Chapter 72 – Knight of Anguish

Bandred Cruarde is the third son of the Cruarde family.

The family’s inheritance will go to his older brother, so he thought he would live as a knight through the family’s connections. With that in mind, he was involved in the job of guarding the imperial palace as an apprentice.

The Imperial Guard is a job that requires decent nobility among knights. He thought he would continue to live comfortably as a member of the Imperial Guard with his family’s connections… That’s when he met him. The prince named Arloston.

Bandred was just an apprentice, so at that time, he was only assigned to the area where the lower-ranking princes who were not in line for the throne lived.

Since he would only get nervous if he were assigned to the area where the future emperor candidates lived, he had no complaints about that.

“Bandred, what is the city like outside the palace? Could you tell me?”

“Of course, I don’t mind.”

A young man who received education as a subject and would never become an emperor by mistake.

And for Arloston, Bandred, who was relatively young in the Imperial Guard, was easy to talk to. And so, the two of them gradually formed a peaceful friendship.

‘Thinking back, those days were the most peaceful for me…’

He talked to several other princes and princesses, but Arloston was the one who trusted him the most. And he could also feel the dignity of being a member of the royal family.

But one day, Creyval ascended to the throne and immediately carried out a purge.

Fortunately, Arloston was not a target of the purge but Creyval did not leave any siblings who could potentially become emperor besides himself.

As soon as Arloston reached adulthood, he left the imperial palace and, as ordered by Creyval, entered the Londonic family, relinquishing his right to the throne.

‘That was a regrettable time… And at that moment, I realised my feelings. Ah, I saw something greater than the current emperor in this prince…’

Bandred has not spoken with all members of the imperial family. One reason for this is that he mainly conversed with Arloston.

Nevertheless, he firmly believes that Arloston possesses much more talent for leading the empire than the current emperor, Creyval. That’s why.

‘I, as a knight, wanted to be of service to His Highness…Arloston-sama.’

Initially, Arloston was involved in the workings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and financial management, but he began to excel there. Furthermore, officials and nobles who supported him began to increase.

Among the nobles, there were some who found Arloston bothersome. These individuals consulted the emperor and Arloston was appointed to a completely unrelated position… the Chief Knight.

Initially, everyone wondered, [Why should someone who knows nothing about war be appointed?]

But even here, Arloston demonstrated his talent splendidly and embarked on reforming the knighthood. There was strong opposition from the traditional knight factions but his reforms have already yielded results.

In recent years, the Imperial Knights have undergone a strong transformation and domestic security has become considerably more stable compared to ten years ago. As a result, production has increased, and tax revenues are on the rise.

Furthermore, by silencing opposing knight factions in large-scale exercises, he has even managed to incorporate those factions through twists and turns. I think his political acumen is indeed skillful, and it is being positively demonstrated within the knighthood.

When Arloston first became the Chief Knight, he had few allies within the knighthood. Bandred was among the first to rush to his side.

It was a reunion after several years, but Arloston clearly remembered him. And the Cruarde family is a noble family with high status, enough to have their son forced into the Imperial Palace Guard.

Bandred has been cooperating with Arloston from the beginning, involved in forming the power base within the knighthood.

Looking at how things have taken shape now, he still think it was a good decision to cooperate with Arloston back then.

The Cruarde family actively supported Arloston, even when he had no achievements as the Chief Knight. With the power of the Londonic family as well, Arloston’s influence grew rapidly, starting from these two noble houses.

Bandred also supported Arloston’s reform of the knighthood. He believed that with his seriousness and hard work, he would lead the Imperial Knights in a better direction. He still think his thoughts at that time were not wrong. However…

‘Prince Vilgard…Arloston-sama must have mixed feelings…’

A few months ago, Prince Vilgard rebelled on the outskirts. He managed to completely defeat the formidable Imperial Knights that Arloston had built.

Although he never spoke to him when he was in the Imperial Palace Guard, he had seen his face several times. He was also the elder prince whom Arloston often mentioned.

‘On the day of the purge. Knowing that Prince Vilgard was one of the targets, I did nothing.’

It had been decided that the head of the guard would personally carry out the purge. However, since he didn’t return for quite some time, Bandred went to check on him.

What he saw there was the bodies of the guard officers and Concubine Riglaise, Prince Vilgard’s mother.

However, no trace of the prince’s body could be found no matter how much they searched. Whether he had escaped or been taken by someone else, it was unclear.

As someone who Arloston was particularly close to, Bandred hoped he was safe.

‘Yes. That’s why I reported to the higher-ups that Prince Vilgard was dead.’

During the purge, not only the Imperial Palace but also the noble districts of the capital were targeted. In other words, it was easy to obtain the body of a boy of the same age.

And the princes with low succession rights couldn’t leave their confined quarters and few knew their faces. Moreover, the manifested markings disappear upon death. Faking the body wasn’t that difficult.

‘At that time, the capital was especially chaotic. So, my sloppy report went unquestioned and the story passed as is..’

Even if it turned out later that the body wasn’t Prince Vilgard’s, Bandred was also confused, so he hastily concluded that the boy’s body was indeed the prince’s… and he was considering how to cover it up.

After all, he was just a newly minted apprentice at the time, telling himself that he would make one or two mistakes.

Anyway, amidst the chaos, the central authority took Bandred’s report at face value and consequently, no unit was formed to search for Vilgard.

There are hardly any documents left from that time and there wasn’t even enough time to meticulously document everything. Therefore, there’s no record stating that Bandred was the one who reported, 『Prince Vilgard has died』.

Creyval, recognizing the purge as part of his own undesirable past, wasn’t keen on actively verifying why Vilgard was still alive.

Thanks to this, Bandred bore no responsibility for Vilgard being alive.

However, now, as an enemy of the empire… having emerged as Arloston’s enemy, Bandred couldn’t help but feel some responsibility.

‘If the prince comes as an enemy… I must fulfil my responsibility for what I’ve done.’

If he hadn’t faked Vilgard’s body back then. If he had reported that there was a possibility he had escaped. Perhaps this future wouldn’t have come to pass.

Bandred had the conviction that it wasn’t wrong to cooperate with Arloston early on. But whether it was right or wrong to act to ensure Vilgard wasn’t pursued, he hasn’t determined yet.

“…Do not hesitate, Bandred Cruarde. You are now the commander of the Silver Spear Knights serving Arloston-sama. Even if he may have once been a brother whom Arloston esteemed… if he opposes us, we must crush him with all our might.”

The fact that brothers find themselves on opposite sides may be partly my fault… perhaps. However, regardless, I must fulfil my duties as the commander of the knighthood.

Breaking through years of stagnation, Bandred have now secured most of the Kamurakku territory. Now, they must prepare for the inevitable invasion and defend this land.

The alliance of lords will find it difficult to coordinate with the Diltrack territory to the west and Vilgard’s influence should make it challenging for them to easily redirect their forces here to reclaim this land.

“Ba… Bandred-sama…!”

“What is it?”

“F… from the east…! Prince Vilgard’s army has begun their invasion…!”

“…………!? Wha…!?”

Both Diltrack to the west and Clostova to the east are always under close observation.

But on this day, a report came in that Vilgard’s forces had appeared from Clostova.