Ch.911When Things Go Wrong, People Tend to Look Back to Their Ancestors.

The idea of modifying an airship into an aerial aircraft carrier to fight dragons.

Honestly, I’m not sure how feasible it is, and even if it were realized, I don’t think it would be easy to face dragons with just that…

…Still, I suppose it’s better than having no countermeasures at all.

Though it’s a solution with many shortcomings, this must be the best the Empire can do within its current limitations.

After all, it’s the conclusion reached by those who understand the Empire’s situation better than anyone and those most skilled in magical engineering putting their heads together. I had nothing more to add.

What about sharing my modern knowledge, you ask?

Well, I’m not sure how helpful that would be. The core technologies and circumstances here are fundamentally different from modern warfare on Earth.

Even the dwarven technology is a mixture of principles similar to modern Earth and completely bizarre technologies unlike anything we know. And magical engineering is even more different.

What’s the point of offering superficial advice about technologies that may have similar results but operate on completely different fundamental principles?

My world didn’t have bipedal walking mechanical weapons, large vessels flying through the sky on mana, or personal jetpacks.

Nor did we have dragons or spirits flying through the skies.

So, from the Empire’s perspective, it would be more efficient to seek advice from dwarves rather than from me.

My advice would likely include many things unsuitable or inefficient for this world, whereas dwarves, being natives of this world, would rarely have such issues.

With that in mind, instead of offering amateur technical advice, I stuck to more fundamental suggestions.

Since a dragon’s breath cannot be used continuously, use decoy units to make them waste their breath and then strike during the recharge period.

Or research ways for airship crews to survive falls when their vessels are shot down. Things like that.

“This is just speculation, but… if we can take down just two or three dragons, that alone should secure a certain level of safety.”

I offered one hopeful thought.

“Dragons are violent but not stupid. Once they realize they can die, they’ll likely become more cautious.”

Unlike many monsters that disregard their own lives, dragons, being native creatures of this world, do value their lives.

Therefore, if they learn that attacking humans could lead to being hunted down, they would tend to restrain their attacks.

Of course, this varies case by case, and doesn’t apply to truly insane dragons…

But still, if we can deal with a couple of rampaging dragons first, we might be able to somewhat suppress the violence of the less insane ones.

“That’s somewhat reassuring news…”

This must have been truly hopeful news for Leopold.

—-

“Ah, and one more thing.”

After finishing our discussion about the dragon threat, I offered Leopold another piece of advice. About another threat he might be overlooking while focused on the dragons’ return.

“You’re aware that the power of miracles performed by clergy has increased, right?”

“I’ve received reports. The Archbishop General said the same thing. Something about being closer to the goddess?”

“Closer to the gods… that’s an accurate expression.”

As expected, Lacy has realized it too. That the Heaven’s Wall has thinned, strengthening the connection with the gods.

While this might be a joyous development for her… it’s not a good thing.

“However, it’s not just our gods who have drawn closer.”

The connection between fairies and the World Tree would have strengthened too, and evil god worshippers would also be closer to their evil gods. The same goes for apostles of ancient gods.

“Those vermin with harmful faiths would also be closer to their gods. Cultists, non-humans, evil god worshippers… perhaps even monsters.”

Though I presented it as speculation, it was actually something I was certain about.

In the original game, around the time dragons appeared, other enemies also became stronger and began wreaking havoc on the world.

Instead of the usual stupid monsters, void creatures and intelligent monsters started appearing, and evil god worshippers seized the opportunity to cause large-scale disturbances.

Fortunately, we had already crushed Isabella, a servant of Lilith, and Valkers, a central figure in Invidius worship. Otherwise, they too would have wielded enhanced powers and caused massive damage.

“The dragons’ return alone is enough to declare a national emergency, and now we must also guard against cultist activities and monster problems…”

Leopold sighed heavily.

“Truly, I feel like abdicating the throne and living as a private citizen.”

“Then we’d have to bring in His Majesty Karl. Despite renouncing his succession rights, he’s still the closest imperial relative to Your Majesty by blood.”

I shrugged slightly as if to say it was out of the question.

The implication was clear: if you run away because it’s tough, your brother will be stuck with the throne instead. So no matter how difficult, you have to endure it.

It also meant he shouldn’t even dream of passing it to me.

Honestly, it’s only because of someone like Leopold that this country is still functioning. If I were emperor, the nation would have already collapsed from internal strife or bankruptcy.

The fact that Hestella is running somewhat smoothly isn’t due to my competence, but thanks to the officials arranged by Ludwig and because I’ve completely entrusted state affairs to Eleonora.

Such an approach might work for a small kingdom, but not for an empire.

Take Lord Wien, for example.

Leopold managed to bind Lord Wien and the Empire as a community of fate, encouraging him to devote himself to state affairs. But if I were emperor, I probably would have exterminated the entire Wien family.

Considering the competence Lord Wien has demonstrated since becoming chancellor, it’s obvious which was the wiser choice.

So, if Leopold tried to pass the throne to me, I would have to do whatever it takes to dissuade him.

The person best suited for the weighty position of Emperor is not me but Leopold. The right person in the right place.

…It’s not because I’m afraid of losing my hair. Really.

