Episode 19. The Tower of Light and Rebellion (4)
Thrown to the dogs with their heads cut off. This was always the last appearance of a traitor.
The imperial court painters would smear the heads of executed traitors with freshly baked lard and roll them on the dirt floor.
Then the dogs run madly, sticking out their tongues, and that moment is captured in the artist’s hands as a painting.
“Miguel, are you okay?”
Rubin, who was looking at the picture, bent his knees for a moment and touched the floor.
The guide guessed that the person was shocked by the sight of the cruel picture as he staggered and fell.
It was actually not uncommon for people to sit down in shock after seeing the pictures carved into the ‘Tower of Rebellion’.
It was understandable, as the severed heads lying on the floor were depicted in such detail. It would have been a difficult sight for young children who had yet to taste the bitterness of the world to accept, and it would have been even more so for a child who had lost his mind due to aphasia.
But contrary to the guide’s guess, Rubin was not depressed by the cruelty of the painting.
A large wave was continuously resonating from Rubin’s inner world.
‘… … !’
The waves were so strong that they shook Rubin’s body.
The waves that started the moment he looked at the traitor’s face. They tormented Rubin as if an earthquake had hit his chest.
-Is this why you came here? To show me this!
Haneke’s scream echoes within me.
Rubin watched the enraged general from a distance. For now, he had no choice but to watch. He had no choice but to wait until he accepted everything.
The guide also checked Rubin’s condition and said:
“Hmm. Miguel, I’ll take a break from watching for a while until you feel better.”
As soon as the guide finished speaking, Rubin sat down on the floor, clutching his rising and falling chest. He concentrated on the general’s reaction.
-Sob… sob.
An expression that means that one’s blood is drying up. As the expression suggests, Haneke was so angry that he was helpless.
He was someone who took his own death lightly. However, even the most detached general could not easily accept the death of his grandson.
The birth of a grandson, the sight of a little boy learning the Brion swordsmanship himself, the sight of a young man commissioned as an officer in the Imperial Army… … .
The sight of his grandson passing before his eyes made Haneke’s mind wander even further.
Was that the extent of the Emperor’s heart? Was it enough to cut down the Brion swordsmanship that his loyal subject had proudly protected for a long time, and his grandson, who he had never hidden his affection for?
Above all else.
What drove Haneke blind with rage was the text describing the death of his grandson, Felkion Brion.
-Pelchion Brion was the grandson of Haneke, the Imperial General and the master of Brion swordsmanship. Felchion was siding with the rebels, and Haneke found out about it and beheaded his grandson. Afterwards, Haneke committed suicide to atone for his sins to His Majesty the Emperor, and His Majesty accepted his feelings.
-… … .
Haneke held the wooden sword that he had always shaken his head and refused to use whenever Rubin handed it to him, but for the first time in a long time, he picked it up. However, at this moment, there was no one in front of him to swing and stab.
Haneke, who was looking down at the hand holding the wooden sword, thrust it down hard into the floor.
Bullfighting.
-Thanks to the lie that I cut off my grandson’s head myself, I was carved into the Tower of Light, and that guy was carved into the Tower of Rebellion. Telmah… You even trample on Brion’s honor with this dirty lie.
He turned his head and looked at Rubin.
-Rubin.
Haneke had always had a very moderate view of the emperor, which is why he remained loyal to him even after his death.
At least, that’s been the case so far.
However, he realized that to the emperor, he was just a consumable for his eternal power. Once he knew this, he could not go back to being the Haneke he had been before.
-Rubin, because of you, the last bit of faith I had in Telmah has been completely shattered. Completely.
‘I had to do it this way, because it’s the truth.’
-Truth. Yes, it may be a truth that I didn’t know, but anyway. Thanks to you, I got to see the truth like this. I guess you wanted my enthusiasm, right? The enthusiasm to teach you everything about Brion’s swordsmanship.
‘I would say it’s more of a desire for revenge than a desire for passion. A desire for revenge that carries the same weight as mine.’
-It’s revenge.
‘That means you, Haneke, are not the only one who harbors a desire for revenge against the Emperor. I will kill the Emperor.’
Haneke wasn’t surprised. He just had a calm expression on his face. It was as if he was assessing the odds of winning this war.
‘I have to mobilize everything to succeed in my revenge. But as I am now… you know that it’s impossible.’
-That’s obvious. At your current level, it would be difficult to even see the Emperor’s heels.
Rubin paused for a moment and met Haneke’s eyes.
Haneke’s gaze now.
These were the eyes that Rubin wanted to see. The eyes that he could only see if he came to this place, the ‘Tower of Light and Rebellion’.
-Rubin, would you please walk to the railing of the tower?
At Haneke’s request, Rubin silently complied. He got up from where he had been sitting on one side of the ‘Tower of Rebellion’ and walked to the railing between the two towers.
As I put my arms on the railing, I felt the strong wind blowing towards the higher ground.
Wheeeeeeeeing.
-It’s already dark.
It was pitch-black early evening. The horizon was not visible. Even from the top of the tower, it was difficult to see the ground because of the thick darkness that had descended.
In that darkness, a sleepless city was seen shining alone. A huge city that did not hide its lights even between the rugged mountain ranges blocking the way.
