Chapter 198 : Six Masters
Chapter 198: Six Masters
The force New Level had mobilized consisted of around three hundred knights.
Every single one of them was cavalry mounted on warhorses.
Aren't those the warhorses we sold them?
'Probably. The only ones in this region capable of providing proper warhorses are the Horse Tribe—in other words, the Beastman Alliance.'
It wasn't something worth worrying about.
Knights were dangerous because they were knights, not because of their mobility.
A knight's mobility truly shined in open-field battles fought across wide terrain.
But trying that against the Beastman Alliance would only end with all of them being swallowed up by the Horse Tribe.
Honestly, even now, I had no confidence in facing the Horse Tribe on an open plain.
'Three Masters, huh.'
What concerned me more was New Level's Master-class strength.
Alex Level had brought three Masters with him for this battle.
One of them was Jonathan, the "Executioner," a Master renowned for specializing in combat against other people.
He had been a famous Master for a long time.
He was practically a symbol of Masters, standing shoulder to shoulder with Haken's Stormbringer.
'But the other two...'
The problem was that the other two Masters accompanying Jonathan were completely unfamiliar, even to me.
The Masters publicly known to belong to New Level numbered only three.
Jonathan, along with the two Masters who had participated in the Yupitelio subjugation, was supposed to be New Level's entire Master force.
Yet now two completely unknown Masters had appeared.
Naturally, that made me wary.
'Besides, they're not the same Master who attacked Saint alongside the Imperial bastards.'
I'd heard that the New Level Master who had attacked Saint together with the Imperial forces was a knight who wielded a greatsword like I did.
But the two standing here carried entirely different weapons.
One used a standard longsword.
The other wielded a massive glaive.
Just by looking at them, it was obvious they didn't use greatswords.
That meant they weren't the same person.
'Then... does that mean New Level has six Masters?'
Masters weren't people who simply appeared out of nowhere.
Just how was this possible?
Were they exceptionally good at recognizing talent?
Or did they possess some secret method of raising Masters?
Whatever the case, those bastards really had tricks for everything.
'Come to think of it, they've always been suspicious.'
Starting with my ex-wife disguising herself as Yuria and marrying me.
Even now, I still had no idea what method she'd used to disguise herself so perfectly.
'Apparently the reason Deron Level still hasn't awakened is due to poisoning. They said he'd ingested a mysterious poison, one so unusual that even the High Priest couldn't identify it, over a very long period of time.'
Right before departing for Saint, I'd briefly spoken with the High Priest about Deron Level.
The reason he still hadn't awakened was poisoning.
The symptoms had become so severe that only someone like the High Priest could cure him.
Fortunately, thanks to the High Priest's treatment, he would awaken before long.
Even so, not even the High Priest, who had cured the poisoning, knew exactly what poison had been used.
The only thing they could deduce was that Deron Level had consumed an extremely small amount over a long period of time.
And that it was such a remarkable poison that anyone short of someone as capable as the High Priest wouldn't even realize the victim had been poisoned.
It left quite an impression on me.
After all, Iron Johnson had gone through something strikingly similar.
'To begin with, isn't it strange that I reincarnated into Iron Johnson's body after he'd successfully survived the assassination attempt?'
Was it around the time the Horn Rabbit Ranch had begun operating normally, giving me some breathing room?
I'd looked into it personally.
The fact that I'd reincarnated into Iron Johnson's body after he'd already seen the assassination attempt in advance through the Future Diary's visions had always seemed incredibly strange.
From what I'd heard, he'd handled the assassination attempt without much trouble.
So why had I ended up inside this body?
It simply didn't make sense.
Poisoning, in particular, had always been my biggest suspicion.
At the time, there was still quite a bit of expensive liquor my ex-wife had supposedly brought with her.
That alone had seemed highly suspicious.
Liquor was an expensive luxury item.
There was no reason for her to bring such a large quantity.
