Chapter 143

All the elves in Foothill's Rest would help their family, Leonardo.

—That momentous decision was made.

However, despite the momentous decision, no elf was confused or agitated.

As Elvandor had surmised, it was because each and every elf had already made the decision for themselves.

Even if it meant leaving their home.

For the sake of their family.

They would pass judgment on the monsters they found so unsightly.

“Then, Elder, how shall we fight?”

Silvia, the other Elder Elf who had proposed to Elvandor that ‘all elves fight together,’ asked.

“How shall we fight?”

“I was asking how we should fight when we fight alongside the humans. I would like you to decide whether we will act independently or follow Leonardo’s orders.”

“Ah, that’s what you were asking. Hmm…”

It was an important point.

Elvandor’s gaze blurred as he thought deeply before answering.

“We will fight in a coalition with the human army.”

“A coalition… you say?”

As if it wasn’t the direction she had wanted, Silvia’s voice trembled slightly.

She had proposed immigrating to the Plank Kingdom for the sake of preserving the elven race, but she did not want to cooperate closely with humans.

“May I know the reason? I don’t think it is necessary for elves to fight alongside humans, even if we are helping the human kingdom. We elves can perform well enough without taking orders from humans.”

“That may be so. In a battle on the level of raiding some dungeon or monster settlement. But this is a ‘war’.”

“……”

“Are there any elves among us who have directly experienced war? Besides myself.”

Elvandor asked, but no elf stepped forward. It was the same for Silvia.

“The most important thing to win a war is for everyone to set a single direction for victory. No matter how strong an army is, if it can’t do that, it’s a disorderly mob.”

“……”

“And in the Plank Kingdom, there is a knight who is one of the best among humans. A knight who was active in the war against the demons, which we did not participate in, claiming to be protecting Foothill's Rest.”

“Jereuth… you mean that human knight.”

When Silvia spoke in a trailing voice, Elvandor nodded.

“Yes, Jereuth. I think that even if your pride is hurt, in war, you must respect that human’s ability and experience.”

“Even so, he is a human who cannot even live for 100 years—.”

“Those humans who cannot even live for 100 years rule over 70 percent of the continent. That is the strength of humans.”

“……”

“Silvia. If you dislike fighting alongside humans, then try speaking separately to Leonardo or Jereuth. Ask them if it’s okay for you to go alone on the battlefield. But our elven policy is to ‘help the Plank Kingdom and actively cooperate with them’.”

Elvandor spoke firmly.

Silvia could offer no further rebuttal. Since the Elder had spoken so clearly, saying more was unlikely to change his judgment.

“Understood, Elder.”

‘But… come to think of it, how did that child, Leonardo, change Father’s mind?’

Silvia thought as she looked at Elvandor.

‘Father despised the human king, Philip. For the reason that he had made my older sister weak and caused her death. That hatred was directed towards all of humanity.’

But.

‘His mind changed after meeting Leonardo just once…?’

Silvia thought of Leonardo. Her nephew, and the son of her deceased older sister—Victoria.

Then, she shook her head slightly, clearing her thoughts.

‘That’s not what’s important. Our policy has already been decided.’

Just as Silvia came to that conclusion of her own.

Piyooo—!

From the east, in the direction of the Gryphon’s cliff, the cry of a Gryphon was heard.

It was a common occurrence for a Gryphon to leave the cliff and fly near the village.

So no elf was surprised by the sound of a Gryphon—.

“Th-that’s…?”

“It’s the Alpha Gryphon!”

“How did so many Gryphons come!”

“Are they following the Alpha Gryphon?!”

“Someone’s riding it… huh?!”

The elves were surprised. Not because of the number of Gryphons coming to the village.

It was because at the head of those many Gryphons was the red-headed Gryphon, the ‘Alpha Gryphon’.

Even among elves who lived for hundreds, even over a thousand years, very few had ever seen the Alpha Gryphon.

But for someone to be riding it!

They couldn’t help but be surprised.

Elvandor and Silvia were also looking at the Alpha Gryphon with surprised eyes.

And they also recognized the being riding the Alpha Gryphon.

‘Leonardo…!’

‘……Leonardo?’

Elvandor rejoiced, calling him a proud grandson.

And Silvia, who had been curious about Leonardo’s abilities, was amazed by them.

‘He’s riding the Alpha Gryphon? Was he chosen by the Alpha Gryphon? But behind him…’

“…What is Paras doing over there?”

—Yeehaw!!

Her thoughtless younger brother, did that brat have no awareness of being elven royalty?

Paras, without any shame, was riding behind his much younger nephew, raising both arms in great excitement.

