Episode 171: A Fresh Start

“Oi, over there! His Majesty Luverios fled that way!”

“Eek… Eeeeek!”

Luverios’s screams echoed through the capital.

He had already lost his life five times—and each time, Siegfried had brought him back.

No matter how many times he faced death, he could never grow accustomed to the pain.

If anything, each revival made his soul creak, as if it were slowly crumbling.

The sensation of his soul breaking apart was far more terrifying than mere death.

(I have to… I have to do something…!)

He had nowhere to go, even if he escaped. He knew Siegfried was always watching him.

Still, terrified of his soul deteriorating further, Luverios fled.

And then, at his tenth resurrection—

“Is no one here…?”

Luverios cautiously scanned his surroundings, confirming no one was nearby.

Some time had passed since the war’s end, and dawn had already broken.

“A-alright… This might work…!”

He was well aware that his appearance stood out.

So Luverios reached for the ground, scooping up mud and smearing it over his hair and skin, focusing especially on his striking, vibrant blue hair.

He also wrapped himself in tattered cloth he found nearby to disguise his appearance. This should keep his identity hidden, at least for a while.

“Damn it… To think that I, of all people, would be reduced to this…”

Feeling humiliated by his mud-caked appearance, he kept his head down and moved through the capital’s alleys.

Just then, he stumbled upon a group fleeing the capital.

They seemed to be servants who had worked in the noble estates at the heart of the city.

Luverios quickly blended into their midst.

“Even thinking back on it now… it gives me chills.”

A middle-aged man, looking like a gardener, spoke to the person walking beside him.

“Yeah, no kidding…”

The response came from a young man who appeared to be an apprentice butler.

“When the mansion’s ceiling collapsed right above me, I thought, ‘Well, that’s it—my life’s over.’ But then… Count Siegfried blew the ceiling away with his magic and saved us. Thanks to him, I didn’t get a single scratch.”

“Yeah. I heard that despite the noble district taking catastrophic damage, not a single civilian died. Count Siegfried protected everyone.”

“It’s practically a miracle. I mean, I fainted from sheer terror just catching a glimpse of Lugdura from afar, even for a moment. And yet, he fought that monster and won while protecting us all.”

The rumor was the unadulterated truth. Siegfried may have destroyed the noble district’s buildings, but he didn’t let a single civilian die. Sometimes acting as a shield himself, sometimes wielding magic, he protected them all.

“And get this—after the battle, one of the maids ran up to Count Siegfried to thank him, saying, ‘Thank you so much for saving us!’ And you know what he said? ‘I didn’t save you. I only kept you alive because you’re useful.’ Can you believe that?”

“Hah, now that’s a spine-chilling line…”

Siegfried’s words were nothing but the blunt truth. He had protected the capital’s people solely because he deemed them useful—nothing more, nothing less.

Yet, to the servants whose lives he saved, those cold words came across as a noble refusal of gratitude.

(Don’t be ridiculous! What are they thanking him for…?! It was Siegfried who summoned Lugdura in the first place…!)

Luverios trembled with rage. To him, who knew the truth, the idea of thanking Siegfried was beyond absurd—it was unforgivable.

Just then, the conversation shifted.

“Still… I was shocked by what His Majesty Luverios did.”

“No need to call him ‘Majesty’ anymore. The Fool King Luverios—that’s enough. He’s the man who offered us up as sacrifices to summon Lugdura.”

“But why would the Fool King Luverios go so far as to summon Lugdura? To defeat the rebellious Count Siegfried, maybe?”

“Nah, Count Siegfried was just framed as a rebel. The Fool King probably called Lugdura to gain eternal life or something. He planned to sacrifice the capital’s people to get it—that’s my guess.”

Hearing their conversation, Luverios’s shoulders shook with fury.

—That’s not true!

He wanted to scream, but of course, he couldn’t.

The group passed through the gate and moved outside the capital.

Beyond lay countless tents—an impromptu refugee camp spread out quietly under the morning sky.

“Man, looks like you guys had it rough too…”

“The capital took some serious damage, didn’t it?”

The voices came from commoners who had been driven out of the capital before the war began.

They had been ordered by Siegfried to take shelter in this camp.

The residents of the capital’s outer districts and the servants from the noble estates—different in status, but all commoners. Both groups had suffered in this war, and a sense of camaraderie born of shared hardship was budding between them.

Their shared struggles fostered a sense of closeness.

