NOTICE: Many of the novels have been removed because they might cause violations, which we were not aware of earlier.
(193)
“Now.”
Iron Blood Lord Marcus smiled contentedly and sat up from the back of his chair.
He patted the prostrate messenger on the shoulder, ordered the knights to arm themselves, and sent a messenger to his old friend, 'Yeolsaamhu.'
“Yes. You couldn’t delay it any longer. The high nobles have already come up, Severic has been waiting for two weeks, and above all, we all know that he’s not some crazy wizard.”
Marcus looked out the bridge window into the cloudy capital.
Lightning flashed from the dark clouds.
The genius wizard was showing off his talents to the fullest.
Rather than an attack on the eroder boy, it seemed like a warning to the great lords gathered in the capital.
A warning to pretend not to see it even if you see it.
Summoning thunderclouds was almost a perfect skill for a wizard who could manipulate electricity.
The battle mages who followed Marcus couldn't take their eyes off the clouds.
“Is the lightning rod ready?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Yeah. Good job. Even that Cariosa had a hard time after being hit by that, so there’s no need for us to be so ignorant about it.”
Marcus was the kind of person who would find ways to counter genius rather than be overwhelmed by it.
He wore a long wire-like grounding device densely engraved with magical circuits.
One side was made to stick out from the side of the suit neck and stand up over the ear, while the other side was made to go down the back and inside the trousers and come out next to the shoe.
It was a magical tool that could send lightning strikes from above down to the feet and electric shocks rising from the ground into the air.
Marcus smiled proudly as he watched his men prepare to re-enter the city.
Huge mechanical knights wearing the copper-colored armor and magic tool capes he developed, battle magicians wearing exoskeleton magic armor and possessing the movements of sword users and the firepower of wizards, and even 500 elite soldiers armed with magic guns that he had clumsily recreated… … .
It was the most dangerous army in the West, formed by the most dangerous lord in the West.
Marcus said with a twisted smile on his cheerful face.
“Send a messenger. Since we’ve come all this way and gathered here, we should all take a bite of meat and go back smiling.”
Marcus briefly pictured the Emperor.
He has bright yellow eyes and a languid smile.
The emperor he saw two years ago was a monster, and the emperor he saw a few days ago was trying to imitate a human.
'That's why you lost. If it were you two years ago, you would have killed me or reached out to me. To get my airship and my gun. Then I would have bowed down before you and gone west with you.'
The emperor who would always cut off someone's neck if he didn't like them, and the Jaylilith who always did her best, are no longer there.
He who realizes that he has much and begins to compromise to protect it can never become a monster.
And in the world of the nobles, those who failed to become monsters were destined to be eaten by other monsters.
'I can't help it. I'll go west alone.'
Marcus led his 600 elite men and marched towards the gates again.
The guards stopped him and demanded that he be armed.
“Twice as many troops as last time… … .”
“Shut up.”
Huge machine knights swung their arms and sent guards flying, while heralds of the Instrumentum rode their horses through the streets of the capital.
* * *
Northern Grand Duke Severic was staying in a luxury hotel less than a five-minute walk from the Imperial Palace.
Nearly two weeks had passed since his arrival in the capital, but few of the city's citizens were aware of his presence.
Although he was first in line for an audience as the Grand Duke, he had not yet met Jaylilith.
As a sword master, he did not have a large escort, and had already received large amounts of food aid earlier this year.
There was a task to obtain a floating port, but that was something that could be brought up after the oath of loyalty.
There was no rush, so he waited calmly, and in that situation, Valencian secretly sent his attendant to convey a message.
[Dear Severic. The situation in the capital is not good. A mad wizard is causing explosions here and there. It is not a good situation for a nobleman like you to be out on the streets. I understand that the situation in the north is not urgent. If there is no urgent matter, our reunion will be postponed for the time being. With sincere apologies. Valencianus.]
Both Severic and Lucena were people with a keen eye for detail.
"majesty."
“I know. It must be an eroder.”
“… … How about staying on board? I don’t like the Grand Duke Valencian… … but he is certainly a capable man. If he fails to catch a predator in two weeks, His Highness could easily get into trouble.”
Severic hesitated for a moment and then shook his head.
He looked out into the street with calm gray eyes.
“That can’t be happening. If I were to show myself leaving… … that would be a breach of contract.”
"majesty."
“Didn’t you receive grain early this year? This time, he came to receive the floating port. Let’s trust him. Don’t you know that he is not the kind of person to start a fight?”
Lucena nodded, her voice dripping with laughter.
She unfolded the letter the messenger had brought.
“Please read it.”
“It’s a letter from Marcus in the West.”
[… … Assisting in the arrest of the mad wizard of the imperial family… … .]
Severic quickly grasped the gist of the letter.
“Marcus set a trap.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. If you want to help us catch the mad wizard, we will gather the great lords and tell them that in fact he was not a mad wizard, but an encroacher, and that the royal family was hiding this fact from us.”
Lucena also thought the same thing.
Lucena looked up at Severic with an emotional expression on her stern and neat face.
“Your Majesty, please do not go out.”
“Lucena.”
——————
faqwiki.xyz
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
“Your Majesty is as strong as a giant, but the great lords are as fierce and dangerous as the wolves of the snowy mountains. In just a few years, the long-cherished desire of the North will be realized, and Your Majesty does not need to get caught up in the chaos of central politics.”
