𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟓𝟕.1: 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐩 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 (2)
Salandor Artylwis, a Wood Elf who had recently been appointed as the new commander of the peacekeeping forces, visited the Expeditionary Force Command.
“I am Salandor Artylwis, appointed as the successor to Commander Vasily.”
He had antlers growing on his head, as if he had received the ‘Rite of Verdure’.
“I am Oswald von Chester, Earl of Valencia, the newly appointed commander of the Expeditionary Force.”
“The reason for my visit is to inform you that the CID peacekeeping forces will be moving towards the Huan Kingdom.”
“The Huan Kingdom?”
“Yes, I heard that Belphegor, the Archduke of Sloth, who fled the New Continent and crossed the ‘Sea of Calamity’, landed in the Beihai Prefecture of the Huan Kingdom and is currently attacking the Main State after taking control of the Beihai Prefecture.”
“The peacekeeping forces intend to stop Belphegor, I presume.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Then what do you want from our Empire?”
“The Empire should proceed to the Great Zhou Empire as planned. It seems that the Archduke of Plague will soon descend upon the Great Zhou Empire.”
“Hmm. . . I understand. Then we shall proceed to the Great Zhou Empire as planned.”
After Salandor Artylwis, the commander of the CID peacekeeping forces, left, Oswald immediately inquired about the progress of the medical warship conversion. According to the news from Maesterium, all preparations would be completed within the next three days.
In response, Oswald ordered all soldiers to return and prohibited any outings or overnight stays. Three days later, the Expeditionary Force Command, joined by two medical warships, set out.
They planned to fly to the Winchester Principality for a final refueling and resupply, then ascend directly over the Dragon Spine Mountains.
Simultaneously, a large number of pilgrims personally took the transcontinental train through the underground of the Dragon Spine Mountains to cross over to the Great Zhou Empire. This was an opportunity to spread the gospel of the Nine Divines to that land filled only with the philosophical ideas of Confucianism.
The church’s aim was to expand its influence to the eastern part of the continent by healing those suffering from the plague and spreading the gospel of the Nine Divines.
🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
Huan Kingdom, Main State, Sendai County.
This was the city where the punitive force, led by Commander Yu Cheol-jung, was stationed. The size of the Suppression Corps was only 100,000, but. . . they were given the authority to command the local divisions of the Main State, so divisions from all over the Main State were being gathered in Sendai County.
“It seems we’ve overcome one hurdle for now.”
“That’s right, Commander.”
“How many troops have gathered so far?”
“For now, 13 divisions from the northern and central parts of the Main State have gathered to form 4 corps. With the addition of 6 divisions from the southwestern region, we will have 6 corps.”
Unlike the human empire, Imperial, the eastern part of the Titan continent defined the size of a division as 30,000 troops. Therefore, to form one corps of 100,000, a total of 3 corps and a brigade of 10,000 troops were required.
“That’s about the size of two field armies.”
“And I heard that the Chaos Defense Agency peacekeeping forces are coming to support our country.”
“What’s the scale?”
“It’s said to be one field army. They have dispatched a large number of troops from the southern residential continent to the peacekeeping forces this time.”
“That’s a relief. Is there any news from the Western Human Empire?”
“I heard that they repelled the Archduke of Chaos a while ago and are regrouping their forces. According to information from the peacekeeping forces, the Western Empire will be dispatched directly to the Great Zhou Empire. It seems the situation in the Great Zhou Empire is more serious than we thought.”
Unfortunately, the Yuan Kingdom and the Yue Kingdom, which were not prepared for the plague, were reluctant to dispatch troops. Instead, they closed their borders with the Great Zhou Empire and were doing their best to prevent the people of the Great Zhou Empire from crossing over.
“All we can do is hope that the Human Empire arrives in the Great Zhou Empire as quickly as possible. More than that, I heard that Yu Il-han is with the Human Empire Expeditionary Force.”
“Yes. . . well, that’s right.”
Su-hwan’s face contorted slightly at the mention of his half-brother, Yu Il-han, before smoothing out again.
“Are you still holding a grudge against Il-han?”
“As a bastard, he has a duty to behave properly for the sake of the legitimate son. But that guy. . .”
“Enough, we’ve already removed him from the family register, haven’t we? What more do you have to hold a grudge about?”
Yu Su-hwan simply sighed at Yu Cheol-jung’s scolding. Honestly, if Yu Il-han hadn’t been a bastard, the position of head of the family might have gone to Yu Il-han, that’s how significant the difference between the two was.
Yu Il-han was smart and skilled in martial arts, but. . . Yu Su-hwan was lacking in every aspect. The only thing he was better at than Yu Il-han was that he was born with the lineage of the legitimate son. Because of that, there was a lot of talk within the family.
“No, Father.”
“You! This is a battlefield, even if it’s just the two of us. Are you still unaware of the proper terms of address to use?”
“I. . . I apologize, Commander.”
“Tsk, just get out.”
“Yes, sir!”
Yu Cheol-jung shook his head as he watched Yu Su-hwan leave. He thought that maybe he had been too lenient with him because he was the legitimate son.
Yu Cheol-jung had even considered making Il-han the head of the family if it weren’t for the discrimination between legitimate and illegitimate children. However, the Huan Kingdom was particularly severe in its discrimination between legitimate and illegitimate children, even more so than other eastern countries. Even the Great Zhou Empire, the suzerain state, did not discriminate between legitimate and illegitimate children.
‘𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘭𝘺. . .’
Due to the family’s situation and the eldest son’s insistence, he sent him to the Western Continent, the Human Empire, under the pretext of studying abroad. After that, he removed him from the family register and gave him some money as an inheritance.
He didn’t know if it was because he worked hard after that, but now he had become a general of the Imperial Empire, which was on par with the Great Zhou Empire. . . He sincerely congratulated him.
‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.’
The new concubine that Commander Yu Cheol-jung had recently taken in was pregnant. If the child was a girl, it wouldn’t be a problem, but. . . if it was a son, Yu Su-hwan’s position would likely be greatly shaken.
Until now, he had been irreplaceable as the legitimate son and eldest son, but. . . if another legitimate son was born, there would be no need to entrust the family to the incompetent legitimate son.
“Tsk. . .”