Chapter 161: Rehabilitation Possibility (1) |
A unit composed solely of criminals.
The unexpected situation caused Victor to feel confusion and pressure. Her face was so shadowed throughout the journey to the front that even Victor, who had lived her life behind a mask, lost her composure.
Instead of eating, Victor gulped down the cold water handed to her by the messenger. Due to the ordeal that seemed to fall from the sky, she couldn’t stomach food and found herself unable to chew and swallow.
‘What was the problem?’
Victor sighed as she looked at the document stamped with the emperor’s seal. It was a list of personal details of the soldiers she was to lead in this expedition.
Rape, murder, looting, fraud, treason, terrorism…
From 14 years to life sentences.
Half of them were on death row.
Reconfirming the varied criminal records, Victor felt a slight dizziness coming on. She had checked several times but could not get used to it, which was giving her a headache.
“You seem to be in quite the predicament.”
“…Captain Malleus.”
“Excuse me for a moment.”
Malleus took off his white gloves and extended his hand forward. Victor, roughly guessing what he intended to do, closed her eyes and relaxed.
Whoosh-
A warm energy was felt beyond her eyelids for a moment. Victor shook her head, feeling much lighter, and asked.
“How do you feel?”
“Thank you. That was helpful.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Ahem…”
With a kind smile, Malleus sat opposite Victor and cleared his throat before breaking the silence.
“Your Highness. While it’s good to focus on official duties, you shouldn’t skip meals.”
“Thanks for the advice. But honestly, I’ve had no appetite. Embarrassingly enough, I even threw up before boarding the train.”
“Do you feel that burdened?”
Victor responded with a bitter smile to Malleus’s concerned question.
“It would be a lie to say I’m not. I don’t want to admit it, but somehow my body can’t lie.”
“That’s serious…”
“I have to overcome it, though.”
It was supposed to be a unit in name only. Hence, Victor didn’t bear the pressure to achieve outstanding results in this expedition, nor did she plan to sit idly by as she had done previously.
‘To achieve a moderate amount of success, not to disappoint my father.’
With the presence of capable individuals like Shiron and Malleus, aiming for better results was certainly possible.
Tasks such as rescuing an isolated unit or defeating a gigantic monster that those without the ability to project sword energy couldn’t handle were conceivable.
However, the problem was the massive reassignment of the chosen unit members the day before. Victor recalled yesterday’s events.
-‘I will place Hugo’s nephew directly under your command…’
The emperor had mumbled in front of Victor, running his fingers through his white hair. Since there was no opposition and no further discussion followed, Victor had been reassured, which turned out to be a major oversight.
No, even if there had been further discussion, there was only about a day left.
Victor spent much of her energy trying to understand the emperor’s intentions rather than establishing a stable foundation.
Victor organized the stack of documents and rubbed her eyes, which had been blurry just moments before. Looking out the window, she saw that the sun had set, and the light leaking through the train window faintly illuminated the outside scenery.
Snow was fluttering down.
“…Am I disliked by His Majesty?”
Suddenly feeling sentimental,
Victor muttered without taking her eyes off the window.
“I don’t recall doing anything to warrant such treatment…”
“Is it because of the origins of the unit members?”
“Yes. This situation is so unfamiliar and sudden that I can’t help but have irrational thoughts. Have I done something wrong? Or is His Majesty… my father… tainted with the same murky aura as my brother?”
“That’s impossible.”
Malleus cut off Victor’s words immediately. He seemed to want to avoid going any further into what could be an exceedingly uncomfortable conversation.
“His Eminence and I have carefully examined His Majesty’s condition. We detected no peculiar aura, and His Majesty has regained a considerable amount of health, though not as much as before.”
“Then, what is the reason for taking on the burden of sending freshly graduated individuals to the border, in addition to operating a punitive unit?”
Victor, stroking her nonexistent beard, asked casually.
“Even if the graduates are assigned to border defense rather than monster extermination, I don’t understand why such a troublesome task is given to a greenhorn without any command experience.”
