The Legendary Spearman Returns

Side Story Chapter 226

An orgy was taking place in the palace of Hubalt.

“Your Majesty, please say ahhh~”

As a maid placed a grape in his mouth, Kurz grabbed her breasts.

“It’s nice. Hehehe.” Kurz chuckled as the maid moaned.

Over thirty women surrounded the throne, and Kurz was the only man. Kurz continued to lust after women even though he couldn’t be sexually active due to his old age. It was hard to imagine that Kurz was once a highly respected cardinal, but he had lately become very active in expressing his suppressed desires using his tongue and hands.

‘I’ll have Lilith Aphrodite panting under me someday too.’ Kurz licked his lip.

When the time actually came, Kurz was willing to buy Mandragora, the world’s greatest aphrodisiac, even if it cost him millions of gold. No, he probably wouldn’t even need to pay for anything because he already had piles of gifts sent by influential nobles around the empire after he’d become the new emperor. Although he hadn’t gone through all of the offerings, Kurz was certain that many of the gifts would be high-quality aphrodisiacs.

“Your Majesty! I come bearing urgent news!”

Kurz scowled, irritated that his entertainment had been interrupted.

“Urgent news?”

“Our main forces have begun their first battle against Avalon!”

The battle had taken place a lot later than Kurz had expected, actually. In fact, many of Hubalt’s other armies had already won their first battles and were marching to the capitals of their assigned countries.

“What exactly about this is so important that I must be interrupted at this late an hour?”

“U-Um...”

Kurz’s frown deepened as the messenger stammered.

Hubalt was going to win the war against Avalon regardless since Bel himself had gone to Avalon. However, what the messenger reported next upset all of his expectations.

“Before the main battle, the Martial Knights and the First Prince of Avalon’s Black Knights—”

“The Martial Knights themselves fought right from the start? Tsk. Avalon’s ‘genius’ must still be crying. Unless the Prince is dead, by any chance?”

“It ended in a draw.”

“...What? A draw?” Kurz sprang to his feet. That meant that their forces were equally matched. “Elaborate!”

“It started with a duel between the Avalon First Prince and Urector, a middling Martial Knight.”

“I know Urector—he lost?”

“Yes, and that isn’t it. The two orders of knights fought immediately afterward, but, although they learned each others’ level of skill, it ended with just a draw and the knights had to go back to their camps,” the messenger explained.

Kurz slammed his fist against the throne, unable to hold back his anger. The women, already wary of Kurz’s mounting anger, backed away and kept their heads down.

“What about Bel!?” Kurz screamed. “Are you telling me that the baby prince is as skilled as the Battle God?!”

“N-No, I’m not. According to the reports from our sources in Avalon, Sir Bel isn’t in Avalon right now.”

Kurz’s face contorted. It was just as he had feared. Bel always acted as he pleased without any regard to the hierarchy, even in front of tens of thousands of soldiers. His actions would make the emperor of Hubalt a puppet with no real authority.

“...You know...” Kurz picked up a sheathed sword from beside him, his yellow eyes dripping with murder. This anger of his would be relieved one way or another.

The women shivered in fear as the sword slid ominously out of its sheath.

“Is Bel my superior?” Kurz tilted his head.

“Pardon...?”

“When you reported to me, you called Bel ‘Sir’ Bel—as if he’s superior to me.”

The messenger went pale.

“Do you not even know how to properly speak?[1]

“My apologies, Your Majesty! I have committed an unforgivable sin!” The messenger slammed his head against the floor.

Even though Kurz refused to admit it, everyone in the empire knew that Hubalt’s true ruler was Bel, the Battle God. Kurz was just Bel’s puppet, who existed to handle the cumbersome tasks of running an empire. Even so, the messenger had to be careful in front of Kurz himself.

Kurz slowly approached the messenger, his footsteps echoing through the deathly silent chamber.

The messenger desperately continued to slam his head against the floor. “I—! It was merely a slip of the tongue, Your Majesty!”

“Then you should die for making such a mistake in front of an emperor.”

“Y-Your Majesty, please have mercy...” the messenger stammered.

When Kurz stood close enough to step on the messenger, he pointed his sword at the pathetically trembling man.

