**Chapter 434 – Even Trashy Doesn’t Get More Trashy Than This**
—
Who was the Pirate Queen, after all?
As her title implied, she was the iron queen who ruled the seas.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say there was no ocean she couldn’t influence.
That said, her atrocities were beyond words.
Pillage was a given, and if necessary, kidnapping and murder were things pirates carried out as a matter of course.
As the queen of such pirates, her fundamental disposition could only be described as closer to evil.
On the other hand, what about the former king of Cernil?
‘Upright and just. Frugal. The very icon of diligence.’
A sage king.
To the Kingdom of Cernil, he had been like light and salt.
And yet, that king supposedly fell for the Pirate Queen and fathered this boy?
“……Why aren’t you saying anything? Come to think of it, I’ve never seen your face in the palace.”
The boy king looked at me with suspicion.
Back when I was running the survival quest, this kid’s name had definitely been Dietrich.
“Pirate Queen Valunti.”
“……!”
“How does the child of a pirate inherit the blood of a king?”
“Y–you… who are you?”
He was more composed and dignified than I’d expected.
He didn’t look overly flustered.
What should I do here?
Should I hide my identity, like I did at the Mirage Workshop?
“You went around calling yourself ‘Phantom,’ didn’t you?”
“So what if I did? Are you saying I’m not Phantom?”
“That’s right. There’s only one Phantom.”
The moment I said that with certainty, Dietrich’s eyes wavered slightly.
But only for a moment.
He quickly regained his composure and straightened his chest.
“I don’t know where you heard what and came here, but I am Phantom.”
“Really? That’s strange.”
“What exactly is…….”
I shrugged casually.
“Because I’m Phantom too.”
*
*
Dietrich frowned.
A man who appeared out of nowhere.
He exposed a secret of Dietrich’s birth that no one knew, then boldly claimed that *he* was Phantom.
But Dietrich was Phantom.
Recently, Dietrich had awakened *all of his memories*.
Memories of Phantom’s soul entering his body.
Phantom—the strongest existence who turned the impossible into reality.
So saying that he himself was Phantom wasn’t wrong.
Dietrich had headed to the Kingdom of Cernil immediately after awakening those memories.
To make the impossible possible.
To reclaim what was rightfully his!
And when he saw the “Companion Sword” being moved into the warehouse, his entire body trembled.
He instinctively knew that sword was the treasured blade that would make him king.
‘W–what is this?’
And yet, why was it?
The man’s gaze felt strangely familiar.
There was a sense of déjà vu, like someone he had met before.
“Don’t tell me……”
No.
That couldn’t be.
“You became king by laying hands on a sword I made without permission. And that wasn’t enough—you even impersonated my name. How does it feel?”
“……!”
Dietrich’s eyes shook violently.
Was he serious?
The man claimed to be the very creator of the sword?
And if that creator was Phantom, then Dietrich finally understood why he had been instinctively drawn to that blade.
Everything had been destiny.
Dietrich held his breath and asked,
“Are you… are you really Phantom?”
“I believe I said I was.”
“Then……”
Dietrich made up his mind.
He had come here and become king as he wished, but it was all hollow.
At this rate, he would be driven out soon.
Even if he wasn’t, they would force him to abdicate.
Thud!
Dietrich slowly knelt down.
“Please help me. I must become the king of this kingdom.”
*
*
Dietrich’s story was a tragic one.
Though it was never made public, the Pirate Queen Valunti had once kidnapped the former king of Cernil when he ventured into the seas.
She had planned to demand an enormous ransom and then release him.
However, after witnessing the former king’s sincerity, she fell for him and began courting him instead.
Before long, the two became lovers, and the queen released the former king.
Without taking a single coin in ransom.
The king promised that he would return for her someday, and as a token of that promise, he gave her a ring.
But though she waited a long time, the king never came back.
And recently, the Pirate Queen had begun to die.
“He promised, but never came even once. If he had just shown his face—just once—Mother wouldn’t have been so heartbroken.”
The former king of Cernil had broken his promise.
At that point, a question arose.
“Didn’t you say he gave her a ring as proof?”
A ring, of all things.
If a former king renowned as a sage ruler had given a ring, its significance should have been anything but trivial.
“It was a ring with no meaning at all. When I showed it at the palace gates, everyone treated me like a madman. He said that if I showed that ring—the symbol of the royal family—he would come to see me.”
“So it wasn’t even a symbol of the royal family?”
“Yes. It was all a lie. The stories about the former king of Cernil being an upright sage were nothing but fabrication.”
“So that’s why you decided to become king?”
“Because then I would be able to see the former king face to face.”
“Did you achieve your goal?”
“No. I didn’t.”
Dietrich ground his teeth.
After fathering him, breaking his promise, and hiding to the very end…
His mother was dying.
She had chosen to die.
From the very beginning, Dietrich’s goal hadn’t been to become king.
“I just… I just came to ask him to show his face to my mother, even once. I wanted nothing else. That alone would have been enough.”
And yet, he failed.
Completely.
He had risked his life to come here!
He wandered like a beggar, longing to see that face just once.
Even that tiny wish was denied by the former king.
Dietrich’s eyes burned with rage.
“He knew. He must have known I had come. There’s no way he didn’t. And yet, even now—after I’ve been chosen by the Guardian Holy Sword—the former king still won’t show himself to me.”
