The Spear of Longinus
The Spear of Longinus
"...Therefore, I bestow this Barisden region upon Duke Rosenberg, and declare it no longer territory of the empire, but an independent land."
-Clapclapclapclapclap!
A reward ceremony conducted in an abbreviated format.
But the atmosphere, at least, was heated and solemn.
With the accompanying mages (nobles) watching, Luna, down on one knee, finally became the master of a fully independent territory.
'I wonder what kind of feeling it is.'
Luna had lost her territory to the elves even before she was born.
The wasteland stretching north of the old 1st and 2nd Armies, to be exact.
But now she had been newly granted land far more vast, so fertile it could be called a principality.
I can't even begin to guess how she feels.
After the reward ceremony ended, I called Luna aside and casually asked her about it.
"Huh? It's not even my land anyway, is it? It's the Colonel-nim's land, I'm just holding it in a real estate title trust."
"No, even so...."
"Later, I'm planning to formally register your child as an adopted heir and pass on the inheritance. Hehehe, Hildeng and Rebecca will have to stay on my good side."
"...."
"Personally, since Rebecca already has a huge territory, I kind of want to push for the poor Hildeng's side, but when it comes to actually seeing the child's talent and personality, I might have different thoughts, you know?"
"...."
Anyway, after the abbreviated reward ceremony ended, we were granted permission to return to the capital city first.
But a big rainstorm was coming soon.
In order to witness a great flood, the kind you might see once in a lifetime, we decided to stay a few more days.
When night came, Rebecca came in saying she would give me a mana massage.
"Piel, don't you want to kiss me?"
"I-I can't breathe. Rebecca-nim...."
"Aww, I told you to call me Rebecca when we're alone."
Rebecca, dressed in a slip-on nightgown, lay down with her body pressed against me and began to kiss.
So, no mana massage?
Honestly, when I'm sleeping, I like that better.
'I'm in big trouble. I can't even imagine what will happen if we go any further with this skinship.'
I can't live as a skeleton, hacking and coughing from being drained dry.
'Tomorrow night, I'll ask Luna for a massage instead.'
***
The harvest was over in a flash.
The workers were not ordinary laborers, but mana soldiers and mages.
Thanks to that, despite the vast area, the harvest was completed at a rapid pace.
Compared to the intense life-or-death combat, the calories expended on harvesting are very low.
-Swooshaaaah!
As if waiting for the harvest to finish, rain began to pour down on the wide land.
Piel, Rebecca, and Luna rode the wind palanquin and watched the great waterfall cascading from the cliff.
"Woah... it's spectacular."
"A magnificent view."
"I feel overwhelmed. To think there's such a huge waterfall."
The waterfall filled the dried-up river below the cliff like a moat, and soon began to overflow greatly.
Once the water started overflowing, it followed the flow and stretched out endlessly, scattering the nitrogen compounds it held evenly across the land.
"From the next rye harvest, the imperial family will send the crops to the north, so the northern food situation will become much better."
"When no one is already starving and everyone's already eating until their bellies burst, and it's going to get even better from here."
"It's unbelievable. If only the Colonel-nim had come just a few months earlier, the 1st and 2nd Armies might not have collapsed and held out...."
The sight of the waterfall cascading down the endlessly stretching high cliff was truly majestic.
Piel recorded the entire scene with the tactical cam.
'This, I must genuinely preserve as a keepsake.'
The rain fell for several days straight.
But Piel and the women only watched on the first day and headed straight to the capital city that evening.
It was because they couldn't leave Hildea, who was waiting at the capital hotel, alone.
When the rain finally stopped after Piel had left.
In the Palace of the Thunder Dragon, where no one's gaze could reach, there was no longer a layer of nitrogen compounds remaining.
All the nitrogen of the Palace of the Thunder Dragon, accumulated by the lightning storm, had been depleted.
Piel's prediction that it would last a few years was wrong.
***
We returned to the hotel room we had rented when we first came to the capital city.
