Chapter 76: The Aftermath [1]

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After the yesterday’s events, Lady Red Leaf and Catrise had conjured a strong barrier around the entire estate of the noble family. It was designed to prevent anyone from entering and attempting to assassinate the prince. As for Louis, he had been utterly exhausted and fell unconscious the moment he reached home, sleeping until the next day. By then, his bandaged body had slowly recovered from the wounds and fatigue he had endured.

Despite everything that had happened, Louis’s mind remained mostly clear and composed. He had already anticipated assassination attempts; they had occurred many times even in the capital. Especially during the period when he had decided to counsel the people there. From what he could recall, there had been a total of eight attempts, but all had failed. Those who tried to take his life were executed by his own sword. He showed no mercy to anyone who threatened him.

That morning, besides his usual meditation and physical training, Louis dedicated time to checking on Robert, who had been severely wounded. He then decided to interrogate the souls of the Archer and the Lancer he had enslaved.

“How are you feeling so far, Robert? Hanging in there?”

He stepped into Robert’s room. The old War Priest was being fed soup by Catrise, who was chatting with him. After the incident, Louis and Catrise had done everything in their power to heal him, but the lost muscle and bone could not be fully regenerated. Robert had lost his arm. Handy’s healing power had been depleted by then, as she had focused on keeping Louis alive, leaving her unable to save Robert’s limb.

“Ah, Your Majesty… I am fine,” he nodded. “Though I fear I might not be able to serve you properly with just one arm.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve already commissioned Lady Red Leaf to craft you a Spirit Artifact—a prosthetic arm that will make you even stronger,” Louis said. “I will not abandon my people, not after they have shown me such loyalty.”

“Your Majesty…” Robert was slightly moved by Louis’s words. “Then I’ll gladly accept that gift… Honestly, when I realized I was no longer as strong as I once was, when I felt my age catching up to me… I considered simply retiring to my house in the countryside and living a normal, simple life. But I really couldn’t do that. My retirement turned into yet another intense job, haha. I guess I’m the type of man who will die working and fighting, but… I think that’s fine.”

“…Are you sure?” Louis considered letting him go. “You can resign at any time. I will make sure to give you a great house, and you and your family will never struggle financially again.”

“Oh no, we already have plenty,” Robert shook his head. “My wife will probably try to kill me once she learns I lost an arm, but… Hahaha, I bet my son would be proud of his father going so far to save the prince.”

“Your son…” Louis muttered. “Is he a knight or a soldier?”

“My son… well, he passed away a couple of years ago,” Robert muttered, sighing. “He was a bright young man, a soldier. He was only a step away from becoming a knight, you know? He… he used to watch over you when you were a child. I wonder if you remember him? His name was Jonathan, a blonde young man with bright blue eyes.”

“…Ah,” Louis recalled a few memories from his childhood. Aside from Catrise, there had always been a couple of knights acting as bodyguards. Sometimes they would bring along a squire, a knight in training who was very playful and would let Louis sit on his shoulders. “That’s… such an old memory. It was when my mother was still awake.”

“Indeed,” Robert smiled bitterly. “He was among the brave ones that… fought against that monstrous Grievance that attacked the capital, the very same that put your mother to sleep for all these years now.”

Louis gripped his fists tightly, feeling terrible for Robert, who had lost his only son while he himself continued living. He knew very well that nothing was more painful for a father than seeing his own child die before him.

“I… You have my condolences, Robert,” Louis closed his eyes. “I didn’t know…”

“It’s fine,” Robert smiled warmly. “It’s fine, Master Louis. I’m just happy to know that you’re working hard every day, improving every single moment. You are honoring not just your mother or your family, but also all those who fought to protect this country, who fought to protect you.”

“Yes…” Louis walked away. He was unable to hold back the tears, but he didn’t want Robert or Catrise to see him. “I… I will be leaving now. Make sure to rest.”

“Yes, Master Louis. Take care. Don’t push yourself too hard,” Robert said.

“Hm…” Louis nodded and walked away.

Outside Robert’s room, Zorba was waiting for him with a gentle smile on his face, his Aura of Death surging and gathering in his hands.

