Chapter 259

Chapter 260. The Royal Council (5)

Just thinking of Keter made Second Prince Rakan’s jaw ache. It was the spot where Lilie, his strict swordsmanship teacher and warm lover, had hit him. After hitting him, Lilie left the royal palace.

Later, Rakan also learned that she had gone to Ruquer. But he couldn’t bring himself to follow or stop her.

He knew well that Kadia, whom Lilie had spent her life searching for, was in Ruquer, and that once you entered Ruquer, you could never leave.

Even though Rakan knew all this, he had no choice but to pretend he didn’t.

“I was looking for a way to get out of Ruquer! I was going to tell you once I found it!”

Rakan tried to rationally persuade the angry Lilie, but he failed and was knocked out for two whole days by her furious fist.

When he regained consciousness, not only had Lilie, his 7-star swordsmanship teacher and precious lover, disappeared, but the royal palace was in chaos due to a missing national letter and an invading dark mage.

While enduring the pain of heartbreak and trying to restore order in the palace, Rakan thought of one person.

“Keter…!”

As soon as Keter met Lilie, she found out Kadia’s location. Although Rakan didn’t hear their direct conversation, it was obvious that Keter had told her.

Rakan didn’t know how Keter knew the whereabouts of the high elf Kadia, but because of that, his lie was exposed, and he lost Lilie.

Although it was Rakan’s fault for deceiving her, he didn’t see it that way.

“I was going to tell her when the time came… But this troublemaker ruined my plans?”

Rakan blamed his mistake on Keter’s meddling, and his anger was directed at Keter’s family, Sephira.

Shaking his head to snap out of his thoughts, Rakan turned his attention to Hisop, the Deputy Lord of Sephira.

“Deputy Lord Hisop, I want to ask you about this guy named Keter. What exactly is he?”

The other lords also pricked up their ears. There were rumors that Keter was a secret weapon long cultivated by Sephira.

Hisop opened his mouth without difficulty.

“Keter is my half-brother and a member of Sephira.”

“……”

“……”

Everyone waited for Hisop to continue, but when he didn’t, Rakan pressed him.

“And?”

“That’s it.”

“Hah, can’t you say it yourself? Then I’ll tell you. Keter is a bastard. He officially joined Sephira less than half a year ago. It wasn’t hard to find out what he’s been up to. It’s like he didn’t even try to hide it; everything was out in the open.”

As the Second Prince said, Keter’s revealed actions were things that couldn’t be hidden even if he tried.

“He assaulted the head of the only trading guild that interacted with Sephira, then tracked down and arrested the knights of the Baydant family who had invaded Sephira’s territory. Later, he participated in the Southern Sword Tournament as an independent and stayed at Lord Eslow’s palace for the first time. He also clashed with Marquis Galahind, a powerful figure in the south. Huh… It’s exhausting just to say it all at once.”

The lords, who only knew a little about Keter, silently marveled. They thought he was just a reckless troublemaker, but his achievements were more impressive than they thought.

“Before coming to Sephira, Keter was from Absinthe, known as the city of crime. How on earth did Keter, born in Absinthe, get acquainted with a lord and even get along well with him? That’s not all. He showed incredible skill in the Southern Sword Tournament. I heard he used archery like I’ve never seen before. Rumors say it was archery so powerful it was like magic. I ask now. Is Keter’s archery Sephira’s archery?”

“No. It is archery that Keter created independently.”

“Interesting. A man from the city of crime created archery superior to Sephira’s? And how did such a skilled archer remain unknown until now? If he was from the city of crime, it should have been even easier to know about him. And why would such a skilled person stay only in the city of crime? Isn’t that strange by common sense?”

Hisop also agreed with Rakan’s suspicions. Keter had many secrets. Even if his true affiliation was Ruquer, not Absinthe.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know about that either. Keter didn’t tell me.”

“Keter didn’t tell you? That’s strange. Aren’t you the Deputy Lord of Sephira? Keter is a member of the family. It would make sense for him to confess everything to you, the prospective lord. Or are you admitting now that you’re just a scarecrow lord?”

It was a statement that not only scratched his pride but also cast doubt on his relationship with Keter.

But Hisop answered without hesitation.

“As you said, Prince, Keter has only been a member of the family for half a year. During this adaptation period, pressuring him to reveal secrets would make it difficult for him to feel a sense of belonging.”

“Then it’s safe to interpret all of Keter’s past actions as Sephira’s will. Especially the incidents at Sephira’s outdoor party venue.”

The threat to the princess to ‘kill her’ remained a secret as other nobles didn’t hear it, but the destruction of the Goshikyeonro Association was an open secret. Moreover, wasn’t Vector, the third son of the Browning family, thoroughly beaten? By Keter, no less.

But even that, Hisop readily nodded.

“Yes. Keter’s will is also Sephira’s will.”

The council hall buzzed. To the lords, it seemed like Sephira was provoking the Second Prince, as if saying, ‘So what are you going to do about it?’

Rakan chuckled, then crossed his arms and said.

“I’ll see how long that confidence lasts.”

Surprisingly, Rakan sat back down without any further reprimand.

But his attitude showed a confident ease, as if he had seen through Sephira’s ‘future.’

As Rakan sat down, Crown Prince Rukan spoke again.

