To settle Luther’s inner turmoil, Yuri decisively made a choice for him.
“If you pick something petty, it’ll just look lame. Let’s go all out. You’re a murderer. You stabbed someone to death with a sharp blade.”
“Are you seriously insane?”
As things escalated, Luther stopped showing any respect toward Yuri.
“You crazy bastard from Briole…”
“Yeah, fine. We’re about the same age, so let’s keep it casual. You’re going to be king soon, so no need to use honorifics with me. Feels natural. I can already sense the kingly aura, man.”
“What kind of guy are you…”
“When you said you were living a quiet life, I felt distant and annoyed. But now, you actually seem human. Why did you pretend to be normal? Trying to act like you have two eyes in a one-eyed world is how you get caught by someone like me.”
Luther had once devoted himself to the temple and undergone training as a saint. That included studying psychology—the workings of the human mind.
From his perspective, Yuri Briole was anything but sane.
If a person’s mind were a room, Yuri’s would be a complete mess.
“You’re saying he’s totally crazy…”
Luther muttered, and Yuri smacked him on the back of the head.
“I’m offering to make you king, and you repay me by calling me crazy?”
“Who asked you to?”
“You did, didn’t you?”
“When?”
“When I said I’d count to three and you had to answer. You said you’d be king then.”
“No, that was you forcing me…”
“You have to keep your word. So, Luther, let’s do this right. Got it?”
“Ugh!”
“Yeah, that’s the spirit.”
Yuri patted Luther’s chest with a grin.
“Now we need to find someone to kill. If you’re going to be a murderer, it’s gotta be someone worthy.”
“Who?”
“Someone just right.”
Yuri clapped his hands toward the door.
“Bring them in.”
The door opened, and Jared dragged in a short figure.
It was Gultenstein.
With a gag in his mouth, he struggled silently before being thrown to the floor. Simon and Guinness held his arms firmly to prevent any resistance.
Yuri spoke.
“You know who this guy is, right?”
“Well…”
Luther swallowed his words.
What he didn’t say was that Gultenstein was the dwarf who had planned to marry Sibylla. But since he was ultimately a bystander, he couldn’t bring himself to say it in front of Yuri.
Yuri stood before Gultenstein.
“This bastard killed Sibylla.”
“What?”
Those in the Holy Kingdom who had witnessed Sibylla’s rampage weren’t surprised to hear she had been murdered. She had acted in ways that made it no shock if someone wanted her dead.
But the identity of her killer had never been revealed.
Yuri was about to provide that answer.
“Of course, I killed Sibylla. But that’s not the important part.”
He placed his foot on Gultenstein’s trembling head and pressed down hard, crushing it against the floor.
“Come to think of it, because of this bastard, Larson tried to sell out Sibylla, and she made the wrong choice. So, it’s this guy’s fault I ended up killing her, isn’t it?”
Luther nodded.
“That’s true.”
Though he hadn’t acted for Sibylla’s sake, he at least felt some sympathy. He could understand Yuri’s reasoning.
“Like you said, Yuri, it all went wrong because of that dwarf.”
Caught up in Yuri’s madness, Luther began shedding his own restraints and freely cursed.
“Because of this damn bastard, the Holy Kingdom’s gone to hell!”
“Exactly.”
Yuri raised his palm. Luther slapped it in a high-five.
“When a knife’s at your throat, people start acting normal.”
“No, I think it’s the opposite of normal…”
“Luther, do you know what it’s called when you stab out one eye in a one-eyed world to make it truly one-eyed?”
“What?”
“Normalization.”
Yuri handed Luther a knife.
“Congratulations on becoming normal, Luther Arsaint.”
“Wow…”
Luther gave a hollow laugh and shook his head.
The nonsense kept coming, but somehow he found himself convinced. If a saint like him could be swayed, what chance did others have?
It looked like this man was about to turn the world upside down.
“But…”
Luther looked down at Gultenstein.
“I still can’t bring myself to kill him. I’ll take the blame for the murder, so you should…”
“Got it.”
Yuri nodded and immediately plunged the knife into Gultenstein’s head.
Bright red blood splattered.
Luther, pale as a ghost, stumbled backward.
“No, no, not here…”
“Should’ve done it somewhere else?”
Gultenstein, who had been bowing his head, slumped lifelessly in that position.
Yuri pressed his foot on the corpse and pulled the sword free.
“Well, he probably didn’t feel any pain, so this death’s almost too good for him.”
“That’s not it…”
“But he’s not worth the effort. Now, Luther, take this body tomorrow and say you avenged Sibylla yourself.”
“Me? Personally?”
“Yeah. We’ll support you from behind the scenes. You ride the momentum, take the throne of the Holy Kingdom, and become Briole’s steadfast ally to stand against the Empire.”
Luther sighed deeply.
“Yeah…”
He had heard through the secret society that ultimately, they had to fight the Empire.
But the thought of becoming king and leading a war was overwhelming.
Yuri slung an arm around his shoulder.
“Hey, don’t worry so much. I’m the one who’ll be swinging the sword. Why the long face? It’ll all work out.”
“Yeah, right. The crazy guy who might get a hole shot through his chest is the one trying to cheer me up.”
“Not bad! If you said that to the Briole knights, they’d be rolling on the floor laughing.”
“Rolling on the floor laughing…”
Whatever that meant, one thing was clear.
The Luther who had lived quietly without much worry was gone.
His life now…
“Is completely screwed.”