—-

After requesting that half of the dragon’s corpse be sent to Hestella once it arrives, I left Leopold lamenting his fate and met with Lacy and Asha for a brief conversation.

“…Lord Astika? That appearance, that holy demeanor that radiates sanctity just by looking at it…?”

“You were still growing, Haschal?!”

Both were quite shocked by my appearance.

Lacy was astonished after detecting the holy energy permeating my body, while Asha seemed purely surprised by my overall increase in physical size.

My conversation with Lacy was largely a repetition of what I discussed with Leopold.

The world will become more chaotic. What should we do going forward? Elpinel’s energy feels closer than ever before. Things like that.

“Recently, I’ve been collecting and examining all available records about 800 years ago and earlier. If the evils of the past have returned, we too must establish methods to confront them based on historical records.”

Lacy seemed to be immersed in historical research lately.

Not just research, but actively analyzing and organizing references and restorable techniques to enhance their capabilities.

She’s even planning to rebuild the Great’s Twelve Knights by requesting cooperation from the imperial house and several noble families.

She’s searching through every record to track down descendants, and where lineages are confirmed to be broken, she’s researching ways to overcome the constraints on their swords.

While the latter hasn’t yielded results yet, the former has been surprisingly fruitful.

Descendants of three of the twelve knights have been confirmed alive, while four families are certainly extinct.

Descendants of Rotholandus: Median.

Descendants of Olivier: Wien and Genes.

Descendants of Ogier: Faelrun.

These were the confirmed surviving descendant families. In the cases of Rotholandus and Olivier, definite successors had emerged in me and Perlien.

Conversely, the bloodlines of Ivar, Maugis, Ganelon, and Angelier were completely extinct without a single descendant.

Except for Maugis, even their Oath Swords were completely lost without a trace.

The remaining knights were Berenger, Bradamante, Renault, Turpin, and Astolfo…

“The lineage of Berenger’s heir, House Landenburg, was cut off with the death of Margrave Ludwig.”

Berenger’s direct line was broken.

Though I’m continuing the castle of Landenburg itself, I’m a complete outsider without a drop of their blood, so I couldn’t claim to have inherited their bloodline.

There are collateral descendants with Landenburg blood, but apparently none with the qualities of a knight.

Well, if there had been someone talented, Ludwig would have pushed them as his successor instead of me. Through adoption or something similar.

“The direct descendants of Lady Bradamante fled to the Holy State after being caught in the Empire’s power struggles. To investigate further, we’d need to check their records.”

The Holy State. Not a bad place of exile.

If they could prove they were descendants of the Twelve Knights, the Elpinel Church of that time would have welcomed and protected them with open arms.

“Sir Renault’s direct bloodline is also broken, but the lineage of his brother, Sir Richard, was continued until recently.”

“Until recently?”

That implied it was no longer the case.

“They were an imperial noble family, House Winlandria, but were exterminated for involvement in Isabella’s rebellion.”

A descendant family of the Twelve Knights becoming a witch’s subordinate? They truly disgraced their ancestors. Their extermination was only natural.

“However… the eldest son of House Winlandria, Nierzelus Winlandria, was a person who went missing in an accident years ago, so he was spared execution.”

So the extinction isn’t certain.

If the missing eldest son has departed for the afterlife, then the line is broken, but if not, he might be hiding somewhere in the Empire.

“The last record of Sir Turpin’s descendant family is that they were demoted to commoners, and as for Sir Astolfo’s family…”

Lacy paused, sighed lightly, and tilted her head.

“What is it?”

“The only remaining final record is the sentence: ‘Sir Astolfo departed on a journey toward the moon.'”

The moon what?

He went on a space journey? 800 years ago? This was beyond strange—it was downright bizarre.

“‘Departed on a journey toward the moon,’ what could this possibly mean…?”

How would I know? Maybe he invested in some cryptocurrency.

“Does it mean he joined the Church of Menes, or that he died in battle without leaving descendants…?”

“Perhaps he really flew to the moon?”

I answered with a slight smile, half-joking and half-serious.

Even I could probably break through the atmosphere with enough mana and karma of murder, so couldn’t one of the Twelve Knights possibly fly to the moon?

Of course, since one can’t breathe in space, they’d likely suffocate even if they made it there…

But we can’t know if this world’s universe has the same structure as the original world’s until we check.

Didn’t George Lucas say something similar? That in his universe, unlike the real one, sound travels through space.

Of course, he was just saying whatever he wanted about a fictional universe in his films, but this world too would be considered an impossible fantasy from Earth’s perspective.

In a world where gods exist and the concept of heaven is real, we can’t be certain that the universe and moon have the same structure as Earth’s.

So it wouldn’t be strange if Astolfo really flew to the moon and settled there.

…Well, it would be a bizarre act that only a madman would attempt, but I can’t say with certainty that it’s impossible.

Anyway, Lacy plans to find suitable wielders for the “Oath Swords” she possesses and train them as legitimate successors to the Twelve Knights.

Though they might not reach my level… she says she’d be more than satisfied with results similar to Perlien.

Honestly, it seemed unlikely to succeed, but since she wanted to do it, I saw no reason to discourage her and just offered a few words of encouragement.