I'm Really Curious
"So, the Sword God has come to the Empire."
A vast azure forest where countless beasts ran free and wild.
The woman beloved of all spirits turned her green eyes toward somewhere far away.
Her gaze was fixed on the imperial capital, Imperidium.
More precisely, on the audience chamber of Duke Hwangyeol.
Three figures engaged in conversation came into view within the chamber.
Should she consider this an outrage — or a stroke of fortune?
─Hmm... one thing's for certain: the Grand Duke of Extreme Magic would probably consider it an outrage.
"That would be just like Caria."
The Spirit Deity Duke, Arne Parthia.
Contractor of the Spirit King, and like Duke Hwangyeol and the Grand Duke of Extreme Magic, one of the mightiest pillars of the Empire.
As she chuckled and offered her assessment of Caria, who had once been her dear friend, her young disciple Leo — conversing with her through the wind spirits — let out a sigh.
─I prepared sooo much to meet the Sword God. And now it's all for nothing~
"There's nothing to be disappointed about. If he's come to the Empire, that simply means you have another chance."
─Do you really think he'll join us?
"If his purpose aligns with ours, certainly."
Caria Machelpid.
Once her closest friend, and a founding hero of the Empire who had helped forge it as one of the great Eight Swords.
There had been no one more dependable; she could have fought at her side, entrusting her back to her without a second thought.
No matter what hardship arose, if Caria was with her, she had never once been afraid.
But that was no longer true.
─The Grand Duke of Extreme Magic must be sooo sad. The Twin Moon Duke lost his weapon and stopped being the Twin Moon Duke altogether.
"A childish blunder. Of course, he'll be the one to pay the price for it."
─Hehe~ so then the only one left to the Grand Duke of Extreme Magic is the Duke of Battle Blood, right?
Nowadays, the two of them were on worse terms than strangers.
"The Duke of Battle Blood's strength is undeniable. He's also the talent Caria treasures most."
─Really? Still, our side is way better off…
"Leo."
Green hair laced with the breath of spirits fluttered in the breeze, and above it, a vast, distant presence made itself known.
The Wind Spirit King, contracted to Arne.
The moment the Spirit King's power linked with the lesser spirits below it, the effects rippled all the way to Leo, who stood far away.
─...!
"Leo is right that the balance of power has shifted. But achieving complete superiority is another matter entirely."
No matter how evenly matched the Spirit Deity Duke was with the Grand Duke of Extreme Magic.
No matter that her side held two of the Eight Swords against the Battle Blood Duke standing alone.
She still could not claim overwhelming dominance.
─...What do you mean by that…?
"The Grand Duke of Extreme Magic is a being who has reached the very pinnacle of magic. If she truly sets her mind to casting, having already surpassed the realm of the Archmage, there could be serious trouble."
For instance…
─But you could do that too, Lady Arne.
"True. It would cost me considerable effort, but yes."
With the power of the Fire Spirit King, she could set not just half but the entire Empire aflame — though it would demand an enormous price and immense strength.
But the Grand Duke of Extreme Magic, who had walked to the very end of the path of demonic sorcery, was different.
"Her power is dangerous. It is the power of one who abandoned reason and cast aside divine will. However foul the road she took to reach it, the heights she attained cannot be denied."
The Grand Duke of Extreme Magic had made her choice long ago.
Even she could not know where that choice would ultimately lead — but one thing was certain: she had made it, and in doing so, she had seized dominion over overwhelming demonic magic.
The price, however, was that her friendship with the Spirit Deity Duke — once her oldest companion — had shattered beyond repair.
"What Caria needs is an overwhelming gap. A gap so absolute that she'll be forced to admit she was wrong."
─Mmm... So that's why you want to bring in the Sword God? With him, the gap would grow even wider, right?
"Not necessarily the Sword God alone."
"...?"
Arne stretched her hand toward the sky.
A verdant bird that had been soaring high descended onto her palm.
The bird tilted its head briefly, then flew off toward somewhere distant.
"The Sword God heading straight into the Empire means he's rejected both Caria's offer and mine. I anticipated as much, but... heh. It does sting a little."
─......
"Which is why we must keep another road open — if only to prepare for the day the Sword God turns against us."
─...Lily would never do that, though.
A denial that bordered on conviction.
Leo already knew a great deal about Lily, having watched her from up close.
The Lily Leo knew was absolutely not someone who would side with the Empire.
Perhaps, in the past, there might have been some sliver of hope — but not now.
Lily had already fought the Saintess Nea and Duke Hwangyeol alongside the Eight Swords, and had even stripped the Twin Moon Duke of his very weapon.
The Lily of today was practically the Empire's sworn mortal enemy.
And Lily herself seemed to hold nothing but hostility toward the Empire anyway.
