Ch.876Assimilation of Foreign Peoples

Eirnesia’s disappearance? No, kidnapping? Rescue?

I’m not sure how to describe it, but anyway, Eirnesia has vanished. Leaving behind only the corpses of the northern knights who tried to stop it.

Faelrun sent their sincere apologies.

They said they had assigned a Master-level knight to the escort unit, knowing the value of the cargo, but never imagined it would still be taken.

Put that way, it was awkward to blame them. If they had assigned a Master, then Faelrun had indeed done their best. The opponent was simply stronger.

Losing Eirnesia was incredibly disappointing, but… well, what can you do? I had to let it go.

After all, I could make up for my loss with Frider’s body.

“…Why are you suddenly looking at me like that?”

As I was thinking this while looking at Frider, she shivered as if my gaze gave her goosebumps, rubbing the back of her hand and pulling her upper body back to create distance.

“Nothing, it’s nothing.”

I turned my head with a smirk. Inwardly contemplating how to best use her to receive high praise.

—-

Regardless of who was responsible, Faelrun said they intended to track down the criminals to the end, since their core northern defense forces had been killed.

In my view, well… the chances of successful tracking seemed low.

We’re not talking about humans but undead monsters involved in the kidnapping—how likely is it to track down such creatures?

From the beginning, the culprit was almost certainly obvious to me.

Undead monsters kidnapping a fairy? And powerful enough to kill a Master-level knight before he could even escape? That couldn’t be an ordinary monster.

This wasn’t typical undead behavior.

What would risen corpses do with a fairy?

If they had killed her on the spot or eaten her, that would make sense, but kidnapping her was behavior uncharacteristic of the undead.

Which meant, naturally, that someone was behind this.

Someone who could summon and command undead monsters, someone with enough power to easily kill a Master.

Who could that be?

Obviously, who else but Feyrus, the necromancer and apostle of the ancient god?

He was certainly capable of it.

Using undead monsters comparable to Heroes to kidnap a fairy guardian.

I don’t know why he did it… but he probably wanted to use her as an experimental subject for necromancy or to fill the vacant apostle position.

Maybe both.

—-

“No, my toyyyy…!”

Perneisia looked like she was about to wail when she heard the news.

She had been so excited about receiving Eirnesia that she’d even stopped drinking her beloved alcohol while waiting….

…so her disappointment must have been immense after this disaster.

“Nooooo…!”

She cried out like a child whose New Year’s money had been stolen.

“…Tsk.”

Hush also clicked his tongue in disappointment beside her.

Judging by his attitude, he must have also been eager to torment Eirnesia alongside Perneisia.

Well, it’s common for abandoned mixed-bloods to harbor resentment toward their parental lineage, so Hush, being half-black and half-fairy, probably dislikes both blacks and fairies?

Too bad. He missed his chance to vent that resentment.

—-

Except for losing Eirnesia, everything else had been going smoothly lately.

Demian’s skills had improved remarkably, perhaps thanks to all the recent fighting, and the other companions had also experienced various degrees of growth from this battle.

Not just Nigel, who stood before the wall of Heroes, but also Jahan, Leonore, Frider, and Millia.

Nigel barely left the training room, constantly sparring with Joshua or Heinrich, and Jahan was also dragged along, dedicating himself to training every day.

“Urghhhh…!”

“You’re crying out from just this much! You’re still far from ready! Take this too!”

When I went to watch once, Joshua and Heinrich were enthusiastically beating Jahan. Calling him a thief’s son.

They had the energy of fathers with daughters who’d been given shotguns as gifts—enough to turn Jahan into a honeycomb and then some.

“…Then I’ll be heading back now. I wish you peace until we meet again.”

“Yes, thanks for your help.”

“I’m a bit embarrassed to receive thanks. It was just what I had to do.”

Lacy returned to the Empire. She said she couldn’t be away from her position for too long.

…That seemed like an excuse, though. In reality, I suspected she went back to urge the Imperial Magic Tower to develop flying ships.

A moment of silence for Floheta’s hair roots.

…Anyway, a remarkably peaceful time followed.

“Aaaaargh! How are we supposed to handle this! Which idiot proposed this project and thought it was good!”

“…It was Her Majesty the Queen.”

“Grrrrrr….”

The civil officials fighting their war with paperwork might disagree about the peacefulness… but that was their problem.

It’s the fated burden of those who chose the pen over the sword.

Each strand of hair they shed like tears formed the foundation and cornerstone of Hestella, so they would have to continue their hard work.

Until the court of Hestella shone as brightly as a garden at noon.

—-

Anyway, while the administrators worked hard, I shut myself in my private training ground to reflect on the experiences gained from the recent battle.

– Kiiiiiing…!

Specifically, I was repeatedly training to perfectly embody the power of spatial cutting.

A cutting technique I created by imitating Rotholandus’s heroic tale, [Sword of Severance].

Through the battle with Shengangshi, I had understood the basic principles of the technique, but there were many points to improve before using it in actual combat.

The rather long preparation time, unnecessarily wasted karma power, and the slight distortion of the sword path due to pressure on the blade.

All these flaws stemmed from lack of proficiency, so they could be resolved by eliminating the excess through repeated practice and perfect embodiment.

Sky Slash?

I hadn’t tried that yet.