“Hah…”

Embarrassed as a fellow Elder Elf, Silvia sighed and covered her face with one hand.

The other Elder Elves did the same.

Elvandor was even trembling from Paras’s disgraceful behavior.

—Piyoooo!

Before long, the Alpha Gryphon landed in the village.

The other Gryphons each went into the nearby forest somewhere.

—*Piyooo…….

Belatedly, a small Gryphon that was at the tail end of the flock slowly flew in and landed in the elven village.

“H-uh, kyaaaaaaah!”

A young human girl was riding on the back of the small Gryphon that landed late.

All the elves knew who that girl was. Because she was the human who had come with Leonardo, the first human to set foot in Roterion in hundreds of years.

‘…Did that human also gain the recognition of a Gryphon?’

‘She jumped from that cliff?’

‘That’s something not just anyone can do…’

‘Even if she jumped, if she remained afraid, she would have fallen to her death.’

‘But seeing her scream like that, she doesn’t seem to have the courage to jump from that cliff…?’

While everyone was making their own various conjectures.

Elvandor barely suppressed his anger and approached Paras.

“…Paras, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Ah, Elder! I rode the Alpha Gryphon—!”

“What’s there to be proud of! Your Gryphon is a different one! As an Elder Elf, you hitched a ride on your nephew’s Gryphon, and you were excited about it! You should be ashamed!!”

“Haha……. Yes, I’m sorry.”

At Elvandor’s sharp rebuke, Paras smiled awkwardly and scratched his cheek.

He stealthily moved to the side, hiding among the other elves.

The elves asked Paras with great curiosity.

“Paras, how was it?! How was riding the Alpha Gryphon?!”

“It was no joke! Its power is definitely different!”

“Ooh…! I want to ride it too—.”

“Will you be quiet over there?!”

Elvandor’s sharp rebuke continued.

At that sound, Paras and the elves around him shut their mouths and disappeared to the back again.

“To think that’s an Elder Elf… sigh.”

Watching that, Elvandor shook his head as if he found it pathetic.

Changing his expression once again, he looked at Leonardo with a proud smile.

“You have been chosen by the Alpha Gryphon, Leonardo.”

“Ah… yes, Elder. I was lucky.”

“Luck.”

Elvandor stood sternly and looked back and forth between the Alpha Gryphon, which was looking down at Leonardo, and Leonardo himself, and spoke.

“It is not luck. It is fate.”

“Fate… you say?”

“Yes. The Alpha Gryphon is not a Gryphon you can obtain with courage alone. There must be some special reason. More importantly, I have something to tell you.”

Ahem ahem.

Elvandor cleared his throat and then spoke with a voice full of conviction.

“All of us elves have decided to help you.”

“…Pardon?”

At the completely unexpected words.

Leonardo’s eyes widened.

“A-all the elves decided to help me? You said that would be difficult.”

“I did. But everyone has decided to help you.”

“Ah…”

“Do you not like it?”

“N-no! Of course not. It’s just…”

Leonardo’s eyes darted around, not knowing what to say.

Soon, he finished his words by bowing deeply.

“Thank you.”

Other than that, Leonardo had nothing more to say.

***

—Hahahaha!

—Let’s drink! For our family!

—A toast to Leonardo, who was chosen by the Alpha Gryphon!

—We’re out of alcohol here! Is there more strawberry wine?

—I’ll bring some!

Paras’s house.

I was sitting on the windowsill, lost in thought as I looked at the night sky. The sounds of the elves enjoying the festival could be heard. All the way up to this house in the tall trees.

—You, you said your name was Yoanna, right?

—Ah, yes! That’s right!

—What’s your relationship with Leonardo? Girlfriend?

—N-no?! I-I-I’m His Highness’s knight—!

—Come on, you came all the way here from the human kingdom, just the two of you, there’s no way you’re just a knight!

—I-it’s true… really.

—This won’t do. Alcohol is the best for telling the truth! Hey, bring some alcohol.

—N-no, you can’t! His Highness passed a law that minors shouldn’t drink alcohol…!

—Minors? What’s that?

—Well… under eighteen years old. In the Plank Kingdom, you can drink from nineteen and up.

—Under eighteen can’t drink? Ah… well, you are a bit young to be drinking. But what does it matter! I won’t tell Leonardo!

—N-no, I can’t?! This is a kingdom law that His Highness made himself—!

—Here, bottoms up! bottoms up! The alcohol is flowing!

—Umpf…?!

The voices of Yoanna and the other female elves could also be heard. At first, they seemed awkward with each other, but it seemed they had gotten quite close while enjoying the festival together.

