Chapter 415 – Chapter 42
“Did the universe help me because I prayed so earnestly?”
“It’s something a person in power should never say, but I sympathize with it this time.”
Lilian and Barnes, perched on the balcony of the palace, exchanged meaningless conversation while watching the soldiers cheering for winning the battle with zero casualties.
“But the future is too dark to be happy.”
“If I receive help from Artemis, I will be able to carry out my work.”
“No. That armor is overflowing. If I get any more help here, it would be like handing over the throne to Artemis.”
Lillian was realizing day by day how convenient it was to have Artemis’ help.
‘Wouldn’t it be better to just leave the kingdom to Artemis?’
‘I think it would be comfortable and happy to leave all the headaches behind and live happily among ourselves.’
‘If I ask Artemis, wouldn’t I be able to kill all my enemies?’
She feels this temptation several times a day.
The temptation to throw away everything, including human dignity and royal authority, and become comfortable.
-Don’t worry. I have no intention of helping any more than this.-
At that time, a drone flew in and indifferently solved Lillian’s agony.
Barnes expressed doubts on behalf of Lillian.
“Why?”
-Half is the master’s will, half is my will.-
“What do you mean?”
-I said it before. I enjoy human joys and sorrows. Being in pain and then overcoming pain, being in despair, feeling happiness, anything that expresses human emotions is all good.-
If you help yourself, various human emotions disappear.
We are helping because we are in the worst situation right now where the infrastructure has been destroyed.
Once the kingdom is normalized, they plan to stop supplying food produced in dimensional warehouses, except for the amount consumed by ‘families’.
-Using my power to suppress the enemy’s growth has both advantages and disadvantages.-
Since the enemies are unaware of Artemis’ existence, they will suffer great damage.
However, as you carry out engineering activities, there is a high probability that you will notice the existence of machine intelligence or learn that there is advanced scientific technology.
“But the enemy’s power is growing, and it’s a bit difficult to just sit back and watch. Can’t you at least provide support to make it easier for my henchmen to operate?”
Barnes wanted to reduce the power of the foreign press alliance by at least mobilizing his henchmen.
-It’s not me, but other people can help.-
“Others?”
-Please ask Akina for further details.-
With those words, the drone disappeared somewhere.
As I was wondering what on earth he was talking about, the maid, who had kept her distance from the balcony’s sunlight, opened her mouth.
“Queen. I have received a message from Duke Akina.”
“What is it about?”
“The Guardian Corps has contacted us. Requesting a conversation. That’s it.”
This is truly Akina-like content.
Lillian and Barnes looked at each other.
“Is it a trap?”
“Personally, I think it’s half-and-half.”
“If that’s the case, it might be worth a try.”
They were the culprits that caused the West Continent to attack them, but now they have decided to let go of their emotions to deal with the enemy in front of them.
“Tell Akina. Decision makers and advisors are limited to 3 people, and escorts are limited to 10 people. The location is here.”
“Yes.”
Lillian snapped her fingers as soon as the maid disappeared into the shadows.
Then another maid appeared from the shadows.
“Did you call me?”
“Call everyone to the conference room.”
“I understand.”
* * * * * *
Polygonal- Polygonal-
Fourteen men and women, armed with inconsistent equipment, are traveling along the road on sturdy steeds.
“There is no contamination.”
“It’s clean.”
“We don’t know yet. They may be contaminating our home base.”
The three men and women behind the elderly man, who is giving off a heavy atmosphere, begin to talk about various things.
“There is a village.”
The old man discovered a decent-sized village at the end of a new, long road.
“I’ll stop by for a moment.”
An old man who is on his way to have an important conversation with the leader of a country, but tries to take a different route.
But no one stopped his actions.
As we headed toward the village, the people suddenly became wary of the stranger.
“Who is it?”
“Are these the people the queen sent?”
“I don’t think so?”
“First, call the village chief.”
I was confused as to how to respond, but the strangers were moving as if they were checking the entire village.
The woodworker who was concentrating on making the table nailed the wood to connect it to each other.
