Chapter 208
Chapter: 208
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 208
>Chapter Title: Lykaenslope Lord (2)
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“Mores oppa? He said to come visit Zigsmunt Barony because he’s bored?”
What kind of nonsense is that, out of nowhere? I have no idea what’s going on.
Sisle tilted her head for a moment before nodding with an “aha.”
“Well, it’s something Mores oppa would do. It’s the complete opposite of what I expected, but the more we deviate from the original story, the better. Have a safe trip, oppa.”
Logan furrowed his brow slightly at his youngest sister’s carefree response.
To be honest, what Sisle was saying made just as little sense to him.
“But inviting me to come play? What kind of excuse is that? As a prince, I have plenty of duties in the imperial capital that need my attention. This isn’t the time to leisurely go visiting. Besides, I haven’t even finished overseeing your training yet…”
But Sisle shook her head with a composed expression upon hearing that.
“It’s fine. Training is just repetition on my own anyway. I figured you wouldn’t be teaching me for long regardless. In the original story, you’d be busy sailing around Cyprus by now.”
“…Me?”
“Yeah. It was the season when sea monsters were rampant. But strangely, they’ve stayed quiet this whole time, so it looks like Mores oppa must have intervened somehow and changed things.”
“……?”
The two were currently at the St. Marthias Knights’ training grounds. While staying in the imperial capital lately, Logan had been overseeing Sisle’s aura training every morning when he had the time.
After joining the knights’ order, Sisle participated in all of the St. Marthias Knights’ regular drills.
But aura training was the exception, since there was no instructor qualified to properly teach the saintess who had unconsciously awakened her aura and even built up several layers on her own.
Her aura would unconsciously lash out, flying toward vital spots in the blink of an eye.
The instructors would panic and give up, leaving Logan—the unofficial Decaron Knight and swordmaster—to roll up his sleeves and step in.
“I’ll have to discuss it with Father later. For now, shall we get to training?”
“Ah, wait a sec, oppa. Let me fix these first.”
The little saintess then grunted as she dragged over a pile of armored dummies from the corner of the training grounds.
“What’s all this?”
“Um. The dummies I wrecked during training yesterday afternoon.”
Logan stared in bewilderment at the armor, crumpled like sheets of paper.
They weren’t just dented—they were flattened as if they’d been dropped off a cliff and crushed under a massive boulder!
At this point, wouldn’t it be better to just melt them down?
“These are the intact ones, Logan oppa. At least they don’t have holes in them?”
“…….”
Back when they first started aura training lessons.
As Sisle practiced properly weaving her aura according to the textbook method, she soon ran into a major issue.
Once she could concentrate her aura’s striking point into one spot, her flail swings gained piercing power like a lance.
Dummies weren’t just crumpling—they were getting pierced through and ruined, piling up more and more.
It was only after Logan taught her how to disperse the impact that the destruction stopped.
And the result was these plate mails flattened purely by splash damage. Well, the saintess herself seemed satisfied with that.
“This is all thanks to you, oppa.”
After praising Logan like that, Sisle clenched her fist tight.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Every time the saintess swung her childlike fist, the nearby inquisitors flinched.
“…At least the training isn’t completely fruitless.”
Logan nodded after watching her for a bit.
Her control wasn’t refined yet, but at least she could now hammer out the plate mail she’d crumpled in the first place.
“This feels like good aura control practice too, oppa.”
“It’s a good thing the holy knights’ armor has a high wrought iron ratio. Otherwise, it would’ve shattered to pieces the moment you hit it. Ah, Sisle. That spot’s still dented.”
“Here? Got it.”
Clang! Clang!
In contrast to the siblings’ peaceful atmosphere, inquisitors with pale, traumatized faces occasionally glanced warily at them as they passed by.
* * *
That late morning.
After waiting for the council of state to end, Logan visited the Holy Emperor’s office.
Deep down, Logan wanted to go to Zigsmunt Barony himself. He was worried whether Seongjin was properly investigating, and if demonkin magical beasts had spread there, he was sure he could be of help.
It was just that the ridiculous excuse of “going to play” was something his uptight nature couldn’t accept.
