Chapter 407: The Lugen Mountains (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 407: The Lugen Mountains (2)
The Orsia Grand Duchy was, undeniably, the dominant power of the south.
It was the only nation on the continent to possess economic and military power on par with the Eustaff Empire. To the Grand Duchy, the Nivia Kingdom was little more than a small, peripheral country that could be subjugated at any time.
Numerous theories existed as to why the Orsia Grand Duchy was called a ‘Grand Duchy’ and not an ‘Empire,’ but no one knew the precise reason.
Only vague speculation circulated that the Orsia Grand Ducal Family and a few high-ranking nobles knew the truth.
“The Alvarez Kingdom?”
“Yes, it was a nation at the southernmost tip of the continent that existed several hundred years ago. The Orsia Grand Ducal Family was originally one of the five families that supported the Alvarez Kingdom. When the kingdom fell, they declared independence and established the Grand Duchy.”
During a slightly early lunch break, I found myself listening to the secret history of the Orsia Grand Duchy from Amelia while admiring the scenery of the Lugen Mountains.
“This is something I heard from my father, but at the time, the Alvarez Kingdom, a great power, was slowly crumbling from within due to the royal family’s excessive tyranny and extravagance. Eventually, rebellions broke out across the land, and the kingdom fractured into hundreds of pieces. Our family, who were loyal vassals to the royal family, belatedly succeeded in driving out the rebel forces that had occupied the capital, but by then, all the royals had already been executed. Feeling guilty over this, our ancestor left a final will.”
-The Orsia Grand Duchy shall remain an eternal vassal of the Alvarez Kingdom.
“Following his will, we have maintained our lineage for hundreds of years not as a kingdom or an empire, but as a Grand Duchy.”
“Hmm… The sentiment seems noble, but I imagine there’d be a lot of pushback, though?”
Just as the price of an item can change drastically based on its packaging, nobles would much rather be called nobles of an empire or a kingdom than remain nobles of a Grand Duchy.
A bitter smile touched Amelia’s lips.
“That was always a source of great trouble for my father. I can still picture him sternly scolding his vassals, telling them that a noble should not obsess over outward honor but should know how to build and see true substance.”
The atmosphere grew somber for a moment.
A year ago, Amelia’s father, the Grand Duke of Orsia, had collapsed from an unknown illness.
That was what had triggered the civil war.
“Don’t worry too much. He’ll be alright soon.”
“…Yes.”
I comforted Amelia, gently rubbing her back.
For the record, I wasn’t just lying to soothe her. I genuinely intended to help the Grand Duke.
‘Economic and military power on par with the Eustaff Empire, huh…?’
For Peledeia, which had been cut off from foreign diplomacy for the past 200 years, they were the perfect first ally.
Moreover, they possessed the fertile grain-producing regions that the Great Forest lacked, making them an excellent trading partner as well.
Of course, they would be busy for a while cleaning up the domestic chaos from the civil war, but if we declared an alliance between our two nations to coincide with Iris’s restoration to the throne, even the Eustaff Empire would have no choice but to be somewhat intimidated.
If the Nivia Kingdom joined in, it might even be possible to deter a war with the Empire based on a three-nation alliance.
This alliance would also benefit Nivia and Orsia.
There wasn’t a single nation unaware of the Eustaff Empire’s ambition to unify the continent.
The reason an allied force hadn’t been formed despite this was likely because whichever nation took the lead would become the Empire’s primary target.
Normally, the Orsia Grand Duchy should have stepped up, but as we knew, their situation was far from normal.
In such a situation, what if we could form a southern continental alliance under the leadership of the Peledeia Kingdom?
-If you want peace, prepare for war.
This could be called a strategic alliance for the sake of peace.
However, there was one problem: the three-nation alliance itself was little more than a bluff.
If the Eustaff Empire actually pushed for war, we would be the ones in trouble.
Peledeia, Orsia, and Nivia were all in no state to prepare for war due to their domestic situations. Besides, if the Empire was willing to continue a war even after seeing the Archmage Iris and the allied forces of each nation, it meant they had an ace up their sleeve.
Iris had said that 200 years ago, there were no Archmages on the human side.
But was that still true today?
What if the Empire’s power was far greater than I anticipated?
“…Hoo.”
I downed the hot coffee.
I had put in too much sugar, and it was sickeningly sweet.
