Chapter 130: I Couldn’t Love You. I’m Sorry (3)
“Haa. Now I’m finally warming up. Oh my, Unni, when did you come out?”
“I just came out. Did you say hello to Namia?”
“Yes. I saw you coming in with Risel. But Risel, what were you talking about?”
“About the direction of Arisein-ho’s voyage. We can’t just drift aimlessly. Ah, right. Where’s Lea?”
“He’s glad Unni is back. And he said he’ll devote himself to training for the time being? He said he probably won’t be able to come out until the summer after next. Unni, what do you think about this?”
“It’s okay to receive teachings from various people. That’s how I learned too. There are many good teachers in the Hall of Martial Arts.”
“Yes. Hmm. That’s unexpected. Lea is lucky. He has something to do.”
I smiled bitterly at Aila’s words.
Actually, the current situation isn’t that we don’t have anything to do, rather we have a lot to do.
The problem is, like a sailing ship, if you set a goal, you move away from other goals, and you have to cut off your attention to them.
It’s wavering. That’s why there’s no destination.
Aila blinked and turned to Levidian.
“What does the shipowner-nim think?”
“Shipowner?”
“Huh? Wasn’t that right?”
“Hmm, it’s not exactly wrong.”
The two villainesses arbitrarily attached an ownership tag to me. It’s even sadder that I can’t resist.
Levidian smiled pleasantly and said.
“From the shipowner’s point of view, it doesn’t matter what kind of voyage it is as long as there’s a profit, right? Whether it’s an adventure voyage or a commercial voyage.”
“Hey. What does the Hind First Mate think?”
“Heheh. The First Mate has to follow the Captain’s orders. But who’s the helmsman?”
“Oh, I’ll do that!”
Suddenly, Lucy appeared out of nowhere. The phrase “out of nowhere” here clearly shows that I’m not paying any attention to his appearance.
Lucy plopped down on the sofa with a careless gait and said cheerfully.
“Where are we going? If it’s a voyage, you can’t leave out this old sea dog, Lucy. I’m confident as a helmsman!”
Did you throw your grasp of the situation across the Sair River?
I sighed and shook my head. I wouldn’t entrust myself to this guy even if I were a ship. Where did you put the future Archmage and bring out the old sea dog?
I turned to the other two.
“What do the shipowner-nim and the First Mate think?”
Levidian and Aila simultaneously said flatly.
“Rejected.”
“Rejected.”
It’s a truly heartwarming sight. With this, we can overcome even the cold winter.
“Ugh. You’re always ignoring me.”
“That’s only natural, so don’t worry about it anymore.”
“What’s natural about that!”
Lucy yelled, and the three of them ignored him with one heart and one mind. Hmm hmm. It’s a truly righteous sight.
While I was confirming that the world was returning to normal, Namia, Al, and Joey arrived. The three of them, who came leisurely and didn’t seem too tired, naturally took their seats.
They removed the single-seater sofa and sat down in its place, but Joey, who was still tall enough to look up to, wiped his head with a bath towel that looked like a hand towel and said.
“It’s been a while since we’ve all been together, haha. It seems like the task you went for went well.”
“That’s good. How have you been?”
“Yes. Nothing much happened. I was hired as a short-term mercenary for the Eastern Army and went on a reconnaissance mission to the Gray Forest. There were fewer monsters than when we first went in. Oh, I met Kun there too.”
Al nodded briefly, and Namias was busy taking something out of the envelope in her hand and eating it. Peanuts?
“How are things on your end?”
“Hmm, there’s nothing really specific to mention. Oh, the alert level has been lowered by one step. And except for the military being a bit noisy for a while.”
“The military?”
“The natives expelled the people dispatched by the Imperial government. It was half a month ago.”
I nodded.
Orknesia has been resisting the Emperor since before we arrived.
It was something I caused, but half a month ago is almost the same time I contacted and requested help from my uncle.
In other words, it means my uncle was planning things in advance.
Well, my uncle is thorough in his preparations. Just the other day, he quickly started pruning to create a center of gravity.
Seeing him step forward like that without any ambition, my uncle has become quite a person. Because it’s something he’s doing for his father, and for the Herduke family.
It would have been impossible for my father to have such strong control over the Eastern Army without my uncle’s support.
“Also, everyone is busy preparing for winter. The military supplies have increased a bit. How did Hyung-nim’s task go?”
“Well, it was interesting.”
I shrugged and briefly explained what happened in the Imperial Capital until Kun arrived.
In the meantime, I lost some time because Al smashed Lucy’s attempts to interrupt, but by the time Kun came out awkwardly dressed in our clothes, I was able to finish the story.
“And then we headed to Orknesia. Ah, Kun, sit over there.”
“Yes, Risel.”
With the odd-eyed warrior joining us, there were a total of eight people. Wow, that’s more than I thought.
“Let’s see, is Aila the only one who doesn’t know everyone? Say hello. This is my friend, Sermaila Hind. This is Kun, a warrior from the Mopum tribe of the Gray Forest. I’ll omit his name because it’s long.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Kun greets the one with beautiful golden eyes who is Risel’s friend.”
“Oh my, you flatter me. But you’re not going to gouge them out and sell them, are you?”
“Huh?”
Kun looked bewildered, and I grabbed Aila’s head.
“Are you trying to steal his soul on the first meeting?”
“Ouch, that hurts……”
“Be quiet. Kun, how’s the situation in Grenoian?”