But when he arrived at the office and saw the situation, things in Zigsmunt Barony were more serious than he’d thought.
It wasn’t official news, but the imperial capital’s intelligence department had already learned of the unusual Lycanslope activity through Arenza.
‘It’s only been a day since the problem arose in Zigsmunt Barony. And word has already reached the capital? As expected of the empire that’s dominated the continent for a millennium…’
Logan felt a chill run down his spine.
Of course, this was Logan’s misconception, born of his ignorance about Arenza—the group of psychics organized by the Holy Emperor.
“So, that’s what the boy said.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. But considering the situation there, doesn’t this amount to Mores requesting reinforcements?”
Logan looked down at the letter from Seongjin with a troubled expression.
Two thousand Lycanslopes.
Logan, who often went on magical beast subjugation missions, could easily grasp how massive a force that was.
Lycanslopes were magical beasts with far superior size and stamina to humans to begin with. A single one couldn’t be equated to even one human soldier.
On top of that, there were quite a few powerful individuals displaying freakish abilities like human aura users.
Perhaps Seongjin was hoping for a large-scale army dispatch from the capital?
“What do you think, Amelia?”
After staring at Logan silently for a moment, the Holy Emperor turned to Amelia, who was present.
“Yes, Father. I believe Mores’s request was entirely appropriate.”
The princess spoke in a calm voice.
“It’s still too early to officially mobilize troops from the capital. This isn’t information from formal channels. Even dispatching forces out of pure goodwill would give the impression we were surveilling the barony beforehand. All the kingdoms and territories under imperial rule would view it with great suspicion.”
“I see.”
“The most important issue is that there has been no official request for aid from the border count. According to holy and imperial law, crossing into a territory with troops without the lord’s request is strictly forbidden, unless the lord is guilty of devil worship or otherwise disqualified.”
Logan found himself entranced, listening to Amelia’s voice.
He’d thought she’d be stamping her feet, insisting they rush to help Mores or evacuate him from the territory immediately.
But the words coming from that serene voice were nothing but sound, logical arguments. Had his always-gentle sister always had this side to her?
“Furthermore, imperial law considers stationing more than one-fifth of a territory’s total mobilizable forces near its borders as a major hostile act threatening the territory. Thus, it’s impossible to preposition troops near Zigsmunt Barony in advance for contingencies.”
The Holy Emperor nodded at her response, then posed another question.
“Then what of the holy knights? Missionary groups already travel the continent’s borders freely. Dispatching holy knights who devote their lives solely to the divine will hardly contradicts the purpose of protecting territories and subjects in peril.”
At that, a gleam of delight appeared in the princess’s clear gray eyes.
“The holy knights—sword and iron mace of the divine—are precisely the group that cannot act arbitrarily due to their impartial and selfless nature. All official activities of the holy knights require prior approval from the council of cardinals. Even a single act of charity requires them to self-regulate to avoid the slightest deviation from the cardinals’ decrees. Thus, they cannot be perceived as favoring a particular territory.”
“Then when do they act? Are they mere ornamental weapons stored in their sheaths?”
“When it’s clear to all eyes that the continent’s subjects are in dire peril. And when there is evidence of grave disqualifying crimes like devil worship by that territory’s lord.”
Lately, Princess Amelia had been appearing in the Holy Emperor’s office like this from time to time.
After his council of state ended, she would sit by his side, listening to reports coming in and learning how he handled affairs. This had led to some speculation that the princess was seriously entering the succession race.
On the other hand, there were views that with her marriage issue surfacing prominently after the birthday celebration, the Holy Emperor was simply teaching his beloved daughter statecraft in earnest.
Whatever the reason, the Holy Emperor was greatly satisfied with these small moments spent with his daughter outside of audiences, and Amelia was happy to help ease her overburdened father’s workload.
“Then why do you judge Mores’s request as appropriate?”
“Yes, Father. By clearly stating the purpose as ‘come visit,’ he explicitly indicated no military intent toward Zigsmunt Barony. And by requesting a small detachment rather than a full knightly order, he ensured no threat to the territory.”
“I see.”
