22 – Crown Prince vs Northern Grand Duke – 6
The appearance of the reconnaissance team was different from before. If the previous scouting party felt somewhat relaxed, the feeling of the returning scouting party went beyond elite soldiers to the point of being fanatical.
As evidence of that, no loot was found anywhere. The minimum amount of water, food, and mobility were left empty. It was different from the previous scouts.
The enemy’s supply and demand were cut so many times, but they didn’t take the loot. This was unusual. Usami went to one of the scouts and asked.
“What is this?”
Then the scouts said:
“We have seen the light.”
“light? What light are you talking about?”
“The Goddess of War has always been shining on us. We just didn’t realize it.”
Goddess of War. At those words, Usami’s head hurt. Did Emilia’s grandiose delusion spread to the soldiers as well?
However, the supply and demand piled up in the wagon. Even if you catch a few, it seems to be hundreds. It was an unbelievably excellent level for the performance of the outpost.
When Emilia led the soldiers out, Usami, to be honest, was worried. He thought that Emilia might die during the dangerous mission of the reconnaissance team.
But the reality was different. Even the reconnaissance party that went with Emilia after cutting down hundreds of enemy supplies showed something different.
“Usami.”
Emilia spoke to Usami.
“Are you Emilia?”
“The goddess of war has shone upon us.”
Is she the goddess of war again? I know that Emilia has become stronger. In addition, judging from this achievement, I can see that his ability to command soldiers is excellent. However…
“Miss Emilia! It is not the blessing of the goddess. This is the result of Emilia-sama’s hard work!”
Usami wanted Emilia to break free from the bondage of fanaticism. That’s why I was trying to give advice, but Emilia took it differently.
-Sereung
The sword pushed up from Emilia’s scabbard.
“Usami, everything I have is given to me by the Goddess. If you make comments that deny the Goddess again, I will not forgive even Usami.”
Watching Emilia put her hand on the handle of her sword, Usami thought something was wrong.
since when Why did Emilia show such a fanatical attitude towards the Goddess of War?
As a child, Emilia suffered from hallucinations. Usami felt sorry for Emilia and brought a priest from the church to Emilia just in case.
However, after meeting the priest of the church, something strange happened to Emilia. He began to show a fanatical obsession with the Goddess of War. Usami thought that maybe it was her own responsibility for meeting the priest at that time, but…
“No, it would be Your Highness’ fault if you were to question that.”
Soon, Usami denied the idea. It wasn’t because of herself that Emilia started going astray. To be precise, it was because of Archduke Carl von Kronor.
That would also be the case, because Carl von Cronor had given Emilia a dagger since she was only 6 years old and had trained her to the extent of throwing her into a monster cage.
This is a tragic story. It was the story of the abuse that Emilia Cronor had received from her father.
—–
Carl von Kronor fathered 16 children by 10 wives. But now there were only three left.
There were 16 children, so why are there only 3 left? The reason was simple.
In the Cronor family, when a child is born, it goes through a rigorous selection process. A child born prematurely, disabled, or overly cowardly is thrown off a cliff. Even if they went through such a screening process and were selected, they did not necessarily survive.
Toddlers learn to fight as one. Learn to wield a sword, stab with a spear, and shoot with a bow.
And when he is six years old, he enters a small pen with hungry goblins. If you win against the goblins, you survive; if you lose, you die.
From waking up every morning until going to sleep, they practice risking their lives, and fight hundreds of monsters and risking their lives. Only those children who survived could name Chronor.
In that respect, Emilia was an excellent warrior. While hunting and slaughtering hundreds of monsters, he never made a single sound of crying, and he just silently slaughtered the enemies he was ordered to follow.
Emilia grew up without receiving anyone’s love, undergoing training and life-and-death battles like a machine. I took it for granted and had no doubts about it.
In fact, Emilia, who had undergone such training, was strong. It was so strong. By the time he turned 10, he was already on par with adult knights, and by the time he turned 15, it was hard to find knights who could compete with Emilia.
When she first entered Arcadia Academy, Emilia beat all the instructors in the entrance exam. Emilia’s sword, which had crossed numerous lines of fire, had no mercy, and one instructor had to quit her job as an instructor due to the trauma of being attacked by Emilia.
Even at Arcadia Academy, Emilia always maintained an overwhelming first place. Although he was below average in terms of politics and diplomacy, he was so overwhelming that he couldn’t even compare to other students in military leadership, swordsmanship, and magic.
And one day, Carl von Kronor said:
“Emilia.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“From now on, you are the heir to the Cronor family.”
“Yes.”
Emilia was neither happy nor sad, just accepting it calmly. It was because he knew that he could die at any time and that if he died, the successor would go to his younger siblings.
It was only after she attended the academy that Emilia, who had been living day by day like a machine, began to change in earnest. While attending the academy, there were cases in which students’ parents visited the school. And the parents of other students hugged the students or looked at them with loving eyes.
And when seeing such a scene, Emilia would feel a sense of emptiness and anxiety for some reason. Emilia herself did not know the reason at all, but it was longing and anxiety for what she lacked.
As each day passed, Emilia strengthened her overwhelming position as number one in the academy, but at the same time, she felt that she was different from other people. It was like a swan floating alone among ducks.
But it wasn’t particularly happy from the swan’s point of view. No one in this world was like you. The love, compassion, longing, joy, and sorrow felt by others. Emilia had lived her life focusing only on survival while suppressing those emotions to the extreme, so she could not easily blend in with others.
On the day when she felt that she was different from others, Emilia felt an indescribable loneliness. The feeling of floating alone in this world. The illusion that all of his colleagues of the same species died and he was left alone.
On days when Emilia felt that way, she covered herself with a blanket and shivered inside the blanket, blocking out all light and sound. To escape the fear of being alone.
Then one day, someone started whispering in Emilia’s ear. you are different from others you are a stranger It has to be. because you are not human
The voice that whispered in my ear always spoke to Emilia. Since you are different from others, stab your throat with the sword in your waistband. You are a child who does not fit into this world.
Then one day, a prominent priest came to the academy. He was a cleric brought by Usami Arca, His Highness Grand Duke Cronor’s secret agent.
Emilia said to the priest. That someone lives in your head, that someone keeps whispering to you to die.
At those words, the priest let out a deep sigh as if the ground would sink, and then gave Emilia a prayer to drive away demons. I tried reciting the prayer, but it didn’t seem to have much effect.
However, since there was no other way, Emilia memorized endless prayers. Goddess of war, possessor of all powers of destruction and re-creation, I praise you. I want to be your child
I don’t know how many prayers I’ve memorized. hundreds of times? thousands of times? If not, maybe tens of thousands of times. As I recited the prayer, the voice in my head disappeared before I knew it. The voice that always whispered to her to die had disappeared, and only the prayers she had memorized endlessly circulated in Emilia’s head.
For 24 hours, prayers were in my head. Even in dreams, prayers were heard. But wouldn’t it be better than before, when the voice telling me to die was heard over and over again?
One day, as she endured day by day and lived the life of a swan, a beautiful goddess wrapped in light appeared in front of Emilia, wearing armor and holding a trident.
[You are truly my child. I will give you strength.]
And on that day, Emilia obtained a tremendous aura she had never had before. It was the moment Emilia awakened as a sword master.