Chapter 149
Chapter 149
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: Graveside Chat
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“The weather’s nice. It’s the kind of day you just want to lie down and let your mind go blank.”
Ardhen said.
“What brings this on?”
Lander looked at his friend and asked.
“What brings it on? I came to visit our dead friends. Say hi while you’re here. That grave back there is Hus’s, my friend. What a boring guy he was.”
“Yeah?”
“You should’ve met him. He was so serious about everything, never cracked a joke. Being around him wore you out fast.”
“I wouldn’t have been that bad.”
“What are you talking about? You’re Lander, and the guy who dropped dead back there is Hus.”
Ardhen took off his hat and chuckled.
He ran his fingers through his flattened reddish-brown hair, shaking it vigorously. The chief chamberlain would have said, “Your Majesty, you mustn’t do that.”
“It’ll heat up soon. Blink and it’ll be May, and summer won’t be far behind.”
“You’re right.”
A butterfly fluttered over. It landed on the gravestone and folded its wings.
Ardhen moved carefully. He tried to snatch the butterfly, but it slipped through his fingers.
“Guess this takes skill too. Naria could’ve caught it with her eyes closed. Frogs, bugs—anything that caught her eye got grabbed.”
“You were horrified at first when you saw that.”
“You’re one to talk. You flinched when Naria grabbed a snake barehanded.”
“I was surprised, yeah. I never expected it.”
“After she caught it, she held it out to you and me, saying it felt cool. Man, even thinking about it now, that girl was something else.”
“Your Majesty, that language is unbecoming. You should use more refined words.”
Lander said with a smile.
“Sorry about that, Commander. I wasn’t educated much, so my vocabulary’s a real mess.”
“Is that so?”
“Indeed.”
Ardhen pulled a walnut pie from the basket. He cut it in half and put one piece back in the basket, then split the remaining half again.
“We’ll give half to the big eater Naria, and split the rest between us.”
Lander took the offered pie and popped it in his mouth. It was Naria’s favorite food, and one she made well.
“You can take some.”
Children who had been peeking from afar came running up eagerly. They glanced around before pulling food and clothes from the basket.
“Just one each. You know what happens if you get greedy with offerings to the dead? Horns grow on your head.”
Ardhen said with a stern face. The children laughed merrily as they left.
“We offer clothes and food at the graves of the dead, and the living take them away. A few years ago, I couldn’t wrap my head around the custom. Seemed pointless. But after sending you all off, here I am doing it myself.”
“She’d be happy. That you came and didn’t forget.”
Lander shoved the rest of the pie in his mouth.
“Where’s Tain?”
“Guarding the temporary residence. If he moves too, my travel route gets exposed.”
“Tain let you come? He’s not the type to allow you wandering alone without guards.”
“He threw a fit when I first brought it up. ‘Your Majesty, you can’t. I’ll go with you. I’ll stay out of sight…’ Luckily, when I said I was going with you, he shut up. Seems he trusts you more than me.”
How unfair, Ardhen muttered.
“With the state of things, you should have protection. Even the Holy City isn’t safe anymore.”
“When was it ever? Since my days as a prince, there’s always been a blade at my throat. Can’t get rid of it. Have to live with it like jewelry.”
Ardhen waved his hand dismissively. Ants, drawn by the sweet smell, were gathering around the basket.
“They must want my head. Nobles and citizens alike—they think now’s their chance.”
“Sounds pretty bad.”
“It is. No matter how you slice it, the empire runs on its citizens. Suppressing them by class and denying education has its limits. They’ll realize soon enough. Numbers are what matter in the end.”
“And someone who knows that taught citizens to read for free?”
“Skilled labor is necessary and inevitable. I just wanted to speed it up. You know my goal is the empire’s growth.”
The young emperor crushed a cookie in his hand and scattered crumbs to the ants. The ones charging toward the basket changed course.
“Aleng wasn’t wrong. Rebellion will come someday. All the intellectuals know it.”
“Tell me more.”
Lander listened closely to his friend’s voice.
“The empire grew by monopolizing knowledge and power. As long as we hold those, a few can rule the many. But things are changing. I loosened knowledge a bit, but power… now people are gaining it on their own.”
“More people awaken to mana than in the past.”
“The researchers say it’ll explode at some point. Systematic learning through Schola will lose value. As more citizens handle mana, we lose control.”
The emperor looked down at his hands as he spoke.
“Think about it. Armies become pointless if mages who can face masses are everywhere. When individuals beat groups, giant nations are just names. The strong might ally to keep the current form, but cities splitting off is more likely.”
“The way of life stays the same, even if forms change.”
