The Grand Duke, Catsy (2)

Eshima is the capital of the Katus Empire, but unlike other countries, it has not developed with the capital as its center.
Due to the closed nature of the country, and although there is an imperial palace, it does not symbolize absolute power, so there was no reason to develop around the capital.
In the first place, the vast majority of the citizens are beastkin who live in tribes, so rather than gathering in the capital, they tend to live in the places where they have always lived.
In that sense, they, who had stopped just before Eshima, set up camp in the plains in front of the capital and prepared for encampment.
Up to this point was the occupied territory where the Meadow Gill tribe had set up camp, and if they went further, they might clash with the Azrami tribe, who had established their residence in Eshima Castle and near the imperial palace.
【So, what are you going to do?】
Catsy asked, returning to his original form and taking the shape of a giant cat.
The Lizardman shaman, who bowed his head in front of Catsy, answered in a trembling voice for some reason.
“Please sweep away up to the vicinity of the imperial palace with a flood, Lord Catsy!”
Catsy has the power to move water along with illusions.
However, it was difficult to say that this power was overwhelming. In the first place, among the seven Grand Dukes, Catsy had the weakest physical strength, and his divinity was also weak.
Catsy was originally a deity worshipped to control the flooding of the lower reaches of the Katusia River.
The reason why Catsy responded to the invocation of the Meadow Lizardmen was, in fact, just a whim.
Even if it was for that reason, Catsy was willing to respond to the request of the Meadow Gill tribe anyway.
That is, until he saw the illusion shown by the Saintess named Yona.
‘I have seen the illusions of many humans…’
There were countless humans.
Since Catsy was born as a god, as a folk religion, there have been countless humans who have prayed to him.
Among those people, there were some whose wishes were granted and some whose wishes were not, but most of the illusions they showed were not very interesting.
‘But this Saintess is a bit different.’
Catsy’s golden eyes turned to Yona.
Yona and Alec were still unable to wake up from their dreams.
Unless there is a special occasion, or Catsy wakes them up directly.
If neither of those two things happened, they would be trapped in that illusion until they died, unable to wake up forever.
Catsy purred and fell into thought.
Honestly, whether humans—beastkin were also part of humans—fought each other or not, it was none of Catsy’s business.
Whatever they did among themselves was none of his business, but the biggest driving force that moved Catsy was interest.
Catsy thinks of everything based on interest.
For him, whether to grant the wish of the Meadow Gill tribe and receive food called Jjureu in return,
or to stick with the Saintess and continue to receive interesting sights.
Which of these two to choose—it was, in fact, not worth 고민ing about.
*
It was just last night.
Berbaria and Catsy were having a conversation in the cart.
The Lizardmen had no way of knowing what the two divine beings were doing, and since everyone else was trapped in illusions, they could have a leisurely conversation.
【So, rather than helping, do it in a way that you are with the Saintess.】
【If you’re going to help, just help. You’re being annoyingly specific.】
【It’s better to be nice. Our Saintess has quite a temper.】
At Berbaria’s words, Catsy tilted his head.
Berbaria had always been a gentle god. As a god of abundance, harvest, fertility, and a god of procreation, she was a gentle and even merciful god. However, after the death of the False Celestial God, she inherited his power, and although she was branded a demon by the Celestial Deity and acted accordingly, she was still basically a gentle god.
But the current Berbaria was so merciful that it could not be explained by the word gentle.
Even though she was a Saintess, he wondered if there was a reason to protect her to this extent, if there was a need to do so.
Since she was a Saintess, she was still human. There must be a reason why Berbaria protected such a human to this extent.
【I understand. But if I lose interest, I won’t cooperate.】
【It doesn’t matter. You won’t lose interest. I don’t regret it either.】
Berbaria smiled slightly.
Thanks to her having the appearance of Rubina, it was the spitting image of a human smiling, but it was an infinitely gentle smile.
【What about the other gods?】
Berbaria and Catsy had already decided to submit to Yona.
Because Yona’s illusion was so interesting, they hadn’t woken her up yet, but they would wake her up when they arrived at their destination, so it was as good as decided.
And Damian was dead.
Damian had only his power stolen by Yona, and after tens of millions of lives were sucked out, his own life was sucked out and he died.
【Even if you say other gods, there are only four left.】
【Two are definitely stronger than Damian, and two are weaker.】
【The weaker ones don’t have a choice. Our Saintess is so kind that she will still offer them a choice, but they won’t be able to refuse.】
Even so, there are four gods who will submit to Yona.
One was dead, and two not-so-easy ones remained.
