Ch.709Our House Collapsed?

The Imperial Army, Dane people who had naturalized to the Empire, and the existing defense forces continued their uncomfortable coexistence. It was a relationship that could hardly be amicable.

Though I had told them to avoid causing problems as much as possible, it wasn’t easy to eradicate emotional friction, which sometimes escalated beyond simple conflicts into direct confrontations.

“…Some intoxicated residents severely injured a defense soldier through mob violence.”

Yes, exactly like that.

“I ordered them not to cause disturbances. Did they choose to ignore my words?”

I answered with an irritated tone while yawning from fatigue. I was already busy enough without having to deal with this nonsense.

“Lock up all the instigators and convey our apologies to the defense forces.”

“Do you intend to punish them?”

“Of course they must be punished.”

I could understand people hurling insults while drinking, but mob violence was another matter entirely.

Mob violence from Danes typically involved bringing weapons.

“How would this be handled under Imperial law?”

“For civilians assaulting soldiers… though such incidents are quite rare, I believe the punishment would be execution or hand amputation.”

“Hand amputation?”

What’s the point of that in a world where healing can regrow severed limbs?

“It’s a punishment where the right arm is cut off, the wound is cauterized, and then a criminal’s mark is tattooed on it. Any priest who heals someone with such a mark loses their clerical status, and the healed person is recaptured and has their arm cut off again up to below the mark.”

What is this, a perforation line?

“That seems a bit excessive…”

Whether executing them or permanently disabling them, both punishments seemed more severe than I had in mind.

“Has the Dane army said anything?”

“They said they would follow our decision for now… but they requested that if we hand over the instigators, they would handle it their way.”

“The Dane way? How do they handle such matters?”

“Stoning.”

These guys are even more violent. Beating someone to death with rocks? Such barbarians.

“…There’s no need for bloodshed. We’ve already lost thousands this month alone, and I don’t want to add more corpses to the count.”

“Is that so…?”

Sean looked at me with a peculiar expression. It was like he was looking at a mustachioed man wearing a Red Cross badge instead of an Iron Cross.

…Why that look? Do I seem like some madman who can’t sleep without seeing blood every day?

I’m actually a civilized person from a modern society where law and common sense prevail, you know?

Though I’ve become somewhat more aggressive after adapting to this world’s norms.

“No need to cut off hands… just sentence them to labor. Have them work without pay until the city’s restoration is complete.”

“If I may be so bold, isn’t that punishment too lenient…?”

“Eighteen hours a day.”

“I’ll see to it.”

Sean, who had been about to express concern, promptly nodded.

—-

Burgundt, who had been dissatisfied with the labor sentence for the assailants, expressed his acceptance when he heard about the eighteen-hour daily work requirement. He must have thought that was punishment enough.

And so the Dane army mob violence incident was concluded, resulting in twenty unpaid laborers.

…I had thought it was the work of about five people, but it turned out to be twenty.

Twenty people gathering to beat up a single soldier. It was remarkable that the soldier only ended up severely injured.

Anyway, after sentencing those twenty to labor, friction between the Dane army and the defectors became extremely rare.

Even those who harbored resentment toward the Dane army for abandoning them didn’t want to endure eighteen hours of hard labor daily.

Perhaps it was also because, thanks to Ludwig having evacuated residents beforehand, only soldiers had suffered casualties, not civilians who might have lost family members to the Ka’har attack.

“So… when will the reply from the homeland finally arrive?”

I grumbled while smoking a cigarette, sitting in a rocking chair on the terrace with my legs propped up on the metal railing.

A full ten days had passed since the end of the war, but Leopold’s reply still hadn’t arrived. That’s why I couldn’t leave this place yet.

Complete restoration of the city would take a long time.

Since I couldn’t just sit here until the restoration was finished, I was waiting for Leopold to send an official to take responsibility for the city in my place after receiving my report… but there was no news even after ten days.

Meanwhile, the people here had become completely accustomed to me and started calling me the Governor of Median.

“Ten days isn’t nearly enough. It’ll take at least five more days at minimum.”

“Five more days?”

“Can’t be helped. Do you realize how far it is from here to Extrashafel? For the Governor of Median, a week might be sufficient, but few people can endure such a forced march.”

Leonore said with a slight smile.

“Not you too…”

Governor? There’s a limit to ill-fitting titles. At this rate, I’d end up permanently tied to this city.

Nigel also seemed displeased with the ten-day delay, his expression quite gloomy.

