Chapter 168 - What Kind of Country Is This (2)

[A Fire Dragon that suddenly appeared has turned the Southern region into a wasteland!]

My heart sank at that bastard Montpellier's words.

"Where is it right now?"

I spoke to Montpellier, struggling to calm my pounding heart.

[It is said to have set up a nest right where Duke Terjuang's castle used to be, refusing to budge.]

Terjuang, it was a family I was hearing of for the very first time in my life.

To my knowledge, there was definitely no family with such a name within the Kingdom.

So I asked where that was.

[A month's distance south from the imperial capital...]

"The imperial capital?"

[The Fire Dragon attacked the Empire, so naturally... Did you perhaps think this was happening in the Kingdom right now?]

"What?"

[The place the Fire Dragon attacked is the Empire, not the Leonberk Kingdom.]

"You fucking bastard!"

My surprise turned into anger, and my anger turned into curses.

"Why did you say it like it happened on our land!"

[The Empire is my homeland, so without realizing it, I just...]

That bastard Montpellier made a pathetic excuse and quickly continued speaking.

I suppressed my startled heart and listened closely to his explanation.

[The Fire Dragon has set up a nest in the southern part of the Empire.]

It was said that dozens of castles in the southern part of the Empire burned down, and cities turned to ashes. Among them, there were also legions waiting at a southern fortress to join the fleet heading to Dotrin.

It truly was a huge problem.

It was a huge problem for the Empire, which had lost dozens of families overnight and suffered massive damage,

[Even the neighboring territories that luckily escaped the Fire Dragon's rampage are said to have suffered significant damage. And among them are the castle and territory of my family as well.]

And it was a huge problem for that bastard Montpellier, who had suffered no small amount of damage to his territory.

[Even in the midst of this, His Majesty the Emperor does not seem to have any intention of ending the war with Dotrin. The forces in the northeastern and southeastern parts of the Empire are moving in unison.]

"If it's the northeast, that's toward our Kingdom."

And it was a huge problem for the Kingdom's Southern Legion, which couldn't help but be sensitive to even trivial changes happening beyond the border.

But just because it was equally a huge problem didn't mean the meaning was the same.

For the Empire, it was the greatest crisis since its founding,

For that bastard Montpellier, it was an urgent situation where the survival of his family was at stake.

And for our Kingdom.

"It's an opportunity."

It was a golden opportunity to break free from the Empire's tyranny and pressure.

* * *

The whining of that bastard Montpellier from the other side of the crystal ball could no longer be heard at some point. Lost in thought, I immediately got up from my seat and convened the command staff of Winter Castle.

"Just how incredible is this so-called Fire Dragon?"

They wanted to know whether the presence of the Fire Dragon that had settled in the Empire was merely a passing shower, or a storm that would shake the roots of a giant tree.

"Unless the Fire Dragon retreats on its own, the Empire will not be able to rebuild its ruined castles and cities."

The place where the Fire Dragon stayed was the Fire Dragon's territory itself. And the Fire Dragon was not an entity that showed mercy to those who invaded its territory.

Protests and negotiations could not exist.

Even if it was a justified protest from the original owner of that land, the only answer that would return was a hellfire that burned everything.

"If it were any other time, they would have taken their time and resolved it somehow, but the current Empire does not have that kind of time."

Of all times, they were in the midst of trying to show the Empire's majesty to the world by subjugating the Dotrin Kingdom.

It was a situation where the first subjugation had failed, and the second subjugation had essentially ended in a crushing defeat by land as well.

It was a time when the Empire's fleet, which had landed twice through the south, was also failing to achieve major gains after running into Dotrin's fierce resistance.

In such a period, even their mainland was ravaged by the Fire Dragon.

If time passed while leaving the Fire Dragon unattended after Dotrin, the majesty and might the Empire tried to project would vanish without a trace.

They had to show the Empire's strength somehow. Before the neighboring countries that had been suppressed by the Empire until now rose up one by one.

However, the opponents were not easy enough to serve as a display of the Empire's strength.

A kingdom founded by the descendants of the Marquis of the Azure Sky, who had prepared for war against the Empire for a long time.

A terrible monster that had turned countless transcendent beings into a handful of ashes.

The phrase 'caught between a rock and a hard place' must truly be meant for the current Empire.

The image of the Emperor arrogantly looking down at me from the imperial throne came to mind.

