TMKWPL CH 29

Chapter 29

• ────── ✦ ────── •

The Return of the Black Monster (2)

“……Why didn't you tell me?”

Heath, Gilliana, and Vernon swallowed hard. They had expected their Commander to be angry. But since she had already used up her parental leave, and they themselves had insisted on staying by her side during that time. it hadn’t been easy to bring it up.

Still, they couldn’t possibly be barred from using the Grand Training Hall simply because their commander had been absent.

Most likely, Commander-in-Chief is away.

If Lucia’s guess was correct, the first person who would have rushed over the moment she filed for parental leave would have been Commander-in-Chief Helbert. He was her godfather and quite the fuss maker. If he had been present, things wouldn’t have passed this quietly.

A vision of Vice Commander Berl struggling at the training hall flashed through Lucia's mind. Those arrogant fools who had dared to block the Black Knights for six months wouldn't suddenly change their tune just because Lucia had returned.

She pressed her fingers to her brow as if nursing a headache.

“Everyone, follow me.”

“C-Commander?”

At her sharp command, the knights who were in the middle of physical training stopped altogether. They hurriedly wiped the sweat from their faces and followed behind her.

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.

A massive procession of knights in black uniforms cut through the heart of the Imperial Palace with heavy, and synchronised steps. Between her five years of special training and six months of leave, the Black Knights had been invisible for a long time. Now, their overwhelming aura made the palace workers scatter in terror, scurrying away like mice before a predator.

It was the prelude to an impending storm.

• ───────── ☽༓☾ ───────── •

Under the clear, chilly autumn sky stood the vast Grand Training Hall. At its corners stood four pillars, each carved with the crest of a Knight Order, symbolising the honour of their victory in the last war. In the centre, among the high-tech training equipment, the Vice Commanders were gathered in a heated argument.

“No. Our training schedule is already set and cannot be changed.”

The Vice Commander of the Red Knights spoke as their representative. The Vice Commanders of the Yellow and White Order looked uncomfortable. They had been called in for a simple scheduling meeting but now felt like accomplices in bullying the Black Knights.

The White Order’s vice-commander, being from the Mage Corps with their own separate grounds, was especially flustered at being dragged into this.

“Our Commander has returned to duty. You can approve the reservation we’ve been requesting for months immediately. What seems to be the problem?”

Berl spoke with an unusually firm expression. Yet the Vice Commander of the Red Knights, an efficient man known as the brain in the Order, didn't blink. He adjusted his glasses and smirked.

“What can we do? The aide from the Commander-in-Chief’s office already approved it. You should have submitted a revision sooner.”

The Grand Training Hall’s bookings were determined quarterly. Each order had to apply under their commander’s approval. Knowing Lucia was on leave, the Red Knights had tricked the new, inexperienced aide into excluding the Black Knights and replacing their slots with his own Order’s schedule. Since Lucia wasn't there to sign a revision, the Black Knights had been unable to use the hall for half a year.

“Are you talking about the approval you snatched from an aide who doesn't even know his job yet? Yes, thanks to that, we haven't used this place once in six months.”

“If you’re so unhappy, you should have complained to your Commander while she was on leave.”

Berl stiffened. True, they could have told their commander. But the aide wouldn't have accepted a revision unless the Commander showed up in person to sign it, the ever-waiting Red commander’s approval would have outweighed hers.

But Berl’s tension wasn't just about the schedule. When Lucia first formed the Black Knights, there were only two members: a female commander and a boy named Heath. No one knew Lucia’s strength back then that no one wanted to join. The first person to voluntarily transfer was Berl, who was formerly of the Red Knights.

During the war, while Lucia and the Commander-in-Chief was at the front lines, the Red Knights were stationed in the rear to guard villages. Berl had found it agonizing to execute young enemy soldiers who tried to surrender. The one who had educated him through that ordeal was the very vice-commander standing before him now.

“Do not hesitate. All enemies must be annihilated. If they are adults, they will plot, if they are children, they will grow up and nurture resentments.”

Because of that ideology, every hostages captured that day had been killed. If the Emperor hadn't suppressed it the Red Order’s atrocities might have gone down as one of the worst incidents in history. Broken by that event, Berl’s transfer to Lucia’s unit was not because he couldn't bring himself to quit being a knight entirely, but because he couldn’t bear staying.

Now, Berl was Lucia’s most loyal subordinate. The Red Vice Commander sneered at Berl’s silence.

“Still hesitating, aren't you? Berl Altoirut.”

“That’s not hesitation. It’s consideration for me.”

When a familiar voice rang out, the Vice Commanders of the Yellow and White Order turned pale. They began to shiver as if they were standing in the middle of winter in shirtsleeves.

“……Commander?”

Lucia was entering beneath the vine-draped shade at the hall’s centre, followed by a mass of knights clad in black uniform.

All vice-commanders immediately bowed their heads in respect.

“Commander Lucia. Congratulations on your return to duty.”

Lucia stood silently before them. When they finally lifted their heads—

“Enough wordplay. My kids need to use this place. Where do I submit approval for revising the schedule?”

“…….”

The Red Vice Commander swallowed hard, but it was only for a moment, he had nothing to fear because the so-called black monster before her was now a mother. Having a child had brought her more people to love, but it also meant she had more people who looked down on her.

“Commander Lucia. It is possible, of course. But didn't you just mention consideration?”

