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EPISODE 123 – RESOLUTION (3)
Night arrived.
The eastern forces and the Jackdaws who hurriedly moved in the daytime settled down in different places at night.
The Jackdaws built their camp on the Snow Breeze Plain.
After the unit that left late joined them, they built a fence, set up camps, and tightened the security.
The eastern forces returned to their camps.
The western forces had already been defeated, but their tension did not completely disappear.
Because the other was present.
Because they were wary of each other.
For the Jackdaws, they were in enemy territory.
For the eastern forces, the Jackdaws were their long-time enemies.
Water and oil.
Two groups that couldn’t be mixed together.
It was impossible to conciliate the two groups with just one fight when they had fought countless times before.
“But they can’t keep fighting.”
Jude nodded at Cordelia’s words.
“Yes, it’s better if they part ways without a fight for this time at least. For both sides.”
The two were talking inside the eastern forces’ camp, and not the Jackdaws’ camp.
They did that for political reasons, but to put it bluntly, it was as follows.
Jude and Cordelia were from the north.
So when the northerners arrived, they should move their lodgings to the northerner’s camp.
After all, the two were undeniably northerners.
But the fight with the western forces had left the eastern forces greatly exhausted.
So if Jude and Cordelia were on the northern army’s camp, what would happen if the northern army attacked at night?
Would they be able to stop it?
In other words, such a situation would instigate fear, tension, and so on.
On the other hand, if Jude and Cordelia stayed in the eastern forces’ camp, the following psychological effects would happen.
Jude and Cordelia were also the guardians of the wild lands.
If the two were on this side, the northern army would not be able to easily attack.
The two were children of highly respectable families in the north.
In a way – no, frankly speaking, they were viewed as hostages, but that was unavoidable.
It was unavoidable if one thought about the relationship between the north and the wild lands.
Returning to the northern army’s camp would naturally irritate the eastern forces, while staying in the eastern forces’ camp would irritate the Jackdaws, but things were different if one took a step back.
‘The eastern forces can’t attack the Jackdaws.’
They incurred a lot of damage so it wouldn’t happen.
Moreover, those who were gathered here today were not the elite troops of the east.
This was the result of recruiting as many people as possible who could fight in order to increase their numbers.
Would they take another risk in this situation?
At a time when a lot of people had already died, and countless homes had been destroyed?
‘There are the wild gods too.’
They were gods one way or another.
Furthermore, the representative of the wild gods, Great Storm, was a wise being.
The representative of the humans, Red Gale, was also the same, and Great Storm and Red Gale had always been opposing any fights against the north.
In short, it meant that the eastern forces attacking the Jackdaws first was highly unlikely.
‘But the Jackdaws’ situation is different.’
The eastern forces had more troops, but this was natural for the Jackdaws.
In the numerous battles the two sides had fought in the past, the number of Jackdaws had never been greater than the barbarians of the wild lands.
And the Jackdaws could see.
The eastern forces were now weak.
So if they trample them here now, if they stab them in the back now…
It would be possible to destroy the wild lands.
It would be possible to eliminate their troubles, the long-time enemy of the north.
It was such a big temptation.
In addition, unlike the eastern forces where the command was divided, only one person had the command of the Jackdaws.
Count HrĂŚsvelgr.
If he decided, the Jackdaws would attack the eastern forces even if Count Chase opposed it.
‘So we have to stay here.’
To reduce the possibility of a fight even by a little.
“Haa, it’s complicated. We just held hands and fought together, so it would be nice if we could all be friends~”
Cordelia said as her shoulders slumped in her seeming depression, and Jude gave her some warm tea to comfort her.
“It’s all right. Even if it’s impossible to become friends…they won’t be enemies at least.”
“That would be nice.”
Cordelia deeply sighed again and accepted the teacup from Jude, and he smiled again.
In fact, Jude had one more evil purpose on why they stayed in the eastern forces’ camp.
‘Because we’ll be in separate tents if we returned.’
They wouldn’t let them share the same tent even if the two were engaged.
Of course, they weren’t doing anything suspicious when they shared the same tent, but Jude still wanted to be with Cordelia if possible.
