Chapter 21

Chapter 21

#21. Spring of the North (2)

After the Golden Age, when humanity dared to challenge the authority of the gods, fell…

And after passing through the Holy Age, the Dark Age, and the Age of Barbarism…

A new era heralding the revival of civilization and culture began.

People compared this era to the ancient Golden Age and called it the Silver Age.

And the nation that led this Silver Age was none other than… the Goite Empire, the largest and most powerful country in Western Arcadia.

The imperial capital, Goite.

“Failure? Are you sure?”

“We humbly apologize, Your Majesty.”

“The preparations were perfect, right?”

At the heart of Goite, the Imperial Palace, a secret report was delivered.

“I don’t understand. We definitely recruited the knights of Frosthaven. We even mobilized the dark wizards from the Demon Den. The barrier used was carefully designed by the Gold Mage Tower. …”

“…”

“And is that all? Our Sigma knights involved in the operation are the elite of the elites carefully trained by the Royal Knights. What about the mages? They were junior magicians who honed the essence of combat magic at the Gold Mage Tower. And yet it failed?”

Blonde hair, crimson eyes.

Khanbraman La Goite, the crown prince of the empire, tilted his head while looking at the minister before him.

With an expressionless gaze devoid of any emotion.

“I thought my last report said that the duke and the Frost Sword Demon were successfully trapped in the barrier. It concluded with the confident statement that success was just a matter of time. And now it failed?”

“…”

Even under the indifferent gaze of the crown prince, Astral, the head of the empire’s intelligence agency and leader of Sigma, could feel his lifespan decreasing in real-time.

“Reason?”

“It… well, there is one, but… it’s kind of strange…”

“Speak.”

“They say a golden carriage appeared in the Magic Realm.”

“Golden carriage?”

“A vehicle made by someone named Arad in Northern Haven. They say this person drove the golden carriage around the Magic Realm selling food and healing potions. Then they entered the Abyss Barrier and helped the duke somehow.”

“…Can carriages really travel in the Magic Realm?”

“In theory, yes. If pulled by top-tier horses resistant to monster pheromones, it’s possible.”

“But those are extremely expensive and rare. I thought even the empire didn’t have many of them. Someone using such valuable top-tier horses to drive around selling food in the Magic Realm?”

As Prince Khanbraman spoke, the name “Arad” sounded strangely familiar to him.

“Is this Arad the same person who created the northern spice known as Arad Salt recently?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

When the marriage proposal to吞食 the north failed,

the empire started pressuring the north with spices.

However, the north countered with Arad Salt that seemingly fell from the sky one day.

Because of this, spices are hardly used in the north anymore.

‘Nowadays, the empire actually buys Arad Salt instead.’

To the point where Arad Salt is quietly being sold throughout the empire.

Arad Salt could be made from common weeds found only in the north,

and was much cheaper than eastern spices.

‘This gives us another reason to make the north a direct royal territory.’

Following magical stones, now spices too – the complete annexation of the north has become a long-term goal for both the empire and the royal family.

“Arad, Arad…”

Khanbraman repeated the name.

He then summarized recent events in the north.

“So basically, some guy named Arad suddenly appeared in the north, not only created Arad Salt but also made a golden carriage to sell food in the Magic Realm, then went into the Abyss and rescued the trapped duke?”

Even romance novels read by noblewomen would be more realistic than this, he thought.

‘After Arad Salt came the golden carriage. Was it really a coincidence?’

While Crown Prince Khanbraman was lost in thought,

Astral, the leader of Sigma, cautiously spoke up.

“At Sigma, we speculate that this person might be a secret weapon created by Lenslet.”

It seemed he had similar suspicions as the crown prince.

“Do you think this Arad is a magician secretly cultivated in the north?”

“Yes.”

“Did Lenslet still have that kind of magical strength left?”

“There’s the last remaining Coven in the north.”

“Ho ho, even if they’ve declined to the point of farming, surely you’re not saying our Gold Mage Tower would lose to a handful of northern witches?”

“…”

Their conversation dragged on with speculations without clear answers.

“Frustrating.”

Crown Prince Khanbraman furrowed his brows.

Just when things seemed to be going well, they got so tangled up.

* * *

The north is located at the far end of the empire. Its only border is with the empire, and the North Sea is blocked by icebergs year-round, making it impossible to launch small boats.

The north, bordered by the Magic Realm, the Arctic, and the Manus Great Mountain Range, was truly a land of barbarism and harsh cold.

Powerful monsters and barbarian tribes frequently appeared, but the north was rich in magical stones, producing high-grade ones quite often.

There were even ancient dungeons from the Golden Age buried in the Magic Realm.

However, the north was a thorn in the side for the empire until now.

Though it produced precious resources, and indeed had ancient dungeons from the Golden Age buried in the Magic Realm,

stationing large numbers of troops and relocating citizens there simply didn’t make economic sense.

Besides, weren’t the native northerners extraordinarily fierce? Governing them wasn’t easy either.

Therefore, about 200 years ago, the empire granted the title of Northern Duke to Runa Lenslet, the legendary swordmaster who led the native northerners back then, establishing the Duchy.

Allowing the Northern Duchy to manage the entire northern region and its people.

– You fierce guys hunt the monsters and mine the magical stones, and we’ll buy them from you at dirt cheap prices.

– The Magic Realm will be open to our empire’s adventurers. Don’t obstruct their passage. You northerners can just work as porters for the empire’s adventurers!

They had been sucking all the sweet profits out of it.

That relationship between the empire and the north changed completely with the advent of magical engineering born in the Gold Mage Tower recently.

