Chapter 105: Chapter 105
“Treachery, is it?”
The throne of Hasra Royal Palace.
Cheryn murmured softly as she read the letter with Shan and Roden standing before her.
“Yes. I brought it because I thought I should deliver it to you first, Princess.”
“Can we trust this woman?”
“To be frank, I do not find her very trustworthy.”
Roden spoke in a firm tone.
“In the past, the Altoan Brotherhood was an organization that squeezed the Altoans barely making a living in the slums while only executives who looked no different from Westerners lived in luxury. Whatever grand cause they pursued, that was unjust.”
In other words, his logic was that words spouted by the ringleader of a hideous criminal group could not be trusted in the first place.
Hearing this, Cheryn let out a languid smile and spoke.
“An upper class living in luxury by squeezing the lower class. It’s no different from this society.”
“I did not mean it in that sense, however.”
When Roden wore an embarrassed expression at her implication comparing them to nobles and royals who squeezed the lifeblood of commoners to enjoy wealth and honor, Cheryn chuckled and shook her head.
“No, in truth I agree with that part as well. Of course, that doesn’t mean I think the laws of bloodline and status can be discarded, but at least I feel the current structure needs to be reformed to some extent. What I intend to do in the future is one of those things… My, it seems my words strayed off topic a bit.”
Setting the letter down, Cheryn let out a small sigh before speaking.
“Anyway, what I want to say is that we don’t need to dismiss it as a complete lie. Now that even their final counterattack has failed, I am the one closest to the throne of Pendia.”
Needless to say for Conrad, who had already been extradited to Palles, Elvin was likewise driven into a corner.
Even the King of Ruman would not be able to shield an immoral wretch who colluded with vampires and targeted his own half-sister.
As such, it was only natural for the minions who served him to try to prolong their lives by handing over their master.
One could call it typical behavior for sewer rats.
“Of course, just because they offer Elvin to me doesn’t mean I have to spare them.”
As she muttered those words, a ruthless murderous intent dwelled on Cheryn’s face.
At any rate, the reply to the letter was decided like that.
To remain suspicious, but to extend a hand lightly within the boundaries of guaranteed safety.
After finishing the conversation, Cheryn stopped Shan, who was naturally rising from his seat.
“Shall we talk for a moment, Young Master Shan?”
“Yes, Princess.”
When Roden stepped aside first, Cheryn, watching his receding back, spoke.
“I hope he doesn’t misunderstand thinking I’m talking behind his back.”
“He probably won’t think that.”
“Is that so?”
Her brightly smiling face was not that of the cold-hearted monarch she had shown until moments ago, but that of a girl with only a few months left until her coming-of-age ceremony.
Shan always found it fascinating to see her switch masks so adeptly like that.
In front of others, she was a cold and solid sovereign who wouldn’t shed a drop of blood even if pricked, yet when she fell asleep holding his hand tightly every night, she was like a frightened child.
“Anyway, shall I tell you the reason I called you separately? First… a few days ago, I dissected Father’s corpse.”
As a heavy topic struck right from the start, Shan’s face turned serious.
Desecrating a human corpse was one of the taboos strictly forbidden by the doctrines of the Goddess Order.
Moreover, if it was desecrating the corpse of the King and her own father, the moment it was discovered, she would have to bear tremendous condemnation.
Of course, Shan did not criticize Cheryn for it.
Not only was his sensitivity toward such matters naturally rather dull, but he also knew that Gizel III was not a person worthy of respect.
Cheryn too had opened up frankly because she knew Shan would think nothing of it.
“When on earth did you do that? You have people trailing behind you every day.”
“I sent people away under the pretext of mourning Father alone in the underground catacombs. The coffin lid was heavier than I thought.”
Saying that she had Aran hide the dissection tools and a change of clothes in advance in the underground catacombs, Cheryn smiled like a child explaining a mischievous prank.
“You should have called me.”
