Ch.879Four Reasons

A month of time flowed by like a raging tide.

After confirming that the refugee integration policy had entered a relatively stable phase, I delegated the related duties to Lambert and spent my days buried in the training room.

All to perfectly embody the sensation of cutting through space, reaching a level where I could wield it as easily as breathing.

My recent daily routine consisted of swinging my sword for twelve hours a day, thrusting and slashing at empty air, then bathing, eating dinner, chatting with Lena before falling asleep.

…If I’m swinging my sword twelve hours a day, when exactly am I handling my queenly duties?

You still don’t understand, do you? That’s what regents and chancellors are for.

Matters like national governance, diplomatic issues, and national development plans could simply be left in the hands of experts rather than mine. They’d surely handle things well enough.

People should do what suits them best.

My specialty wasn’t administrative work—stably operating and managing the massive organization called a nation—but rather turning the nation’s enemies into piles of ash.

In other words, I could become a war expert, but never an administrative one.

So, I abandoned administrative work early on, finding it more useful to spend that time on additional training instead.

Better for both me and Hestella.

—-

Then one day.

“Ah, here you are, miss. I’ve been looking for you.”

Leonore came to find me.

As usual, I had finished training and entered the bathroom, leisurely relaxing with my body submerged in a marble bathtub.

“May I come in?”

She waved at me in greeting, then threw off the towel wrapped around her body and strode over, slipping into the bathtub beside me.

Four breasts bobbed up and down on the hot spring water scattered with flower petals.

A situation where the queen’s lady-in-waiting enters the same bath without permission—in another country, this would be an offense worthy of beheading, but in Hestella, it was practically an everyday occurrence.

As a queen who aimed for a family-like atmosphere, I didn’t particularly care about etiquette in private settings, though I would in official ones.

After all, weren’t we bathing together regularly even before I ascended to the throne?

With such a relationship, it would be ridiculous to suddenly create distance just because a crown was added to my head. That would feel awkward.

“You were looking for me? Did something happen?”

Anyway, I leaned my upper body against the bathtub wall, turning only my eyes to look at Leonore as I asked why she had come looking for me.

Recently, she had been so busy training the members of the Rose Cross Knights that it was rare to even see her face, so I wondered what brought her all the way to the bathroom.

“Ah. Right. Have you heard the rumors, miss? Apparently, there’s been quite an uproar in the Dragonic Kingdom recently—”

“The Dragonic Kingdom?”

Leonore laid out the details.

While we were busy bringing down Ordos and settling the refugees, a story about the Second Holy-Demonic War that was blazing through the northwestern part of the continent.

Though it was just a rumor and couldn’t be confirmed, unlike the previous war, this one was proceeding in a manner close to an overwhelming victory for the demonic faction of Dragonborn.

“Hmm…”

It was a very interesting story.

I already knew about it.

Inside the Heavenly Demon Palace, the largest and strongest military force of the demonic faction Dragonborn, which was no different from the root cause of the Holy-Demonic War…

The Fifth Apostle, Demon Authority Bernard Feiler, was hiding there.

—-

During the Nidhogg subjugation, Makaoros, whom we had captured as a prisoner, became our good friend after Faelrun’s interrogation.

Such a good friend that he freely shared confidential information about the Heavenly Demon Palace.

He was truly a good friend. It was a shame he lost his life in an unfortunate accident.

No, was it an execution rather than an accident?

Anyway, thanks to him, I learned that an Apostle was hiding and operating within the Heavenly Demon Palace.

Demon Authority Bernard Feiler.

A warrior who received Persiella’s full affection and was granted the sixth title of “Ma” despite being human, not Dragonborn.

Judging by the evaluation that he possessed power comparable to Wall Star Spear Demon Beherikes or True Star Bird Demon Makaoros, he was certainly a hero who had transcended the wall.

A warrior who had reached the realm of heroes yet devoted himself to the Dragonic Kingdom rather than a human nation, rising to the core of the massive force known as the Heavenly Demon Palace.

And his past before joining the Heavenly Demon Palace was completely unknown?

If such a being wasn’t an Apostle, then who could be? Though it was just circumstantial evidence, it was almost 100% certain.

That meant the suddenly erupted Second Holy-Demonic War was likely orchestrated by him and other Apostles.

The Fifth Apostle, Bernard, must have instigated Persiella, the Heavenly Demon Tigress, tempting her to dye the Dragonic Kingdom red with Dragonborn blood.

