NOTICE: Many of the novels have been removed because they might cause violations, which we were not aware of earlier.
(199)
It was a hot day in August, so hot that just sitting still made my nerves tense.
At 6 p.m., when the sun was beginning to set, an ominous and uneasy atmosphere hung over the interior and exterior of the imperial capital, Soletaraon.
“Arrrrrrrrrrr-!”
Southern light cavalry mounted on terror birds gallop through the capital.
Cheeeeek!
Knights in huge, steam-belching armor secured the eastern gate by the canal.
The police chiefs were nowhere to be seen, and their places were filled by the vassals of the great lords who had come up from various places.
“Secure this distance!”
“What are the movements of the central army?”
Knights with different flags and emblems marched along every street.
“I’m scared.”
“Let’s go in. We’ll hide until it’s all over. Just like a year and a half ago.”
Citizens who were the owners of the streets hid inside their houses.
“Kill that bastard Valencian!”
“Kill the Encroacher Valencian!”
He came running out in anger.
The wizard's keen senses caught all the ominous signs.
“Is that armor also engraved with lightning protection magic?”
"majesty."
“Cariosa couldn’t handle this, right? Can you check if you’re different?”
She didn't know that people lived in a world where they were intertwined.
Kururururung!
He raised his claws like a scared cat.
One difference was that its claws were much sharper than those of a cat, and could split open the stomach of even a great lord.
The dark clouds that had been scattering across the sunset sky began to gather again, and yellow electricity flashed from her yellow eyes.
The two mechanical engineers who had come down to the culvert paused for a moment.
Whioooooo-.
A damp wind blew like the calm before a storm, and Sereraji's long blue hair fluttered with static electricity.
Even the citizens who were filled with anger and ready to rush towards the Iron Blood Party's army looked worried as they looked at the sky filled with an ominous atmosphere.
“Could it be Valencian again?”
“What are you going to do this time!”
They knew that Sereraji was a powerful wizard, but they never thought that a human could control thunderclouds.
But the most dangerous lord in the West easily evaded Sereraj's claws.
"majesty."
“… … .”
“The people are becoming more and more agitated. They think that even this sky is the magic of Archduke Valencian. If this continues, I think there will be a riot that even my soldiers cannot stop.”
“… … .”
“You can’t just let him die, right? After all, he’s my little brother, right? Haha.”
Sereraji was a genius at magic, but he didn't know when to use his magic most effectively.
Since he ate and slept in the workshop every day and rarely got involved in worldly affairs, he had little information about what was going on in the empire at the time.
It was a law that you shouldn't touch something you don't know well.
“Damn Valencian!”
“Your Majesty, Sereraji! Please sentence that encroacher to death.”
The times and circumstances forced her to make a choice.
Marcus said with a grin.
“Follow me.”
Sereraji was carried by the mechanical engineer and boarded Marcus' mechanical carriage.
Those who saw Valencianus being carried screamed, but the mechanical knights and Marcus' elite soldiers pushed them back with the help of strange sounding magical devices.
* * *
Sereraji looked around the inside of the carriage.
The carriage had a high roof so she could ride without taking off her cone-shaped hat.
“I also enjoy wearing top hats.”
A normal person might appreciate Marcus's idiosyncratic taste by looking at the rich velvets and gearwheel decorations, but her eyes saw something much more than that.
A frame made of Gremorius's black iron, which is highly receptive to mana, complex spells engraved on the wheels and axles, a shock-absorbing structure using springs, a control stick using the heart of a familiar and a dominating spell… … .
Marcus realized that she knew all about it.
'He's a gem. Yes. The ivory tower has lost its talent.'
A woman who would one day become the empire's greatest lightning magician and a man who was already known as the empire's greatest magic engineer sat next to each other, a few dozen centimeters apart.
Marcus was the first to speak.
“Your Majesty, Sereraji. Aren’t you curious about where we are going now?”
Sereraji glanced at Valencianus, who was lying on the chair in front of him, and answered.
“I don’t know where we’re going, but wouldn’t it be a place that would be better for you than for me?”
