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“What? The King of Maren wants to leave right away?”
“That’s right. He wants to save the people suffering from the monsters as soon as possible. He said he will depart right away after filling up the supplies. He is indeed an honorable knight.” The expression of the knight reporting to the governor and the nobles of the Moyna Port of the Dukedom of Viseche was filled with joy.
However, the governor and the nobles could not hide their shock and disappointment.
“Huh! Even if that’s the case, he should at least meet with us, the purebloods of Viseche!”
“We even omitted the process of entry into the nation for him, so this…”
The eyebrow of the knight wriggled when he saw that the nobles were disappointed. “Sirs. What do you mean by all of that? The safety of the dukedom is no different from a candle in front of a storm. Shouldn’t we obviously prioritize exterminating the monsters?”
The nobles coughed awkwardly after hearing the knight’s criticism. Although they were the leaders of Moyna Port, the knight in front of them was a man of high standing—someone with a high enough status to have been included in the delegation of the Viseche Dukedom.
“Well, we didn’t say anything about that, did we? But when it comes to such things, there is always an order that has to be followed.”
“We’re only saying this because we are disappointed. If he came to talk to us first, then we could have provided him with support to help him with the subjugation.”
The nobles explained. Naturally, they were just making excuses. Most of them aimed to become acquainted with the King of Maren and the prince of the Roman Empire. After all, there were numerous rumors surrounding the two figures. In addition, although it was true that the number of monsters had suddenly exploded in the inner part of the dukedom, in truth, it had little to do with the City of Moyna. To be honest, the nobles of Moyna even hoped that the monsters would create a bigger mess. That way, the nobles and lords inland would have to ask for help from the Duke of Viseche, and the duke would have to step up to solve the issue. However, it would be difficult for the rather incompetent duke to take care of the problem, which would naturally cause the duke’s influence to weaken.
‘Wouldn’t it be better to take this chance and split?’
‘It’s not like they are doing anything for us aside from collecting taxes.’
‘What if we take advantage of this opportunity? There’s no saying that we can’t follow Maren’s example, right?’
The Dukedom of Viseche was no different from a simple coalition of cities and territories. They weren’t under the domination of a strong, central power. Moreover, the City of Moyna was the richest city in the dukedom. As such, it was only natural for the leaders of Moyna to have thoughts of independence.
“So, did the King of Maren leave the gate already?”
“Not yet, but he will depart before the sun sets,” the knight responded bluntly.
However, the nobles boisterously laughed in response to the knight’s bluntness. ”Ah! That’s good. If we invite him directly, he will have to accept.”
“Let us send someone right away. We made an effort to prepare a banquet, so we can’t just let him leave. We can enjoy the banquet today and have an in-depth meeting tomorrow.”
“Right. He’s a guest who came all this way to do something great for us, so it’s natural for him to meet and talk with us, who do great things in Moyna.”
Hahahaha…
The knight was speechless at the sight of Moyna’s leaders laughing harmoniously.
“Everyone—” the knight started.
The captain of the guards quickly came up to the group and interrupted the knight. “Your Excellency, sirs, His Majesty the King of Maren has just left the gate.”
“What?”
“A-already?”
“All of them? All of the expedition members left?”
The atmosphere quickly changed, and the captain of the guards responded, “Yes. All of the people who entered the country left, saying that this was urgent.”
“…”
A moment of silence followed the guard captain’s incredulous answer.
“How could someone be so tactless?”
“And to think he was so famous for being an honorable knight! What honor?”
“Sirs! Isn’t this outright disrespect toward the City of Moyna?”
Their disappointment quickly flamed into anger. Naturally, beneath their anger were their anxious hearts. They were worried that the King of Maren, who was also known as an unparalleled knight, would actually take care of the problem of the monster uprising. If that came true, then their plan to make use of the situation to strengthen Moyna’s position in the dukedom and even argue their independence would all come crumbling down. That was why the governor and the nobles had attempted to keep the King of Maren and the expedition in the city as long as possible.
“Hmm. Sirs. May I say something?” Baron Lusa, the head of the most prestigious family in Moyna and the owner of the only evil land located near the city, stepped up and spoke solemnly.
“Oh, please speak, Sir Lusa.”
