Chapter 70: Chapter 70

The victory banquet, which began with welcoming the newly arrived guests and continued with the bestowing of rewards, finally turned into a delightful drinking party.

The warriors, who had been promised rewards suitable for their achievements, relaxed, indulged in good food and drink, and noisily chattered away, intoxicated by the atmosphere.

“For Princess Cheryn!”

“For the Princess!”

Everyone raised their glasses high as if responding to a knight’s shout, clinked them together, and gulped them down.

Cheryn, seated at the head table, also smiled leisurely at the toast directed at her, waved the glass she was holding in the air, and drank.

“Sigh.”

Seeing this, the bishop of the Palles Diocese frowned and let out a sigh.

Whether Old Faith or New Faith, priests of the Goddess Church originally detested seeing people drink to intoxication.

As the alcohol flowed, the banquet hall grew even more rowdy.

Unlike the banquets in the capital, where people dressed up finely and put on airs, the country knights bonded roughly with one another.

To Shan, this way felt far more comfortable and enjoyable.

“That’s right. Frankly, this is the true tradition of the Arman Empire’s knights. Look at that painting over there; even the Great Emperor Baren is sharing drinks with his subordinates without formality.”

Roden chimed in as Shan said this, pointing to a large painting hanging on one side of the banquet hall.

There, a man emitting an intense halo behind his back was extending a drink toward his subordinates.

In every painting, the Great Emperor Baren was always depicted like that, making him easy to distinguish.

To the point that even ignorant people like Shan could easily recognize him.

As the atmosphere continued to heat up and more liquor went down, a few individuals gradually began to cross the line.

Most notably, Baron of Lugen, Yurk, slowly suffered a relapse of his past rogue nature and grabbed another knight by the collar.

It was for the trivial reason that the other knight had stepped on his foot while passing by.

At this, Shan stood up from his seat, approached the two men, and placed his hands on their shoulders.

“Enough, that’s far enough.”

Yurk turned his head, met Shan’s eyes, and immediately cowed down, letting go of the collar and returning to his seat, which surprised everyone.

After all, they realized anew that the one who had tamed that rogue was none other than Shan.

In the midst of enjoying the banquet, Shan felt something tickling the back of his neck.

Before he knew it, a spider that had quietly perched there was writing letters on his neck with its front legs.

[Come to the garden]

When Shan turned his head, Cheryn, who had been talking with Orum and the Count at the head table until just a moment ago, was nowhere to be seen.

Shan immediately set down the glass he was holding and stood up.

“Where are you going, Sir Shan?”

“Just to the washroom for a moment.”

Making an excuse, Shan left the banquet hall and walked down the corridor brightly lit by magic lamps.

Passing three corners at a quick pace, he arrived at a dark garden.

In early summer, as the heat was slowly approaching, the inner courtyard of Palles Castle was red, filled with blooming roses.

Flower buds with a bit of time left before full bloom were voluptuously swollen, looking ready to burst open at any moment.

Cheryn, standing in the middle of the garden looking up at the sky, turned her gaze as she sensed Shan’s presence.

“Did you come?”

“Yes. Since you called for me.”

Somehow, it reminded him of the time they talked in the royal garden in the past.

Though unlike back then, there were no princesses or knights watching from afar, and the garden itself was much smaller and humbler.

As Shan stepped closer, a strong scent of alcohol wafted from Cheryn.

Unlike her usual pale countenance, her face was flushed with intoxication, and her eyes were slightly unfocused and hazy.

“You’re drunk. You told me not to drink too much.”

“I didn’t want to drink either. But I couldn’t refuse drinks offered by subordinates who achieved meritorious deeds.”

Seeing that her words were not wrong, Shan nodded and raised another issue.

“And since it’s nighttime, you should bring guards with you. It’s dangerous.”

“The surroundings are bright anyway. Besides, with the strongest knight right beside me, who would dare threaten me?”

Replying in a languid voice, Cheryn giggled as if she found her own words amusing.

A moment later, she fanned her face with her hand in embarrassment.

“I really am a bit drunk. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you privately. Because…”

As Cheryn slowly approached while answering, she suddenly struck Shan’s back forcefully with her palm.

It was an attack plainly visible to the eye, but instead of dodging, Shan tensed his back.

However, no matter how vast the difference in physical capabilities was, this sort of blow took its toll fairly.

A sting of hot pain caused a groan to escape his lips despite himself.

“Ugh.”

“First, I called you to scold you. Crawling down a vertical cliff over a hundred meters high… do you have three lives or something? Hearing about it almost made me faint!”

“It wasn’t particularly dangerous.”

Shan was confident he could even sleep while hanging from a cliff.

