Chapter 41 – The Great Grove (2)
Shimmering shadows.
The darkness spread like paint and dyed the floor black.
In it, crows came up.
A black uniform, a black mask resembling a crow, and red eyes.
A subtle scent of blood. Whether it was theirs or someone else’s, I didn’t know.
It was just the scent of corpses that had been piled up over hundreds of years, he thought.
They were birds of prey, like crows searching for corpses, but with their beaks and claws they could turn living people into corpses if need be.
The one who stood at the front of the crows that came up from the shadows knelt in front of me.
“A group of crows, the leader of the ‘claw’ unit is looking for the legitimate head of Chepeshu.”
A silent oath of allegiance.
I opened my mouth.
“I lost my memory.”
I could hear my sister breathing in from behind, but the man in front of me just silently prostrated himself.
I spoke.
“Do you really think that I, too, am the legitimate head of Chepes?”
Silence for a while.
The man didn’t worry. He just raised his head and stared into my eyes without saying anything.
It’s like measuring something.
“… Who the Lord of the Crows is has not changed since seventy years ago.”
Not a thousand years, but seventy years.
The time when Scarlett Tepesh took back the position of head of household.
“Is it.”
I nodded.
“Then, as your master, I will give you orders.”
“Please tell me.”
“Get to know the forest of the elves.”
“I will serve you.”
The crow became a shadow again.
So it disappeared
*
The collection of information was swift.
The very next day. The crow is back.
“Currently, there are five forests that the elves call the Great Forest.”
The person who came to me was not the ‘claw’ unit commander, but the ‘eye’ unit commander.
The group of crows of Chepesh consisted of ‘eyes’ and ‘wings’ responsible for collecting information, and ‘claws’ and ‘beaks’ symbolizing power.
The eyes seemed to be able to carry out my commands better than the claws, so it seemed that the command was delivered.
It means that he focused on carrying out my orders thoroughly, rather than making achievements by completing them.
I nodded in satisfaction.
“Keep talking.”
“The largest and most powerful Great Forest is Krefeld Great Forest, located in the southern part of the Empire, where the World Tree is located.”
“How is your relationship with Cepes?”
“Good. If Friedrich is an ally of Tzepes within the Empire, outside the Empire Krefeld Great Forest has a close relationship with Tzepes.”
Are you glad you know now?
I used to learn about current events and the situation on the continent from my sister and Daisy, but because time was so short, I would leave out one by one like this.
“Right. Then he must not be from Krefeld Great Forest.”
This is the story of the guy who tried to mess with his sister yesterday.
I didn’t even tell him who it was because I hadn’t even heard his name properly, but the crow calmly nodded his head.
“Yes. Nome is from Freyr Great Forest.”
“What kind of place is it?”
“It boasts the second largest territory next to Krefeld Great Forest, but I know that only recently the civil war ended and a new royal family entered.”
“If only recently.”
“It’s been about 30 years.”
It’s a 30-year dynasty.
“Then, there won’t be much confusion even if the king’s head is cut off and someone else becomes king.”
“Yes. It is said that there are still signs of rebellion.”
“As well as sending the prince outside at a time of confusion.”
“Perhaps, it is assumed that they are trying to evacuate any possible rebellion and strengthen the royal authority by strengthening relations with the empire.”
A laugh came out. It was a laugh, not knowing whether it was cynicism or laughter.
“The king of Freire Great Forest seems to have good brains but no eyes to see people.”
The crow only lowered his head.
I said to the crow.
“Send a letter to their king, secretly so no one notices.”
“Would you mind writing it down?”
Isn’t it natural?
“Don’t even think about collecting the prince’s body.”
I won’t even leave a trace
*
The reply came back two days later.
“Please, let go of my anger with just the head of the ugly child.”
Say.
If it was only that, I would have clicked my tongue and said, “Things aren’t interesting.” .
“Okay. There is one more.”
“Yes.”
The captain of ‘Wings’ gave me one more letter.
“‘I will offer the head of the prince and the body of the queen, so help them become kings.'”
I looked down at the crow. The crow, who had been silently guarding the spot, opened his mouth.
“If you cut my throat, I will accept it.”
“Did you catch it?”
“I was not noticed.”
“Then the Queen must have leaked the information because my child’s life is in danger.”
“At first I put off replying, but when I heard that we had been in contact with others, I immediately wrote back.”
He probably thought he was a reliable partner and shared the information, but it seems he was stabbed in the back in the end.
“By the way, the queen.”
I thought it would be a male king without fail.
“Tell the Queen.”
“Have a command.”
“The empire will not perish just by banning transactions with the four-year-old forest.”
Stop all trade within the Empire with the Great Grove of Freyr.
The crow lowered his head.
“I will serve you.”
