31
After crossing the border of Crossing, it took us four days to reach the capital of Crossing, Cross Hone.
Located by the coast, this city was characterized by a somewhat antiquated atmosphere.
Perhaps due to the barren land. The city was solely focused on practicality.
Despite being the capital of a great nation, the royal palace was surprisingly small, and there was a lack of artistic charm in the streets.
On the contrary, a fishy smell seemed to envelop the city, giving an overall unfavorable impression.
“What a shabby city.”
Eonia, who harbored ill feelings towards Crossing, spread negative rumors, but I held a different opinion.
“I actually quite like it. It gives off a vibe of simplicity without indulgence. The faces of the citizens also seem quite cheerful. Well, I do worry about basic hygiene though.”
“Th-that’s right! Upon further reflection, it seems quite nice!”
Eo changed his stance and agreed with me.
This guy. He’s truly full of sycophantic tendencies.
Anyway, after unpacking in Cross Hone, I disguised myself as Wade and headed towards the royal palace.
“I’ve been waiting for you, Wade. Please come inside.”
Thanks to Juras’ prior arrangements, I was able to enter the royal palace swiftly under the guidance of the guards.
The interior of the kingdom was not much different from what I had seen outside. It was surprisingly modest for a royal palace.
Finally, upon reaching the audience chamber, I came face to face with Juras, who was smiling warmly.
“Welcome, Wade. Has it been half a year?”
“Actually, it’s been seven months. Could we expedite matters if possible? I feel uneasy being on the front lines.”
“hahahaha, if I had any plans to harm you, I would have done so already.”
That was true.
“Make yourself comfortable. The king will be arriving here soon.”
“Here? Wasn’t there a separate audience hall?”
“This is the Alchemy Room.”
“Is this a modest reception room like this?”
“Oh, everyone seems to react like that. No one spoke out like you did, though.”
Sitting on the sofa in the Alchemy Room, I reached out for the teacup due to my dry throat, but Eo panicked and stopped me.
“No! Lord… Wade!”
“It’s okay. If you had plans to deal with that chatterbox over there, you won’t go around poisoning yourself now.”
“Still…”
I brushed off Eo’s touch and tried to sip the tea, but then I realized I was wearing a helmet.
Juras smirked and said, “How about taking it off? I’d like to carve your face into my memory.”
“Please don’t take it off.”
While engaging in useless banter with Juras, it wasn’t long before the King of Crossing, Parain Malloren, revealed himself.
“Oh! So you’re Wade, who defeated Juon in chess! Pleasure to meet you!”
“…”
“Could I have a match with you as well? I was dying of curiosity about your skills!”
At that moment, I thought Juras was just joking around.
An old man, dressed in commoner’s attire suitable for everyday wear, holding a chessboard and chuckling.
It was hard to believe that such a person was the King of Crossing, hailed as the root of all evil in the game.
Parain Malloren.
As the eldest son of the Malloren family, a noble lineage, he was the most likely candidate to succeed the Malloren family’s legacy, once the Marquis of the Phaenylon Empire.
How such a person ended up being expelled by his younger siblings and driven to the East was simple: he opposed the noble system.
As a result of his opposition, his rebellious siblings divided the Marquis of Malloren’s territory, establishing the kingdoms of Albard and Beccabia, while Parain fled to barren lands and founded a republic.
In the newly established Crossing Republic, there was a king but no nobility.
“It’s a country that encourages slavery on such a theme, making it difficult to understand.”
It seemed that this eccentric man was indeed the king.
He might be a little over 70 years old.
He set up the chessboard on the table like a child.
I couldn’t help but say, “Aren’t you being too defenseless? Not having a single guard with you is risky.”
“Well, having guards around is bothersome with their nagging.”
“Do you realize? If I wanted to, Your Majesty could lose your life.”
“Is that so? But there’s Juon here.”
“With the two standing behind me, we can easily overpower you.”
Looking at Yumir and Eonia upon hearing that, Parain asked Juras, “Is it true, Juon?”
“Well, I suppose so. Even if Valkyrie is second to none… the woman on the other side is also not to be underestimated. Even I must be wary. If the two of them attack together, there won’t be room to protect the Lord.”
“Oh, if you say so, you must be quite impressive.”
Despite saying that, Parain paid no attention.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“What? I have no intention of committing such acts. Your Majesty must be aware of that nonchalant attitude.”
“No, I am prepared to lay down my life at any moment.”
“…What do you mean?”