Hildea, dressed comfortably in dolphin pants and a crop top, was waiting for us.
"What about the elf?"
"I've been keeping her in the reception room under close watch. She hasn't attempted to escape."
"Since we told her we would release her in the north, she won't try a reckless escape. She's also exhausted most of her strength during the World Tree mutation."
There were still things I needed to ask the elf.
The World Tree Object, to be exact.
"Silphirian, can your species track the World Tree Object?"
If I stick it in the ground to summon a lightning storm, the elves will find out immediately.
There's no way they wouldn't know, with lightning bolts endlessly raining down across a wide area.
What I want to know is whether tracking is possible when it's not planted in the ground, but just being carried.
"Of course. Because it was originally ours."
"Even if it's not stuck in the ground?"
"Naturally. No matter how far away it is, I can feel a faint sense of direction. When you get closer than a certain distance, I can feel it even more precisely."
"How did something of yours end up on imperial land?"
"I don't know either. My fate is simply to find the object, become a new World Tree, and expand our elf habitat. That is all."
"Not recovery of the object? Then what happens to your homeland in the north?"
"If I create another forest, that would soon be the joy of my homeland."
I became even more certain.
'The emperor doesn't know about the World Tree Object.'
At first, I hesitated, wondering if I should report it.
However, the empire doesn't have the capability to manage this.
If the World Tree Object falls into elf hands, it's only a matter of time before the entire continent transforms into elf forest.
Such an important thing should, of course, be the responsibility of us in Ainshuvan, the elf specialists.
'The defense against the Third Impact now rests in my hands.'
I feel a boiling surge of heroism.
'Alright, from now on, I shall call it the Spear of Longinus. Because if it falls into elf hands, humanity is doomed.'
And since its appearance can be seen as vaguely spear-like, no name could suit it better.
"Luna, the wind barrier."
"Yes, it's up. Now the elf can't hear our conversation."
I looked around at the women and spoke.
"As expected, it would be best for us to keep this. Because if it falls into elf hands, the whole continent will turn into elf forest."
"This officer believes that is the proper course."
"The emperor doesn't seem to know about it at all either. How did this thing end up flowing all the way to the Palace of the Thunder Dragon?"
"In my opinion, very long ago, someone stole it to prevent the expansion of the elf species and placed it in the hardest place possible to find."
The Palace of the Thunder Dragon is at the continent's southernmost tip, the farthest from the elf forest, for a start.
Also, an extremely high plateau.
Even if lightning strikes constantly, it's not visible from below the cliff.
"Seeing that a magic barrier was even set up, the possibility that it was an imperial family member from long ago is high."
"Piel's speculation makes sense."
"Hmm, this officer also agrees."
"I think that guess is correct too."
Because the World Tree Object didn't go into the subspace magic tool, the difficulty of storing it went way up.
"Luna, from now on I'm entrusting the safekeeping of the Spear of Longinus to you."
"Leave it to me! I will ensure I never drop it on the ground, even in my sleep!"
Hiding it is useless.
Because lightning pours out immediately.
When I tested it by putting it in a safe in the Palace of the Thunder Dragon, it was no use.
A person must hold it directly, or it must be levitated in the air, for it not to summon lightning.
It's a thing that's extremely tricky to conceal.
"Then all that's left is to wait for Yuzel to come."
"But that girl is missing. Why is she so late?"
"She's coming up from the farm city with the emperor right now, isn't she?"
"It can't be helped. We just have to wait until the emperor makes his entrance."
We decided to leave the empire as soon as Yuzel arrived.
Right now, my subspace magic tool is packed full of treasures received as return tribute for offering the stuffed wyvern lord.
With pockets full, I feel secure.
'I should do a bit of shopping too.'
***
"Colonel Piel, this officer thinks she must return first, after all."
"Understood. We can't leave the north empty of its commander indefinitely."
"That's not it... the date is approaching soon."
"Ah."
So her period is near again.
Hildea's face flushed red, and she squirmed her body.
