Chapter 424: Pendria
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 424: Pendria
Pendria, the capital of the Orsia Duchy, was protected by a fortress city at each cardinal direction, with the exception of the west, which was guarded by the Lugen Mountains.
To the south was Noirvel, ruled by the Bipolun baronial family.
To the north was Debraks, ruled by the Norvalt county family.
And finally, to the east was Saint-Rone, ruled by the Bellastir marquisate family.
After conquering the Galloway Territory in the east, the rebel army changed its course. Instead of marching on their original destination of Noirvel, they turned toward Saint-Rone.
The reason was simple.
“Welcome to Saint-Rone, Your Excellency, Marquis Kailix.”
“There is no need to call me Your Excellency. Are you not a proper marquis yourself now?”
Marquis Kailix approached the young nobleman who greeted him at the castle gate.
His name was Julien Theodore Bellastir.
Until recently, he had been the second son of the Marquis Bellastir family, but he was now a parricide who had killed his own parents and brother to become the new Marquis Bellastir.
“In that case, would you permit me the honor of addressing you as His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Kailix?”
“Haha, you are certainly different from your hopelessly rigid father. It would have been better if he had named you his heir early on instead of that incompetent firstborn.”
“I, too, find it regrettable. But what can be done? It is my fate to have had no luck with parents.”
“Is it not a relief that an opportunity has finally presented itself? Please, display your talents for the sake of the empire.”
“I am already prepared to gladly offer my life for Your Majesty.”
“I’m counting on you.”
The servants attending them trembled in fear.
The House of Bellastir had a long-standing tradition of being different from other noble families—they were not authoritarian and knew how to practice noblesse oblige.
When a drought led to a poor harvest, they implemented various welfare programs and lowered tax rates, alleviating the suffering of their people.
Thanks to this, the respect and support for the Bellastir family among the populace grew stronger by the day.
But the moment Julien, coveting the position of heir, revealed his true colors, all that peace crumbled away as fragilely as a sandcastle.
He killed every blood relative except for the children under ten and purged a great number of the servants who had followed them.
An indelible storm of blood had swept through the House of Bellastir.
“How much longer must I watch this tedious farce?”
Clink.
The moment the man sitting in the seat of honor—instead of Marquis Kailix—set down his teacup, the atmosphere in the room froze solid.
Julien swallowed dryly and bowed his head low.
He had been born a psychopath, devoid of emotion, but that didn't mean he lacked perception.
“Haha, my apologies if you were uncomfortable, Sir Edramond.”
Marquis Kailix offered a good-natured smile.
Inwardly, however, he was forcibly suppressing a surge of rage. If he had his way, he would kill the man before him this instant.
‘He’s about the same age as my son, yet he dares…!!’
Intoxicated by his ambition of soon becoming the first emperor of the Orsia Empire, he found Dermier’s arrogant and insolent attitude utterly unforgivable.
Nevertheless, the reason Marquis Kailix didn't kill him was simple.
He was strong.
Dermier von Edramond.
As the vice-commander of the Dragonia Knights, one of the Eustaff Empire’s strongest fighting forces, he was a monster who had reached the upper levels of an Aura Master.
Within the Orsia Duchy, it was a level only the Grand Duke had attained, and it was an undeniable fact that Dermier was the strongest asset of the noble faction.
“Has the letter of surrender been sent?”
“Yes, it should have arrived in the capital by now.”
“If there is no reply within two days, we will march with the army.”
“…Waiting at least four days would be—”
Thump—
“?!!”
In that instant, an indescribable pressure crushed everyone in the room.
Marquis Kailix broke out in a cold sweat and lowered his head.
“Two days.”
“…Understood.”
Having unilaterally ended the conversation, Dermier immediately left the room. Only then could those left behind finally catch their breath.
But as Dermier walked down the corridor, his mind was a tangled mess.
It was because of the news he had received that morning.
‘…Lavinia, to think that woman is dead.’
Dermier Malefis.
His position as vice-commander of the Dragonia Knights was merely his public identity; his true self was an executive of Malefis, the one who sat on the Second Throne.
‘Who the hell was it?’
Dermier’s face twisted into a grimace.
With the death of Lavinia, who was supposed to conquer the Bipolun Territory on behalf of the noble faction, the entire framework of their plan had gone awry.
At this rate, even if they didn't receive a surrender, they would have to scrap their original strategy of forming a siege around the capital to slowly suffocate the enemy.
If he were to turn the army around now and strike Bipolun directly, he risked a counterattack from Pendria’s Capital Defense Force.
Of course, he could split his forces and attack both simultaneously, but in Dermier’s mind, the Bipolun Territory had already been relegated to a lower priority.
Right now, only one thing mattered to him.
Who had killed Lavinia?
Dermier took this as a sign that an enemy more threatening than the entire Bipolun army had appeared.
Lavinia’s mind control, unleashed with the authority of an Archdemon, was so powerful that even he couldn't afford to let his guard down.
A foe strong enough to defeat her was likely a group, not an individual.
But that didn't make sense either, as the core forces of the various religious orders were not currently in the Orsia Duchy.
‘Then who in the world could it be?’
Did a hidden master suddenly appear out of nowhere?
Or was it the game of a polymorphed dragon?
“Tsk.”
He had far too little information to draw a conclusion.
For Dermier, who hated variables above all else, the situation was inevitably vexing.
