Treatise Of A Failed Knight

The journey to Sarvoasia, even on my mount, takes me three entire days—almost four.

That’s simply due to the sheer distance I needed to traverse.

Although Mid-sized Kingdoms are, by definition, not very large, the land mass is nothing to sniff at either. Most Mid-sized Kingdoms have a population of at least 120 million people, and they have plenty of unused or underdeveloped land left in their territory.

Thus, one can say that Mid-sized Kingdoms are rather large.

The Randalorion Kingdom, with its population of about 100 million, is actually on the smaller side. If not for our two Special Resource Points, we would be disregarded among the ranks of other Mid-sized Kingdoms.

But, I digress...

Crossing the border to the Sarvosia Kingdom doesn’t feel groundbreaking or special in any way.

I almost didn’t notice it when it happened.

The place where the territory stops belonging to the Randalorion Kingdom is called Blue Shallow River, and it stretches on for hundreds, if not thousands of miles.

The Blue Shallow River gets its name from the fact that it perfectly reflects the color of the sky and is thus blue. Additionally, it isn’t very deep. When the Sarvosia Kingdom invaded us in my past life, the soldiers crossed this river, and it gave them almost no difficulty.

One’s feet can touch the riverbed while the water barely reaches the waist.

It is that shallow.

Still, the Blue Shallow River is of great significance to both Mid-sized Kingdoms.

This long azure streak is the best way to differentiate between the two territories, and due to its exquisite color, it is difficult to miss even from high above.

There was even a time when people thought it could be a Special Resource Point, and a war was fought regarding who got to control the river. In the end, it was confirmed to be a natural spring, and thus, both sides called a truce.

The river became the border of both territories, and it has been that way ever since.

Upon crossing the river, I look straight ahead and find a rather tall and imposing building, with long gates that stretch out to both sides.

Rolling towards it is a well-paved road, and surrounding it are thick grasses and trees.

I recognize this building.

It’s one of Sarvosia’s Border Inspection Points.

There exist quite a few of these buildings—about twelve, if memory serves correctly—and the purpose is rather simple.

The Sarvosia Kingdom uses the Border Inspection Points to examine its immigrants, tourists, and so on. Essentially, they regulate who and what enters the Sarvosia Kingdom. Within the building are tons of documents featuring fugitives and illegal substances.

Anyone carrying such contrabands will be sent back or even be illegally detained, depending on the severity of their illegality.

The reason these buildings are not very close to the Blue Shallow River is due to how the river’s water tends to creep forward into the land during some periods of the year. During rainy seasons, especially, it would flood nearby areas, and if the buildings were closer to the river, it would cause some inconveniences.

Plus, there are times of the year when queues to enter the Border Inspection Buildings are long.

Thus, it makes sense that the building has such a distance from the border itself, creating a vast space of well-paved roads for travel and waiting in line.

Since the buildings exist in Sarvosia territory, they are also subject to its laws.

As such, even if one is a denizen of the Randalorion Kingdom, crossing the border means they are now going to unilaterally follow Sarvosia’s rules. Refusal usually leads to deportation or even detainment.

Extreme cases can lead to death.

Needless to say, anyone venturing into the Sarvosia Kingdom is required to check themselves through the Border Inspection Points.

Some have tried to escape this scrutiny and use the surrounding forests to their advantage.

However, I hear doing that is a terrible mistake.

There are all kinds of traps and patrol officers lurking within the forests.

They hunt down these illegal immigrants.

It is kill on sight.

This might seem like a horrible practice, but compared to the Randalorion Kingdom’s method, I’d say it is rather tame.

I don’t know the details, but I heard that Magivores dwell beyond the paved roads of the Border Inspection Points. Trying to invade the Randalorion Kingdom without using the appropriate channel guarantees a gruesome death at the hands of Magivores.

There’s also a special barrier surrounding the main road that wards off the Magivores, so they limit their activities to the unmarked points.

Compared to using Magivores, I suppose patrol officers are more preferable.

Regardless, the end is the same.

That’s why it’s much easier and safer to bribe the officials so they can grant you entry.

For those in flying vessels like me, who can evade the ground patrols, there also exist Detection Spells and Divination that allow them to intercept intruders high above. If said intruders do not comply with the border regulations, they would be treated as hostile and shot down.

None of this is strange and can even be considered trite per international law standards.

However—

’I can’t particularly obey these regulations now...’

I sigh deeply.

For one, the Floating Horse Construct is an S Grade Armament. I also have Golden Dawn, an Armament superior to A Grade, with me.

Possessing these two alone makes me a very suspicious figure.

One who will be considered extremely dangerous.

I also didn’t have time to obtain the King’s diplomatic seal for this mission, and there is a lot of paperwork that will be needed from both Kingdoms if I am to travel legally with these items.

Before these documents are processed, several weeks would have passed.

We don’t have that much time.

Besides—

’Going through this legal route will expose the fact that the Randalorion Kingdom has access to an S Grade Armament—something reserved solely for Large-sized Kingdoms. This could cause some troubles down the line...’

After thinking along these lines, it’s easy to see why I should avoid the legal route.

But how can I truly avoid their Detection Spells and Divination?

I don’t think it’ll be too difficult.

See, the Floating Horse Construct is rather quick.

Its normal travel speed is at an average of 100 to even 120 meters per second.

By activating Frontflow, I could multiply that by sixty.

At the minimum, I’ll be flying at about 6,000 meters per second!

That’s truly fast.

Much faster than what most people can detect.

Plus, even if they detect me, they will never be able to catch up with my kind of speed.

