Chapter 118 - Discussion

Updated: Jan 23

After the meeting, I had lunch with my grandfather and the old knight.

It would have been awkward if he had been telling tales of my sexual endeavors, so I arranged for the old knight to talk to me during the meal.

As I had never really left the territory of Quardenze, the story of the old knight who lived in the territory of the Empire was very interesting to me.

What was particularly interesting was the story of the sea surrounding the continent of Eruo.

According to the old knight, there are huge carnivorous marine creatures lurking in the sea, and the currents are all over the place without any regularity. And far away in the ocean, he said, you can see the misty shadows of fields that are much larger than the land.

The old knight said that magical beasts also occur in the sea, and mature magical beasts are born there.

The old knight said that in the sea field, where humans can't go to defeat them, mature magical beasts breed without limit, and occasionally a tide of contaminated poison reaches the coast, tormenting the fishermen.

I had never seen a book that described the world outside of the continent of Luo before, and now I could understand why.

The level of civilization on the continent of Eruo, which can only build wooden ships, is incapable of breaking through this vicious sea.

Until a powerful warship or plane is developed, the continent will remain isolated. This continent is like a small colony.

After finishing lunch, the old knight said he would return to the imperial territory as soon as possible.

Even though he was retired, it seemed to be a source of unwanted trouble for a member of the Imperial Knight family to stay at the military base of the Quardenze family forever.

My grandfather seemed to understand this point and didn't particularly try to stop me. He must have finished what he had to say before I entered the conference room.

"Well then, Master Galfis. I will come as a warrior next time."

"I'll be waiting."

The old knight exchanged parting words with his grandfather and then came towards me.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Master Wilk."

Then the old knight turned his gaze away from me for a moment, as if in thought, and his face became one of concealed emotion.

The old knight spoke slowly, his face still stiffened.

"Please give my regards to Duke Quardenze as well."

When the Kingdom of Levios was founded, it created five titles. When I write in my diary, I translate them into Japanese as duke, marquis, count, viscount, and baron from the top.

Originally, these titles were Eruo words, so they are not homonyms. In Japanese, "duke" and "marquis" are indistinguishable from "koshaku," but they can be heard as different words in Luo.

In addition, there are five titles in the Jinkaen Empire. The Zinkhaen Empire also has five titles, because it follows the example of its predecessor, the Kingdom of Levios, in the details.

I knew immediately that the old knight had deliberately said "Duke of Quardenze".

Thinking that this would be a conversation as a nobleman, I think about how I should reply.

"This bastard..."

Then my grandfather slapped the old knight on the head and gave him a dumbfounded look.

"It's not like you to play games in conversation. You must have caught a cold from breathing the tasteless air of the east."

"I'm sorry, ....... I have not seen the sea for a long time, and I seem to have lost my temper."

The old knight straightened his posture, apologized to me, and bid me farewell once again in the proper manner.

Thinking about what he was trying to say, I returned the greeting as usual.

"Master Wilk, I look forward to seeing you again."

The old knight's eyes twinkled brightly as he pushed aside his deeply wrinkled eyelids and looked at me.

I'm not sure what to make of this. During the meal, he asked me several times about the type of woman I liked.

For example, he asked me what I thought of this kind of woman, and he gave me some very specific examples. Perhaps the old knight's family had a daughter like that.

I'd like to check with my father later to see if it's okay to sire a daughter of an imperial knight's family.

As I watched the old knight saddle his horse and walk away, I thought about having sex with a daughter I hadn't seen yet.

I returned to the meeting room and my grandfather and I picked up the tea prepared by Tesh.

The scent of the steaming flowers tickles the nostrils.

"Is my grandfather going to spend the new year here?"

"Yes, he is. I have to keep a close eye on him here. I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that we've had a few enemy knights come by to scout the area."

Every year, the family spends the New Year's Eve in a relaxed atmosphere, and at the beginning of the year, the knights of the squire relationship come to greet them.

Unfortunately, my grandfather seems to be spending the New Year's Eve and New Year's Day alone at this frontline military base.

It would be a shame if the enemy were to take this base that was taking shape.

Even my grandfather, who is ready to kill the enemy with their base in sight, would not want to leave this place.

If, as my grandfather said, the knights of the old Voistra lineage were watching vigilantly for an opportunity, we couldn't afford to let them get away with it.

If they find out that my grandfather is not here, the army led by the nobleman will surely attack this base.

No matter how powerful the Quardenze army was, it would be no match for a defensive battle against the nobles who possessed the magical power of the main ancestor.

Only the nobility can deal with the nobility.

I'll be sure to keep an eye on New Nellie. I'm sure Wilk has read the letter from Luke, right?Be especially careful with the Holy High Society."

The letter from my father that I received the other day described the results of the expeditionary force that entered the New Nellie field.

This is the unit that set out to determine the identity of the mysterious man from the Holy High Society who possesses the main ancestor level magic power that Lupetta had seen inside the field.

"What does grandfather think about the Holy High Society?"

Since a mature demonic beast progresses while rotting the earth, it is possible to determine where it originated by following its tracks.

The expedition team found out that the place where the mature demonic beast was found was the place where Lupetta used the mana crystal to defeat the master class mystery man.

Near the site, there was a man who had been sucked dry by leeches, and a group of four members of the Holy High Society dressed as adventurers were lying on the verge of starvation.