“The Lilium Detachment is renowned for voluntary beast subjugations. Even without the lord’s formal request, no one would nitpick such a small group’s movements.”
The Holy Emperor gave a faint, satisfied smile at his daughter, who seemed to grow wiser by the day.
“Did you hear that, Logan? It seems Mores inviting you to ‘play’ carries that meaning.”
“…….”
“The only forces we can move freely from the capital are something like the Lilium Detachment, as you’ve heard. And even then, it’ll look like they’re stopping by to see Mores while on a routine subjugation, without an official request from the barony. That seems the most uncontroversial support we can offer.”
Indeed, the Lilium Detachment boasted the highest combat prowess among the St. Bastian Knights. They were a group that had gathered out of admiration for Logan’s strength and character from the start, and their daily rigorous training was the fruit of following in his footsteps.
And that kid had foreseen all this?
Logan sat there dazed by the sudden turn of events when the Holy Emperor patted his shoulder and continued.
“Very well, Logan. Officially, we’ll frame it as a routine subjugation to watch for migrating beasts with the changing seasons.”
“…Yes, Father.”
Logan replied in a stunned voice.
“And…”
The Holy Emperor gazed at Logan with an inscrutable look for a moment before nodding.
“Yes. Let’s do this. If you safely bring Mores back to the capital, I’ll give you all the remaining funds from the subjugation team’s activity budget as pocket money.”
“……!”
Wait, first Seongjin, now even Father!
Do they think I’m possessed by some money ghost?
He gaped in disbelief when Amelia beside him smiled brightly and unfolded a document.
“This is the annual cost for the subjugation team’s routine activities. Since you’ll wrap up in Zigsmunt Barony and return this time, at least half this amount should be saved outright.”
Gasp.
Logan checked the document and swallowed hard.
‘With this much, rebuilding Ortona would be a dream come— No, that’s not the point.’
Tempted for a moment by the figures, Logan soon plunged into deep self-loathing.
How had he, the knight among knights once praised by General Gael Bertrand, fallen to this?
But the boy quickly steeled himself.
‘No. For my homeland Ortona, I resolved to bear any shame. A nickname like money ghost is nothing…’
Logan realized it was time for him to take a step forward too.
Just look at Sisle.
It felt like yesterday she was sucking on a pacifier in the Holy Emperor’s arms, but now she was growing into a fine holy knight who could smash and repair dummies on her own.
And what of sister Amelia?
She’d been a fragile little girl he had to look after, but she’d grown into a seasoned stateswoman who grasped and supported the profound intentions of the Holy Emperor and Seongjin.
‘And Seongjin is the same.’
Somehow, in that short time, he’d made a fortune.
It was a stern rebuke to him for wasting time idly in the capital, through action itself.
‘Seongjin, I haven’t forgotten the purpose in life you helped me find. From now on, I’ll earn money properly too. So you won’t be ashamed of me anymore.’
* * *
Tap tap.
“Your Highness, what’s wrong? Is something bothering you?”
Masain asked the prince, who had been intermittently shaking his head.
“Ah, Sir Masain. It’s nothing.”
Seongjin shook his head vigorously, then lightly tapped his ear one last time.
‘Did something get in my ear? Why is it so itchy?’
On top of that, he’d been feeling oddly uneasy for a while now.
Was it because he was heading to a place worthy of being called a battlefield after so long? He felt vaguely restless.
Seongjin was currently at the tail end of the second wave of troops, heading toward the demon realm. Orden, the regular knights, and holy knights were with him.
“Hya!”
Having fallen behind while tapping his ear, Seongjin soon skillfully urged his horse faster to catch up with the procession.
Horseback riding had been unfamiliar at the start of the journey, but Seongjin always picked up physical skills quickly.
“How about it, Max? Think we’ll win?”
He teasingly asked the wolf-dog trotting along at his feet, and it looked up at him with its clear pumpkin-orange eyes for a moment.
Then.
Awooooo.
Max threw back its head and let out a long howl into the air.
And from far off.
Awooooo.
In wary response, a drawn-out howl faintly echoed back.
It was the stark signal that they were nearing the demon realm’s border.