‘Hmm…I’m somehow desperate and troubled too.’
How did something like this happen to me?
While Jude was worrying by himself, Cordelia widely opened her eyes.
“Wow, this is delicious…?”
Because the tea tasted good.
Her sad feelings seemed to have been relieved somehow.
“You should drink too. It’s really delicious. It feels like my stamina will increase.”
“Yes, I know that even though I’m not sure what you meant by increasing stamina.”
Jude responded with a smile and slowly drank his tea as he looked away.
‘They should be done soon.’
The meeting between the Jackdaws and the eastern forces.
The representatives of both sides were having a meeting in a kind of neutral zone located between the camps of the Jackdaws and the eastern forces, which were far from the tent of Jude and Cordelia.
The representatives of the Jackdaws were Count Hræsvelgr and Count Chase, while the eastern forces’ representatives were Great Storm and Red Gale.
‘I hope it ends well.’
He had a rough idea on what they were talking about.
It would be the withdrawal of the Jackdaws and a non-aggression pact with the eastern forces.
Neither side wanted to fight, so it should be amicably resolved.
“But Jude.”
“Yes?”
When he turned his head to her sweet-sounding call, Cordelia who had been sitting while covered in a blanket raised her chin that was in between her knees and said.
“Because the wild lands episode is over…we’ll be heading to the royal capital now, right?”
“I suppose so.”
The Sälen Kingdom, one of the two great powers of the continent, would be facing its destruction through three events.
The first of these was the invasion of the northern barbarians, and the second was the ‘Night of Massacre.’
‘An unprecedented situation in which the royal family of the Sälen Kingdom was virtually annihilated.’
With the north becoming a wasteland and the royal family disappearing, the Sälen Kingdom was on its path to destruction even if they were a powerful kingdom.
“If we can stop the events that will happen until the Night of Massacre…it will really improve the situation. We’ll be able to overcome all the 7 major calamities.”
By the time the 7 major calamities began in the game, the Sälen Kingdom was already on the verge of destruction so it couldn’t help in stopping the calamities.
But if it survived and preserved its national power that was on par with the empire, they would be a great help in preventing the 7 major calamities.
“Heh, I’m excited.”
“In saving people?”
“Huh? Yes. There’s that too… But the royal capital is fun.”
Cordelia replied with quivering lips as if she was a little embarrassed.
And Jude nodded too.
“You’re right. The royal capital episode was fun.”
Although the north was in chaos, it was not completely destroyed when the royal capital episode was still in progress.
So until the royal capital episode ended, the Sälen Kingdom would remain standing.
There were many big and small events in the royal capital where lots of people gathered, and among those events, there were a few that stimulated the girl’s heart of Cordelia.
‘The flow of events would clearly be different.’
Because they would be going to fancy events like balls, and not just be fighting.
‘Yes, the ball. The 300th anniversary of the country’s founding.’
Jude very much looked forward to the ball that would be really grand.
It would be a place where he could show off the beauty of Cordelia not only to the Sälen Kingdom, but also to the foreign figures who would be gathered.
“Ahem, ahem, that would be nice.”
Cordelia frowned when Jude smiled like a fool.
“What is it, what are you thinking? You have a creepy smile.”
“No, it’s not. It’s nothing. Would you like more tea?”
“Yes, give me more.”
“Here it is, Madam.”
Jude poured tea into Cordelia’s teacup and resumed talking again.
“Anyway, there will be a lot of encounters if we go to the royal capital. Several new playable characters will be making their appearance.”
“That’s right, that’s right. Princess Daphne and Prince Dion.”
Cordelia’s cheeks flushed as she gazed into the distance and imagined it.
“Do you like Daphne and Dion?”
“Yes, because he’s attractive. Dion is handsome. Dion is really handsome. He’s cool. I like his personality.”
As Cordelia giggled and spoke, it was the opposite for Jude as his face hardened.
“Jude?”
“No, umm. Right. Attractive. Handsome.”
Dion. He kept that name in his mind. Dion.
