Ch.184EP.43 – The Knight Makes a Fresh Start (1)

Like any other morning, the palace was particularly bustling today.

“Is this really true…?!”

“Those despicable bastards!”

“Hmm, I can’t even begin to imagine what will become of the Empire.”

“There’s going to be war…”

While causing a commotion in the palace was certainly worthy of reprimand, she decided to let it slide for now. She was generous, after all.

Besides, it wasn’t just her palace that was in an uproar, and she wasn’t so narrow-minded that she couldn’t understand the situation.

“The kingdom, the entire southern region must be in turmoil.”

And not just the south.

The west, east, and even the north must be in utter chaos.

That’s how shocking the event that had struck the continent was.

Even the newspapers had been focusing on the [incident] that occurred in the Central Continent for three straight days, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the continent was in complete disarray because of it.

And for good reason.

[Tower Collapse!]

[After 10 years of winter, has spring finally returned to the Central Continent?]

[Was the winter curse actually cast by the Magic Tower, not fairies?!]

…With the collapse of the Magic Tower and the end of the 10-year winter that had covered the Central Continent, how could there not be an uproar?

She, Isis Elaine de Pendragon, whose delicate and pristine hands resembled white jade—truly deserving of the phrase “slender jade fingers”—closed the newspaper and took a sip of her tea. The herbal tea, which she had been drinking more frequently than black tea lately, refreshed her mouth and somewhat relieved her fatigue from lack of sleep.

However.

Clatter…

“…Sigh, I’m still such an inadequate person.”

Isis pressed her brow as she felt her fingertips trembling.

To others, it might have appeared as if she had some great worry, and there might have been concern that her trembling fingertips indicated fear, but the reason Isis was trembling and pressing her brow was none other than:

“Ha! How could they have done something so adorable!”

She was trying to hide her excitement and thrill.

Looking at the achievement accomplished by just two knights, she simply couldn’t contain herself.

* * *

People had realized the truth.

About everything that had happened over the past ten years, no, over the past 400 years…

Some might wonder how all the facts could be revealed in less than three days, but,

[It wasn’t us. We never cursed you.]

…When the voice of the fairy could be heard, how could anyone not believe it?

The Spring Fairy.

The people clearly heard the beautiful voice of the supremely holy woman.

The moment they heard it, they felt as if they had received divine grace, and mysteriously, everyone came to know the “truth.”

Was it the fairy’s magic?

All the evil deeds committed by the Magic Tower’s mages during the past 10 years—no, during the 400 years that the monster Tyr had been Tower Master—flashed through the minds of the people, and the Empire’s citizens were furious.

– Have you ever seen such horrible creatures!

Some realized that those they had considered a necessary evil for the Empire were not necessary evils at all, but simply terrible and disgusting plagues.

– H-how could this be! That plague 40 years ago was the work of mages, no, these terrible monsters!!

Those who realized the truth behind the tragedies of the past 400 years were enraged.

– Draw your swords, brothers! We must eliminate all these fiends in human form…!

Unable to contain their anger, people gathered to draw their swords against the mages.

Though the cold winter had passed and spring, the warm season of life, had arrived…

—A brutal hunt to extract the necks and blood of mages while they were still alive was about to begin throughout the Empire.

And that wasn’t all.

The Imperial family, who had knowingly ignored the Magic Tower’s evil deeds and established a symbiotic relationship with them.

The warlords and feudal lords scattered throughout the Empire, who had lacked proper justification until now, declared their intent to overthrow the Imperial family using this as their cause.

War was brewing, and countless power holders were preparing to wage war to become the new Emperor, but.

“Thanks to the fairy, this will truly be a peaceful war.”

…Fortunately, there would be no war involving forced conscription of citizens or plundering.

The Central Continent was currently being visited by the Spring Fairy.

This meant the Spring Fairy would stay for a while, and during this time, exploiting citizens or making them shed blood could incur the fairy’s displeasure.

Therefore, this war must be peaceful, even forcibly so, and would not become as devastating as other wars.

So the war would probably…

‘Proceed like a war game. Hehe, it’s no different from a comedy.’

It might not be like the <3650 Days of Discussion>, known as the most peaceful war in continental history, but battles would likely unfold in a way that minimized bloodshed.

As long as they were mindful of the fairy, the outcome might be decided by duels between champion warriors representing each faction.

And the existing Imperial family would probably…

‘Be assassinated.’

Normally, whether there was justification or not, assassination was tacitly prohibited when waging war against the Imperial family, but this time, the Imperial family’s crimes were too great.

When they had committed the same acts as the Magic Tower, what citizen would respect and serve them?

By now, all the Imperial officials and ministers had probably abandoned the Imperial family and fled to save themselves, so it wouldn’t take long to exterminate the entire Imperial family.

No matter how long they had ruled the Central Continent for a thousand years, once they betrayed their people and completely lost their trust, they too would be treated as less than monsters.

…Such is the transience of power.

Of course.

Thud.

“This is all just speculation, hah.”

Isis put down her teacup and smirked.

In a way, these were all just her predictions, and things might not go as expected.

No matter how intelligent she was, even she couldn’t calculate human desire.

Only God and the fairies would know what would happen in the Empire from now on.

…But one thing was certain.

‘This benefits the Pendragon family.’

The more chaos in the center, the more people would be disappointed with the Empire and leave.

If the south could absorb these citizens, it would instantly solve the population problem in the south, which had been an issue.

