BBYW Vol. 4 Chapter 15 (WN)
Chapter 15 – Rush to the West
Once I made up my mind, nothing could stop me. The next day, I was already on my way to the west.
Our troops were not authorized passage through the central province, but there was no rule stopping me from going through. I did not expect to find any trouble at the checkpoints along the way.
This time, I discussed the matter with my old man before leaving.
I had caused him plenty of trouble when I went to the empire without saying anything: if I repeated the same trick again, he would blow up for sure.
“I see. Take care on the way.”
Surprisingly enough, he made no attempt to stop me. On the contrary, he saw me off with a pleased look on his face.
“That’s it? Is it really fine to let me go like this?”
“I knew this was going to happen, anyway. And that there’s no point in trying to stop you.”
The old man snorted sarcastically and leaned back on the chair in his office.
“You don’t need to worry about House Maxwell. We’ll do perfectly fine even without you.”
“Really now…anyhow, make sure you keep sending letters of protest to the royal palace, all right? “House Maxwell pleaded multiple times to be allowed to send reinforcements, but the royal palace refused to the very end.”… if the enemy crosses over the western province, we have to make sure the royal palace is held accountable.”
“I know that well enough. Get up and leave already.”
Thus sent off by the old man, I jumped on my horse and left the residence.
Incidentally, my personal maids — Eliza and Sakuya — did not come to see me off.
Feeling melancholic to see me leave again so soon, Eliza had sought my affection a bit too much last night, and was still reeling on the bed. Sakuya, on the other hand, had left earlier for the western province, together with a group of “Fangs of Steel” spies.
I was thus presently alone on my journey, a rare event for me. It was unthinkable for the heir of the most powerful noble family of the east to travel on his own, but I valued speed over anything else this time.
“Not like anyone could keep up, anyway. Herakles!”
I activated the magic tool I was wearing on my arm. A silver glow enveloped my body, as well as the body of the horse I was riding on,
“Niiiiegh!!”
Infused with power by the light, the horse kicked the ground fiercely. Its speed was boosted exponentially: any travelers we passed looked at us with awe and surprise.
“Hahaha! Who knew it could be used like this! What a way to use up my lifeforce!”
Herakles consumed the user’s lifeforce to increase their physical abilities and healing capabilities to incredible levels.
Because of such a price its former user, Sullivan, went from a 18 years old youth to a decrepit old man, and the first king of Lamperouge too died young because of it.
The magic tool granted near invulnerability, so it might make sense for it to require such a cost, but to reduce one’s life expectancy to use it was far too heavy a price.
To use such a tool just to travel faster was definitely one of the most foolish usages it could have.
The reason why I chose to do so came, naturally, from my battle against Captain Drake.
During that battle I realized the power of the blood that coursed through me from my mother’s side, and that I partially inherited her immortal attributes.
As I only partially shared their bloodline, I could not hope to attain eternal life like my mother and Drake, but I was still set to live far longer than the average human. It wouldn’t be problematic to abuse Herakles a little like this.
“If I turned into an old man too, though, it would be pretty hilarious…all right, time to leave the main road.”
In the course of half a day, I had already passed a few days’ worth of itinerary. Once I was nearing the royal capital, I moved away from the main artery to a less populated path.
The bracelet was originally one of the Lamperouge royal family’s heirlooms: if someone from the capital saw me wearing it, it might stir up unneeded trouble.
“I doubt anyone could recognize my face, as long as I keep up this pace…but you never know.”
As I proceeded through mostly deserted paths, soon enough the nostalgic scenery of the capital emerged.
I had departed from the Maxwell residence in the early morning, and now the sun was finally starting to set over the western horizon.
“This bracelet is really something…if we could move an army at this speed, we’d be invincible all over the continent…”
However, the bracelet was only one so that was an impossible feat to pull off.
I made sure no one was around and deactivated the magic tool. The silver light faded, as the horse’s slowed down as well.
“Hm…wait a second…”
Just as I spread the energy to the horse this time, could it be possible to do the same to a whole army?
If the invulnerability granted by the bracelet could be shared by many people at the same time, it would signal the birth of an invincible army.
“A whole army is too much, but maybe 10, 20 people at the same time…no no no!”
Even if I had superhuman lifeforce, if I shared this power with multiple people at the same time, I would definitely end up consuming most of it.
I was not a complete immortal, after all, nor did I have a deathwish like Drake. I couldn’t embark on such a dangerous gamble.
“Damn, this thing is really tempting…this isn’t a bracelet, it’s a double-edged sword.”
I tapped the bracelet with the back of my fingernails, and it emitted a faint glow — as if protesting.
Those who use power, and those who were used by it…the two might appear to be similar, but were very different beings.
Once again, I strengthened my resolve to never become the latter.