“L-Lord Road!?”

“Should you really be addressing the representative of an enemy nation so politely, Kenya?”

It felt so utterly natural that he couldn’t even muster any wariness.

Normally, he should have immediately raised his gun and climbed into Takemikazuchi.

Yet the sheer naturalness of the situation left Kenya frozen in place.

“It’s fine. I have no intention of fighting. Lower your guard—I know it’s hard to believe.”

“You want me to trust you after we were just killing each other?”

“If I meant to kill you, I’d have shot you already. I could have even had a sniper standing by. I thought you were invincible on the battlefield, but right now, you’re just flesh and blood.”

Road smiled.

Indeed, it would have been easy to pick off Kenya while he was carelessly dismounted.

Reina might not have the guts for it, but it was all too easy to imagine her begging him to come down if asked.

If Reina asked me, I’d charge into hell itself.

“Zeke, could you prepare things?”

“Yes, sir!”

From the military vehicle emerged a table and chairs.

Simple, but assembled as if they were setting up for a casual campout.

“Please, have a seat.”

Kenya silently took the offered chair.

Kenya, Tanaka, Zeke, Reina, and Road.

The key players of this battle now gathered around the table.

But the atmosphere was far from jovial chatter.

A conversation began that could decide the fate of nations.

“We have a lot to discuss, but… first off, well played.”

“That’s my line.”

The representative of Earthguard, locked in mortal combat moments ago, and the Japanese knight who had cut down everything in his path.

Kenya was angry too.

How much blood had been spilled because of this?

“It’s the first time I’ve fought like that. And lost. But strangely, I’m convinced it had to be you—my intuition chose you, after all. Still, what a reckless thing to do.”

Road glanced around at the surrounding wreckage.

“Oh, and about what you’re probably wondering. My sister, Yumir Earthguard.”

“The imperial princess I let escape… I have to get revenge on her someday. She caused all this devastation…”

“No, that’s impossible. She’s already dead. I killed her.”

“What!?” “Eh!?”

Kenya, Reina, and Tanaka all stared at Road in disbelief.

Road sipped his tea from the table as if it were nothing.

“That woman was a problem child even in the Empire. She killed too many colonial subjects for no good reason—just to satisfy her own twisted tastes.”

Road surveyed the battlefield.

The wreckage of KOGs, the slums’ ruins, and human corpses.

“It’s awful. I told her not to fight anyone but the resistance, but I knew it was pointless anyway.”

Hearing that, Kenya suddenly recalled a fact he had forgotten amid the shock.

But remembering it only made the blood rush to his head, reigniting his rage.

Right—he was royalty. The one who killed Azusa, everyone…

He shot to his feet and roughly grabbed Road’s collar.

“It was you bastards who did it!!”

“Mikazuki!”

Zeke tried to pull Kenya away, but Road raised a hand to stop him.

“It’s fine, Zeke. I understand, Kenya. You hate us, don’t you? It was undoubtedly the Earthguard Empire—us—who killed your loved ones. But don’t think what happened today is anything special. It’s happening somewhere in the world right now…”

“Guh!”

Road stared straight at Kenya with eyes that seemed to see right through him.

“I swear this much: I don’t engage in meaningless killing, and I haven’t. I did destroy a few slums this time, but I treated everyone as 3rd Class Earthguard citizens with due care.

I had no involvement in the carnage here. I never harm those who aren’t prepared to fight.”

Zeke chimed in then.

“It’s true, Mikazuki. No deaths on any battlefield Lord Road commanded. Anywhere but here.”

“B-But! Azusa! Everyone! Y-You could’ve! As royalty, you could’ve saved them! You’re the commander, aren’t you?!”

Kenya lost his composure, gripping Road’s collar tighter.

But Road seized his hand firmly, making Kenya flinch for a moment.

Then, in a terrifyingly low voice, Road said to him:

“If things stay like this, it’ll happen everywhere in the world.”

“What!?”

Overwhelmed by Road’s intensity, Kenya released his grip.

“I couldn’t save them. Yumir Earthguard outranks me in authority. If she and I gave conflicting orders, the military would follow hers. I can’t command that woman. Even as fellow royals, my claim to the throne is lower than hers.”

“…”

Kenya fell silent under the pressure.

Road continued in a torrent of words.

“And my brother, Odin Earthguard, is the kind of man who wouldn’t hesitate to unleash what happened today across the entire world. He genuinely believes in ruling through raw power alone. I killed my sister not out of personal dislike, but because she’d unquestionably side with him in the battle for the throne.”

The reason Road killed Yumir.

To eliminate her as an obstacle in the fight for the imperial throne.

What that implied…

“You mean…”

“Yes, I killed her to become emperor. Emperor of the Earthguard Empire. To defeat my brother.”

Hearing his goal, Zeke, Reina, Kenya, and Tanaka were all speechless.

By rights, First Prince Odin Earthguard should inherit the throne.

Yet Road declared he would cut in line.

“You know Father—the current emperor—doesn’t have long, right?”

“I know. That’s why the Earthguard Empire’s invasions worldwide have paused.”

Kenya answered Road’s question bluntly.

He’d dropped the formal speech since viewing him as an enemy, but it wasn’t friendly enough for casual talk either.