“I’m worried about Landenburg. By now, news of Lord Ludwig’s death must have reached there, and I wonder what the situation might be…”

Though he had somehow shaken off the emotional shock of Ludwig’s death, he couldn’t dismiss his concerns for his homeland.

—-

Five more days passed.

During that time, the Dane soldiers who had recovered enough to move returned to their respective cities according to Knut’s redeployment orders, leaving only soldiers native to this area.

After confirming the residents’ opinions regarding their stationing, most citizens agreed to their presence.

Although these soldiers had abandoned the city and retreated according to orders, the people decided to forgive them since each one was, after all, someone’s son.

From the beginning, the frontline soldiers had no knowledge of their superiors’ plans and had simply followed orders without realizing they were abandoning the city.

Anyway, as Leonore had predicted, after five days, the Empire’s reply finally arrived. Though its contents were somewhat different from what I had expected.

“…What did you just say?”

I exhaled smoke from my cigarette and asked the pale-faced messenger again, as the news he delivered from the capital was shocking enough to make me doubt my ears.

“The capital, Extrashafel, has been half-destroyed. Twenty days ago, a giant worm monster emerged, breaking through the ground and ravaging the capital. The damage is said to be beyond description…”

Damn it.

A giant worm monster. It wasn’t difficult to guess what that might be.

The dragon Nidhogg. It seems the beast had awakened while I was away. I don’t know how it managed to revive after Isabella’s death, but…

…Wait a minute. Something seems off.

I frowned at the sense of incongruity I felt from his report, pondering what was bothering me like a thorn in my throat.

Nidhogg’s revival.

Yes, though the means were questionable, it had revived in the original story too, so the revival itself wasn’t strange.

Then why? Why did I feel this sense of incongruity?

“…Thanks to Elpinel’s protection, His Majesty the Emperor fortunately survived…”

“Wait. Leopold—I mean, His Majesty is safe?”

…How?

Ah, I realized the source of my unease.

The moment I voiced my question, I finally understood what had been bothering me.

He had clearly said that Extrashafel was half-destroyed.

Not annihilated, but half-destroyed.

…It made no sense. If Nidhogg had truly revived, the damage couldn’t have been so limited.

The capital should have become a desolate land without a single survivor, and Leopold should have been roasted.

With all the hero-class powerhouses including myself deployed to the eastern war, there shouldn’t have been anyone capable of stopping the revived dragon.

“Yes. Though most of the Royal Guard perished and the capital’s defense knights were half-annihilated, fortunately, that monster—”

The messenger continued his report. Though he hadn’t witnessed it directly, but had heard the story from survivors of the capital.

======[ Extrashafel ]======

After dispatching Haschal and two legions to Landenburg, Leopold continued his busy daily routine, anxiously awaiting reports of victory.

Though he had entrusted Ludwig and Haschal with handling the Ka’har, the Empire’s problems weren’t limited to just the Ka’har.

Monsters appearing daily. The increasingly empty treasury.

The dwarf-elf war turning unfavorable for the Empire, and the nobles’ resistance to increasing taxes.

Even Lord Wien’s subtle urging that he should quickly produce an heir. His hair was falling out from fatigue and mental pressure.

The only good news during this time was that the prototype of the airship he had entrusted to the magic tower had been completed…

And that after Ophelia van Sigmillus joined the underground waterway search, the search speed had accelerated rapidly.

—-

“This way.”

Ophelia, who had joined the search team at Floheta’s insistence, led the previously disorganized underground waterway search with smooth progress.

It was thanks to her ability to see mana, the Five-Color Eye.

‘Though they’ve hidden the mana leakage, they can’t conceal the spell formula itself. I can see it clearly.’

From the first day of the underground waterway search, she had detected concealment spells secretly hidden throughout the waterways.

Other mages couldn’t sense the concealment spells since no mana was leaking, but to her eyes, the dark and ominous light of the concealment formulas was clearly visible.

‘This looks like necromancy… Come to think of it, they said Feyrus appeared in the capital. Could these be his traces?’

Feyrus, history’s worst necromancer who had greatly contributed to necromancy being designated as forbidden magic.

The traces visible to her eyes suggested he had visited the underground waterways and done something.

‘…I need to be careful.’

Ophelia removed all the concealment spells she could see and carefully examined whether any trap spells were mixed in as she searched the tunnels beneath the underground waterways.

Until she reached the vicinity of the dragon sleeping below.

That became the catalyst.