Chapter 25
"We've arrived, Young Master."
The carriage passed through the gates of the Grand Ducal Estate and came to a stop.
I jumped down first, followed by Celine and Julian.
The knights and attendants of Cardenos stood in formation before the gates.
Hendrickson stood off to one side with his arms crossed and one leg cocked.
'He's come to his senses already.'
He had shaved his bushy beard and dressed himself up, making him look fairly presentable. He should have kept himself clean from the start. What a stubborn old man.
I looked around with my eyes wide open, but Father was nowhere to be seen.
No matter how busy he was, he was the sort of person who would at least come out to greet me when I returned from the Imperial Capital.
He must have had no choice but to be away.
To deal with Rosenthal's severed trade ties, for instance.
"Young Master, you've returned saf...."
The knight's voice, which had been about to offer a greeting, abruptly cut off.
The knights' sharp gazes flew toward Julian standing behind me.
"That bastard!"
"Isn't that Julian?! What brings you here, you bastard?"
Several of them placed their hands on their sword hilts, looking ready to cut off his head on the spot. Their killing intent was steeped in all the resentment from the duel.
I lightly waved my hand.
"Everyone, calm down and take your hands off your sword hilts."
"That man insulted you, Young Master!"
"Not anymore. From now on, he's a comrade who'll breathe the same dust as you in the training grounds."
I gave Julian a light pat on the shoulder.
"He came to apologize in person at the Founding Festival. He said he wanted to start learning again from the bottom, so I brought him along."
Even my words failed to ease the knights' expressions.
They continued glaring at Julian with eyes filled with distrust and hostility.
It was all as I'd expected. Was insulting me all Julian had done?
He had NTR'd my fiancée and then shamelessly challenged me to a duel.
The Black Lion Knights' anger was justified.
Amid the hostile atmosphere, Julian bent deeply at the waist.
"I know I have no right to be here, but I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Julian."
The knights clicked their tongues, and some even spat on the floor of the training grounds.
If I interfered again, it would only breed resentment.
'Don't fight, be friends!' was something you only heard at school.
Julian gave me a sidelong glance and forced a bitter smile. It was his way of telling me not to worry.
He seemed to find this reaction more realistic and, in its own way, more comfortable.
Clomp- clomp-
Hendrickson, who had been standing off to one side, strode over.
He slowly looked Julian up and down with an indifferent gaze.
"Your mental pathways are completely wrecked. How did you end up in this state?"
He really was a Swordmaster.
He could see through Julian's condition with a single glance.
"He says he crippled himself deliberately. He wants to forge a ring."
"Oh...."
Hendrickson stroked his beard with interest.
Ring-obsessed Hendrickson. If I praised the sun ring in front of him, his attitude would change in an instant.
"For a youngster, your attitude is pretty good. I like it!"
"I-It's an honor, Sir Hendrickson."
Julian's eyes sparkled with admiration.
He was a grown man, yet he still had a child's heart.
Grab-!
A palm as large as a cauldron lid clamped around Julian's shoulder.
"You came prepared, didn't you?"
"Yes!"
"Not some half-hearted resolve. I'm asking whether you're prepared to offer your life. Now that you've come here, your life no longer belongs to you."
"Yes, sir!!"
"What kind of voice is that? Is this all you've got?!"
"Agh!!!!"
"You've got plenty of spirit! But the foundation of a knight isn't spirit—it's stamina. Run around the training grounds right now—go!"
"Agh!! How many laps should I run?"
"Tsk... You're about to disappoint me."
"Agh!!!!"
Julian immediately took off running around the training grounds.
With his stamina, he would have to run on his own until sunset.
At least he could take comfort in not being alone.
Pitter-patter—!
Countless footsteps followed behind Julian.
The Black Lion Knights, who had been snarling at him until just moments ago, had begun running in formation.
Julian looked back, his eyes widening like saucers.
"Eyes forward, eyes forward!"
"One hundred laps! Fall behind, and you're dead!"
The men ran through the dust, bellowing commands.
Men quickly become one when they sweat together.
In my view, nothing was more tightly bonded than comradeship.
Marine Corps literature about brotherhood was better than romance-fantasy novels going on about love.
......If you interpret that sentence literally, anyway.
***
"The head of the family left for the south early this morning."
The head butler's complexion was noticeably haggard as he delivered his report.
"Rosenthal?"
"Yes. The southern trade routes have been blocked one after another."
"Of course."
We could have put the officials in charge to work. But Father was the sort of person who couldn't rest until he had gone out himself and confirmed everything with his own feet and eyes.