Jude’s expression coldly sank, and Cordelia blinked her eyes and tilted her head, wondering if her senses had become dull at a time like this.
And it was at that moment.
“Can I come in?”
At the question that came from outside the tent, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and nodded.
“Yes, you may come in.”
Jude gave his permission, and a boy entered from outside the tent.
It was Great Storm.
“What happened? Did the meeting go well?”
Cordelia asked, and Great Storm nodded.
“Um, yes. It went well. The northerners would withdraw tomorrow, and a non-aggression treaty had been signed wherein both sides would not attack each other for the next five years.”
“Wow! That’s great! Isn’t that right, Jude?”
“You’re right. This much is the best.”
Cordelia was relieved when Jude agreed, and she then said to Great Storm.
“Are you here to tell us?”
“Yes, there is that too…but I think I have to tell you something too.”
Great Storm spoke and looked at Jude who handed him a cup of tea that had already been prepared.
“I told you about this during the day, that the demon followers would be blamed for blowing up the dragon veins. So you two should say that too. Rather, you reduced the aftermath of the great explosion. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“…Yeah.”
Jude calmly answered with a slightly embarrassed face, while Cordelia timidly replied as she hunched her shoulders.
Great Storm smiled at the reaction of the two, and then resumed his words after sipping his tea.
“And this… I just want you to know. Because you’re the guardians of the wild lands.”
The surrounding area changed at that moment.
They were still inside the tent of Jude and Cordelia, but the air itself changed.
The sanctuary of Great Storm.
His sacred place.
“The dragon vein has changed in the aftermath of the great explosion.”
Jude and Cordelia flinched.
They knew that there would be an impact, but it seemed to be more than they had imagined.
The wild lands was originally an uninhabitable land.
It became possible to live there because of the wild gods who drew their powers from the dragon vein, so if they had caused a problem with the dragon vein itself, if the wild gods could no longer use their powers like how they used to…
“Don’t be scared. There’s nothing to worry. It actually got better.”
“It got better?”
“Yes, how should I say this…rather, it had become smooth-flowing? You could say that the veins widened.”
Everything that obstructed the flow of the dragon veins were blown away by the great explosion, and the infrastructure of the high elves were even incorporated into the dragon veins.
It was natural that the circulation of the dragon vein became smoother as the blocked areas were opened and the veins had widened.
“Moreover, the Golden Dragon King woke up. And he is planning to recover his strength in the Snow Breeze Plain. In short, a new dragon vein stream – one on a colossal scale which had never existed before, would be created.”
As soon as he heard Great Storm’s words, Jude understood why Great Storm wanted only the two of them to know about this conversation.
“Will a kingdom…be built?”
Cordelia blinked her eyes at his question that skipped the process on how it got there, but not for Great Storm. The wild god nodded with a bitter smile.
“Probably.”
The west was greatly affected by the corruption and in ruins, and because the wild gods there were also annihilated, it became an uninhabitable land for the time being, even if there were dragon veins there.
The east was also not completely free from the aftermath of the dragon vein’s explosion.
All of the sanctuaries of the wild gods were destroyed, and it would be difficult to enjoy the same life as before until they had restored their sanctuaries.
“So a new one will be completely made.”
On the Snow Breeze Plain.
Several wild gods would join forces.
A place where various tribes would live together, a huge city that would become the center of the wild lands.
“It would probably a better place to live than before.”
“Wow.”
Cordelia was in pure admiration, but not for Jude.
The fact that the tribes in the wild lands that had been scattered until now would live in one place could only imply the possibility of a new kingdom being built.
And it also hinted at another possibility.
‘War.’
The fight between the north and the wild lands was really long and old.
But the battles so far were not properly united, since they were nothing but a union of several tribes and were not really united as one, so their battles were just a fight between the many barbarians and the northerners.
But if a kingdom was established in the wild lands, if the barbarians became one…
“I’m not sure yet if a kingdom will really be established, or if it will eventually be divided again.”
Great Storm said as he read Jude’s thoughts.
And Jude realized the fact that he was Jude Bayer, the second son of the Bayer family.
A threat to the north.