At most, they’ll consider me some kind of Magivore and alert the Kingdom through their communication channels.

But what of it?

I’ll deactivate the Floating Horse Construct once I arrive at the nearest city and actively begin my investigation. Once that time arrives, I’d have shaken off all pursuers, so there should be no issue with my integration into the Kingdom.

The biggest thing I have to worry about right now is time.

There isn’t much left.

’I need to give myself five days to spend here. I need to use that time wisely.’

************

It has been a few days since I arrived in Sarvosia, and my investigation is going rather slowly.

There really aren’t many clues regarding Leviathans here.

In fact, it appears this Kingdom is even more clueless about the existence of Leviathans compared to the Randalorion Kingdom. I also haven’t had the opportunity to meet any Leviathan governing this place.

I decided to interact with the Dark Guild branch of this Kingdom a while back, so I visited its Sarvosia Headquarters. I learned quite a few things, the most important one being that there isn’t any active Leviathan in Sarvosia at the moment.

The Dark Guild Leader is a mortal, albeit quite an accomplished Shaman.

He didn’t even have much knowledge of Leviathans, so I had to fight a little with him to prove my mettle. The results of the battle should be very obvious, but I easily defeated him with Frontflow and Golden Dawn.

He stood no chance from the start.

Thanks to him, I got to know a little more about the Sarvosia Kingdom and its political structure.

It isn’t much different from the Randalorion Kingdom, which should come as no surprise since Sarvosia is also a Mid-sized Kingdom.

However, there are a few differences in terms of leadership and its economy.

To start with, Sarvosia is not as prosperous as the Randalorion Kingdom. It only has one Special Resource Point, and although it is Rank 2, it cannot compete with the Randalorion Kingdom, which has two Special Resource Points.

As a result, despite its greater population of about 123 million residents, the quality of life here is much lower than what I am used to.

Then, in terms of leadership, it has nearly twice the amount of Nobility that the Randalorion Kingdom possesses.

The Randalorion Royal Court consists of over 1,000 members: The King, the Archbishop, three Dukes, seven Counts, and seventy-seven Viscounts, over three hundred Earls, and a thousand Barons. However, in Sarvosia, there are five Dukes, fifteen Counts, over a hundred Viscounts, five hundred Earls, and over two thousand Barons.

This only accounts for the High Nobility.

In terms of size, the Lesser Nobility of this Kingdom is about thrice that of the Randalorion Kingdom’s.

It’s almost absurd.

The land is indeed vast, more than the Randalorion Kingdom, but it lacks the appropriate wealth to sustain so many Nobles in its borders. I imagine this would lead to certain disputes and political instability, but none of those are my concern.

In terms of cohesion, it appears the Kingdom is lacking in this department as well.

This must have contributed to Zarius’s ability to manipulate them into starting a war with the Randalorion Kingdom.

I could probably achieve the same result if I pulled the strings for about a decade or so.

Birds die for food, and men die for wealth.

Since this Kingdom isn’t very wealthy, I’m sure the allure of a falling Kingdom with a lot of resources will be irresistible to its higher-ups.

In any case, since my knowledge of the Sarvosia Kingdom has improved drastically, I believe it’s time to deepen my search and play my most powerful move—meeting the Sarvosia Royalty.

**********

"Huu..."

A few more days have passed, but I can boldly say some progress has been made.

Right now, I am walking towards a desolate place. A land that once bustled with vitality but has been abandoned for many decades now.

Naturally, I’m referring to Zarius’ village—the same one that was destroyed by Lucien Zevalis.

It was only after meeting the Royal Family of the Sarvosia Kingdom that I was able to extract this information, so I came here right away. As for the Royal Family itself, I find nothing special about the members.

Likely, a situation similar to the Randalorion Kingdom occurred here.

If I weren’t so pressed for time, I would have checked out the Royal Vault and perhaps plundered some treasures. But such petty things can wait, and I honestly doubt anything they have will compare to what I saw in the Randalorion Kingdom’s Royal Vault.

Even if it did, and I see many things I like, I currently do not possess the ability or opportunity to carry so many things at once.

Besides... I have to focus on the priority!

—Catching Lucien Zevalis!

"But this... is rather awful," I mutter quietly as I enter the ruin of a village and stare around.

This is a land that reeks of bloodshed.

And death.

This is essentially a ghost town.

I can see what resembles skeletons scattered around the vast village, with dilapidated structures and broken down buildings filling my line of sight.

A heavy feeling courses through my chest as I walk into this place.

Even now, decades later, I still catch the whiff of something burning. It stings my throat and causes me to feel sick in my stomach.

But I continue advancing.

My Existential Resonance is turned on, and I look around me for clues.

But I find none.

All I see are signs of the merciless carnage that was wrought here.

Until... I make it to the village square.

There, strangely enough, I find someone waiting for me.

"W-what?!"

It is the most unexpected person.

With a gentle smile that appears far too calm, and a fedora tilted slightly downwards, he turns and casts his narrowed gaze on me. A sharp glint appears in his monocle at this point, and his sickly thin skin gleams with a subtle hint of perverse vitality.

I sense immense danger from this man.

Even as he stands still, letting the stale air barely lift his dark trench coat, I feel immense dread from his presence.

It is scary.

Oozing death and all manner of calamities.

His Existence bears heavily on me, casting a burden on my own Resonance.

It’s almost like he is being oppressive on purpose.

Still, I maintain my ground.

I reach for my Armament and grit my teeth while staring at the Adept before me in hatred.

"Lucien Zevalis!"