“Haha. You’re as fresh as the rumors say. Stop it and just check outside the window once.”
Sereraji turned his head slightly, pretending not to be defeated.
The carriage had already left the east gate and was crossing the huge bridge.
To the south, the flags and tents of the central army following the imperial family could be seen, and to the east, facing straight ahead, there seemed to be one and a half times as many flags and tents.
——————
faqwiki.xyz
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
In the middle of it all was the unfair Nibelungen.
There were countless sentences he had seen somewhere, but Sereraji didn't know them, and Marcus smiled maturely and started counting on his fingers.
“First of all, that flag is the emblem of our House Instrumentum. The flag next to it and the one next to it are the flags of Freuchite and Gremorius. That great white shark flag was carried by the Knight Banneret, who was authorized by Cariosa of Asenorta. The four tall flagpoles next to it are the Marquises of the West, and the nine flagpoles surrounding them are the Counts of the West.”
"so?"
“These Dreadbird cavalry were brought by the three Marquises and the sixteen Counts of the South-West, as well as by Marquis Cesar, the Marquis of Marshal.”
"I see."
“Not many came from the South. That’s because the Red Admiral didn’t come in the first place. Still, three counts came in person, and five Banner Knights brought troops.”
Sereraji just blinked, not understanding what was being said.
With his chiseled face and his body movements tilting his chin slightly like a baby bird, he looked so innocent that he seemed indifferent.
'Are you saying that it's not part-time?'
Marcus understood that Sereraji was asking what was wrong with it, and applauded her generosity.
“Haha. So it doesn’t matter whether one admiral with the rank of count comes or not, or how many counts gather?”
“… … ?”
“After all, the Imperial Family is the Imperial Family. Well… … Even if we gather like that, we won’t be able to last more than a few days in front of His Majesty the Emperor. How many days? If he flies into the sky and throws his wrathful spear a few times, we’ll all run away screaming like children. Or we’ll throw away our honor as great nobles, kneel down, and crawl into the Imperial Palace to beg for mercy.”
Sereraji understood Marcus' words.
“Yes. He is not a human being. He bows his head as if praying to God and is not ashamed.”
Marcus admitted cheerfully.
“Haha. Yes. I think so too. If I try to oppose His Majesty… … there’s no answer. No matter how much I rack my brain, I can’t come up with a way to defeat the Sword Master and Grand Mage. What can I do?”
"then-."
“The most easy position he has is Emperor. Haha. Isn’t that funny? The ‘Emperor’ who leads two hundred Sword Expert Knights and a hundred Battle Mage is the most easy position. But what can I do? That’s the truth. So I have to bet my responsibilities as Emperor. I want to expand my territory.”
Sereraji asked sincerely.
“What does capturing Valencianus and that encroacher have to do with expanding your territory?”
Marcus was both a ruler and a wizard, and he loved to brag about his expertise.
“This is the proposal I will present to Your Majesty. I propose that Archduke Valencian be brought before the ecclesiastical court as an usurper, and that he be spared the death sentence.”
Sereraji did not ask how the great nobles could interfere in the church courts.
I wasn't curious, and I didn't have the confidence to understand.
Marcus took it as a surprise and continued to speak triumphantly.
“We have bribed the commoners and, as a high-noble representative, have agreed to support any new bills proposed by the Church. We will have to accept some Church oversight, but it is no big deal. It will pass no matter how much the court nobles oppose it.”
“… … .”
“Our alliance will achieve its own goals, including territorial expansion, preemptive strike rights against other countries, and tax cuts. The ivory tower will remain silent. They have already achieved their freedom, and the world will be disgusted.”
Marcus smiled victoriously.
It was a smile of triumph mixed with that of a reigning aristocrat, an acquiring bourgeois, and an inquisitive explorer, which went well with the vertical striped suit.
“Our High Lords are united, the Church is on our side, the Council is halfway there, and the Ivory Tower will remain silent. Jaryllis is supreme, but she is currently trapped in her position as Emperor.”