“My lord, the souls you’ve given me have been successfully broken. We can now ask them anything, and they shall not resist,” he said with a pleased smile.

“…Well done. Let’s go,” Louis nodded, walking downstairs with Zorba behind him.

What Zorba had done was something highly questionable, going against his mother’s church teachings of letting the souls of the dead pass away peacefully, no matter if they were enemies or not.

Louis loved his mother and tried to follow many of her teachings, but he lacked the strength she had to be merciful. To him, mercy was a privilege only the strongest could afford. For the weak, those who struggled in every battle, mercy was a weakness he could not carry.

Zorba was the type of man who would be immediately executed or imprisoned in the Frostbane Kingdom during peaceful times. He was the “necessary evil” Louis required to accomplish his goals.

He knew his mother would probably scold him for using such dark powers, but Louis was willing to take all the blame.

In drastic times, he had to take drastic measures.

Once he arrived in an underground secret chamber where the corpses of the knights had been stored, Louis quickly analyzed their equipment and removed their broken armor and Spirit Weapons, all quite precious.

“A Spirit Bow, two Spirit Swords, and two Spirit Lances, five broken Spirit Shields and Spirit Armor Sets… Not bad,” said Louis. “Unfortunately, I cannot wield any of them.”

These Spiritual Artifacts were modified so that only the designated master chosen by the creator could wield their power. So these amazing Spirit Swords Louis had hoped to use, or the Spirit Lances, were all useless.

Or at least, not completely.

“Then I shall quickly smelt them into their basic components,” Lady Red Leaf said, receiving everything and setting up her burning forge underground to begin melting the Spirit Gear. “Most of this gear is made using Spirit Silver Alloy, a very precious metal. Perhaps you can’t wield these weapons or wear this armor, but I will reuse these materials to make something better, Lord Louis.”

“Thank you. Then please, I’m leaving it to you,” Louis quickly handed her his Lance, which was still regenerating and needed repair—or perhaps assistance from someone else. “Do you think you can repair her and… upgrade her into a Spirit Artifact?”

“…?! Is this your Soul Gear? A beautiful White Lance,” she said. “But this is… she has no name. Why?”

“I’m thinking about giving her a name once she’s repaired,” said Louis. “Can you turn a Soul Gear Weapon into a Spirit Artifact?”

“…I have never tried, but I could try,” Lady Red Leaf nodded, caressing Louis’s Soul Lance. “It’s the least I could do after everything his majesty and his subordinates have done for us.”

“Good. Then I’ll be counting on you. Please use the components of those Spirit Weapons,” said Louis. “If the Lance can change elements at will, it will become incredibly compatible with my Five Elemental Spiritual Roots.”

“I see. So that’s your plan,” she said. “Very well, leave it to me. I’ll keep trying until it works. Good thing Soul Gear doesn’t break the way non-living items do.”

“Ah yes, but please try to be gentle…” Louis sighed.

“Haha, I’ll see about that,” Lady Red Leaf said as she left for her forge. “I’ll leave you with your own things. I hope you can find some clues.”

“Thank you,” Zorba said, nodding as he watched her leave. “Very well, Master Louis. Shall we begin?”

“Yes, let’s do it,” Louis nodded.

Mirai, Anastasia, and the rest were not present for obvious reasons. The thought of interrogating tortured souls would likely cause great revulsion in them, so the two had decided to keep them out of this. Lady Red Leaf was perhaps the only one who understood that such measures were necessary, even if they went against their morals.

“Soul Enslavement, Rise!”

Zorba wasted no time. He infused the two enslaved souls Louis had given him—exploiting the Soul Storage loophole they had discovered—and quickly bound them to two corpses. The Archer’s corpse was intact, but the Lancer’s had been reduced to bones, rising as a skeleton.

Ghostly energy poured from their mouths, ears, and empty eyes. The zombie and skeleton groaned as if trying to breathe, even though their lungs either no longer worked or were absent.

“Sit down,” Zorba ordered, and both obeyed, sitting on the floor without resistance. “Now, tell me who sent you here and what their true goal is.”

Thus, the interrogations began.

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