It was said that the area where the upper and lower halves of the main ancestor's body were lying was uncommonly polluted by the earth. It was as if a mature demonic beast had been born from that rotten earth.

"It's hard to believe."

"Yes, it is. It is still a hypothesis that demonic beasts grow by feeding on people with magical powers..."

Demonic beasts grow by feeding on other demonic beasts in the field. In the world of the weak and the strong, they accumulate power by taking in the flesh and blood of their opponents.

If they can be strengthened by simply eating something strong, then it seems that if it can devour a person with magical power, it will be able to grow even stronger.

I searched the literature on demonic beasts, but I couldn't find any research to support this.

It seems that no mad scientist would think of feeding a human being with valuable magical power to demonic beasts.

However, it is hard to believe that the situation where the main ancestor-level mystery man was eaten up and the birth of a mature demonic beast in the New Nellie Field, which is said to be a once-in-a-hundred-years disaster, would coincide.

Personally, I would like to try the experiment on a small scale field.

"No."

"No?"

Then my grandfather slowly denied it and looked at me.

"I can't believe that people would try to create a demonic beast, even if they had the means to create a mature demonic beast like Wilk and Luke say. It's unbelievable that people would want to do so. Noblemen and priests, although they are in different positions, it is their duty and pride to protect the land where their people live from demonic beasts. ......"

In the Holy High Society, there are beings called high priests. The high priests are all people who belong to the Patriarch.

The high priest is responsible for spreading the teachings of the Zeth religion while also ruling the area in which he is assigned. As such, they have the same rationale for ruling as the nobility: "We are protecting the people and the land where wheat grows from magical beasts."

My grandfather must have thought that the holy priests, which would understand such values, would never do anything like unleashing demonic beasts.

A suicide bombing that pollutes the earth seems to be an incomprehensible act for those who live in the continent of Eruo. Having lived in Japan in a previous life, I can't sympathize, but I can understand.

Either way, the truth will come out sooner or later, since we were able to secure four of the perpetrators, even though they were on the verge of starvation.

They must be undergoing a lot of torture in the name of interrogation at the military base in New Nellie City right now.

"Your father was deciding whether or not to announce they were undergoing torture. It would be good for the cause of the Levios royal family, and it might trigger a war of sanctions against Saint Navenpos.

Since the Levios royal family wants to invade St. Navenpos, they are likely to organize the kingdom's army with great excitement once this matter is revealed.

If the Royal Army of Levios, a coalition of all the nobles of the kingdom, and St. Navenpos were to start a war, my grandfather's plan to invade the empire would be ruined.

As expected, my grandfather distorted his face in displeasure.

"Hmm. The Levios family can do that on their own. It has nothing to do with the Quardenze family. If it comes to it, just ignore it."

There was no way that the Quardenze family, who had actually been terrorized, was irrelevant.

If we were to invade, I think it would look bad if the Quardenze family, the victims, didn't participate.

"Are you ignoring the royal family?"

"Yes. The House of Levios is nothing to be afraid of, having been taken advantage of by the House of Myrendorva."

Until just a few years ago, the Levios royal family was in a state of civil war with the Myrendorva noble family.

As a result of the decades-long battle with repeated ceasefires and truce, the Levios Kingdom gained one more title, bringing the total to six. The increased title was higher than that of a duke, so I translate it as Grand Duke.

The increased title was given to the Duke of Myrendorva, and he became the Grand Duke of Myrendorva. Although the division of the kingdom was avoided, in effect, the royal family lost.

It is rumored that a large scale social gathering will be held in the capital next spring, and this is said to be aimed at appealing both at home and abroad that this civil war has been gathered.

"...... Well, Father didn't seem to be interested in invading the Holy City, so I'm sure he'll do something about it."

"Yes, Now, Luke would be able to round up the Capital's people."

Although the kingdom of Levios called itself a state, the aristocrats who constituted it were guaranteed independent autonomy.

Some acts such as the prohibition of war among the aristocrats of kingdoms were prohibited by law, but basically they were not interfered with in the internal affairs of state.

This is largely related to the historical background.

The Kingdom of Levios was established on the basis of the independence of the nobility from the Holy High Society. Therefore, it has a tradition of valuing the independence of the noble families.

Therefore, all noble families have the right to veto orders from the state, although they may be expelled from the kingdom if they are not careful.

In this respect, the Zinkhaen Empire is a mishmash of princes, but the concept of independence is less common in the Zinkhaen Empire than in the Kingdom of Levios.

If the emperor declares, "We will unanimously declare war against the Quardenze family, which is attacking the imperial nobility," all of the imperial nobility will have no choice but to join the war.

In addition, the current emperor has not issued an order of war against the Quardenze family. ...... No, he cannot.

This is partly due to the backdoor maneuvering of the Quardenze family, but the biggest reason is that the current emperor has no power.

If he were to give the order to engage in war, there is a very high probability that the noble families that oppose the order would collude and the empire would be split in two.

This is why the current emperor is unable to give orders.

The Zinkhaen Empire, which had aimed for centralized power and at one time had shown a momentum that could have surpassed that of the Levios Kingdom, was now a thing of the past.

It is unable to properly unite the noble families and could collapse at any moment.

The Leviathans were losing their centripetal force, and the fraying of the Zinkhaen Empire was becoming apparent.

Somehow, I sensed that an era of turmoil was approaching.