episode_0135

“Arjen.”

I called over Arjen, who was happily spending time alone. As the being that seemed to be the embodiment of fear itself approached them again, the expressions of the guards and the king hardened again.

“Is there something this person hasn’t already told me? Or maybe I forgot to say it.”

I know for sure that I was just blinded by greed and made a foolish decision. However, it was still unclear why he had to be so greedy. That may not be the case, but if there is a reasonable reason, there may still be room for extenuating circumstances.

Arjen’s eyes flashed at my question. It’s just that she doesn’t use it on herself, but reading people’s minds was a piece of cake for her. What’s more, when I hadn’t yet mastered the language here, I was able to communicate using this ability to see through verbs.

Of course, it is not omnipotent. It is impossible to read things that the other person is not thinking about, things that have been forgotten from memory, or things that do not come to mind unconsciously. In this case, it won’t be a problem at all since it can be solved by scaring them a little.

When I think about it, the memory corridor that Akasha used on me might be a very scary technique. Although there is a downside to the other party being able to read one’s own memories, isn’t it possible to definitely obtain the information one wants anyway?

‘Oh, shit. ‘I thought about it and got angry again.’

I’ll definitely find it someday and get rid of it. That damn lizard.

“Aha, that’s how it happened.”

“Have you figured it out already?”

I was thinking about something a little different, and Arjen quickly brought results. She shook her head as if it was no big deal and told me what she had read of the king’s thoughts.

“Eujin As expected, he seems to have the worst reputation among all kings. To the extent that I am aware of the public opinion that he has poor leadership skills, is poor at administration, and has a bad personality.”

“Wow, that’s a bit serious.”

It is natural for a king to do everything from work to living in the royal castle, so surprisingly, many people do not know much about the king. In an agricultural society, what is important is the year’s harvest, not the king’s administrative duties. However, for the king’s incompetence to spread to the public, I don’t know how badly the country has to be run for such a thing to be possible.

‘I think it was like that of Yeonsangun during the Joseon Dynasty… No, it’s not possible to make a one-to-one comparison, but…’

In this world, 18th century rococo magic is quite well developed. Of course, communication would have been more developed, so it would not have been surprising if the people knew what the king was doing.

The story took a slightly different turn, but that wasn’t the important point anyway.

“He started this scandal in the nick of time to change his own evaluation. I can’t find the noble background that Eugene expects.”

As expected, there was no surprise. No matter how much I thought about it, it seemed like not having this gentleman would help this country develop further. Arjen sensed my inner thoughts and began to gently massage my hand.

“Shall we process it quickly?”

“No… Anyway, it seems a bit strange for us to come and handle it ourselves like this.”

For the public who are not familiar with the inside story of the letter or mission, it would be nothing more than an incident in which a dragon suddenly attacked the castle and killed the king. From a third party’s perspective, this is literally no different from the death of a dog.

In this case, there is a risk that a public opinion of sympathy may be formed. Even though we say we don’t need to worry about the public’s opinion, the fact that we are the only ones who made the mistake but are the bad guys leaves a very bitter aftertaste.

“Then what should we do?”

“There is a good way.”

First, they put King Quichera to sleep just in case. It was to prevent an emergency. Just because he is a king, there is no guarantee that he will not abandon his country and stand out.

The king and the guard fell asleep without much resistance to Arjen’s sleep magic. Still, even though it was a royal castle where the king resided, there were no basic magic measures in place. Or, it was supposed to be, but it was broken when the royal castle was broken.

“What now?”

“Yes. Now Arjen just needs to say this to as many people as possible.”

I briefly summarized part of the conversation I had with Stella and the story related to King Kichera. It was 100% pure truth without even a single hint of falsehood, so there was no problem in saying it in terms of language.

“Huh? Will this solve the problem?”

“Unconditionally. At this level, it would be even more surprising that an uprising did not occur.”