A threat to the Sälen Kingdom.
“It will be fine.”
Cordelia held Jude’s hand. After figuring out the general flow of the conversation between the two, she smiled once again.
“It’s Red Gale and Red Wind’s country. It will take a long time to build, and there’s no law that says you must fight because you founded something, right? We can be friends.”
Her thoughts were too soft.
It was optimistic.
But Jude unconsciously nodded.
It wasn’t just because he was in love with Cordelia.
Because it could really become what Cordelia said.
They didn’t have to give up hope.
‘She looks like an angel.’
No, wasn’t she a real angel now?
As Jude’s mood softened, Great Storm opened his mouth again.
“We will heal our wounds here and become powerful again. So Jude and Cordelia, the guardians of the wild lands.”
Great Storm stopped talking at once and stood up.
He respectfully bowed and said, as if treating them like the Golden Dragon King.
“Come to us whenever you need help. We will never forget the favors you had done for us. Even if you leave the wild lands, even if you are far away, even if the dizzyingly fast passage of time passes between us and you – we will not forget. We will remember your names. You two are our benefactors. Guardians of the wild lands, our sworn allies.”
Jude and Cordelia got up from their seats and respectfully bowed too.
Cordelia nodded while feeling overwhelmed, and Jude spoke on behalf of them two.
“We heard it clearly. You won’t regret it later, right?”
“…Just do it moderately, moderately.”
In any event, they would help the two.
After he shook hands with Jude and had a three-second hug with Cordelia, Great Storm left their tent, and Cordelia suddenly jumped in her spot.
“Oh, it feels nice. I’m really happy.”
She felt it on the battlefield too, but she thought that it was really fortunate that they came to the wild lands.
And so did Jude.
Aside from the benefits of getting help from the wild lands in the midst of the numerous events that would happen in the future, he was also thrilled. He felt it to be heartwarming.
“Okay, let’s go to sleep now. Tomorrow onwards, we’ll have to immediately return to the Sälen Kingdom.”
“Yes, yes, let’s sleep.”
Having already washed themselves, the two lied down straight away, and Jude damped down the fire.
Jude felt that his heart was still overwhelmed, but he fell asleep as soon as he lied down, perhaps because a lot of things had happened today.
But at that very moment – just when he was about to fall asleep.
“But Jude.”
“Yes?”
“I have a question.”
“Uh, what is it?”
Jude turned to Cordelia, who had already turned to him. The only thing in between the two was the firewood fire that had almost gone out.
“What was the last thing that my dad gave to you today? It was the first time I had seen something like that.”
“Umm.”
“Umm?”
“Umm.”
“What is it? Huh? If it’s good, let’s eat it together. Okay?”
No, I want to eat that together with you.
Let’s stop there.
Jude turned around right away and suppressed his voice out of fear that it and his eyes would leak his thoughts.
“Go to bed. Later, I’ll tell you later.”
“Tsk, you’re mean.”
Cordelia grumbled, and Jude tried to calm the agitation of his heart.
Fortunately, recalling Count Chase’s face in a hurry was very helpful.
‘Go to sleep.’
For tomorrow.
Jude glanced back at Cordelia for the last time and smiled at the sight of Cordelia falling fast asleep.
***
The next morning.
After the crying and clinging Red Wind said her farewells and Violent Avalanche jumped up and down as he waved his hand, Jude and Cordelia left the wild lands.
And at the same time, in a completely different place.
“Is that so, I understand.”
Princess Daphne curled her sparkling long blonde hair that seemed to have been made by melting gold, as she stared at the blazing fire and whispered.
She slowly turned around and gazed at the sky.
“Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase.”
Two people of destiny.
She quietly whispered and faintly smiled, and a white bird flew towards the north.
And at another place again.
Beyond the Sälen Kingdom, in the heart of the Argon Empire, the largest territory on the continent.
A young man drew his sword.
He looked at the distant south.
Maximilian de Avis.
The main character of Legend of Heroes 2.
One of the Four Great Swordsmen in Pleaides.
He took a step forward.
He began his trip to the Sälen Kingdom.