Chapter 178 : Chapter 178
Chapter 178
“What is this insolence, Lord Karl.”
“I am in a place where a plot to strike me is being hatched. Can this be called insolence?”
“…”
Ellenhower sighed at the realization that I already knew everything.
“I will not deny that an alliance with Duke Jacques Marin could be a good decision. However, Your Excellency. I am a man who does not wish to become emperor. What about him?”
My eyes were fixed precisely on Ellenhower. What about him? What about Karl before his eyes? Who was more dangerous?
Come to think of it, both were dangerous individuals.
One, you could not know what was inside him. The other, you could see right through him, but he had the power to sweep everything away just as much.
Crucially, both were individuals he could not hold in his hands and wield. Was the position of emperor one where you could wield everyone?
No, not even the first unifying emperor, Gloster the Great, could do that.
“What have you come to talk about? If you knew of our movements, you could have attacked us beforehand.”
“I will say it again. I am a man who does not wish to become emperor.”
I repeated the same words.
“And, I believe that you are the one in this continent who can, at the very least, become emperor.”
“…”
His straightforward words brought a fresh shock to those gathered.
“As long as I live, I will never have any interest in the emperor's throne. I came to deliver that message.”
There were no further additions. I truly delivered only those words and turned my body.
“Are you really just going to say that and leave?”
“What more is needed?”
“…”
Nothing more was needed.
Ellenhower had already understood everything. His words contained everything.
“It is not needed.”
“That’s it.”
Just as he had come, he simply turned his body and left the conference room.
It seemed like a storm was about to brew, but in reality, the fierce wind blew a single gust that cooled their heads and then disappeared.
“…”
The conference room was enveloped in silence several times that day. That silence lasted for quite a long time.
***
“Are we really going back just like this?”
“What more is needed?”
“Well…”
Kelvin had eyes and a head too. Considering what had just happened in Somerset’s conference room, it didn’t seem like anything more was needed.
Moreover, they must have felt many things from the fact that I, alone and without even drawing my sword, had made all of Somerset's troops back down.
Of course, if they had been determined to stop me, it would have been naturally difficult for me to break through alone, but in any case, my overwhelming military power was not going anywhere.
“Truly, you are amazing.”
“What is?”
“It’s just something like that. About you, my lord. What should I call it… the feeling of a person who doesn’t seem like he would ever lose?”
Ignoring Kelvin’s words, I, without knowing what results this excursion would bring, spurred my horse again towards the Arthur Domain.
Dudududududu.
After leaving the Somerset Domain and traveling for quite a long time, the sound of horse hooves tickled my ears.
“My Lord.”
The sound of the hooves was clearly moving precisely in my direction. An impossible feat unless someone had told them the location. I quietly summoned Laevateinn and gripped its hilt.
Kelvin also placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and waited until the sound of the hooves was completely close to them.
“Woah, woah, woah…!
Just then, a group of about 30 people appeared before me. They were faces I had seen before.
“We greet the Lord.”
The one at the lead dismounted from his horse and bowed his waist at a 90-degree angle in front of me.
“It’s been a while. Is Duke Jacques Marin well?”
“Yes?”
Louie, who had finally met me after a long ride, had a gut feeling that something had gone terribly wrong from the very beginning of his first greeting.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Clumsy.”
With my single word, Louie was convinced that I already knew everything. In times like these, the direct approach was the answer.
“I received a request from Duke Jacques Marin. He asked me to work under Lord Karl for a year and provide information, and in return, I received 1,000 gold and a pouch with space-expansion magic on it.”
Louie candidly revealed everything about himself.
“What are you good at?”
“Yes?”
“I asked what you are good at.”
“I am a man-hunter and a problem-solver. My specialties are tracking, observation, and information
Gathering.”
“Follow me. I’ll give you a job.”
“Are you serious?”
“Of course.”
In this very strange situation, Louie couldn't understand what was going on. Why on earth was I accepting him?
“How can you trust me?”
“I have no intention of trusting you.”
“But I will be sending information?”
“Go ahead and send it.”
“…”
Both Duke Jacques Marin and I, were they seeing things that Louie couldn't imagine? Why couldn't he understand this whole situation?
Pat, pat.
Someone patted his shoulder and grinned. It was Kelvin, the Knight of Holy Light, who always moved like my trusted subordinate by my side. Seeing no malice in his refreshing smile, Louie’s expression looked like he was about to cry even more.
“Don't try to understand, just accept it. You won't understand anyway.”