“Yes. Recently, the extermination of Grener…… um, the beings you call monsters, is progressing smoothly. Thanks to the strategy that the wise Brandiego taught us, many tribes are enjoying the joy together.”
To be precise, Brandiego told me, and I told the Gray Tribe.
Brandiego told me the strategy to exterminate the Grener. He said that was his role.
Anyway, he said he could lure the monsters with a staff engraved with a specific inscription. (The inscription was very similar to the one on the Dark God’s sacred object that some idiot in Breedpo was wielding.)
The monsters of the Gray Forest, the creatures that the people inside call Grener, melt away when thrown into the Sair River, whose width and depth are unknown.
However, the water loses its effectiveness just 100 meters away from the river, so they couldn’t be eradicated until now.
But now, they are steadily luring the monsters with that staff and throwing them into the Sair River.
It takes time to make the staff, and since the monster only jumps into the river when the staff is thrown at the end, it seems like it still takes time.
“At this rate, we won’t have to worry even when the breeding season comes in summer. And Summeor said we could reduce their numbers by half before the spawning season in late summer.”
“We won’t be able to find Grener by this time next year.”
“No, since they are also part of Grenoian, Summeor decided to leave only 20% of their previous numbers. Other tribes also agreed to this.”
“Ah, I see. It will be difficult, but it’s a wise method.”
If only about 20% of the previous number remain, it means that we won’t even encounter a monster once a day, compared to meeting them three times a day now. The Gray Forest will become unrecognizably peaceful.
Of course, we shouldn’t let our guard down even then.
The monsters of the Gray Forest should be considered fundamentally different from the monsters outside. They occur not only through breeding but also naturally.
They are creatures that make you understand why there are absurd theories like spontaneous generation in early Imperial biology.
Anyway, according to Kun, by this time next year, there will be no reason for 200,000 troops to be on standby and guard the barrier like now.
We will probably be able to reduce the troops to less than half, and we can deploy the remaining troops to other places.
It will be at least half a year later, but even this is enough good news to please the higher-ups of Orknesia who are currently preparing for the meeting.
Aila nodded with an interested expression.
“The overall situation is fitting together nicely. If the monsters in the Gray Forest decrease significantly, the biggest obstacle to Orknesia’s uprising will disappear.”
“But isn’t the biggest problem currently not the obstacle, but the barrier? In the first place, Duke Orknesia doesn’t seem to be thinking of an uprising. Risel, what do you think?”
“I completely agree. It’s difficult to say anything because I can’t understand my father’s feelings. Well…… looking at the current situation, he’ll make a decision soon. It’s no different than all situations revolving around one thing, right?”
“There’s an opponent to fight. That’s enough.”
“Well said. By the way, then what are we going to do from now on?”
Lucy threw out the question while scratching his chin. And those words had the effect of shutting everyone’s mouths. How dare you use magic so carelessly, are you even a mage?
The large mage tilted his head, and the even larger Shrine Knight scratched his head and said in a troubled tone.
“Um, it seems like you all don’t know that?”
“Is that so? Oh dear, I’ve sharply hit the nail on the head again. Hehe. This sharp personality is truly amazing.”
“Al, throw that away.”
“It’s a bother.”
Seeing Lucy being smug makes me sigh. The fact that this guy is still acting frivolous is proof that the situation isn’t serious. No, was he always like this regardless?
Al nudged Lucy with his elbow to shut him up and said.
“We don’t know what to do. In other words, we can do anything.”
“Al-ssi, you’re talking about what we were discussing earlier.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Risel and Teacher Ibi were just talking about it until a moment ago. It’s not a desirable phenomenon for the topic to keep circling. So let’s count the things we can do at this point.”
Aila counted on her fingers. The person among us with the best ability to analyze data and generate information spoke.
“It’s winter now. It’s not the right time for military action. If we rise up now and push forward, we might be able to catch the Emperor’s side off guard. Above all, Orknesia is relatively close to the Imperial Capital. But considering that possibility is practically nonexistent, the things we can do here right now are, at best, winter training, adventure trips, tax collection, and internal affairs interference.”
“I can understand the first two, but what are the last two?”
“The scope of cooperation. Actually, the people gathered here are all experts in their respective fields, right? From tax collection to internal affairs interference. To the extent that there’s no problem at all.”
Although it’s generally heavily biased, Aila’s words are correct.
Except for the important issue of not knowing what my area of expertise is, we can do a lot of things. To exaggerate a little, we could even create a country with the people here.
Levidian nodded at Aila’s words for now. However, she didn’t miss the problem.
“You’re right. But the nobles here wouldn’t be happy with us interfering in internal affairs. Even if we came here as Risel’s friends, as his companions, we’re still outsiders. Even if we saved Duke Orknesia.”
“Sword King-nim is right. Even though I’m a mage, we need to find collaborators from the inside first for this kind of thing. No matter how great we are, do they trust us enough to entrust us with important tasks? That’s not the case. Considering the influence and abilities we have, we are talents that should be used, but frankly, there will be people who suspect us of being spies for the Emperor.”
“There will also be religious issues. Even though the relationship between Azot and the Empire has improved, that atmosphere hasn’t spread to Orknesia. Above all, since the Empire’s state religion is the Achuni Religion, they’ll refuse help from non-believers.”
“Risel, if I may say a word, I will also be treated similarly. Because I am treated as an enemy.”
Kun’s closing remark was as plain as it was simple, but my worries still feel like floundering in an oil-covered sea.
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