"Before I leave, won't you grant me a kiss?"
"I-I shall."
After sharing skinship with me until she was satisfied, Hildea left, taking the guide unicorn with her.
"HIMARS, don't just pick out the plantain peels, you have to sprinkle them heavily and eat them. If you eat only beans, you'll really get an upset stomach and die."
-Hihihihing!
She says she understands for now, but her picky eating has gotten much worse, so I wonder if she'll actually listen.
Because she used to live without enough to eat, she just goes absolutely crazy for boiled beans and apples.
'She needs to eat a lot of fiber, the plantain peel is her substitute for hay.'
Whether person or animal, the worry caused by not eating enough vegetables is all the same.
"Rebecca-nim, you also shouldn't eat just samgyeopsal as your main. Please wrap it in lettuce and perilla leaves and eat it."
"Yeah, okay. Okay."
"I'm saying wrap it up with the full package neatly like I do. Colonel-nim, this way of eating is the most delicious, right?"
"The taste is one thing, but there are also health issues...."
"Hehe, are you worrying about your master's health right now? That's cute, Piel."
***
The day after Hildea left.
Luna went out briefly to check how far the emperor's procession had come.
Rebecca is leisurely washing up in the bathroom.
The elf sat quietly in the corner of the reception room, both ankles bound.
When we had joined up with the women, leaving her naked was indecent, so I had dressed her in dolphin pants and a crop top for now.
Seeing her in modern clothes gives me a slightly awkward feeling every time.
"I have a request."
"What is it?"
"I wish to taste you."
"...Suddenly?"
"I have been holding back and waiting only for your females to vacate the space. Please grant me a taste of you once more."
"...."
She seems properly addicted to the taste of Sol's Eye.
Things are proceeding according to plan.
"Silphirian, right now is difficult. If Rebecca-nim notices anything even slightly suspicious, she will come right out of the bathroom."
The elf's eyebrows quivered.
Seeing as her expression barely changes, it's a very strong rejection reaction.
"...Just when?"
"Silphirian, do not misunderstand. I have no obligation to give you any. You are our prisoner, are you not?"
"Hyeuk...."
As the elf writhed in agony, Rebecca's shout was heard immediately.
"Piel? What's going on?"
"Nothing at all. It seems the elf is having a fit of restlessness."
"Do you just want to come into the bathtub with me, Piel?"
"I-I'm fine."
The elf squirmed with small, thrashing movements.
I went into the room, quietly took a one-shot of Sol's Eye, and came back out.
"Silphirian, only exactly 5 minutes. Understand?"
"Ah, I understand. Quick, quick, once more let me taste your taste...."
Exactly 5 minutes of administering a Sol's Eye aftertaste dose later, and when I stepped away.
The elf's face was completely loose, and she melted down, slumping in a heap.
I whispered into the elf's ear.
"Silphirian, the previous proposal is still valid."
The elf questioned back with unfocused eyes.
"The thing about telling you the location of the World Tree in the Forest of Life and Death...?"
"If you do, I will allow you to continue enjoying this pleasure forever."
Recommendation and conciliation to betray her species.
If she burns all her bridges completely, I intend to give her a commensurate reward.
'I don't need to personally administer it every day. If I fill a bathtub with water, mix in a few drops of Sol's Eye for her to bathe in daily, to an elf, that would be absolute supreme bliss, wouldn't it?'
"No... that alone... betraying my species is...."
I left the agonized elf alone.
Right now is the time for submission to desire to ripen.
It's time to leisurely wait for the maturation.
***
Even though several days had passed since the emperor's procession arrived at the imperial palace, Yuzel did not appear.
But we can't just wait indefinitely.
"Colonel-nim, let's just depart first on our own."
"Abandoning Yuzel?"
"She's probably confined in the palace right now; if she runs away later, she'll find her way to us on her own. And we can't exactly go looking for her there, can we?"
We can't stay here indefinitely without any fixed date.
After much deliberation, we decided to leave a letter with the hotel and depart first.