Chapter 165 : Two Years Later (3)
Two Years Later (3)
Kelian Florian.
He was a man who had once been a noble but was demoted to the 7th Legion and endured hell.
After serving as a commander of the 7th Legion and recognizing his long service, he was honorably discharged.
The 7th Legion was notorious for having an almost 0% survival rate, even among officers.
The fact that he had been discharged safely proved his skills.
That's why his return to nobility and reacquisition of immense power was quite plausible.
Of course, it wasn't strange for him to revive a ruined village and claim it as his own domain, either.
Thanks to this, he became famous as the man who had returned from hell.
"I wish to pay my respects to the head of the Florian family."
Several nobles who visited the domain greeted him respectfully.
When they bowed their heads, Kelian extended his hand.
"The pleasure is mine."
Kelian and the nobles each shook hands.
Once the greetings ended successfully, the last noble also offered a handshake.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Kirma Pades, of the Pades family."
"I am pleased to meet you as well."
Kelian accepted the handshake from Kirma, the final noble remaining.
"It is an honor to meet such a famous honorable dischargee from the 7th Legion."
"It is also an honor for me to meet the family head of Pades, who achieved great merit in subjugating monsters."
"Hahaha. You flatter me. Compared to what emerges from the 7th Legion, what we've caught is nothing."
"But you risked your lives fighting monsters and protected the empire's people. That is truly commendable."
As they shook hands, the two exchanged compliments before letting go and changing the topic.
"But with such achievements, family head Kelian could have established his domain on much better land. May I ask why you chose this place two years ago?"
"Well... It was land already undergoing reconstruction, so I thought it would be easy to obtain and quick to set up the domain."
It made sense.
Acquiring a village already being rebuilt and turning it into a personal domain was relatively easy.
"But then, wouldn't the original residents of the domain have strongly objected? I heard this was once called the Seifert domain. What did those residents have to say about it?"
No matter how legally it was purchased, this village had a famous story.
Many people had received grace from the previous lord. It was unlikely they'd give up the village easily.
"No, there was no problem at all."
But the residents had given up the village easily. This was the absolute truth.
"I received formal permission to make the village my domain."
"Is that so?"
In fact, the old man who had once been the village chief handed everything over to Kelian.
The contract proving this was currently kept inside Kelian's desk.
"In that case, there's one more thing I'm curious about."
"What is it?"
"Was there a particular reason to claim such a small, empty village as your domain?"
A reason... That definitely existed.
But it wasn't Kelian's own will.
It was due to someone else, someone hiding behind him, urging him to do so.
The sole reason he remained the lord of this place was because of that person's request.
"That's..."
Kelian glossed over the question.
****
"What? Seifert domain was your friend's hometown?"
Kirma recalled the reason Kelian had given and was dumbfounded.
It was simply that he established his domain somewhere he had connections, but Kirma didn't believe it.
"If you're going to lie, at least make it convincing."
In fact, there was another strange rumor about this village.
"They're hiding something in this village."
Specifically, that elves appeared here.
Elves were the most notorious race on the continent.
There were more than a few people who'd lost their lives after being deceived by them.
"I'll make sure to kill them."
Kirma's wife was one who lost her life that way as well.
"I'll erase them from this world forever."
****
The Seifert domain originally consisted of a small village. It had an inn, some stores, and basic housing for residents.
But after Kelian became lord, its size expanded.
With a radius nearing several dozen kilometers, it wasn't strange to call it a big city.
Facilities that hadn't existed before now abounded.
Even the villagers from the old days were satisfied with this.
"So the day has finally come."
Even Louis acknowledged Kelian's rule as lord.
"When my parents were in charge, nobles from other regions never visited like this."
His parents were famous for their kindness, but no fellow noble had ever extended a friendly hand.
Aside from their good nature, they hadn't possessed much.
But now, something they didn't have back then existed.
"A leader does need strength, after all. Don't you agree?"
"True. With strength, there's nothing you can't take."
As a member of the special task force, Kelian strongly agreed.
Then he asked Louis, who was looking out the window:
"How's my track record, having revived your old home like this? The real lord?"
"What do you mean, Lord? The lord is right in front of me."
"You little punk, who was it that asked me to look after this village two years ago?"
The one who should have inherited this village was none other than Louis, the child of the previous lords.
But Louis disliked bothersome things and handed the position off to someone else.
"I'm only in this spot because you dumped it on me."
"You were originally a noble. Wouldn't a former noble be better suited for the seat than me?"
"You were a noble, too."
"But I was just a kid back then?"
"...."
It was an irrefutable point.
And in fact, whether thanks to his skills or not, Kelian revived the village in just two years.
"Fine. Enough talk. The event's about to begin, so let's not waste energy."
"Good call, my lord."
"...."
Is this brat trying to mock me right to the end?
