25.NTL Fantasy

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“Suddenly, what are you talking about?”

 

 

Out of the blue, to establish a country?

 

 

“Just as I said. You need to establish a country and help me out.”

“….”

 

 

As it became clear that she hadn’t misheard, Larnar couldn’t close her mouth in bewilderment.

 

 

 

 

What is a country?

Setting aside philosophical discussions, a country means a king.

 

The king is the symbol of the country, the power of the country.

 

Although each noble also has power, no matter how strong that power is, they cannot privately call themselves king.

This is because the king has the ‘legitimacy’ that can never be surpassed.

 

 

If someone declares the founding of a nation and calls themselves king, they will immediately become enemies with all the surrounding nobles, and a noble coalition army, or even the national central army, will be summoned to suppress them.

 

 

It’s absurd that she’s telling Larnar, who is just a Baron at best, to do something that even a distant royal family member, a Duke, cannot easily do.

 

“Now that I think about it, Yuna-ssi and I are from another world. We need a lot of money to go back.”

“…I can’t follow your story. Please explain it in a way I can understand.”

“Anyway, we need the power of a country. But I don’t want to bother negotiating with the king, so I want you to be the king.”

“….”

 

 

It seems like she summarized it, but I still don’t understand.

No, I understand, but I can’t accept it.

 

 

Why are you suddenly doing this??

 

 

“Um… right now, the only knights left in the Ryzen territory are about 10, including Lloyd, and even if we scrape together all the troops, it won’t even reach 1,000. And you’re talking about a country….”

“Hmm… you’re pretty serious. What do you mean by 1,000? Even my maids number 3,000.”

“….”

 

 

That seemingly insignificant human has 3,000 maids. Thinking that she’s teasing me with ridiculous words makes me feel bad.

But she’s the one who’s in need.

Not only because of what happened last night, but even if that wasn’t the case, she needed Yu-eun’s help.

 

 

“So, we know that, and the first thing we need to do is deal with that Amar guy, right?”

“Yes. Since everyone we sent before is dead, he’ll start reacting soon. He’ll probably formally declare a territory war.”

“Then what happens?”

“First, we send someone to the royal palace to explain the situation and announce the declaration of the territory war. Then, when someone from the royal palace comes out, the territory war begins.”

“I see.”

 

Yu-eun nodded in agreement, but Yuna tilted her head.

 

 

“Can you just declare a territory war without any reason?”

“Of course not. But… since he’s revealing his intentions so blatantly, he probably already made some behind-the-scenes moves.”

“Hmm….”

 

 

Yuna is giving a non-committal agreement.

Larnar became uneasy for no reason.

 

 

‘Surely she’s not going to say she’s leaving now, is she? She can’t take my body and then do that!’

 

 

Although the memory is faint and almost forgotten, I know that Lloyd witnessed what happened with Yu-eun.

 

He must have felt a great shock and betrayal.

 

Lloyd is almost the only military force in the Ryzen territory, so if even Yu-eun leaves this place, she really has no hope.

She would have no choice but to voluntarily become Amar’s woman, hoping for a little mercy.

 

 

But I hate that more than anything.

 

 

“I don’t know the size of Amar’s side, but if we combine the barony and the viscounty, we can have some semblance of a force. Let’s start in earnest from then on.”

“But they say their military power is limited to 1,000. Would a viscount have many more? It’s just one step up.”

“After all, it only looks like a medieval country at best, so a military force of 1,000 is a lot. Shouldn’t we gradually clean up the surrounding territories? You’re here, and I’m here too.”

Contrary to her worries, Yu-eun and Yuna seem to be already full of thoughts about establishing Larnar’s country.

 

 

“I have a question. How skilled is Lloyd-ssi?”

“Lloyd… you mean?”

“Yes. If I know how strong he is based on this world’s standards, I think I’ll get a rough idea.”

“Hmm….”

 

 

Silence for a moment.

 

 

She only learned swordsmanship as a refinement, so she doesn’t know the details.

All she can say is the step-by-step part called ‘realm’.

 

“I heard that Lloyd is in the realm of Sword Major. I also heard that he can enter Expert soon….”

“What’s that again? Is this some mass-produced fantasy novel? Are Sword Masters going to come out too?”

“It’s a term for dividing the realms of knights. These terms have been around since I became a knight trainee.”

 

 

 

There are 4 big chunks.