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the city was heavily reliant on the by-products and the mana stones from the dungeon of the Lusa territory. As such, even the governor was very respectful toward the baron.
“As far as I’m concerned, the King of Maren doesn’t have any particular reasons not to meet with us. And if he really wants to save the people as soon as possible, a day’s delay won’t make any difference,” Baron Lusa said.
“That’s right. Sir Lusa has a point.”
“It’s not like there’s a war going on. A single day isn’t going to make any difference…” The nobles with an amicable relationship with him voiced their agreement.
Baron Lusa nodded before continuing, “That’s right. And yet, he rushed out of the city without even saying hello to us, right? I don’t know what it is exactly, but doesn’t it seem like he wants to hide something from us?”
“Hooh!”
“Something he wants to hide…”
Baron Lusa explained, “For example, the monster that Sir Palo, the one who was on the delegation to Maren, wrote about. The twin-headed ogre. I just can’t comprehend how one could make an undead monster repent and make use of it.”
“Hmm.” The expressions of the noble stiffened when Lusa spoke of the twin-headed ogre. The story of the King capturing a twin-headed ogre on the Carls Baggins Peninsula during his time as a knight had been a pretty hot topic in Moyna as well. Most of the stories and rumors circulating in Moyna originated from the City of Moffern, as the two cities traded with each other.
The twin-headed ogre was called the king of monsters. It was already unbelievable that someone had managed to capture an undead twin-headed ogre created by a black wizard, but to let it repent with faith? Although it had been a hot topic of discussion, everyone considered it nonsense. It was clear to everyone that Essandra Archivold was spreading unreasonable rumors about the knight she had hired to justify the peninsula’s unification.
As such, the rumor about the twin-headed ogre quickly disappeared after a brief moment of spotlight. But a few years later, there was news that the King of Maren was once again trying to awaken the monster with noble faith. Moreover, rumor had it that the King of Maren would bring the monster with him on his way to take care of the monster uprising in Viseche.
It was a truly ridiculous piece of news, and it came from Baron Palo’s letter, a man whom Duke Viseche had enough trust in to send the former as a representative of the delegation. The leaders of Moyna wanted the duke’s influence to weaken, so the story was simply unbelievable and unreliable for them.
“So, Sir Lusa, you are saying that the King of Maren has left the city so soon without meeting us because there’s something wrong with the monster, is that it? He didn’t want us to discover that there’s a problem with it,” one of the nobles said.
“I can’t say for sure, but I cannot think of any other possible explanation. Why else would the King of Maren, who is supposed to be so honorable, turn a blind eye to the leaders of Moyna?” Baron Lusa said.
Everyone nodded, seemingly in agreement with Baron Lusa’s clever words. However, a few nobles shared mysterious gazes. They had a rough idea of why Baron Lusa was saying such things.
‘He had a private meeting with a messenger of Crown Prince Voltaire, right?’
‘The messenger didn’t even meet with the duke. Why else did the crown prince send a messenger to Sir Lusa? He’s obviously intending to lend our city the strength in declaring our independence.’
Baron Lusa had been communicating with the empire’s imperial family for a long time, and Crown Prince Voltaire, the next ruler of the Roman Empire, had openly sent him a messenger to share his thoughts. The leaders of Moyna could clearly see the intent behind the crown prince’s actions.
“Hmm! Sirs, after listening to Sir Lusa’s words, it certainly seems that the King of Maren has alarming intentions. If that monster is dangerous, then as the governor of Moyna…” the governor declared.
Although their cooperation was made to pursue a goal earlier, Baron Lusa was still inwardly happy when the governor sympathized with him.
‘With this, my family’s dungeon is safe. When the turmoil subsides in the future, my family will be the exclusive supplier of mana stones and monster by-products.’
The corners of Baron Lusa’s lips started to curl up when he recalled the conversation he had with the messenger of the crown prince.
All of a sudden, a voice could be heard. “Ha! This is so pathetic I could die!”
“W-what?! Sir, what did you just say?!”
“Where do you think you are for you to dare…!”
The knight who had accompanied Baron Palo on the delegation made a sarcastic remark to himself, and the nobles immediately retorted with fierce expressions. However, the knight didn’t hide his sneer as he looked around the nobles.