What on earth was he supposed to do? With a whatever-happens-happens attitude, Louie simply stuck behind me and rode his horse. It would work out somehow. Surely, a man rumored to be a Knight of the Lighthouse and a Saint wouldn't suddenly enter the castle and chop off his head.
Compared to him, he was just an ant. Louie decided to act comfortably, just as Kelvin had said.
***
“No, so? You mean you just went in there like you were storming the place, threw out something like a declaration of war, and came out?”
Nod.
“…You really.”
Anne, who had heard my story from Kelvin, couldn't stop a hollow laugh from escaping at this absurd situation. She knew I wasn't normal, but she never thought I would be this reckless.
Still, the me she had seen was a rather cautious person, so she had thought I would have gone there politely.
“Why did you do that? You’ve never acted so recklessly before, have you?”
“I have. You just don’t know.”
In fact, I had acted quite recklessly in Luton Town and at the Vatican.
“…Are you saying you did well?”
“That’s not it.”
“The deed is done. The decision will be made by Duke Ellenhower, but in any case, we have to block both sides.”
Looking at the defense area spread out on the battle map, the range was quite wide. It was no exaggeration to say that the entire west was a defense area. Fortunately, Count Vito could block the southwest.
If the dwarves provided support to the central-west, a picture of being able to hold them off somehow emerged.
“What do you think about Duke Ellenhower?”
“He will…”
He would move as I thought.
It was no exaggeration to say that the key to this defensive battle was in Ellenhower's movements.
“Let’s wait and see. How things will unfold.”
***
The atmosphere of the three domains continued as if a war could break out at any moment. The people in the border areas had already evacuated or hidden somewhere, preparing not to be caught up in the war.
A suffocating tension lingered in the air.
What broke that sensitive standoff was none other than Duke Jacques Marin's army. They marched towards the western region of the Arthur Domain without a moment's hesitation.
On the western front of the Arthur Domain was the Horsaes Domain, which had been engaged in a fierce battle with Postasia until recently.
Before the blood of Definir had even dried, the clouds of war once again loomed over Horsaes.
“Phew… it hasn’t been long since the Lord left, and it’s like this again.”
The soldiers on the western front sighed at the tiresome, continuous battles. The heroes of Horsaes who had fought against the soldiers of Postasia in the past had all given their lives here.
“Let’s not dishonor the names of our seniors. Let's fight here too.”
To overcome their fear, they puffed up their chests with even greater bravado.
Inside, they felt like they wanted to run away and die, but for the comrades standing next to them and the families they had left behind, they were overcoming the fear of death.
“Hey, didn’t something move over there?”
“What… why are you suddenly scaring people like that?”
“I’m telling you, something really moved over there!”
“Shoot a fire arrow.”
Pew!
At the senior soldier’s words, a fire arrow flew high into the sky from behind, illuminating the view. Nothing unusual was found where the arrow passed, but the soldier who had seen something a moment ago shot another fire arrow and pointed it in the direction he had indicated several times.
“What’s going on?”
Sure enough, at the continuously flying fire arrows, a centurion approached where they were.
“Well… I thought there was something far away…”
The centurion did not listen to the soldier's words carelessly and shot a large number of fire arrows in the direction the soldier had shot.
“…!”
The bodies of what appeared to be enemy soldiers came into the soldiers’ sight.
Ding, ding, ding, ding!
With the sound of the bell, soldiers quickly lined up on the ramparts of Horsaes. At the same time, enemy soldiers began to swarm in front of the city walls like a swarm of ants.
On a certain day when the two moons were hidden by clouds.
The curtain rose on the Second Siege of Horsaes.
***
“No, I mean, we need to move faster.”
“Well, what can we do about our short legs!”
The fully armed dwarves were constantly moving based on their unique stamina, but their speed was slow due to their short legs.
“Didn’t Lord Karl say so? Our Horsaes friends can only survive if we arrive on time.”
“That’s why we’re moving like we’re dying right now!”
The dwarves were moving with a lot of strange equipment loaded, which made their movement speed seem even slower.
“We don’t have much left, so let’s put in a little more effort!”
Cheering each other on with their unique spirit, the dwarves moved without rest. After moving for a long time, the place they reached was the ridge behind the Jacques Marin army attacking Horsaes Castle.
“Fortunately, it seems there are no enemies here.”
“Those bastards are completely relieved, thinking their rear is safe.”
The dwarves smiled silently and began to diligently install the things they had brought.
Their work speed was at a phenomenal level, and it only took a few minutes to level the ground and install all sorts of strange weapons on it.
“Well then… shall we begin too!?”
“Yes!”
After that short and thick answer, the prelude to the dwarves’ war also rose.