Chapter 184: The Knight Starts Anew (1)
by Afuhfuihgs
This morning was like any other morning, except that the palace was particularly noisy this morning.
“Is that really true…?!”
“What a bunch of sinners!!”
“Haa… I don’t know what’s gonna happen to the empire now…”
“A war’s gonna happen…”
It was surprising for the castle to be so noisy, but she decided to let it slide for now. After all, she was a generous person.
Besides, it wasn’t just her palace that was noisy. Also, she wasn’t so narrow-minded that she failed to understand the reason behind their actions.
“The kingdom—no, the entire Southern Continent must be noisy right now.”
Actually, that wasn’t the case. The Southern Continent wasn’t the only one, the Western, the Eastern, and even the Northern Continent were all making a fuss.
That was how shocking the news was.
Even the newspapers had been talking about the [incident] that occurred in the Central Continent for three days now. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the whole world was in chaos right now.
As for what the content of the newspaper was…
[The Collapse of the Magic Tower!]
[The 10-Year Winter Has Ended, and Spring Has Come to the Central Continent Again!]
[The Curse of Winter Actually Originated From the Magic Tower, Not the Fairies?!]
…They covered how the 10-years-long winter that covered the Central had ended. Not only that, the Magic Tower had also collapsed. There was no way people wouldn’t make a fuss after hearing that.
Isis Elaine De Pendragon covered the newspaper with her beautiful hands that were as clean and beautiful as white jade—perfect fit for the expression ‘soft and delicate’—and sipped her tea.
The herbal tea that she had been drinking more often than black tea these days, refreshed her mouth and relieved her fatigue from her lack of sleep a little.
However…
Thud-!
“…Haa, this lady is still lacking.”
She felt her fingers tremble and pressed her forehead.
If others were to see her current state, they might have misunderstood her as having a big worry, or was afraid of something, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The real reason why she was trembling while pressing her forehead was none other than…
“Haha! This lady never expected that they could’ve done such a beautiful thing!”
To hide her excitement and thrill.
Reading about the accomplishment of the two knights made her unable to compose herself.
* * *
Finally, the people knew the truth. They knew about everything that happened in the past ten—no, in the past four hundred years.
As for how everything could be revealed in less than three days…
[It wasn’t us. We never cursed you.]
It was because of none other than the voice of the Fairy that was spread far and wide. There was no way they couldn’t believe it after that.
The Spring Fairy. Everyone heard the beautiful voice of the divine woman.
They felt as if they had received the grace of the gods the moment they heard it, and at the same time, they came to know the ‘truth’ in a mysterious way.
Perhaps it was due to the Mystics of the Fairy…
All the evil deeds of the mages of the Magic Tower in the last ten—no, four hundred years, under Toure’s rule, flashed through their minds, making them furious.
-These horrible bastards!
Some realized that those whom they had considered necessary evils for the empire were not in fact, necessary evils, but a horrible and disgusting plague.
-N-No way! So the plague 40 years ago was the work of the mages—no, those horrible monsters!!
Now that they realized the truth behind the disasters that occurred over the past 400 years, they were all understandably furious.
-Draw your swords, brothers! We must eliminate every single one of those monsters in human skin…!
Unable to contain their anger, people drew their swords in order to eradicate the mages.
Even though the cold winter had passed and the warm season of life, spring, had arrived…
With it, came a brutal hunt for the mages’ blood and necks.
But that wasn’t all.
They also bared their fangs towards the imperial family who had been pretending not to know about the Tower’s evil deeds, and instead chose to build a symbiotic relationship with them. Furthermore, now that the warlords and viceroys scattered throughout the empire had the proper justification, they declared that they’d eradicate the imperial family once and for all.
The clouds of war were gathering, and countless powerful people were planning to wage war to become the new emperor.
“But thanks to the Fairies, the war will be a peaceful one.”
…Fortunately, wars where the powerful people would forcibly conscript or pillage the people wouldn’t happen.
The Central Continent was currently being swept by the Spring Fairy, which meant that she and the other Fairies would stay there for a while. If those powerful people were to exploit the commoners or shed their blood during this time, they might fall out of favor with the Fairies.
Therefore, they decided that this war would be a peaceful one, and even if people were forced to participate in it, it wouldn’t be as miserable as other wars.
Which meant, it would probably…
It’ll probably proceed as a War Game. That’s kinda funny, actually.
While it might not be as peaceful as the [3650 Days of Debate], the most peaceful war in the history of the continents, there was a high probability that the war would be fought in a way that prevented as much blood as possible from being shed.
Knowing that the Fairies’ eyes were on them, they’d probably decide to settle it through a showdown between great warriors representing each force.
As for the existing imperial family…
They’ll probably be assassinated.
Originally, whether there was a justification or not, if a war involving the imperial family were to happen, acts like assassination would be forbidden. But this time, their sins were just way too great.
They were practically accomplices to the Magic Tower. There was no way people would respect and serve them anymore.
By now, all the imperial officials and vassals would probably have abandoned them and fled to find their own way out. It wouldn’t take long for other forces to wipe out the entire imperial family.
Even if they were a family that ruled the Central for a thousand years, if they betrayed the people and completely lost their trust, they would be treated as less than monsters.
…This was proof of how futile authority was.
Of course…
Thud-!
“It’s all just a prediction.”
Isis put down her teacup and snickered.
It was all just her prediction, and there was a chance that said prediction missed. After all, no matter how smart she was, she couldn’t be sure how far human desires could go. Only the Gods and Fairies would know what would happen in the empire in the future.
But one thing was clear…
It’s a win for Pendragon.
The more chaotic the Central became, the more the people would grow disappointed with the empire and leave. If the South could accept those people, it could solve their population problem—a big glaring problem they had.