“I said that I could die because this is so pathetic,” he said
“What? T-that man dares… Sir…!” One of the nobles started yelling.
The knight interrupted him, “Ah! Come to think of it, none of you sirs knows yet.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“There has been a blessing!” the knight continued.
“Bles…sing?”
“What does…”
The nobles hesitated at the unexpected words.
“Yes. A blessing…” The knight nodded.
He then straightened his posture and continued triumphantly, “The High Priest of the Holy Empire! High Priest Laerina also known as the Saintess of the Holy Empire has blessed His Majesty Jan Eugene Batla. And she also blessed the twin-headed ogre, which you sirs described as a monster.”
“…!!!”
The nobles immediately ceased their criticism as their eyes filled with shock. Baron Lusa was also stupefied, but he quickly shook himself awake before responding, “W-what do you mean by that? The blessing of the Holy Empire’s high priest? The High Priest has been captured by wicked pirates and…”
“Yes, but His Majesty the King rescued her,” the knight replied.
“What?!”
“Aha, so it appears that the High Priest did not stop by Moyna on her way back to the Holy Empire. Well, she is a busy person, so no wonder she didn’t stop here,” the knight remarked.
“N-no, sir. Tell us the details. S-so you’re saying that the High Priest has already been rescued and is currently on her way to the Holy Empire?”
The knight explained, “Yes. That was already three days ago. The Dragonborn Pirates were thoroughly destroyed through repentance and conversion. His Majesty played a huge role with his twin-headed ogre, and the High Priest personally decided to bless them. Moreover…”
“Moreover?” the nobles asked while staring at the knight with bewitched eyes.
The knight felt rather exhilarated as he continued in a proud voice, “The High Priest bestowed the twin-headed ogre with the title: Messenger of God. But what did you say? The twin-headed ogre is a dangerous monster? The king’s intentions are suspicious?”
The knight openly scoffed at the nobles. They looked to be even more flustered and shocked compared to when they heard Eugene’s departure.
The knight delivered the final blow in a low, cold voice. “Sirs… Can I consider this as a challenge to the Holy Empire, the Holy Father, and the gods?”
“…!!!”
The nobles took on pale expressions. The nobles of Moyna dared to dream of independence due to the opportunity provided to them by the monster uprising. However, the approval of the Holy Empire was absolute for them. What was the use if they shouted independence by themselves? The moment the Holy Empire rejected them, or even labeled them as heretics, their hope of independence would become nothing more than a vain dream. And just a moment ago, they had spoken out against the subject of the high priest’s personal blessing.
“Shall I tell you all something even more important?” the knight asked.
“W-what do you mean by…” The nobles stared at him with quivering eyes.
The knight continued, “His Majesty has been formally invited to the Holy Empire. It also turned out that it was the first time in history that a member of the Tribe of Darkness had received an invitation to the Holy Empire. I’m sure all of you know what this means. Well then, I must get going to escort Sir Palo to the dukedom’s castle.”
After finishing his remarks, the knight turned around without even saying goodbye. Numerous thoughts flashed by the minds of the governor and the nobles in the short moment when the knight took his first few steps away from them.
‘What if that knight returns to the King of Maren like this?’
‘Then the king would hear about the things we said about him!’
‘And that means… both the Dukedom of Viseche and the Holy Empire will find out as well!’
The nobles and the governor came to an immediate decision.
“Well!”
“Sir Buildemain! Why are you in such a hurry?!”
“N-now, now, please wait a moment! Although he has already left, you must convey our sincerity to His Majesty the King!”
“Siiirrr!”
The nobles began to chase after the knight.
‘As expected, His Majesty was right.’
Buildemain, the knight of the Viseche Dukedom, had reached the semifinals of the knight competition. He had been completely enamored by the strength and chivalry of Eugene and Princess Lilisain.
He stopped himself from bursting out into laughter before turning around.
‘Even these junkies can be used financially...’
Buildemain was reminded of Eugene’s words—he should ignore those unhelpful, but take everything without missing a single drop from those who could help out in resolving the monster uprising.
“These are the words of His Majesty the King. He looks forward to seeing the sincerity of you sirs as the purebloods of Viseche.”