“Yeah. The common folk’s lives won’t shift. A new ruler doesn’t change a farmer’s work. Taxes might vary a bit, but harvest time won’t suddenly be winter.”
“You sound scared.”
Lander turned his head slightly to look at Ardhen’s face.
Ardhen, who had been watching the ants, nodded soon after.
“How many people are truly detached from power?”
Ardhen glanced at Lander and shook his head.
“Saying it out loud, here’s an exception right next to me. Let’s leave you out. Dragging you into normal logic gives me a headache.”
“I have ambitions too.”
“If a guy who gave it all up and left the Holy City says that, should I laugh or cry?”
“I’d like to see you cry once.”
Lander said honestly. His friend hadn’t shed a tear reading the late emperor’s will. At Naria’s funeral, he’d only comforted the exhausted man, showing no tears himself.
“I always wonder. How much are my tears worth? Thinking that, I can’t show them. If I reveal a human, emotional side, it’s likely a loss for the imperial family. So… I bury my face in the pillow alone in my empty bedroom and bawl.”
“Not a pretty sight, I bet.”
“Your jokes have bite.”
“If that’s how it sounded.”
Lander laughed out loud. It felt like old times.
“Seeing you laugh is nice. Anyway, like you said, I’m terrified. More than fighting my brothers for power. Back then, I was sure the citizens would back me once I took the throne. But now? They want my head.”
“Not the absolute majority joined the protests.”
“Everything’s hard at the start. It’ll spread like wildfire on dry grass. Maybe one day my head’s on the block.”
“If you foresee that… why not step down now?”
Lander said, eyeing the ants gathering at the basket again. Even cookie crumbs couldn’t stop their march.
“I know, but I can’t let go. Born to the imperial family, raised by it, became its head. I’ve talked fusion with citizens endlessly, but my world is the imperial family. I don’t have the courage to leave the cage. If it’s chaos outside, I lock it tighter and burrow in.”
“Jun-gong said it. Excessive self-deprecation in self-objectification is scarier than any poison.”
“Always assume the worst and move. That’s what you taught me.”
Ardhen didn’t stop the ants. They climbed the basket and clung to the food.
“I’ll struggle to the end. No laying my head nicely on the citizens’ altar. Even if it’s just or proper societal evolution, I’ll resist. Historians will write: The ugly, pathetic end of a lacking emperor.”
“You’re saying this much, so you’ve detected organized movement.”
“Can’t tell if it’s what Gilliud wanted or natural flow, but it’s precarious.”
“What’s your plan?”
Ardhen was silent for a long time. A wind-tossed leaf bumped the basket and fell to the ground. His friend’s mouth opened.
“If they put a blade to me, I won’t sit idle.”
Ardhen grinned and continued.
“Won’t ask for help, so don’t worry. Focus on your work. No place for you in this petty power game.”
“If you’re cornered, tell me. I don’t want to see your head on the block.”
“I’ll think about it. I’ll resist, but if the times demand it, I’ll have to yield eventually.”
“I’ll tell Tain. To get your charge out safely.”
The Holy City had changed. Citizens, organized as Aleng wished, were starting to move.
The imperial family would now pour all efforts into facing the masses, not just Gilliud the individual.
“I’ll handle my own affairs, so you focus on yours.”
He told the emperor.
“This involves you and Naria. That makes it my business too.”
Ardhen’s expression hardened as he spoke.
“Trunble, right? Useful intel came up. Official report’s this afternoon, so drop by Kea if you have time.”
“I will.”
“And remember the orc tribe shaman? The one who visited the Holy City while you studied under Jun-gong.”
“Vaguely. Saw him from afar, so no clear impression.”
“He’s coming back to the Holy City. Might get useful info for the Great Guide. That shaman sees the future too.”
“Didn’t he give you a prophecy?”
Lander said, recalling the time.
“Said something interesting. Advised not to speak it aloud, so I’ve kept quiet.”
“Did it come true?”
“Who knows. Still some time left.”
“Your face says it’s not a good one.”
“Hearing future events isn’t pleasant.”
Ardhen put on his hat and stood.
“I’ll head out first. Stay longer and the chief chamberlain will chew me out.”
“Want company?”
“I’m not a kid. Stay with Naria longer. She’d be sad if you left so soon after coming.”
Ardhen turned to leave, then added just before going.
“One more thing. Kalligo says the traitor confessed.”
“From the Surveillance Unit?”
“Yeah. Says he can’t trust the Foreseer, wants to join us. Even great prophets can’t read hearts.”
Ardhen waved as he left the graveyard. Lander stayed by his wife’s grave until sunset, then rose.
(To be continued)