That aside.

‘Now… shall I take a look. The Future Diary.’

I had intended to read the diary as soon as I returned to Paras’s house. But I couldn’t.

Because Paras had been stuck right next to me until just a moment ago, saying 「”Leo! Even if you’re tired, let’s go to the festival together! You’re the guest of honor, you can’t be missing!”」—trying to take me to the festival.

But I didn’t go. Because I was too curious about my future.

‘On this trip, I expected to get the help of the Gryphons and a small number of elves. But I gained much more than that.’

At this rate… perhaps even that future had changed. The future of being destroyed by the invasion of the Jerpan Archipelago after the war with the monster army.

I had hope.

The same hope I always had.

Thump. Shhhlick—!

I sat on the chair by the window.

Then I opened the Future Diary to the very last page, the part with my ending.

‘Please.’

…….

I once heard someone say.

That there are things you cannot change, no matter how hard you try.

This was such a situation.

It had fallen. My kingdom. The precious thing that I wanted to protect, that for the first time in my life made me feel a sense of ‘responsibility’.

I got a feeling from the very first page.

A feeling that a bad ending was coming.

‘…Ha, fuck.’

I should have been used to it by now, but I couldn’t help the tightness in my chest.

Still, I continued to read.

…….

The war against the monster army was won.

The invasion of the Jerpan Archipelago was also repelled.

But this kingdom, which had endured two great wars in succession, could no longer hold on.

Like a warrior whose wounds were too deep, bleeding out faster than he could recover.

My kingdom, the Plank Kingdom, was dying faster than it could recover.

The monster army had destroyed the eastern part of the kingdom.

And the Jerpan Archipelago had destroyed the west, from the southwestern city of ‘Véry-Catena’ to the royal capital.

Above all, what the Jerpan Archipelago had done to the kingdom was fatal. As soon as they saw signs of losing the war, they retreated, poisoning the areas they had occupied.

Saying that this was the method they had used during their long civil war, that only by doing so could they prevent the opponent from regaining strength and retaliating.

Truly… they were the enemy, but I had to admit it. They were wise.

Because I had intended to retaliate against the Jerpan Archipelago as soon as my army was somewhat reorganized after this war ended.

“…Your Highness, this is the report on the plague.”

It was Olivia. Her skin, which was originally a beautiful pearly white, was now so pale from the arduous work of the past few months that it looked like the skin of a dead person.

Olivia handed me the document and continued.

“The speed of the plague is faster than expected. It seems to be because the people of the kingdom are weakened from not eating properly.”

“……”

“We have not yet accurately identified how the plague is spreading. For now, the mages of the Mage Tower are speculating that it might be spreading through food and water. …Still, the hopeful thing is that the plague itself is not a very strong one. A healthy person—.”

“There’s no need to talk about hopeful things. Just state the reality.”

“……”

“More importantly, if the plague is spreading through food and water……. If we stop food distribution for that reason, the provincial territories will starve to death.”

“Yes, hundreds of thousands will starve to death within one or two months.”

“……”

“I am sorry, Your Highness. It seems the kingdom is left with only two choices.”

Two choices. Olivia didn’t say what those choices were, but I already knew.

‘One is to stop the distribution of food, leaving the people of the kingdom to starve to death, to fend for themselves.’

And the other was—

‘To continue distributing food even if the plague spreads further.’

Both were truly, truly, truly absurd choices.

As a king, I had often had to make difficult and harsh choices, but there had never been a more cruel moment of choice than this.

“…What will you do, Your Highness?”

From Olivia’s perspective, she wouldn’t have wanted to pressure me.

The reason she asked again like that was probably because the moment for a decision had finally come.

What should I choose?

Should I choose for the kingdom to die of starvation, or to die in agony from disease?

It was a problem more difficult than the question of to be or not to be.

As I pondered, regret washed over me.

‘The war with the monster army… if I had listened to Peralta’s opinion in that war, could I have reduced the damage?’

It suddenly came to mind. And I regretted it again.

If I had used the strategy Peralta had proposed, of creating a ‘kingdom-wide trap’.

‘If I had used that strategy and saved troops and resources in the war with the monster army… I would have had enough forces to deal with the Jerpan Archipelago.’

Perhaps I could have even prevented the Jerpan Archipelago’s army from landing on the kingdom’s mainland.

Then the kingdom wouldn’t have been destroyed by a trivial plague.

Why didn’t I listen to Peralta’s proposal back then?

‘Because it was too preposterous. To have the Anakros dig underground to create an empty space deep down, lure the monster army there, and make the ground collapse… to create a trap like a giant artificial sinkhole.’

