Chapter 95 - The Alliance and the Empire

A piece of information reached the royal capital of the Kingdom of Barkat.

“There’s a mana stone vein in the Philerium Mountains?”

“Yes, I saw it clearly with my own two eyes! I even have proof!”

The Philerium Mountains were dangerous and teeming with monsters, but mercenary companies occasionally ventured there to hunt in pursuit of money. The mercenary presented a mana stone, claiming to have mined it himself. News of the discovery of such a vital mineral soon reached Pablo, the kingdom’s Crown Prince.

“I’ll go myself.”

“But Your Highness...”

“We need to find out whether it’s true. I’m the only one who can explore the Philerium Mountains without difficulty.”

“As for your escort...”

“They’d be a nuisance. The more people we bring, the more monsters will come after us.”

Pablo traveled to Philerium in secret, using the mercenary who claimed to have first discovered the vein as his guide.

“Here it is.”

“A cave?”

“Yes. Follow the passage straight ahead and you’ll reach an enormous cavern. The mana stones are beneath it.”

“What about monsters?”

“There are plenty, but against Your Highness...”

“There really are mana stones, aren’t there?”

“How could I dare lie to someone of your stature?”

The cave was long. Its sloping passage led endlessly underground.

“When are we finally going to reach this cavern?”

“We still have farther to go.”

“This deep?”

“Isn’t that why no one has discovered it until now?”

Bats fluttered overhead. The kobolds living in the cave thrust rusty blades at the intruders, only to have their heads cut off.

“Why did your company come all the way down here?”

“We heard rumors of a basilisk here...”

ROOOAR!

A monster’s roar echoed through the cave. The source of the heavy, pounding tremors was the basilisk, appearing just as they spoke of it.

“... So there really was one.”

The enormous basilisk unleashed its breath. Its petrifying breath, which turned everything to stone, was terror itself. Pablo swung his greatsword and charged, cleaving through the breath before driving his blade into the basilisk’s maw.

ROOOOAR!

It thrashed. Its tail lashed the cave wall, and its two forelegs struck at Pablo in succession.

“Damn it...”

The battle grew somewhat fiercer. Pablo’s greatsword eventually severed the basilisk’s head, but its rampage brought half the cave down. Pablo spat out the stone fragments that had gotten into his mouth.

“Is he dead?”

The mercenary who had guided him was nowhere to be seen. He deliberated briefly. Should he turn back or keep going?

“I’ve even killed the basilisk. I might as well see this through.”

Hungry, he chewed on a piece of raw basilisk flesh. It was tough and stank. He spat it out because it tasted awful. He continued descending for an entire day.

RRRRR!

Then he heard the sound of a magical tool digging into the earth. He sensed people nearby, along with the vast mana of the mana stones seeping through a crack. That was Pablo Barkat’s last memory.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, he couldn’t move. His mana felt unnatural, too, as though something were obstructing it.

“Are you awake, Mr. King Ant?”

“... An imperial dog?” he cried instinctively.

He saw a mask suited to a masquerade ball, with a bright smile beneath it. It was the spirit summoner who had blocked his attack—the woman who had summoned no less than a high-ranking water spirit to stop his strike.

“You bastards were imperial dogs?” Pablo ground his teeth.

The Empire was arrogant and pursued domination. It called the northern barbarians savages. Likewise, it disparaged the small southern nations as ants. It called the alliance an anthill and mocked Barkat as the king ant.

“You filthy bastards...!”

“You’re the filthy one. You attacked first, too.”

“Bullshit! The man behind you threw the first punch!”

The man behind her nodded. “I did.”

“Then I suppose that’s what happened.”

“What the...”

“Still, you’re the one who stopped people who were willing to leave peacefully. You won’t deny that as well, will you?”

“I should never have tried talking to you filthy imperial bastards! I should have cut your heads off immediately!”

“Is coveting other people’s property just everyday life for ants?”

“It’s mine!” Pablo shouted.

“A citizen of Barkat discovered it first, and I came here! If it isn’t mine, whose is it?”

“The Empire’s.”

“Shut up!”

“Did you mine any of it? Or leave a marker proving you discovered it first? You didn’t, did you? But we’re already mining it.”

“Shut your mouths, you disgusting imperial bastards! Philerium belongs to Barkat, and the mine belongs to the southern alliance!”

“There’s no reasoning with you. You’re so shameless it’s almost admirable.”

“Naturally. Change Louise Berft’s gender and you’d have him exactly.”

“Wow. That really is an apt comparison.”

“You bastards! Even knowing who I am...!”

“Knowing that is precisely why you’re still alive.”

Ernyan lifted his chin with her hand.

“Philerium is imperial territory, and there’s no reason these precious mana stones should go to ants. If you weren’t the king ant, you’d already be dead.”

“Shut up!”

“Besides, the mana stones are already finding their way into the Empire’s embrace.”

Pablo turned his head. At the sight of masked figures swinging pickaxes and the highly pure purple mana stones being mined one after another, he screamed. “M-my mana stones!”

“I told you, they’re not yours.”

“Stop that right now!”

The elves flinched at his murderous shout. Berge strode over, grabbed Pablo by the head, and pulled him out.

“Aaargh!”

His torso emerged, shedding clumps of dirt.

“Give me another pair of cuffs. Apparently one isn’t enough to restrain him completely.”

“Yes, sir.”

Logger produced another pair of cuffs and fastened them around Pablo’s legs. The magical device expanded to fit his ankles. When Berge released his head, Ernyan buried him in the ground again.