To cause a massacre and destroy Heaven’s Wall.

I thought the prerequisite for destroying Heaven’s Wall was massive human casualties… but apparently, it was possible to break the wall using Dragonborn instead of humans.

Well, considering the average power level and population, humans would have been the most efficient sacrifices.

With miserable average power but a population that exceeded all other races combined.

Killing a thousand humans would be ten times easier than killing a hundred Dragonborn, so naturally, humans would have been the chosen sacrifice.

But now that was impossible.

If they tried to cause massive casualties enough to break Heaven’s Wall, I would fly over immediately and chop the culprit into pieces.

That’s how Rurik, Ragnar, Orhan, and Nidhogg died. For slightly different reasons, Meiharin also died by my hand.

I don’t know if they were related to the Apostles, but Isabella and the mages of the Holy State were all sliced up by me as well.

So they had no choice but to turn their eyes to the Dragonborn.

Touching the fairies hidden in the great forest would be difficult—nearly impossible, in fact—and the Dwarves were too stubborn to control.

The only options left were the Werebeasts and Dragonborn, but the Werebeasts had already lost massive forces from the failure of the last great invasion.

The only option left was the Dragonborn.

So they must be inducing civil war among the Dragonborn to accumulate enough deaths to break Heaven’s Wall.

If that’s the case…

“I’ll have to kill them.”

“Huh? Wait, who? Weren’t we just talking about Dragonborn?”

Leonore tilted her head and asked.

“Who else but those Heavenly Demon Palace folks or whatever they’re called. If we sweep away their leadership, wouldn’t things quiet down over there too?”

My target was only Bernard Feiler, but Persiella and the other Dragonborn wouldn’t just stand by and watch.

So, to eliminate the Fifth Apostle, I had to be prepared for a fight with the entire Heavenly Demon Palace.

[A most, most satisfactory statement. Yes, two Heavenly Demons cannot coexist under the same sky. It is time to teach that presumptuous lizard woman that the true Heavenly Demon is here!]

Hersella exclaimed with delight. From what she said, it seemed she felt a strange sense of competition as a fellow Heavenly Demon Tigress.

In fact, if we’re being technical, our side was the legitimate Heavenly Demon.

The term “Heavenly Demon” itself originated from the great sorcerer “Abha Gisaka” from eight hundred years ago.

And Hersella’s paternal lineage, Aishan-Gioro, was half-confirmed to be the descendants of that Abha Gisaka.

So Hersella was the most legitimate successor of the original Heavenly Demon’s bloodline.

To be honest, I couldn’t understand the psychology of a demon’s descendant taking pride in being called a demon.

Titles like “Goddess’s Knight” or “Saint of Order” or “Sword of the Starry Sky” might be somewhat embarrassing but at least positive.

The title of Heavenly Demon was, frankly speaking, like a certificate saying “there’s no greater evil bastard in the world.”

Fighting over a title that one wouldn’t take even if offered—it was simply ridiculous.

—-

“…You’re going to attack the Dragonic Kingdom? Are you serious, miss?”

Perhaps the suggestion to attack the Heavenly Demon Palace was quite unexpected. Leonore expressed reluctance as she asked back.

“Why not?”

“No, of course not. What are you saying?”

Leonore refuted with a resolute tone. It was almost like Yi Seong-gye opposing the expedition to Liaodong.

And just like Yi Seong-gye, she had exactly four reasons.

To reach the Dragonic Kingdom, we would need to cross almost the entire continent—how did I plan to advance that far?

Unlike the Ka’har, Dragonborn could fly, so approaching by airship would only result in being shot down.

If the queen and most of the core forces left on such a long-distance expedition, who would protect Hestella in the meantime?

And…

“Above all, there’s no justification, no justification at all. Though unprecedentedly fierce, that is clearly a civil war among Dragonborn.”

There was no justification for Hestella’s core forces, including myself and the Thousand Sword Corps, to intervene in the Holy-Demonic War.

“Hestella is located on the opposite side of the continent, not even an adjacent country. What justification could we possibly have for intervening in their civil war?”

“Um… to maintain peace and security on the continent?”

“As if that would work. To anyone watching, we’d look just like the Werebeasts who invaded while the Empire was engaged in civil war.”

Leonore sighed and shook her head.

She said that as Hestella was still a new nation, we shouldn’t disregard such justifications.

Each point was so logical that I had no proper rebuttal.