But soon, his expression softened.
“…I was worrying over nothing from the start.”
Crack—
As he clenched his fist, a murderous fighting spirit erupted from him—a force so immense it made the very air tremble.
“No matter how many enemies there are, I just have to cut them all down.”
*
Pendria, the capital of the Orsia Duchy.
It was a metropolis with an area of approximately 1,000 square kilometers and a population nearing two million. As the center of commerce in the south, hundreds of carriages came and went daily, a constant influx of people and capital.
But now, with the outbreak of war, unprecedented chaos had paralyzed the entire city.
And that chaos spread beyond the city gates like a plague.
“Please, just open the gate! You let people in yesterday!!”
“P-Please, just my child! Just take my child!!”
“Don’t push! There are people in front of you!!”
The area around Pendria’s gate was so crowded with thousands of refugees that there wasn't even room to stand.
Watching the scene, Amelia turned her head away as if she couldn't bear to look. I stroked her hair to comfort her.
“What a mess.”
“…At this rate, someone might get crushed to death.”
“It just shows how desperate they all are. Rather than surrender to the rebel army that pillages and slaughters everywhere it goes, getting into the capital offers a better chance of survival.”
Faced with the raw, desperate scene of thousands of screams and cries tangled together, Iris eventually looked away as well.
The soldiers were trying their best to calm the people and establish order, but even that seemed to be a difficult task.
I soon steered the carriage again, heading for our original destination: the west gate.
Just as Sir Leonique had said, soldiers were controlling the traffic around the west gate, and thanks to them, there was enough space for a carriage to pass, unlike elsewhere.
A soldier soon approached our carriage.
“Excuse me. Are you by any chance a noble?”
“I’m not a noble, but I have a letter of recommendation from Sir Leonique. He told me to come this way to enter the capital.”
After checking the letter, the soldier bowed his head respectfully.
“Thank you for your cooperation. Would you please follow me this way?”
Following the soldier’s guidance, a gate next to the main city gate opened a moment later.
It was so narrow that only a single carriage could barely squeeze through.
“The city’s security has been poor recently, so I recommend you do not go outside after evening.”
“…Is it that bad?”
“Yes, in just a few days, crimes like pickpocketing and robbery have noticeably increased. There are so many refugees that even with personnel reassigned from other units, it’s difficult to maintain public order.”
With a bitter expression, the soldier gave me a few more warnings before returning to his post.
I took the reins again and headed for the Bipolun family’s mansion, which Sir Leonique had told me about.
If I was lucky, I might be able to meet the baron right away and receive his help.
‘There are certainly a lot of people.’
The population of two million was no exaggeration; the streets were bustling and packed with people.
But every face was dark, and it seemed as though everyone was wary of one another.
It was likely due to the recent spike in crime, just as the soldier had said.
There was no vitality in a city where distrust had spread like a plague. Only a strange tension hung in the air.
The atmosphere felt like a small spark could ignite a fuse at any moment.
In particular, people who looked like refugees had settled in every alley, which alone was enough to guess why the city’s security had deteriorated so rapidly.
The cost of living in the city was high.
Too high for refugees who had hastily fled their homes to escape the war.
In a situation like this, it might be better to end up in prison. At least in prison, you get fed.
‘If a problem breaks out, this could turn into a large-scale protest… hmm?’
As I looked around the city, a place where an unusual number of people had gathered caught my eye.
It was a church.
“A free soup kitchen?”
As if it were a religious street, cathedrals and church buildings, each flying a different symbol, lined a single road.
Among them was a crest I had seen in Lavinia’s memories.
‘The Sun Cult.’
The Sun Cult, which had replaced the Goddess Cult as the continent’s largest religion, worshipped the sun god, Solarion, as their chief deity.
They were known to be so militant that their numbers of paladins and inquisitors were said to be overwhelmingly greater than those of other orders.
Besides the Sun Cult, several other religions had established themselves on the street, and they too were proselytizing to the people who had received meals.
What was surprising was that it wasn't old pastors but young, beautiful nuns who were reciting the scriptures.
‘Should I call this secular, or should I say they know their marketing well…?’
It was a bit absurd, but one thing was certain: the nuns of the Sun Cult were the prettiest.
Their sun-kissed, bronze skin was captivating.
As I was observing the nuns of each order and taking in the sights, a particularly dilapidated church with very few people around it came into view.
Unlike its crumbling exterior, the religious symbol on top of the building was polished so clean it shone.
A single tree standing alone on barren land.
It was a symbol I had never seen before, yet it didn't feel unfamiliar.
I even felt a strange sense of kinship, which piqued my interest for a moment, but I had no intention of going there right away. Instead, I decided to stop by later when I had time.
A short while later, as the carriage entered the noble district, soldiers blocked our path.
After checking the letter of recommendation, they personally escorted us to the Bipolun mansion. Even at the mansion entrance, the letter was checked once more before we were allowed inside.
“Excuse me.”
As we were resting in the reception room, an elderly butler entered.
“The master is not expected to return to the mansion until tomorrow afternoon. What would you like to do?”
“In that case, would it be all right if we stayed at the mansion for a few days?”
“Of course. I will have a meal prepared for you shortly.”
The old man guided us to our rooms with a good-natured smile.
However, the moment he heard that Sefran was dead and that he had been a black magician, he fainted.
I suddenly felt like a plague god, the bearer of bad news.