“You were busy cleaning up the remnants of the council side. Opening a coffin and picking apart a corpse isn’t something that requires such great help anyway.”
Saying that she had done plenty of corpse dissections in the past anyway, Cheryn spoke boastfully before shaking her head.
“While doing that, I found out something quite surprising… Father’s brain was hardly left. Even though the body was clearly placed in a coffin embedded with the royal family’s preservation magic.”
“If so…?”
“I consider it highly likely that his brain was damaged due to symptoms of a venereal disease. Besides that, there are a few types of diseases that damage the brain, but the pitch-black powder found where the brain should have remained possessed traits unique to a venereal disease.”
A disease that devoured the brain: it was terrifying just imagining it.
As Shan let out a light groan of disgust, Cheryn assumed a serious expression.
“So, do you by any chance remember what that man said back then?”
“What he said?”
Shan recalled the time he met Gizel III for a moment, but the contents of their conversation did not come to mind easily.
Hadn’t it been someone he had met briefly over a year ago in the first place?
If anything, he remembered the attire of the knights he had fought back then to some extent.
Seeing his blank expression as if he did not remember at all, Cheryn coughed lightly and explained.
“He told you to come find him if you had the chance, didn’t he? Saying he would show you something greater than anything you could imagine.”
“Ah.”
Hearing that, he faintly recalled it.
Even though he had said that, he ended up indirectly murdered by his son Elvin, making him look ridiculous.
Cheryn, who had been making an absurd expression, soon hardened her face seriously.
“I guessed that those words might have been an attempt to play some trick by meeting you alone. Besides, even before that, I felt a strange sense of incongruity. The Father I saw there had the same manner of speech and demeanor, but he strangely said things he originally wouldn’t have.”
“Come to think of it, I believe you mentioned something like that back then as well.”
“At the time, I wondered what on earth that was about… but combining it with the information I recently acquired, I began to think that perhaps the Father we saw wasn’t himself.”
“Not himself?”
“He was controlled by someone. In a way where something presumed to be the medium of the disease parasitized part of his brain, forcing emotions or actions. In fact, there are such parasites. Though they aren’t magical creatures.”
At stories he had truly never even imagined, Shan’s eyes widened.
If such a thing were possible, wouldn’t assassinating someone be far too easy?
Because it would end simply if a person possessing a passing servant suddenly plunged a knife into them.
“Is magic that controls people really possible?”
“Even I control spiders. If someone possessed skills greater than mine or unearthed secret magic from the era of the Altoan Empire, it wouldn’t be impossible. Though I haven’t seen such a person until now.”
She said that even so, she had doubted whether such a thing was truly possible, but the moment she read the letter, an intense intuition struck her.
That all of this was connected in some way.
“As it happens, didn’t they say Marquis Beshalia listens to whatever his favorite concubine says? Perhaps his confidence that he could hand Elvin over at any time stemmed from that as well.”
“Ah, come to think of it, that was true.”
In the past, the Brotherhood’s executives had said that the Marquis was head over heels for his favorite concubine and granted whatever she wanted.
Back then, he had merely thought it was ordinary honeyed seduction, but combining it with the previous clues, Cheryn’s opinion was that it might be an ability to control people.
“Are you saying that woman named Yure might be a mage who controls people using a venereal disease as a medium?”
“It is merely a hypothesis, mind you. In the first place, I haven’t heard any stories of Marquis Beshalia suffering from a similar disease.”
Though she spoke like that, Cheryn’s ‘guesses’ turned out to be correct most of the time.
Even in magic, intuition established on somewhat weak logic often proved accurate when demonstrated later.
“Of course, the specifics will only be known after securing custody of Elvin and investigating, but if it is as I think, there must be a reason she specifically tried to meet you separately. The proposal made this time is also to play some trick. So, regarding that, we should prepare separate defensive measures…”
*
After receiving the letter, Cheryn dedicated herself to stabilizing Hasra according to plan, instead of heading straight for Beshalia.