He looked at Valencian, who was lying like a corpse on the chair in front of him, his prosthetic hand interlocked with his real hand.
“Will he kill us all and save you? Or will he give us some rights and duties and save you? Or will he just leave you to be torn to pieces by the citizens and put a thicker leash on us?”
Valencian had no answer.
However, Marcus's legionary noticed that Valencian was pretending to faint.
“Valencianus.”
“… … .”
“You’re screwed. You’re either going to lose your life, or you’re going to lose what you died for. I’d rather have the former. I have no personal feelings for you.”
* * *
The alliance of great lords, camped east of the capital, made an official announcement in the square.
“We condemn the Archduke Valencian, the ‘Encroacher’. We cannot swear allegiance to the imperial house from which the Encroacher came!”
As soon as the announcement was made, Argos was crowned pope in front of the cathedral, and Argos used the great authority of the pope to submit a bill to the imperial council.
The law that would be passed in the name of the Emperor would apply to the entire Empire and to all places where the Church of Light was believed.
There were many provisions, but these two were the most important.
[All research related to the past must be done with the permission and supervision of the church.]
[The power to enforce the crime of erosion is equal between the royal family and the church.]
Now, the church could also punish the imperial family, royalty, and aristocrats on its own.
Of course, the imperial court nobility was not so foolish as to take it easy on this attack launched by the local nobility and the church.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs took out all kinds of weaknesses and secrets from the drawer and started to cause discord among the noble alliance, Hadritan cut the budget for the restoration of the magic mirror damage that the imperial family had been ceremonially giving to the vassals, and the Silver Knights, Brass Knights, and Helena prepared for a large-scale revolution.
Of course, the noble union also started it because they were confident that they could withstand that level of pressure.
“Imperial loyalist, Admiral Shuvyugatio, will not come to the capital!”
“Even the Red Admiral refused to swear allegiance to the Encroaching Emperor.”
Bringing in the enemy admirals who were left at sea because of the naval battle.
“Archduke Severic. A pillar of the Empire who has slain countless Encroachers!”
“What do you think about the current situation where the royal family, who should be the most wary of and hateful of the encroachers and the old, is being encroached upon, joining hands with the encroachers, and causing explosions in the capital?”
He bound the feet of Severic, who was known to have a personal relationship with Valencianus.
It is a northern archipelago with a small location in the central region.
With all the citizens taking to the streets to vent their anger at Valencian, it was impossible to openly defend Valencian personally, let alone the imperial family.
'I'm sorry, my friend.'
The facts about the white-haired, red-eyed boy were not known to the world.
The boy entered the innermost laboratory of the Nibelungen, and Marcus had no intention of taking him out again.
There is still no evidence that Valencian was an invader.
He was not vetted by the Church and could have just been a 'mad wizard'.
But everyone saw that he had horns growing on his head.
Moreover, his reputation as the capital's rascal certainly held him back.
In return for his proving himself harmless to the emperor by pretending to be a scoundrel, Valencian proved himself harmful to his subjects.
“I have not sent any message to His Majesty the Emperor to punish you directly. Do you know why?”
Inside the barracks, Marcus sat across from Valencian and conversed.
The two, who were evaluated by those around them as being unreadable, had one strange thing in common: they both wore suits.
“… … It must be because he is afraid of His wrath. The Marquis does not know what kind of person I am to Him.”
“Yes. It would be too dangerous for us to cut off your head ourselves, so we have sent the job outside. The parliament should be in session by now. The nobles of the court will be in an uproar, but the bill will eventually pass.”
Marcus smiled brightly, his eyes shining with his prosthetic eye.
“Congratulations, Valencian.”
“… … .”
“Now you’ve got the leash?”
It was an eerie voice that did not match the laughter.
Valencian smiled and tilted his teacup.
Beneath her slightly disheveled platinum hair, which was due to her failure to apply perfume, was a frivolous smile in her bright yellow eyes.
“The court nobles won’t make a fuss.”
"huh?"
“Because I asked you to do so.”
Red lips formed a curve, revealing neat white teeth.
“I won. The Iron Blood Lord.”