For someone with an overwhelming sense of balance and athletic ability, a cliff was merely akin to a set of stairs that were somewhat tiresome to climb up and down.

Rather, what was far more dangerous was the cavalry charge against Duke of Morayen’s order of knights.

While the probability of dying in the former case was less than one in ten thousand, the latter carried about a one-in-a-hundred chance of death.

Hearing his explanation, Cheryn let out a deep sigh.

“Right, expecting a fighter not to risk death in battle makes no sense to begin with. Still, please value your life a bit more. You aren’t just a mere knight. You are virtually the symbol of this Palles’s martial power.”

As Cheryn desperately muttered that losing Shan would be equivalent to losing both her arms, Shan nodded.

Even though he was getting scolded, something tickled inside his heart, giving him a strange yet not unpleasant feeling.

“And one more thing, I also called you to apologize.”

“Why?”

“For failing to give you a fief and casually brushing it off with the title of Lord Protector.”

Of course, the title of Lord Protector was a grand reward, as evident from the reactions of others, but it was far from Shan’s ambition.

What he dreamed of was becoming a lord and creating a land where Altoans could live without facing discrimination.

Listening to her words, Shan blinked a few times before speaking.

“Well, it’s not such an urgent matter. Everyone is living fine here anyway… Actually, you didn’t even need to give me that title. I don’t know much about it, but isn’t it somewhat burdensome for you?”

To Shan, Cheryn was already someone within his fence, and thus fighting for her required no special reward.

Just as saving people like Roden, Callion, or Darkal required no compensation.

“That won’t do. If I don’t properly reward my finest knight, no one will view me as a fair ruler. And those around you might try to entice you, claiming you’re receiving unfair treatment and that they can offer you a greater reward.”

Hearing those words, a face suddenly popped into his mind.

As if she was having the exact same thought, Cheryn immediately brought up the name he had just recalled.

“Speaking of which, that rat, Duke of Morayen, promised you the title of Count Balik, didn’t he?”

Fierce hostility flared in Cheryn’s reddish-brown eyes as she muttered.

With the corners of her eyes sharp and raised, she wore a venomous expression, looking as if she would hurl magic at him instantly if he were standing before her.

“Did you hear about that?”

“Yes. Remember? The day I become queen, you will become Duke of Ranpel. You will be the greatest feudal lord in western Pendia. Compared to a petty count title… well, honestly, it’s hard to say it’s strictly better. After all, that side is Libert.”

Cheryn’s voice, which had started out full of confidence, trailed off at the end.

As she said, Libert possessed a territory more than three times larger than Pendia, had almost no demonic beasts, and boasted a dense population and great prosperity.

Although Count Balik’s territory in the north was bordering the Kingdom of Ajun and thus had strong military force at the cost of being relatively poor, even considering that, it was bound to be wealthier than any fief in Pendia.

Perhaps only a place like this Palles could roughly compare to it.

“Still, Pendia is better for Altoans to live in. And it will get even better in the future. Even if things are a bit tough right now… do you roughly get what I’m saying?”

Finding her speech pattern (typical of a drunk person with scattered gaps) amusing, Shan chuckled despite himself and nodded.

At that, Cheryn grimaced, tugged on Shan’s collar, and hung onto him.

“Remember. You are my knight. I knighted you and you swore loyalty to me; no one can steal you away.”

A thick sense of possessiveness dripped from Cheryn’s muttering voice.

Shan ended up bursting into laughter at the princess’s uncontrollable drunken rambling.

*

The next day, Cheryn feigned complete ignorance, as if nothing had happened in the garden the previous evening.

Even so, when Shan playfully said, “I was knighted by the Princess and swore loyalty to the Princess,” her face flushed red, showing that she did remember it.

Regrettably, there was not much time for them to meet and joke around like that.

It was because everyone had become busy distributing the vast amount of resources brought back by the expeditionary force across the entire Palles territory.

Of course, a significant portion was distributed as rewards to those who participated in the expedition, but even that would circulate within the fief and indirectly refill the lacking finances through taxes.

Most importantly, securing a large quantity of mana stones had been the original objective of this expedition.

To make full use of them, Cheryn’s master and head of the Magic Society, Orum, directly intervened in the mana stone division and magic device manufacturing process, causing efficiency to rise noticeably.

“Right, the spell… you fool, did you drink alcohol yesterday or something? Why is the line drawing so crooked! Good grief, these idiots! Step aside, let this Great Sage show you a demonstration!”

Whenever the stubborn old man walked around shouting, the mages visibly tensed up.

Thanks to acquiring such an excellent supervisor, Cheryn was finally able to put down one major duty and gain free time.

