117 – Each Way 6
Dragona Empire.
It is a powerful country with mighty national power along with the Holy Empire,
The people of this country, which is said to be the headquarters of witches, mages, and demons, have served only one monarch for more than 100 and 60 years.
Emperor Mina Roseveta Dragona.
She is the strongest witch in existence and holds the power of the Dragona Empire in one hand.
While reigning as the emperor for the past 160 years, she has taken care of many small and large tasks within and outside the empire with her own hands.
And at this moment…
Emperor Roseveta was in serious trouble while looking at the letters in front of her.
Two letters spread out on the desk in the office
One of them was sent by the lord of Rhapsody, which is adjacent to the Dragona Empire.
The other was sent by a young princess from Sophia Castle, one of the main estates within the empire.
These are two places that are quite far apart in terms of distance.
But… at this moment, the contents of the two letters spread out in front of her contained almost the same contents, despite the completely different senders and places.
Aside from minor modifiers, what they have in common and what they are claiming
that..
It was a request for assistance against Bohemia and the Heretic Alliance.
Bohemia is currently consolidating its forces after causing a massive rebellion within the Holy Empire.
They had already shown their strength due to their early victory, and even at this moment, they were constantly strengthening their strength while confronting the Holy Imperial Emperor head-on.
At a time like this, if you give them a little support without having to come directly from the Dragona Empire. The already shaken Holy Empire will face a major crisis,
This would be an opportunity for the Dragona Empire, which had been fighting a battle with the Holy Empire, to easily gain the upper hand.
Like this, the letters asking for help from Emperor Roseveta while giving realistic reasons in their own way.
however..
Seeing this, Emperor Roseveta was thinking that it was not an easy decision to make.
Certainly, for her and the Dragona Empire, the recent turmoil in the Holy Empire was welcome in many ways.
Even at this moment, the Dragona Empire is actively pursuing an eastward policy while cutting off its interest in the west.
The fact that such rapid territorial expansion and consequent improvement in national power could not be ignored was due to the fact that the Holy Empire in the west and the Turkic Empire in the south were in turmoil due to internal circumstances.
In particular, apart from the Turkic Empire, with which they have maintained some friendship from the past, the agitation of heretical forces within the Holy Empire has made them pay little attention to the external situation over the past 100 years.
All the while, the Dragona Empire was able to focus on expanding its power to the east with peace of mind, taking advantage of its virtues.
however..
Despite these obvious advantages, Emperor Roseveta was also well aware of the side effects that would occur if they were to participate in this war.
‘If I don’t care, I might end up poking a beehive.’
Honest is a heresy, but the root was those who followed the doctrines of the church anyway.
These beings are fundamentally different from the Dragona Empire, which is labeled as a heretic.
In this situation, if the Drago Empire clumsily opened their hands, they could not rule out the possibility that they would rather unite and fight against them under the pretext that the pagans were invading their territory.
Because she knew very well that human beings come together well when faced with a common crisis.
‘However, it is true that it would be a waste to just throw away this opportunity as you said.’
It wasn’t just a commotion, it was literally the lords of Bohemia and the Heretic Alliance who rebelled against the Holy Empire and drew a clear line.
The rebellion even defeated the imperial army in one battle, and made the most of this opportunity to absorb about a quarter of the empire to its side.
‘If you do well… you can use this opportunity to tear the Holy Empire to shreds. According to Sisyphus’ character, there would be no compromises. If the situation continues like this until the end, I will be able to turn that gigantic holy empire into pieces of rags.’
If the Holy Empire, which was always like a thorn in the eye, was destroyed, the Dragona Empire would be able to expand eastward faster than now without needing to notice anything.
Even considering the risk factors mentioned above, this is an attractive enough story.
And above all, in addition to the national interest, Emperor Roseveta’s personal grudge also existed.
‘Church forces. I don’t know if I can finally resolve my grudge from 180 years ago. Take this opportunity to pay for the massacre of many witches, including Master…’
Even though she had built a great empire, apart from that, it was against her principles to sacrifice national interests for personal grudges.
However, that did not mean that the resentment had disappeared, and for this she had been sharpening her sword in her heart ever since she came to power, waiting for the right opportunity to come.
And this thing…
It could be said that it was a very suitable opportunity for her.
If done well, it would be of great help to the national interest, and even if it failed, as it was a special situation called internal division, it would be able to deal a big blow to the Holy Empire.
‘Above all, when the Holy Empire collapses, the authority of the church that is spinning inside it also disintegrates. It will no longer be possible for the pope to interfere in politics using his clerical authority. And… that goddamn Order of the Holy Knights will also disintegrate into pieces.’
So, while deciding to take a certain risk.
Emperor Roseveta decided to accept this task for the sake of ‘the benefit of the country’.
Of course, the personal grudge of wanting the destruction of the church’s forces occupied a greater proportion…
*
“… That.. so.. the emperor of the Dragona Empire said he would accept my request.. is that what you mean?”
“That’s right. Isn’t it clearly stated in the letter sent by His Majesty the Emperor there? He said that he would help in order to prevent the fact of the Dragona Empire’s involvement from being leaked to the outside world.”
A letter with the seal of Emperor Roseveta.
Certainly, it contained content that would make Santana as well as Estelle happy.
A promise from the Emperor of the Great Empire to help them, albeit unofficially.
This could be said to be news like the first rain of a drought for the heretic alliance, where one ally is in a difficult situation.
however..
Apart from that fact, Estelle and Santana were in deep confusion at this moment.
‘No… if this happens, what will happen to what we thought?”
‘If this happens… you mean the culprit wasn’t Drago or the Empire? So, who is the culprit who kidnapped the queen?’
A situation that overturns their premise in relation to the kidnapping of the queen.
As a result, the two couldn’t help but feel as if the work that had barely caught on was falling into a labyrinth again.
‘There’s no way the emperor who allowed the secret alliance kidnapped the alliance’s daughter…’
‘Then, no way… Is this all because the Emperor of the Holy Empire planned this? With the intention of deliberately colliding with us and the Dragona Empire to profit… No, the possibility that the emperor mobilized the witches that the Church hates extremely is…’
Feeling that all sorts of thoughts were coming to their heads, the two of them felt like their heads were pounding, and eventually gave up on thinking deeply about this matter and decided to focus on the envoy of the Dragona Empire right in front of them.
This is because they came to the conclusion that it would be better to prioritize solving the important things in front of them rather than the problems that cannot be answered in their heads right away.