After rooting out the criminal organizations parasitizing the city, grasping the population anew, and establishing an administrative system, there were many, many tasks to do.
For this, talented individuals who knew how to read and handle administrative work were necessary.
Fortunately, in Hasra and its surrounding satellite cities, there were quite a few low-ranking royal administrators hiding out to avoid the aftermath of the civil war.
Remembering the reputation of Princess Cheryn, who had dramatically reformed royal administration in the past, they petitioned to enter service once again, and Cheryn, who was in urgent need of talent, accepted them immediately.
Instead of supplies coming from the south including Beshalia being cut off, by taking Garn Castle in the northeast as a stronghold, receiving supplies from the north and east, and opening trade with the west as well, the living environment of Hasra’s citizens rapidly improved.
“Is the war finally coming to an end now?”
“I don’t care who it is, I just wish someone would quickly become king. I’m sick and tired of an era without a king.”
The grumblings of Hasra’s citizens, mixed with half anticipation and half anxiety, were like the consensus of all Pendian people.
Of course, the opinions of the people of Palles, who had always lived comfortably and leisurely, might be a little different.
Among those gathered in a small tavern babbling away, a bearded old man spoke in a despondent tone.
“Truly, in all my life, this is the hardest era I’ve ever experienced. Even during the reign of the King two generations ago, it wasn’t like this.”
Over seventy years old, he remembered the period of rule under the King from two generations ago, the father of Gizel III.
That dull yet peaceful era when absolutely everything was unchanging.
Neither when the former King, who ascended after his death, died young, nor when all sorts of chaos erupted as Gizel III ascended the throne, was it like the present.
At most, the aftermath of war back then meant food prices becoming a bit expensive.
In contrast, during the civil war of the past few years, Pendia was literally engulfed in despair and chaos.
Conscripted youths faced each other on mountains and fields, dying miserably like dogs.
Valiant knights who should have hunted monsters appearing across the lands stabbed each other to death, and thanks to that, monsters like trolls and werewolves devoured humans to their heart’s content.
Even the guards who should have maintained public order were mobilized for battle, so thugs hiding throughout the city to avoid conscription beat, killed, and violated people as much as they pleased.
Now, the people wished for anyone, whoever it might be, to please ascend the throne.
Wishing to live up to their expectations, Cheryn sat on the throne of Hasra and devoted herself to business all day long.
“The calculation of the sewer construction costs you ordered earlier is finished, Princess.”
“Mmm, have Scribe Darham verify that part. What is that next to it?”
“This is the reallocation list for the administrators from Palles.”
“Leave it there.”
“Understood.”
“And there is an error in the resident list for the Artisan District here, bring the approver…”
The administrators marveled at Cheryn’s skill as she reviewed, signed, edited, and passed along documents at a speed that was almost invisible.
Having already earned their respect from a young age with her outstanding administrative skills, the Witch Princess had been fully blossoming that ability while reigning as a monarch over the past few years.
Naturally, in that process, the people below were dying from the increased workload.
Thanks to that, Pendia’s capital began to recover rapidly as it received and poured out logistics from three directions.
At news of restored peace, displaced people who had left returned, and the empty markets were filled with goods.
It was also a great help that her army stationed in Hasra did not commit atrocities against the citizens.
Shan, too, as the strongest knight, acting Count of Shedil, and commander of the army, did not neglect enforcing discipline among his subordinate forces.
Every day, by way of training, he scattered forces near Hasra to hunt monsters while stabilizing nearby satellite cities and trade routes, checking supplies, inspecting injury statuses, and overhauling the army.
In particular, there was something Cheryn’s army had to consider far more importantly than other armies.
“Mogat and Sabain of Reus, and Ragil of Palles. The three conspired to leak magical gear and were apprehended.”
“U-Unfair! This is a frame-up! I merely had my magical gear stolen!”
“I was wrong, please spare me just once! Please!”
