Chapter 26: Mad king Faltus.

(Selenia’s POV)

King Faltus, otherwise know as the mad king, is an interesting character. He was once a good person and king, but his age caught up to him. He sired no sons, and originally, he planned to let his older daughter, Garna, take over Tarina. But that plan quickly changed with his rapidly failing mind and health.

Now, who would rule after him was completely left up in the air. He denounced his wife and his two daughters, and forbid them from being able to take over Tarina. At the same time, he refused to announce who would take his place.

Sooven and Tarina had always had a good relationship, and they protected Sooven from other kingdoms. But due to his barely functioning mind, he broke that relationship off, and colluded with other kingdoms that wished to take over the Alwessal Empire.

This betrayal was what lead to the conflict in Sooven that I’ve experienced. In his madness, the other kingdoms promised to give him an Elixir of Life which would heal him, to which he agreed. According to Saya’s guild, such a thing doesn’t exist at all.

Garna tried to solve this problem, but nothing she did ended up solving it. That is, unless she decided to take up arms against her own father. This wasn’t even a real option, as if Faltus died, Tarina would go into a civil war. With no one granted claim over the throne, the noble families would fight each other, as they would claim to be the rightful heirs to the throne.

This is the main reason why Tarina was chosen as our first target. They had a weak military, and once we killed the king, we didn’t have to worry about someone coming to claim the throne. Frankly, the only one that I actually had to kill was Faltus himself.

Now, as I have made it to the castle, I am met with yet another problem… The gate was closed shut… How would I even open it up? Ah, luckily, there were some knights on guard. They haven’t attacked me yet, what is their angle?…

Knight: “Young Lady, will you promise our safety if we let you into the castle?” She asked.

Selenia: “I won’t kill you if you do, but I can’t say the same for my soldiers. If you abandon your weapons and armor, I am sure that you could blend in with random civilians.” I answer.

Knight: “Alright, then we will trust your words.” She replied.

Quickly, the gate was opened, and five knights came out from the inside. They discarded their armor and weapons, and they fled as fast as they could. With a giggle, I continued on my way.

An Hour Later.

This kingdom was in shambles… Out of the hundred knights that I came across, only twelve dared to fight me. The rest of them took the same deal as the ones guarding the gate did. This kingdom’s people must have no hope in Faltus, or I am just absolutely terrifying to these people…

Eventually, I came to the throne room. Exploring the castle went well, as I was given a complete map of it by Saya’s guild. I am sure that I could have dealt with this kingdom without their help, but the materials they provided us helped out a lot. That does beg the question, though. What do they get out of this exchange?…

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I never thought to ask, but they did just dump all of those resources on me, so it isn’t really my fault. By the time that I made it to the throne room, there weren’t any soldiers left for me to deal with. And if I was still a weak child, I wouldn’t have been able to open up the grand big ass door.

Sure, there were two smaller doors, but it was annoying regardless. Sitting on his throne inside the room, was Faltus. What the fuck?… I’ve practically seized his kingdom, and Faltus is just sitting here, drinking!? There were at least fifteen bottles of empty alcohol…

Faltus: “Child! Are you the one that has ruined everything!?” He drunkenly yelled.

Selenia: “That would be correct, Mad King Faltus.” I reply while pointing my sword at him.

Faltus: “You dare call me a mad king!? Foolishness! My knights will soon tear your body to pieces!” He exclaimed with a drunken confidence.

Selenia: “Faltus, what knights do you speak of? Those that I didn’t kill fled as fast as their legs could carry them. There isn’t a single person left to protect you. That is, unless you’re somehow good with that sword attached to your waist.” I reply with a belittling tone.

Faltus: “No one left to protect me?… Regardless, the great king Faltus will not be bested by a child!” he exclaimed before drawing his sword out of its sheath.

The drunken mad king ran at me like killing me was an easy task. If he was sober, even with Faltus being senile, I doubt that he would charge so readily toward his own demise. His death was destined, I was just here to end him a little early.

As he charged at me, and once he reached me, Faltus held his sword up in the air and swung down at me. I dodged to the side, and I swung my sword upward, severing both of his arms. Faltus fell to his knees, and he sat there in awe at his new stumps for arms. The alcohol in his system problem numbing most of the pain, he didn’t try anything else at all.

I walked behind him and brought my sword down upon his neck, severing his foolish kingly head easily. Faltus’s head, that was permanently left with the expression of utter shock on it, fell to the ground, and rocked back and forth for a while.

With a happy laugh, I walked over to the throne. Picking up an unopened bottle of alcohol, I opened it up and took a drink from it. Yup, I hate the taste of alcohol. I threw the bottle away toward Faltus’s corpse. I dusted off the throne and then sat down on it.

In just a day, a child had taken over an entire kingdom. This day will probably be remembered as my first step to claiming a hold over this world. Sooven has to promote me now, or I might just deal with them the same way I’ve just finished dealing with Tarina’s king. That, or they will want to court-martial me, as I did all of this without any permission whatsoever…

As I continued to sit down on the throne, some of my soldiers came into the throne room. They looked upon the corpse of Faltus, and gave me an expression like I just killed some evil god. How funny…

Knight: “Commander! We have posted people around every entrance to the capital.” She said after she bowed to me.

Selenia: “Good. Send word to Radahn. Despite how easily we took Tarina over, we cannot hold it for long with our current force.” I reply.

Knight: “And what of you, Commander?” She asked.

Selenia: “I saw some maids on the way here. I asked them if I could take a bath, and they kindly told me where the main bath was, and they even informed me that they would bring me a new dress. As such, I will go take a bath.” I answer after getting up from the throne.

I was still covered in dried up blood, some splashes of blood were fresh, but I was mostly covered with a substance that isn’t very pleasant. Frankly, I should applaud myself for making it so long without bothering to get clean.

On my way out of the throne room, all of my soldiers bowed to me like I was some holy queen. The respect they give me is intoxicating, but I won’t get caught up in it. I gleefully made my way back to the scared maids, who kindly and “willingly” guided me to the bath.

It’s not like I forced them, it was just because of how and what I did to get to this point. As such, they were scared of me, but they still bathed me like a special little princess. I almost honestly fell asleep in the bath, as it was so relaxing compared to the one woman war that I just successful waged. Two of the maids showed me to the queen’s room, to which I would be sleeping in. With a smile, I got into bed, and I quickly fell asleep. Ah, Radahn is going to be so proud of me!