Ch.13243. This is Just That Kind of Story (3)

Desire knows no end.

Satisfaction is merely an illusion created by philosophers and sages.

Does satisfaction truly exist in this world?

When eating, we want to eat more but can’t because our stomachs are full.

But is this truly satisfaction?

Even if you amass wealth and fill a storehouse, you’ve only filled one small storehouse at best.

Even if you increase the number and size of storehouses, satisfaction remains elusive.

So when exactly can one be satisfied?

Never.

There’s no such thing.

This is what it means when they say desire and greed have no end.

And it cannot be confined to just one category.

Desire for wealth, fame, and power are all distinct.

Hunger, lust, and the need for sleep are completely separate as well.

Time is limited, yet there’s so much to enjoy… no matter how much we indulge, we remain thirsty and hungry.

No, we might feel like our stomachs will burst… but that too is an illusion.

Perhaps being full is the problem to begin with?

When we want to enjoy and indulge, how dare our bodies interfere.

How utterly vexing and disrespectful…

In the end, this vulgar flesh is the problem.

It only grows old and heavy with time.

Why does gout, which even slaves and commoners don’t suffer from, seem to particularly despise us?

Something is wrong.

Weren’t we born with everything from the start?

Then why isn’t this country as powerful as that empire?

Why must we be mindful of other countries?

Why must we heed the doctrines of various gods?

The opinions of the people? The wishes of the citizens?

Aren’t they my possessions? Listening to the opinions of possessions? Are you sane?

From the beginning.

The very fact that they desire anything is wrong.

When their greatest honor should be singing, working, and dying for me, they want more? What a terribly misguided way of thinking.

That’s not befitting of a subject.

Moreover, to reside in the territory without singing or working, how is this any different from rats and vermin?

Ah, I’ll admit their excrement is more toxic.

“They are not subjects. But if they are not slaves either, how should we treat them?”

Late afternoon.

Normally, he wouldn’t be caught dead in the royal palace at this hour unless there was a party.

But now, in the audience chamber, various nobles and magicians had gathered.

There, a child wearing a crown sat on the throne.

An old man with his hand on the right shoulder of the chubby child.

At the proclamation of the regent, known as the one and only Archduke of Magic in Feysran, all those watching him responded in unison to his statement.

“Therefore, I wish to hear your opinions on lifting the taboo that our ancestors deemed forbidden, using this occasion.”

Taboo.

Magicians are curious.

Because of this, they sometimes commit inhumane acts without hesitation.

And for that, they’ve been covered in all sorts of disgrace.

“We will achieve a major reform. Those who do not renew themselves as workers will have their status as citizens revoked and be demoted to slaves.”

And then.

“While they cannot be secured as private soldiers or workers, I wish to authorize their use as experimental subjects.”

Enthusiastic responses followed.

Researching corpses and experimenting on living beings are entirely different matters.

Even smuggling is done in hushed tones, and those caught have been made examples of through immediate execution in the current reality!

But now, the regent was talking about lifting this taboo.

How could they not welcome it?

“I wish to hear your opinions.”

Following the regent’s statement, many officials raised their hands to express their views.

However, among them, no one discussed or mentioned the treatment of the poor.

Everything proceeded smoothly.

The puppet king expressed satisfaction with the regent’s proposal before expressing his desire to leave, claiming boredom.

In his mind right now, his biggest concern was deciding which court lady to take to bed tonight.

‘Such a young one, already fallen into lust.’

Despite sending a contemptuous glance, the regent had mixed feelings, knowing that this made him easier to handle.

The Demon King’s army had changed this country too much.

The splendor of the court and the nobles, upon closer inspection, was like a sandcastle that could collapse and crumble at any moment.

Selling the country’s future for personal gain.

‘This country is finished.’

So all that remains are our schools and families.

More than half of those here are the kind who would sell important information to foreign countries at any time.

…If the regent himself is like that, why wouldn’t the rest be?

Trying to hold out until death on a sinking ship is the height of foolishness!

In the end, this country called Feysran is just one big resource warehouse.

A massive resource in the name of a nation.

Using it to amass wealth, establish and develop magical theories and techniques.

A stepping stone for fame.

Another stepping stone for the transfer of power and authority.

Those who were supposed to coexist, bound to this country and territory, chose to parasitize and gnaw at it.

They would suck out the nutrients and pus to fill their bodies and bellies.

And when this country falls?

They’ll just leave.

Yes.

…If I’m like this, wouldn’t others be the same?

But even that has its limits in the end.

Even the head of a snake is still just a snake.

Compared to a dragon, it’s merely a lowly creature.

Even without dragons, there are countless things that can hunt and kill snakes unilaterally.

Feysran, in that sense, would be considered a small country even in the east.

Other countries can’t carelessly covet its territory or authority because they lack magical forces, but apart from that, this country has the most miserable forces compared to neighboring countries.

There are no allied nations.

The reason others don’t guard against Feysran is because they clearly see through the old treaties and Feysran’s circumstances.

Even if they have military power, the national affairs are not properly conducted, and the administration has been in disarray for a long time.

Occupation? Plunder?

Everything is in such a mess that even that can’t be carried out with certainty.

And when they make up their minds and prepare, what’s next? Will they just take the hits?

Like many countries, bloodlines are intricately intertwined, and alliances and federations are quite complex.

If you strike carelessly without thoroughly understanding this, you’re likely to become prey to a federation of multiple countries.

