Ch.50Chapter 50. Becoming Well Known to the Continent (1)

That’s how Luna bowed to Karelia repeatedly before withdrawing.

In the audience chamber where only the two remained, Vanessa finally spoke.

“My lord.”

“I know. I know what you’re going to tell me. You don’t need to say it.”

Karelia spoke in a playful tone, but Vanessa responded with utmost seriousness, without a hint of a smile.

“I must speak because it seems necessary. Please do not trust Lunarian Iniang too much. She was once a lord. She is not someone who will be content serving under another.”

“……”

When Lunarian first came with Cain and Tifa, begging them to take her in.

While some people, including Karelia and Cecile, were in favor, there were also those who opposed accepting her.

Vanessa was the leading figure among the opposition, arguing most strongly that taking in someone like Lunarian would be like adopting a tiger cub, and they should never accept her.

Of course, she personally thought it might be better to kill Lunarian who had crawled in on her own.

But knowing that Karelia would never accept such a proposal, she didn’t go that far.

In fact, Vanessa still didn’t trust Luna at all.

After hearing those words, Karelia sighed briefly.

Then she looked at Vanessa with a somewhat calmer expression.

“Vanessa. Are you aware of the rumors coming from the places where Lady Luna has worked?”

“I am. The locals who worked with her unanimously sing her praises, don’t they?”

“Yes. She has the capacity to capture people’s hearts just by working with them for a short period. Not only that, but she’s shown outstanding results in agriculture, commerce, wall repairs, and even training soldiers.”

Just now, Luna had said she “might not be able to achieve results.”

But that was truly just because of the weather; her abilities themselves were excellent at whatever task she was given.

It wasn’t just her abilities. Wherever she went to work, she naturally captured people’s hearts.

“Tepelo Castle is at the forefront of our forces, and its importance for our future is extremely high. With Lady Luna’s abilities, she will certainly manage Tepelo Castle wisely. Wouldn’t it be a great loss to our forces if we didn’t make good use of someone with such talents?”

“It could also be a great threat. The hearts of the locals and the people in our Karelia forces only need to have a place for you, Lady Karelia. I believe there should not exist in this country someone who could become a second-in-command under an absolute lord.”

“Won’t that become difficult as the country grows larger?”

“It doesn’t matter. I intend to make it so.”

“…Well then.”

In most countries, the de facto second-in-command roles were held by state advisors.

They were the ones who stayed closest to the lord, helping with their most intimate decision-making.

But the Karelia forces were different.

Her advisor, Vanessa, wished to remain strictly in Karelia’s shadow without seeking power, and worked to ensure that all achievements would be credited to Karelia.

In running a country, not everything can be resolved through virtue. Getting blood on one’s hands was also Vanessa’s job.

Naturally, the Karelia forces were firmly operating under Karelia’s sole leadership, famous for her benevolence.

And throughout this process, not a single blemish had touched Karelia’s reputation—all thanks to Vanessa.

From Vanessa’s perspective, Lunarian had more than a few overlapping traits with her lord Karelia.

That’s precisely why she thought they shouldn’t give her any opportunity to grow, but…

Karelia awkwardly nodded her head and then spoke in a calm tone.

“It’s fine. If someone like Lady Luna were to rise up to claim the world, and if she were to become a greater lord than me, I don’t think it would be so bad if she were the one to shape the world instead of me. As long as this world can become peaceful, what does it matter who reigns over it?”

“…The only sky I wish to serve is you, my lord. Such words only add to the reasons why I must remain by your side. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“…Is that so?”

Karelia let out a few good-natured chuckles.

She certainly had a somewhat soft disposition.

She herself acknowledged that Vanessa’s contributions were significant in allowing them to expand and consolidate their power in the south.

“Let’s change the subject. Have you heard about it?”

“About what, my lord?”

“They say a miracle-working man has appeared in the Brans forces.”

“That story… Do you mean the one about a huge rock falling from the sky onto the Serpina forces?”

“So you already knew. It seems the rumors have spread everywhere.”

“Well, it was quite an incident.”

A stone suddenly fell from the sky.

That alone would be remarkable, but what made it even more sensational was that during the process, a white-haired man was reportedly performing some strange ritual.

Since the news had reached the Karelia forces in the southernmost region, probably no lord on the continent had missed hearing about it.

“A man with the ability to make stones fall from the sky—what kind of person do you think he might be? I wonder if a magician, who previously existed only in legends, has finally appeared.”

“Well… It’s hard to believe without seeing it with my own eyes, but my thoughts are a bit different.”

“Different?”

“For instance, what if the man didn’t directly use magic-like powers to drop the stone, but rather knew in advance that the stone would fall and simply performed a ritual to make it appear as if he had orchestrated it?”

At those words, Karelia’s emerald eyes gleamed.

“Oh, that’s quite a different perspective. Why do you think so?”

“It’s simple. How could magic that makes stones fall from the sky possibly exist? Magicians are just legendary beings. If we exclude the impossible, it seems more plausible that he somehow read when the stone would fall and acted accordingly.”

Karelia questioned Vanessa’s reasoning further.

“Then, conversely, ‘reading the timing’? I think that alone would be quite remarkable, even if it’s not magic.”

“……”

Indeed.

At this point, even Vanessa was at a loss for words.

Whether he summoned a stone from the sky or accurately predicted when and where it would fall—both abilities were extraordinary, bordering on the divine.

She had referred to “some method,” but honestly, she couldn’t even imagine what that might be.

“I’d like to meet him. I hear he’s a young man with white hair.”