Even though they had won against Britain and unified the entire South, they still had to deal with so many headaches due to the lack of manpower.
If we could just take a little bit of the empire’s overflowing manpower…
Of course, accepting a large number of immigrants could give birth to other problems too. However, in the eyes of a member of the royal family who was walking on the path of a ruler, the benefits that could be gained from a misfortune that befall others should be considered more important than the problems that would arise in the future.
Besides, the moment of crisis was pretty much a [stage] where the ‘ruler’s capability would be tested. If she could solve the said problems and satisfy the people…
It will be an achievement that will solidify my position.
The path of the king.
For the first time, she would get an achievement that would allow her to escape from the shadow of the God of War. If she could be recognized by the senior nobles who still worshipped the God of War even until now, it would be the icing on the cake.
“Phew… This lady still has a long way to go. Nothing is certain, and this lady is already thinking about the best possible future…”
Isis admitted that she was a little too excited. However, she couldn’t help but feel that way since she was gradually getting closer to the throne.
At the same time, she also couldn’t help but feel that the knights who created this situation, or rather, her younger brother specifically, was incredibly cute.
“What a funny thing. He doesn’t care about politics, but he still managed to create the best results.”
Looking at this, it was no wonder that she couldn’t let him go.
Isis laughed as she thought of her blasphemous younger brother who hadn’t visited the palace ever since he returned from the empire. Aside from his blasphemy, everything about him just seemed pretty for her.
“Hehe, if he’s here, this lady might just give him a tight hug.”
It was no exaggeration to say that she had never laughed or shown affection to others in her life, but today, she felt like she wanted to pour out all her affection to her stepbrother
To her, who was like that…
“You should be more vigilant when things are going well, Princess.”
“…”
“Though, I am aware that you can’t help but feel happy.”
“…Albert.”
Her butler casually gave his advice, cooling down her excitement as if he had just poured cold water on her.
…Since when had he been there?
“Make yourself known if you’re here, Albert.”
“Hahaha, old habit dies hard, Princess.”
“Hmph, you really are an impious butler.”
He was her person, but he was one of the people she couldn’t do whatever she wanted against.
Her mood which had been shooting through the roof earlier dropped down to the core of the earth the moment she saw him.
“When someone gets as old as me, they’ll start worrying about every single thing. I hope you understand that, Princess.”
“Is there even anything you’re afraid of?”
“Of course there is. I’m just a weak human.”
“…That’s not even funny as a joke. You have no talent for jokes, so stop it.”
“Hehehe.”
Like always, his smiling face annoyed her. It always felt like he was doing this just to tease her.
He gave off the atmosphere as if he was treating her like a young girl, just as usual, so she threw him a curt look.
What an ill-mannered old man.
She frowned.
“Hehe, don’t glare at me like that. I can’t compare to Sir Lee Han, but I’ve brought good news.”
“…Good news?”
“Here you go.”
“…”
Rustle-!
Accepting the document Albert handed her, Isis slowly read the first page.
“…Hoo.”
Soon, her interest was piqued, and the speed at which she read the pages gradually increased.
At some point, the pages turned once every second. It might seem like she was just skimming through the content, but Isis had the talent to memorize a whole book, no matter how thick or complicated it was, just by glancing at it since she was three years old.
And she was using that talent in full force now.
In less than three minutes, she succeeded in memorizing the content of the document that was over 300 pages long.
“…”
As she gradually digested the content and organized what she had read…
“…You brought a really troublesome gift, Albert.”
Her gaze as she said so was so cold that it would be enough to make people freeze.
“Hehehe, do you like it, Princess?”
“Very much so.”
Just a moment ago, she was drowning herself in a fantasy that she made, but now that she had read the documents Albert brought, her head started to hurt.
The heretic that was brought from the Tunnel, Fourth Apostle, Sultan Salah, and the mages that they recently captured, all of them had been interrogated by Albert. What Isis had just read was the information that he had extracted, and her face turned pale after she read them.
Her skin was already pale to begin with, so with the face on her blood drained, she looked like a sick patient.
However, she wasn’t scared. It was just, the content was so exhausting to read that it literally sucked all of her energy.
To reiterate, she was smart. She had often been called a genius since she was young, and she really was a genius. That was why she was able to extract a lot of information from fragmentary data.
Now that she was working with a large amount of information, she managed to learn roughly where the fanatics who had tried to attack Pendragon had made their nests.
And that was the reason behind her sudden headache.
After all, the place where these cuckoos had laid their eggs was…
The fucking Temple…! They hid themselves well…!
A place that should never be touched, a place that was like a powder keg.
At that moment, Isis had a feeling that she’d be suffering from a lack of sleep. And at the same time, she suddenly wanted to meet her stepbrother.
Her cute stepbrother.
Thump-!
Thump-!
“…Instructor, please do Kunta favor. Don’t stray from human path.”
“What are you on about? I’m just doing normal construction.”
“This isn’t normal.”
“?”
“…Hopeless.”
Kunta shook his head, saying that even a Barbarian wouldn’t do something like this. Seeing that, Lee Han shrugged.
After all, in Lee Han’s eyes, he was just…
“I’m just digging a tunnel, you know?”
He didn’t understand why he had to hear such things when he was just digging a tunnel.
“…”
But, his reaction only made him look more absurd in Kunta’s eyes.
After all…
“Human don’t dig tunnel with bare hands…”
Who wouldn’t react this way when they saw someone digging a tunnel barehanded?
However, Lee Han just smiled refreshingly when he heard Kunta’s remark.
“Isn’t it faster to do it with our hands than with a shovel or a pickaxe?”
“…”
“Look, I’ve already dug 500 meters.”
“…”
That’s not what’s important, Instructor!
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