“The matter of Keter and Sephira is just gossip. Today, I want to inform you all of this country’s destiny.”

The Crown Prince, who had calmed the atmosphere disturbed by Keter, swept his gaze over the lords.

“The global cold war has continued for decades. While the Empire outwardly claims to desire peace, it is secretly undermining the Kingdom. We have decided not to sit idly by.”

Thud, thud.

The act of tapping the gavel twice signified that there was not an ounce of falsehood in what he was about to say.

“The Lilian Kingdom will start a war in three years.”

At Rukan’s declaration of war, all the lords’ eyes widened. Even the lords of the prestigious families aligned with the Crown Prince.

Second Prince Rakan was the same, looking at Rukan with a face that said he was hearing this for the first time.

* * *

War.

The impact of that single word was enough to stir the minds of all the lords. This was no joke. He had tapped the gavel twice before speaking.

The Crown Prince was serious. More than ever before. Even three years. He said he would start a war within three years.

It was by no means a short time, but it wasn’t a long time either. War isn’t something that can be started so easily, and once it starts, there must be a winner and a loser. And the country that loses the war will fall.

There would be no half-hearted end to the war. In the worst case, both countries that started the war could end up with nothing but losses. That’s why war must be approached with caution.

In fact, this royal council was not originally meant to declare war. There was another purpose.

A few people, including the Second Prince, knew about it. But the talk of war was something everyone was hearing for the first time.

Swish.

One lord raised his hand. It was the lord of the Forte family, a prestigious family from the west.

Unlike the lords of all the famous swordsmanship families, who were male, the lord of the Forte family was a middle-aged woman, making her stand out even more.

“Crown Prince. We cannot start a war while Queen Lilian is absent.”

All the lords nodded at her statement. This was common sense.

The kings of each country are not ‘humans.’ They are all divine beings. Their subjects may all be humans, so humans fighting each other is one thing, but who will face the gods?

Although the four lords of the Lilian Kingdom are considered close to ‘gods,’ they are still not gods.

Of course, there are transcendent beings close to gods, but transcendent beings are only there to assist the gods and cannot directly face them.

In conclusion, gods must fight gods, and for that, Queen Lilian is needed.

These were all issues and realities that would come to mind with a little thought.

War is only started when there is confidence in victory. Even with confidence, victory cannot be guaranteed in war, and to wage war without a god?

The Crown Prince couldn’t possibly not know this. Yet he was declaring war, which meant he had a solid reason. The Forte lord was asking the Crown Prince about it.

“There is a way to face the gods. So there’s no need to worry about that. What I’m worried about is the problem before that.”

But the Crown Prince acted as if the absence of a god was of no concern.

“Can the military strength of our Lilian Kingdom overwhelm other kingdoms? That should be the priority. Marquis Grace, what do you think?”

Marquis Grace, who was called upon, answered as if he had been prepared.

“I have calculated the national defense power of each country numerically. Regular soldiers are 1 point, 1-star knights are 10 points, and so on. According to this calculation, our Lilian Kingdom has 470,000 points. Our neighboring country, Baen, has 350,000 points, and the Adeus Kingdom has 420,000 points.”

As Marquis Grace clearly explained the difference in combat power with numbers, the lords marveled. Since when had he been preparing this?

But Hisop frowned.

‘It’s hard to see this as objective. Comparing by the number of soldiers like in the past is uncertain… This is just grasping at clouds.’

Hisop wanted to refute immediately, but since the Crown Prince’s speech wasn’t over yet, he held back.

“Our Lilian Kingdom is still slightly ahead. Then we can start preparing for war right away, right?”

The Crown Prince looked around the lords as if asking, ‘Is that okay?’

But no lords answered. The Crown Prince spoke with a regretful expression.

“As Marquis Grace said, our Lilian Kingdom has the strongest national defense, but that alone is not enough to start a war.”

War is not a simple numbers game. Having more soldiers doesn’t guarantee victory.

“What is most important in war? I think it’s the knights. No matter how many soldiers there are, they are useless against many knights.”

Theoretically, a 2-star knight can take on 30 soldiers, but in reality, a knight can easily take down 100 soldiers.

This is only true in open plains; in narrow urban areas, one knight can hold off 1,000 soldiers.

“Our Lilian Kingdom has a higher ratio of knights compared to other countries. That is commendable. But the Baen Kingdom has engineering technology, and the Adeus Kingdom has the characteristic of the entire population being a reserve army. Having a few more knights alone is not enough to guarantee victory in war.”

So is he saying to increase the number of knights?

Hisop couldn’t gauge the Crown Prince’s intention. If that was the case, there was no need to beat around the bush like this.

“It’s impossible to increase the number of knights within three years. But isn’t it possible to enhance the capabilities of the knights?”

That is certainly not impossible. The lords agreed.

“But training has its limits. It’s not completely useless, but it’s ultimately less effective than actual combat experience. When a real war breaks out, it won’t be of much help. Then the solution is simple. Experience war.”

“……?!”

Hisop made a ‘surely not’ expression. Now he saw the Crown Prince’s intention.

“I will revive the Territorial War, which was abolished 200 years ago, under the name of Family War.”

Thud, thud!

This time, even the Second Prince and a few lords who knew about it weren’t surprised.