“Yeah, I was on the front lines too, but the war’s on hold. That said, as much as I hate to admit it, the EU is already spent. It’s only a matter of time before they ally with the Asia Union.”

Road himself had nearly destroyed the EU, but the emperor’s illness halted the war.

And with the EU on its last legs, an alliance with the Asia Union was inevitable, or so Road predicted.

The two unions had long been at odds.

But faced with a common colossal foe, they’d have no choice but to join forces—that was Road’s assessment.

“Back to the point: the current emperor will die soon. And then comes the fight for the throne. To put it bluntly, if nothing changes, my brother becomes emperor.”

“Lord Odin currently holds most of the power, so… I agree.”

“Exactly. But I will become emperor.”

“Lord Road, that would mean a coup d’état, wouldn’t it!?”

“No, it’s different. This is the real topic for today. I’ll explain my plan to become emperor. You could say Father proposed it himself… He always intended for me to take the throne. But my brother’s faction anticipated that and has swayed key nobles. Father’s illness leaves him at a severe disadvantage in terms of power.”

Odin Earthguard had already begun preparations to claim the throne, it seemed.

The emperor wielded absolute power, but with his days numbered, nobles were defecting to Odin’s camp, making control slip away.

“I can’t think of any method…”

“You know it well, Zeke. The Earthguard Empire has a centuries-old tradition for imperial succession: a ritual duel.

Its true meaning long forgotten, it’s now just a ceremonial fight.”

“A duel…? You’re not talking about the Empire Sword Martial Festival, are you? That’s just a festival now!”

Zeke, who had been listening silently, spoke up.

Kenya and Tanaka looked puzzled, while Reina’s face said it all: no way.

“Exactly. Our nation’s grandest martial spectacle. It’s lost its original purpose and become a tournament to crown the strongest KOG knight of the year.”

“Explain it to me, Road. How does a mere festival relate to imperial succession?”

Kenya, unable to follow, asked Road directly.

“Sure, let me explain.”

The Empire Sword Martial Festival was created by an emperor from an era of endless fratricidal bloodshed among brothers.

He had his finest subordinates fight, sometimes joining himself, with the winner becoming emperor—and banning all assassinations thereafter.

Now transformed into imperial entertainment and a showcase for boasts of prowess.

Yet it embodied the Empire’s creed: the throne belongs to the strongest.

An emperor must command the finest talents, gather the best subordinates, and triumph.

It was born from the desire to spare feuding brothers pointless bloodshed: let the victor claim the crown.

“I’ll defeat my brother’s faction there. Father agreed that if I do, he’ll declare me emperor—publicly, to the entire nation. He knows the Empire would fracture otherwise.

That’s why I need achievements to back the declaration. Victory over my brother—that’s the proof required to name me the next emperor.”

“Something like that could really happen? Deciding the emperor on a mere duel…?”

Kenya questioned Road, skeptical.

It was just an old tradition; ignore the results and seize power by force—that’s what he thought.

“No, it’s not that simple, Mikazuki. If it were mere luck, you’d be right. But if Lord Road wins, it changes everything.”

Zeke, who had been shocked at first, now explained thoughtfully.

“Lord Road’s name strikes fear worldwide. His intellect, his battle record—the results would…!? No way, was the great EU war for that purpose!?”

“Yes, exactly. Without results, no one follows.”

“You were only ten then… Has it been since that day, Lord Road?”

Road answered Zeke’s question with silence.

Recalling a past known only to him and Zeke.

“What does that mean?”

Reina, lost, asked her father.

“The Empire Sword Martial Festival is tradition, yes, but it has no legal binding. There’s no law dictating how an emperor is chosen. However, if Lord Road wins, it takes on new meaning.”

“The victor proves superior command of subordinates—superior strength. Lord Road’s exceptional leadership was witnessed across the world, throughout the Empire, in the EU great war.

And as we discussed, the current emperor would declare him successor. That would make Odin the rebel if he resists—a coup on his part. With those pieces in place, you see what happens, right, Reina?”

“The other nobles would defect…?”

“Precisely. If civil war splits the Empire, many nobles would side with Lord Road. That’s what the EU campaign was for: undefeated victories as an invincible commander.

The Empire learned the hard way in that, our greatest war ever, what it means to face Lord Road. And we’d have the current emperor’s endorsement as righteous cause.”

Seizing real power via coup wasn’t enough on its own, apparently.

Come to think of it, in his previous world’s history, the imperial banner made the emperor’s forces the official army.

Justice’s location mattered greatly.

History showed factions even co-opting the court for it.

Here, Road would be justice for the people, Odin the villain.

“Yes, under the banner of justice, I can confront my brother head-on. As the legitimate army against the traitorous first prince. But when I conceived this plan, it felt like a pipe dream. Reckless beyond measure, even for me.”

Road affirmed Zeke’s explanation.

Yet denied it too—it had been impossible.

Because…

“In military terms, my brother outranks me. He controls all Holy Knights and Holy Knight Captains. Zeke, you’re retired as a knight, so it doesn’t matter, but there are stronger ones than even you.

That’s why, hearing rumors of the Silver Ice Princess—Reina, still a trainee untouched by my brother’s influence—I came to this country hoping she’d measure up. I knew she couldn’t face the Holy Knight Captains, but still…

Then I found you.”

Road stared straight at Kenya.