Chapter 129: Chapter 129

Whatever the inner circumstances, Blois’s motivation to build his skills for his future was respectable enough.

After taking some time to discuss it with Cheryn, Shan expressed to Count of Palles and his wife that he would become Blois’s guardian in Hasra.

“That child is the heir to Palles! What could a child who must become the master of this land in the future possibly do by going to the capital…?”

“Excuse me, Countess.”

Regardless of his title, the Countess was Cheryn’s aunt by marriage and a maternal relative of the royal family, so Shan politely interrupted her.

“Count of Palles currently manages this land not because he is a count, but because he is Her Majesty the Queen’s deputy. This is not a hereditary position.”

Of course, Blois could remain in Palles to receive relevant education from his father, the Count, but that would only turn him into a person unable to do anything beyond the duties of a deputy.

The moment Cheryn selected a better person to make her deputy, nothing would be left for him.

The Count also agreed with his words that it would be far better for Blois to see and learn many things in the capital while planning out his future.

“I think so as well, Sina. Let us allow the child to do what he wants.”

“But how dangerous it is outside Palles…”

To a refined lady who had lived her entire life in Palles, where not a single monster appeared, the region south of the Tesen River seemed no different than the Demonic Realm itself.

However, with the Lord Protector of the kingdom stepping forward to persuade them, there was nothing to be done, and Blois was ultimately granted permission to go to the capital as he had wished.

The boy, his face beaming with joy, expressed his gratitude to Shan before running outside to grab Kiri, shouting that he too was going to the capital.

After resolving that simple incident, Shan next performed his duties as the Lord Protector.

That was precisely to muster and inspect the army of Palles.

“Is the muster complete?”

“Yes, Lord Protector!”

A young knight shouted at the top of his lungs in response to Shan’s question.

Behind him, about five hundred soldiers stood at rigid attention, looking at Shan with tense expressions.

Palles was, in truth, a region where soldiers did not need to be numerous, nor did they need to be particularly well-trained.

Was it not a natural fortress so secure that invading it from the outside was utterly hopeless?

Moreover, a considerable number of young men from Palles were already serving in the royal army under Cheryn.

“Align your shoulders.”

“S-Sorry!”

“You should not be apologizing to me. You should apologize to your comrades who will die because of the gap in the shield wall caused by your unaligned shoulders.”

“I will fix it!”

Nevertheless, Shan properly pushed the soldiers and fired them up, following the method Roden used to employ.

Instead of yelling at the top of his lungs like Roden, however, he spoke in a low, somber murmur.

From experience, he felt that doing it this way exerted far greater pressure.

*

After several days of drilling the soldiers and inspecting the skills of the knights, Cheryn’s administrative inspection finally entered its concluding stage.

Fortunately, no problematic issues were uncovered regarding Count of Palles and the officials beneath him.

This was because back when Cheryn ruled Palles directly, she had cleared away all troublesome figures in advance.

Those remaining now were either upright, or even if not entirely clean, smart and prudent enough to recognize that any wrong step would get them banished.

Having finished her administrative tasks, Cheryn decided to inspect the magic artifact factory next, and Shan, who had just finished checking the military, accompanied her.

“Oh, we have arrived.”

Cheryn, looking out through the carriage window, said as she took in the high walls and buildings.

Originally, the workshop producing magic artifacts in Palles had been located inside the city, but as the facility expanded into a large scale, its location was moved to the southeastern riverside.

This was the result of considering everything from security to the noise of weapon forging and pollution caused by various alchemical solutions.

Now, the place had transformed into a giant factory where over several hundred people (including mages, craftsmen, their apprentices, and laborers handling errands or transport) came and went.

As Shan and Cheryn stepped inside, a middle-aged mage waiting out front bowed his head deeply.

“Oh dear, how could such esteemed noble personages visit such a humble place…”

“I was the one who designed this place, so calling it humble puts me in quite an awkward position.”

“I beg for your forgiveness!”

“It was a joke. Now, let us have a look around. There is no need to stop your work just because I am here! Carry on!”

The factory workers made a fuss over the visit of the Queen and the Lord Protector, resuming their work only after she repeated the order several times.

Of course, even while doing so, they could not help glancing in their direction.

Shan, who was looking around by Cheryn’s side, turned his head at the roaring thud of something slamming down.

He could see a giant metal hammer striking down periodically.

