CH 236

It was the start of a desolate spring.

The Imperial Palace became busier than ever due to the reports about disasters occurring throughout the empire. The recent disaster caused by the Pope recklessly using Telgramm had been limited to the city of Torra, but this time, the entire empire was facing disasters.

The empire, which had already been devastated by the sudden appearance of the Cainheryars everywhere, suffered another major bout of damage.

“We are still detecting aftershocks. They are not big, but still…” Ivy muttered as she placed a bunch of documents on the desk.

However, Heretia didn’t even bother to turn her eyes toward the papers that Ivy had just placed down. Behind Heretia, there were countless books and historical materials that were several times greater in volume compared to the documents that Ivy had brought. Of course, Heretia had already read through all of them.

Heretia and Ivy were currently in the Torra Library.

Although the library had also suffered damage during the earthquake, none of the books were lost, all thanks to instructions from Juan; he was someone who valued knowledge above all else. The only damage was that the bookshelves collapsed and the order of the books had been mixed up.

Ivy looked around at the cluttered piles of books and opened her mouth.

“Did His Majesty say that this earthquake was caused by the Crack?”

“Yes.”

Heretia’s answer was brief. Ivy nodded and tried to leave the library as quietly as she could; she thought that she was interrupting Heretia.

However, at that moment, Heretia put the book down on the desk. She rubbed her eyes and opened her mouth.

“I’m sorry. I’m just a little tired from all the reading.”

“It’s okay. I understand that you are in charge of something important… I feel bad, since I’m not doing anything,” Ivy replied bitterly.

Ivy was not as strong as any other figures around the emperor, nor was she as smart as Heretia. She was just lucky enough to be chosen for her position. And, the fact that Lenly took advantage of her just made everything worse.

Due to all this, Ivy had been thinking about leaving Torra. There was no reason for Ivy to stay in Torra now that the Church had disappeared.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

But Heretia asked back upon hearing Ivy’s words.

“I can’t be of much help here…”

“Um, you’re not exactly wrong Miss Ivy… but you seem to be mistaken about something. Your value is not related to being strong or smart. It’s nothing like that. Miss Ivy, your ability is in your kindness.”

“...I’m sorry?”

Heretia looked at Ivy with a serious look.

“The people like you, Miss Ivy. Of course, you are no longer the Saintess or anything like that. But… Miss Ivy had predicted the return of the emperor even when the people were disappointed in the Church. Although it failed, Miss Ivy, you were the one who stood at the forefront when people rebelled against the Church. You are also working hard and volunteering to help people suffering due to this disaster.”

“Um, but that’s not very…”

“It doesn’t stand out. But being popular among the people is something very important. I bet that half of the people in Torra are following His Majesty only because of you, Miss Ivy. To be honest with you, His Majesty is not the type of person to actively seek popularity. Besides, two major disasters happened right after he regained the throne. If it was anyone else ruling the empire, the people would probably be talking about overthrowing them already.”

“...Is that so?”

Heretia placed a hand on her forehead and continued to speak with a tired face.

“I’m not the type to look at people in the most positive light. Whether we are actually doing well or not, there are certainly moments when we have to deceive the people for the sake of better results. In that sense, Miss Ivy’s value lies in being a good blindfold and acting as a propaganda tool. This might sound unpleasant to you, but your presence is what allows His Majesty to rule with more confidence, with no risk of Torra being attacked by a random person again.”

“...Isn’t it because of the Golems helping with the recovery from the recent disaster that there are no worries about a sudden treason?”

“Well, that’s also true. After all, His Majesty has given me the authority to control the Golems of Torra,” Heretia said with a grin. “But treason is not always carried out by bringing in soldiers to kill the important figures. Do you think I’ll use the Golems to crush the people of Torra if they want me to step down from my position?”

“...No.”

“Exactly. I have no choice but to back down in that sort of situation. And that is why Miss Ivy’s existence is important. So, Miss Ivy—stop trying to help me with trivial office work just because you feel like you are a burden and instead, show your face to the public more often. Originally, His Majesty should be doing that, but His Majesty has gone to the North.”

“Yes, of course!”

