Kingdom Building Game: Starting Out With A Million Upgrade Points! - Chapter 146

Chapter 146: • A Knight’s Burden
Garik, ever efficient, wasted no time. He stepped toward Lionel, placing a gloved hand on his shoulder.

“You should have gone for the head,” he murmured. “That way, she wouldn’t have suffered.”

Lionel’s body stiffened.

A chill crawled down his spine—not from the frozen air, but from the realization that he had hesitated.

And Garik had noticed. Next, he handed him some ropes. “Tie them up,” he ordered, gesturing toward the two girls.

Lionel hesitated. “They’re just children. Can’t we—”

Garik’s cold gaze snapped toward him. “Does that mean you won’t do it?”

Lionel swallowed hard. His fingers trembled, but he forced himself to move. He stepped forward and reached for Lysara, but the little girl shrank back, burying her tear-streaked face in her mother’s chest.

“No!” Elyse snarled, still struggling in Garik’s grasp. “Leave her alone!”

Garik sighed, clearly losing patience. He turned Elyse toward him and backhanded her across the face.

The sharp slap echoed in the frozen air. Elyse’s head snapped to the side, a bright red mark blooming across her cheek.

She reeled but refused to fall, her chest heaving with ragged breaths.

“You’ll learn to mind your manners, young lady,” Garik murmured, then shoved her toward Lionel. “Take her.”

Lionel caught her as she stumbled. She glared up at him, eyes filled with anger and sadness. “You coward,” she spat, her voice shaking with rage. “You’re worse than a monster.”

Lionel clenched his jaw but said nothing.

…

…

As they trudged through the snow, the cold wind biting at their skin, Lionel found his gaze drifting toward Adrian and his two daughters, their hands bound with thick ropes.

The younger girl, Lysara, whimpered softly, barely able to keep up with her father’s stride. Elyse, her older sister, walked stiffly, her expression locked in silent rage.

Lionel swallowed hard, then turned to Garik.

“…Why?” he asked, his voice quieter than he expected. “Sir, when I first met you during that training the emperor put us through, I thought you were… I don’t know, a good man. Was I wrong?”

Garik let out a slow sigh, his breath visible in the frigid air.

“You weren’t wrong,” he said simply. “But war isn’t about good or bad, Lionel. It’s about necessity.”

Lionel clenched his fists. “Then tell me why. Why did we have to do all this?”

Garik glanced at Adrian, who was trudging forward in silence, his face pale from grief and exhaustion. Then, he met Lionel’s gaze.

“Lord Adrian was a traitor. He didn’t just oppose the emperor—he took part in the noble uprising that laid siege to the capital. Had they succeeded, the empire would have fallen into chaos.”

Lionel’s jaw tightened. “But his wife? His sons? They were running, sir. They weren’t fighting anymore. Couldn’t they have just started a new life somewhere else?”

Garik let out a dry chuckle. “And what about justice?” He shook his head. “Do you really think we could just let them slip away, start over, and live peacefully without answering for their crimes?”

Lionel hesitated. He hadn’t thought of it that way.

Garik’s voice turned colder. “If not for the emperor’s power, the capital would have burned. The miracles he performed saved countless lives. Those nobles—Adrian among them—would have destroyed everything we know. Think about it, Lionel. If the siege had succeeded… would you have been so willing to let even the daughters live?”

Lionel froze, his breath hitching.

If the capital, Castrellon, had fallen… his sister, his only family, would have been killed.

He would have lost everything. He imagined the city in flames, the streets soaked in blood, and himself standing alone in the wreckage, consumed by despair.

He shuddered.

Garik’s gaze softened slightly. “My family lives within those walls,” he said. “My wife—my precious wife—and my only son. They are my world. They’re the reason I keep pushing forward, why I always return from every battle.”

He looked ahead, his expression unreadable. “This wasn’t just about preventing revenge from Adrian’s wife or sons. This was a message—to every noble house that thinks of turning against the empire. If we decided to spare them all just because they were running away, or because they weren’t guilty of Lord Adrian’s crimes, where does the emperor draw the line that other nobles don’t cross?”

Silence stretched between them.

Lionel understood what Garik was saying.

If the empire showed mercy to traitors and their families, where would they draw the line? Sparing Adrian’s wife and children might seem like compassion, but it would set a dangerous precedent.

Other nobles would see it as weakness, believing they could rebel and simply flee if things went wrong. By wiping them out, the empire ensured no future threats of revenge and sent a clear message—betrayal would be met with absolute punishment. No exceptions.

Lionel exhaled, his shoulders slumping. He didn’t like it. He wasn’t sure he ever would.

But he understood.

Reluctantly, he nodded. “…I see.”

Garik gave him a small, approving nod before looking ahead once more.

“You’re a good lad,” he said at last. “That can be a good thing… but it can also be dangerous in times of war. That’s why I asked you to join me on this mission. There will be many more like it in the future. And each time, you’ll face the same choice.”

His voice grew quieter, but no less firm. “Hesitation. Mercy. These things may seem noble, but they can endanger the empire’s future. What you feel in the moment is irrelevant compared to the greater picture.”

He met Lionel’s eyes again, his expression unreadable. “That is what you must always consider before worrying about your own personal feelings. That is what it means to be a knight of the empire.”

Lionel took a slow, shaky breath. His fingers curled into fists at his sides.

“…I understand,” he murmured, his voice quiet but steady.

With that, they walked on.

…

…

Castle Bathing Chambers – Empress Illena’s Bath

The grand bathing chambers of the empress in the imperial palace were built for both luxury and comfort, designed with smooth, pale marble walls streaked with veins of gold and silver. Large, rounded pillars lined the edges of the room, supporting a ceiling painted with depictions of the moonlit forests of her Elven homeland.