I'd also heard that Iron had practically lived drunk after she left.
Preparing that much liquor in advance was simply too suspicious.
So I had Peter examine what remained.
The results, however, were disappointing.
He found plenty of strange substances mixed into it.
But no poison.
Still, after hearing the High Priest's explanation, I couldn't help wondering whether they'd used a poison so extraordinary that even Peter couldn't detect it.
More importantly, their methods were eerily similar.
They poisoned the target...
Then sent assassins afterward to make absolutely sure the job was finished.
'An unknown disguise technique, and a poison that even Peter, a master alchemist, couldn't detect. They really have every trick imaginable.'
Just where had they obtained things like that?
Could they have been secret techniques passed down by the royal family?
Or perhaps they'd opened some hidden royal treasury?
Even now, it was the same.
Seeing three Masters suddenly appear out of nowhere made me suspect they'd retrieved some miraculous elixirs from the royal treasury.
If it was the Level Royal Family, which had ruled the Levela Peninsula for hundreds of years, it wouldn't be surprising if they possessed secrets like that.
“So Haken intends to oppose the Level Kingdom to the very end?”
“A kingdom? You dare proclaim a kingdom from the southern edge of the Levela Peninsula?”
“Are you denying the legitimacy of the Level Kingdom?”
“What legitimacy? Aren't you ashamed of calling yourself king over nothing more than a signet ring? If you intend to issue orders to a Grand Lord, you should at least possess the ‘Holy King's Emblem.’ I cannot acknowledge you.”
While I was still wary of the appearance of the new Masters, Alex Level and Ulrison exchanged sharp words.
Nothing particularly surprising was said.
Alex Level wished to restore the Level Kingdom.
Ulrison Haken refused to acknowledge Alex Level as the rightful ruler of the Level Kingdom.
On top of that, Ulrison Haken already suspected Alex Level of being the mastermind who had incited Durek's rebellion.
There was no way meaningful negotiations could happen under those circumstances.
Their positions were simply too different.
There wasn't even room for negotiation.
“Do not assume the Imperial Army that attacked Levelium was the Empire's entire remaining force.”
“What do you mean?”
“No one knows when the Empire's survivors may once again set their sights on the Levela Peninsula. Though the Empire has become a shadow of its former self, it remains vastly larger than we are.”
“So?”
“You know how dire the Empire's situation is. That land has truly become hell itself. Compared to that, the relatively safe Levela Peninsula must seem incredibly desirable.”
“So the Imperial bastards might invade this place again?”
“That is exactly why we must unite.”
Still, among Alex's words was something we couldn't afford to ignore.
Even in its ruined state, the Empire remained far larger than the Levela Peninsula.
And the surviving remnants of the Empire might one day target the peninsula again.
What that meant was simple.
The army commanded by Regent Octosia, which had occupied Levelium, amounted to nothing more than a provincial force by Imperial standards.
Roughly comparable to Qing Province or Xu Province during the Three Kingdoms period.
The Empire had been so enormous that there were probably dozens of warlords on Octosia's level.
Even if the Empire stood on the brink of collapse, those who survived would have found a way to keep living.
And their numbers would undoubtedly outnumber the survivors of the Levela Peninsula.
The Empire's former homeland had become nothing less than a paradise for monsters.
I'd heard there were dozens of Disaster-class monsters.
There were even several Catastrophe-class monsters.
Under those circumstances, it wasn't strange that survivors of the Great Cataclysm within the Empire coveted the relatively safe Levela Peninsula.
In fact, that was exactly why Octosia had led the Empire's remnants into Levelium.
'Could it be... was bringing Octosia in and handing over Levelium all part of securing that justification?'
To awaken fear of the Empire...
And use that fear to justify rebuilding the kingdom.
If Octosia had achieved greater success...
If the people of the peninsula had felt a stronger sense of crisis...
Then perhaps many more would've supported the restoration of the kingdom.