It was a way befitting Father, but it also meant that the situation was no longer giving us any room to breathe.
This wasn't the usual WWE, either. Rosenthal had retaliated in earnest, and Cardenos had responded in kind.
In the end, they were dragging each other down.
The central rulers would watch from the sidelines until both sides had suffered an appropriate amount of damage, then intervene at the right moment.
"Got it. Off you go."
"Yes."
There was no need to bare our fangs at them any further.
I had disliked Rosenthal even before my regression. They were despicable bastards who measured human worth solely in money.
When humanity stood on the brink of extinction, they abandoned responsibility and gave up fighting.
The head of the Rosenthal family, who had claimed to be the leader of the south, abandoned the resistance and hanged himself.
I wanted to kill the bastards who became agents of the Outer Gods, too.
Those who abandoned the greater cause and ran away were no better.
The first thing we had to do was put an end to the economic retaliation and solidify our family's position.
Naturally, that would require an enormous amount of money.
"Piece of cake for a regressor."
Information can become a lot of money, and a lot of money can become even more.
The knowledge from the romance-fantasy novels I'd only ever absorbed in print. The vivid memories I'd gained by risking my life and struggling before my regression.
This time, I wouldn't repeat the mistakes of my previous life.
***
As sunset gave way to deepening night.
I called Hendrickson and Julian to my room.
"I called you two because of those damn Rosenthal bastards. There's something I want to discuss with you."
Hendrickson pulled out a chair and sat down with interest.
"Planning to draw swords?"
"Of course not. War is something you spend money on, not something that makes money. I'm going to make money."
Meanwhile, Julian's expression grew noticeably gloomy. He always became like this whenever Rosenthal came up.
"Julian."
"Yes."
"That's right. It's your fault."
"......!"
Comfort was unnecessary.
I hoped that a cold dose of reality would serve as a catalyst for Julian.
"If you hadn't let Azeline play you, none of this would have happened."
"...I know."
"Don't hole up in a corner and do nothing but blame yourself. Try taking responsibility. Of course, this isn't something you can handle alone. That's why you came here, isn't it?"
"What... should I do?"
Those were good eyes. He was straightforward, with none of the twists and knots of a complicated person, and I liked that about him.
After looking between the two of them, I opened my mouth.
"We're going to conquer the Ashen Forest."
Their reactions were immediate and explosive.
Julian's eyes bulged as though they might pop out, while deep furrows like plowed fields appeared on the previously impassive Hendrickson's face.
"Did you just say the Ashen Forest?"
"You heard me correctly."
"Look at this madman. Do you even know where that is?"
"If I didn't, I wouldn't have brought it up."
The Ashen Forest.
An unexplored wilderness at the far western edge of the Empire.
It was a hellish realm beyond human habitation, where mutated magical beasts lurked without end.
Since even the Imperial Family had not dared to conquer it, they had built a massive wall and sealed it off.
In some respects, it resembled the north.
The difference was that the north had to periodically fend off waves of monsters surging toward the wall.
By contrast, the Ashen Forest in the west was sealed off and more or less abandoned.
As long as no one provoked them, the magical beasts did not cross the wall.
"Have you gone mad, Young Master?"
"That's insane."
Their reactions were only natural. I was saying I intended to stir up that hornet's nest.
They didn't know, but I did.
The Ashen Forest contained enormous veins of magic stones and rare resources that would be invaluable in preparing for the destruction of the world.
In general, places inhabited by magical beasts had a high probability of containing magic-stone deposits.
Even so, conventional wisdom held that the Ashen Forest carried too great a risk. That was only because no one knew the truth.
The amount of buried magic stone was nearly thirty times greater than expected.
If we succeeded, we could enjoy the greatest wealth and honor in the Empire.
According to the original story, an expedition led by Lucia would discover it.
I would uncover that discovery much sooner.
"Conquering the Ashen Forest will require a huge number of troops. Do you think the Imperial Family will remain still after seeing that?"
"I'll negotiate with them directly. If I package the conquest of the Ashen Forest as a cause for the good of humanity, they'll turn a blind eye. The magical beasts of the Ashen Forest will cross the wall someday. Then they'll pose a great threat to the Empire. If we call it a preemptive campaign to prepare for that day, who would stop us?"
We could also appeal to the need for self-preservation because Rosenthal had cut off trade.
If we said we would donate the conquered territory to the Empire, they would gladly give us permission.
Of course, the territory and the resources buried beneath it were two entirely separate matters.
All we had to do was swallow up the valuable magic stones.
"Leaving all that aside, even getting started is impossible. Unless we had two or three more Swordmasters, that is."