“If someone with such abilities were in the Brans forces, given Lynn Brans’s showy personality, I would think he’d have been put at the forefront long ago…”

“Well, perhaps they discovered a talent hidden in obscurity, just as I found you. If we speak with him properly, he might share our vision, don’t you think?”

“……”

Vanessa thought to herself.

Whether it was magic or reading timing, if she could meet someone who could cause such an unbelievable “miracle”—

Rather than trying to tame and control him, killing him would be safer.

Someone with that level of ability would never be satisfied serving under another.

‘We should be careful when confronting the Brans forces someday.’

She and her country had a priority task.

The southern conquest.

Matters with the Brans forces could be considered later.

‘I will definitely make our lord the unifying monarch.’

Though somewhat soft, she was the only lord who genuinely cared for her people and the peace of the continent.

From Vanessa’s perspective, any world where Karelia didn’t achieve unification was fundamentally flawed.

*

‘Now I can depart, right?’

Just as she finished preparing to leave and was about to mount her horse,

Lunarian overheard soldiers chatting.

“Did you hear the news? A magician has appeared in the Brans forces.”

“They say he summoned a stone from the sky and made it fall?”

A magician?

Come to think of it, though she hadn’t paid close attention due to her focus on work… there had been rumors about a “magician” appearing in the Brans forces.

She remembered hearing that what he did didn’t match any magic from legends, which is why some questioned calling him a magician.

For Luna, when it came to the Brans forces, something other than rumors about magicians came to mind.

‘Swen… are you doing well?’

Swen, who was essentially sold to the Brans forces.

She was very worried about how he was faring under Lynn Brans.

At that moment,

A word she couldn’t ignore reached her ears.

“They say he’s a young man with white hair. Apparently, he performed a ritual toward the sky.”

“…!!”

Among young men, those with white hair were extremely rare on the continent.

At least among the people Luna had encountered, there was only one young man with white hair.

“Ex-Excuse me! Pardon me!”

“Whoa! L-Lady Lunarian…?”

The soldiers who recognized Luna bowed hastily in surprise.

“Wh-What is it?! Did we do something wrong…?”

“Are you certain about the white-haired man?”

After a moment of tension, they relaxed when they heard the keyword “white-haired man” and answered.

“Ah, you’re asking about that rumor. Yes, from what I’ve heard, he is indeed a white-haired man. They say he performed a ritual toward the sky.”

“After he performed the ritual, the sky suddenly churned, and a massive stone, like divine punishment, fell directly onto the Serpina forces.”

“Is that so…?”

A white-haired young man from the Brans forces who performed an incredible miracle.

For some reason, she was certain it was the person she knew.

‘Lord Swen… you’re alive…!’

He caused a miracle?

That wasn’t so surprising.

Swen had always been like that. Even when he was with her, hadn’t he repeatedly accomplished things that could only be called “miracles”?

So if someone had achieved something this unbelievable—it couldn’t be anyone but Swen.

“Um… Lady Lunarian, we have somewhere to go, so may we excuse ourselves?”

“……”

“…We’ll take our leave then. Please forgive our rudeness.”

As the soldiers left Luna behind without receiving a response,

Luna, not even noticing their departure, slowly sank to the ground where she stood.

‘Lord Swen…! I’m so, so glad you’re safe… Lord Swen…!’

How long had it been since she’d heard news of Swen?

She had believed his promise that he would “definitely return to his lord’s side,” so she hadn’t worried too much… but she had still been anxious.

Thinking about it, Swen tended to speak with strong conviction when asserting himself. She knew well that this could come across poorly to others.

Especially in front of Lynn Brans, known for his arrogant personality, she had worried that such behavior could be dangerous.

But somehow he was alive. Alive and apparently performing incredible miracles again—just as he had done when he was under her.

He summoned a massive stone from the sky.

It was an absurd story, but knowing it was Swen who did it, she didn’t doubt it for a moment.

She firmly believed that Swen had summoned it.

He had always been that kind of person.

The one who would say “I will do this” or “This will happen,” making seemingly impossible claims and then accomplishing them—that was Swen.

Luna slowly rose from her spot.

Her ruby-colored eyes were burning fiercely.

Now that she knew Swen was alive—

For her, hesitation would be nothing but a sin.

‘…I need to prepare myself so I can face Lord Swen with dignity when we meet again.’

When the time comes.

When the moment arrives that no one can deny.

She would surely seize that moment.

For Swen, who had survived until today.

‘……’

With that great resolution in her heart, Luna mounted her horse and set off for her new destination, Tepelo Castle.

She needed to tell Tifa and Cain about Swen’s news too.

For the first time since losing her country, her heart was beating wildly.

* * *

And.

Luna in the southern part of the continent wasn’t the only one who lost her composure upon hearing about the “white-haired man.”

“Is it true? A young man with white hair and gray eyes?!”

“Kkk…guk.”

Serpina grabbed the defeated commander Julian by the collar and demanded answers.

She was uncharacteristically flustered.

In a battle where she had sent 33,000 soldiers, incredibly, over 30,000 had died after being struck by a falling rock.

Commander Julian, who had barely survived and returned, brought back only about 3,000 soldiers.

Moreover, she heard that before this massive rock fell, a man had been performing a ritual toward the sky from atop the fortress.

This alone was full of incomprehensible events, but surprisingly, that wasn’t what mattered most to her now.

‘White hair and gray eyes… that person…!’

Serpina had rarely seen young men with white hair.

If she had seen one—it was only once.

In her dream.