Arne gave a faint smile and shook her head.
"She only needs to not be acting on the Empire's behalf."
─...Sorry, what?
"Send word that you're requesting a meeting — as the contractor of the Spirit King."
Not as an imperial Grand Duke, not as the Spirit Deity Duke of the Eight Swords.
─Would something like that actually work?
"It will."
Arne spoke with unshakable certainty, then turned her gaze upward.
The Wind Spirit King, who had appeared earlier, was quietly resting with his eyes closed.
Yet for all his stillness, something about him seemed oddly anxious — sweat beading on his brow.
Leo, of course, remained completely oblivious.
'...If it really is her, then why...?'
She was no outsider to this place.
The day after touring Yena's castle.
Yena had fully stocked up on defensive items and an assortment of buffs.
By all accounts, several of them carried effects with forced-hit mechanics like Guaranteed Strike, supposedly capable of blocking nearly any offensive power thrown at them.
Rumor had it that installing everything had cost her close to ten million won.
'The efficiency is definitely there, I'll admit...'
The random rabble wouldn't even manage to scratch these defenses before turning on their heels.
But for some reason, I had a feeling they'd be utterly useless against the rankers inside the top 100.
Yena herself had been pacing around her own castle walls like she was strolling through her backyard, and that was without any protection system active yet.
Incidentally, Yena had proposed that we fight the siege together.
I had no guild. I was no castle lord.
Realistically, the only way for me to join a siege was as a 'mercenary.'
Unless I intended to claim a castle right this moment, I would have to attach myself to someone — as a member or a hired blade.
Which was why, on top of Yena's offer, proposals were already pouring in from countless guilds that owned castles.
They weren't asking me to join their guild — just, please, come fight as a mercenary.
The moment I joined, even the weakest guild would be reborn as the most fearsome title contender in the entire event.
Some people were even offering to simply hand over their castle outright.
'My managers must be having a rough time.'
They already received over a thousand emails a day as it was, and with the siege coming up, the flood would only rise — sifting through all that would be another headache entirely.
I ought to give them a bonus before long.
"Hmm..."
In any case, I had put off Yena's offer for now.
The reason was nothing special.
'I want my schoolyard bully show, just a little of it.'
Given the nature of Yena and the -Ye- Guild, we wouldn't be attacking Vlack's 'Black Moon,' a top-tier guild, or the Angel Guild's 'Eden Federation.'
Unlike the Mock Siege Battle, where both sides had faced each other with exactly matched numbers, a regular siege began with combat personnel and balance already skewed.
The -Ye- Guild's population was more than three times smaller than Black Moon's.
And as for the Eden Federation — it was a federation in the truest sense, so comparing headcounts was meaningless.
No matter how strong Yena was alone, no one could beat an army single-handedly.
'And Yena is no Leo.'
Besides, the Eden Federation held the north. Black Moon sat at the far western edge, while Yena's guild was in the south.
With that much distance between them, the odds of them attacking each other were practically nil.
Any of the other famous top-tier guilds would be a hard target to justify attacking as well.
And it wasn't as if I could just show up anywhere and conquer whatever I pleased.
Viewers might find it entertaining to watch me massacre everything in sight, but that wasn't really my style.
"...Come to think of it, the Empire does have quite a lot of castles, doe—"
Ring.
The sound of a Discord call cutting through my idle thoughts.
Had I been sitting in a call room this whole time?
"?"
"Somehow I doubt it's as huge as you claim, again."
It was the same "huge, huge" song and dance every single day.
White Autumn vehemently denied this and dropped a single video into the Discord room.
An Ogre splitting cleanly in two...
"...Don't tell me. Is that the Sword God?"
"The Sword God went to the Empire?"
At this point in time?
White Autumn answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"......"
So he had chosen to reveal himself with barely a week left before the siege.
It could simply be a casual return from hiatus, but something about the situation felt off.
The Empire had postured as though it were about to go to war before the Sgaredo hunt, and had sent Leo, the Eight Swords, and its main fighting force up to the Snowy Mountain.
'And the Twin Moon Duke lost his weapon. They did capture Sgaredo, but it bought them remarkably little.'
Something was bound to erupt once the affair ended — and yet the Empire had withdrawn without lifting a finger, exactly as promised.
Far too passive a movement for the victor of the continent.
But what if that hadn't been the case at all?
What if luring the Sword God back had been the goal from the very beginning?
'Leo. The Sword God. And the siege.'
The pieces clicked into place with an almost audible snap.
I pulled up the DeoEn message that had turned my suspicion into certainty.
It had been nagging at the back of my mind for a while now...
Leo
▶ Wanna come smash castles with me?!
Just how many hours of playtime had gone into writing that?
I'm really curious.