Hendrickson delivered his verdict coldly. Even he, a Swordmaster, considered it an act of reckless bravado.
"They don't necessarily have to be Swordmasters."
"Do you think that bastard would hand his knight order over to you?"
"I have no intention of using the knight order. To begin with, I won't even ask Father to lend us his strength."
"Requesting support from the central authorities would be impossible too. Those bastards will sit back with their arms folded and toss us a token force. The Ashen Forest is an unnecessary risk, an act of stirring up a hornet's nest. You'll lose far more than you gain."
"We can't know that."
That last point was wrong. We would gain far more than we lost.
But everything else he said was correct.
We couldn't ask for support from the Imperial Family, much less ask our own family for help.
"I'll form an expedition. I'll recruit elite mercenaries, mages, and knights from the private sector to enter the Ashen Forest."
Julian's mouth fell open as though he couldn't believe his ears.
"Volunteers for an expedition? Who would be crazy enough to volunteer for that? No one would set foot in the Ashen Forest even if you paid them a fortune."
Everyone knew what kind of place the Ashen Forest was.
Mercenaries weren't stupid enough to crawl into a deathtrap for a few coins.
Seeing was believing.
I pulled a sheet of paper from my clothes and placed it on the table.
"I've come up with a slogan for the recruitment notice to run in the Imperial Capital Daily. This should be enough to move people's hearts."
Julian and Hendrickson's gazes turned toward the paper. Two pairs of eyes quickly moved over the printed words.
[Recruiting Volunteers for the Ashen Forest Expedition]
[Freezing cold, magical beasts, dense demonic energy, endless darkness, constant danger, safe return uncertain]
[Pay undecided]
[Upon success: limitless honor and glory]
"......"
"......"
A brief silence followed.
"Young Master."
"What."
"Are you seriously insane?"
"Ahem, mind your manners when speaking to your superior."
Julian picked up the paper, veins standing out on his forehead.
"What's this?! You're advertising how dangerous it is! And the pay is undecided?! Who on earth would come after reading this?"
It was an entirely reasonable reaction.
So Julian was the normal one.
"Hmm."
The old man beside him, stroking his beard and groaning, was the madman.
His eyes were fixed on the final sentence on the paper—the words honor and glory.
The corners of his mouth curved faintly.
"If it were me, I'd volunteer immediately."
"What?!"
I had thought Hendrickson would change his mind.
Julian turned toward Hendrickson in horror.
"For a whelp, you understand people well. You don't know a damn thing about a woman's heart, but you know how to move a man's."
"You're too kind."
I'd adapted this slogan to my own tastes from the recruitment notice for Shackleton's Antarctic expedition, the greatest Antarctic expedition in modern Earth's history.
A clearly lethal expedition. Low wages. A brutal journey. Thousands of men flocked to that notice.
Of course, it was later widely believed that the notice itself was legendary.
No matter how romantic that era may have been, reality and romance were different things.
But in this world, it was possible.
Honor and glory. Things a man destined for greatness would value more than his own life.
This was an age steeped in romanticism, where people spoke of chivalry.
Hendrickson was one example.
Julian, on the other hand, still couldn't accept the situation. He looked as though one more madman had appeared.
"You'd volunteer after seeing this insane notice...?"
"Sensible men won't even give it a glance. They'll just spit on the ground and call it bad luck."
"Then why?"
"That's the standard, Julian."
I tapped the recruitment notice on the table with my finger.
"We don't lower our standards. We simply wait until someone comes along who can surpass them."
Only men like that were needed for the Ashen Forest expedition.
Madmen thirstier for recognition than for survival.
Monsters wearing human skin who longed for the impossible.
"We don't need riffraff who can be moved by a few gold coins. We need madmen who can smile even in the face of death."
Not a single person wished for a meaningless death.
Countless people wished for an honorable one.
The Ashen Forest was an unexplored hellscape, and conquering it meant pursuing the noble mission of expanding humanity's horizons.
Death on the expedition would be more than honorable enough.
"Men like that have an obsession strong enough to make even the gods shudder. That means there's nothing they can't do."
That was the sort of end Hendrickson met.
I had seen far too many comrades meet the same end.
A person determines their own worth in their final moment.
The sacrifices of those who desperately wanted to die in the face of destruction were noble.
Those who only ran away, desperate to live, died with lives worth less than a worm's.
"I won't just use those people for the expedition and then let them go. Even after it ends, I want them to gather beneath Cardenos's banner."
Even as I said it, my final statement felt vague.
I paused briefly, then added one fundamental condition.
"If they survive."