Worrying that sparks or shrapnel might fly, Shan subtly shielded Cheryn with his body as he asked.

“What is that?”

“Ah, did I not tell you? It applies golem creation technology to shape metal with force no human could produce. It has been in trial operation for a few months, and they say the response is great. Thanks to that, metal smelting efficiency has increased tremendously.”

Golems were high mages’ constructs created from earth or stone using Mana Stones as a medium; originally developed for combat, the technology had failed to see practical use due to various issues.

Recently, however, with the development of Mana Stone engineering, the idea emerged to construct only parts of a golem’s body and have them perform repetitive motions without a pilot, and the results turned out quite remarkable.

That was because iron blocks that would take a long time to hammer out with human strength could now be processed more powerfully and with greater precision.

“That thing pounding away for dozens of minutes is far better than hammering all day with these old arms.”

At Cheryn’s explanation, an elderly craftsman accompanying them murmured in a somewhat despondent tone.

Some of the weapon and armor craftsmen brought back in the past seemed to feel a sense of loss over that invention.

It was not that they were no longer needed, but in the long run, their work would come closer to unskilled simple labor requiring less craftsmanship.

In addition, devices that automatically turned to grind wheat and mining tools with pickaxe blades to strike rock walls were also under research.

Since Mana Stones were a limited resource, these were somewhat lower in priority, but they too would eventually be deployed across all of Pendia.

When that day arrived, Pendia would undoubtedly become the state with the most powerful productivity in the Arman Alliance, despite its small population and monster-infested lands.

Shan clicked his tongue as he observed the arms of golems scattered here and there.

“At this rate, the day might come when golems fight in place of knights.”

“No, that will not be so easy.”

Cheryn shook her head in denial.

As she said, golems were far too sluggish to be used for combat, and mages could not stand at a distance when controlling them in general.

Had such problems been resolved, there should at least have been related records in the era of the ancient Altoan Empire, yet even in Shan’s memories, Altoans were never seen commanding such golems.

“So in the end, war will remain the task of warriors. Probably for the next few hundred years at least.”

“I see.”

Shan felt inwardly relieved by Cheryn’s words.

After all, fighting was the only thing he knew how to do.

If magic could resolve even war itself, he felt he would experience a profound sense of loss.

Just like the craftsmen who felt disappointed as their tasks diminished due to the arms of the golems.

*

While Cheryn frequented the factory and immersed herself in work, Shan gradually issued a muster order to the scattered royal guards.

Having reunited with their families over the past few days, the royal guards returned with significantly brighter faces.

Many of them had not come alone but had brought their families, packing heaps of luggage onto carts to prepare for the long journey.

“There are more people than I expected who want to go with their families.”

“Indeed. I thought more people would prefer to remain in Palles.”

At Shan’s murmur, Roden, who had only recently been freed from his duties, nodded in agreement.

Royal guards were, after all, figures who needed to maintain a constant presence in the capital where the royal palace was located.

As such, the idea had been raised to take this opportunity to offer a chance to those who had left their families in Palles and wished to live together with them.

Especially since moving from city to city in Pendia was an excessively difficult and dangerous undertaking to accomplish alone.

In truth, even when raising the suggestion, they had believed that not many people would choose to leave Palles.

This was because the Westerners among the guards were all born and raised in Palles for generations, while the Altoans were those previously banished from Hasra.

To those who had once been banished by Conrad, Hasra was a dangerous place and Palles a paradise on earth.

There were also the bonds formed over the past few years and the jobs they had secured.

Yet surprisingly, nearly half of the royal guards brought their families along.

Upon asking Kob, an old comrade who had been the uncle of his squire Vico and was now an officer of the guard, Shan found the answer.

“That is because everyone wants to rise in the world. Palles is a land far too peaceful for commoners to seize opportunities.”

“Is there no one worrying that trouble might arise like before?”

“Now that the Lord Protector is here, how could trouble dare arise in the capital?”

Kob’s hearty, laughing expression was filled with trust, just as his words indicated.

Seeing so many people place their trust in him filled Shan with a strange, overwhelming emotion.

“Right, it should be so.”

Shan mapped out plans alongside Roden, determining how many family members of the guards there were and how to organize their transport.

Since the number of elderly and children had not been large even during the escape from Hasra, the head count was around eight hundred, which seemed manageable at a pace not too terrible, even if slower than when they had come.

