“Ezekiel.”
“Huh? Ezekiel?”
“Ezekiel!”
Ezekiel finally snapped back to reality after hearing his name called three times. He had been zoning out.
When he regained his senses, the messenger of the 1st Princess was right next to him.
“…Ezekiel, are you okay?”
The messenger still thought Ezekiel was dazed due to the unreasonable request he had made, but the real tormentor troubling Ezekiel was something else entirely.
Checks.
Yep, it was the checks that had multiplied to five.
Not just one, but a whopping five. Five!
‘…Why didn’t I think of that?’
It all started with a simple thought that popped into his mind around the time the deal with the Emperor was wrapping up. Wouldn’t everyone be happy if the checks multiplied to five?
Soon, he realized how shallow that thought was.
—Five checks? That means five times the time together.
—Inspector, you’ll use them all on me, right?
—I’m so happy I can spend five times the time!
He could already hear the whispers of the three princesses in his ears, sounding almost like a hallucination. It wasn’t hard to figure out. Given the princesses’ personalities, they would probably want all five checks.
They say if the shock is too great, your mind goes blank.
They weren’t wrong. Ezekiel’s mind was a blank slate.
“What is…?”
Meanwhile, the messenger had just discovered the pile of elixirs stacked high and was gasping in disbelief.
“Did you receive all of this from His Majesty the Emperor when you visited the audience chamber?”
His mouth dropped open.
“I did foresee that the Inspector’s value would skyrocket… but it’s much sooner than I expected. If it’s already this much, then later…”
The messenger couldn’t contain his awe, but none of it registered in Ezekiel’s ears.
He was still deep in thought, wrestling with the checks.
“Five checks… five checks…”
The messenger pounced on Ezekiel’s murmurs.
“Five checks…? Ah, I didn’t repay you enough!”
The messenger nodded determinedly.
“Whatever five checks you are referring to, I will prepare a fitting reward. So please, just help me this once…!”
The messenger prostrated himself on the ground.
“There have been many issues in the Northern Region for some time, but it’s such a sensitive matter that the 1st Princess couldn’t step in directly.”
His voice was filled with desperation.
“A benefactor who can resolve this situation… there’s no one else but you, Inspector Ezekiel! Please!”
One second.
Thirty seconds.
One minute.
And five minutes passed.
“…”
The messenger, still prostrate and trembling, thought to himself.
Yeah, the request was unreasonable. Without a good reward prepared, there was no way he would agree to it.
Just as he was about to shed a tear or two while still bent over,
“Let’s go.”
Ezekiel murmured.
“…Huh?”
The messenger looked up in disbelief.
But.
Ezekiel quietly nodded toward the messenger.
“I have to do what I have to do.”
Ezekiel took the lead, with the messenger following behind.
“Inspector! Really… really…! Thank you…!”
As they moved forward, Ezekiel thought quietly.
‘First, let’s definitely consume the Sun Elixir before thinking about anything else.’
Yeah, that’s the first thing to take care of. Since the 1st Princess had a promise with the Emperor, the checks could be dealt with later.
“Inspector! Ugh…! How can I repay this kindness…?”
Of course, the messenger had no idea about the circumstances.
In the 1st Princess’s domain.
Tension filled the air thickly.
Like a line drawn, warriors split to the left and right.
It was an absolute division between the faction that fully supported the 1st Princess and the faction led by Brogar, who was trying to test the Inspector.
“I can’t believe we won’t be able to unite like this.”
“I didn’t know you were thinking that.”
“Traitors!”
“Traitors are you!”
It was a scene that meant a lot.
Even with many warriors protecting the North, if opinions were divided and not consolidated, they could never utilize their numbers effectively.
In simple terms, they hadn’t united at all, and had relied solely on the strength of the 1st Princess for control.
The problems in the absence of the 1st Princess were glaringly evident.
Just then.
Thud thud—
The 1st Princess, Ether, made her appearance.
The 1st Princess glanced at the divided warriors for a moment, and that was it. The silence stretched on.
All the warriors waited for the 1st Princess’s response. Just when everyone thought their necks would break from the anticipation, she finally spoke.
“To put it frankly.”
Ether spoke in a deadpan voice.
“I have always been proud of the Northern warriors… but.”
She shook her head.
“Today, I see just how pathetic you can be.”
The expression on the warriors’ faces became mixed.
There was no one more prideful than the Northern warriors, and her blunt words were overtly insulting.
“There’s no need to look at me with such shocked expressions. Don’t you know yourselves well?”
Ether gestured to them with her chin.
“Look at the state of you standing divided.”
“…”
Everyone fell silent.
The reason they had been able to overcome the harsh cold and monsters was because they had united as one. Yet now, they were in utter disarray.
“Before heading to the battlefield, securing reliable comrades is the basics of basics. But look at you all today, unable to even manage that.”
Ether smiled, looking disappointed.
Brogar’s faction naturally felt some sort of anger at her sneer, but they couldn’t express it.
They had no choice.
After all, it was the Brogar faction that had caused this fracture. They had intentionally created a conflict in the chaos of Ether showing interest in a man.
“I thought I had given enough trust to you in the North. I always took the lead in battles and tackled the strongest enemies… yet.”
Ether’s expression turned serious.
“I’ll ask you, warriors of the North.”