“Calm down.”
As Victor’s tone became sharper, Malleus extended his hands forward.
“Before we delve into His Majesty’s unfathomable thoughts, how about having a proper meal first? You look quite unwell.”
Unlike Rien, where ice seldom formed even in winter, the border environment was harsh. Victor might not personally engage in monster extermination, but divine power was not a panacea. Malleus was very concerned that Victor’s strength might deplete due to fasting.
“…I’m sorry.”
Victor spoke softly and called a messenger to order some food. Victor chewed and swallowed the food thoroughly. Noticing the still apparent deficiencies in the Crown Prince, Malleus decided to offer some helpful advice.
“His Majesty… might be having expectations of you.”
“Expectations?”
“Yes. I’ve thought about it positively. There’s a saying that a true sage king is one who overcomes difficulties. With two above you being dethroned, perhaps His Majesty is trying to solidify your position… That’s as far as my limited mind can go.”
Malleus gave a lukewarm smile, seemingly embarrassed.
“Right, there’s no use in thinking negatively. Thank you for the advice.”
Though Victor sighed, she felt a lighter heart. After all, what needed to be done in the borderlands hadn’t changed.
To kill monsters and defend the border.
‘His Majesty must have his reasons for doing this…’
Including handling uncontrollable criminals, with Malleus and Shiron, they would be able to fulfill their roles effortlessly.
“But… where’s Shiron?”
With a lighter heart, Victor looked around the train carriage. In the luxury carriage meant for transporting the royal family and accompanying dignitaries, there were no other individuals besides the pre-assigned messenger and guards.
“Did he go to the restroom?”
“That friend said he would stay in the last carriage.”
“…The last?”
Victor turned around, furrowing her brows.
All the members assigned to her unit, regardless of their crimes, were criminals. Thus, staying in the last carriage meant mingling with the criminals.
They were not to be trusted.
Trash.
Even Malleus, known in Lucerne for his compassionate nature, thought so, and Victor had just been planning to push these people to the front lines to utilize them efficiently.
Malleus, untying his bundled hair, stood up.
“I’ll bring him.”
“No. Leave him be. He’s allowed to act freely as long as conditions permit.”
After finishing the food on her plate, Victor shifted her gaze back to the stack of documents. She felt a bit disappointed that Shiron chose to be with the criminals instead of her, but it was foolish to harbor complex feelings for people who were soon to die.
“Better to focus on more productive matters.”
“Yes.”
Malleus gave a warm smile to the increasingly mature Crown Prince.
2nd Carriage.
Shiron crossed the rattling gap between the carriages, heading for the last carriage.
Upon opening the door, he saw the conscripted graduates.
There were frightened boys and, on the opposite end, those who exuded bravado.
The former seemed scared, having been dragged to a strange and dangerous place, while the latter appeared eager to create opportunities or stand out during a crisis.
The 3rd and 4th carriages also carried graduates.
5th Carriage.
Shiron passed knights in dark armor.
And finally, he arrived at the last carriage.
Clank!
[Are you sure this is okay, Hero?]
‘It’s fine. There’s no loss even if we fail. It’s not like we’ll accumulate demerits just by offending criminals?’
Shiron responded to the vaguely felt presence of Latera.
Then, with a graceful motion, he pushed open the frost-covered iron door.
Over 180 cm tall. Skin barely touched by the sun, exuding a noble aura even when standing still.
Shiron was too conspicuous in this place.
[These filthy criminals…]
Latera, in spirit form, covered her nose and pretended to retch. She could easily identify the souls filled with demerits packed into the carriage.
[Still, seeing that none have more demerits than you, Hero, it seems there might be a chance for rehabilitation.]
‘…See? What did I tell you? There’s no better opportunity to achieve greatness.’
Latera’s words were significant, but Shiron decided to agree with her for now.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
After coughing a few times to attract attention, the criminals slowly moved as Shiron intended. After that intuitive response, Shiron suppressed a laugh and said,
“Nice to meet you. I am said to be the fairy of the tutorial.”
