For what reason did I fight on the frontlines?
It wasn't for honor, nor was it for patriotism.
I, General Dragul Grutt, used to be someone of high status. I was someone promised to become one of the top 3 generals in the Roan kingdom.
And yet that old fart, the lousy king of this kingdom, forced me to become his brother's underling.
Luckily, his brother had married an elf royalty. But, she quickly died after giving birth to his daughter.
That Duke was dying of old age anyway. He turned 81 years old when he sent me to the frontlines.
He promised me that if I brought enough glory, he would offer me his daughter's hand in marriage. This was 3 years ago.
When I heard the news of a man of unknown status marrying his daughter, my blood boiled. The news was already a year old, so opposing the marriage wasn't possible.
I also heard that he forced his way into the marriage just with his strength alone.
I knew what I had to do. I needed to kill that man somehow.
I was going back to the territory, when one of my men who was a messenger, came back with more news regarding that man.
The messenger told me that he wasn't even of noble blood. Seeing as I have noble blood in my veins, my actions should be excused as nothing but an accident.
I quickly ended my activities on the frontlines, and marched back home.
But what I found after reaching the city, was a strange scenery.
The city had changed into something unrecognizable.
The proud wall of the city was nowhere to be seen, the roads were wider and made out of some hard stone material, and tall buildings were everywhere.
Even the soldiers that marched with me were shocked. With some of them checking to see if their maps were wrong.
But they weren't. The city of Oppen had changed that much while we were gone.
That bastard must've made a deal with the Demon God. How else could this have happened?
There was a reason why the war started.
It was because the world's mana almost all disappeared 10 years ago.
The nations of the continent relied on magic for their economy.
Without magic, the production of goods was devastated, as crops and farm animals became monster feed.
Not to mention, weapons powered by magic became completely useless. There just wasn't enough mana to draw from the air.
The war started 8 years ago because every country was fighting for resources.
And yet, how was this man able to miraculously do all these things?
From constructing strange buildings out of this world, crafting magic weapons which used no mana, and rising to become the new Duke in just a year with just his strength alone.
I vowed to take back what was mine.
And yet, how did it become like this?
"Woah, isn't that the general who left 3 years ago?"
"I think so. But why is he running naked through the streets?"
"Let me see, let me see!! Haha, it's true!!"
"Kyaaaa! There's a pervert!!!"
"Guys, check this out!! Some madman is running around naked!!"
"Mommy, Mommy. Why is that man naked?"
"Cover your eyes, sweetie."
****
The battle started when Dragul lunged forwards.
Dragul held his most prized weapon, the glaive he obtained from killing an enemy general.
He swung his glaive in an upwards motion, aiming to cut the Duke's crotch open.
There was rage and excitement in his eyes. He was going to kill the Duke in the most embarassing way.
However, Lucius blocked the glaive with his blade easily.
Dragul then swung his glaive towards Lucius's neck multiple times.
Those attacks were all successfully dodged by Lucius.
"Is it my turn now?"
Lucius began his attack. He swung, his blade towards Dragul's crotch, copying what Dragul did to him.
The blade was blocked by the metal pole of Dragul's glaive. However, the blade soon cut through the metal pole like a hot knife cutting through butter.
The blade was inching closer towards Dragul's crotch.
"H-hiiiik!!"
Dragul fell backwards out of sheer panic. He then proceeded to inspect his weapon.
"W-what the? It melted?"
His glaive was now in 2 pieces.
Lucius quickly subdued the General by kicking away the upper piece of the glaive away from his hand.
He then pointed his blade at the general's neck.
"You've cheated!!!"
"What? How?"
"You used mana!!! Duels aren't supposed to be fought with mana!!"
"No I didn't. This thing right here doesn't use any mana."
"That's impossible!!"
"It's not. You're just being stupid. Hey annoucer, can't you that I've won the duel?"
The announcer soon announced the result of the duel.
"O-our Duke has won the duel!!!"
The crowd went wild. People cheered, people booed. However, the cheering overwhelmed the booing so hard that none of it was heard.
Dragul had lost, and everyone could see that his face was full of rage.
His veins were popping out, and his face was extremely red.
"Sigh, and here I thought you'd last longer. Sebastian, let's go back."
"Yes, my lord."
"And Dragul, don't forget about our deal, pfft."
Turning his back while laughing, Lucius walked back to the castle in a relaxed manner.
However, General Dragul suddenly launched towards the Duke while holding the upper piece of his cut glaive.
Although there was almost no mana left in the air since the incident 10 years ago, the general was one of the few people who could still wield the little amount left.