“So?”

“Your absence caused the other orders hardship for over five years. Shouldn’t you extend consideration for the duration of your leave? Please wait your turn and don’t miss next year’s application.”

It was true that other commanders had taken on certain duties requiring Lucia’s presence. But it wasn’t that burdensome. Sweat trickled down the backs of the Yellow and White vice-commanders. They wanted to object, but they had stayed silent when the Black Knights were barred for half a year.

Lucia stared at the Red Vice Commander’s face with dead, indifferent eyes.

Why does he talk so much?

The atmosphere of the Imperial Knights had changed during her absence. They spoke more like nobles who wielded words rather than swords.

Even during the war, we were sent as cannon fodder with their wordplay. And this is the treatment we’re given to us who survived?

The reason she was able to bring in the criminal group without much resistance at the time was because she promised them the front lines they desired. No one expected at that time that the Black Knights, formerly criminals, was initially arranges as cannon fodders would truly survive and achieve countless victories.

Lucia was furious, instead of being grateful for their life-threatening sacrifice, her knights’ sacrifices were being mocked just because she took a leave. With the Vice-Commander of the Red Knights in front of her, Lucia walked over to a nearby weapon rack, and picked up a heavy-looking mace. It was a weapon frequently used by knights these days.

After swinging the powerful weapon a few times, she concentrated its rotational force and unleashed its full force in a single crushing blow. The Red Vice-Commander took a step back, and panicked.

“W-What are you doing! If you are a knight, you should request a formal duel!”

Did I make a mistake?

Her eyes was burning in madness. Mother or not, having his face crushed by that mace was entirely possible. Lucia paused, recalling a line from the parenting book she had read that morning.

[A person who cannot show consideration is not an adult. When children fight over a toy……]

She swung the mace rhythmically, infusing it with swords aura, and threw it with all her might.

BOOOOOM!!!

The mace flew past the Vice-Commander’s face and smashed into one of the hall’s pillars. Thew pillars slowly began collapsing like dominoes. The ground shook, and debris rained down, destroy everything in the training ground.

“The book said to take away the toy that's causing the trouble.”

“W-What have you done?!”

“The training hall…… the Great Training Hall……!”

“Commander!!!”

Everyone who was caught in the confusion shouted but Lucia ignored their cries and continued indifferently.

“If my kids can’t use it, it makes no sense for other knights to use it either. I will inform His Majesty. From the moment the Great Training Hall is rebuilt, access will be granted by competition. I hope your skills are as impressive as your eloquent words.

As the last pillar crumbled, the once magnificent hall became a pile of rubble. The thunderous sound echoing through the palace served as a fanfare for her glorious and terrifying return.

• ───────── ☽༓☾ ───────── •

The Emperor’s office was dark, curtains drawn blocking the morning sunlight instead replaced by lit candles. The Emperor sat at his large, luxurious desk, and the air was shrouded in a thick cloud of smoke. He looked like a cynical boss of an underworld organization.

“Your Majesty, Chancellor Federin Lewins has arrived.”

“Very well. I presume everyone else has been sent away?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

As the Chancellor entered, the Emperor spoke in a raspy, low voice.

“……So, you’ve come.”

He took a long drag of his cigar and exhaled, his eyes glinting through the smoke.

“It’s strawberry-scented, I see.”

Federin walked over, yanked the curtains open, and threw the windows wide. The fresh morning breeze swept away the smoke and the cloyingly sweet strawberry scent.

“Argh! My eyes……!”

“Please restrain yourself in front of me. This old man’s rhinitis can't handle it.”

The cigar was actually a strawberry-scented herbal cigar. It was an ostentatious item he had picked up after promising Lucia to reduce drinking. The Emperor trimmed it and muttered,

“As if there’s much difference from a regular smoke……”

“I remember meeting you for the first time when you were secretly relieving yourself in the garden and claiming through tears you were fertilizing the plants. How it feels like yesterday……”

“ALRIGHT! I get it! Anyway, what happened with the Crown Prince’s broken engagement?”

The Emperor waved frantically with his flushed face. Chancellor Federin, an old man with long white hair and sharp, unreadable eyes, let out a small smirk. Having worked with the previous King, he still saw the current Emperor as a child.

“It was a dramatic settlement after six months. They agreed to call it off in exchange for a diamond mine.”

“What?! A whole mine? Do you know how much money that is?!”

The Emperor, who had been listening indifferently, immediately frowned at the mention of the mine.

“If the consolation money from the Empire is small, it's easy to look down on them, Your Majesty.”

“……Tch.”

“Now that it’s settled, will you tell me the real reason for the broken engagement? Do you have another candidate for Crown Princess in mind?”

The original plan was to secure an alliance with Ferendel, a powerful nation of similar size to the continent, through marriage. But now that the Empire, now holding the most Sword Masters on the continent, no longer needed to secure alliances through marriage. Federin assumed the Emperor wanted to settle an engagement within the Empire’s own nobility to clean up some political lineages.

“Ah, well. I do have someone in mind. It’s…… today……”

The Emperor’s eyes darted like a crafty raccoon’s. Whenever he looked like that, the candidate was usually someone unexpected.

Today? Could it be. The unexpected woman who returned to duty today……

“……Surely, you don't mean Commander Lucia, right?”

Chapter 28

Chapter List

Chapter 30