He was avoiding him on purpose.
Perhaps he considered Dietrich a ‘stain.’
The former king, who was the very symbol of integrity.
He must have wanted to hide the existence of an ‘illegitimate child’ at all costs.
“I will become king. If I become a flawless, perfect king, the former king won’t be able to keep hiding. I’ll prove that I’m superior to his other children.”
“The other royal candidates are alive and well. Are you saying you’d burn them all to death if that’s what it takes to become king?”
“Yes. If necessary……!”
Dietrich’s resolve was unshakable.
He would not turn back until his wish was fulfilled.
“If you truly are Phantom, then you can make me king, can’t you?”
Even among trashy stories, this was rock-bottom trash.
Of course, if my avatar became the king of Cernil, that would be good for me.
I’d had almost no connection with the Kingdom of Cernil until now.
The third-largest nation in Pangaenia.
If my influence could reach this place, it would become a powerful ally aligned with my goal of ‘peace in Pangaenia.’
Through full-scale exchange with the Labyrinth City, I could expand my power base as well.
However—
“What meaning is there in forcing you onto the throne?”
“……Are you saying I’m not fit to be king?”
He possessed the talent of a ruler.
And at an extraordinarily high rank, at that.
Of course, it would be possible for him to make the Kingdom of Cernil prosper even further.
But—
“I don’t trust you yet. Pass my test, and I’ll make you king.”
I proposed a deal to Dietrich.
At that, Dietrich’s eyes sparkled.
“A test, you say?”
“To start with……”
The test itself couldn’t have been simpler.
I spoke as if it were nothing.
“Bring the Guardian Holy Sword before me.”
*
*
The Guardian Holy Sword.
That blade—the kingdom’s treasure—could only be touched and wielded by the king.
“I will take it to the palace for a moment.”
“…You cannot.”
“I am the one chosen by the Holy Sword.”
“Even so, you cannot.”
Under strict surveillance,
the soldiers tried to stop Dietrich.
No matter how much he was the chosen king, no one in the palace truly acknowledged him.
“I said I’d take the Holy Sword for a moment.”
“And we said you cannot.”
“Is that so? Then try to stop me.”
When Dietrich stubbornly pushed forward, the soldiers lined up to block him.
Some even forcibly grabbed his body.
“Insolent fools! How dare mere soldiers lay hands on the king’s sacred body!”
“……!”
The soldiers flinched.
Pressing his advantage, Dietrich continued.
“Anyone who lays hands on the king’s person without due cause shall be sentenced to three years in prison. If there is intent to harm, losing one’s head would be justified! Are you lawless men? Do you dare defy the solemn laws of the kingdom?!”
“T-that’s…….”
The soldiers fell silent.
Those words were written plainly in the law code of the Kingdom of Cernil.
And there was authority in Dietrich’s voice.
Like a real king.
But how could a boy barely in his mid-teens exude such pressure?
“The Guardian Holy Sword may only be touched by the one it has chosen. I am the king chosen by the Holy Sword. And yet you still intend to stop me?”
“N-no matter what, none of the past kings have ever taken the Guardian Holy Sword without reason……”
“No reason? Why do you think there is no reason?”
“Well, that’s……”
“I said I would take it to the palace for a moment. I never said I would take it without reason. Naturally, there is an important reason—but must I, the king, explain that reason in detail to mere soldiers like you?”
“T-that’s not what we meant, but……!”
“If it troubles you so much, why not accompany me? Go ahead and keep watch.”
“N-no, as long as you remain within the palace……”
The soldiers broke out in cold sweat.
At that, Dietrich nodded and grasped the Holy Sword.
Then he strode proudly back toward the palace.
“……S-shouldn’t we stop him?”
“W-well, I mean…… what could possibly go wrong……?”
It felt as though they were bewitched.
The soldiers could only stare at Dietrich’s retreating back.
*
*
“I brought it.”
“……Impressive.”
I hadn’t expected it at all.
I never imagined he’d bring it so quickly.
With no one on his side here, it should have been anything but easy to retrieve the Holy Sword.
‘He really does have the makings of a ruler.’
He was something else, all right.
Then Dietrich spoke.
“Then now, make me king……”
“There’s one more test.”
“You never said there would be two tests.”
“I never said there would only be one.”
“……What is the remaining test?”
I held out my hand.
Dietrich hesitated.
“They say that anyone not chosen who touches the Guardian Holy Sword will die.”
“It’s fine. Hand it over.”
“…….”
After a moment’s hesitation, Dietrich passed the Guardian Holy Sword to me.
The moment I grasped it—
Brrr!
The Guardian Holy Sword trembled along its blade, then quickly settled down.
“Hah……!”
Dietrich let out a gasp of awe at the sight.
Now, only the final gate remained.
Originally, I’d planned to take it alone.
But—
‘Dietrich. This guy’s pretty impressive.’
I changed my mind.
“All right. Let’s grab it and run.”
“Y-yes……? W-what did you just say?”
“I said let’s run. Now, take my hand. I’ll give you the qualifications of a king.”
I walked to the window and extended my hand.
There was no rule saying a hidden quest had to be done alone.
Still, something bothered me.
Dietrich.
It was true that he was a character I had kept alive.
But something felt off.
‘If I remember correctly… Dietrich was supposed to be female, wasn’t she…?’