Ivy was relieved by Heretia’s words. But the moment she was about to go out the door, Heretia once again opened her mouth.

“By the way, Miss Ivy. I’m sorry to ask this of you as soon as I told you not to help me with the office work, but could you help deliver this document to His Majesty for me? There should be a magician who is also the librarian here down the corridor, on the right side of the library. He will take care of it if you tell him that I sent you.”

“Oh… sure. But, what is this? Is it an important confidential document? Ah, I shouldn’t be asking that, should I…”

Meanwhile, Heretia picked up the next book as she opened her mouth to answer Ivy.

“It’s not really a confidential document. It’s the third bout of information compiled about the very first appearance of the Crack.”

***

Nienna thrust her sword into the neck of the last enemy standing in front of her.

The enemy struggled with his neck pierced by the sword, but then suddenly started to inflate with a loud roar. Tentacles began to appear out of the enemy’s robe.

However, all the body fluids inside him were instantly frozen and turned into blood-colored blocks of ice as soon as Nienna used her power on him.

The surroundings were full of such blood-colored blocks of ice. It was a sudden night raid, but there was minimal damage.

The soldiers were tasked with collecting all of the scattered blocks of ice and the bodies from the ground, gathering them outside the barracks. There was no sign of further battles breaking out any time soon.

Nienna called one of the soldiers passing by and gave him orders.

“Tell Pavan to be careful about not letting the soldiers hear what the enemies are saying. Don’t leave behind any prisoners, since the nonsense babbled by these bastards can spread to the soldiers very quickly.”

The soldier saluted Nienna and went to look for Pavan right away.

Nienna felt quite strange and uneasy about this attack by the Thornbush Priest Organization. She had heard that the Thornbush Priest Organization had been almost destroyed by Juan and Haild’s recent efforts. In fact, this night raid was also being conducted on a small scale.

It was minor enough that it could be taken care of by the Imperial Army alone without any help from Nienna, and she couldn’t figure out what the enemies were thinking at all.

Nienna turned her head toward Juan.

Juan didn’t move a single inch throughout the battle. It may be because he already knew that the enemies could easily be handled by the Imperial Army, but even so, not doing anything at all was completely unlike Juan.

But Juan was actually doing something important in his own way.

Nienna approached Juan.

“Are you reading the documents sent over by Heretia?”

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“Yes.”

“The one about the first appearance of the Crack or something?”

Juan nodded. He had just received some images in his head. Those were the documents sent by Heretia with the help of the magician.

Meanwhile, Nienna turned the blood covering her sword into fragments of ice and scattered them in the air.

“What about the first appearance of the Crack?”

Juan turned his head toward Nienna.

“You should already know about it.”

“I have heard that it first appeared in the north of the continent around the end of the ancient dragon era. But what made you think that I already knew about it?”

“I’ve taught you about it before. Back then, I didn’t explain much because I didn’t think it was too important. I hadn’t studied it in detail either; however, I’ll explain it again if I need to.”

“Anything about the Crack is something I am interested in—especially about its weakness.”

“So, in the very beginning…”

“Okay. Let’s skip all the boring parts, Dad.”

“...The second era, the ancient dragon era, began after some incidents. It is said that there was only one dragon back then, and it looked a lot different from the dragons we know now. Back then, the one and only dragon, a being without even a name, was reigning under the title of the ancient dragon. Then, a huge Crack suddenly appeared in the North.”

“That’s it? The Crack just suddenly appeared one day?”

“Yes. But the aftermath of it was not small. The endless mountain ranges in the North are the result of the tectonic plates pressing against each other when the Crack was formed at the time. After that, the countless monsters that crawled out from the Crack ate the ancient dragon. All the scales of the ancient dragon fell out, escaping, and it is said that those scales are the dragons that we know and see today.”

“Isn’t that just a myth?”

“Nienna, I’m talking about the era from eight thousand years ago. None of the beings that were alive at the time exist anymore. There is no way to prove it and thus the story only remains a myth. Anyway, the ancient dragon era suddenly ended just like that and then the mythological era began—that was the era when gods walked on the land. The mythological era lasted eight thousand years and ended about seventy years ago, right when the founding era began.”