“Do you want to live?” Kurz asked.

The messenger’s face brightened as soon as he was offered a glimmer of hope.

“I-I may be just a lowly messenger, but I swear I’ll live as your dog if you spare me!”

“No, no, how can a human become a dog?” Kurz shook his head. “That is not the destiny that great Hermes granted you.”

The messenger was confused by the sudden mention of Hermes because Kurz frequently said that there were no more gods.

“Tell me about your family,” Kurz commanded with a flick of his hand.

“My... family?”

“Are you going to make me say it twice?”

The poor man’s dread grew.

“N-no! I h-have two sisters,” the messenger hastily answered.

The reason behind his desperate attempt to survive was his younger sisters. It had been years since he and his sisters had lost their parents; since then, he’d been filling in for their parents. It wouldn’t be long until his sisters were old enough to live on their own; until then, the messenger couldn’t die on them.

“Is that so?” Kurz said, suddenly delighted.

Anxiety rushed over the messenger, but he kept his head pressed against the floor. He couldn’t tell Kurz that he didn’t have sisters because a small investigation was all that it would take for Kurz to discover that he had been lying. And then the messenger’s entire family would be executed for his lie.

“How old are they?” Kurz asked.

“Th-They’re children who don’t know anything. Hardly worth your attention—”

“Is an emperor not supposed to pay attention to his people?”

Kurz looked behind him. The women quickly raised their heads and chimed in.

“Of course not, Your Majesty.”

“I’m honored to receive your attention despite my lowly status, Your Majesty!”

In contrast to what they said, the women couldn’t help but feel sorry for the messenger because they knew better than anyone how much of a pervert Kurz was. Although he wasn’t gay, Kurz was a pedophile who enjoyed women regardless of their age.

“Are you going to make me ask twice?” Kurz turned back to the messenger and narrowed his eyes.

The messenger could feel the cold sword against his neck but bit his lip indecisively. If he didn’t answer Kurz immediately, he and his sisters would be executed, so... the only thing he could do was pray to Hermes that his worries wouldn’t come true.

“...One is sixteen years old, and the other is thirteen years old,” the messenger finally answered.

“They’re the perfect ages.”

‘Ah...!’ The messenger gasped silently after having been proven right.

“Go and bring them here so I can teach them Hermes’s profound lessons before they get any older...” Kurz turned away, losing interest in the messenger completely.

‘Maybe...now is my chance.’ The messenger’s eyes filled with murderous intent.

It didn’t take long for him to come to a decision and charge toward Kurz, screaming.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Kurz’s sword was right in front of him—the messenger was going to take that and then use it to chop off Kurz’s head and then kill himself!

It was over in a flash. The women shut their eyes, blocking out the sight of the messenger’s head flying through the air. Blood poured out from his neck like a fountain, drenching the luxurious carpet.

A masked person dropped from the ceiling, protecting Kurz from the shower of blood with their own body.

“Are you okay, Your Majesty?”

The messenger’s head landed and rolled across the floor. He hadn’t even realized what had happened—his eyes were still burned with anger.

“Tsk, I knew it. He was possessed by a demon.” Kurz shook his head and began to walk away, but he suddenly came to a halt, eyebrow raised.

Out of the blue, he slapped the masked person.

“Look at this.” Kurz pointed at his chest where a blood drop marred his top like a stain on a blank canvas.

“...My apologies.”

“God, what a shitty day. Get lost.”

“There is a report that I need to deliver,” the masked person said.

“What is wrong with today?” Kurz snapped. “Are you trying to irritate me too?”

“...It sounded too important to ignore. I couldn’t leave it to my own judgment.”

“You’d better hope that that sounds important to me too.”

The masked person prostrated.

“We have reports of someone resembling Joshua Sanders being sighted in Hubalt.”

Kurz couldn’t believe his ears.

“Jo— who?”

“I’m talking about Joshua Sanders, the Martial God and Emperor of Avalon.”

Kurz went utterly still for a moment except for his eyes slowly widening.

“What the fuck are you talking about!?”

1. This is from the Korean honorific system. For example, if the age order is A>B>C and C is talking to A about B, C can’t be referring to B in honorifics because that means that A is lesser than B. ☜