The woodworker moves the table to the side with only half of the nails driven in.
Thump- Thump- Thump- Thump-
Then the skeleton hammers the nail completely in.
The woodworker simply moved the position of the table and finished nailing it.
Spokes- Spokes- Spokes-
Another skeleton was sawing a long log.
The woodworker, who heard the sound of the wooden barrel falling, adjusts the position of the tree and starts sawing again.
“How can the undead hate the living…”
“It seems like the undead are created differently than in our world.”
Undead beings instinctively hate and attack living creatures.
However, the undead here replace simple but hard labor.
The people seem to be familiar with this kind of scenery, so they are on guard.
“Where do you come from?”
At that time, a man appeared holding a black parasol that was twice as large as a normal umbrella and made of a material to block light.
“Vampire…!”
“Stop.”
A vampire with pale skin, blood-red eyes, and the aura of death.
Several people reflexively tried to take out their weapons but put them back when they heard the old man’s voice.
“We just wanted to see how the people of this land live.”
“If you came here on horseback, you must have been invited by the queen. Don’t provoke the people’s anxiety too much.”
The vampire opened his mouth towards people.
“These are guests invited by the Queen. There is no problem, so everyone can go back.”
At his words, the people relaxed their guard to some extent and returned to their original work.
The old man glanced at the people doing their jobs as if studying them.
“Wow, it’s inconvenient to suddenly be an outsider.”
“That’s right.”
The people still felt uncomfortable, but the old man’s gaze did not leave them.
‘Queen Lilian has a moderate disposition.’
If you are obsessed with power, you will want to gain a strong army by experiencing invasions from foreign enemies.
‘But this could also be a disguise to deceive us.’
We cannot ignore the possibility that this village is a model garden created to deceive outsiders.
‘Anyway, I can’t feel any traces of contamination in the mana and the land.’
What he wants from Lillian is not trivial matters such as whether she is a saint or a tyrant, but to not pollute the world.
The Foreign Alliance, which is still expanding its influence, is trying to destroy the balance of the world by polluting the mana and land of the western region.
“By the way, it’s noisy.”
“Akina Baek… There was a reason why the duke didn’t keep watch.”
The old man who says it’s noisy even though it’s in a village that only makes moderate noise, and those who agree.
‘Everything from bugs to birds and wild animals is watching us. Are you a descendant of a vampire? No, I don’t feel any awkwardness. Rather, it even feels refreshing. It’s the energy of life.’
Death and life do not clash with each other, but cooperate in harmony.
‘They say that countless beasts helped the Kingdom of LucyArcanel. Did the divine tree of the founding legend really exist?’
The old man, who was thinking about this and that, felt the need for more information.
“Let’s just move.”
“Yes.”
The old man, who found no traces of pollution in the village, turned his horse towards the capital.
‘If this isn’t a disguise, cooperating with the queen might be easier than you think.’
The Grand Master continued to check the villages discovered along the way.
In some villages we had a meal, in some villages we bought souvenirs, and in some villages we stayed at an inn.
After taking his time and becoming convinced of Queen Lillian’s political inclinations, he headed to the capital.
* * * * * *
“I was waiting.”
The Grand Master and his party arrived at the capital Isilid and encountered Sirin waiting in front of the castle gate.
“We will guide you from here.”
The mercenary knights armed with battle armor skillfully surrounded the Grand Master and his party in a guard formation.
To put it conversely, it was no different from being surrounded, but the Grand Master and his party did not fight back.
This is because there is no need to be afraid of being surrounded by those who seem to be less numerous and less skilled than you.
If you are careful, you can easily break this siege.
‘That armor…’
‘An artifact that allows even worms to overwhelm knights…’
‘I don’t feel any magic power. Is this also a different kind of technology?’
Rather, their attention focused on Battle Armored.
If you can have that object, there are endless ways to use it.
Naturally, it was impossible to understand the structure of Battle Armored just by looking at it.
-Check for contamination.-
As the Grand Master’s thoughts were transmitted through the magic tool, several of the guards secretly activated a device.
