Ch.7Open the Door While I’m Still Asking Nicely

Karl Las.

800 years ago, the nation of the Knight King who led humans with his Twelve Knights to conquer five kingdoms.

The great hero who drove out werebeasts, elves, dwarves, and dragonborn who had been fighting for continental hegemony, and turned the center of the continent into human territory.

This was the name of the great empire established by Carlos the Great.

Even after hundreds of years had passed, Karl Las remained a powerful nation boasting the strongest position on the continent.

The non-human races pushed to the outskirts of the continent had no choice but to acknowledge the difference in power, and ultimately chose a humiliating peace.

Now only the werebeasts of the northern snowfields and the Ka’har of the east remained hostile to the Empire.

In particular, the Ka’har of the east posed the greatest threat to the Empire.

Unlike the north, which was blocked by treacherous mountain ranges making it difficult for large armies to cross, the eastern border consisted of vast plains.

Savage raiders who frequently led cavalry to attack the border regions and retreated like the wind before punitive forces could arrive.

When the Empire tried to organize a large army to push them back completely, mounted archers persistently harassed them with attacks and retreats, while other cavalry units scattered in all directions to burn imperial cities.

The Empire, unable to deal with the Ka’har effectively, finally decided after much deliberation to block the border with an enormous wall.

That was the great eastern wall, Berengaria.

—-

It’s truly massive…

A towering wall about 30 meters high filled the horizon.

Looking left or right, all I could see was the endless barrier.

I think I’ve seen something like this in comics before.

Was the Empire trying to block attacks from giants or something?

I slowly rode my horse closer to the wall.

I could see soldiers on top of the wall moving about noisily as they spotted me.

Some soldiers were already aiming their bows at me.

Surely they wouldn’t just start shooting arrows without warning?

Just in case, I raised the white flag I had prepared in advance.

The soldiers who saw the white flag looked confused, glancing at each other and chattering.

Good. Now it begins.

After taking a deep breath, I shouted at the top of my lungs so they could hear me all the way up on the wall.

“Listen to me-! Haschal, daughter of Aishan-Gioro, is here-!”

The thunderous shout echoed, causing the stones of the wall to vibrate as if startled.

I could see some soldiers falling back in shock.

“I bring a message from the Ser Khan! If you have the courage to face me, come forward!”

I might have come on a bit strong for a peace envoy, but this should be about right.

From the Empire’s perspective, the Ka’har are just dangerous barbarians.

Taking a submissive stance would only make them look down on me.

To avoid unnecessary friction, I need to make myself appear as strong as possible.

People naturally take those who submit lightly, but show respect to those who bare their teeth.

Just as they would kick a dog that wags its tail without hesitation, but fear and avoid a growling wolf.

Sure enough, before long, the gate opened.

See, I was right. Everything’s going according to plan.

And then dozens of knights gripping lances and hundreds of soldiers poured out like a pack of dogs.

Huh? What? I didn’t expect this!

Should I run away?

No. Running away now wouldn’t solve anything.

I need to see this through, come what may.

With my hand on the hilt of my sword, I maintained a dignified posture while hiding my trembling heart.

Just try to attack me.

Even though this is Haschal’s body from her youth rather than her prime, I should be able to defeat a few knights.

I couldn’t handle all of them, of course.

Eventually, the knights stopped about 10 meters away with their lances pointed at me.

Seems like they don’t plan to charge right away. That’s a relief.

I maintained my posture while inwardly sighing with relief.

When the soldiers who followed tried to spread out to the left and right as if to surround me, I glared at them fiercely.

Being surrounded would be too dangerous no matter what.

The soldiers who met my gaze turned pale with fear.

They fear me.

That’s a good sign.

I lightly ran my tongue over my upper lip.

I felt confident that I could break through even if things went wrong.

Fear can shatter everything.

When the lead knight extended his left hand to the side, the soldiers retreated and lined up behind the knights.

Thirteen knights. Roughly two hundred soldiers with spears.

The sharp spear tips reflected the sunlight, shimmering like waves.

Now, what should I do?

“Have you come to welcome me? Or do you want to fight?”

I lightly shook the sword at my waist with my left hand.

Trying to appear calm. As if two hundred men were nothing to me.

Then the lead knight spoke.

“Pourquoi as-tu osé venir ici, Sauvage.”

What the hell, they speak a different language?!

—-

Long ago, it is said that people used only one language.

Without misunderstandings or disputes, humanity united with one mind achieved such development that they nearly reached the heavens.

The god who found this displeasing personally intervened and divided people’s languages into hundreds.

Afterward, people who could no longer communicate with each other became divided and fought forever.

I suppose it was easier and quicker to kill your opponent than to put effort into studying hellish foreign languages.

