116 – 28. As a human, not a wolf (1)
Sabak-.
Unlike usual, Adele made the most of it and moved on.
If you make a vague sign for no reason, it will only make them nervous.
“Did you come to see His Majesty?”
Soon after, several imperial knights appeared in front of Adele.
Not those who know the details of him like Lord Derry.
Still, it wasn’t something I didn’t know at all, so I didn’t carelessly block it.
“I have something to tell you.”
“Wait a minute. I will speak to Your Majesty.”
No one can meet the emperor just because he came.
But Adele and the Imperial Knights took it for granted.
He is saying that he will wait for the meeting with the emperor and announce it again.
After a while, the answer came back that it was okay to go in.
With an unhurried gait, I headed into the emperor’s barracks.
Upon entering, the emperor was reading the reports in front of him.
When Adele came in, he didn’t show much reaction.
Only about tomorrow’s battle and those who will be killed and injured there.
In addition, they seemed to be thinking about the changes that would occur in the future.
So Adele quietly waited without disturbing the emperor.
Until he finishes my job and finally calls himself.
I waited and waited like it had been for a very long time.
“Did you wait long?”
how much time has passed Finally, the emperor opened his mouth.
I’m still looking at the papers, but it feels like I’m looking at Adele.
“No, Your Majesty the Emperor.”
“You came alone, not with the Lichtenau family. That I have something to tell you.”
“That’s right.”
“Let’s see. okay. Apparently, other guys are looking for you. Isn’t it?”
It is a voice that was already expected to some extent.
Adele responded by bowing her head to the emperor’s words.
Then the emperor let out a small sigh and took his eyes off the papers.
“Tsk tsk. I told you to live quietly like that. Anyway, there are no guys listening to me.”
“sorry. If His Majesty does not allow it, I will send it back right away.”
“Would that be? They are no longer Wolfheddin under my command.”
“That is true, but if Your Majesty gives an order, I will obey. Everyone is the people of the empire, and isn’t your majesty the absolute supreme of this empire?”
At Adele’s words, the emperor stared blankly at him.
Then, he immediately laughs and responds that something is very funny.
“Is it because you are with the Lichtenau family? It’s strange that you talk a lot.”
“Ah, this… .”
“Conversation is one of the most important social life for a person. Talking means allowing the other person to interact with me. In contrast, you guys were too reticent. That’s why no one could easily approach him, and he couldn’t get close to anyone.”
Still smiling, the Emperor continued.
“It is a good change. Please don’t go back to the past. Adele.”
“… Yes, Your Majesty.”
Actually, I don’t want to go back.
Feeling the words swirl around my lips, Adele lowered her head.
“Anyway. Even if I, as emperor, give them orders, they will not listen.”
“What are you talking about? How dare you follow His Majesty’s orders… .”
“Wolves follow only one leader. who would be the boss would it be a burden? no. Wolves form a pack and follow those who know how to sacrifice for themselves and their pack. When the captain calls once, the wolf responds appropriately, and the wolf obeys the captain’s orders.”
Kik-.
The emperor rose from his seat and approached Adele.
I remember being a really huge person in the past.
He was someone much bigger than he was, someone he could never surpass.
But now, the emperor had to look up at Adele.
Time was fair for everyone, and as Adele grew stronger, the emperor became weaker.
But the emperor was still an emperor.
“What do you want to do? Do you want to send them back?”
“… yes.”
“Why do you want to return it?”
“Unlike me, it’s because I’ve been hurt a lot.”
“But did they themselves consider themselves wounded?”
“no. Rather, they say they can fight.”
“How do you see it? Are they able to fight?”
Adele thought of Roxanne. And I thought of other colleagues.
All of them were retired without a single body intact, only saving their lives.
Roxanne, who lost an eye, is at least okay.
lost a hand Some even had an arm completely ripped off.
Some have lame legs, while others cannot move properly.
No matter who in the world sees it, they are people who should never come to a place called combat.
“… yes.”
But even that was something seen by the standards of ordinary people.