*
Waiting until the weekend, people who had known each other often came to see me.
Probably after hearing about my revenge against Freyr Great Forest.
“If you realize your mistake, His Highness will mercifully forgive you. How can they not know reflection…”
Starting with Princess Iris, a real warrior who thinks of me as a righteous warrior for some reason.
“I heard about his insults.”
“I heard.”
“Great. I heard.”
Anna and Sasha, who came to cheer me on, telling me to get rid of the spoiled elf prince, without even mentioning it, as if it didn’t matter whether I retaliated or not, probably because they had no ties to Freire Great Forest and the North.
“Are you okay?”
And even Christina, who genuinely cares about me.
I smiled softly and hugged her.
“What?”
“You were very angry.”
“However?”
“Being angry is not good for you.”
Cute I felt mischievous and answered with a stern face.
“So you’re saying you should have just listened to the insult and let it go?”
“Oops. It’s not like that. I’m just worried…”
“Know.”
“… ! Bad people!”
I grabbed Christina, who was banging on my chest with tears in her eyes, and knocked her down.
“Wow!”
“Please comfort me so that I can take my anger off.”
“What are you talking about?”
I was comforted by her voluptuousness.
*
At that time.
Freyr Great Forest.
“How are you guys!”
At the betrayal of her most trusted vassal, Queen Skadi Asherad, who had lost almost all her authority due to the blocking of trade with the Empire, screamed in agony at her sense of betrayal.
A face that was red with rage, and eyes that trembled.
As befits an elf called a race of beauty, she is the queen of the great forest of Freyre, boasting beautiful curves.
“What can I do? That Chepesch, no one else…”
A middle-aged elf wearing monocle glasses coughed ahem.
“Then how did you think of letting that foolish prince go? Thanks to the prince, Daesilim’s economy collapsed.”
The only things that can be self-sufficient in the forest are food and clothing.
The elves of the Great Forest, who had already tasted the benefits of civilization through trade with the empire for a long time, did not want to go back to the days when they picked and ate berries, did farming, weaved their own clothes, and their only entertainment was archery.
“Profit… !”
Even the queen, who knows that, can’t refute the fact that the prince caused an accident outside, and only calms her anger.
However, she felt more anger than the queen.
She was not to her stupid son, nor to her own subjects, whom she betrayed as soon as she saw her opportunity.
She unified the vast Great Forest of Freyr.
Until now, the continent had been closed off due to civil war within the Great Forest, so its development may have lagged far behind other elves’ forests, but Freyr’s Great Forest had a large land and a large population.
After 30 years of trading with the empire, its status has risen to a level comparable to the rest of the Great Forest except for the Great Forest of Krefeld.
The Queen was proud of her own life.
Her queen’s life consisted of three things: her achievements in uniting her Great Forest, her only son left after the death of her husband, and her men who always supported her. It was not an exaggeration to say that there was.
She was about to lose two of them in just three days.
No. In the worst case, you may lose all three.
The kingdom, the son, and the subjects.
If so, shouldn’t we at least protect this kingdom, which can be said to be the trajectory of her life?
“Crow! Are there crows here!”
As if she couldn’t stand it this way, she screamed as if the queen was trying to break her.
When the one-eyed elf snorted at her——
“Do you have something to tell me?”
Seruk.
The crow that Scarlett first encountered, the head of the ‘claw’, appeared in the shadows of the palace.
“… !”
Inside the palace, there must be magic that prevents the outside from entering, but how!
Everyone present was astonished, but the Queen continued to speak as if it was not a big deal.
“After. If I hadn’t done this, I wouldn’t have left a letter in my bedroom. Tell your master.”
“Tell me.”
“I will grant you all the conditions you ask for. So please tell me to protect at least this kingdom.”
The crow was silent for a moment, then nodded her head.
“Great.”
And then, in front of everyone, he became a shadow again and disappeared.
*
“Is that what you said?”
“That’s right.”
“Hmm…”
Which hand should I raise, the queen or her nobles?
The Queen said that she would surely be prepared to sacrifice even her own body, provided that she would keep the condition of maintaining her royal family.
No matter which side I take, it’s the same that the Queen comes into my hands. The other thing was that if I sided with her queen, she could at least show me some favors.
Even if he didn’t force himself to take a woman, he could taste that much of a woman, and he didn’t have the heart to refuse.
Besides, once I make the Queen my property, I can place the Great Grove of Freyr under my influence.
Then, should I take the Queen’s side…
I was thinking about it.
“I have one more thing to tell you.”
I nodded as if to say something, and the crow took out a book from its bosom.
“It was found in a bedroom that appears to have been used by the prince.”
“What is it?”
“It was written about a contract with a servant called ‘The Devil’. I’ve never heard of a species called demons, but it’s probably one of the demons.”
…
What?