“If you are trying to take my life, it must mean you have ambitions of your own. Or perhaps you received a prophecy from someone with such ambitions. Wouldn’t it be a joyous occasion if fulfilling those ambitions involved taking this old man’s life?”
What is this writer even talking about?
Offering up one’s own life willingly for someone else’s ambitions?
“Rather, I am prepared. Shall we have a match?”
“…Alright.”
Curious to learn more about him, I decided to engage in a game of chess first.
***
Chess pieces moving in silence.
In terms of Parain’s chess skills, they were nothing special.
Despite having played many games, he fell into simple traps, having rarely played against skilled opponents.
Finally, as checkmate was achieved, he spoke.
“You mentioned you had questions for me.”
“That’s correct.”
“You may ask anything. I will answer to the best of my ability. Consider it a reward for winning in chess.”
“Then I shall ask: Why do you seek to start a war?”
Crossing, consumed by military expansion.
This led to tensions with neighboring Albad and Beccabia. Other kingdoms, including Calipher, had to increase their military strength as well.
This ultimately led to a continent-wide military buildup.
Simply expanding the military might not have been an issue.
The problem arose from the subsequent initiation of actual warfare.
The continent was on the brink of exploding, with Crossing’s Tri-War looming large.
“Is that so… It may delve a bit into history, is that acceptable?”
“It is.”
A little history lesson. The King of Parain spoke of the Penzilon Empire era.
“Well, do you know why the Penzilon Empire ultimately fell?”
“I am not familiar with the details. I heard it was due to attempting expeditions to unknown lands, causing a loss of public support and leading to civil unrest.”
“That’s the official story. But it’s not entirely accurate. The Penzilon at that time had reached a fundamentally unsustainable point.”
“Unsustainable? What do you mean by that?”
“It was due to the population.”
“…!?”
A notably high population in this world.
That became a problem.
“After unifying through the Unification War, the Penzilon faced a dire issue in its 114th year of existence.”
With the cessation of wars, the population began to explosively increase.
It reached a point beyond the state’s control.
As the number of commoners grew exponentially, individuals began to challenge the authority of the nobility and the Emperor.
Alongside the serfdom structure that inherently exploited commoners, the scarcity of food due to population growth led to rapid accumulation of grievances.
Epsilon made a crazy choice to wage a civil war to solve this. He organized an expedition under the pretext of discovering a new continent, inciting turmoil. Nobles who sympathized with him raised armies and started a civil war.
“Did he intentionally start a war to reduce the population?”
“Yes. That’s when the Empire began to fall apart.”
Unable to curb population growth and the discontent of commoners even through civil war, they sought to eliminate the fundamental reason for population increase.
“At that time, the Emperor attributed the increasing population to a miraculous act of God.”
Priests who could heal all kinds of injuries through sacred magic known as the miracles of God.
The effects were remarkable, healing Eonia’s severe burns as if they were washed away.
It wasn’t just limited to healing injuries. It could also aid in childbirth.
It was the same during my mother’s delivery not long ago. Without their help, my mother, who was in labor, would have been in great danger.
“People who were supposed to die from injuries and illnesses. Children who were supposed to be stillborn. The population was increasing because such lives were not dying.”
“So…”
“And so, they tried to eradicate all the priests by labeling them as agents of evil.”
It was the beginning of a witch hunt.
However, this met with more resistance than the Emperor had anticipated.
Noble believers banded together and rebelled.
“The miracles of God are a relic that proves the existence of God in the past. The nobles deemed it something they couldn’t simply discard. So, the Emperor was executed, and the nobles who executed him began to discuss succession.”
These nobles became the progenitors of the kingdoms ruling the current continent.
“Even then, they discussed solutions to population growth among themselves. I, as a representative of Mallorn, argued. We must abolish the inefficient and peasant-discontenting noble system, advance agricultural technology to keep up with the increasing population.”
“It wasn’t accepted, I presume.”
From Noble mtl dot com
“No. So, I entrusted Mallorn’s land to my siblings and came to Crossing.”
“Weren’t you exiled?”
“Did those fools have the ability to drive me out? I came to this barren Crossing for the advancement of agricultural technology. I believed that if agriculture prospered in this land, agricultural technology would greatly advance.”
But it ended in failure. Ultimately, they had to rely on fishing, hunting, and trade without advancing agriculture.
“As a result, my long-cherished dream came to naught. Other nobles waged wars over Epsilon’s territory, reducing the population and regressing to the past. From then on, I found myself unable to reform single-handedly. I no longer had the strength to pursue it.”
The somewhat lackluster attitude seemed to be the reason for that time.