And one who would never submit and was absolutely not to be taken lightly—
The strongest and most vicious of the Demon Archdukes.
【But why are you doing this? You can just pretend not to know.】
【If we pretend not to know, the demon realm will perish. Not only the demon realm, but the human world as well.】
【Who cares? The Saintess won’t die anyway.】
Catsy scratched the back of his neck with his hind leg.
Then, when Berbaria reached out and scratched the back of his neck, he purred in delight.
【…You’ll see. You’ll know why I care so much about the Saintess. She is truly kind. Even though she suffers so much because of us, she never breaks…】
【Kind humans always have a bad end. You know that.】
At Catsy’s words, Berbaria stopped her hand.
As soon as her hand stopped, the purring stopped, and Catsy tapped Berbaria’s hand as if urging her to continue scratching the back of his neck.
【It won’t be like that. Yona must be happy. She must be as happy as she was miserable because of us.】
【I see. But she already looks happy.】
Catsy stared at Yona, who was sprawled out.
In that dream, Yona was lying under Alec and looked truly happy.
*
Catsy looked down at the Lizardman, thinking about last night.
Sitting on the altar prepared in the encampment, Catsy curled up and looked down at the Lizardman shaman, yawning widely.
As he yawned with his mouth wide open, the inside of his bright red mouth was fully revealed.
【So, you want me to cause a flood for those snake Azrami tribe?】
“That’s right, Lord Catsy!”
The Lizardman shaman bowed his head even deeper.
Eshima was located in a slightly lower area.
It wouldn’t be difficult to cause a flood in Eshima by slightly manipulating the Katusia River that flowed right in front of it.
Catsy stared at the Lizardman shaman’s head for a moment, then licked his front paw and groomed his face.
It wasn’t a 고민 about whether to grant the wish or not.
How to make fun of these guys, how to make it more interesting.
That was more important to Catsy.
【Alright. I will do as you say tomorrow morning.】
“Thank you, Lord Catsy!”
The Meadow Lizardman shaman bowed his head even deeper in gratitude.
And looking down at him, Catsy scratched his cheek with his hind leg.
*
In the depths of the imperial palace, there is a golden throne.
The golden throne is a symbol of the imperial family and also a symbol of the emperor.
The golden throne, located in the deepest part of the imperial palace.
The golden throne, which also functions as the central core of the barrier that protects the imperial palace, also served to maintain the barrier that covered the imperial palace.
Thus, it not only protects the imperial palace from direct attacks, but also provides protection from magical attacks.
The golden throne was designed to thoroughly protect the imperial palace from foreign invasions.
And now the owner of the golden throne was the Azrami tribe—that is, the snake tribe.
“How much food is left?”
The current emperor, Aporza Al Azrami, did not look very happy.
At his question, Zakariya Al Azrami, a vassal who was sitting next to him and in charge of the imperial household, bowed deeply with a distressed expression.
“…If we feed everyone, three days, if we only feed the people in the palace, a week will be the limit.”
The people in the imperial palace were not all.
The Meadow Gill tribe had clearly committed treason.
They defied the current imperial family and wanted to seize imperial power—and, at least in Katus, the justification to make Katus great again made sense.
Thus, the other tribes said they would not interfere, but nevertheless, facing the Meadow Gill tribe, one of the strongest in Katus, was a great burden even for the Azrami tribe.
“This is bad. Should we just hand over imperial power like this…”
“We must not set a precedent. Before the food runs out, there will surely be another chance for a counterattack!”
The Minister of the Imperial Household, full of worries, and the ground forces commander, Yosuf Al Azrami, full of spirit, stepped forward, wagging his tail.
“We still have the imperial power, don’t we? At least it’s fortunate that the other tribes that make up the council haven’t intervened, and the imperial guard supports us! In addition, the brave warriors of Azrami are also surrounding the imperial palace, so even those ignorant, strong Meadow Gill guys won’t be able to recklessly start an all-out war!”
“…If only that were the case.”
In the end, it was war.
The Meadow Gill tribe only asked for the imperial power, but in the end, it was the same as saying that they would finish the war of conquest that they couldn’t finish within their tribe’s term.
Even now, instead of the imperial palace, which was surrounded and cut off from outside contact, they were showing signs of trying to move domestic and foreign affairs as if they were the emperor, so it was not something that would be solved by dragging it out longer.
“Even so, if we go on like this, there will be no other answer but surrender.”
Aporza Al Azrami.
The current emperor of the Katus Empire.
It hasn’t been long since his reign began, but there was already a civil war, and the future was very bleak.