“I like the brief and simple summary. Come to think of it, both you and I really have lived through a time of rapid change. But what does all this have to do with the Crack? Um, were the gods born within the Crack?”

Juan rubbed his chin and pondered upon Nienna's question.

“That might be the case since the timeframe matches. There may have been indirect effects, but I don’t think so. I have heard that the beings of the Crack are powerful enough to be compared to gods, but they move in ways that no one can understand. It’s hard to believe that they’re from the same world. Gods may be unpleasant, but we can at least understand them and analyze their behavioral patterns. Heck, we could even communicate with some of them.”

“That’s true… you’re right. None of the bastards from beyond the Crack could be communicated with,” Nienna nodded.

“This means that the beings of the Crack cannot be tamed nor can they become our allies.”

Nienna sighed and kicked a blood-colored block of ice cube rolling on the ground.

“Then what? None of what you told me has anything to do with the current situation.”

Juan, Nienna, and Pavan were currently leading the Imperial Army to head to the North. There weren’t a lot of them, since the combat forces needed for the battle could be supplemented from the North. However, these forces were still necessary to surround Aruntal in case of emergency.

Aruntal was certainly powerful, but Juan didn’t think that they would pose a huge threat. Each individual of Aruntal was powerful, but most of them could be handled easily, except for Dane. They were no match for such a huge military force.

Rather, Gerard—the person behind Aruntal, was more important. Juan didn’t know what Gerard Gain was up to, but he had a feeling that whatever Gerard was doing must have something to do with the Crack.

“You should have looked into the recent appearances of the Crack rather than the first one. Like, what happened in Durgal or Arbalde. Then we might be able to get a hint about artificially manipulating the Crack, don’t you think?” Nienna asked.

“No. The first appearance of the Crack and the subsequent appearances are completely different,” Juan answered.

What happened in Durgal and Arbalde was an artificial pollution phenomenon created by the overlapping of magical conditions. The magic of the Crack became easier to use whenever the power of the Crack became stronger, and the land, including the living beings there, all turned into the beings of the Crack.

“Unlike the other cases, the first appearance of the Crack in the North is literally a trace left behind by a physical pushback, strong enough to tear the world’s land. In comparison, what happened in Durgal and Arbalde can hardly be considered significant.”

“...Then are you suggesting that this earthquake is the result of something pushing back the land, just like the first appearance of the Crack?”

“No… I don’t think it’s to that extent yet. The ancient dragon, who was literally an absolute being, died and a new era opened when the Crack appeared for the first time. This earthquake was enough to shake the continent, but it’s still not comparable to the first appearance of the Crack.”

Nienna looked pale. She carefully rubbed her chin and opened her mouth.

“So this is just a warm-up?”

“Yes, it is,” Juan answered.

Nienna shook her head.

“I’m getting more and more hopeless, Dad. Gerard is trying to summon something from beyond the Crack using Mananen McLeir’s heart, the power of the Crown, and even Elkiehl. And that something is capable of destroying an entire era. But dad, you are… well, I can’t say that you’re weak. But you are different from when you used to reign as the emperor.”

Juan quietly looked up at the night sky. Countless stars were shining. Looking at the stars, Juan recalled Aruntal—the ones who taught him how to look into the future with the help of constellations as a hobby.

Of course, Juan later thought that all of it was a sham. But it was still fun to give names and think about the image formed by the stars based on their locations.

“I wonder what I was before I became the emperor.”

“Huh?”

“What made me the emperor? Power to turn a mountain upside down? The magic that can fiddle with the rules of the world? The authority to move people with just a simple gesture? Wisdom that allows me to glimpse a hundred or a thousand years into the future? Or was it through collusion by shaking hands and signing papers?”

Nienna looked like she couldn’t understand what Juan was talking about. However, what she could understand was that all the things Juan had just listed were all lost now. They were taken away by Gerard.

“Those are all things that I don’t have anymore. If those are what made me the emperor, then I am no longer the emperor. You may think that I am trying to find Gerard because I’m the emperor, but there is no such complicated reason,” Juan said with a smile.

He seemed so comfortable that no one could see him as someone who was about to confront an absolute being of the world.

“I’m only doing it because I want to. Just as usual.”