Chapter 19
“How long do you plan to keep things this way?”
“What do you mean, “this way”?”
A warm interior contrasted with the bitter weather outside the window.
“I am talking about what you continue to do. Do you truly believe this makes any sense?”
“Why wouldn’t it make sense? This is the way of the Northern Region.”
“…How can you possibly call that the way of the Northern Region?”
However, the atmosphere was freezing over, growing even colder than outside.
The woman standing opposite the Northern Grand Duke.
She was not at all pleased with the current state of affairs in the Northern Region.
“You declare a severance from The Center, yet you continue to receive things from The Center.”
“That is not a problem. It is the path to a more solid Northern Region, and it is a matter that has already been permitted.”
“Even so, is there a reason to sever ties like this? Why build the wall facing The Center instead of outside the Northern Region?”
“Because the Northern Region might become the final defensive line.”
“Do you intend to ignore The Center’s summons as well?”
“I wouldn’t know, as no summons has come yet.”
The current Northern Region was dreaming of complete independence.
The Northern Grand Duke completely denied this, appearing to prepare for unforeseen variables.
This was something anyone with even a little bit of sense couldn’t help but notice.
Thanks to the harsh environment of the Northern Region, they could train soldiers to their hearts' content without needing to walk on eggshells around The Center.
In such an environment, to even put up a wall and declare complete separation from The Center?
If that were the case, shouldn’t they stop receiving things from The Center?
Various thoughts bubbled in the woman’s mind before she spoke.
“To begin with, right now the soldiers are too weak. For the Northern Region to grow stronger, they need various experiences. This is all part of that.”
“…Does that include dispatching soldiers to Maselin?”
“Currently, Maselin is fighting wars big and small. It should be seen as the process of unifying the Western Region. The experience gained from those wars will be invaluable.”
“Why must the soldiers of the Northern Region fight wars in another Kingdom? Is it because of that harlot, Mirne?”
BANG!
At the word 'harlot,' the Northern Grand Duke flared his Aura and stood up.
The slowly freezing atmosphere of the room shattered, and the Northern Grand Duke’s anger filled the empty space.
“How dare you call her a harlot.”
“Do you know the number of men she is in contact with besides His Highness the Grand Duke?”
“She is simply kind.”
“She pretends to be kind while receiving countless forms of aid behind the scenes. Don’t tell me you are unaware of this.”
“…Everyone is simply moved by her kind heart and acting on their own accord. I am the same. She has never directly asked for anything.”
The Northern Grand Duke said so and sat back down.
“Why do you dislike her so much?”
The woman who continued to oppose him was in the Northern Grand Duke’s field of vision.
If he was the sword of the Northern Region, she was the Staff of the North.
The Ice Mage, Estella Neave.
The Northern Grand Duke could not understand her.
Why was she showing such hostility toward Mirne?
There were clear benefits she had brought to the Northern Region, so why was she turning a blind eye to that part of the conversation?
He simply couldn’t understand it at all.
“…Hah, are you truly asking because you don’t know?”
“No matter how much I think about it, I cannot figure out a reason to dislike her, unless you are forcing yourself to.”
“She blatantly demands soldiers, and in return, hah… all we receive are a few toys fit for children.”
“Not only that, but she also presented the possibilities our Northern Region holds.”
“That is at a level that other officials could have easily thought of.”
A brief silence.
Not missing that opening, Estella continued speaking.
“You must stop this nonsense now and put your efforts toward the true Northern Region. They say The Center’s recent movements are unusual, so why aren’t you properly investigating this?”
“Why don’t you do it, then?”
“You need to give me the authority to do so. Didn’t you take it away?”
What was the point of being called the Staff of the North?
There was nothing left beneath the title but an empty shell.
In the past, she could lead the Information Unit and the Magic Unit, but now, her arms and legs have been completely cut off.
This all happened after the Northern Grand Duke went crazy over a woman.