The lesson from this story is that when people cannot communicate with words, they draw their swords.

Right. Since we couldn’t understand each other, they probably thought my earlier shouting was a threat rather than a message.

But humans don’t communicate by language alone.

“Don’t you understand our language? Then see with your eyes. This is Ser Khan’s message.”

I took out the white flag that I had placed in my saddle, pointed to it with my finger, then pointed to myself, and waved Orhan’s letter in front of them.

The knights and soldiers stirred at my clearly non-hostile gesture.

The lead knight raised his visor, narrowed his eyes at the letter, and gave some order to the knight beside him.

The knight who received the order rode back toward the fortress.

After maintaining a standoff for quite some time, the knight who had left returned with someone riding behind him.

A middle-aged man wearing a robe dismounted and stepped forward.

A mage, perhaps. This is my first time seeing one in person. There were only warriors in Ka’har.

As the man muttered something, a strange and unpleasant energy enveloped me.

He’s using sorcery!

All my senses suddenly sharpened.

I barely suppressed the reflexive urge to draw an arrow and throw it.

Stay calm. If they wanted to fight, the knights and soldiers would have charged already instead of bothering to bring a mage.

So it’s probably not an attack spell, and surely they wouldn’t suddenly use something like petrification or mind control magic in this situation.

It’s probably some kind of translation spell or something like that.

“Colloquium!”

The moment the man shouted an unknown word, the unpleasant energy penetrated into my head.

I accepted it without resistance.

Ugh.

I feel dizzy. Like I’m going to throw up.

Is this really mind control magic?

“Can you understand me now, savage?”

It is a translation spell after all.

The lead knight addressed me.

It was still a language I didn’t know, but I could intuitively understand its meaning. How fascinating.

-How rude. I am Haschal of Aishan-Gioro, the fourth child of the Ser Khan. If you wish to consider yourself civilized, shouldn’t you show proper respect?

“Rude. Me, Ser Khan’s fourth. Aishan-Gioro Haschal. Show respect, civilized one.”

What’s this?

It seems the spell doesn’t perfectly translate longer vocabulary.

“Haschal…? Could it be, Haschal Aishan-Gioro, the whore of Ka’har!”

“What did you just say?”

I’m still a virgin, you bastard!

I drew my sword roughly.

Ka’har warriors are not those who can endure insults.

The knights and soldiers all pointed their spears at me.

The atmosphere suddenly turned frigid.

The lead knight hurriedly restrained them.

“Stop, stop! Hold your positions!”

“But Lord Sean…!”

“I said stop!”

At the firm command of the knight called Lord Sean, the other knights and soldiers raised their spear tips upward.

“…Please put away your sword as well. I’ll apologize for my thoughtless words. It seems neither of us came here to kill each other, did we?”

“That’s right.”

Seeing how he immediately switched to formal speech when I demanded respect, he seems to be a knight with some sense of propriety.

I sheathed my drawn sword.

“So, what brings the princess of Ka’har here alone?”

Do the imperials consider Ser Khan Orhan to be the king of Ka’har?

Well, since the Aishan clan borders the entire eastern frontier, these people probably only know the Aishan clan as Ka’har.

That should make things move faster then.

-I’ve come as a messenger from my father, the Ser Khan of our clan, Orhan. He wishes for peace with the Empire.

“My father, our king Orhan’s letter brought. We want peace.”

“Peace, you say?”

Sean asked incredulously.

I wouldn’t have believed it either if I were him.

-Yes. As a token of friendship, I’ve come to enroll myself in your Empire’s Remnant Academy. Isn’t there something called a special admission system?

“Yes. Instead I enter. Your Remnant Academy. Special admission.”

It seems I’ll need to do something about this language barrier if I’m going to live in the Empire.

This translation spell isn’t very reliable.

“Remnant Academy?… That’s not something I can decide. I’ll have to speak to the Lord about this.”

“Lord?”

Is he referring to the general guarding the great wall? What was his name again?

“The guardian of the Wall of Berengaria. The margrave who rules the border city of Landenburg. Lord Ludwig. My liege.”

-Does the margrave have enough diplomatic discretion to decide on peace negotiations with a foreign country?

“Can margrave alone decide peace?”

“Of course not. His Lordship will listen to your story and then inform His Imperial Majesty. Naturally, it is the Emperor who makes the final decision.”

Of course, a high noble independently conducting diplomacy with a foreign country would be suspiciously close to treason.

Especially if that person is a margrave with strong military power.

“I understand.”

“Then I’ll guide you to His Lordship’s castle. Please follow me.”

Following Sean’s guidance, I crossed the drawbridge and entered the wall, surrounded by knights who seemed to be both escorts and guards.

Finally, the Empire.

It truly has been a long journey.