VPDK 01

0. I’ll Handle the Support

Inside a banquet hall decorated like a painting.

Crystal chandeliers scattered jewel-like light over the heads of distinguished guests. Fresh flower arrangements decorating the hall released a sweet fragrance, and tables were filled with a variety of delicacies and rare liquors.

However, the topic of conversation among the guests was far from fitting such an elegant scene.

“Didn’t Count Romanoff send another letter saying support is insufficient this time?”

“They don’t know their place. They should be grateful just for being supplied with purification agents, yet they still complain…”

Behind elegant fans, private gossip intertwined with soft music.

“Isn’t the Blue Radiance Knight Order using an enormous amount of purification agents?”

“The production cost of purification agents alone is said to be astronomical.”

“Honestly, with that money, think of all the things we could do.”

Whispers slipped out from behind fluttering fans, voices murmuring into ears.

And within it, slander about ‘Count Romanoff’ and the ‘Blue Radiance Knight Order’ continued to escalate.

Then, at that moment—

Bang!

A man forcefully shoved open the doors and stormed into the banquet hall.

The nobles enjoying the banquet were startled.

“What, what is it?!”

“Isn’t that man… Count Romanoff?!”

At the same time, I set down my glass of champagne, my eyes gleaming like a hawk’s.

‘Oh, the protagonist appears.’

Giscar Van Romanoff.

That man was the very “Count Romanoff” these nobles had been endlessly badmouthing.

And also, the “male protagonist of this world” I had been eagerly waiting for.

Giscar, sweeping his gaze across the room, spat out in a cold voice.

“Everyone… seems to be enjoying yourselves.”

Beneath his pitch-black hair, like the night sky meticulously woven together,

his ice-blue eyes, reminiscent of a frozen lake, shone sharply.

His tall frame and broad shoulders, and a body sculpted as if by the gods themselves—

He was, without a doubt, a man worthy of being the protagonist of this world.

But unfortunately, the guests had no leisure to appreciate his beauty.

“Good heavens… is that… blood?”

First, his knight commander uniform was stained with dried patches of dark red blood.

“A-What is that?!”

Second, it was because of the massive “thing” he held in his hand.

He casually threw it in front of the nobles.

Thud!

A gigantic head rolled across the floor.

A grotesque creature resembling a mixture of a lion and a dog.

Long fangs like iron bars jutted out, with a dark red tongue hanging limply between them.

A frozen silence fell over the hall.

“….”

“….”

The nobles stared at the severed head, frozen in shock.

And then—

“Kyahhh!”

“What, what is that thing!”

Belated screams erupted.

The startled orchestra unknowingly stopped playing, and the echoing screams inside the quiet hall felt strangely surreal.

‘Come to think of it, today was that day, wasn’t it?’

In this chaotic scene, only Giscar and I remained calm.

I looked at his face, silently burning with anger.

‘The day Giscar loses it completely and charges at my dear older brother.’

For reference, I understood Giscar completely.

Right now, the Blue Radiance Knight Order was being treated like absolute garbage by my beloved older brother.

“How do you find it, nobles?”

Giscar gestured toward the severed head of the beast with his chin, curling his lips into a crooked smile.

A blade-like sneer was directed at the nobles.

“The infamous beast you all spoke of. How does it feel to see it in person?”

“….”

“….”

No one could answer.

Giscar strode slowly across the banquet hall.

Step. Step.

The heavy sound of military boots, utterly out of place in a luxurious banquet hall, echoed sharply as they struck the marble floor.

Soon, Giscar tilted his head and looked down at a young man in front of him.

His gaze was as cold as an icy sea.

“Prince Fernando.”

Fernando, the First Prince of the Astrid Empire.

The half-brother of this body I had possessed, and the one who, backed by the imperial family, had cut off all support to Giscar.

The moment Fernando met Giscar’s eyes, he was trembling pitifully.

“This time as well, the supply support was extremely lacking.”

His sharply honed voice rang out.

“Especially the purification agents. How much longer do you intend to delay supplying them?”

“….”

Although Giscar wore a gentle smile, the pressure emanating from him was overwhelming.

Cold sweat poured down Fernando’s back like rain.

Even so, he seemed unwilling to show weakness in front of the nobles, forcing himself to stand firm.

“Yes, you should at least be grateful that we incorporated the former Romanoff territory into the Empire… and accepted the refugees…”

“Grateful? Ha. Grateful, you say?”

At that pathetic excuse, Giscar let out a short, incredulous laugh.

And then—

“Fine. Then let’s do it this way.”

He abandoned even the polite formal speech.

His ice-blue eyes gleamed ominously.

“We’re pulling out. Beast subjugation, everything—do it yourselves.”

“W-What?!”

Fernando shouted in panic.

“Then the Imperial Family will no longer be able to support the Romanoff refugees either!”

Like a frightened dog barking louder and louder.

That was exactly what Fernando looked like.

Grit.

At that moment, a grinding sound slipped through Giscar’s lips.

It was clear.

Giscar and the Blue Radiance Knight Order endured all manner of neglect and hardship because—

they could not abandon the people of their fallen homeland.

“Now.”

Giscar spat out each word.

“What did you just say?”

A killing intent that seemed ready to crush someone’s throat spread through the air.

Meanwhile, watching the standoff, I slowly smiled.

Well then.

‘Wouldn’t it be enough if I just provided the support?’

<Giscar>

This painfully bleak fantasy novel, with the male protagonist’s name awkwardly slapped onto the title, was a story I had loved in my past life.

The story went something like this:

One day, a portal opened in the capital of the Romanoff Kingdom, and monsters poured out like a flood.

The Romanoff royal family and the royal knights fought desperately to protect humanity.

They barely managed to seal the portal temporarily, but at the cost of the Romanoff Kingdom’s destruction…

‘Wow, what a trash world.’

Anyway, back to the story.

There was only one surviving royal family member.

That person was Giscar Van Romanoff, the last crown prince of Romanoff, the male protagonist of this world,

and the strongest aura user in existence.

Oh right—what is aura?

Think of it as a supernatural ability like ice, fire, or wind.

It is essential for exterminating monsters.

But there is a fatal flaw for such powerful transcendent beings.

The more they use aura, the more their sanity deteriorates and their lifespan is reduced.

The only thing that can prevent aura users from going berserk is the “purification agent.”

The problem is that the Astrid Imperial Family, the only producers of purification agents, is exploiting that monopoly.

So what happens?

Giscar and the Blue Radiance Knight Order, receiving absolutely no support from the imperial family, eventually fail to stop the portal from going berserk once again.

And the world ends.

…Are you kidding me?

I screamed internally, while quickening my steps.

The only lifeline that could prevent the world’s destruction—

was that hot-tempered male protagonist who had just stormed out of the banquet hall.

“Count Romanoff!”

When I mustered the courage to call him, Giscar, who had been walking ahead, turned around with a murderous gaze.

Then he looked me up and down with an expression that said I was utterly annoying.

“This time… what is it?”