192 Thanks, Levin
“Leave the captain’s head salted. They visited us there, so we should return it too.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Levin bowed his head deeply at the emperor’s words.
The emperor nodded his head slightly and smiled, but he couldn’t turn his head. It was because there was a prisoner screaming in pain from pulling out his tongue right behind him. He couldn’t bear to direct his eyes there.
Seeing the emperor’s eyebrows shaken thinly by the sailor’s screams, Levin’s heart felt a little sad.
Why can’t this person get used to it?
If he had gone through that much, his emotions would have faded, but the emperor was still cruel and at the same time had a tender heart.
The Arubaso sailor’s punishment ended only after both of his wrists were cut off.
Only then did the emperor turn around and walk to the place where the sailors of Arubaso were kneeling. The emperor said in a stern voice.
“We show mercy to those who follow us. But if you rebel and don’t listen, everyone will end up like that.”
In this war, it was difficult to find someone who could speak Arubaso and bring them. I wasn’t fluent in words, but I was able to have a normal conversation.
Levin winked at him, and the interpreter stuttered, translating the emperor’s words into Arubaso’s language and calling out to the prisoners.
The captives trembled and prostrated themselves with their foreheads on the floor.
The Emperor glanced at them and turned around. And he moved to the imperial ship he was originally on.
One after another, the escorts follow the emperor. Levin also headed for the imperial ship.
As soon as it was decided that the emperor would board the imperial ship Rudy was on, various facilities were supplemented and repaired for him. Even if Arubaso’s ships were larger and newer, the interior decoration and amenities obviously fell short of those of the Imperials.
‘Besides, it would be more comfortable than being on the ship of Arubaso covered in blood.’
Before being transferred to the imperial ship, one of the escorts behind the emperor gave Levin a sneaky glance. He is one of the attendants who boarded the ship to attend to the emperor. It was, of course, Levin’s boss.
Levin, who was following the emperor, received his signal and quietly retreated. From now on, the emperor’s attendant is in charge of that person. Levin had other things to do.
After the Emperor’s figure had completely disappeared into the Empire’s ship, Levin approached the prisoners who were about to hang themselves. Find the prisoner who seems to have the highest status and stand in front of him.
“From now on, translate what I’m saying to this man.”
“yes.”
“Where is your country located?”
“…”
The prisoner did not answer. It shouldn’t be such a big secret, but I won’t tell you.
Levin quietly raised the knife.
A look of bewilderment flashed across the prisoner’s face. Those who do not know the language of the Empire do not know that their disposition has already been decided.
The moment the prisoner opened his mouth to say something, noticing that the atmosphere was strange, Levin threw a knife.
The prisoner’s head fell.
Levin stood in front of the prisoner next to him.
I ask again.
“Where is your country located?”
“…”
There was no answer for a while. It seems that he was shocked to see his colleague die right in front of him.
Levin quietly raised the knife.
“Wait, wait! Answer! Answer!”
The interpreter quickly conveyed the prisoner’s words.
It wasn’t too difficult after that. If you are late in answering a question, hit your neck. Even so, there were still many prisoners left.
The location of the country of Arubaso, the name of the king, and generally known things…
In a short amount of time, Levin was able to uncover many times more than he had spent months researching.
The deck was wet with blood. Blood flows and soaks the shoes. Every time Levin took a step, red bloodstains were stamped here and there.
Levin stared blankly at it.
Getting used to something is that easy. How do you feel now that you have never broken a person’s wrist before?
‘Everyone changes their mind according to the situation.’
He is like a chaste priest who never changes. Levin’s heart tightened a little with worry, wondering what would happen if it piled up and piled up and made him sick in the distant future.
‘It would be nice if the empress could be a place for Her Majesty to breathe.’
Levin let out a small sigh.
Glancing at the prisoners trembling with fear, Levin gave the order.
“Hang the remaining ones to the mast as scheduled.”
Soldiers lead prisoners. As they were dragged along, the prisoners clamored. I don’t know what to say, but I know what it means. I answered all the questions I asked, so why didn’t you save me?
“There’s no way we’ll save those who tried to invade our country. We should be grateful for saving even a few because of the ship.”