The next day, chaos erupted in the Holy Kingdom.
Luther Arsaint, who had long ago devoted himself to the temple, suddenly appeared at the palace gates dragging a dwarf’s corpse.
His body was covered in blood, eyes blazing with fury. He held a blade no saint should ever touch.
“I have avenged Sister Sibylla.”
Though the royal family tree of the Holy Kingdom was complicated, Luther was, in fact, Sibylla’s cousin.
“This dwarf killed Sister Sibylla, and I have avenged her.”
The news shook the Holy Kingdom to its core.
If he had been just an ordinary royal family member, the impact might have been less.
But he was a saint and a leading candidate for the next pope.
The situation didn’t end there. The Holy Knights, who had long been absent, declared their support for Luther. Nobles affiliated with the secret society also backed him.
Most of all, the public was thrilled that he had avenged Sibylla’s grudge despite the risk of excommunication.
In the midst of the turmoil, Luther Arsaint emerged as a strong contender for the throne.
But not everyone accepted him willingly. The lust for power often clouds reason.
Leroy, a royal with ties to many nobles, opposed Luther.
“Sibylla was a tyrant who led the Holy Kingdom to ruin. Gultenstein was a hero in comparison. Luther, who murdered an innocent, has no right to be king. An excommunicated man ascending the throne is absurd.”
He spread this message far and wide.
By calling Sibylla a tyrant to discredit Luther, Leroy caught Yuri’s attention.
“Yuri, you’re not going to do anything about that, right?”
“I don’t know.”
“Just hold back…”
Luther worried about Leroy.
Francesco had confessed that even if he regained his mana, he couldn’t beat Yuri. Yuri was a monster who had already surpassed his father in his youth. So there was no way Leroy’s knights could stop Yuri.
To protect his relative, Luther decided to confront Leroy himself.
He deliberately met Leroy in the middle of the palace.
“Long time no see, Brother Leroy.”
“Yeah, Luther.”
They stared each other down.
Each led their own faction, and their nobles glared at one another like a pack of wolves.
Leroy opened fire first.
“Luther, why did you do it?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Why did you parade around with a corpse? Did you want to become king that badly?”
“Hah. You kept your mouth shut like a clam when everyone else left, but now that you think you can be king, you’re acting like a patriot, insulting Sister Sibylla?”
“Sibylla was a tyrant. Everyone knows that.”
“Whose fault was that?”
“No one’s. It was her choice.”
“Are you serious?”
“Exactly. When she was told to marry the dwarf, she should’ve just done it. Why make a fuss and cause all this trouble? Does she think everyone else gets to live how they want? She could’ve just been the dwarf’s wife and lived happily.”
“Is that even something to say…”
“You’re no different. Just keep playing the saint like you always do. Why all of a sudden are you stirring things up…?”
Luther couldn’t hold back any longer and spat out a curse.
“Ha, damn it. Ha… Leroy!”
Genuine anger welled up inside him.
Somewhere out there, Yuri must be listening to this entire conversation. Luther was doing everything he could to keep her alive, yet here Leroy was, digging his own grave. It was maddening.
Luther roared.
“Do you know why your life’s such a mess? Because I’m busting my ass trying to help you, and you keep kicking me away! You’re a coward with a stupid head—too dumb to tell who’s helping you and who’s trying to stab you in the back. You’re the kind of guy who needs a hole drilled in his skull before he wakes up!”
Luther’s shouting caught Leroy off guard.
Though the criticism was a bit hard to follow, the insults mixed in made Leroy’s anger slowly rise.
“Wait… are you insulting me right now? Huh?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I’m insulting you. What are you gonna do about it?”
“You little—!”
“Let’s settle this with a duel.”
“What?”
“Ah, you’ll refuse because you’re a coward. I get it. So let’s make it a grand warrior duel. You’re not going to back out of that too, are you?”
“You bastard…”
Leroy gritted his teeth but quickly started thinking.
Among the nobles loyal to him, he had some excellent knights. On the other hand, Luther’s only ally was a Holy Knight, but everyone knew that guy had lost his ability to wield mana.
Besides that, there was no one else fit to fight a grand warrior duel on Luther’s behalf.
Leroy smirked.
“Fine.”
If things went smoothly, Luther would end up taking the throne.
To prevent Luther from changing his mind, Leroy quickly glanced around and announced the duel.
“I, Leroy Arsaint, and Luther Arsaint will engage in a grand warrior duel! The loser will forfeit all rights to the throne. That is all!”
Seeing Leroy’s triumphant grin, Luther just looked up at the sky.
Though he’d been excommunicated, his faith hadn’t wavered one bit.
He muttered to himself.
“God, are you watching? I’ve saved another soul today.”
On the day of the duel, Leroy and his noble followers were dumbfounded, unable to say a word.
The grand warrior Luther sent out was an utterly unexpected figure.
“N-no… why… why is it him…?”
Leroy stammered.
It felt unreal.
The hero of the Alliance Army, the swordsman who had slaughtered countless knights in Bezos and struck fear into the Empire.
Everyone who knew him praised his talent to no end—a sword prodigy, and with Fiore Briole missing, he was even being considered a candidate for the next Ten Great Warriors.
Yuri Briole.
He stood there, sword slung over his shoulder, chin raised, glaring down at Leroy.
“What’re you looking at?”
You’re the one staring, buddy.
Leroy couldn’t bring himself to say that and instead lowered his gaze.