“You can fight.”
“You already know the answer yourself. If not, do as your heart tells you.”
“… .”
“You still don’t know. You are the captain of the wolves. I gave the ground for the group to settle down, but you are the one who stands at the center. If you ask them to fight, they will dutifully carry out your orders. that’s the wolf These are the things you couldn’t give up, or didn’t want to give up.”
“… It made me feel uncomfortable that I felt like I was wasting an opportunity given to me by His Majesty.”
Then the emperor slowly shook his head.
“different. At that time, you and your colleagues were all blinded by vengeance and hatred.”
“… .”
“How are you now? Are you really here for revenge and hatred?”
At that moment, Xian’s face appeared in Adele’s mind.
The reason he is here right now is not to feel the joy of killing demons.
Just in case, if, by any chance, a demonic beast came in front of her.
In order to protect her from those monsters, she just pulls out her sword.
It was the same with Roxanne. I left the battlefield and now I don’t really have a heart.
Demonic beasts appeared near the place where I was staying. And colleagues will appear.
To protect the place where I settled, to be with my retired colleagues.
‘Perhaps the other colleagues do as well.’
I thought that there was a witch and would come here.
However, he did not come because he had a witch, but because he had something to protect.
Neither he nor his colleagues were monsters for slaughter.
“I want to keep it. So I came.”
“If you don’t, fight. Adele.”
The Emperor’s hand tightly grips Adele’s shoulder.
“Fight as a man, not as a wolf. Fight, win, and protect it in the end.”
* * *
The day of battle has finally dawned.
Those who wake up from dawn and finish all preparations line up in an orderly manner.
Starting with commanders, middle commanders, knights and soldiers.
Everyone stares through the hazy fog without hiding their nervous faces.
“All troops, advance.”
Following orders, soldiers slowly move forward.
Tens of thousands of them move as a single shield and spear.
Even if there are monsters in front of me, I will crush them all.
As promised, the Emperor did not intervene in any way.
Rather, he even took half of the imperial knights and organized them into attack troops.
Of course, command authority over them belonged to the commanders.
There was only one part where the emperor gave orders to the commanders.
It was to place reinforcements from the Lichtenau side on the right wing.
No one was dissatisfied with the commander on that part.
Again, the feeling of gratitude to the emperor only grew stronger.
‘Actually, I thought it would be much better with Lichtenauer.’
‘It’s just that I was able to convey that opinion directly to the head of Lichtenau.’
‘It is very fortunate that the Emperor gave orders to the right wing of Lichtenau by imperial decree.’
Lichtenau’s knights and soldiers were, of course, great strength.
The regular soldiers who fought against the monsters several times and accumulated experience in combat.
It would be qualitatively different from the knights and soldiers of other families.
But there was something else the commanders were expecting more than that.
The most powerful person who overpowered the 2nd grade monsters with a single body.
They needed him all the more since he was an attendant of Lichtenauer.
“I will say it again.”
However, that strongest person was not alone today.
“Don’t move recklessly like before. If you get hurt more, you won’t be able to fight.”
To Adele’s words, Roxanne was not the only one who answered.
“and. Leader. We haven’t seen each other in a while, but from the start, you’re demanding too much?”
“Is that possible? How damned are these people?”
“What? It’s not even funny when you say that.”
“Grandpa, aren’t you dead yet?”
“This bastard? Why am I a grandfather?! I am still in my 40s!”
“You’re the only one in your 40s who says bullsh*t about being lush.”
No matter how injured, no matter how much time passed, people did not change.
Still foul-mouthed, still bickering, still noisy.
“… so. It means you have to obey the captain’s orders.”
“It looks like I’m going to run wild and eat a ancestral meal, so I should buy some.”
Still, they were comrades in arms who were happy just by looking at them.
“Ulfhedin.”
People of different ages and genders look at Adele at the words they hear after a long time.
All the noise from before had already disappeared.
What was left there was the ferocious gaze of the beast that flashed.
“The hunt begins.”