Levin murmurs, and the interpreter conveyed it to the prisoners in Arubaso.
Wanting to convey something like that, Levin was a bit surprised when he saw the interpreter’s face.
As if frightened by the horrific scene, the interpreter’s face was earthy.
“You don’t have to worry. You’re not my enemy, so I won’t kill you.”
Saying that, this time I passed out just like that. Because the word kill was included, it seemed that Levin hadn’t heard properly.
“You’re a very timid person.”
The soldier next to him murmured in amazement.
***
The way back took much longer than when I went out to sea.
Most of Arubaso’s ships were unharmed, but some damage was unavoidable. Although most of the ships remained operational, a few were in need of repair.
In particular, if the sails are not properly unfolded or the direction of the sails cannot be changed by adjusting the rods, it is said that it is difficult to navigate even if they look fine on the outside.
It’s much better to have the sail intact even if the hull is broken.
Eventually, the damaged ship made emergency repairs at sea. The imperial ship was not completely safe, so it had to be repaired to some extent.
Carpenters from each warship were mobilized for repairs. Arubaso’s ship’s carpenters were also involved.
Most of Arubaso’s navy, with the exception of officers, captains, and officers, were brought to the country as forced labor. Soldiers and sailors were similar. It seems that there were even people who were dragged from the street as if they were kidnapped.
Because they were brought by force, they had no particular loyalty to the country. It was absurdly easy to change his mind to cooperate with the Empire.
Although he fell into the status of a slave, it seems that the promise to treat him somewhat better after a certain period of time if he worked properly and sincerely seemed to have had an effect.
Well, the head being cut off right in front of me must have had the biggest impact.
Rudy smiled bitterly at the sight of the Arubaso sailors working harder than the imperial sailors and carpenters.
Apart from those who did the repairs, on the one hand, Imperial sailors learned how to steer the sails of Arubaso ships.
From Rudy’s point of view, the masts of this ship and that ship all look the same, but to the sailors they are as different as planes and trains. Everyone had serious faces.
Thanks to everyone’s combined efforts, Arubaso’s warship was able to glide across the sea proudly bearing the imperial flag.
The ship sailed smoothly and finally reached the port.
*
The port city in the north belonged to the imperial decree, and was ruled by a loyal ruler.
As the ship entered the harbor, cheers echoed throughout the city. People raise their arms and shake them as if they are about to fall.
Rudy waved to the cheering people and got off the boat.
And the moment I stepped on the ground, I was overcome with a strange sensation. I must say that my feet don’t stick to the ground properly. It is so strange that the floor is firmly fixed without shaking. My body was shaking, trying to move on its own.
I think it was the same with Levin. He moved his body awkwardly with a puzzled expression.
“It only feels a little like that at first. It’s normal, don’t be alarmed.”
The captain chuckles.
All of a sudden, Rudy, Levin, and the sailors surrounding the escort were laughing.
Four days after arriving at the northern port, a victory celebration was held for Rudy and the Imperial Navy.
It was a great victory for an empire with a weak navy. Rudy and the navy were treated almost like legendary heroes.
For the Marines and sailors who participated in the war, alcohol and food were continuously brought, and a splendid victory ball was held every day. Petals were scattered all over the streets of the port city every day.
Unlike on land, it is not possible to announce victory by sending people in advance on the sea.
However, when I admired how brilliantly prepared it was, the lord of the city responded politely, yet somehow proudly.
“The officials of the empire were all confident of victory.”
“Thank you. Thanks to your faith, the goddess of victory smiled at us.”
“What do you say? It’s all thanks to Your Majesty’s amazing abilities.”
Seriously, it’s really embarrassing.
Rudi didn’t speak at length, and spent his days going out on the streets of the city during the day, meeting the people, and attending the victory banquet at night.
On the last night of the fourth day, Rudy was watching people at the ballroom that lasted late into the night.
It’s the last night, so it’s exceptionally lively. At other times, it was already time for the banquet to end, but everyone still danced and talked about it. Laughter blossomed everywhere.
The atmosphere was very different from the ball in the imperial palace. Due to the nature of having a port, there were a lot of people from abroad, or maybe it was the original atmosphere of the city, so it was much more free than the imperial palace. People’s laughter and tone were broken little by little.