“But that doesn’t answer my question. So, I still don’t understand why you’re waging war.”
“To find ambition.”
“Ambition…?”
“In a world that has once fallen apart, there must be a need to return to the starting point.”
The starting point. In other words, unification.
“If the Empire had made a different choice, we wouldn’t have reached this point. In fact, even within Epsilon, there were hardliners and moderates. Ultimately, it was the hardliners who seized power and caused such events. I think if the moderates had taken power, a different outcome might have been possible.”
Parine was particularly wary of the continent becoming entrenched in division.
That’s why he was trying to incite war forcibly.
In that chaotic world, he hoped for someone with ambitions for unification to appear and unify the continent, leading to a better outcome.
***
The Crossing Republic, which I had thought of as evil.
Upon hearing the circumstances, I couldn’t help but be lost in thought.
“Crossing has a proper mission…”
Although their method of inducing war is an extreme tactic, ultimately, they desire the world to move in the right direction.
“I would like to hear your thoughts. I want to know what you think.”
“I agree with the part about the need to advance agricultural technology. The advancement of agricultural technology can certainly keep up with population growth. And once the population reaches a certain level, it will slow down.”
That was how it was in the actual modern world.
By advancing science and technology and enhancing cultural levels, one can cope with explosive population growth.
“Huh, I didn’t know having someone who understands me could be such a joy. How do you feel about war?”
“I can understand that as well.”
I could also understand resorting to war as a means.
After all, if you want to overthrow other kingdoms that have already established their dominance, there might be no other way.
I asked Juras.
“Was the reason you employed me for this?”
To show the Parain king, who desired new talent.
But Juras shook his head.
“Let me say this in advance, I have a different perspective from the master. The world should just be left to flow as it does. Whether it’s a mission or destiny, in the grand flow of humanity, it’s insignificant. My only personal interest is what role you will play within that flow regarding you.”
“To let it flow as it does….”
Juras’ perspective felt like the correct answer as well.
“Anyway, if the conversation with the king was helpful, then I’m glad, Wade. No… Alse Ilain.”
“Tsk.”
Seems like they already had some idea about my identity. Well, they probably wouldn’t try to have a conversation with someone whose identity they didn’t know.
“It was quite helpful. Thank you, Prime Minister Famillion. And Your Majesty.”
As I respectfully gave my thanks, King Parain smiled satisfactorily.
“I’m truly grateful that you listened to my long-winded story. I hope you turn out to be the person I’ve been seeking.”
“I’m not sure if I can meet your expectations.”
“Hmm….”
After a moment of sighing, Parain cautiously asked me.
“If it’s alright, could you show your face? I want to engrave the face of a young one who might leave a mark in history. Since I don’t have many days left, all sorts of thoughts come to mind.”
“….”
“If it’s too difficult, you can refuse.”
“No, it’s fine.”
After all, there were only Juras and the king in the room at the moment.
I clicked! Unlocked the chinstrap and took off my helmet.
Upon seeing my face, Parain, who had maintained a composed attitude, was filled with astonishment.
“W-what…!?”
Parain couldn’t close his mouth as he looked at my face.
Well, to be precise, it wasn’t my face.
He was astonished upon seeing the necklace that emerged from my clothes when I removed the helmet.
The necklace that Yumir gave me at the coming-of-age ceremony.
“How did you get that!?”
Then, he quickly turned his head and stared intensely at Yumir, whom he hadn’t paid much attention to until now.
“From your side… Could it be that you are Yumir!? The slave Yumir who Lysna took in! Were you the one who helped her child escape in that situation!”
“….”
Yumir remained silent, neither confirming nor denying.
It seemed like there was a reason behind it, so I tried to ask, but Parain inexplicably kept his mouth shut from then on.
Then, as if he had aged ten more years, he sighed and mumbled, “Is this also fate? How amusing.”
He soon made an unexpected move. He summoned a man to the council chamber.
I hurried to put on my helmet, but Parain shook his head, saying it was fine.
The man who appeared was clad in crimson armor. It was Anton, the enemy knight who had served as my adversary in the Carlington Battle.
“Your Highness. Did you summon me?”
“Anton, the time has come to fulfill the oath of the Quintero family.”
“…!”
“From now on, he is the one you must serve.”
Upon hearing this, Anton immediately knelt before me and pledged, “I, Anton Kyros Quintero, shall serve my lord until my last breath!”
I was bewildered, unable to follow the story.
Parain then called in another woman.
The second princess, renowned as the Black Jewel of Crossing.
He introduced Melodiana Malorin and proceeded with the private consultation.