Ch.12240. The Collateral Offered…(2)

When crisis and tribulation end and peace arrives,

For some, it becomes another hell.

And others,

Not even knowing it was hell, will be cast aside.

And in a moment, they will suddenly realize.

That the place where I stand,

Is none other than hell.

That we were cursed from birth.

Whether realized late or early,

The outcome remains unchanged.

====

The city-kingdom of Pheisran, situated at the boundary between the eastern and northern parts of the continent, had a capital city that could rival the royal capitals of other kingdoms.

This place was originally where a royal magician, concealing his identity, built his magic research laboratory. Eventually, as its scale expanded, people associated with the magic tower gathered, and the area quickly grew from a village into a city.

Naturally, a city of such scale was bound to attract the scrutiny of other countries, but the founder eventually became an Archmage and established what was literally a magic kingdom.

However, unlike his ideals, while the Archmage might have excelled as a magician, governing a nation was another matter entirely.

Moreover, after several wars led to conflicts lasting over a decade, the first Magic King finally threw up his hands in surrender. By treaty, he restricted the construction of military facilities and bases in all territories except the city where he resided, turning Pheisran into a kingdom with just a single city to its name.

With ambiguous borders, the kingdom gradually lost territory to surrounding nations, but they used this as an excuse to strengthen their central system.

They expanded the city’s size, enhanced trade routes, and extended their domain to include pastures, fields, numerous orchards, and even the river. Eventually, the city grew so large that it was divided into seven districts.

In a sense, despite being a metropolis, it had reached a level of self-sufficiency that made it an unquestionably unbalanced structure, difficult to find precedent for.

As a result, it became both a trading hub and a crossroads for the eastern and northern regions that foreign merchants and trading companies had to pass through.

Conversely, to prevent becoming too dependent on them, they had to maintain this balance carefully. Thus, diplomatic and trade skills, as well as commercial talent, emerged as the most important virtues and abilities for city management.

…But magicians have always been insufferably arrogant.

While they somehow maintained balance when competent officials and ministers were present,

all that equilibrium collapsed at once when the Demon King’s invasion began.

The wise King of Pheisran, the 11th Magic King, was captivated by the Demon King’s rhetoric and actively cooperated with the Demon King’s army. The eventual destruction of the Demon King’s forces and the Demon King’s death consequently brought stark retribution upon them.

The 11th Magic King was not merely dethroned but executed, and his successor was a new Magic King with no blood relation to him.

A middle-aged magician from Pheisran was endorsed with blessings by both his country and others, recognized for his various achievements and character during the Demon King’s invasion. However, his life did not last even ten years from then.

His child, born late in his life, inherited the crown at a young age.

Unlike the 12th Magic King, he was incompetent and driven by greed, heeding the advice of sycophants and profiteers while indulging in a corrupt life of pleasure from a young age.

Naturally, corruption began to run rampant.

Even if well-managed, the city-kingdom’s position was fundamentally precarious.

As a result, the number of poor people in the city began to increase rapidly.

“……”

The fact that the destitute and naked were swarming in all but three of the many districts of the city-kingdom was a significant cause for concern.

And because those in power were well aware of this, they were thoroughly promoting division among these people through fear and appeasement to manage and monitor them.

Kariel set foot here because this area was a passage to reach his destination.

Additionally, he wanted to broaden his horizons by seeing how other cities and countries operated.

In that sense…

…Compared to the Empire, this place had constructed an environment closest to hell.

More precisely, it was the epitome of imbalance, where hell was guaranteed for some and blatant heaven for others.

On one side, alcohol and food overflowed to the point of being discarded.

Just a turn of the head away, others were licking the ground like flies, rats, dogs, or cats, trying to gather even the dust from the floor, lapping up any fruit or meat juices that had fallen there.

Their clothing was in tatters, barely covering essential parts, with no distinction between men and women, young or old.

On the other side?

They hung all sorts of valuables and ornaments on their bodies, and not a single piece of their clothing was ordinary.

As if competing to see who could be more flamboyant, extreme forms, patterns, and designs of clothes were everywhere.

…That the gaze of the poor toward them burned with hatred beyond mere envy,

was perhaps a natural progression, an inertia of sorts.

“After the Demon King’s death, post-war recovery proceeded normally in some places… but most have this kind of atmosphere.”

Mines seemed to have seen quite a lot of this, as his expression was relatively calm.

“Powerful nations sometimes plundered weaker ones to make up for shortages, or conversely, squeezed their own citizens to hasten recovery.”

Unlike the western continent, the eastern and northern regions weren’t in a particularly good position.

Although the Demon King’s army first appeared in the central region, the Demon King, including his generals, had first targeted the east.

That’s probably why it became the region with the most defectors.

The north had fewer defectors, but due to its inherently harsh environmental factors, the Demon King deliberately released large numbers of magical beasts there and established massive hatcheries. Even now, as a result, the north and its vicinity were famous for having the most magical beasts.

Some of these magical beasts had acquired intelligence, and when they gathered to build their own power networks, their strength reached the scale of an entire country, which was no exaggeration.

Moreover, since they hid in high mountains, snowy peaks, areas with extreme climate changes, or swamps… it was difficult to bring in troops to such treacherous and remote locations, making it hard to organize expeditions.

…Additionally, since it also served as a border area and neutral zone…

It was there that the ‘Ceiling of the Mountains,’ an unexplored realm and forbidden zone, was located.

Rising so high as if not knowing the sky’s limit, seemingly touching the heavens.

The vast scorching land at the eastern edge of the continent, the sky’s edge in the west that served as a solid barrier for the Empire’s sea and the west.

And beyond the southern sea, known only as the end of the sea.

The east, west, north, and south of the continental map were clearly defined like that.