“Shall we get going? If the sun sets while we’re dawdling, we’ll be stuck camping out for the night.”
“Yes.”
I temporarily set aside the uncertain possibilities and stood up.
It was still a matter for the distant future, so there was no need to worry about it prematurely.
Besides, if the enemy was strong, I just had to become stronger.
Just as I always had.
*
After a short lunch break, I took the reins of the carriage again.
The road was still treacherous, with a bottomless cliff stretching endlessly to our side. The altitude was well over a thousand meters, making the air even colder.
Of course, I had reached a state of immunity to cold and heat, so it was no problem for me, but Iris and Amelia’s breath was visible even though they were wearing thick coats.
Still, it was warm inside the carriage, so they probably wouldn’t catch a cold.
Besides the cold, everything was going smoothly. Thanks to my accumulated experience, I could drive the carriage much more easily than when we first entered the mountain range.
The only problem was my fellow passenger.
I glanced sideways at Sylvia, who was sitting next to me. Her hair, whiter than the surrounding snow, fluttered in the wind.
“Sylvia, I’m cold.”
“Are you saving your magic power to trade for candy later?”
“Who talks to their husband so coldly?”
Despite my remark, Sylvia just snorted and whipped her head away.
Seeing that, I deliberately made my hand cold.
The moment I tried to sneak my hand inside her blouse…
“…My father and mother always used to talk like this.”
Sylvia played a dirty, unblockable card.
Having heard about her family situation from Iris, I was at a loss for words.
Of course, it wasn't as serious as my own situation—losing my parents to a magical beast at the age of five—but misfortune is, after all, relative.
“You have a bad example to learn from, so shouldn’t you be kinder to me? I’m being good to you, aren’t I?”
“To say such crazy things with a straight face. By that logic, a werewolf biting a human’s head off could be called a sign of affection.”
“Werewolves are just a bit big. If you look closely, they’re actually kind of cute.”
“You crazy bastard.”
“Want me to show Iris the recording of all the cute things you’ve been doing so far?”
“…”
Sylvia fell silent.
Trying to pick a fight with her god-like husband when she couldn't even hope to win.
“By the way, I haven’t gotten my daily dose of affection yet. How about now?”
“H-Here…?!”
“It’s soundproofed anyway, so they won’t hear anything inside.”
Sylvia had experienced firsthand how excellent the carriage’s soundproofing was, so she knew full well without me having to explain.
Nevertheless, a look of panic was plain on her face. It seemed the fact that Iris was right next to us was bothering her.
“Well, if it really bothers you, we can do something else instead. What’ll it be?”
“…”
After a moment of contemplation, Sylvia slowly nodded.
I smiled faintly and tapped my lips.
At that moment, Sylvia’s face contorted. Seeing her clench her fists and tremble, she must have been extremely embarrassed.
“I’m driving, so get on my lap and do it.”
“I get it, so please just shut that mou—!”
Sylvia hastily shut her mouth.
‘Too bad. I was going to use her cursing as an excuse to make her do something else.’
I’d felt it before, but her intuition was definitely sharp.
Was it some kind of special high-elf ability?
After a moment’s hesitation, Sylvia carefully climbed onto my lap. The carriage swayed a little, but I knew well that a little jolt like this wouldn’t be enough to make her fall.
“For the record, I decide when we stop. But if I feel the love, I’ll end it that much sooner, so don’t worry.”
“…”
Sylvia glared at me for a moment before squeezing her eyes shut. Then, holding onto my shoulders tightly, she slowly brought her face closer.
Even without any makeup, her lips were a vivid crimson, as if she were wearing lipstick, and her skin was so smooth you couldn’t see a single pore.
‘If she were born on Earth, the big entertainment agencies would have been fighting over her.’
Mwah…
Sylvia pressed her lips against mine.
They were soft and warm.
I let go of the reins, switched to auto-drive mode, and stroked her back.
Mmph, oomph, heuh…
A wrinkle formed between Sylvia’s fine brows.
She was being strangely aggressive, as if trying to get it over with quickly.
When I slipped my hand inside her clothes to touch her breast, I felt not soft skin but the texture of thick cloth.
‘No wonder her chest looked smaller than usual. Just how many layers of cloth did she wrap around herself?’
I was dumbfounded.
It seemed she’d done this to stop me from constantly touching her breasts and ass.
‘…How impudent.’