“Carry on.” At her glance, the elves resumed mining.

“Do you think you can do this and get away unscathed?”

“Well, angry ants are still only ants. Why don’t you kneel before the great Empire and beg for mercy instead? Who knows? We might give you a crumb of mana stone.”

“I am Pablo Barkat!”

“I’m Louise Berft.”

“...?”

“...”

“... You’re not a dwarf!”

“Only on the same premise that you’re Pablo Barkat, of course.”

“You dare insult me! I really am Pablo Barkat!”

“You’re too loud.”

Pablo struggled. Ernyan formed a blob of water and shoved it into his mouth. Sitting on a rock a short distance away, Berge watched and chuckled.

Simply keeping Pablo captive was by no means the right solution. There was plenty of ore. By contrast, there were few miners, and only one of them was skilled.

Pablo was alone, but behind him stood a kingdom and an alliance. They could hold him for a day or two, but eventually the kingdom would realize something was wrong and come looking for him. Of course, being a Star would buy them a fairly long grace period, but they couldn’t mine all the ore in that time.

Ultimately, there were three options. Give up at a suitable point and release him. Or hold him until the bitter end.

The latter would be an abduction—a Demon King abducting a prince. But that was the worst possible move.

Calling him a male version of Louise Berft wasn’t merely a matter of personality. There was his reputation, his backing. To the Kingdom of Barkat and the southern alliance, Pablo Barkat was the vanguard commander standing against the beast that was the Empire, and their spiritual pillar.

Abducting such a prince meant declaring war on the entire southern alliance. He was more than a mere symbol; there would be no escaping them until the matter was settled once and for all.

But on reflection, there was no need to get overly fixated on the mana stones. He did need them, and money mattered, but neither was worth losing sight of his priorities and ruining the bigger picture.

‘So...’

He would raise the stakes. Enrage Pablo and expand the scale of the war. He would have to compromise somewhat on the mana stones, but in exchange he could gain more demonic energy points.

‘Incidentally...’

She was toying with him better than he’d expected. Was this her calling? Berge’s lips curled upward at Ernyan’s mischievous smile.

* * *

Pablo wept tears of blood. It pained him to have been defeated and toyed with by imperial bastards. It infuriated him that they were plundering his kingdom’s resources.

‘I will have my revenge.’

But these imperial bastards were formidable. He had lost because he’d let his guard down, yet even if he hadn’t, victory would not have been guaranteed. Weakened by a defeat and shackles that blocked his aura, he felt utterly pathetic. Worse, his opponent wasn’t alone.

‘This is most likely an advance party. More imperial bastards will come.’

He had to escape and return with allies before then. Fortunately, after mocking him to their hearts’ content, the imperial dogs had grown lax about watching him.

Pablo calmly circulated his aura. The cuffs on his wrists and shackles on his ankles repeatedly cut off its flow. These devices gradually drained his physical strength as well as his aura.

Even so, he gritted his teeth. Slowly, ever so slowly, he gathered his aura. It felt as though his blood vessels were tearing. No, they did tear. His muscles ruptured. He fought desperately to burst the dam blocking the flow. And at last...

SNAP!

His hands and feet were free. Aura raced through his now-unobstructed pathways. His wounds burned all the more fiercely, but he didn’t let out a single groan.

‘Not yet.’

His strength slowly began to return. But he stayed still and watched the dogs. He could hear them laughing as they mined the mana stones.

‘That will be your last laugh. I swear...’

He watched and waited for night. Every night, they stopped mining and fell into deep sleep. Their apparent disregard for him enraged him further, but it was a priceless opportunity.

Night came, and the imperial dogs entered their magical tents. Having waited for his moment, Pablo finally emerged from the ground. He shot a glare at the tents, then raced toward the cave through which he had arrived.

He had no idea that eyes were watching him.

“Will he fall for it? I think my acting was a little clumsy.”

“He will. He’s Louise Berft with a different gender.”

“Even his brains?”

“They’re practically identical in every way.”

“Then he’ll return with the kingdom’s army?”

“He’ll probably make thorough preparations. A week at most.”

“Then we only have a week left to mine.”

“Ugggh... That fucking bastard. That son of a bitch.”

Logger wept tears of blood and hurled curses at the realization that they could take only a fraction of the enormous mana stone deposit.

“Next time I see him, I’ll bombard him with mana cannons...! One full barrage, until there isn’t even a bone left...!”

Berge ignored him.

“But won’t he find it strange if we disappear?”

“No. The Empire will probably send an army too.”

“You’ve already made arrangements?”

“Not personally.”

Barkat’s prince had come here as Jason intended. But there wasn’t the slightest sign of the Empire. Could Jason really have done nothing to draw the Empire in? Not a chance.

‘There are two possibilities.’

Either they had firmer evidence and were taking time to assemble a proper army to ensure success, or a reconnaissance unit had already come and gone, and they were now assembling that army.

The imperial army would probably arrive before long. And it would encounter Barkat. Right here.

Brimming with hostility, Pablo would attack without thinking the instant he encountered the imperial army. And that would be the moment war began.

‘Originally, the war ended in no time.’

The imperial army had swept in with overwhelming numbers, seized the mine, and never relinquished it. He hadn’t known how it had happened before, but now he understood. While Pablo Barkat was tentatively testing the waters like this, they must have dispatched a proper army and taken possession first.

‘That boldness and decisiveness...’

He would count on them again this time.

‘Still, just in case...’

Perhaps he should play one more trick.