Chapter 203

Outside the city walls, whether it was flames, iron, or blood, the inside remained peaceful and calm.

That calm was one created by the spear and sword.

With the great lords and their vassals flitting about the capital like wings surrounding the knights, no one dared to step outside their homes.

However, the school of sharks that had come up from the east did not care about the frightened citizens or even the other great lords.

They had brought large wooden barrels into the encampment, added salt to cold water, and basked in the sea bath.

Of course, even someone as noble as Duke Cariosa did not need to escape the heat in such a manner.

A few trees could not block out the sun, but the luxurious tents and barracks could indeed shield from the flames.

For a high noble like Cariosa, having even one mage to manage the surrounding temperature and humidity would not be considered excessive by anyone.

But Cariosa was a warrior who had lived with her subordinates, enduring harsh sea winds, eating fish from the undersea people day in and day out.

So today, she wore only a single white shirt, revealing her skin that gleamed like scales, sharp teeth, and vertically slit black pupils, while enjoying the sea bath next to the wooden barrel alongside her subordinates.

“Your Excellency, I didn’t expect you to be this satisfied,” one knight said cautiously.

Cariosa raised her eyebrows, and the surrounding knights instinctively flinched or submerged their bodies deeper into the water.

Cariosa smirked as she leaned her nape against the edge of the barrel.

As the warm sunlight touched her, her water-soaked blonde hair and skin like shark scales sparkled brightly.

“I’ve already bitten off a piece of meat. If I open my mouth any wider, I’ll miss what I’ve already got.”

“Still, Duke Marcus’s plan wasn’t entirely unreasonable, was it? With your support, there was certainly a chance of victory.”

Another knight hesitated to add.

Cariosa lightly rose, giving serious consideration to the knight she favored’s advice.

“True. Then I might have received a ducal or royal title.”

And not compromising on what she could achieve was a principle of Cariosa the hunter.

But right now, she was targeting the rascally crown prince with the yellow eyes and red lips, not the royal title.

“The plan to gain something through Valenciaunos wasn’t bad in itself. But he’s already a piece of meat I’ve bitten off halfway.”

After properly conquering the Three Isles, she intended to find some excuse to bite down fully.

Of course, for that to happen, she would need to provoke the king of the Eastern Continent and the pirates properly.

If she made unreasonable demands without needing to stabilize the eastern sea, Jeilliris might very well take her head.

“I can’t agree to a proposal to tear it apart and share it. If I protect it well, it’ll all be mine in the end, so why would I share it?”

One by one, the surrounding knights nodded.

Some married knights even wore somewhat lecherous smiles.

“You’re in the right age for that.”

“I thought you would also greet the spring!”

Cariosa accepted the provocation with a brazen smile, her eyes sparkling like a white shark.

“Besides, I’m curious about Duke Marcus’s taste in flesh.”

“Ah.”

“I’m also envious of the skills they possess. Rather than asking to share, it’s better to tear them apart together with Valenciaunos and share in that way.”

“As expected of you, Your Excellency.”

The knights lowered their heads again in admiration, and Cariosa smiled contentedly as she gazed toward the eastern wall.

“Seberik?”

She whispered the name of the faint silhouette that was barely visible.

* * *

The city wall was the first and most important shield of the lord, and it was rare for any noble, especially one who had long been embroiled in prejudice, ill will, and various rumors, to be allowed to stand on the wall of a family that was not an ally.

Especially if that noble was the Duke of the North, who had been the subject of much speculation.

“Are you perhaps here to see how we’ll breach it when we come down south later?”

“Hey, hey. Shut up. He’s a Sword Master. He can hear us even if we roll our eyes.”

“Still, don’t you think it’s necessary to say that he shouldn’t be recklessly coming here?”

“Then go tell him yourself. I’d rather die from insubordination than tell a Sword Master to ‘not come.'”

However, the soldiers on the eastern wall could not utter a word upon seeing Seberik, only rolling their eyes.

His deep navy hair, reminiscent of stormy seas, and his gray eyes, like a snowstorm, had something to do with it, as they generated ice crystals with each step he took.

The soldiers trembled, and Seberik, thinking it was time to head down, gazed at the Nibelungen, which had landed in the eastern plains.

The imposing presence of the massive airship made from a colossal sea creature was immense, and the grand display of the flags and tents gathered around it was even greater, but the great noble, who commanded the loyalty of the 64 lords of the north, had ultimately overcome their burdens.

“Your Excellency.”

The knight with neatly tied black hair, Lysena, spoke with a voice filled with emotion.

“There are great lords among them who trade many grains with our north. This is not something to take lightly.”

“I know.”

“Right now, the citizens of the capital are calling for Duke Valencius to be fried in oil.”

“I am aware of that as well.”

“The Church is the one who used and incited this. The Pope and the Saint needed to apply pressure to the imperial family to maintain their authority under Jeilliris’s reign and used Crown Prince Valencius as an example. Our north is fighting against otherworldly beings, infiltrators, and various monsters, and a close relationship with the Church is essential for survival.”

“I know that too.”

“Then why would you make this decision?”

Lysena asked, putting a final point to her question.

It was a question she already knew the answer to.

Seberik spoke with profound sadness.

“Friendship is revealed through adversity. If I show him my sincerity, he will surely show me his.”

Lysena said, nearly in tears.

“He is a man devoid of sincerity. The only things of value to him are my life and the life of my twin sister.”

She understood that the essence of the man named Valenciaunos was not very different from her own.