Meanwhile, Shan was not simply idling around either.

He was no longer just Princess Cheryn’s guardian knight and the commander of the Altoan mercenary band, but the Lord Protector of Reinel-Palles.

As the commander-in-chief holding all military authority over this land, he was not only responsible for leading the army during wartime, but also had the duty to train soldiers and manage weapon inventories during peacetime.

Of course, as was always the case, all of this was entrusted to Roden.

“Here, you should do some work too… Where are you going? Hold it right there!”

Whenever Roden approached with an armful of documents saying such things, Shan would dash away.

Instead, he happily carried out the tasks that required physical exertion without skipping them.

For instance, helping train the squires and knights under his command.

“Now, hold the spear like this.”

“Yes…!”

“Tuck your chin when charging. If splinters get into the opening, your neck will get torn open.”

Not long ago, Ravana formally received her knighthood from Cheryn and swore loyalty, becoming her second knight.

Shan focused on training her in horseback riding and spear work above all else.

Although her specialty was the axe, horsemanship and mounted jousting skills were essential for a knight.

In that regard, Shan’s two squires, Vico and Tavera, served as ideal sparring partners.

Though physically far less developed, they had a few months of prior training experience under their belts.

After tumbling around the training ground for a long while, teacher and student swapped roles.

“This is something I felt while engaging in battle at the Gatt Plains…”

Ravana and her subordinates passed on various war doctrines and tricks born of rich practical experience to Shan and the other Palles knights.

Of course, it was not as if Pendia lacked wars between humans, but most of the knowledge they had learned thus far was close to dead knowledge that even their masters had never properly experienced.

In contrast, the stories told by those with experience in large-scale battlefields contained various forms of tacit knowledge, making them truly useful.

The Palles army, inexperienced in combat between humans, had been helplessly pushed back by Duke of Morayen’s army; those who had experienced this firsthand did not listen to the lectures carelessly.

As they spent each day sweating through the hot summer, the Palles territory took another leap forward.

First of all, the change in urban cleanliness brought about by the fully completed water supply and sewage facilities was substantial.

As auxiliary water supply devices that pumped water upward were mass-produced, fresh water from the water supply was distributed throughout the territory, while used water flowed downstream through the sewers.

Various impurities resulting from work at the newly established magic device factory were also drained out through there.

In addition, as dumping filth anywhere was strictly prohibited, the very smell wafting through the city changed drastically.

Though many people were indifferent to filth, nobody liked it, so everyone welcomed this change.

“Besides, if people stay clean, cases of falling ill will decrease noticeably. As I told you before, lack of cleanliness is the root of all diseases.”

Cheryn spoke boastfully as she introduced her recent achievements in her office.

Truth be told, Shan still could not properly grasp the concept of ‘bacteria’ mentioned by her and other mages.

They said that peering into the microscopic world through high-level magnification magic revealed the secrets of the world, but it was something invisible unless one were a mage.

However, it was certain that along with the full maintenance of water supply and sewage systems, the number of sick people had decreased noticeably.

Simply being able to cook easily with fresh water and bathe made life easier for the priests, who used to be busy treating illnesses.

On top of that, food storage facilities were also officially distributed throughout the entire territory, greatly boosting food storage capacity.

Now, people no longer needed to scramble to consume slaughtered animals on the same day.

Meat or fish placed in large cold storage facilities would not rot over just a few days.

In fact, what was most important was that the production of combat magic devices to arm the soldiers had finally begun in earnest.

“More importantly, here, this is the first product to come out this time. Could you share your thoughts as Lord Protector?”

Cheryn said, placing the first mass-produced magic device on the desk.

“I struggled to balance the cost of the mana stones and the performance as efficiently as possible. Gaining know-how while making other magic devices in the meantime really helped.”

The first mass-produced magic devices consisted of five types in total: spears, shields, helmets, chain mail cuirasses, and leather boots.

The magic cast on these armaments was nothing particularly special.

The spears were made sharper, the shields and armor sturdier and better at absorbing impact, and the leather boots tough so they would not tear easily.

They were truly faithful to the primary functions of the items themselves.

At this, Shan checked the quality of the items in various ways, such as poking nearby wood with a spear or setting up a shield and striking it himself.

Shan (who had cleaved armor in two as the Guardian of the East, though he avoided touching the mana stone embedded in the middle since it had to be reused) nodded.

“It’s far better than I thought. How many pieces did you say you divided the mana stone into for this?”

“Each one is made by dividing a werewolf’s mana stone into one-hundredths. Adding them all up, it’s like putting one-twentieth into each set.”

