could punish Ku Shee, the culprit behind the incident, and was content without bothering to delve into the beehive, that was Dana Shee.

'King David seemed relieved as well.'

I had to have an audience with King David and Queen Asher to officially use my Legal Immunity.

『 Thank you. 』

That was what he said to me back then. He also confessed the truth about what happened after Queen Maria's death, just like he did in the last iteration.

『 She was a rather extreme believer of the Old Faith. She wasn't a bad person but... when she was young, her older cousin was killed by a vampire. 』

Even Queen Maria was also just a part of the endless cycle of hatred.

『 Back then, demi-human rights and harmony with them were coming to the surface. Afterward, Estelle was revealed to be the Saintess of the New Faith and their harmonious approach to demi-humans only accelerated the process... 』

『 If I publicized what happened to her back then... The Old Faith would have still had the upper hand to this date. 』

As a King, he was trying his hardest for a harmonious Kingdom with demi-humans and a brighter future for everyone. What happened 10 years ago, was a crucial event that could render all of his hard work useless.

And because of that, he glossed over the incident. Despite fully knowing that it would greatly hurt Miruam, he chose not as a father or a husband, but as a King.

After an audience with the King, I asked the attendant to lead me to the basement.

"Can I visit the underground prison?"

"Certainly. Let me guide you."

Following his lead, I headed to the prison located in the basement of the palace. It was to send off Ku Shee one last time before his execution.

"Hmm?"

When I got there, I realized there was already a guest.

"Your Highness Miruam?"

"..."

It was Miruam.

"You are here. Fairy King."

Ku Shee greeted me inside the prison cell with his arms bound in ropes. I glanced at Miruam, who said while glaring at the prisoner with a cold gaze.

"You will die."

"I know."

"Your limbs will be pulled apart until you die."

"Hanging was the only method of execution permitted in the Kingdom, was it not?"

"..."

"I'm just joking. Princess."

"You...!"

"I'm sorry."

His sudden apology made Miruam shut her mouth. She wanted to speak curses and spout about her desire for revenge but swallowed those words because she knew she couldn't do that anymore.

Looking at her, Ku Shee continued with a confession.

"My daughter died. She was brutally murdered and I couldn't save a single bone.

"I wanted to take my revenge. I hated the world and cursed the humans.

"The priests of the Deadlands that killed my daughter; those pigs; the believers that followed them; the politicians supporting them; and the royal family turning a blind eye... I wanted to kill everyone - all of them. Every day, my only dream and thought was how I could rip them to pieces and burn their flesh.

"It didn't even hit me that the only thing we had accomplished was... spreading the pain and agony to their spouses and kids. We turned a blind eye to it and scoffed at them, thinking they were getting what they deserved.

"I must have passed the end at one point. I had crossed the line."

Everyone was the same.

The future was non-existent to the parent who lost their child and he continued the unending chain of revenge and hatred.

"All of your anger towards me is valid. Sorry. But please... do not harm the innocent like I did. Do not make the same mistakes I've made."

"..."

Miruam turned around without replying to him. She probably wouldn't come back anymore.

That left behind Ku Shee and me in this old prison cell.

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Everything. The devotion, love, and mercy that you have shown."

"Sure."

We remained silent for a while, as if both of us had something we wanted to tell each other.

"This will be our last time having a chat."

I was the one who started it off first.

"That's right. It will end with just myself, so that's a lot of spare change on our end."

An attempted assassination of the princess alone was enough to warrant an execution. Besides, the incident from 10 years ago was also being investigated again so after a few more trials, Ku Shee would most certainly be hanged.

I didn't feel bad about that because it was the price he had to pay for his sins. But...

"This was only possible because you voluntarily put yourself on the line. I will have to thank you for that."

"It is nothing compared to the devotion you have shown."

"The golden wolves, Ren and Ron, will be taking your lead. You've seen them once haven't you?"

"Right. Even my men would follow them without a complaint."

"Yeah."

"I have something else that needs to be said."

He collected his breath for a bit before revealing the past.

"Dumnorix. That man came to us and gave us an offer."

***

I couldn't find Miruam anywhere after leaving the prison. She didn't even wait for me!

"Looks like I'll have to go looking for her myself."