“Sir Shan! Young Master! Lord Count! I am a comrade-in-arms who fought alongside Your Lordship for years! Mercy, please!”
The three soldiers, who had each pleaded for leniency in different ways, were hanged in the central square before long.
Merchants caught secretly smuggling out magical gear in collusion with the soldiers received the same disposition as well.
Roden, standing beside him, clicked his tongue as he watched the hanging corpses.
“A soldier’s pay should be more than enough to make a living, so why risk one’s life like this, I wonder.”
Starting with herself, Cheryn was a monarch who gave generous pay to her subordinate soldiers using the share her vassals would have used for luxury.
She also took care to ensure that if someone died in combat, their bereaved family would not starve.
Even so, blinded by a fortune at one stroke, they secretly sold off equipment and reported it lost until they were caught, so they would have no right to complain even in death.
Despite arresting and punishing them firmly whenever such things occurred, fellows trying to siphon off gear inevitably popped up once in a while.
While everyone was diligently focusing on work in their respective positions like that, chaos gradually began to erupt in the south.
It was because rumors that Prince Elvin had employed vampires to attack Cheryn spread in earnest.
“It is a frame-up! This is all a frame-up!”
Naturally, as soon as Elvin heard the story, he flew into a rage and denied it, but the nobles of Beshalia and the nobles and mercenary captains under the King of Ruman guessed the inside story to some extent.
Because they too had seen or heard in passing about Elvin bringing suspicious groups into the royal palace in the first place.
Thanks to that, ‘friends’ no longer gathered in crowds around Elvin as in the past.
Since opportunists who sensed he was on the verge of ruin all vanished, Elvin spent each day relieving his loneliness with heavy drinking and outrageous behavior.
His handsome face also flushed red with alcoholic poison, gaining weight and deteriorating.
Watching that pathetic sight from one side of the banquet hall, Ruman nobles looked at their superior standing nearby and asked.
“What will you do, Admiral?”
“Prince Elvin is finished. There is no possibility of a comeback.”
“If we remain attached to that god-blaspheming wretch, all of us might be excommunicated.”
“Just where would we be excommunicated from? The Western Holy See? Or the Eastern Holy See?”
“That is…”
The man called admiral listened quietly before retorting sarcastically at the final remark.
At this, the lords of Ruman wore troubled expressions.
Recently, with the crushing defeat in the ‘Holy War’ where the forces of Ajun Kingdom formed the main body, the authority of the Western Holy See was significantly eroded.
Furthermore, wasn’t excommunicated Cheryn boosting her momentum to capture Conrad, occupy Hasra, and virtually reign as Queen of Pendia?
Of course, that did not mean the Eastern Holy See, a government-patronized religious group created by Cheryn, became the focal point for all Goddess Order factions.
Meaning that as people of the Ruman Kingdom, there was no reason for them to fear excommunication by the Eastern Holy See just because they belonged to the Goddess Order.
However, there was a valid reason of their own for bringing up this topic.
“It is not something you can brush off like that. Were it an absurd reason, it might be different, but collusion with monsters is a ground for excommunication that anyone can accept. If they excommunicate using this as justification, not only will their authority rise, but it will also become justification for a future war of retaliation. The priests of our Ruman might also respond in accord.”
In Ruman Kingdom, priests were precious beings who purified salty seawater into drinkable fresh water.
No matter if it was the King’s order, if they departed because one shielded someone who colluded with monsters, immense problems would arise in territory management.
To the well-reasoned opinion, the man called admiral substituted a response with silence.
That logic was not wrong, but he could not agree with it either.
Because the King had demanded that he assist Elvin.
Even if they were truly excommunicated, the order had to be executed.
While only cold silence hovered like that, a knight who entered from outside the banquet hall carefully approached.
“What is it?”
“A missive arrived from the royal family just a moment ago, Admiral.”
“Show me.”
When the knight politely pulled out the letter hidden in his chest and handed it over, the admiral took it and unfolded it.
Before long, he let out a sigh with a “Phew.”