Thus, squeezing as much mana as he physically could into his glaive. He then swung his glaive and aimed towards the Duke's neck.
There was an enormous rage and killing intent in his eyes.
However, since the general was wearing medieval armor, the clanging metal parts were so loud that his sneak attack could be heard so easily.
In response to this, Lucius turned quickly and grabbed glaive's blade clad in mana with his right hand.
"I-impossible..."
Lucius then kicked the general in his crotch.
"URGHHGF!!!"
The kick was so hard that people could hear something breaking. Maybe it was the general's armor, maybe it was something else, or maybe both.
The general had fainted from the sheer pain.
"Medic!!!"
The announcer screamed.
And soon, the medics arrived and carried the general towards the newly built hospital in the city.
"Sebastian, as soon as he recovers, put him into prison. And whenever it's noon, force him to run through the city while being naked. Assign a few of the cavalry knights to guard him while he runs, so that he doesn't escape or hide."
"As you wish my lord."
****
It has been a month since the duel, and life in the city was going smooth.
"My lord, I have some news to bring to you."
"What is it, Sebastian?"
Lucius was currently inside of his bedroom, lazing around. It was early in the morning, and he had just woken up.
"The first news is about the former Duke."
"Oh? My father-in-law?"
"Yes. It seems that his health has worsened."
"How old is he again?"
"6 months ago, he turned 84 years old."
"Hmmm, and how was Elizabeth's reaction?"
"She has been locked in her room ever since."
Although it was hard to notice, Lucius was a bit shocked about this.
"When did this happen? No wonder she hasn't been coming to my office recently."
"It happened 5 days ago, and we didn't want to burden you more, my lord."
"You should've told me earlier. So, what's the next news?"
"General Dragul has recovered, and we have imprisoned him as per your order, my lord. He should be doing his punishment in a few hours. Although...."
"Although what?"
"It seems that they have failed in restoring some of the damage done to him."
"What kind damage?"
"It seems that his family jewels were damaged so hard that it turned into mush. As a result, he has become impotent. They have done surgery to remove the mush."
"Bwahahahahahahah!!"
"My lord, this isn't funny. General Dragul's mother is married to a viscount and is the granddaughter of the previous king. This means that he is of noble blood, and has a high status. He was even the unofficial fiancee of lady Elizabeth before she married you, my lord. They might conduct revenge on you, my lord."
"Huh? Did he not have a wife? I thought he was an old general?"
"Old? My lord, he is only 24 years old. And let's not forget about the possibility of his family planning revenge!"
"WHAT?? Then why does he look so old?"
"My lord, the possibility of reven-"
"Pfft, he's impotent, imprisoned, he looks like 40 even though he's 24, and he's going to run around the city naked. Hahahahahhahahahahaaaa!!!!"
"...."
Sebastian looked at his lord with a pale face.
"My lord, there's one last news."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"T-the kingdom...."
"Yes?"
"It seems that it has fallen."
"What kingdom are you talking about? You mean our kingdom?"
"Y-yes my lord. The Roan Kingdom has fallen. The capital has been captured by the Zurg Empire's forces just yesterday. The royal family was slaughtered."
"Then what happens to the nobles?"
"The Zurg Empire announced that the nobles would be able to keep their land, but instead of being under the Roan Kingdom, they would be under the Zurg Empire."
"Isn't it the same as usual? It's just a transfer of ownership."
"My lord, it's not as simple as that. The Zurg Empire is known for imposing heavy taxes to the nobles under her. Not to mention, nobles are obliged by law to offer 40% of the territory's goods to the Empire every month."
"What?!"
'I've never heard of this before. It seems that I need to study more about the countries in this world.'
"My lord, we currently have an idea of what's about to happen in the future."
"Explain."
"According to our intelligence, it seems that a lot of the nobles are planning to rebel. They are gathering forces with Duke Videl as their leader."
"So? Why should we join them? Our territory is experiencing a boom in its economy. Why should we ruin that by joining the rebellion? A mere tax increase and 40% produce offerings per month wouldn't ruin our economy as bad as rebelling."
"My lord, the reason they're rebelling is because of our territory's existence."
"What do you mean by.... Ah."
"Yes, as you may have realized, the late king's brother is your father-in-law, my lord. Since they're blood-related, it means that the current person who should be crowned king would be your father-in-law. And since he has passed on his title, by the kingdom's law, he's not allowed to avoid the enthronement."
"So we're forced to rebel?"
"Yes, my lord. If we do not rebel, then the Empire will hunt us down."
"Sigh."