After the evil spirit incident, to become a 'beloved ally,' I focused even more on diplomacy. Although profits decreased slightly, to improve relations with the Imperial Princess and neighboring territories, I made a spice contract with Lord Zeras, and as a token of gratitude to the Imperial Prince who sent Azel, I sent a considerable amount of tribute, including spices and salt. However, despite such efforts, the relationship with one family never improved: the Lion Family. Those bastards, whatever the reason for their dissatisfaction, returned the compensation money I sent to Drayhart and, just like before, no, even more thoroughly than before, drew a line in the sand with us. If they had simply drawn a line, I could have understood to some extent. The Lion Family ruthlessly hunted down not only slaves fleeing to our territory but also Freemen, and as a result, if the Crome Knights hadn't been dispatched to the territory borderline to protect them, the fields would have been littered with corpses. In fact, I had known for some time through the merchant informants Noah had deployed that the Lion Territory was gradually going mad. However, I hadn't predicted they would commit the mad act of publicly killing even a steward, who was closest to a noble among the Freemen, not by the 'judgment of law' but by the 'judgment of the gods,' an anachronistic trial. A few days after that event, a letter arrived. It was from 'Bara,' Hadem's son, whom I had met only once in the past. The letter earnestly requested me to come to a secretly appointed place, stating there was something he absolutely had to tell me. It could have been a trap, but sensing the desperation in the letter, I came to the appointed place with Azel, bringing about the current situation. Before I could be surprised by the shocking statement of a son wishing for his father's death, I responded as a Lord. “Do you understand the meaning of asking me to borrow my power to kill your father?” “Yes! I understand. I understand better than anyone!” No matter how crazy his actions, Hadem was a Lord and a father. For his son to request me, especially from me, the Lord of a neighboring territory, to kill such a being was a tremendous act of parricide, even by the moral standards of this place, which lacked Confucianism. [TL]Confucianism is a system of ethics, education, and statesmanship taught by Confucius and his disciples, stressing love for humanity, ancestor worship, reverence for parents, and harmony in thought and conduct. Parricide would be a particularly egregious violation of Confucian ethics.[/TL] “However, this is the only way! If we leave him be, that mad lion will continue this madness until we are all dead!!” Bara, as Callix remembered him, was slender but lively and smiled often. What had happened to such a child in 10 years? His face was full of wrinkles, and his hair was thinning in patches. His appearance gave a glimpse into how painful the last 10 years must have been. “Have you not requested aid from His Imperial Highness the Imperial Prince?” “Ha! Brother! Do you think His Imperial Highness the Imperial Prince, who intends to use my father, would discard his axe for something like this!? He will absolutely not intervene for this sort of thing!” So that's how it is... The Imperial Prince I encountered in the game was not evil, but he was a pragmatic person who couldn't exactly be called righteous. Hadem killing Freemen by divine judgment was a mad act, and the Imperial Prince wouldn't look upon it favorably either. However, depending on the interpretation, that action barely fell within a Lord's right to rule. Would the Imperial Prince discard one of his military cards, Hadem, because of this event, and take action that would diminish his influence in the southern region? As Bara said, the probability of him not intervening was high. “Then how about requesting help from Her Imperial Highness the Imperial Princess?” “I indirectly requested help! Their reply was that family matters should be handled within the family!!” It wouldn't be easy to defeat Lord Hadem using only the power of Lord Zeras, who was part of the Princess Faction. Ultimately, to strike Hadem, the power of other Lords from the Princess Faction would be needed, and if that happened, it would inevitably turn into a proxy war between the Imperial Prince and the Imperial Princess. If that happened, even if Hadem was in the wrong, the Imperial Prince couldn't afford to lose and would provide support, leading to a war for the fate of the southern region. Presumably, the Imperial Princess and Lord Zeras refused because this was too burdensome. “Brother! There is no one but you. The only one who can save the people of our Lion Territory is you, the Silver Dragon of Crome!! If this is our fate, I would rather become your slave!!!” “.........” My head ached. I pitied the people of the Lion Territory, and I also wanted to help. But recklessly engaging in an all-out war with Hadem would be a headache. Defeating Hadem was not the problem. If Hadem's crimes were made public, it would become a political attack on the Imperial Prince, who had knowingly condoned them. Then, the Princess Faction would gleefully attack the Prince Faction, and I would be branded as part of the Princess Faction, making it irreversible. That would be an action contrary to my goal of becoming a 'beloved ally' to all factions. “I understand your pain and that of your territory residents well.” “Brother!!” “However, this matter seems too significant to decide here. I will contact you later, so you wait.” “I will be waiting! Please... save the people of our Lion Territory.” Bara bowed his head to me, pleading desperately. It was heartbreaking that the successor of a territory had been driven to the point of losing his hair and casting aside his pride to bow his head to me. I returned to my territory, burdened with such a heavy task. * Returning to the territory, I first asked Azel to keep this matter a secret between us. Azel nodded emphatically, saying she understood it was for a righteous choice. The reason I didn't immediately tell my vassals about this was because I needed time. Until now, many of the events had been unavoidable. Monsters had invaded, and a rebellion had already begun due to someone's conspiracy. It