Thinking about that conceited Emperor suffering a headache made me burst into laughter without realizing it.

"Besides, that isn't everything."

Chuckling, I told them about the things that would happen to the Empire from now on.

If the neighboring countries rising up due to the Empire's damaged majesty was an invisible threat for now, the tragedy that would occur due to all sorts of entities drawn by the Fire Dragon's energy was a visible, more tangible threat.

Just as countless monsters and different races lived in this Northern region where the Mad Dragon had settled in the past, all sorts of things would soon flock to the Empire's territory as well.

If there was a difference, it was only the fact that while the Mad Dragon tried to control its followers to create its own kingdom, the Fire Dragon would not care about followers in the slightest.

Whether they bowed down in worship, or ran out to attack humans.

The command staff of Winter Castle, who had been racking their brains in their own ways with their heads bowed to infer the variables caused by the Fire Dragon's appearance, raised their heads in unison as if they had made a promise.

Amidst the pouring gazes, I confirmed the guesses they had brought up in their minds.

"What you are thinking is correct."

And I added one more word.

"All of the Empire's territories adjacent to the Fire Dragon's territory will become Winter Castle."

The shape of the winter they would face would not be a biting wind that froze even souls, but something burning that incinerated everything, like a hellfire blossoming on a dry winter day.

And what remained in the place where the hellfire swept through would only be a handful of ashes left after even the souls had burned entirely.

Countless deaths and chaos.

That was precisely what I had been waiting for the most.

"I will head to The Capital."

At my words, the spirit of the command staff, which had relaxed somewhat after the war ended, rose up sharply like a blade again.

* * *

There were many things to do before heading to The Capital.

Above all else, filling the void from the time I was away in Dotrin was the top priority.

In place of Vincent, who was incredibly busy with the duties of the lord of Winter Castle, Ranger Yorden guided me.

"That is the Magic Tower of the White Night."

When I turned my eyes following Yorden's finger, I saw a towering Magic Tower far in the distance.

As the Dwarves' touch had reached it, the exterior of the Magic Tower was impeccably beautiful.

Due to the treaty with the Empire, it could only be built up to three stories, so its shape looked as though a standard Magic Tower had been snapped off in the middle, but the Dwarves elevated even that appearance—which originally should have been an eyesore—into art.

Thanks to that, the Magic Tower looked exactly like an old ruin, a legacy of ancient times.

Admiration flowed out naturally.

However, what I wanted to see was not merely an architecture that was just beautiful.

I casually brushed past the greetings of the knights and Rangers guarding the Magic Tower and directly stepped inside.

Just as much as its art-like exterior, the interior of the Magic Tower was also excellent.

A space adorned with sculptures and decorations that were not excessive.

"You have come."

In the middle of it all was a High Lich.

The Mage of the White Night, Ophelia, who had concealed her bony frame and hideous appearance with a false illusion.

"Yorden. You wait here."

"Yees."

Leaving behind Yorden, who dragged out his answer, I followed Ophelia and ascended the Magic Tower.

The floor where Ophelia had first greeted me was nothing but an empty space.

The part that could truly be called a Magic Tower started from the second floor.

All sorts of bizarre facilities and equipment, and books bearing Ophelia's handwriting filled the area everywhere.

And there were about twenty Mages wrestling intensely with those things.

The Mages, whom I had only seen from a distance during the last battle, were muttering unknown words or making incomprehensible hand gestures with hollow eyes.

That sight looked quite bizarre to me.

Their eyes were hollow, and their complexions were pale. Since they were limply moving their hands and mouths, they looked exactly like the dead.

"Their talent falls short of the Mages of the past, but their enthusiasm is far greater."

It was exactly as Ophelia had said.

Whether they hadn't slept properly, several Mages were repeatedly dozing off, snapping their heads up to mutter something, and dozing off again.

Exhaustion was full on the faces of those who were not dozing off as well.

Among those Mages steeped in fatigue, there was also a face that I knew.

"Taylor?"

The first sparring opponent of the sparring journey I undertook a few years ago, the second son of House Tailheim, Taylor.

"Your Highness. To think you would remember the name of a lowly bastard like me."

Taylor accepted my acknowledgment with a face overwhelmed by emotion.

"Why are you here?"

"One way or another, I came to realize that I have an aptitude for magic..."

Taylor answered while straightening his shoulders.