…However, since these concepts were established and defined hundreds of years ago, no one now believed them literally.

“The Empire and surrounding countries had clear distinctions between friend and foe, so it was easier for them to unify.”

Both the Empire’s enemies and those who considered the Empire their enemy…

Rather, the eastern region, slightly removed from them, was another lawless zone where dozens of small nations were divided and in continuous chaos.

To the Empire, someone who owned just a barony would openly claim to be a king.

What mattered in the end was justification and roots.

So they seemed to create roots that didn’t exist to assert their legitimacy.

That’s why the self-proclaimed nobles and royals in this area typically had mixed blood, possessing various legitimate claims.

Therefore, as long as military power was guaranteed, they seemed to have no hesitation in invading neighboring countries or those slightly further away.

So, it was exceptional that this city-state could grow to such a size.

That speaks to how remarkable the Magic King must have been.

“I learned about this at the academy before.”

That it’s a region where integration is difficult due to harsh terrain and conditions.

That various races are scattered and intertwined, and on the one hand, there’s a deep-rooted belief in a single race or ethnicity.

“So… they said there might be room for the Empire’s knight culture to take root.”

If just one powerful king emerged, knights might gather under him to establish stability.

Of course, the king would be more of a mediator, preventing knights from misbehaving, rather than an absolute monarch.

Wasn’t the Kingdom of Berk once such an entity?

In that sense, the current Berk Empire… has successfully placed the concept of country above race and ethnicity, so it’s fair to say they’ve successfully expanded and established their nation.

“That’s not entirely wrong. Some countries are nurturing their subordinates with the spirit of chivalry. And the advantage of such countries is that their internal affairs are more stable compared to others.”

There’s at least some level of trust.

That the king or lord will protect them and listen to their appeals.

…Even in the Empire, during times of distrust, wasn’t it because they couldn’t believe in just that, that they pointed spears at each other despite being allies?

In that sense, in this area, since friend and foe are clear, if even a little trust builds up, their unity might be certain.

The abundance of stone buildings is probably due to the rich stone resources in this area.

But all of these were built quite long ago.

The condition of the unrepaired stone houses was unsettlingly precarious.

As if foretelling this country’s unstable present and precarious future.

And.

Kariel saw a massive flame sweeping through this place.

When he closed his eyes and opened them again, everything was normal.

But whenever he closed his eyes, it was all vividly imprinted.

The sight of a massive fire consuming the entire area.

Also.

Woof woof! Grrrr!

While checking the rough map drawn on leather as they moved forward,

in the distance of their view, a black-furred dog, as big as a small child but pitifully skinny, was barking.

And behind it, a dirty and shabby child lay face down, clutching their stomach.

The dog was desperately barking, as if protecting the child whose rags were torn and tattered.

“You filthy dog!”

“None of the kids around here are normal!”

“It makes me sick! What’s this smell? Don’t these bastards know how to wash?”

“If they did, would they eat what they shit out?”

Mockery.

Contempt.

Disgust.

…And ostentation.

Several men, and a young man leading them with squared shoulders.

While the surrounding guys couldn’t be called clean either, the young man in the blue robe looked particularly special.

He appeared to have been raised in privilege, just by looking at him.

“You look pretty, so I was going to bestow a favor, but who do you think you are?”

“Young master, would these uncivilized creatures properly understand such things?”

“Why does that damn dog keep barking? Ha!”

As the man pretended to kick it, the dog lunged at him instead.

“Aah!”

“Hahaha!”

“What are you doing?”

“Is it crazy or what?!”

“Hey, hey! You’ll catch some disease if it bites you.”

However, the resistance of the seemingly weak dog ended as a clumsy threat.

“How dare you!”

Encouraged by the dog’s sluggish movement, the man struck its face, but due to his own poor movement, he merely grazed the dog’s nose bridge.

Grr!

The dog retreated once but, undeterred by the hit, still stood firm in front of the girl.

“Incompetent fools.”

As the young man stepped forward, exaggeratedly clicking his tongue as if to show off, the men retreated as if they had been waiting for this.

“Oh my!”

“Oh no! Young master, to personally intervene for something like this!”

“We should handle such things!”

The flattery was a spectacle.

Soon, a small flame began to flicker in the young man’s grasp.

Grrrr!

The dog must clearly feel that this is not just a simple threat.

In fact, its trembling hind legs and the small yellow liquid leaking between them proved this.

Still, it doesn’t step aside.

It continued to bark fiercely, as if ready to resist, but.

It was visibly exhausted.

What sprayed from its mouth was fine saliva and murky foam.

Even that burst out messily.

It was extremely feeble.

Perhaps due to its parched, cracked throat.

Even its barking was desperate.

“Tch.”

The young man, looking at it with disgust and contempt, was about to direct the flame in his hand toward the insolent four-legged creature…

Thump!

“…?”

The caught hand soared high into the sky.

Suddenly.

“Huh?”

“W-who?”

…

Someone whose entire body was darkly gleaming.

With eyes as distant as molten gold, unfathomably deep.

It slowly surveyed them.

“W-what are you doing? Let go! Do you know who I am…?”

He was released.

But why…

…is my hand still in that person’s grasp?

No, more than that…

Why is my left shoulder so empty?

“Huh…?”

This is strange.

Why…

Why does my left shoulder feel vacant?

“??”

Then what is that in his hand?

“Aaaaargh!!”

Beyond confusion and bewilderment.

The young man reflexively screamed in excruciating pain.

“……”

And Kariel…

Was coldly looking down at the now one-armed young man who had collapsed, clutching his left shoulder.

Until the young man’s left arm in his hand crumpled, compressed, and disappeared as if crushed.

Around them, there were only delayed reactions from those who were dumbfounded, not understanding what had just happened.