LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 8 - The Emperor (1)
✦ Chapter 8 – The Emperor (1) ✦
「Translator – Creator」
𒋝𒋝𒋝𒋝𒋝
Unlike the current emperor, the previous emperor was inept. Though no one dared to say it aloud, it was an undeniable truth.
If he had only been incompetent, it might have been a lesser issue. Not every emperor who had ruled before was exceptionally brilliant, yet they acknowledged their shortcomings and heeded the advice of loyal subjects, caring for the welfare of the people.
However, the previous emperor was different. He could not admit his deficiencies.
Driven by greed and vanity, he squandered the resources of the empire solely for himself and ignored the voices of loyal subjects, surrounding himself instead with sycophants.
An incompetent emperor and a court teeming with corrupt officials inevitably led to widespread corruption.
High-ranking officials lined their pockets with bribes, and newly appointed ones bought their positions. Gradually, those who genuinely cared for the empire dwindled among the officials.
The ones who suffered most from this were the citizens.
Due to the Emperor’s greed and the officials’ corruption, taxes increased, and the people starved. However, there was nothing they could do.
To make matters worse, the crown prince took after his father. Ignorant, incompetent, and consumed by greed. “Why should I attend the same academy as those lowly commoners?” he’d declared, refusing even to set foot in the academy.
As the future of the empire grew bleak, and its people suffered, a masked hero emerged.
Phantom Cardinal.
Clad entirely in pitch-black shadows, he began to steal from corrupt officials.
“The empire has too many thieves. Let me show you who the real thieves are.”
At first, the officials paid him no mind, thinking he would soon be caught. However, contrary to their expectations, the Cardinal was never captured.
He appeared out of nowhere, plundered their riches, and vanished like a shadow. His audacity grew. Every corrupt official was robbed, and even when the emperor attempted to intervene, he, too, was plundered.
The Cardinal’s crowning heist was from the Emperor himself. He stole the national treasure of the Croa Empire — the sword used by the Empire’s founding Emperor. Enraged by the theft of the national treasure, the emperor deployed all available military forces to find it, but their efforts were in vain.
However, someone no one expected managed to recover the national treasure.
It was a prince, only a bastard son. He did not catch the Cardinal but succeeded in retrieving the national treasure.
His first act upon obtaining it was… a coup d’état.
The coup had two justifications — the Emperor’s incompetence and the loss of the national treasure.
Everyone believed the coup, led by a mere bastard son, was doomed to fail, but two noble houses supported him — House Freya, renowned for its swordsmanship, and House Adellian, famed for its magical prowess.
With the backing of the two houses, the prince marched towards the emperor. However, the Imperial Knights stood in his path, duty-bound to protect their sovereign.
The prince was troubled, contemplating how he could get past the knights to reach the emperor. However, he wasn’t the only one in a dilemma.
Gedra, the Imperial Knight Commander at the time, was also torn as he faced the prince.
Was he doing the right thing? He couldn’t remember whether he had aspired to protect the Emperor or the Empire when he became the Imperial Knights Commander as a young man.
After much internal struggle, Gedra made a decision.
“All knights, stand down!”
From that day forward, Gedra resigned as the Imperial Knights Commander and became an academy instructor, hoping to ensure no children would grow up as confused about their purpose as he had been.
The prince broke through the knights, assassinated the emperor and the crown prince, and ascended to the throne. Upon becoming emperor, the prince immediately purged the corrupt officials and sycophants; the stench of blood lingered in the empire for a time.
However, the prince, now emperor, elevated Houses Adellian and Freya to dukedoms and distributed free food to the people. Gradually, the empire regained stability.
And from that moment, the Phantom Cardinal was never seen again.
.
.
.
.
[Your Majesty, I’ll get straight to the point, as your time is precious. Is a child named Loki your disciple?]
“Loki… That’s a name I haven’t heard before. Why do you think this child might be my disciple?”
[His movements resemble those of Phantom Cardinal.]
The mention of the Phantom Cardinal made the emperor, listening to the headmaster’s words through the communication device in the imperial palace, drift into old memories.
He didn’t question why the headmaster thought Loki might be his disciple based on his movements.
…after all, he himself was the Phantom Cardinal.
And the headmaster was one of the few who knew this secret.
“Could you send me the exam footage so I can confirm?”
[Of course.]
Even after the communication ended, the emperor remained deep in thought for a long time.
.
.
.
.
As the golem vanished without leaving even a core behind, I collapsed onto the ground.
Now, I could finally rest.
Some students, who had just regained consciousness after being knocked out by the monster, rushed over to Lucas and Clara, showering them with flattery. It was pathetic, seeing them act so obsequious after being unconscious for so long.
“Your Highness! You were incredible! To defeat that golem with a single blow!”
“Your javelin throw was like a bolt of lightning!”
“It’s amazing that the two of you, Your Highness and Lady Clara, took down that powerful golem!”
“Lady Clara, your magic was truly spectacular! It’s an honor to attend the academy with you.”
Attend the academy together? Ridiculous. Did they truly believe they stood a chance?
Clara completely ignored those speaking to her, while Lucas gave brief replies to the sycophantic nobles before walking in my direction.
However, there was someone who reached me before Lucas did.
She bent down to speak to me, her pink hair cascading down due to gravity.
Pink hair… It seemed like a color impossible to pull off, yet it looked perfect on this lady standing before me.