-Pollution concentration… It is 2.7%.-
Mana, which can be said to be the foundation of this world, took on different properties due to uninvited beings from another dimension.
This is called pollution, and the higher the level, the more it becomes an alien area where even the laws of the world change.
Among the numerous dangerous species, the Guardian Corps gave priority to those that increased the level of pollution.
This is why the Grand Master requested to speak with Lillian.
‘If the pollution concentration is less than 3%, it means that no foreign media is served or the power of foreign media is hardly used. Queen Lilian is someone you can talk to!’
Through the information I have experienced so far and the level of pollution in the capital, I am convinced that Lillian is not a stooge of the foreign media.
‘The concentration of pollution in the western region has already exceeded 30%. We have to stop it somehow until it reaches 100%.’
I don’t know what happens when it reaches 100%.
However, decades ago, a foreign religious group raised the rate to 70%.
And at that time, half of the Guardian Corps’ strength was split.
“I will guide you to a room where the servants can rest…”
“Thank you for your hospitality. However, at the risk of being somewhat rude, I would like to ask you to let me meet the Queen. It is a very urgent matter.”
“… Please wait a moment.”
It was not the time to relax.
The risk of contamination concentration must be communicated as quickly as possible, even at the minute.
Sirin, reading the impatience on the Grand Master’s face, winked at one of the servants.
After a while, the servant returned.
“He told me to guide you to the conference room in 30 minutes.”
“That’s right. It looks like you don’t plan on staying long, so I’ll take you to the lounge instead of your room.”
The Grand Master nodded at Sirin’s words and moved to the lounge following the guidance of the servants.
“You can have whatever refreshments you want. Would you like tea as a drink?”
“Hmm. Please do that.”
“Bring the car.”
Finally, after clearing his mind, the Grand Master reached for the refreshments prepared in the lounge, as he had not tasted sweetness for a long time.
As if she knew their entire route, she took a bite of a warm cookie that had only been made for a few tens of minutes.
“Hmm?”
“Why are you doing that?”
Is it possibly poison?
The guards reached for their weapons as the Grand Master’s expression changed.
Wajak- Wajak-
But the Grand Master scooped up a few more cookies.
“What on earth is this made of?”
As the Grand Master continued to add cookies, others also ate them one by one.
“Ugh?”
“Heavenly breath.”
A well-made cookie that looks ordinary.
However, when I put it in my mouth, I felt the right amount of softness and crunchiness, and a sweetness that I had never tasted before.
I’ve tried many high-end desserts, but after eating these cookies, they were downgraded to ordinary desserts.
“Bring more refreshments.”
“Yes.”
Unlike the Grand Master and advisors who analyzed the cookies, the escorts who experienced the heavenly sweetness refilled their refreshments several times.
“The Queen is calling.”
“I will guide you to the conference venue.”
30 minutes passed in an instant.
Sirin, who is in charge of guiding and monitoring the Guardian Corps, guided them to her conference room.
A few of her escorts secretly took her refreshments, but she pretended not to notice.
Gwaik-
As I entered the door opened by the servants, I faced four women.
A woman with hair as blue as the deep sea and dignity in her eyes.
A witch with bewitching purple eyes.
A centaur made of fresh green light.
A red-eyed vampire with lime-colored hair held in place by noble ivory accessories.
These women are all beautiful but also give off a dangerous feeling.
The guards’ faces hardened, feeling a sense of crisis that if even one of them stepped forward, they would be swept away.
‘Even without that piece, the Kingdom of LucyArcanel would have won the war.’
From what I heard, there are many stronger people than this one.
The equipment only served to reduce the damage to the people, but it is clear that their power played a strong role in winning the war.
‘You must persuade. Their power is essential to defeat the foreign media alliance.’
When I encountered their power directly, I felt a strong conviction that we must cooperate.
“It’s great to see in person the people who moved the entire continent because they didn’t like us. I feel like I finally have a clear goal of who to punish.”
First, they have to resolve the karma they have accumulated.