‘It’s futile.’

It won’t work in this country.

In the era changed by the Nine Heroes, the dark age of the eastern continent would likely continue for a long time.

Unless a ruler worthy of historical remembrance, a great king, emerges and annexes the surroundings.

But such a being wouldn’t easily appear.

And even if one did, if they emerged from a hostile country, it would be a calamity in itself.

‘It’s futile.’

So let’s be content and enjoy life moderately.

The regent initially tried to be satisfied with that.

…But it keeps coming back.

The determination and aspirations he had when entering the path of magic… they keep resurfacing.

‘How tiresome.’

Even in this narrow well.

Look at those wolves, envying even this insignificant position of regent, swallowing their saliva in hopes of getting a taste.

“Then, are there no objections?”

As a formal agreement was reached.

As the king’s proxy, the regent agreed to modify several contents that the first Magic King had deemed taboo, in the form they desired, starting from this day.

It’s not my intention.

It’s everyone’s intention.

The will of all citizens.

“Let’s skip the complicated procedures. I declare that everything is permitted from this moment on, in the name of the Magic King.”

In that sense.

I’ve always been one step ahead.

That’s why I became the regent and am called by the fancy title of Archduke of Magic.

You are still bound to this tiny world.

But I, from the beginning, never even noticed such things.

The world I want to enjoy was never just this narrow continent.

“Then, as an example first…”

Let me show you a move.

“I’m truly grateful that you’ve all gathered here so well.”

As the audience chamber doors closed.

Along with it, a purple barrier surrounded the entire audience chamber.

“What kind of trick is this?”

“Isn’t this prank too severe to just surprise people?”

Those who mistakenly believe they’ll enjoy wealth and glory and achieve immortality without basis.

But none among them truly believed this.

They just wanted to believe it.

That’s why those who claim to believe in magic are so diligently involved in other religions.

Especially the Irenis Church.

A cult of madmen who propagate the absurd and flimsy doctrine that one can be saved by repenting, praying, and reflecting.

A cursed cult.

What? Repent and your sins are forgiven, and you’re saved?

Ah, so if I use both good and evil people as experimental subjects and kill them when I’m not satisfied, I just need to repent earnestly?

How wonderful!

So after I sell this entire country to the devil!

I’ll repent more earnestly than anyone, so don’t ignore my pleas then.

If you’re an omnipotent and great being, you can show that much mercy, can’t you?

Isn’t that right?

Irenis, who babbled nonsense about being a child of heaven or something and died a grand, miserable death!

If you truly are an omnipotent resurrector and a benevolent being who came back from the dead.

Come before me and speak.

…

…..

Well.

I didn’t expect it anyway.

====

The purple barrier was lifted.

Inside, a piercing silence covered in the smell of blood permeated.

Faintly heard within were the moans and shallow breaths of the dying.

There, pitifully lying on the cold floor of the audience chamber overflowing with blood.

The life of Beyrant, the young head of the 13th Magic Noble family of Feysran, was heading towards the same destination as the others who had already become corpses.

‘Was I too late?’

It was such a significant and important matter that he couldn’t overlook or skip attendance.

It was that good of a bait.

A few who had received news about this in advance chose not to attend as their answer…

But even they would understand that it was nothing more than a powerless resistance.

Rather than opposing and getting beaten, they cast a powerless abstention vote.

Among those here, among the living, there was no one who was altruistic or strived for others.

Beyrant himself was no different.

‘It’s futile.’

Desperately trying to cling to life in this cursed country was all he could do.

But what is this?

‘…Father.’

Did he say not to hate his younger brother?

Perhaps that child could be Beyrant’s future and days to come?

‘Our family will also go downhill from now on.’

It’s futile.

Everything he had struggled for was turning into bubbles in an instant.

This country will also perish.

Though he didn’t know what the regent was thinking to commit such a mad act…

What was certain was that he was clearly planning to do something ominous.

And as he felt the breath of death gradually approaching, he could vaguely glimpse the fruits of the regent’s achievements.

Above the audience chamber, a massive door appeared.

A structure that couldn’t exist in reality.

Large, but it was like a grotesque door made by hardening, compressing, and embedding the bones of all sorts of living beings.

It was so massive that it filled the entire ceiling.

‘Demon….’

Once.

The teachers of magicians were demons.

The next teachers were magical beings and demon kings.

Then came dragons, dragon people, elves, and similar races.

And after that…

It was us.

But when we feel our limits, it’s only natural to seek our old mentors and teachers again.

The only difference is.

The regent’s decisiveness in treating it as an option rather than a taboo?

That must be what made him who he is today.

If he succeeds here and achieves his intentions.

…That would also be another success story for magic in a way.

‘It’s futile.’

In the end, we too, when we die, are empty-handed corpses that rot, crumble, and turn to dust.

…What difference is there between me and the incompetent and vermin?

‘Father.’

…

‘Rey.’

Though he was a hateful and detestable younger brother.

Strangely, now he felt a bit… nostalgic.

…Just a bit.

…

…..

“Is this retribution according to cause and effect?”

Though the audience chamber was already empty.

For a brief moment, pitch blackness arrived.

The deep darkness, even covering the ominous energy and inauspicious aura.

It was so deep.

Like a void and a blank.

Like the abyss, without sound, presence, or trace.

It covered everything without any doubt.

Like wind seeping into an open space.

Or as if naturally draining out.

“Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.”

Everything, in the end, returns to the earth.