“Hey, you told me that my father once killed a hundred monsters in a session, and you called him strong, didn’t you?”
It was an unbelievable sight.
The man who Benetnasch had called an old-timer was named Roy. He had upheld his vow of loyalty since ancient times, when the true ancestors had been present, and had watched over many kings throughout history. All the kings he’d seen, including Benetnasch’s father, had been proper, strong rulers who had not shamed their ancestors, or at least, they should have been. However, he now felt that common sense of his that had been built up over the years collapsing inside of him.
It wasn’t just him. All the knights who had accompanied them as well as the other succession candidates—well, the former candidates—were, likewise, all struck speechless at the sight. Not even the king, who had finished his work early so as to be able to see the brave fighting figures of his children, as well as all his concubines were lost for words.
“Hey, Roy... Is this really a special accomplishment? Or were the ones I killed just too weak?”
The next ruler of the vampires sat under the shining moonlight. Her silver hair gently swayed in the wind as she looked down on everything with her youthful but beautiful face. There wasn’t even a hint of a hard fight anywhere on her. She was sitting on a mountain of corpses that didn’t just number a hundred, but easily double that.
“Hey, Roy... Tell me, how do I look from your point of view?”
In pure numbers, she was more than twice as strong as her father. However, that accomplishment of the current king had been done when he was a fully grown adult. He hadn’t even been close to a young ten-year-old child. So what was Benetnasch? At a mere ten years old, she was already showing enough strength to leave the king in the dust. There were no other words but “prodigy.”
At this point, Roy could no longer consider Benetnasch as the same species as everyone else. Why have I not noticed up until now? She’s just of a higher rank than all of us are. To her, we’re all naught but monkeys who failed to evolve.
By the time he’d noticed, Roy had already fallen to his knees, and everyone else present had followed suit. Nobody thought what they were doing was strange. After all, she was their ruler, and they were but her humble servants. It was clear to their instincts; because they were vampires, who were sensitive to mana, they could understand this.
This person is different.
Everyone could feel this, right down to their bones. That was why it wasn’t just her siblings, but the current king, queen, and the king’s concubines who kneeled. There was no hesitation. Seeing them, the young lady who was a monster herself had her eyes waver out of loneliness for a moment, but no one noticed.
“You are a ruler, a born one...” said the king. “Please forgive me for being so blind that I could not see it until now.”
Benetnasch hesitated before asking, “Calling me, the daughter of a concubine, a ruler with the king right there? Is that really all right, father?”
“No... Not at all... All right? I could never have opinions on something so rude. You are a ruler appointed by the heavens themselves. I am just a father who was given the role through luck...”
Benetnasch managed to squeeze the phrase “I see” out before she looked up to the moon. With that, it had been made clear to her. All too clear. As I thought. I’m strange. It wasn’t just childish conceit; I really am a different species.
Her father’s eyes would no longer reflect the form of his daughter. He’d never loved her anyway and had originally only thought of her as one of his many children, but even then, he still at least thought of her as his child. But now he doesn’t even think of me as his child... I can feel more love from him than before, but it’s the distant kind of love given to a ruler, not something to give to one’s child. Not even my mother thinks of me as her child now. She probably just thinks of me as a true king gifted from the heavens, one who just luckily happened to use her womb...
Benetnasch was silent for a long while. “I...see...” she eventually let out.
A born ruler. An insurmountable difference decided from birth. A predetermined status...
Having processed and recognized all that about herself, the feeling that welled up in Benetnasch’s heart was not happiness but a huge, empty vacantness. A feeling of solitude as if she’d been thrown into this world all by her lonesome took over her heart. I’m sure no one understands this loneliness. No one will understand this emptiness.
My father is not my father, and my mother is not my mother. I cannot even call those of the supposed same race as me as such. I am a unique, new race... Benetnasch was sure that fit her to a T.
That day, Benetnasch became alone at the young age of ten. Though she’d gained loving subjects—her parents among them—and she still had her siblings, all of them were simply her subjects in the end, and she was still alone. Even her family bowed to her, showing their subservience and worshiping her on their own.
There was no room for an equal relationship. Benetnasch had been forcefully placed at the top of a pyramid she did not want to be on. No one even tried to be her equal...
＊ ＊
Around four hundred years had passed. At this point, the continent of Éljúðnir, once considered a paradise for monsters, had become the safest continent in the world. The reason? Benetnasch had erased them all.
Looking for enemies, she’d continued to kill monsters. She’d continued to fight, hoping to find an equal. However, the more she fought and the more she killed, the more the gap between her and others widened, and the more alone she became. At some point, the title of the world’s strongest was hers to do with as she pleased, and not only was it said amongst people that it would be impossible to equal her, even dragons started to avoid her. She had no equal, much less a better. Others simply walked down the path she had opened while giving thanks and singing her praises. To the world, Benetnasch had no siblings. In fact, even the existence of her parents was called into question, and people had started to think that she had no family at all. However, that wasn’t true.
With her butt planted firmly in her throne, Benetnasch looked down at the kneeling masses arrayed before her. I believe the one standing closest to me and the throne but refusing to break his respectful bow is supposed to be my older brother? And the head maid who takes care of me so diligently should be my mother? There should also be many of my sisters among the masses of other maids as well. The man kneeling ahead of all the other ones should be the previous king as well as my father too.
Aah... What a dull, worthless life. Benetnasch’s ice-cold gaze swept past the crowd in front of her once more as she fought back a sigh. Unable to find a goal or even a reason to live, accomplishing everything so easily and not experiencing the slightest bit of trouble... It’s as if I’m a golem given the role of being a ruler. I’m dead, even though I’m alive... Benetnasch was utterly bored of her own life. That was why that meeting was heaven-sent to her.