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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 36: Deliver Us from Evil
After the incident with the evil spirit, I doubled down on diplomacy in hopes of becoming a ‘Beloved Ally.’
Though it meant a slight dip in profits, I went ahead with a spice trade agreement with Lord Zeras for the sake of maintaining good relations with the Imperial Princess and the neighboring territories. I also sent generous tribute—including spices and salt—to the prince who had sent Azelle.
And yet, despite all that effort, there was one house whose relationship with us never improved… the House Raion.
For reasons I couldn’t fathom, they returned the compensation we had sent via Dreihart and became even more antagonistic than before.
If they had merely chosen to keep their distance, I might’ve understood.
But the House Raion went further—violently rounding up not only runaway slaves who fled to our lands but also free citizens.
We had to deploy the Cron Knights to the border just to protect them. Otherwise, the fields would've been littered with corpses.
To be honest, I’d already heard rumors through Nova’s merchant spies that the Raion territory had been spiraling into madness.
Still, I never imagined they’d go as far as publicly executing not just any freeman, but an official—a man closer to nobility than commoner—under the guise of ‘divine judgment’ rather than the rule of law.
That level of barbarism… even I hadn’t anticipated.
A few days after that shocking event, I received a letter.
It was from Bara, the son of Hadem—the Lord of Raion—whom I’d met just once in the past.
The letter was desperate, pleading with me to secretly meet him at a predetermined location.
It could’ve been a trap, but the sincerity in that letter was hard to ignore. So I went—with Azelle by my side.
And that’s how we got here.
Before I could even react to his stunning words—his wish to see his own father dead—I responded not as a person, but as a lord.
“Do you understand what it means to ask me to kill your father using my power?”
“Yes! I understand—more than anyone!”
Hadem might be a lunatic, but he was still a lord… and a father.
For a son to beg ‘me,’ the neighboring lord, to kill his own blood—that would be considered a heinous betrayal, even in a world without Confucian ideals.
“But there’s no other way! If we leave him be, that mad lion will keep doing this until every last one of us is dead!”
From Calyx’s memories, I remembered Bara as a slender, cheerful, outgoing boy.
But now, his face was lined with wrinkles, his hair patchy from what looked like stress-induced balding.
10 years… I could only imagine the hell he’d been through.
“Have you tried asking the Prince for help?”
“Ha! My lord—do you think His Highness, who sees my father as a useful pawn, would throw away his axe over something like this? Never. Not over something like this!”
Yeah… I figured as much.
The Prince I’d encountered in the game wasn’t evil—but he was a pragmatist, not a crusader for justice.
Hadem’s execution of a freeman in the name of ‘divine judgment’ was deranged, and the Prince likely wouldn’t approve. But legally? It could still—barely—be seen as an extension of a lord’s sovereign rule.
Would the Prince discard one of his military assets over that and weaken his southern influence? Not likely. Bara was probably right.
“Then what about the Princess?”
“I tried—indirectly. The response I got? ‘Family affairs should be handled within the family.’ That’s all she said!”
Even with Lord Zeras on her side, the Princess couldn’t easily take on Hadem.
To bring him down, she’d need help from other lords aligned with her faction. But that would essentially spark a proxy war—Prince versus Princess.
And if that happened, the Prince, even if he knew Hadem was in the wrong, couldn’t afford to lose. He’d back him without hesitation.
Which meant the war for the South’s future could begin with a single misstep.
Most likely, the Princess and Lord Zeras were wary of this possibility and chose not to get involved.
“My lord! You’re the only one left. Only you, the Silver Dragon of Cron, can save the people of Raion! If this is truly our fate, then I’d rather live as your slave!”
“......”
My head throbbed.
I felt for the people of Raion. I wanted to help. But launching an all-out war against Hadem recklessly would only bring trouble.
Beating Hadem wasn’t the issue. The real problem was political fallout.
If I publicly condemned his crimes, it would inevitably turn into an attack on the Prince for having done nothing despite knowing the truth.
That would give the Princess's faction all the ammunition they need to strike hard at the Prince's faction… and drag me down with them.
And then? I’d be marked as part of the Princess's team—cut off from my neutral goal of becoming a ‘Beloved Ally’ to all factions.
“I understand your pain and the suffering of your people.”
“My lord…!”
“But this isn’t something I can decide here and now. I’ll contact you later. Wait for my word.”
“I’ll wait! Please… save the people of Raion.”
Bara bowed his head deeply, desperately.
To think a successor to a noble house had been pushed so far… his hair falling out, pride shattered, forced to grovel before me.
It broke my heart.
And just like that, I returned to my territory, carrying a heavy burden.
＊ ＊ ＊
Upon returning to the estate, I asked Azelle to keep this matter strictly between the two of us for now.
He nodded deeply, saying he understood—especially since it was in the name of justice.
The reason I didn’t immediately inform my retainers was because I needed time.
Up until now, everything I’d dealt with had been unavoidable.
Monsters invaded.
A rebellion, fueled by conspiracy, had already begun before I ever got involved.
I hadn’t started anything. I had only stepped in to handle things already set in motion.
But this time was different.
No matter how deranged Hadem’s actions were…
No matter how desperate Bara’s plea, or how much the people of Raion were suffering…
If I chose to go to war now, then this time—it would be a war I started.