The princess slowly looked around the warriors.
“Still, do you not trust me, that you have created such a ridiculous division? I’m curious.”
Naturally, the eyes of the warriors turned.
They didn’t speak, but all gazes pointed at just one warrior.
Brogar. He was the center of all those gazes.
“Hm.”
Brogar frowned.
But he didn’t have much to say. He had a good reason for it.
‘There’s no way I can say it out loud.’
He wanted the 1st Princess for himself, and he couldn’t just say he was unhappy about some dude snatching her away, could he?
That was downright impossible.
Ether stared at Brogar silently.
“Oh, Brogar. Was it you?”
The princess chuckled slightly.
“Have you forgotten the pain of losing your vision after demanding marriage from me? You know my strength well, so it’s quite laughable that you would dare to give me advice.”
“The 1st Princess, stop speaking nonsense!”
Brogar’s voice grew loud, hitting the mark.
“You should be aware that it was you who provided the cause for this infighting!”
He contorted his face and continued.
“After all, you wiped your hands of the North’s responsibilities and set off in search of your own comfortable marriage life, didn’t you? What an irresponsible leader!”
“Brogar, then let me ask you one thing.”
Ether murmured softly.
“Are you going to forever ride my coattails?”
“Wha…?”
“If I am not here, you can do nothing and do not even want to try… how is this being a warrior? You all pretended to be brave, yet fundamentally you are quite dependent.”
“…”
Brogar’s face contorted.
At this moment, Ether had hit the nail on the head.
Warriors like Brogar, who had harbored desires for the 1st Princess, had stopped thinking for themselves long ago. The 1st Princess herself had become their goal.
Her body, mind, strength… that was what they wanted.
Ether chuckled as she continued.
“Your words about caring for the North are quite beautiful. But Brogar, if you truly cared for the North, you shouldn’t be blaming me. You should have been the one to carve it out for yourself.”
“Stop with your absurdity! You chose a foolish man, and now you want to cover that up by lengthening your tongue!”
Brogar also refused to back down easily.
After all, there was no further ground for him to back down to.
“A foolish man…”
Ether crossed her arms.
“I’ve finally found the mold that spoils the North. Just looking at you shows how poor your judgment is.”
“W-What?”
“Why has this happened, and why did I know this would occur? Do you know the reason?”
Ether questioned all the warriors.
But no one would answer. Those who might have had an inkling didn’t dare speak, and those who didn’t know were simply at a loss for words.
“It’s a very simple reason.”
Ether gazed at Brogar.
“Because I needed to filter out the weak warriors. Brogar, that means weak garbage like you.”
“…!”
Brogar’s eyes widened.
“You’ve built muscles but you’re soft on the inside. You don’t know how strong your opponent is, you don’t know your position, and you don’t know how to behave.”
Ether clicked her tongue.
“The likes of you need to disappear for the North to have a future.”
“1st Princess!”
Brogar shouted, but instead, the 1st Princess asked.
“Warrior Brogar, can you prove it then? Can you provide evidence of your claims and show that a duel has merit?”
“Prove…”
Brogar was originally going to shout, “Proving that is easy! I just have to win!”
But he soon realized something important and fell silent.
…Isn’t the proof usually the one of lower rank that proves it?
In other words, Ether deeply believed the Inspector would win against Brogar.
That fueled Brogar’s anger.
“1st Princess─!”
Brogar’s neck was bulging with blood vessels as he shouted.
“…Because of that attitude just now, if I were to kill the Inspector in the duel, you should understand!”
Ether chuckled as if it were absurd.
“The North respects the will of every warrior.”
“…”
“I can’t stop someone who insists on suicide.”
“Huh?”
At that, Brogar burst into laughter.
“Hah… haha! Hahaha!”
He was laughing at just how ridiculous the situation was.
“Haha! Hahaha! How foolish do I look!”
Then Brogar’s face contorted like that of a demon.
“Do you think I, who have fought against the monsters of the North, would fear some lowly inspector? If the Imperial Tower loses an inspector today, it will be because of the 1st Princess’s provocation!”
But.
Right at that moment.
Splat─!
A blue flame erupted from the center of Brogar’s forehead. No, it was so radiant it could be mistaken for flames, but it was ice.
“Gah?”
Brogar immediately rolled on the ground.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Rolling, rolling, and crashing loudly against the wall, the massive mound of muscle was pinned against the wall like a trophy.
“Ughhh…!”
Before Brogar could even get his bearings, he suddenly noticed a man perched atop the wall, glowing with a blue light.
It was Ezekiel.
“Inspector! It’s the Inspector!”
When someone shouted, Ezekiel gracefully leaped down from the high wall, landing softly on the ground like a shadow slipping in.
“How dare you question my qualifications.”
Ezekiel coldly snapped.
“I will permit it, so today, the warriors of the North need not worry about their pride being damaged. Use any means necessary to give your all in victory.”
Then he drove it home.
“I mean, I have no problem if those worthless fools want to come at me all at once. I’ll gladly take them on.”
“…!”
It was a confidence to take on many opponents at once.
As shock spread across the faces of the warriors following Brogar at that moment.
“The 1st Princess’s choice was not in vain.”
The man conjured a long ice spear, lifting it up.
“Today, I will explain it with the lives of these fools.”
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.