“It went as you wished. Everyone, prepare to return home.”
“Ah, could it be…?”
“His Majesty the King ordered a withdrawal.”
It was finally the moment Elvin’s last bastion collapsed.
*
The King of Ruman withdrew his support for Elvin and recalled his own army as well as the mercenaries he had hired.
As a result, all that remained for Elvin were Marquis Beshalia and his vassals, along with dregs who wouldn’t be accepted anywhere else even if they fled.
Since most of the mercenaries originally hired separately by Marquis Beshalia had also sensed defeat and fled, the remaining forces amounted to barely seven hundred standing troops maintained by the Marquis and about one thousand conscripts.
Even among those, morale was at rock bottom to the extent that deserters surfaced in succession.
Upon hearing this news, Cheryn finally declared a final expedition to put an end to everything.
However, this time she did not step forward in person as before.
“In my heart, I would like to face Elvin in person, but the work efficiency when I am absent from the capital drops too much. It seems I must remain here until things stabilize to some degree.”
Watching Cheryn speak with an expression mixed with regret and anxiety, Shan gave voice to a thought that suddenly came to mind.
“It isn’t because you can’t sleep without me, is it?”
“…It isn’t.”
Even though quite some time had passed since the vampire attack, various rumors circulated regarding Shan guarding Cheryn’s bedroom every night.
Of course, it wasn’t that he stayed together with her all night; as he stepped out of the room once she fell asleep, it wasn’t to such a severe degree.
The army setting out on the Beshalia expedition was organized into a total of two thousand men.
In a composition mixing roughly half the original soldiers brought along and half the soldiers secured from central lords, the rest were left in Hasra to maintain public order and subjugate monsters in nearby areas.
Command of the army remaining in the capital was entrusted to Lug.
Opinions arose asking if it wouldn’t be troublesome if he, who had been Elvin’s vassal in the past, were to betray them, but Cheryn firmly pushed it through.
“Though he has already sworn loyalty to me, pointing a sword at the lord with whom he first forged a vassal contract would surely make his heart uncomfortable. Therefore, guard the heart of the kingdom here.”
“…I shall obey your command, my Lord.”
At Cheryn’s warm consideration, Lug dripped tears from his simple face and knelt on one knee.
Of course, even while staging such a warm appearance, she had quietly taken several measures in preparation for Lug’s betrayal.
When Shan looked at her with half-closed eyes, wondering if her damned distrust of people had flared up again, Cheryn spoke defensively.
“Lug showed no signs of the venereal disease, but that’s because we still don’t know much about it.”
Having once been Elvin’s vassal knight, there was a possibility Lug could be controlled in some manner.
Therefore, she intentionally raised him to a high position while keeping him far away from Beshalia.
If he were to be controlled in any way, she could find out from how far away it was possible, and he wouldn’t be able to affect the battle here.
The explanation that Lug would not be kept as a bodyguard and that other knights would always be kept at her side since he might target Cheryn was an added note.
Hearing the explanation, Shan nodded as if he understood.
“So that was it. Here I thought…”
“So, take this.”
“It’s a ring, isn’t it?”
What Cheryn held out was a ring made of gold with a single finely processed mana stone set in it like a gem.
Thanks to being well compressed, extraordinary power could be felt from the fingernail-sized mana stone.
“It’s something made and brought from Palles a short while ago. It grants considerable resistance to mental magic. Of course, miracles specialize in this area so its effect is somewhat weaker compared to a blessing, but using them together will still be helpful.”
It meant that it was a magical device made in case Yure tried to play some trick on Shan.
When Shan held out his palm saying he would use it gratefully, instead of placing the ring on top, Cheryn slipped the ring directly onto his ring finger.
“Be careful. When you meet that woman, make sure to receive a protection blessing for your mind from a priest without fail. If possible, don’t meet her alone…”
Holding his ringed hand tightly, Cheryn laid out precautions several times so Shan would not forget them.