To create a giant sinkhole.

In a war that would decide the fate of the kingdom, I could not make such a gamble.

‘Perhaps… no, I really wasn’t fit to be a king. The previous king, my father, King Philip, gambled the future of the kingdom on me.’

Because I couldn’t make a decisive gamble like King Philip.

Now, I had to make a gamble I couldn’t win.

“Continue to distribute the food. I cannot let the people of the kingdom starve to death.”

…….

I read the Future Diary for a long time.

‘Damn… fuck…’

My head was full of curses.

I was only human, so I couldn’t help it.

‘…Still, I have to read it to the end.’

Shhhlick—.

I turned to the next page.

…….

Eight months after the end of the war with the Jerpan Archipelago.

The kingdom was in a moribund state.

The Giants and Elves, who had tried to protect me to the end, returned to their respective homes to preserve their races.

To the Wasteland of Ruin and Foothill's Rest.

“……”

Sitting on the throne, I looked at the empty banquet hall.

The Crimson Banquet Hall, the scene of the purge where I first seized power.

‘Is what has happened to me… karma? The karma of sitting on the throne after killing so many people.’

Crash—!

Someone broke down the banquet hall door and entered.

Knights and soldiers, their armor spattered with blood.

They were not the army of the Plank Kingdom.

They were the army that had annihilated my army, with whom I had been through life and death.

They were the army of the Angla Empire, from the northwest of the kingdom.

“Found him! It’s the king!”

“……”

“To think he was hiding here like a rat… ha!”

‘Hiding…’

I wasn’t hiding.

I was here, in this place where I had killed many, to kill even more.

—Kyaaaaaak!

—S-save m…!

—Don’t worry! Why would I kill you! You’re going to live under me for the rest of your life! Hahahaha!

Outside the banquet hall, the sounds of the Angla Empire bastards harassing the maids and servants could be heard.

‘Elly… did she escape safely? Olivia too.’

I had already ordered all the servants to flee.

I had ordered the army to flee.

I had told the officials to flee.

Needless to say, the people of the royal capital as well.

‘Even though I said that… it seems many remained until the end.’

I was grateful. I lamented my inability to protect them.

There was only one thing I could do for them now.

Shing—.

The King’s Sword.

When I first received it from my father, it was a pure white sword, but as my end drew near, it turned black.

Just as it had when my father was the master of this sword.

Screeeech—.

Dragging the sword on the floor, I approached the bastards who had entered the banquet hall.

“…A hundred of you will die by my hand. At least.”

Those were my last words.

As soon as I spoke, I threw my body at them.

That was my last memory. I cut down countless knights and soldiers, but I don’t remember it well.

And so, I died.

Thud—.

Until now, I had seen quite a variety of my endings.

But I had never seen such a fucked-up ending before.

I’m pissed off, that’s how I feel.

Hoo—.

Letting out a deep sigh.

As if smoking a cigarette I wasn’t even holding.

Like that, I exhaled my worries with my breath and slowly thought.

‘So… the reason my future self met such an ending is, in the end, because I chose a path that was too safe.’

It was in the diary.

If I had followed ‘Peralta’s preposterous strategy’, then I might have been able to minimize the damage in the war with the monster army.

‘It said ‘might have been able to’— so it wasn’t certain.’

Because it wasn’t certain, my future self didn’t make that gamble.

I could understand. From a king’s perspective, he couldn’t ‘gamble’ on a strategy that would change the fate of the kingdom.

‘But… there’s no answer if I go with the standard method anyway. And Jereuth said it before. Peralta’s physical abilities and swordsmanship are terrible, but his strategic mind is outstanding.’

Peralta’s ability was acknowledged by the kingdom’s best, no, humanity’s best knight.

So it seemed best to adopt it.

‘The Korean War’s tide was turned by the Incheon Landing Operation. A gamble with only a 1 in 5,000 chance of success, a gamble that was bound to lose.’

Anyway, I was given exactly two possibilities.

If I followed Peralta’s strategy, I ‘might’ be ruined, but if I didn’t follow Peralta’s strategy, I ‘will be’ ruined.

So there was only one choice I had to make.

Even if there was only a 1% chance, that was hope.

‘Let’s go back to the royal capital first thing tomorrow. And I’ll have to ask Peralta to draw up a strategy. If I subtly mention the contents of the Future Diary… he might be able to come up with a strategy sooner than expected.’

Piyooooo—!

My Gryphon, flying in the sky, let out a loud cry.

My Gryphon, passing by the full moon, was truly beautiful.