The Level Kingdom had always been the Empire's greatest rival.
Right up until the Great Cataclysm, it had continued growing while keeping the Empire in check.
And if Octosia's attack had inflicted serious damage on Vines or Haken as well, restoring the kingdom would've become far easier.
Perhaps New Level would've absorbed Haken and Vines under the banner of rebuilding the kingdom.
So even bringing in the Empire had its own justification.
'Even so, they've done far too many despicable things. Though I suppose that's how they justify it to themselves.'
Using the Imperial Army at least came with some excuse.
But what justification was there for trying to assassinate Deron Level and Haken Lord?
That was nothing but greed.
Our side had it even worse.
They'd sent some strange woman to deceive me into marriage.
They'd tried to assassinate Iron Johnson.
Then, as if that weren't enough, they released the Rat Tribe and even planned to invade our territory by using the Imperial bastards.
From our perspective, there wasn't a bigger bastard than him.
'To begin with, there's a much better way to keep the Imperial bastards in check.'
And what's that?
'What else? Increase the Beastmen's numbers.'
Seriously.
Suppose the Beastmen population increased tenfold.
Even if the Imperial Army invaded in overwhelming numbers, there'd be nothing to worry about.
Tens of thousands of Beastman warriors would charge at the Empire with bloodshot eyes.
How could they possibly conquer the Levela Peninsula under those circumstances?
'Ah... wait. Could it be? Was that why he did it?'
What do you mean?
'Perhaps he's the southern lord who understands the Beastmen's strength better than anyone.'
He understands the Beastmen's strength?
'He's the one who released the Rat Tribe into Johnson Lordship.'
I see. If the Rat Tribe had returned, the Beastmen would've been thrown into turmoil as well.
'The Beastmen aren't exactly a united race either. If the Rat Tribe had received support from the Empire, even the Lion Tribe wouldn't have dealt with them easily.'
If assassinating me and releasing the Rat Tribe had been his method of keeping the Beastmen in check...
Then it all started making sense.
Honestly, I'd never understood why he'd gone after Johnson Lordship in the first place.
But once the Beastmen formed an alliance and truly began cooperating, their strength became absolutely terrifying.
If Alex wanted to successfully restore the Level Kingdom in the south, the Beastmen needed to stay quiet until then.
From his perspective, that must've been a serious concern.
But if the Rat Tribe, backed by the Empire, established itself here, he wouldn't have to worry about that anymore.
'My ex-wife was sent to Johnson Lordship to secure the Rat Tribe's Divine Relic. Everything fits together.'
A man with ambitions that great would've driven out both the Empire and the Rat Tribe, then turned his attention toward the weakened Beastmen.
'The Beastmen's territory is rich in underground resources. Iron, in particular, is one of the south's most valuable strategic resources.'
Realizing the Beastmen's potential ahead of time proved he wasn't stupid.
But the way he went about it was so underhanded that it left me speechless.
Couldn't he have simply chosen to cooperate with the Beastmen like we had?
Anyone who spent even a little time with them would quickly realize they weren't particularly greedy.
'Then again, I can't expect someone who treats assassination as an everyday occurrence to think that way.'
I didn't care what justification he came up with.
To me, he was nothing more than a thug who had wreaked havoc on Johnson Lordship.
The problem was...
He was an incredibly powerful thug.
Six Masters.
That wasn't a force anyone could underestimate.
'Judging by Master-class strength alone, Haken and Vines would probably have to join forces just to match them.'
Wars weren't fought solely by Masters.
But when the difference in the number of Masters became this large, confronting them wasn't easy.
What should I do?
We couldn't stay in Haken forever.
At the same time, it made no sense to mobilize the Beastman Alliance's entire army and attack New Level.
If we weren't careful, it could trigger an all-out war between humans and Beastmen.
As I watched Alex Level's retreating figure after our meaningless negotiations came to an end...
I found myself sinking deep into thought.