wasn't something I started; I had resolved things that had already begun. But this time was different. No matter how mad Hadem's actions were, and even if it was to fulfill Bara's request and save the people of the Lion Territory, if I fought Hadem now, it would become 'something I started.' It wasn't something someone else ordered or something unavoidable. It would be an event born from my thoughts, my judgment, and my orders. No matter how small, if a battle occurs, people die. No matter how much I try to reduce the damage, if a war occurs, someone dies. The responsibility of giving the order for someone to die to save someone else... felt incredibly heavy. Compared to that, the political problem between the Imperial Prince and Princess was truly a small matter. As I worried, I saw people gathered in the central square. The people gathered in the square were covered in wounds and knelt and began to shout. “My Lord! Please save my father!!” “My son is still there! My Lord! Please save my son!!” Their voices reached even my office. I couldn't help but ask what was going on. “There are territory residents gathered in the square... What is it?” At my words, Hart said with a somber expression. “Those are immigrants who escaped from the Lion Territory. They are pleading with your Lordship to save their families who couldn't escape.” “Escaped immigrants? Don’t families usually flee together?” At my words, Noah looked at them pitifully and said. “Recently, surveillance in the Lion Territory has become extremely strict. So families are said to be fleeing separately, hoping that even one more person can reach our territory.” “As a result, while some people reach our territory, many die or are captured by the Lion Territory before they can arrive.” Hearing the situation, I was dumbfounded. I had never imagined I would see families separated like this here, a sight I had only seen in my past life. I looked at them from my office. They were all covered in wounds. Their whole bodies had minor injuries, and their clothes were in tatters. Our territory, no matter how strained by the influx of immigrants, was not so poor that it couldn't provide treatment and clothing to wounded immigrants. Yet, for them to be gathered there in rags and covered in wounds meant one thing. They were gathered there out of worry for their families, more so than receiving treatment and clothes here. The separated families from the Lion Territory continued to shout. Even without a response, they just continued to shout with all their might. “Please save our families from evil!” “My Lord! I’m sorry! I’m sorry for only being able to beg like this! If I can just reunite with my family safely, I will offer all my wealth. I will become a slave. So... So please save my family... Please...” An older man cried out, weeping. He was crying just like that man I had seen in a program about separated families in my past life. As that image came to mind, I couldn't bear to watch any longer. And it felt like my insides were boiling. Hadem, who created this situation, the Imperial Prince, who condoned it, and I, who couldn't act immediately even after seeing it—everything was irritating. * That evening, I couldn't sleep easily. As I was walking along the castle walls, looking at the dark horizon and thinking, a shadow approached. “My Lord, you were here?” He was Rikain, the commander of the Crome Knights and a man who had served the Crome Family since the previous generation. Distraught, I said to Rikain. “I wish to be alone... Rikain.” At my words, Rikain did not leave. Rather, he approached me and spoke as if he knew my inner thoughts. “Why do you worry so much? My Lord, please give the order. Just as in Drayhart, you can order us to save them.” “You know best that then and now are different...” I looked in the direction of Drayhart. Beyond the horizon, the battle in that desert was still vivid in my memory. “The battle of Drayhart was an unavoidable fight. But a battle with Hadem is different. If we wish, we can avoid fighting Hadem entirely.” “But if that happens, the territory residents of the Lion Territory will continue to die.” “How many of our soldiers died during the Deep Rock event! How many of our Knights died during the Drayhart event!! If we fight Hadem, how many more will die!!!” After every battle, a report on the fallen warriors always reached me. So far, there had not been a single battle without casualties. All those deaths felt like my responsibility. “That is an honorable death.“ “There is no such thing as an honorable death!” “No! There is!!” Rikain shouted. Even in Callix’s memories, Rikain had never shouted. But this time, he shouted as if teaching him for the first time. “How many times have I thought I might die just cleaning up the nobles' shit? I knew it wasn't a righteous task, but since everyone thought it was natural, I too followed.“ It was common in this era for Knights to torment the people in the name of justice. Rikain too had received such dirty missions from the previous Lord of the Crome Family. ”It was you, My Lord, who gave us the righteous order to save the people and bring salvation to the slaves. How can it not be honorable to die fighting for that.“ Rikain recalled that day. He recalled the slaves rejoicing, becoming free, holding delphinium flowers, and at their center, his liege lord. [TL] Delphinium is a blue flower that, when given by a master to their slave, signifies freedom.[/TL] It was Rikain's long-held dream, something he thought could never be achieved. Rikain's long-held dream of fighting an honorable battle under the order of a righteous liege lord and bringing salvation to the people was being realized there. “It’s not just me. Everyone in the Crome Knights would be proud to fight for your Lordship.” “......” Rikain went before Callix and knelt. And he sincerely pleaded with Callix, his liege lord. “So please, think of our honor rather than our lives. To be your Lordship's power and participate in an honorable battle to save the people from evil, that is our wish.” Callix couldn't say anything to Rikain's words. He couldn't say anything, as if Rikain was admonishing him for trying to escape responsibility by using their lives as an excuse. And the next day, Callix decided to strike Hadem.

Deliver Us from Evil