Claiming he would consolidate everything in the Northern Region into one, he stripped away all of her authority.
In fact, because of that, there have been difficulties in maintaining the Northern Front recently.
A Wizard’s formation is best understood by a Wizard.
Yet he was just shouting to do things the way they always had, without a single consideration for that.
“…Are you truly acting for the sake of the Northern Region? Just what on earth are you thinking?”
So Estella simply told him to come clean and reveal his true intentions.
If she knew his inner thoughts, she could at least leave without any lingering regrets.
Together with the Northerners who were shivering in the cold, knowing nothing,
Wouldn’t it be better to cross over to The Center, which was recently undergoing a cataclysmic change?
Those thoughts lasted only a moment.
“I am acting for the true Northern Region. That is the truth. I hope you believe me.”
The Northern Grand Duke’s calm reply followed.
“Do you think a Crown Prince with such a weak disposition can truly care for the Northern Region? No matter how much he has changed, that nature does not change.”
In his vision, he saw a woman with hair that seemed to hold the moonlight.
A woman whose long hair reached the end of her waist,
A being who did not know the true future of the Northern Region,
Someone who, for some unknown reason, opposed Mirne.
“I, even if it is just me, have no choice but to truly act for the Northern Region, and that is why I am making this choice.”
The Northern Grand Duke, Freon Vesper, adjusted his black hair and concluded his words.
“…”
Hearing that answer, Estella let out a scoffing laugh and walked right out the door.
There was no longer any point in talking.
“If that”s the case, I have no choice but to contact The Center directly.'
If outside eyes could not see inside.
She had no choice but to make a request directly from the inside.
Estella made up her mind to go to The Center.
And behind her, someone was.
Swish.
The Northern Grand Duke’s subordinates were following her.
+++++
“What I’m seeing with my own two eyes right now isn’t a hallucination, is it?”
“No, it is not.”
“Hah.”
The road was heading to the Northern Region.
Just like last time, we moved at super high speed, aiming to stop only at major areas.
But the very first thing that greeted us was…
“It’s a wall.”
“Yes, it is a wall.”
It was an incredibly wide, sprawling wall.
There was a wall that looked so high and sturdy that it would take quite a while to go around it.
Why would they build this on the road connecting The Center and the Northern Region, rather than at the Border?
It was even funnier that The Center hadn’t known about this.
'Isn’t the meaning behind this far too obvious?'
I chose to sever ties with The Center in order to defend the Northern Region more firmly.
And yet, I was still receiving support from The Center without fail.
I was not sharing a single piece of news with The Center, but the moment I go on a Northern Excursion, the very first thing to greet me is a Barrier.
Since ancient times, there has only been one way to deal with a dog that bites the hand that feeds it.
Of course, if I met him in person and asked his intentions, he might say that wasn’t the case.
But with a Barrier standing here so blatantly, could he really deny it?
While various thoughts were coming and going.
“Your Royal Highness, do you perhaps remember the covenant?”
Pavan suddenly threw out a question out of nowhere.
“The Covenant?”
There’s a covenant? A setting like that existed?
Showing signs of panic in a moment like this was an amateur move, so I calmly looked at Pavan.
And right on cue.
[ You have heard a mention of the covenant. ]
[ The Covenant is a promise passed down from the Great Prophet. ]
[ The Executioners each held different wishes and swore loyalty to the Empire. ]
[ The Empire has a duty to fulfill those wishes. ]
[ If the duty is forgotten, the Empire will be in danger. ]
[ The time of the Covenant approaches. ]
[ The Empire’s Probability of Destruction increases. ]
[ Current Empire’s Probability of Destruction: 80% ]
[ Status Summary: The Empire has a very high probability of being destroyed within 5 years. ]
A barrage of System Messages poured out.
“Wait, there was a crazy setting like this?”
But what exactly is the Covenant? What kind of promise was made?
“No wonder the Executioners were listening so obediently to the Empire.”