A being so consumed by an indescribable emotion, taking another as their own absolute, offering supreme loyalty by their side, and wielding the power of trust.

Judging everything in this world based on how helpful it is to that absolute and measuring even oneself against that standard, while always needing to be first.

“Why must it always be you, Your Excellency, who trusts first? Why must you be the one to send friendship and trust first?”

The north was trading with many places outside the imperial family, and in the society of high nobles, if a pretty horse was seen, they regarded it as a fool, while the imperial family spent more gold persuading lords who demanded more land than those who were loyal.

“Why must you take the risk of being betrayed and suffer losses?”

Lysena asked.

Seberik wore a face as cold as ice, rigid from despair, yet offered a smile like the sun.

“Because we are friends.”

“Don’t brush this off with a single nice word!”

“You are absolutely right, Lysena. The north is engaged in trade with many localities. To them, trading with the north is a matter of profitability, but for us, trading with them is a matter of survival.”

His voice carried the sound of a judgment worthy of the Empire’s foremost noble.

“So we must never show a sign of betrayal first. I will believe. Lysena. Duke Valencius will not forget my help.”

His voice was warm like falling snow but resounding with authority.

Seberik closed his eyes tightly and opened them again, looking toward the alliance’s military tent.

Whioooosh—

Lysena unconsciously trembled and moved closer to Seberik.

“Ah.”

It was a chill that was not fitting for midsummer.

* * *

In the midst of military tents that waved the banners of prestigious families, there was one especially lavish tent.

It was a splendid tent adorned with vine patterns made of red threads.

Inside, there was a round table, where an old man sat with his subordinates, who were masked.

The subordinates were all wearing wide garments, wrapping cloths around themselves to form turbans like onions, regardless of gender or age.

Interestingly, these subordinates could speak fluently without moving their lips.

“Your Excellency. The weather has completely gone mad.”

“Flurries are falling in midsummer.”

“It’s the Duke of the North, Seberik. Should we take care of him?”

The last remark was in the language of desert tribes, a language that very few citizens of the capital could understand.

And the great lord, referred to by various titles such as the king of the desert, the Marquis of assassins, the plague of nomadic peoples, and the noble without shadows.

High Lord Caesar thought he wanted to slap the subordinate who had uttered such nonsense.

“Do you want to freeze to death slowly?”

“It would be warning enough just to aim for his lieutenant.”

The only one capable of calling forth such cold in midsummer was the living mystery known as Seberik.

His public appearance on the walls was a declaration of non-conformity to the intentions of the noble alliance led by Caesar and Marcus.

It was a vow not to negotiate with the emperor at the expense of Valenciaunos’s life.

“Then the Sword Master will come rushing to our territory and start smashing all the reservoirs and underground farms. It appears your claim to have deep ties with Valenciaunos is true.”

High Lord released a deep sigh.

“You can’t handle even the emperor, so we can’t afford to have enmity with him, his brother, and friends. Moreover, the school of sharks in the eastern sea is eyeing hungrily.”

The assassins nodded one by one.

Outside the barracks, a loud commotion could still be heard.

“Ahhhh!”

“Cariosa has betrayed us!”

“The Gremoryus’s Gold Order and Purioaito have left the military tent!”

“Prepare the Artillery Division for shooting!”

“The knights from the eastern region are heading towards the Nibelungen.”

“Stop them by any means necessary!”

Caesar’s purple eyes sparkled from his wrinkled face.

“We don’t need to shed blood. In a sinking ship, the rats leave first.”

Masked assassins chuckled.

They were the ones who had lived in that land since the heterogeneous races took over the world, fighting against nomadic tribes who plundered and betrayed as if it were their daily bread.

And they had become like the enemies they fought after battling countless foes.

“Lord Caesar! The situation is—”

Marcus’s lieutenant burst through the draped entrance of the barracks.

“!”

His expression was one of panic as he looked at the round table.

There, tea and snacks appeared to have just recently been placed, as if people had been there moments ago.

Yet, no one was sitting in the seats.

“Hahahahahahahaha!”

“Uhhahahahahahahaha!”

“Arararararara!”

Only the sounds of raiders’ laughter echoed endlessly within the barracks.

The lieutenant clenched his teeth and stepped outside the tent.

“This is a chance for advancement! Follow me!”

“Absolutely do not launch a pre-emptive attack. We are here solely to mediate the disputes among the high nobles.”

“Is it too tempting? I feel the same! But a good soldier follows orders!”

From the southeast, a beyonder of blonde hair and crimson eyes was galloping toward the eastern knights, leading the Imperial Golden Brigade.

The Gold Order of Gremoryus and the Silver Order of Purioaito had already fled as if they were never there.

Especially the Silver Order, trailing behind the Gold Order as if they would not shed a drop of blood, was making the lieutenant even more infuriated.

High Lord Caesar had vanished without a trace, and the southern counts were in disarray.

The panicked cavalry chased the fleeing knights but could not dare to attack first.

Then the most steadfast knights—the school of sharks from the east, those who aspired to become king—attacked Marcus’s airship, the Nibelungen.

The lieutenant watched as the western knights blocked the eastern knights, only to be breached in a single clash.

“Ah.”

As flags and crests, which had adorned the scene like a divine canopy, burst into flames, and the allied forces, immense as an army of thousands, scattered, the lieutenant thought it was all a nightmare.

* * *

Devouring the flames, Valenciaunos laughed.

“My dream is coming true!”