Although I understood the principle of the technique, to properly use it, I first needed to perfectly master the spatial cutting technique.

That technique was a combination of Defying Fate, Void Cut, and Severance.

In a world of compressed time, wielding the power of spatial cutting like firing a vacuum blade.

Previously, I thought one of the karma murder techniques, Hwipyeok, was the path to Sky Slash… but I seemed to have been mistaken.

The result of pursuing Hwipyeok to its extreme wasn’t Sky Slash, but a technique called Extinction, a red lightning that breaks heroic tales.

After realizing the knack for spatial cutting, I tried to do something similar with karma murder… but it didn’t work.

Unlike Hersella, I couldn’t control the power of karma murder that precisely.

…Besides, it seemed even harder to control lately than before.

Hersella said something about realizing the “true power” of karma murder?

I didn’t ask further, wondering if the mental illness from when she was fifteen had relapsed, but I suspected that was the reason.

While Hersella, the original owner of this body, might easily handle the true power of karma murder or whatever, for me, mediocre utilization was the limit.

Well, I wasn’t disappointed.

As long as I could use tentacles, impale enemies, intimidate and slaughter foes just by walking, breathe fire, and fly around, what more could I ask for?

This was enough. For attack power, I just needed to further hone my inherent achievements.

Anyway, I couldn’t perfectly execute Sky Slash right now.

In what feels like just 5 seconds, I need to manifest the power of spatial cutting and then add the principle of vacuum blade to swing…

…how could that be easy?

It might be possible with the concentration of an extreme situation, but the conditions were too demanding for everyday use.

That’s why I was gritting my teeth and training to perfectly master the spatial cutting technique first.

Once the casting speed of ‘Severance’ increases, Sky Slash would also become easier.

That’s how I spent my time.

—-

About ten days later, Eleonora and Lambert came to see me.

“We’ve completed the draft of the Ka’har Resocialization Plan. Please review it for any improvements.”

“Oh? Let me see.”

I wiped away my sweat with the towel Lena handed me and carefully read the document they gave me.

Ka’har Resocialization Plan.

The purpose of the plan was to fundamentally reshape the Ka’har’s consciousness and thinking, making them adopt the same mindset as westerners.

Since humans tend to reject those different from themselves, making their thinking patterns similar would make integration work much easier.

And what the two people before me and the administrators below them proposed as the means for this plan was—

“…An academy?”

They wanted to establish a state-led academy here in Hestella.

—-

“Changing consciousness isn’t possible overnight. Forcing it will only cause resistance. It must happen naturally, very slowly, over a long period of time.”

Lambert began a lengthy explanation of why establishing an academy was essential for the resocialization of the Ka’har.

“Moreover, the older the target, the more difficult it becomes. People naturally become more stubborn as they age, and the easterners are no different.”

“So… you want to gather children and teach them first?”

I asked.

Though the word “academy” was the same, what Lambert proposed was a completely different facility from the Remnant Academy in the Empire.

Remnant Academy is a kind of military school. A facility to discover talented humans and train them to become forces that protect the Empire.

Therefore, the content taught there was limited to combat techniques and knowledge about enemies.

“…Yes. We gather children whose thinking is still flexible and instill our culture and way of thinking in them.”

In contrast, the “Stella Academy” he proposed was literally an educational institution for teaching children. Not a military school, but just a school.

Of course, being an academy in this world, it did include combat subjects, but according to the plan, they intended to teach a wide range of liberal arts and knowledge, not just combat.

“Until the youth who grow up accepting this as common sense become the mainstream force among the nomads. If we show them favor and bestow sufficient benefits, others will try to emulate them.”

Well, this seems like a perfect way to create generational conflict….

I’m not sure. Would the parent generation be wary of children they can’t communicate with, or would they be happy about their children’s success?

I wouldn’t know such things unless I had parents or had been a parent myself.

“I can assure you. There is no more efficient method to westernize the Ka’har than this.”

But Lambert was convinced this was the best strategy. Eleonora also agreed, which is why they brought this proposal to me.

“Proceed with it.”

Well, we might as well try it.

—-

And so, construction of Hestella’s national educational institution, “Stella Academy,” began.

The completion was surprisingly fast.

Perhaps because of rumors that I was paying a lot of attention to integrating the Ka’har, they prioritized this over everything else.

Eleonora, Lambert, and the administrators mobilized all their connections to fill the faculty, and I visited the Astraea Cathedral to inform them of the importance of this work and gather support.

“Such an honor…! Please leave it to us, Lady Astika!”

The priests provided very active support.

Well, of course, when a saint from their order says she’s going to civilize barbarians and make them into proper people, priests can’t help but be impressed.

If successful, it would be a story worthy of inclusion in their scriptures.

For such reasons, it didn’t take long for Stella Academy to open its doors wide for teaching.

After a grand opening ceremony, I issued an imperial decree throughout the country announcing the launch of Stella Academy.

Emphasizing the well-packaged significance of the academy’s establishment and the benefits given to graduates.

At the same time, I sent letters to Jahan and Imara, instructing them to encourage as many children as possible to enroll.

The effect was excellent.

It was probably due to their positions rather than their eloquence… but well, all’s well that ends well, right?

—-

And so, two weeks later.

Finally—

Barbarians enrolled in the academy.