“I thought you would have used at least one-fifteenth for each…”

Indeed, dividing mana stones seemed to offer better efficiency than using them whole.

It felt as though the overall performance of all the equipment had increased by roughly twenty to thirty percent.

Of course, since the framework itself was mass-produced weapons, it fell far short compared to properly crafted magic devices, but it still felt somewhat excessive for the armament of an ordinary soldier.

As able-bodied men freed up by the fief reforms were additionally recruited, if over a thousand soldiers were all armed with these weapons in the future, they would undoubtedly display overwhelming power compared to other factions.

Perhaps a dozen experienced warriors equipped with these armaments could even hunt a troll without the aid of Fighting Spirit.

“Even if they aren’t on par with proper magic devices, they’re still expensive items, so we’ll have to crack down hard to ensure soldiers don’t secretly sell them off.”

“Naturally. Do you know how much trouble I went through to make these?”

A cold smile settled on Cheryn’s face.

As if she would never forgive anyone who committed such a deed.

“Anyway, so this level is acceptable? Then I’ll have to keep making them according to these specifications. I should also start preparing the production process for magic devices to be used by archers, knights, and for siege warfare…”

If the soldiers’ magic devices strictly prioritized efficiency, the knights’ magic devices were planned to focus on performance over efficiency.

Especially since Palles was relatively short on knight power, losing even a single person would be catastrophic.

In particular, a plan to create a truly tremendous set of armor for Shan was underway.

Namely, dividing the ogre mana stone he had harvested into five pieces and using them whole.

Cheryn’s ambition was to create the strongest, insanely magnificent armor that seemed as though it belonged in myth.

“I’ve been drawing up blueprints for a while, but it’s still not finished. Physical enhancement, vitality recovery, resistance to heat and cold, grounding, underwater breathing… I want to put everything in.”

“No, realistically, wouldn’t all of that be unnecessary?”

At Shan’s restraint, Cheryn let out a sigh, remarking how painful the gap between ideal and reality truly was.

Either way, she could not leave it unattended forever just because the design wasn’t finalized.

Shan’s growth, now nearing 180 cm, was gradually slowing down, making it an opportune time to adjust armor to his physique.

During the previous battle with Duke of Morayen, hadn’t it been dangerous because his armor wasn’t enchanted with proper magic?

To prevent the same thing from happening again, decent armor had to be made even if only temporary.

“If only we could find a skilled blacksmith. We already secured the rare metals last time…”

Cheryn muttered softly that she would have to make a trade with Count of Shedil sometime soon.

“Fortunately, we still have quite a bit of leeway for now.”

Over the past few months, Cheryn admitted that she had been overly indifferent to gathering external information, so she planted spies among merchant groups to collect information more actively.

According to what she found out, not as many changes had occurred outside Palles as expected during that time.

Conrad was enraged by Duke of Morayen’s betrayal, but could not judge him due to practical issues, and the allied forces of Elvin and the Kingdom of Ruman had reached their limit in their recent offensive, falling into a semi-stagnant state.

The three factions watched each other’s moves, calculating how the opponent would act and how responding to it would benefit them.

However, even with such a dynamic, Palles could not entirely escape everyone’s attention.

Because the things they had set in motion were too large to keep secret, rumors that Palles had been producing its own magic devices had spread far and wide since some time ago.

While Duke of Morayen’s persistent courting (asking to buy items and subtly trying to get Shan handed over in the process) was annoying, what was even more annoying was the summons request from the Holy See in Libert.

The delegation of priests sent by the Pope threatened that she might have violated critical doctrines, telling her to accept the summons unless she intended to be designated a heretic and face a holy war.

Naturally, Cheryn snorted and chased away the visiting delegation of priests as they were.

Since Count Balik, who had barely ousted Duke of Morayen recently and hadn’t even fully seized control of state affairs, wouldn’t come rushing over anyway, a mere shell of the Old Faith priest delegation didn’t matter.

In her heart, she wanted to throw them into the river to swim back, but letting them board a boat quietly was her final mercy.

“I really wish things could always stay like right now. Not rushing, growing slowly but steadily…”

Cheryn, who paused mid-sentence while speaking, scowled.

Shan sensed that she was looking outside the office through her spider.

As expected, before long, a knock sounded on the door, and the knight Count of Palles caught his breath with a frantic expression and spoke.

“What’s the matter?”

“T-There is trouble, Princess! For some unknown reason, a report came in that all kinds of demonic beasts are coming up from downriver!”

“What?”

The land of Palles, where it had been difficult to spot a single demonic beast for over several hundred years.

At the startling report that demonic beasts had suddenly begun swarming into that place, the eyes of Shan and Cheryn widened.