It wouldn’t be the result of someone else’s plot.
It wouldn’t be a disaster already in motion.
It would be my choice.
My judgment.
My command.
And even if the cause is just, war means death.
No matter how careful I am, no matter how noble the reason—
Someone would have to die for the sake of saving someone else.
That’s what weighed on me the most.
Compared to that, the political tension between the Prince and Princess seemed trivial.
While I was lost in thought, I heard a commotion outside.
People had gathered in the central plaza.
From the window, I saw them—injured, worn out, kneeling, shouting—
“My Lord! Please save our father!!”
“Our son is still trapped over there! Please, my Lord! Save our son!!”
Their cries were loud enough to reach my office.
I couldn’t ignore it.
I had to ask.
“There are people gathered in the plaza… What’s going on?”
Hart answered with a grave expression.
“They’re refugees from the Raion territory. They’re begging you to save the family members they couldn’t bring with them.”
“Refugees? Don’t people usually escape together with their families?”
Nova, looking at them with pity, explained—
“Lately, surveillance in Raion has gotten incredibly strict. To get even ‘one more’ person out safely, families have started splitting up—running in separate directions. Some make it here. Others… die along the way or get caught and dragged back.”
I was stunned.
I never imagined I’d be seeing scenes like this—families torn apart—outside of documentaries from my past life.
And then I saw them with my own eyes.
Refugees. Real ones.
Their bodies were covered in cuts.
Their clothes were in tatters, nothing but rags.
And it wasn’t that we were too overwhelmed by the influx to help.
No matter how crowded things got, we always had the means to treat injuries and provide clothing.
So why were they still huddled there, bruised and in rags?
Simple.
Their priority wasn’t healing or clothing.
It was ’their families’—the ones they had been forced to leave behind.
The families torn apart by Raion’s madness kept crying out.
Even with no response, they didn’t stop shouting, using every last ounce of strength.
“Please, my Lord… Save our families from the evil!”
“Please, my Lord… I’m sorry—I'm so sorry this is all I can do, just kneel here and beg.
If I could just see my family again... just know they're alive and safe...
I’ll give up everything. My home, my land—take it all. Take me. Make me a slave, if that’s what it takes. Just… please… save them. Please…”
One man broke down in tears as he screamed.
He reminded me so vividly of a man I saw once, crying on a family reunion show in my past life.
The moment that memory flashed in my head—I couldn’t bear to look anymore.
Couldn’t keep standing there, watching.
Something inside me boiled over.
I hated it.
Hated Hadem for causing this.
Hated the Prince for turning a blind eye.
Hated ‘myself’ for seeing it all and still hesitating.
＊ ＊ ＊
That night, I couldn’t sleep.
I wandered along the ramparts, staring out at the dark horizon, lost in thought—when a shadow approached me.
“My Lord, you’re here.”
It was Rikain, commander of the Cron Knights. His family had served House Cron for generations.
Troubled, I said quietly—
“I want to be alone, Rikain.”
But he didn’t leave.
Instead, he stepped closer, as if he already understood what was weighing on me.
“Why are you hesitating, my Lord? Just give the order. Like in Dreihart—command us to rescue them.”
“This isn’t like Dreihart, and you know that better than anyone.”
I turned to look in the direction of Dreihart. I could still remember that desert battle, as vivid as if it were yesterday.
“The Battle of Dreihart was unavoidable. We had no choice. But this fight with Hadem… it’s different. If we choose to, we can avoid this one.”
“But if we avoid it, the people of Raion will keep dying.”
“How many of our soldiers died at Deeproc?”
I shot back.
“How many knights were lost at Dreihart? If we fight Hadem, how many more will die?!”
After every battle, reports of the dead would pile on my desk. There hadn’t been a single fight without casualties.
And every time, it felt like their deaths were my responsibility.
“That is a glorious death.”
Rikain said.
“There’s no such thing as a glorious death!”
I snapped.
“There is!”
He shouted back.
Rikain had never raised his voice before. Not even once—not in Calyx’s memories, not ever.
And yet here he was, shouting, almost as if trying to teach me something.
“There were times when I thought I might die cleaning up after noblemen’s messes. I knew it was unjust. But because everyone treated it as normal, I accepted it too.”
In this era, knights were often tasked with enforcing ‘justice’ that only oppressed the people.
Rikain had been given those same dirty orders by the former lords of House Cron.
“But you, my Lord—you gave us a righteous command. To rescue the people. To free the slaves. How could dying for that not be honorable?”
He remembered that day clearly—when the freed slaves shouted with joy, surrounded by delphinium flowers, celebrating their newfound freedom. And at the center of it all stood me.
That moment had once seemed impossible. A dream long buried.
But there it was—his long-held dream of fighting for a just cause under a righteous lord, coming to life before his eyes.
“It’s not just me. Every knight of the Cron would be proud to fight for you, my Lord.”
He stepped forward and knelt before me.
And from the depths of his heart, he pleaded—not as a knight, but as a man—
“So please… don’t think of our lives. Think of our honor. Let us be your sword. Let us fight in a righteous battle to save the people from evil. That is what we truly want.”
Faced with those words, I couldn’t say a thing.
It felt as though Rikain had called out the cowardice within me—my desire to use the lives of my soldiers as an excuse to escape responsibility.
And the next day, I made my decision.
I would strike Hadem.
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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