Severic briefly pictured Valencian.
The haggard eyes and sallow cheeks that he tried to hide with his cheerfully swept hair and flashy appearance.
'I understand.'
The audacity with which he spoke like that even in front of the Northern Knights.
“Lucena. I’m sorry.”
"majesty."
“He trusted me, so I must trust him too.”
Lucena looked at Severic.
A dignified man with wavy blue hair and deep gray eyes.
“I knew you would do that. Come on. I’ve called a carriage for you.”
I always found that terrible nobility frustrating, but I couldn't help but love it.
The Northern Duke and his adjutant left the hotel.
* * *
The greatest lord in the East and soon to be a duke.
Cariosa Summerlin Asenorta also received Marcus's messenger.
She divided the 4,000 troops she had brought as an escort into three groups and sent them to various parts of the capital, while she stayed in the wide open space where the 2,000 troops were stationed.
The messenger was somewhat bewildered by the scenery inside the open space.
Because everywhere, knights were bringing out wooden buckets filled with water to cool their bodies.
It was August, the month when temperatures were at their peak, and the seamen of the East were longing for the waves, while the knights sent their servants to fetch cold water and soak their bodies.
The messenger clicked his tongue at the sight of the man or woman frolicking in the water wearing only a shirt, and then quickly chewed his tongue.
Cariosa himself had filled a huge portable bathtub with cold water, dissolved salt in it to make it as salinity-rich as seawater, and was soaking his sturdy body in it.
She was wearing a short-sleeved blouse, exposing her arms, and her scaly, shiny skin seemed to become even more tough and glossy when the sea water touched it.
The messenger read the letter carefully, and Cariosa smirked before ordering the knight to dip both the letter and the messenger into a nearby water jug.
“Whoooosh!”
“There is a saying that I really like.”
“Coolook!”
“They say water knows the answer.”
“Each… … Aah!”
“If you drink a lot, your skin will get better, you will lose weight, the blood will get off your clothes, and even the noisiest person will become quiet if you soak them in water.”
Cariosa wiped away her slight smile and spoke with her vertically slit pupils flashing.
“So tell me again clearly. What does your master want?”
In the face of that fierce momentum, the messenger confessed everything.
“Actually… … .”
He had also come prepared for this, and was certain that this would work better for a noble with a personality like Cariosa.
“Shall we try to accuse Valencian of colluding with the invaders?”
“I heard you wanted the throne… … .”
Cariosa grinned, revealing his shark-like teeth.
“Can you elaborate a little more?”
* * *
Saint Matthew and Bishop Argos had their last conversation overlooking the magnificent hall of the cathedral.
Argos looked at the knights waiting in the hall and spoke politely.
“We can pass the bill either by sacrificing or by saving Archduke Valencian. Either way, it will be beneficial to us.”
“… … Prepare a way to restrain Marcus. If this bill passes, the first place we will send the Templars is to his territory.”
"All right."
“Have you delivered the bill to the members of Congress?”
“The court nobles with multiple voting rights have been half-convinced, and most of the commoners have come over. With Senator Connell acting as a windbreaker, the support of the citizens will also be good.”
Mateos narrowed his eyes at the name.
He was a man who knew that Cornell was under the patronage of Valencianus.
'Is there any grumbling?'
“… … Okay. I’ll go for now.”
“Yes, your majesty.”
The saint left the cathedral with the knights.
Argos looked at the broad back, made the sign of the cross, and prayed.
May the light shine upon the saint's path.
May God's will be with his choice.
May his good intentions lead to good results.
* * *
Marcus sent messengers to almost every official who came up to the capital.
There was one from the North, one from the East, and virtually one from the South, West, and Southwest, but there were dozens of direct reports.
Even if they brought only 150 escorts each, they would have created a force of nearly 10,000 men.
As an ominous atmosphere permeates the capital under a cloudy sky, the two young lords also stand at a crossroads.
“You’re going to use Grand Duke Valencianus to pressure Jaylilith… …? Those twins aren’t the type of people who can care about things like public opinion, are they?”
“If your goal was to provoke my desire for revenge, then you’ve succeeded.”
Signine, a noblewoman with a stubborn, hawk-like appearance, with neatly tied brown hair and shining sky-blue eyes that give off a chill.
Grace, a mysterious noblewoman who wears a black iron crown, has long black hair, and has wise yet strange brown eyes.
The two young girls pondered and pondered in their seats.
Both of them had memories of losing their heavenly father and beloved grandfather to Valencian.
Signine was ruled by her emotions, and Grace was ruled by her emotions, but they both knew that this proposal had a high chance of success.
'If Jaylilith were a normal emperor.'
An emperor who values pride and legitimacy and who derives power from authority was bound to suffer.
It was a move only Marcus, who had already failed in face-to-face negotiations, could make.
It was believable that no great effort had been made to negotiate for this number.
'If I succeed, I'm free. But… …what if I fail? Won't Jaylilith kill us all? She's already purged our relatives, so there's no law that says she can't kill us.'
'If we send out one or two articles, we can do it. The problem is when we fail. If the retaliation is greater than we thought, the problem becomes serious. It would be better for everyone to think of the other side as a street… '
'Freedom… … La.'
'What would be good and what will happen.'
While the citizens shut their doors and windows and shut themselves in their homes, in the capital city where dark clouds obscured the gaze of the god of light, tyrants, scoundrels, and hungry lords were at each other's throats.