Chapter 724

The return journey was as peaceful as it could get. The memories of the eastern war, which had been like hell, felt as hazy as a childhood nightmare.

“Monsters spotted on the right front! Suspected to be medium-sized hybrids!”

“Report properly! What exactly did you see?!”

“I don’t know! It’s a monster I’ve never seen before!”

…So, in short, it was mostly peaceful.

The bandits, who used to pop up all the time, wouldn’t dare attack an army unless they were completely insane. But monsters, well, most of them don’t even have the intelligence of bandits. After marching all day, they would pop up from somewhere and attack like it was a daily event.

“Coming from the left too!”

This time, it’s a 1+1 deal. Quite generous, isn’t it?

“Leonor, Nigel, Ja-han. Go kill them.”

From inside the carriage, which had become Ludwig’s memento, I blew out cigarette smoke towards the window and gave a brief command to the three.

There was no need for me to step out personally. Just by sensing their aura, it was clear that these monsters could be easily handled by master-level knights.

No, in fact, it was better if I didn’t intervene directly.

If I killed them myself, the karma from those two monsters would just evaporate. It’s better to give the three a chance to accumulate some karma.

“Got it.”

“Alright!”

“As you command.”

Leonor, who had been outside the carriage complaining about the stuffiness, galloped towards the left side, while Nigel and Ja-han, who were inside the carriage, flung the door open and jumped out.

It didn’t take long for the charging monsters to be turned into minced meat.

—

After several days of marching, we finally crossed the border back into the Empire’s territory.

The border fortress, which Ludwig had painstakingly expanded, was where we were supposed to have our final battle with Ka`har.

Since the battlefield had shifted to Dane, the fortress had been left abandoned, with only a minimal force stationed there as a precaution.

“Ha-shall-leur unnie! I’ve been waiting for you!”

Rana was also there, as I had expected. She had been staying at the fortress, eagerly awaiting my return, and had been helping with the treatment of the soldiers stationed there.

“Yeah, yeah. Unnie’s here.”

I patted Rana’s head as she rushed over and hugged me tightly.

“Anything happen while I was gone? You seem to have grown a bit taller.”

“It’s my growth spurt!”

Rana answered, still clinging to me tightly, only lifting her head slightly.

Children grow up so fast, they say, and it’s true. She had grown over 10 cm in just a month.

A few months ago, her head only reached my side, but now it was buried in my chest.

She was so happy to see me that she kept rubbing her face against my chest like a cat, causing the bandages wrapped around my chest to peek out from under my shirt.

…It must be suffocating and smelly, but she keeps rubbing her face like that.

“Alright, Rana. I know you’re happy, but let go for now. Unnie has work to do.”

I gently pushed Rana’s shoulders to separate her. I understood she was happy to see me after so long, but this wasn’t the time to indulge her affection.

As the temporary commander of the eastern defense forces, my priority was to give orders to the soldiers who had just arrived at the border fortress after a long march.

Rana seemed to understand my position and silently stepped back, though she looked a bit disappointed.

“Did you hear about what happened in Dane? Are you okay? You didn’t get seriously hurt, did you?”

“I’m fine. See, I’m perfectly fine? Don’t worry.”

I smiled and spread my arms wide.

[Perfectly fine, my foot. You’re full of lies.]

Hersela sneered.

In truth, I was seriously injured. I had lost an entire arm.

To hide the injury, I had carved a temporary prosthetic out of wood, covered it with an ice blade, and used the Life Force Technique to move it like a puppet.

Good thing I equipped the ice blade before arriving at the border fortress. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to hide the severe injury to my left arm.

—

After entering the border fortress and resting for half a day, I reorganized the remaining troops who had completed their duty of defending the east into three groups.

Those who would return to the imperial capital, those who would head to the Landenburg Territory, and those who would stay here.

“The injured from the Landenburg army will stay here. After treatment, they will defend the fortress.”

First, I selected only the Landenburg troops from those who couldn’t walk due to injuries and had been carried on supply wagons, leaving them as the fortress’s garrison.

There weren’t many of them.

If Knut didn’t break his promise to me, Dane would soon become a vassal state of the Empire. So, there was no need to station a large force at the border fortress.

“Those who can move will return to Landenburg and defend the barrier. Also, inform those who remained there of Ludwig’s death and that I have succeeded his position.”

With Ludwig dead, I now had to rule Landenburg.

Of course, I had no administrative skills, and I didn’t have the time for it either. So, I planned to only lend my name as the lord of the territory.

The actual governance would be handled by the proxy and administrators Ludwig had prepared in advance for his death.

I would stay in the imperial capital, enjoy the profits they diligently made, and only fly over to resolve major issues when necessary.

Thinking about it, it was quite a farce.

The combined territories I had acquired surpassed even Duke Bien’s domain, but the owner of such vast lands had no interest in managing them.

To the nobles who would even kill and wage wars to expand their lands, this must seem like a waste of territory.

…But what can I do? I’m too busy swinging my sword. If I were to wield a pen instead of a sword, wouldn’t that be a national loss?

Moreover, from the perspective of the territory’s inhabitants, being governed by administrative experts would be much happier than being ruled by someone who only knows how to raise armies and wage wars.

So, for these reasons, I entrusted all territory management to my proxies and planned to continue living that way.

If a proxy abused my authority and ruined the territory, I would have to intervene personally, but the people Leopold and Ludwig had chosen wouldn’t be such scum.

They must have selected competent, diligent, and not foolish enough to deceive me.

I may not have talent in managing territories, but I am exceptionally skilled at killing those who do.

Isn’t that right? How many monarchs, not just ordinary lords, have I killed?

Empress Isabella, who held the Empire in her grasp.

Ryu-rik, the Wolf King of Baraykruz.

Danon I, the king of the Kingdom of Panam… Was it I? Anyway, that old man.

Ragnar of Dane, the shortest-reigning king, who didn’t even last a day.

And Or-han, who unified the entire Great Plains and ascended as Kagan, was also slain by my hand.

Excluding Himell, which has no king, Alvheim, which serves the World Tree, and the Dragon Kingdom, which has little contact with me, I’ve essentially replaced the leaders of every country. At this point, can’t I be called a king-slayer specialist?

—

After entrusting the command of the Landenburg army to Joshua and Heinrich and sending them off, I led the remaining imperial troops back to the imperial capital.

It wasn’t a triumphant return.

The grand army of two legions, totaling 30,000, had dwindled to just under 10,000, with half of them groaning from various injuries.

The long line of carriages carrying those who couldn’t walk looked more like a refugee column than a military procession.

After about ten days of marching in this state, we finally returned to Exra-shapel.

“…Is this really the imperial capital, Exra-shapel?”

“Divine Elpinel in heaven…!”

The imperial troops, who had endured the horrors of war and the long journey, returned home.

But instead of singing the joy of survival, they collapsed in shock and lamentation at the sight of the capital’s devastated state.

“This is worse than I thought…”

Even I, who had heard the reports, couldn’t help but say that. How much worse must it have looked to the others?

The scars left by Isabella’s final legacy, the insect-dragon Nidhogg, were all too vivid.

Crumbled city walls, melted and hardened ground, shattered spires, and sunken foundations. The scene looked as if it had been swept by a bombing raid.

…The messenger who described this as ‘half-destroyed’ must have been something else. Was he even human, or some kind of AI?

If you burn and melt half of a person’s body, can you say they’re only half-dead? Can you claim the other half is still alive?

That’s exactly what the scene before my eyes looked like.

While the scale of destruction matched the messenger’s report of half the city being destroyed, seeing it in person made it clear that the city was practically finished.