This was a form of rebellion.
Daring to use such a petty trick against her god-like husband was utterly unacceptable.
Schlick, slurp, mwah…
But as I watched Sylvia wrap her arms around my neck and actively entwine her tongue with mine, my anger seemed to subside a little.
Is this what the old sages meant when they said good looks are a cheat code?
Instead of her chest, I focused on the kiss, kneading her ass like dough.
How much time passed like that?
“Hah, haah, haah…! How much longer do I have to do this…!”
Sylvia pulled her lips away, panting heavily.
Her lips were slightly swollen.
“It looked like you were enjoying it.”
“Nonsense.”
As Sylvia’s expression grew fiercer, I raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.
After glaring at me for another moment, Sylvia tried to get off my lap.
But I grabbed her wrist.
She shot me a look that said, what do you think you’re doing?
“Don’t we still have something left to do?”
What I had demanded from Sylvia last night wasn’t just one thing.
“It’s a problem if you try to gloss over it like this.”
“…I was going to do it even if you didn’t say anything.”
“Your tone.”
“…I was going to do it.”
Sylvia bit her lip in frustration and slowly moved closer. Her eyes trembled precariously, as if tears might spill out at any moment.
“I, I lo—!!”
“What was that? I can’t hear you.”
“Keuk!!”
A heavier hesitation than ever before could be felt in her eyes.
“You’ll have to keep doing this from now on, so shouldn’t you get used to it?”
“…It’s for one year.”
“That’s right.”
A laugh escaped me before I could stop it.
It went without saying, but I had no intention of letting Sylvia go, even after a year.
Peck.
Along with a short, bird-like kiss, Sylvia’s expression, contorted beyond words, came into view.
Her face was beet red, like a ripe persimmon that would burst at the slightest touch.
“I, I love you, darling…!”
At that moment, I couldn’t hold back my laughter.
In response, a thick killing intent flowed from Sylvia, enough to startle the birds into flight.
I patted her on the butt.
“There, there. You know I love you too, right?”
“…You’d better watch your back when you sleep.”
“Are you worried about your husband?”
“…”
Leaving Sylvia’s cute display of affection (?) behind, I took up the reins again.
I could have just left it on auto-drive like before, but driving the carriage myself felt like playing a game, and it was quite fun.
Or maybe I just had a knack for it?
Just as we were crossing the mountain range…
-KABOOM!!
A tremendous roar echoed from somewhere.
And with it, the presence of countless humans.
My eyes met Sylvia’s.
“I’ll go check it out. You protect Iris and Amelia.”
I activated the carriage’s emergency brake and shot straight up into the sky.
[Levitation]
I couldn’t risk overexerting myself by using Fly magic like last time, not knowing what might happen.
I ascended along the steep cliff face, entering the thick mist.
-THUD!!
-CRASH!!
-SMACK!!
I could feel myself getting closer to the source of the commotion.
By the time I reached an altitude of 1,200 meters…
WHOOSH!!
I finally broke through the mist.
My hair was soaked, but that wasn’t important right now.
On the flat, rocky terrain spread out before me, a being that made me doubt my own eyes appeared.
-KRAAAAAAAK!!!
“Is that…”
Leathery wings reminiscent of a giant bat, scales that glittered like jet-black steel, and eyes that shimmered red like a predator that had spotted its prey.
There was no doubt.
It was a Wyvern, known as the ruler of the Lugen Mountains.
And fighting against this Wyvern, which was so massive I had momentarily mistaken it for a dragon, was none other than an army.
“R-Raise the shields!!”
“Don’t fall back!! If your spear breaks, consider your life over!!”
“The wings!! Tear the wings first!!”
“The, the ballista is broken!!”
“Fuck!!”
They were regular soldiers, clad in uniform armor, and they numbered around 500.
‘The Capital Defense Force…?’
I shook my head.
This was the entrance to the Lugen Mountains, too far from the capital to be the Capital Defense Force.
There was no reason for the defense force to abandon the advantage of a siege and climb these treacherous mountains in the first place.
‘The most likely possibility is that they’re rebel soldiers…’
If they were rebels, the right thing to do would be to eliminate them all on the spot, but in this world, not even Buddha could know for sure without confirming it firsthand.
After a moment of deliberation, I decided to save them for now.
I could interrogate them later, and if they turned out to be rebels, I would deal with them then.