 

 

The first is ‘Sword Minor’

 

It is the realm where you officially become a knight trainee and can handle mana, and you usually transcend it before becoming an official knight.

 

 

The main feature is strengthening the body using mana, but because mana control is still immature, mana cannot be transferred to the sword or armor instead of one’s own body.

Therefore, they mainly wear heavy plate armor, and since they cannot infuse mana into the sword, their combat power is equivalent to 10 ordinary soldiers, and even then, some experienced soldiers can handle mana, so it is practically an out-of-power realm as a ‘knight’.

 

 

 

 

The second is ‘Sword Major’

 

 

It is the realm with the widest spectrum regarding skill, and almost all knights are in this realm.

 

Since the range is so wide, the sub-stages are divided into ‘Under’, ‘Middle’, and ‘Rising’. ‘Under’ is the stage where mana begins to be injected outside the body, and ‘Middle’ is the stage where it can be injected and controlled into two or more objects at the same time.

 

Therefore, the difference between ‘Under’, which can only inject mana into either ‘weapon’ or ‘armor’, and ‘Middle’, which can inject into both at the same time, is very clear. Furthermore, when the ‘Rising’ stage, where ’emission’ becomes possible instead of ‘injection’, is reached, ranged attacks become possible, so even though they are the same ‘Major’, the difference in combat power is very large.

 

 

 

 

The third is ‘Sword Expert’

 

 

From this realm, which is called the flower of knight power, they are designated as ‘national-level’ talents and can receive treatment equivalent to nobles regardless of their status.

 

 

Even if he is a slave, if he does not show anti-national will or behavior, the state will rescue his status and designate him as a ‘national treasure’, and he can receive different benefits depending on his realm and stage.

 

 

The ranged attacks used since the ‘Rising’ era become more sophisticated and stronger, which is due to the smooth control of the amount of mana ’emitted’. This means that mana control becomes so sophisticated that it cannot be expressed in words, and various techniques can be used by utilizing this.

 

 

Here, the stages within Expert are divided.

 

There are no words attached to each stage like Major, but if you can slowly walk on water using mana control, it is called ‘Expert Extreme’ and is treated as the ‘highest power’.

 

 

The treatment received at this time is equivalent to that of a great noble, and even princes or princesses cannot treat them as subordinates.

 

 

 

Finally, ‘Sword Master’

 

 

This realm depends on ‘mana quantity’.

In fact, it can be said that the technical part has reached its end when you reach ‘Expert Extreme’, and there are cases where an Expert suppresses a Master when mana is limited.

 

 

However, this is very unlikely to happen in actual combat, and the reason is the overwhelming amount of mana.

 

 

If you master mana control to the extreme while going through Expert, your body will be restructured.

It is separately expressed as ‘reborn’, and the body is changed to be optimized for mana control and possession, and accordingly, rejuvenation occurs and aging stops, maximizing lifespan.

 

The difference in mana quantity between Expert Extreme and the beginning of Sword Master is at least 10 times.

Even if you are technically behind, if the amount of mana is so different, you will eventually overwhelm them.

 

 

In other words, ‘weight class’

 

The ‘weight class difference’ that cannot be left out in various martial arts appears here as ‘mana quantity’.

 

 

It is a legendary stage, and if you reach this realm, there are no rivals unless they are the same Sword Master.

 

Even if you fall into a military force of ten thousand, you can survive and even crush the military force. It is truly the realm of a one-man army.

 

 

 

 

 

“What. Lloyd is a total loser.”

“…Still, he’s a pretty well-known skilled person. If he overcomes the wall a little, he can reach Expert. If that happens… he would become a national treasure and be safe from Amar’s threat, so he was devoted to training….”

 

 

Suddenly, guilt pierced her heart.

 

Yes.

Anyway, Lloyd has been doing his best for her, and he has always acted for her.

 

Of course, forcing her to get engaged was too unpleasant, but looking at it calmly, there was no other way.

 

 

“What about Amar’s side?”

“Their highest power is similar to Lloyd. It’s just that they have more numbers.”

“Hey, Yuna-ssi, why are you asking about that? It won’t matter anyway.”

“Still, if there’s someone about to become an Expert in a barony or viscounty, the ones above them will be even more so, so we need to know.”

“Yuna-ssi, did you feel anything when you fought Lloyd?”

“…I didn’t feel anything at all.”

“That’s it. Sword Master? It doesn’t mean anything.”