Despite unifying the entire south by defeating Britain, the severe shortage of manpower remained a headache!

‘If we could just share some of the Empire’s overflowing workforce…’

Of course, accepting a large number of immigrants could cause problems.

But for a royal who lives as a ruler, the benefits must be weighed more heavily than the potential problems.

Moreover, a moment of crisis can conversely become a [stage] to test the “vessel of the ruler.”

If one can resolve any problem and bring satisfaction to the people, then that would…

‘Become an achievement that solidifies my position.’

The path of the king.

Her first achievement somewhat free from the shadow of the War God.

If she could gain recognition even from the elder nobles who still longed for the War God, it would be perfect.

“Sigh… I still have a long way to go. Nothing is certain yet, but here I am, just savoring the sweet part…”

Isis admitted that she was excited.

But she couldn’t help feeling her body heat up at the fact that she was gradually getting closer to the throne.

At the same time, the knights who created this situation, no, her adoptive brother, was unbearably cute.

“It’s quite amusing. ‘He’ wouldn’t care about politics at all, yet he managed to create such an optimal outcome.”

This is why she couldn’t let him go.

Isis smiled as she thought of her disrespectful adoptive brother who still hadn’t visited the palace since returning from the Empire.

Even if he was disrespectful, everything looked lovely to her right now.

“Hehe, if he were in front of me, I might have hugged him fiercely.”

Although it would be no exaggeration to say that she had never been frivolous with her laughter or expressed affection to others in her life, today she wanted to pour out all her affection for her adoptive brother.

To such a person…

“—You should be most vigilant when things are going well, Princess.”

“……”

“You can’t help feeling good, but still, hehe.”

“…Albert.”

There was a butler who suddenly poured cold water on her mood with his advice.

…How long had he been standing there?

“If you’re here, make your presence known, Albert.”

“Hehe, it’s a habit.”

“Sigh, you truly are a disrespectful butler.”

Though he was her man, he was one of the few people she couldn’t control as she wished.

Her elevated mood plummeted at the sight of that butler.

“When you get as old as I am, you tend to worry about everything first. Please understand, Princess.”

“Is there anything you’re actually afraid of?”

“Of course. I’m just a fragile human after all.”

“…That’s the worst joke. Don’t make jokes elsewhere. You have no talent for it.”

“Hehe.”

His ever-smiling face only irritated her as she looked at him.

It somehow felt like he was mocking her.

Being with him made her feel childish, and Isis could only give him a curt glance.

Anyway.

‘What a mischievous old man.’

Isis frowned.

“Hehe, don’t glare at me like that. Though it can’t compare to Sir Ihan’s news, I’ve brought some good news.”

“…Good news, you say?”

“See for yourself.”

“……”

Rustle.

As Isis received the document Albert handed her, she slowly read the first page.

“…Hmm.”

Soon her interest was piqued, and the speed at which she read the pages gradually increased.

At some point, pages were turning once every second, which might make one think she was skimming, but Isis had the talent to memorize entire books at a glance, no matter how thick or dense, since she was three years old.

It was the same now.

She could memorize everything just by looking at a page, and in less than three minutes, she succeeded in engraving the contents of the document, which was over 300 pages, into her mind.

“……”

As she gradually digested and organized what she had read,

“…You’ve brought me a truly troublesome gift, Albert.”

She could only give him a cold gaze that could freeze people with just a look.

“Hehe, well, do you like it?”

“Like it, indeed.”

Just moments ago, she had been indulging in happy fantasies, but reading the document Albert brought gave her a headache.

The Four Apostles or whatever heretics brought from the tunnels, Sultan Salah, and the recently captured mages.

Albert had extracted information by interrogating them, and Isis’s complexion turned pale as she read the content he had extracted.

Her skin was already fair, but as the blood drained from her face, she looked like a sick patient.

She wasn’t scared.

It was just that the content was so draining to read.

…To reiterate, she was intellectually brilliant.

She had been called a genius since childhood, and indeed, she was a genius.

That’s why she was capable of extracting a wealth of information from even fragmentary data.

And now, with a large amount of information transmitted to her, Isis knew roughly where the fanatics who had tried to attack the Pendragon family had built their nests.

…Hence, she had a headache.

For good reason, as one of the places where these cuckoos had laid their eggs was…

“…Damn ‘Temple,’ they should have hidden it better…”

A powder keg that shouldn’t be touched.

Isis felt she would suffer from lack of sleep again today, and she suddenly wanted to meet her adoptive brother urgently.

Her cute adoptive brother, that is.

*

*

*

Boom!

Boooom!

“…Teacher, Kunta begs you. Please don’t stray from the path of humanity.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? I’m just doing normal construction work.”

“…This is not what normal means.”

“?”

“…This is hopeless.”

Kunta shook his head, saying even a barbarian wouldn’t do this, while Ihan shrugged.

He was simply.

“I’m just digging a tunnel, you know?”

He couldn’t understand why he was being criticized when all he was doing was tunnel construction.

“……”

Kunta found this response even more absurd.

For good reason—what human would:

“Dig a tunnel with bare hands…?”

Who wouldn’t be shocked to see someone digging a tunnel without any equipment?

However, Ihan remained unfazed by Kunta’s comment.

“It’s faster to use my hands than a shovel or pickaxe, right?”

“……”

“Look, I’ve already dug 500 meters.”

“……”

…Isn’t that beside the point?