It was Sepia Leviathan.
“Ignore those idiots saying the two of them took down the golem.”
Despite being the adopted daughter, her rough manner of speaking did not match that of a marquis house. But her words were laced with concern, as if she worried I might have been hurt by their comments.
“Haha, it’s enough that a beautiful and strong lady like you recognizes my contribution. And besides, it’s not entirely accurate to say they defeated the golem alone.”
“Right. The golem was defeated by the three ofㅡ”
“We all defeated it together! We wouldn’t have succeeded without those who handled the monsters, like you, Lady Sepia.”
Sepia stared at me in disbelief for a moment, as if she couldn’t comprehend my words.
“… You idiot. Being too nice in this academy will make surviving hard for you.”
A whooshing sound cut through the air. A wind spirit, appearing out of nowhere, landed on Sepia’s hand.
“Here. I retrieved the thread.”
In Sepia’s hand was the thread I had used to bind the golem. I thought it had been completely destroyed by Lucas and Clara’s attacks.
“A gift to commemorate our friendship.”
“Since when were we friends?”
“Hehe, if exchanging words like this doesn’t make us friends, what does?”
“Now I see, you’re not just an idiot; you’re a pushover. You know how valuable this thread is, don’t you?”
I had plenty of thread in my subspace anyway. Sepia, with her ability to command spirits, would put it to good use.
“Wouldn’t I be the one benefiting from a friendship with someone as remarkable as you, Lady Sepia?”
Sepia mumbled something under her breath, barely audible, and walked away.
“Thank you,” she said.
After she left, Lucas approached me and spoke.
“You look pretty worn out lying there.”
“Haha, it’s not that I’m tired. I just have this occasional hobby of lying down and looking up at the sky.”
“You can’t see the sky with a ceiling above us.”
*Creak*
Just as Lucas’ words brought a smile to my face, the auditorium doors opened, and the professors entered. The students, who had been chattering, fell silent as dozens of professors filed in.
“We will now announce the class assignments. This year, we’ll have a special class.”
Following this announcement, a woman with ash-gray hair walked into the auditorium.
“We’ve invited a special instructor for this special class.”
I recognized the woman. In “Croaka,” she was notorious for pushing her students to their limits, earning her the moniker “Demon Instructor” because their stats would increase substantially under her tutelage.
She strode in, one hand gripping the back of the neck of Professor Idra, infamous for her eccentric teaching methods.
“I’ll announce the special class students first! Lucas Leonheart, Clara Adellian, Sepia Leviathan, Kuran Isar… Loki, you are all assigned to the special class.”
The names called out were all prominent figures in ‘Croaka.’ My hard work during the entrance exam was all for this—to be part of the special class.
“Next, the students assigned to Class 1…”
The professor continued announcing the class assignments.
“Any students whose names haven’t been called yet, raise your hands.”
Quite a few hands went up.
“You are all expelled. Leave the academy immediately.”
“What? Why?!”
“We passed the entrance exam!”
The professor’s declaration of expulsion surprised both those being expelled and those who weren’t. Who would have thought they’d be expelled during the entrance ceremony?
“Hey! How come that guy gets into the special class, and I get expelled?!” one student shouted, pointing at me. Was he seriously trying to drag me down with him? Had he not seen me fight?
“Sigh… Afro Ganish, you panicked when the monsters appeared, got hit, and fainted. Am I correct?” the professor said with a weary sigh. It was understandable; after a few years of teaching, dealing with students like him became routine.
“Th-That’s because the monster appeared so suddenly! I panicked!”
“Let me elaborate.”
The one who spoke was the ash-gray-haired Demon Instructor. After placing Professor Idra on the ground, she stood in front of Afro Garnish, who was trembling before her.
“My name is Elysia. I’ll show you exactly why you’re being expelled.”
The moment she finished speaking, she vanished from Afro Ganish’s sight. Sensing danger, I instinctively ducked.
Where my face had been a moment before was now Elysia’s hand, positioned like a blade.
“See?”
“Huh? See what?”
This time, Elysia charged at Afro Garnish. Compared to when she attacked me, her speed was much slower. Yet, Afro Garnish couldn’t block it and was sent flying.
“This is why you’re being expelled. This student managed to dodge despite it being a surprise attack, whereas you, knowing it was coming, couldn’t avoid it.”
To my surprise, it was Professor Idra who hugged me, offering comfort. What was with this crazy professor?
“Commander! What was that?! I knew something was fishy when you suddenly decided to take charge of the special class! Loki, are you alright?”
“Yes! I’m terribly shaken! My poor, fragile heart almost burst!”
“Oh dear, oh dear. Poor Loki. You must have been so scared?”
Now that I thought about it, wasn’t the Demon Instructor the commander of Idra’s adventurer party back in the day?
“Hmm…”
Scratching her head, the Demon Instructor, Elysia, handed me a pouch. What was this?
“Sorry for startling you. This is a small compensation.”
I opened the pouch.
And inside were countless gold coins.
Whoa! How much was this?
I pulled away from Professor Idra instantly.
“Let go of me, Professor Idra. Professor Elysia has her reasons!”
“Loki…?”
Ignoring Professor Idra, I bowed deeply to Elysia.
“It was an honor to be of assistance, Professor Elysia!”
Hehe, gold! So much gold!
From now on, she wasn’t the Demon Instructor; she was the Goddess Instructor.
— End of Chapter —
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