Though still highly classified and unknown to the public, the imperial high-ranking officials all intuitively understood.

A time when magical stones of all grades would be used in tremendous amounts was coming soon.

‘Therefore, we must quickly make the north entirely ours…’

For this reason, the core leadership of the empire instinctively realized that they needed to fully annex the north by any means necessary.

‘Should I have proposed marriage to Ariana for Julian instead of myself or my father?’

Crown Prince Khanbraman briefly considered suggesting another royal family member like the crown grandchild, but immediately shook his head.

‘No, no. That guy is too timid and would be controlled by his wife. If they had a son, the northerners might use that child to threaten the empire and the royal family in the future.’

He simply couldn’t trust them.

‘Besides, there’s that unsettling superstition surrounding the Lenslet ducal family. Even if we wanted to propose, we wouldn’t.’

There was always something unsettling about the north’s marriage proposals.

He himself didn’t care about such omens, but his timid son or other pitiable royals might. Pushing too hard could backfire.

‘Anyway, this assassination failure has completely ended the marriage talks… Ah! Wasn’t it already over when the previous Northern Duke Bykal died?’

Even the crown prince, who would become the next emperor, constantly worried about the north these days.

“Your Majesty, coincidentally, one legion in the north is currently away hunting monsters. This is our chance. Let’s send the army to march north. Three legions should be sufficient.”

At that moment, a minister interrupted the brooding crown prince.

“Prime Minister, the northern military forces are much stronger than expected. Even with one legion gone, they’re not to be underestimated.”

“But even so, our empire numerically surpasses them.”

“Our eastern borders with the Great Wall have Mongar Orcs causing trouble, don’t they? What about the kingdom alliance?”

“But we cannot abandon the north because of that. There’s the magical stones, and this Arad Salt too. To pacify the north is to achieve the thousand-year empire.”

“I know that too, Prime Minister Karaso. Better than anyone else. But!”

The prime minister Karaso and Astral of Sigma paused their breathing to listen to the crown prince’s words.

“…As I mentioned earlier, our empire has many enemies, both internally and externally. If we lose many soldiers and knights during the process of annexing the north…”

“We may end up losing larger territories and more citizens than what the north offers. In the worst case scenario, the empire itself could collapse.”

“If soldiers and knights are precious, hire mercenaries in large numbers.”

“Consider the northern mercenaries serving within our empire. How do you think countless northern mercenaries inside the empire would react if we declared total war against the north?”

“We have other excellent mercenaries besides northern ones in the empire. For the northern campaign, we can use other mercenaries instead of northern ones…”

“Isn’t the mercenary queen Carpe also from the north?”

“…”

“Therefore, total war must be the last resort. Try every possible method first. If nothing works…”

“That’s when we use that method.”

“The consideration His Highness shows towards low-ranking soldiers and citizens is the prosperity of the empire.”

“For the thousand-year empire! Glory to the golden throne!”

Upon hearing the crown prince’s words, Astral and Karaso acted as if they had suddenly gained enlightenment and shouted.

‘The prince is wary of raising the legions.’

‘The prince is overly suspicious.’

‘If the prince leads the army personally, the palace will be empty, and if he stays in the palace, there’s no trustworthy commander-in-chief for the legions.’

‘The trusted Duke Doom and Lady Habana are busy right now.’

‘Court Baron Richard cannot leave his post guarding the palace.’

Though they didn’t agree with the crown prince’s words just moments ago, outwardly they had to praise the next supreme ruler of the empire.

“So what did Lenslet say? They must be certain it was us who set that trap.”

“Surprisingly quiet. As if nothing happened.”

“Really?”

‘Apparently, the north doesn’t want total war either.’

Hearing about the situation in the north, the crown prince thought inwardly.

‘I intended to calm their anger by sacrificing Astral’s head while buying time.’

Khanbraman nodded and continued questioning.

“What about the Duchess of the North?”

“According to informants in the High City, the golden carriage entered the city yesterday.”

“The duke should be inside that carriage. Is there any news about the duke’s condition?”

“It seems his condition isn’t normal. He hasn’t left his room for two days.”

“More detailed information?”

“Well… when the golden carriage entered the High City, a major purge began immediately. Quite a few of our informants had to commit suicide within a night.”

“Tsk…”

The duke winced at the loss of the informants painstakingly placed in the High City.

“Is there a possibility the duke suffered severe injuries?”

The empire, which hadn’t received reports of Doil stabbing Ariana’s abdomen, cautiously estimated her injuries.

“This scenario was also anticipated.”

“I hope it was fatal.”

The crown prince recalled Ariana Rune Lenslet’s visit to the capital five years ago.

Back then, Ariana was just a noblewoman from a rural area in the north.

Yet Khanbraman immediately sensed she was no ordinary person.

“His Majesty dealt with the previous Northern Duke right before falling ill. Then passed the next task to me. I must deal with this generation’s duke. Whether by marrying her as my fourth wife or eliminating her.”

The crown prince turned his head toward the Sun Palace at the center of the palace.

“How is His Majesty’s condition lately?”

While thinking about his father lying in the Sun Palace, he asked.

He had visited for morning inquiries just today. He knew His Majesty’s condition better than anyone.

Still, Khanbraman asked his ministers.

He wanted confirmation from a third party’s mouth again.

“Critical. The royal physician and diviner say at most early summer…”

“What a tragedy for the empire.”

Hearing the prime minister’s words, the crown prince lamented.

But Prime Minister Karaso and the head of Sigma, Astral, clearly noticed.

The grieving look in the crown prince’s eyes was curved.

Today, the fine wrinkles on the crown prince’s face, proof of his long second-in-command years, looked deeper than usual.