Chapter 188: Snow Falling in Summer (4)
The Great Wall feasts on the blood and tears of warriors, with money as a mere snack.
The warriors may sustain themselves on the ‘curse’ left behind by the First Witch, Karen Myer, but everything else requires money.
Tools to repair weapons.
Various necessities.
Clothes and armor.
Housing.
Food, clothing, and shelter for the ordinary people who are not warriors and do not consume ‘curses’ as sustenance.
An average warrior may only need to fight, but a Lord East needs to understand the economic structure of the Great Wall.
Just like Cain.
“The Empire’s support has been cut off.”
The specialty of the Great Wall, the easternmost defense line of the human world, is the byproducts of monsters.
Although merchants often come to swindle simple-minded warriors, they still sell the byproducts and obtain necessities for survival.
But that’s not enough.
As the monster offensives intensified with each passing year and the number of warriors increased, more money was needed, like a bottomless pit.
Even so, the reason it was manageable was because of the support from the nations of the human world.
“Do you know what the first thing I did after becoming the new Administrative Duke was? I looked at the confidential documents that only a Duke can access.”
A skinny man.
Wearing a monocle, he steepled his fingers with a sharp gaze and crossed his legs.
He sat as if evaluating Cain who sat opposite him, like a superior facing a subordinate.
A small business card lay on the table before him.
「Imperial Administration, Administrative Duke.
Nelis Vouwe.」
Cain glanced at it and listened to Nelis’ words.
“The most puzzling thing I found while working under the former Lord Duke was that even though the Empire was fragmented, all taxes were managed by our administration.”
“…….”
Cain, who had traveled from the Great Wall to the Imperial capital, looked at him silently.
“I doubt you’re interested in the complicated political and social system of the Empire, so to get to the point, our Empire has been pouring 5% to 10% of its total tax revenue into the Great Wall, regardless of the circumstances.”
“Is that so?”
“Lord East, you shouldn’t just say that and move on. 5% of the Empire’s budget is roughly equivalent to the annual budget of a small country.”
“So?”
Nelis frowned.
At the same time, Cain mirrored his posture, leaning back on the sofa and clasping his hands.
“And what am I supposed to do knowing about the Empire’s budget?”
“You should know. Because you represent the place that sucks the Empire’s blood.”
“As if we’re the ones sucking blood.”
Cain closed his eyes.
He thought of the warriors who threw themselves on the line to protect the western human world.
He thought of a boy who started as a fugitive and sacrificed himself.
He thought of Johnny-Walker, who went east to defeat the unrecognized Demon King and had not been heard from since.
“We don’t feed on the Empire’s blood.”
Further words were pointless.
At first, he thought it was a mistake after the change of Administrative Duke, but seeing the new Administrative Duke in person, it was clearly intentional.
An intention to be different from the past.
“We drink the cursed food left by Karen Myer and her tears.”
“Warriors who eat curses.”
Nelis frowned again at Cain’s words.
There was only one reason why sinners and fugitives from the human world were driven to the Great Wall.
Karen Myer’s curse.
The curse she left behind when she built the Great Wall was one that produced an endless supply of tasteless bread and bland wine.
It wasn’t filling.
It was a power engraved to provide just enough sustenance to ward off hunger and quench thirst.
“Those who have tasted the food of the Great Wall shall never leave.”
Those who lived by the witch’s curse.
That’s why they were scorned.
Cain shook his head.
“It’s not like you can’t leave at all. You can leave if you shed as much flesh as you’ve eaten, it’s just difficult.”
Cain knew better than Nelis.
If one hadn’t eaten much, they could leave by giving up that much flesh.
But the Great Wall wasn’t so generous. With enemies constantly attacking, how could one stop eating?
Eat and fight, eat and fight.
At the end of that cycle, the warrior’s body would be filled with Karen Myer’s curse, making it impossible to leave the Great Wall.
Because their entire being would be composed of her curse.
Administrative Duke Nelis Vouwe looked Cain up and down, as if appraising meat.
“Doesn’t seem like you left anything behind, Lord East.”
“I left my season behind.”
Cain’s calm words.
Nelis was an administrative official who could neither understand the meaning behind those words nor follow the will contained within.
He shrugged, dismissing it as the frustrating vernacular of a warrior.
“Even if the food issue is resolved, everything else is the Empire’s money, the Empire’s blood.”
“Do you truly believe that, Administrative Duke Vouwe?”
Cain’s voice lowered.
At the same time, the temperature in the reception room dropped coldly.
Nelis sneered at the sight, the right corner of his mouth lifting.
“As expected, when words fail, you resort to threats. Even if you’re the best the Great Wall has to offer, you’re nothing but a private army of disorganized rabble.”
Snap━.
Nelis snapped his fingers.
The door to the reception room opened, and a man entered, followed by ten heavily armored knights.
They surrounded Cain, and the man stood between Nelis and Cain, blocking Cain’s view.
“Since you’re from the Great Wall, I took the liberty of contacting the Black Tower. You never know what those barbaric warriors might do if they get out of line. So Lord Marquis Roger himself has come.”
Cain slowly raised his head and stared at Knight Marquis Roger.
He tapped the sword at his side and opened his mouth.
“A pleasure to meet you for the first and last time.”
“Are you threatening to kill me?”
“For now, I intend to send you back to the Great Wall quietly.”
A threat to kill if Cain didn’t comply.
“I had forgotten what the Empire truly was because the previous Administrative Duke did her job too quietly.”
Swoosh━.
Cain brushed his hair back and rose from his seat.
He glanced at Knight Marquis Roger and Nelis, who was sneering behind him, treating Cain like dirt, before turning around.