Strictly speaking, this incident occurred because the religious dissemination of the oracle was delayed. If the Pope’s words, which he heard directly from Stella’s voice, had been conveyed properly, the countries around Argen’s Lair would not have made a hasty move in the first place.

Of course, we cannot blame the denomination for this incident. Plane is located at the center of the continent, and it was natural that it would take time to convey Stella’s words to people across the continent. Still, since the core content of the oracle is the land around Argen’s Lair, it is true that there is some regret that it would have been better if the oracle had been delivered with more priority on this area.

Here, a countermeasure was needed and a way to appease the King of Kichera. This is where the contents of the oracle are spread. It goes without saying, but no matter how much someone like me talks about it, there is no way it can have the same credibility as what the Pope himself says. This is something that cannot be helped even if I complain about it while holding the Venus Ring.

But what if it’s a dragon’s saying? One of the things that makes this world better than the one I used to live in is that there is something that is ‘never fake news.’ The elf’s saying that he does not lie and that it would be very obvious if he did. Even more reliable than that was the ‘idiom that cannot contain lies’.

Therefore, if Arjen directly informs the people of Kichera about Stella’s words and the mistakes of the king they serve, the matter can be resolved very neatly. And if I could add one more thing at the end?

-… Therefore, I declare to punish your king. The Kingdom of Kichera must sacrifice 100 living humans of my rare to me every quarter, and they are excluded from distribution of crops produced in the Green Land. This is limited to as long as the current King Quichera is alive.

Unless they want the country to be ruined, they will replace the throne themselves.

***

The Gujak Kingdom was in a festive mood. To be precise, it was only a story limited to the royal castle, but since the royal castle, which can be said to be the backbone of a nation, is in such an atmosphere, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the entire nation is invigorated.

This is because the contents of the letter sent by an unidentified man with the crazy dragon Arjen were notarized by ‘Yongeon’. Moreover, within a few days, an oracle with the Pope’s seal also indicated that his covenant with Stella was true, so now anyone with eyes and ears knew that Eugene was rightfully in possession of the Green Land.

Even if it only stopped there, they would be happy that their choice wasn’t wrong, but a double twist occurred. It is true that King Kichera, who had always been in conflict with the Gujaks, was killed in an uprising.

“As expected, Your Majesty’s insight is great. It was unexpected to Sosin that the owner of the letter was someone who received the official recognition of Goddess Stella.”

“Well, even if I had ignored the letter and taken separate action, nothing much would have happened yet. It was foolish of King Kichera to act too hastily. No, now I have to say he is the previous king.”

King Gujak continued speaking after taking a sip of wine.

“Tsk tsk, I don’t know if I would have survived, but I never thought I would meet such a miserable end.”

At least in their era, it was truly shocking for the king of a country to be dethroned and executed by the people. Any rebellion against the royal family was considered treason equivalent to a civil war, and it was considered right to suppress it through the military.

However, this time, even the military helped to put King Kichera on the execution ground. This is because the conditions Arjen put forth were so harsh.

‘…If I had made a mistake in judgment, I would have really been in trouble.’

For a moment, King Guzak was happy at the cruel ending that the king of his enemy had met, but at the same time, he felt chilled at the thought that the same thing could have happened to him.

“On this year’s Star Calling Day, we will have to carry out the ancestral rites with even greater sincerity. All of this is thanks to the care of our ancestors.”

If it weren’t for the ancestor’s journal, King Gujak himself might have made the wrong choice. The green land was that attractive.

Just when I felt that no matter how many times I was reassured, it wasn’t enough, a soldier opened the door and came in with an urgent gesture.

“Your Majesty! Please forgive me for being rude about urgent news!”

“What’s going on?”

“A dragon was observed in the airspace. It is believed to be approaching the capital at a fairly high speed.”

For some reason, King Gujak seemed to be able to know the dragon’s name without asking. How often in our lifetime will a dragon come to human territory in its true form?

‘Argen…!’

Thinking that something had finally come, King Gujak’s hands clenched into fists.