However, what I asked was not about his talent.

"You were a knight, weren't you."

Though his realm and accomplishments were feeble, he was also a knight candidate who had accepted mana into his body. And knights who accepted mana into their bodies could not learn magic, except for a very special few.

In the past, that was the established theory.

However, the present was not the past, so the knights of today built mana in their rings instead of their hearts. And their rings were very similar to the Mages' circles.

Realizing that fact, I absentmindedly looked at Ophelia.

"It's difficult from three onwards, but if it's just one or two, you can change their traits to the extent of making suitable adjustments."

She added an explanation, saying that the reason the Magic Tower's apprentices were able to exert a somewhat usable power in battle in just two years was largely due to the power of the rings they inherently possessed.

A single hypothesis came to mind. However, that hypothesis was denied by Ophelia before I could even bring it up.

"You cannot use sword and magic at the same time. Additionally, the limit that the path of magic can reach when started through the rings is only four circles."

Having momentarily imagined a unit of Magic Swordsmen who used magic and swords simultaneously, I ended up smacking my lips in disappointment.

Indeed, realistically speaking, if that were possible, this world would have been overflowing with Magic Swordsmen.

As I swallowed my disappointment and was about to move my feet to the upper floor again, Taylor's voice stopped me.

"Next time, for sure."

When I turned my body, Taylor and the Mages, full of resolve, were looking at me.

"I will stand behind Your Highness as a proud, full-fledged Mage."

The Mages each spat out a word of their own.

Saying that they wouldn't drop out of the fight after casting just a single spell like this time.

Saying that next time, they would show a true flame of magic.

Their hollow eyes and fatigue-filled faces were their resolve, and proof of the faithful time they had spent.

I could not give any answer in the face of that enthusiasm.

I hadn't even had any expectations.

When I first came to Winter Castle, they were the ones whose lowly aptitudes and faded souls I saw and then simply forgot about. To me, they were merely hostages tied up as appetizing bait for the future of Winter Castle.

Such people were saying with clear eyes that they would become a strength for the Kingdom's future.

It felt strange.

At the same time, something hot surged inside my chest.

Right. What kind of country is this country anyway.

There were countless Masters and Mages in this country, and lion-like knights and dragon-like Mages existed here.

A country protected by lion-like people who did not fear death.

This country was exactly that kind of country.

In a small kingdom established on barren land, more Poems of Martial Deeds and Heroes were born than in any other place.

In front of it, the Empire's ambitions had to be thwarted time and time again, and they even had to relocate their capital due to severe counterattacks.

Leonberk was that kind of country.

That must be why the Empire put so much effort over such a long time into ruining the nobles and royalty of this country.

In the end, the royalty lost its power, and the nobles became corrupted.

However, even in the midst of that, the embers lingering in this land still remained.

Even if they had been frozen in the biting cold winds and snowstorms, and even if the reality of the Kingdom revealed on the surface was so miserable because of it.

The embers were constantly being passed on.

And now, those embers had begun to burn again.

The North was the beginning.

I looked at the flames that had just begun to burn, then turned my body.

I clenched my jaw tightly and silently ascended the tower.

Ophelia did not speak.

She merely guided me through the various parts of the tower.

Then we finally reached the underground dungeon that was made while avoiding the Empire's eyes.

An underground cavern that was still nothing but desolate.

"In half a year at the latest, half of the apprentices will reach this place. And here, they will come to learn the magic of the old kingdom."

Her words sounded as if she were telling me to just wait half a year.

But I did not have that much time to spare.

When I returned after looking around the Magic Tower, new news was waiting for me.

"It is said that the Imperial Army that advanced into the southern part of the Dotrin Kingdom suffered a crushing defeat!"

Saying that those who boarded the fleet and fled were only a small number.

It was the very moment when even the Empire's second subjugation had returned as a complete failure.

"It is said that the King of Dotrin and the Azure Sky Knights have sortied toward the imperial mainland!"

It was also the moment when the kingdom of the Marquis of the Azure Sky began its counterattack.

I gathered the command staff of Winter Castle and declared.

"I will head to The Capital."

Those who already knew I was going to The Capital had faces that found this unsurprising.

"All of the knight orders, excluding the Black Lancers."

However, their carefree faces did not last very long.

"You will march south with me."

Because they were not foolish enough to not know the meaning of my words.