“Is this the will of the Iron-Blooded Princess?”
Cain’s question.
Nelis scoffed at Cain’s sudden question.
“This is my authority. I don’t know what will happen once she officially becomes Empress, but how can a woman become the Emperor in our Empire?”
“I understand. You know nothing.”
“……?”
“How deeply your minds have been eroded by peace.”
“……!”
Uncharacteristically, Cain turned and left.
Both Administrative Duke Nelis and Knight Marquis Roger considered it the curse of a powerless man.
A month later.
They realized that Cain’s last words were not a curse, but a mere statement of fact.
Kaboom━!
The Iron-Blooded Princess, clad in an iron mask, slammed her fist on the table from her seat at the head.
The Prince and Princess, who had been fiercely vying for power with her, were also present.
Beyond them stood Administrative Duke Nelis, stiffly at attention.
“Administrative Duke Nelis.”
A chilling voice.
All the high-ranking nobles who had been fighting for power in the Empire were gathered in one place, facing an unprecedented crisis.
“You crazy bastard.”
“……!”
Everyone was startled and turned to look at the Iron-Blooded Princess. It was the first time they had ever heard her curse like that.
“A month after you cut off support to the Great Wall, two cities in the eastern part of the Empire have fallen.”
Without the Empire’s support, the Great Wall would be difficult to maintain.
Naturally, the warriors’ strength waned, and eventually, some sections of the lower walls were breached.
“Even your precious Marquis Roger had his left arm severed by a monster that came from the Great Wall.”
The Knight Marquis, who had been standing in the corner, lowered his head. He was now a former Knight Marquis.
They thought it was the same type of monster, but the monsters from the Great Wall were more tenacious, stronger, and more vicious.
Knight Marquis Roger, who had intended to deal with it lightly, lost his arm in that moment.
“How much money did we lose by trying to save money for the Great Wall, only to lose cities and suffer even greater losses?”
“That…”
“Answer me with that clever brain of yours.”
A thick scent of blood filled the air.
From behind the mask of the Iron-Blooded Princess, who was crushing the existing forces of the Empire with blood and iron, rage began to leak out uncontrollably.
“Answer me if you don’t want your head to roll right here, right now.”
Thud━.
Administrative Duke Nelis fell to his knees. He slammed his forehead against the ground, trembling as he spoke.
“I, It was my shortsightedness━.”
“Your shortsightedness has cost the lives of nearly half a million citizens of the Empire. And we don’t know how many more will die or how.”
At the Iron-Blooded Princess’s icy words, Nelis reflexively lifted his head and shouted.
“T, This is all because that black-haired Lord East bastard deliberately unleashed the monsters towards the Empire!”
“Even so, it was a disaster that could have been prevented with money, just like always.”
“…….”
“Nelis Vouwe, death penalty.”
“How dare a nameless Iron-Blooded Princess sentence the Administrative Duke of the Empire━!”
Woosh━.
Nelis’ words were cut short.
The Iron-Blooded Princess, who had been seated, swung her left fist, crushing Nelis’ head, who was several steps away from her.
“Clean this up.”
Her cold command.
“And you will have to pay the price for appointing such a successor.”
Her chilling words continued.
Screech━.
The sound of wheels turning could be heard, and a decrepit old woman appeared. With an appearance close to a corpse, the old woman barely managed to clap her hands together.
Clap━.
A young woman in her early twenties appeared before the old woman.
She gave a wry smile as she looked at what was left of Nelis and bowed her head.
“I will go to the Great Wall.”
Morning Inphedral headed straight for the Great Wall to meet Cain and resolve the issue.
That was why Cain knew the level of the Knight Marquis and recognized Morning Inphedral, the Administrative Duke.
🔹🔹🔹
Of course, the current Administrative Duke Morning had no way of knowing what had transpired in the previous timeline.
She blinked and then shot back at Cain.
“You hit the nail on the head a little too accurately for someone who’s just guessing.”
Cain, now in the form of a young man, unlike before, simply shrugged with a relaxed smile.
Lourens sipped the tea he had prepared beforehand, and at his nonchalant attitude, Morning’s voice grew a little louder.
“And my fashion sense isn’t that outdated!”
“…….”
It seemed that Cain’s comment about her fashion sense had irritated her more than having her identity as the Administrative Duke exposed.
“Do you even know how many fashion magazines I manage, you island brat? What do you know about Imperial fashion?!”
“I know.”
“What do you know?!”
“Clothes that Imperial grandmothers would like━.”
“Hey!”
Administrative Duke Morning couldn’t control her temper and yelled.
“Hey?”
Cain chuckled at her outburst.
“What, you think you’re all that just because you’re a hero? You’re speaking informally too.”
“I already am.”
“Then I will too! Why are you…?”
Morning turned her head to the side, irritated.
Lourens, who had been subtly tugging at her sleeve, signaling her to calm down, shook his head frantically.
“It’s nothing. Please, continue.”
“Hmph.”
Duke Morning roughly brushed back her characteristic aqua-blue hair with both hands and glared at Cain.
[‘Winter’ says she may look the same, but her personality is completely different from when she saw her before.]
Cain inwardly nodded in agreement.
And he liked this kind of person. Unlike the cold-hearted Imperials, her straightforward nature appealed to him.
“Since you seem to know my identity, I’ll be frank.”
“I’m listening.”
“You, become a citizen of the Empire. Just name the land you desire. I’ll make you a noble there.”
Morning Inphedral’s eyes gleamed.
If she was a mere woman before, in this moment, she was the absolute ruler who held the administration of this vast empire in her grasp.
“The price?”
And Cain, who was also the absolute ruler of the Great Wall, casually rested his chin on his hand and asked.
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