Maybe it was because of the atmosphere? Rudy also took off the Emperor’s mask a bit. I didn’t pay much attention and drank a little. Since it was the last day, there must have been some laxity about leaving for the imperial palace tomorrow.
While chatting and laughing a little with people, a woman caught my eye.
It was a woman with high-style hair and a thin neck. He tilted his head slightly and was talking to someone.
Rudy’s gaze, which had passed by, returned again and caught the woman’s profile.
I thought it was a face I had seen before.
As I stared at the woman’s face, I suddenly remembered a memory from a long time ago.
‘ah! It’s her.’
This is the woman Rudy met a long time ago when he was first captured as a slave. A woman who said she had a son the same age as her, and was a slave to the soldiers. It was the woman who secretly held the jerky in Rudy’s hand as he rode into the slave wagon.
Levin came closer to Rudy and bowed his head.
“She entered as the concubine of a low-ranking baron. Originally, she was a person of low status who could not stand before His Majesty, but I thought she would like to see her at least once. It’s a bit loose.”
“…”
It was once.
Rudi had only told Levin about her once, when she was a silver slave trained by Boris. He said that he would like to repay the favor when we meet someday. If it wasn’t for her, he would have died then.
However, it is a mere slave that passed by in the distant past.
I thought of her after becoming emperor, but I thought it would be difficult to find her after so long.
In addition, the slaves of the Changgwan who deal with the soldiers are hard to live long because they are overworked. I thought it was already dead and I didn’t even try to find it.
‘But I found it.’
Levin found her and returned the favor in return. There is no way that the slave of Chang-gwan suddenly becomes the baron’s concubine. Clearly he had a hand in it.
“thanks.”
Levin grinned at Rudy’s low words.
“…Is she happy now?”
“I know that. Her guardian, the baron, is a gentle person.
“You’ve met your son.”
“Yes, her son is currently working as a candidate for butler in the baron’s house. I know that the old butler he is working for now will take over when he retires.”
“…”
“Would you like to call me over and talk?”
Rudy hesitated for a moment, but shook his head.
“No, I did. Even a strange misunderstanding would harm her.”
It is a well-known story that Rudy does not get close to women. He called her unnecessarily. Even if there was a rumor that she was the emperor’s favorite, there might be people who would try to take advantage of it.
“If you live well, that’s fine.”
After saying that, Rudy poured the remaining alcohol from the glass into his mouth.
“Levin, let’s go back to the imperial palace.”
Suddenly, I couldn’t stand seeing Rilisha. Now the prom is almost over. It wouldn’t matter if the emperor was absent.
Levin bowed his head deeply and said.
“As you like.”
As soon as Rudy came out of the banquet hall, he got on his horse. The dark horse I hadn’t seen in a while greeted the owner and stamped his feet.
“You must be tired, so how about using a carriage?”
Levin recommended it, but riding in a wagon slows you down. speech is much faster
Rudy smiled as he patted the black horse’s neck to calm it down.
“Levin, do you remember when you were little? Sometimes we used to run to see who was faster.”
“I won more.”
“Yes. But it will be different now.”
Rudy laughed and pulled the reins. The horse raised its feet high.
“Now I’m faster than you.”
“No, Your Majesty. That’s against the rules. When it comes to running horses, Your Majesty has the advantage.”
Hearing Levin’s protest, Rudi shook the reins.
The black horse jumps out like an arrow.
Belatedly, Levin jumped on his horse and followed him.
Tap, tap, the sound of horseshoes kicking the soil is loud. A grumbling voice came from behind, Levin’s complaint.
Rudy murmured more and more.
Thank you so much, Levin.
Every time he passes a battlefield, Rudy’s heart cracks a little bit.
Although he was hiding it, it seems that Levin was sensitively aware of it. That’s why I called her today.
When Rudi’s heart cracks, Levin and the attendants apply medicine to it. Try to fix any cracks.
‘It’s okay, don’t worry. How can I become stronger when you are by my side and protecting me like that?’
Even if it cracks or breaks, it becomes new again. New flesh sprouted from under the wound. so it gets stronger A heart full of wounds, but never weak.
Rudy let out a small laugh.