Since I didn't have an official invitation, I climbed up the walls and tried my best to avoid the defensive spells of the palace.

-Beep!

Unfortunately, I accidentally activated one of the alarms.

Kuhum, it seems that I can't do it like Sihu.

In any case, I continued before landing on the terrace of the 2nd Princess's palace and encountered Miruam, who happened to be on the terrace for a breather.

"You are looking better than I expected."

"...You're trespassing illegally."

Perhaps due to the sincere apology from Ku Shee, her voice sounded rather empty and venomless.

"I've already committed treason, so they'll let me off the hook for this."

"Hmph..."

She powerlessly leaned on the terrace before turning her head towards me.

"So what is it that you wanted to achieve in the end? Are you just a good-natured person? After making such a thorough set of plans?"

"I'm just a man acting out of goodwill."

"Hah. Says someone stopping an army of a dozen thousand."

I do admit that it was rather risky. It probably would have failed if even one thing went wrong.

However, it worked. I believed in myself and it worked.

"It all began with me saving a girl called Marie."

I saved Marie Dunareff. The reason for that was simple; she was a good person and I wanted her to be happy.

"That was the beginning, and I realized that helping people made the good things come back to me."

Only because I saved Marie, helped Alicia, and protected Hua Ran... that everything leading up to today was possible.

Master, Estelle, Lunia, and Lady Josephine saw what I did, believed in my goodwill, and gave their whole-hearted support.

It was thanks to the reputation I built up that Mound did not refuse my help. They too would most certainly help me down the line if something went wrong.

Like how my way of life in this iteration and the origin of my goodwill... stemmed from Master, who protected me with her life on the line, I was simply doing the same.

All this was what goodwill could do instead of hatred.

"People are more drawn into provocative and stimulating things like revenge, murder, and hatred. But those hostile feelings are not as commonplace as they appear.

"The case with most people is that they act more out of goodwill than hostility. I'm sure this world is full of countless cycles of goodwill."

I won't say every good deed will see a return but...

"It would still make the world a slightly better place. That's why."

"..."

Miruam looked at me funny. It seemed like she was finding me beyond help, and looked quite lethargic at the same time.

"You... are seriously as good-natured as an oaf. You are the type of person to kill an enemy and cry."

"Umm... I'm not that much of a dimwit, okay? I think I'm quite firm."

"No, you're an oaf. If you view someone as your enemy, you need to make sure they're dead and throw their corpse on the streets."

"Surely not that much."

"That's what I would have done."

She grinned before chasing me out with her hands.

"Looking at you makes me question myself. Go away. I don't even want to see you."

"Well... the alarm's going off and the knights are about to come in so I do need to run away but... there is something I need to receive from you before I go, Your Highness."

"...What is it?"

"I need my reward for this week's mentoring."

"...Reward?"

She asked with a clueless look on her face, and her expression went through a rapid change after realizing what I meant. She dropped her chin as if she couldn't believe what she just heard.

"Smile."

"You...!"

"I've worked this hard, so you need to give me something in return. And a smile is all I need."

In this iteration; at least in this iteration.

"Haa... You really are an oaf. I heard there's no cure for being an idiot."

I want you to smile.

I want you to smile brightly like a fool.

I want you to drop your hatred; your revenge and show me an innocent smile.

"Stop being stupid."

She was about to go back into her room until her feet came to a stop. She then said in a voice that was evidently much softer than before.

"Right. You were quite cool. If I wasn't the villain, I might have seen you as a cool knight from a heroic tale."

For a while.

For quite some time, she had her back towards me while fidgeting with her fingers. She even brought her fingers to her mouth to raise the corners of her lips.

And,

After being done with the preparation,

She turned around.

She smiled brightly like the most innocent person in the world.

Footnotes:

1EDMin Note: So after a quick Google search of "Land of Grizzly Bears." I didn't find much. I initially thought it was either Russia or California and then another Google search later I found out Russia doesn't have grizzled bears. (You learn something new every day, huh?) So this is either California, the Northern U.S. including Alaska, or Canada. But considering that he says she did Gymnastics and Canada has a total of 0 Olympic medals in Gymnastics I'm leaning towards Korin talking about the Northern U.S. or California. Anyway, enough rambling about my curiosity on this throwaway line, go enjoy the rest of the chapter.