Kelian was about to think so, but quickly calmed himself.
For two years, he'd dealt with the village's matters in Louis's stead, but the reason nothing big happened during his tenure was all thanks to Louis.
"My lord. The guests are now gathered in the garden."
At that moment, a mage entered and delivered a message to Kelian.
"And His Majesty and the princess will be arriving soon."
"Right. You worked hard preparing as well, Klein."
"Don't mention it. Compared to scanning the fortress perimeter during the 7th Legion days, this is nothing."
Klein spoke peacefully, as if he'd finally found a comfortable post.
"Oh, and when I visited the Imperial Court's Magic Tower recently, I picked up some strange information."
"What is it?"
"A rumor's going around among the nobility that some kind of organization is forming."
"An organization?"
To be precise, it was said that several nobles were banding together and plotting something.
"No one knows why they're gathering, but apparently they've been using forbidden sorcery. For example, summoning monsters from the demon realm..."
"Is that even possible?"
"In theory, it's not impossible. These days, magitech devices of a similar nature—even warp magitech devices—are easy enough to find."
Warp magitech devices? That was a familiar term for Louis.
Magitech devices for summoning monsters? They weren't theoretically impossible to make.
"So they'd use warp magitech devices to kill someone?"
"Exactly. Especially you, Louis—you'd know best. Back when you were in the 7th Legion, I'm sure your squad members used it once."
Hearing this, Louis remembered.
"Because of that warp, you lost half your squad."
Warp magitech devices. If you have one, you're transported to a marked location automatically.
Usually, they're used as escape tools, but Louis and the squad members had been killed by one.
'Dimo.'
Louis recalled one of the squad members who'd died. The guy who should have been the hero saving countless people.
That he was killed by the very magitech device meant for rescue—that was ironic.
'If you were here beside me, I'd like to hear what you think of this village now.'
Louis gazed down at the brightly lit village at nighttime.
The squad members who died back then also called this village home.
The fact that they were not here filled Louis with regret.
"The survivors were you, Silia, and those five, right?"
Rio, Pram, Victor, Simon, Rozen.
Those survivors still defended the village even now, regardless of the Demon King or witch or anything else.
"So what are those five up to?"
"Only Pram is here in the domain right now."
"And the rest?"
"As for them, around now, they're probably..."
Louis told Klein about what the other five had been doing.
"What? Are they insane?"
Hearing what the other four (besides Pram) were up to, Klein was appalled.
"Why would anyone go back into hell after barely escaping..."
"Well, they said they had something to excavate there."
"What could possibly be left to excavate..."
Frankly, claiming they went back for forgotten belongings would have been more believable.
"By the way..."
Then Louis glanced at Klein, suddenly uncertain.
"Who are you, again?"
"What?"
"You look so familiar."
Klein was dumbstruck.
"Hey, what kind of joke is that?"
"It's not a joke... It just feels like we haven't met in ages."
"I was only at the Imperial Court's Magic Tower for a few weeks—how is that ages!"
"No, it's a different feeling, more like we haven't seen each other in a long, long time."
"What the hell are you talking about, you lunatic!"
Klein exploded, demanding an explanation.
"And did you just call me an old man? Do you know how old I am this year?"
"Thirty-five, right?"
"Ah..."
There was no denying it now—he was an old man.
Klein's face turned pale as he flopped down.
****
"What do you mean, miss Rio isn't here! What is that supposed to mean!"
Estelle, who'd arrived in the garden of the lord's manor, suddenly erupted.
"That's how it is."
It was Pram who'd delivered the news.
Pram, now taller than two years before, told Estelle where Rio was and what she was doing.
"She might come back tonight if everything goes quickly. But excavations don't happen fast, so it's unlikely she'll make it back today."
"Oh no..."
Estelle looked utterly crushed, as if she'd lost her whole world.
Ninety-nine point nine percent of the reason she'd attended this event, which she'd originally planned to skip, was to see Rio.
"Don't be too discouraged. There'll be other chances after all."
"I'm sorry, Pram, but I don't think anything you say could comfort me right now."
Estelle's face was so pale she looked like an actual corpse.
Seeing his daughter in such a state, the Emperor turned to Pram.
"It's troubling if the Imperial Court's most prominent face ends up like this. Isn't there any way to recharge her morale?"
"Well, aside from Rio coming back... Oh!"
Pram's eyes sparkled as she thought of something.
"How about we go to Rio's room? We'll sneak in and steal the things she always keeps hidden! What do you think?"
"...??"
Hearing that, the Emperor's face twisted in confusion—was this girl crazy?
"That sounds amazing!!"
Even more astonishing, Estelle accepted the idea without a second of hesitation.
"Let's go!"
"Yep!"
Seeing the two rush off on their 'adventure' to Rio's room, the Emperor let out a deep sigh.
"I could really use a smoke."