Honestly speaking, having five formidable forces without any price didn’t make sense.
Come to think of it, of course something like a maintenance fee would be required.
To think that failing to manage that maintenance fee would cause something capable of destroying the Empire.
'Don’t tell me these Executioners are also going to cooperate with Mirne later on?'
The possibility that the Maselin Kingdom or Mirne held the key to the Covenant.
Honestly, it was very high.
“I remember your wishes as well.”
But I couldn’t just keep thinking to myself.
So I gave an answer based on the System Messages for now.
“…!”
As soon as he heard those words, Pavan’s body flinched.
“You remember. We were in a state where we ourselves could not speak of our wishes. So… I am truly grateful.”
Wish they couldn’t speak of themselves?
So they basically laid down foreshadowing for the Empire’s destruction right here.
“A covenant that no one remembers, wishes that must be granted but cannot be spoken directly - that is a riddle.”
They really were itching to destroy the Empire.
I’d have to look into this quickly as well.
“For now, let’s focus on the task at hand.”
“Yes, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I apologize.”
With those thoughts in mind, we quickly headed toward 'Eiragard', the capital of the Northern Region.
I had come while lopping off the heads of the allied nobles one by one, in the case of the Eastern Region.
But in the Northern Region, which reeked of something fishy just by its appearance, moving like that would get us caught immediately.
I concluded that it would be better to just quickly confront the Northern Grand Duke instead.
“It will be quite a long journey.”
“We’ll have to resupply at least once in the middle. Eiragard is at the very top of the Northern Region, after all.”
The Front Line.
Just how much had the Northern Region grown after severing ties with The Center?
Perhaps, no.
I continued forward while thinking of a future with a rather high probability of occurring.
[ A villainess nearby. ]
The Villainess Ring suddenly made its presence known.
Is a villainess nearby?
“We haven”t even reached the Front Line yet.'
Judging by the map, we were only about halfway there.
But what reason would a villainess have to be here out of nowhere?
[ Guiding you to where the Villainess is. ]
The question was short-lived.
The Villainess Ring pointed outright in the direction where the villainess was.
I suppose you could say I roughly knew where she was.
It was no different from telling me I absolutely had to meet her, so I immediately turned around.
“There’s something I need to Check.”
“Yes, sir.”
Who was the villainess of the Northern Region?
This was something that hadn’t appeared in the early parts of the novel I read.
My curiosity continued to swell even as we headed in that direction.
“Huff, huff, huff.”
Not long after we moved, I heard someone’s heavy breathing.
It was a woman’s breathing. The moment I heard it, I realized whose it was.
“That woman is the villainess?”
But why did she have a whole string of knights trailing behind her?
Because it was an obvious pursuit no matter who looked at it, I immediately threw myself and intervened between the villainess and the knights.
I immediately threw myself and intervened between the villainess and the knights.
“Who goes there!”
“Who are you!”
Cliché lines poured out.
I took off my robe to quickly sort out the situation.
Golden Hair and Red Eyes.
The proof that let anyone know that I was of the Imperial Family at a glance.
“H-His Royal Highness the Crown Prince…?”
Even the villainess seemed to recognize me immediately, her eyes widening in shock.
However, the knights' attitudes remained unchanged.
I understood why.
If the Crown Prince suddenly appeared out of nowhere, who would believe it?
It would be more rational to think someone was trying to trick them using Sorcery or Magic.
But.
“Estella, you’re using such a pathetic trick.”
“He is an entity we must face for the grand plan of the Northern Region anyway.”
“Do you think we’d fall for an Illusion like this?”
At the knights' subsequent words, the corners of my mouth curled all the way up.
“The grand plan of the Northern Region?”
You have to face me anyway?
“Pavan.”
“Yes, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Sever all their limbs, and leave only their necks.”
“Shall I spare the woman?”
“Yes.”
They’re saying some very interesting things.
I’d like to hear the details.