[SP] Maximilian

It is said that a person’s fate is determined at birth.

If so, I must be fortunate. After all, how many people are born into a royal family?

What others strive for their entire lives to achieve—what is, for some, nothing more than a distant dream impossible to reach—I possessed from the moment I was born: wealth, power, lineage, and status. I was born with them all.

I was also the third son, so nothing was demanded of me. I was required to make no effort, nor to be extraordinary. I could enjoy all of life's luxuries without a single care.

So why did I want more?

Did I desire fame and prestige?

Yet I was born possessing them both. Even if I stayed at home and did nothing, I would still receive renown, status, and the praise of poets.

Or did I want my family’s love? But I already had that.

They loved me unconditionally and without expectations, simply because I was the youngest son.

Was I jealous of my elder brothers, wishing to compete with them?

No, I was not.

I never wanted the crown or absolute authority; as a prince, I already possessed everything I desired.

So why did I wield a sword from my childhood and train relentlessly with it?

Why did I exhaust myself, pushing my body to the point where I could no longer move?

Why did I request to join military campaigns and risk my life in wars?

Did I want the people to see me as a hero?

Did I want to hear the cheers of the commoners and nobles as I returned victorious from battle?

No, I did not.

I was never someone who cared about what others said about me or how they viewed me.

So why did I spend my nights with beautiful women, whether commoners or noblewomen?

Was it for love?

No, I saw them as nothing more than tools to satisfy lust.

I did not even view them as human beings, so how could there be any emotion?

I do not know.

I always described myself as a sober, calculating man.

Then why did I spend vast sums of money purchasing the finest wines?

In truth, I dislike the taste.

I have never liked strong flavors.

Nor do I enjoy the feeling of drunkenness; it disgusts me.

Even the daily affairs I engaged in began to feel dull and tasteless.

So why did I continue doing this if it was meaningless and I took no pleasure in it?

I do not know.

Yet, I felt a trace of guilt.

Yes, I felt guilty, so I spent my money and a large portion of my wealth on the poor and the populace.

I felt guilty because I—who was born with everything—was weeping over my condition, while those born as slaves, desiring nothing more than a full stomach, did not complain.

And perhaps I also felt—for I am human, after all—how could I witness the suffering of others and not feel sorrow for them?

Even so, nothing changed.

My life remained empty and tedious.

So I decided to search for meaning.

I decided to become a priest in the Temple of the Stars.

How amusing it was to see everyone applaud my decision!

My eldest brother rejoiced that I would not compete with him for the throne. My father and mother rejoiced that no civil war would break out from any greed of mine for power.

The nobles and clergy applauded, praising me as pious.

I donated most of my wealth to the people before leaving for the temple.

No one objected. My family wanted me gone, for my presence was nothing but a threat to the throne.

Yet the people were sincere; they wept in the streets and held a festival to bid me farewell.

They hailed me as a hero, a selfless man, a saint. Some even wished I were the crown prince instead of my brother.

I cared for none of it. I only wondered why none of them—my family, my noble friends, or the common people—could understand that I did not even know why I was doing this.

I was simply doing it for no reason.

Could you all stop applauding? It might make me believe I am actually a great man.

Ironically, life in the temple was no different from life as a prince.

Luxuries were provided for me without my asking.

The priests demanded nothing of me, nor any effort.

The mere presence of the great prince, the beloved of the people, as a priest was the grandest victory for the temple.

I was too precious for them to discard.

Still, I did not sit idly by. I read every book I could find; I studied the origins of the Temple of the Stars' faith and its history.

I sat with low-ranking priests and exerted all my effort to spread the teachings of the Temple with them.

And so, everyone loved me.

The priests adored seeing the humility of a great prince treating himself as one of their own. The people loved seeing the great prince who had renounced everything for their sake, working and toiling alongside them in the dust.

The high priests and the Pope were thrilled by the growing devotion of the people to the Temple.

Everyone loved me for what I did, yet I did not love what I was doing. I felt no sincerity in my actions.

I moved like a puppet, devoid of aim or purpose.

Yet perhaps devoting myself to the Temple of the Stars and dying thereafter would be good enough.

"In the name of the Pope and the representative of the stars, Robespierre, I bestow upon you the priestly name Maximilian, after the first priest of the stars."

"And I declare you the commander of the Celestial Stars Legion."

"And I present to you the legendary weapon: Forced Salvation."

Applause… applause… applause.

The sound of applause and cheers echoed through the plaza of the Temple of the Stars, coming from both the common folk and the lower priests.

Five years passed since I joined the Temple of the Stars, and during those five years, much transpired.

The kingdom fell during my foolish brother’s reign due to his decisions, and most of its territory was occupied by invaders.

The nobles refused to join the war, becoming like rulers of small fiefdoms fighting among themselves, plunging the kingdom into an age of darkness.

Thus, the Pope sought to seize this opportunity to expand the Temple’s domain. He formed the Celestial Stars Legion and found no one better suited to lead it than the beloved of both nobles and commoners.

Despite seeing the Pope's selfish ambitions, I did not object. I had witnessed the suffering of the people and those dying because of the greed and stupidity of their leaders.

So, for the first time in my life, I decided to have a purpose.

A simple, poetic goal: to be a great knight fighting for justice and the well-being of the people.

A foolish goal, but a goal nonetheless—a noble meaning to live for.

In the end, humans are fragile creatures; they require convictions to live by.

"Isn't that funny?"

I look at the bloody wasteland before me and laugh mockingly.

"Cough, cough, cough…"

Regrettably, my body is burdened with wounds.

I lean on Forced Salvation and continue to laugh bitterly.

In the end, I lost the Unification Wars. Here I am, dying in the middle of a battlefield covered with mounds of corpses—those who fought beside me and those who fought against me.

Sadly, it is difficult to tell them apart.

"It seems as though all commoners share the same face."

Ah… how ironic for the man who wished to fulfill his noble ideals to die at the hands of a rabble possessing no ideals or noble goals whatsoever.

"Or perhaps they do."

After all, a human cannot live without noble ideals.

I look down mournfully at the spear I am leaning on.

Forced Salvation was a legendary weapon taking the form of a spear with a short, thin blade.

It possessed a single capability—a weak and pathetic power for a legendary weapon.

It forced its wielder to blindly believe in his ideals, driving him to fight for their realization without hesitation, for the sake of achieving his own salvation.

"Was it you that made me fight with such desperation to achieve my goal, or did I truly believe in it to that extent?"

"I certainly believed in it, even before I bore Forced Salvation."

"I wonder… when did I come to possess these noble ideals? Or why did I hold them?"

Who knows? But from my life, I am certain of one thing: humans cannot live without a higher purpose to pursue.

Even if that purpose is something as simple as securing food and raising a family.

In the end, humans are creatures who need something to serve as the center of their lives, lest the void and boredom consume them.

Even if that something is foolish and wrong, like satisfying their lusts.

"I wonder where most humans acquire their ideals?"

They likely inherit them from their families.

Does that truly make them noble ideals?

Should we not, as humans, strive for our true dreams away from the pressure of others?

Yet most people allow their lives to become a game in the hands of their families and society, fighting for it unto death.

Lazy to the point of not searching for noble ideals on their own, they believe in what they were raised upon… just like me.

"I am certain there exists an ultimate, singular truth to the purpose of living."

How I despise myself for making no effort to search for that truth, settling instead for the one presented right before me.

"Ah… what a miserable life it was."

And with that, the great knight whom no one ever understood closed his eyes.