The capital of the empire, and the location of the Imperial Palace of Telmah.
‘Philliark.’
Haneke intervened as Rubin muttered.
-Yes, Filiar. The Emperor is there. And Filiar is close enough to see with your own eyes.
Rubin listened to the general’s words in silence.
– It’s a distance that will take less than a day to reach. If you ride right now, you’ll be able to get there before daybreak. If you move like that, you’ll be able to get there even faster.
but.
-To get there, you’ll have to go through numerous legions and gates. If your unit arrangements haven’t changed in the past nine years, you’ll be stopped by giant blood tribe units that grow in size and beast-like blood tribe warriors.
Even if they managed to get past the Imperial Special Brigade without any bloodshed, the problem would not end there. Even if they somehow managed to sneak inside the walls, the palace guards would not allow the assassins to sneak in.
The heads of numerous swordsmanship families take turns leading the palace guards, and the children of the most prominent figures serve as members of the guards.
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It means that in order to kill the emperor, you must point a sword at his blood relatives.
-You don’t want to die to Telmah again, do you?
Rubin thought about his own death.
Life and hope. Death met at the Roinen mansion, where everything had collapsed.
The humiliating moment when the emperor in the golden mask approached and looked down at his dying self came back to life before his eyes.
Then, Haneke’s words again caught Rubin’s attention.
-I am already dead. I have no fear of a second death. But you are different.
Return, another opportunity.
-I don’t know what kind of blessing it was, but you were given a second life. But would you use that life solely to kill the emperor? Something close to suicide?
It meant that you could not regret it.
Regret? If there was one thing Rubin regretted in his returned life, it was only one thing. The Emperor’s betrayal, and losing his bloodline and family once again.
Thud thud.
Haneke stood opposite Rubin with a changed appearance. In Haneke’s hand was the wooden sword he had just stabbed.
Haneke took it straight and aimed it at Rubin.
The wooden sword did not waver, and Rubin’s expression was also firm and unwavering.
‘General, no, Haneke Brion. If I die again, let me die facing the Emperor.’
Even if I fall, I will stick my sword into the Emperor’s instep.
Haneke, having confirmed Rubin’s will, put away his wooden sword. Then he waved it lightly. With that stroke, all the wounds, regrets, and sorrows he had harbored were shaken off.
And what was left in its place was the same weight of anger and vengeance as Rubin.
-It’s nice to hear that. I’m going to be busy starting today. There’s a mountain of classes I’ve been putting off.
* * *
Rubin’s party left the Mirberg Plain before daybreak.
The tower guide suggested that they stay in the tower until daybreak, but neither Rubin nor Haneke were interested in remaining in the tower, so they flatly declined.
It’s been three hours since I ran through the darkness like that.
An unexpected accident occurred. The wheels of the carriage, which was moving carefully with its lantern on, fell off for some reason.
Kwakwakwakang.
The carriage suddenly lost its balance, tilted, and scraped the ground. Because it was not moving quickly, the carriage did not overturn or break.
“Are you alright, Young Master?”
While the coachman was calming his horse, two escorts approached, riding their horses.
After a while, the unresponsive carriage door opened and Rubin came out. Rubin waved to the two of them to indicate that it was okay. Then he held up a lantern and examined the part of the carriage where the wheel had fallen off.
“That’s strange. I definitely checked the carriage’s condition before departure.”
This wasn’t a problem with the carriage. Sure enough, when we shined the light, we saw that the connection between the carriage body and the wheels had been artificially cut off.
“Your Majesty, I think it would be best to ask for help from the nearby annex.”
If you send Roinecrow of the Escorts, the assassins in the nearby camouflage annex will come to help you before dawn.
But Rubin shook his head. He didn’t feel like asking for help as a way to deal with the crisis.
“But the current situation is… … .”
The escort’s words trailed off.
Rubin also knew what the ‘situation’ the escort was talking about. It was because he had heard from Maphis a while ago that the ‘target the assassination squad was aiming for’ was in this area.
Everyone who is a member of the Assassin’s Blade knows the power of the Assassin’s Blade, but the problem is that they do not know the identity of the target they are chasing.
The target of the assassination squad is usually someone who does not follow the will of the assassination master. If they happened to encounter such a person, it could lead to a terrible accident.
Moreover, the fact that the carriage’s wheels were intentionally detached could also be interpreted as someone targeting Rubin’s group.
-encampment.
“yes?”
The escorts looked embarrassed as they saw the words Rubin had written on the ground with a stick.
Of course, they also remembered Rubin’s amazing abilities when he fought against Mafis. He had a 3-star level of dark smoke, and he was skilled at using dark smoke. He even had excellent swordsmanship.
But camping was another matter. Apart from the slaughter and target issues, it was also a matter of increased risk.
But Rubin’s expression was stern.
“Yes, I understand.”
The escorts soon followed the order.
Rather, Rubin’s judgment was that it would be more dangerous to leave this place in the current situation. It could have been a simple accident, but the probability of that happening was greater.
-I have a bad feeling about this.
Rubin, trying hard to ignore Haneke’s mutterings, began to look around, amplifying the darkness while preparations for camping were underway.
And after a while.
‘… … !’
An unexpected presence was sensed in the darkness, neither by the escorts, Haneke, nor Rubin.