“You must be starving, right? On Count Siegfried’s orders, we’ve got food prepared for the refugees.”

“Oh… that’s a huge help.”

The servants’ faces lit up with relief.

(Food, huh…)

Luverios suddenly noticed his own hunger. Come to think of it, he hadn’t eaten since the previous night.

Unable to bear the gnawing hunger, he shuffled into the food distribution line.

But a woman noticed him, staring intently and furrowing her brow. Though plain, her gaze carried a quiet strength.

“You… you’re awfully filthy. Are you really a servant from a noble estate?”

“Urk…!”

The woman peered closely at Luverios’s face. His body stiffened with tension—but then…

“You’re so dirty… you must’ve been through a lot, huh?”

The woman placed a hand on Luverios’s shoulder and handed him a bowl of soup.

He accepted it silently and took a sip.

It was far from the lavish meals of the palace. Yet, for Luverios, who had endured pain and death repeatedly in the past few hours, the warmth of the soup seeped into his very core.

(…I’ll seek asylum with the Holy Church.)

He made up his mind.

That organization would surely shelter him. And the Holy Church had the strongest holy knight, Justice of Light, Justice Ray, and the Hero Who Slays Calamities. They should be able to stand up to Siegfried.

As he finished his meal, lost in these thoughts—

“Hey, you… got a moment?”

The voice belonged to the woman who had given him the soup. She approached with a kind smile.

“Uh, yeah… I’ve got time.”

“Great, mind coming with me for a bit?”

“…Sure.”

To avoid suspicion, Luverios went along with her invitation.

She led him deeper into the refugee camp until they stopped in front of a tent.

“Here we are. Come in.”

Inside were about ten children, all sleeping peacefully with soft breaths.

After showing Luverios the children, the woman stepped outside quietly. He followed.

“I work at an orphanage. Those kids are all from there. Last night, when we were driven out of the capital… they were so scared. But now they’ve finally calmed down and fallen asleep.”

As she spoke, she walked toward the edge of the camp, where trees stood sparsely. Luverios hesitated but followed.

“Actually, I grew up in an orphanage run by the Holy Church myself. Since I don’t have a real family, those kids are like family to me.”

“…I see.”

Her words made sense to Luverios. She must be the type who couldn’t abandon someone in need.

And if this woman had ties to the Holy Church, this was an opportunity. If she knew a priest, he could use that connection to seek asylum with the Church.

(—That’s it. I’ll start over under the Holy Church’s protection.)

With that thought, Luverios spoke up.

“If it’s alright, could you… I mean, could I… join the Holy Church—”

But before he could finish, the woman’s hand gently touched his cheek.

“You… how long are you gonna keep your face all dirty like that? Let’s clean you up.”

With that, she began wiping his face gently with a cloth.

Luverios didn’t resist, quietly letting her clean him.

Sunlight filtered through the trees, the sensation of the cloth on his cheek, the cool breeze brushing his skin—it was an endlessly peaceful moment.

When was the last time he’d experienced such tranquility?

Not since becoming king, and even before that, he couldn’t recall a moment when his heart felt so at ease.

—And then, in that instant.

Something glinted in the woman’s hand.

The next moment, a sharp pain pierced Luverios’s chest.

He looked down to see a knife plunged deep into his heart.

“Wha… why…?”

“You’re King Luverios, aren’t you?”

The woman’s voice was as cold as ice.

“You covered the obvious spots with mud, but… the skin peeking out from under that cloth was awfully clean. It seemed odd, so I looked closer. And, well… I wasn’t wrong.”

Her eyes reflected Luverios’s now-clean face.

“Ugh…”

Luverios collapsed to his knees.

“Every household in the capital is required to display your portrait. Of course, our orphanage had one too. Your face… it’s not one I could forget, even if I wanted to.”

“Why… why would you kill me…?”

The gentle gaze she’d shown the children, the warm soup she’d offered even to his filthy self—

He couldn’t reconcile those with the cold blade now piercing his chest.

“You saw them, didn’t you? Those kids are my family. Some of them are frail. If Count Siegfried hadn’t saved us, they would’ve died when you drove us out of the capital.”

“Ugh… ah…”

“I’ll never forgive you. But this—this is all the consequence of the seeds you sowed, foolish king.”

Her voice carried unmistakable rejection and anger.

That gentle gaze of hers would never be directed at him again.

The moment he realized this, Luverios’s consciousness faded.