As they spent considerable time drafting the plan to align with the end of Cheryn’s duties, Count of Palles sent a messenger urgently requesting an audience.

Wondering what had happened, Shan went over and found Cheryn present as well, her appearance disheveled as though she had just rushed over while immersed in work at the factory.

“What is the matter, Uncle? Everything was almost finished…”

“It seems you must return to the capital right away, Your Majesty. A message has arrived from the capital.”

“A message? Ah, now that you mention it, I left the communicator in my room. What does it say?”

There had been no particular news until just yesterday evening, but as a puzzled Cheryn accepted the sheet of paper handed over by Count of Palles and read it, her face hardened.

She handed it to Shan without a word.

[Pirates of the South Sea are capturing merchant ships belonging to Pendia on a large scale. They claim this is retaliation for the unjust burning at the stake of Prince Elvin. Urgent response requested from Her Majesty the Queen.]

“Those Ruman bastards…”

Prince Elvin was originally the child of the Princess of Ruman, making him the grandson of the current King of Ruman.

Thanks to this, during the Pendian Civil War, Ruman had mobilized a considerable force to support Elvin.

After he was captured, given the nature of the charges, they had feigned ignorance, and Pendia had let it slide lukewarmly: only for them to suddenly pick a quarrel over it.

Cheryn immediately used the communicator held by Count of Palles to inquire.

“This is the Queen. Has an official document arrived?”

[It has not arrived, Your Majesty. According to the deputy of Beshalia, the pirates are merely spouting such claims, and they spared a few merchants from the captured ships to let them make that statement.]

“These insolent fools…”

Cheryn let out the sound of gritting her teeth.

Just supporting Elvin behind the scenes had made her stomach boil, but she had let it pass because they lacked the leeway to engage in war, only for them to slap her in the face like this.

After ordering a muster to be called in the capital through the communicator, Cheryn bellowed as if shouting a command.

“We return to the capital at once! Lord Protector, are you ready?”

“Yes. We can set out immediately.”

As an emergency had arisen, the return plan differed slightly from before.

First, since the escort guards and their families were mostly civilians with heavy luggage and a slow pace, they were instructed to follow slowly, with Roden and a few royal knights taking on the role of commanders just in case.

And Cheryn, dressed in a shirt and leather trousers instead of a dress, mounted Arwin alongside Shan.

Only a few knights, including Ravana and Aran, followed them.

Though doing this was somewhat uncomfortable and even dangerous, it allowed them to narrow a journey that would take nearly a fortnight on foot down to under a week.

“Let us go.”

“Hold on tight.”

With Cheryn in front of him, Shan urged Arwin forward and sprinted with all his might.

The royal knights rode alongside them while surrounding the two and keeping watch over their surroundings.

Fitting for horses ridden by royal knights, every single one was a handpicked warhorse, and with a few among them being related to Arwin, their marching speed was exceedingly fast.

Of course, without even proper attendants, everyone ended up looking like beggars, and Cheryn accumulated considerable fatigue.

Arriving in the capital after a week in such a ragged state, Cheryn immediately washed, changed her clothes, and summoned the ministers.

“Has any detailed follow-up report come in?”

“Yes. It is difficult to consider that the Royal House of Ruman directly declared war; it seems more like they are encouraging the pirates to engage in pillaging.”

“Even under normal circumstances, pirates must have been targeting the sea routes of the South Sea.”

“That is true, but the deputy of Beshalia considers it highly likely that the Kingdom of Ruman dispatched its own knights and elite soldiers among the pirates.”

In the South Sea swarming with pirates, merchant ships also needed to possess a certain degree of defensive capability.

If such ships were continuously plundered helplessly, it naturally meant that the pirates were pulling some trick.

Beshalia’s deputy, Callion, surmised that the Royal House of Ruman lay behind them.

Although there was no clear evidence, such were the rumors secretly circulating through those moving between merchants and pirates.

“First, send an official letter of protest to the Royal House of Ruman. And we will dispatch the royal army to the South Sea.”

Since the muster order had already been issued, troops stationed near the capital were assembling in Hasra.

That number was approximately fifteen hundred men.

Every one of them was an elite soldier thoroughly experienced not only in fighting monsters but also in battling humans through the Pendian Civil War.

On top of that, they were equipped with various magic artifacts.

Exchanging glanced with Shan, Cheryn nodded before adding.

“In addition, the Lord Protector will lead that army. We must make those Ruman bastards pay the price.”