The Road to the Capital
The Baller County, located in the southwestern part of the Espada Kingdom.
In a lavish reception room within the lord's castle, two nobles sat facing each other, enjoying teatime.
One was Count Baller, wearing a uniform embroidered with extravagant gold thread, his greasy gray hair slicked back.
Proud of his protruding belly, he sank deep into the spring sofa Ian had invented, stroking his mustache with a satisfied smile.
The man sitting across from him was Baron Monte, completely bald on top with a frame so gaunt he looked like skin and bones.
"Haaah... This thing really is magnificent. It feels like my ass is floating on a cloud."
"I couldn't agree more, Count. Hehehe..."
Baron Monte giggled, holding his teacup with his fingers as he chimed in.
"And that's not all, is it? Thanks to the farming tools distributed throughout the territory, efficiency has doubled. With fewer serfs starving to death, the taxes we collect have swelled enormously."
"Haha! Isn't it ironic? Thanks to the things the Third Prince handed out for the people, we've instead gained the massive funds and time to strike at the center."
At Count Baller's words, the two nobles sitting across from each other in the reception room burst into laughter simultaneously.
In the past, managing their territories had made every day a struggle.
But now that Ian's inventions had made managing their territories so easy...
...paradoxically, a lust for power began to sprout in their minds.
"Speaking of which, have you heard the news about the Commoners' Council in the capital?"
At Count Baller's question, Baron Monte grinned slyly and opened his mouth.
"Hehe. Everything is going very smoothly, Count. No matter how much the commoners praise the royal family, the leadership of the Commoners' Council has long since been tamed by money and women."
"Hahaha! Right. In the end, there's nothing money and women can't fix."
Count Baller slapped his knee in satisfaction.
They weren't satisfied with just the increased taxes from Ian's creations.
The increased taxes soon led to an increase in the nobles' private armies.
New methods for squeezing the serfs were devised.
"That proposal of yours last time, about raising the stall fees and tolls, has been quite lucrative too."
"You flatter me. After all, it's thanks to the goods Prince Ian distributed that they can even make a living now. It's only right that they give more back to us in return."
"Haha! That's true. You have a way with words!"
Count Baller, who had greatly benefited from the increased stall fees and tolls, was in a good mood.
"By the way, Count. The commoners have petitioned for a monster subjugation again. They say monsters have appeared in the fields and are causing chaos."
"Troublesome bastards."
Count Baller opened his mouth as if annoyed.
"The private soldiers we hired must firmly guard the lord's castle for the upcoming undertaking. We can't waste our strength just to protect a few measly fields. Tell them to handle it themselves. Say we'll punish those who fail to protect their land, and they'll risk their lives to do it themselves again this time."
"Understood."
The two men leisurely drank their tea.
Their demeanor showed they couldn't care less about what happened to the serfs.
"The matter in the capital is proceeding without a hitch, I trust?"
"Of course. The man we planted in the Commoners' Council has reported that the protest preparations are complete. A large-scale protest will likely take place in a week, just as planned."
"Good. Very good."
They planned to use the Commoners' Council to incite the commoners.
After all, commoners with low levels of education were vulnerable to incitement.
"But, Count. What do you make of the rumors that Prince Ian has recaptured Karon and is returning to the capital?"
"Hmph. The Imperial army probably just withdrew on its own due to internal power struggles. Even if that rumored weapon exists, do you really believe a bunch of conscripts could have defeated the Empire's elite knight orders?"
"Well, yes. It defies common sense."
"What can that brat do even if he returns to the capital?"
Count Baller opened his mouth, imagining the future.
"Soon, the kingdom will belong to us nobles. If Prince Ian comes crawling back to the capital and prostrates himself at my feet, I might be generous enough to hire him as the exclusive sofa repairman for the lord's castle! Hahahaha!"
"Hehehehe."
The laughter of the two nobles filled the reception room.
Inside the carriage heading to the capital.
'Come to think of it, this never happened in the original novel.'
I was lying on Elisa's lap, my eyes closed, lost in thought.
'Could it be because of me?'
In the original novel, the Espada Kingdom was a pushover nation with nothing but money, pushed around by the Empire until the very end.
That's why the local nobles were probably too busy being squeezed for money by the Empire's outrageous demands to have any leisure for other thoughts.
But was it my inventions, made for my own comfortable life, that were the problem?
Managing territories became too easy, and surplus products started appearing. Even after being extorted by the Empire, they had money and time left over.
'...In the end, it's because their bellies are full and their backs are warm that they started getting other ideas.'
Those bastards who couldn't do anything in the original because they were busy sucking up to the Empire.
Now that they're comfortable thanks to me, they dare to try and devour the royal family?
Biting the hand that feeds you, huh. There's a limit to ingratitude.
'Tch.'
Anyway, I'll be crushing those nobles soon enough, so let's stop thinking about them.
'The Magic Kingdom is still quiet.'
My thoughts naturally drifted to the Magic Kingdom.
The Magic Kingdom is a nation bordering the western side of the Karon Territory.
'The reason my weapons could sweep the battlefield so easily is, in a way, thanks to the Magic Kingdom.'
More precisely, it was thanks to the King of the Magic Kingdom, the Archmage Asterion, who was the fourth male lead of this romance fantasy novel.
Currently, all transcendent powers on the continent, like Sword Masters or Archmages, cannot recklessly intervene in full-scale wars between nations.
To explain why, we have to go back twenty years to when the Empire waged its conquest wars, trying to swallow the entire continent.
During the conquest wars, transcendents like Sword Masters and Archmages existed only in the Empire.
Before the Empire, which possessed such military force, no nation could even put up proper resistance and collapsed helplessly.
The Empire's momentum grew without end, and there came a time when even the Magic Kingdom was on the verge of being swallowed up.
Asterion, who had just reached the level of Archmage at the time, had to make a decision to protect the Magic Kingdom from the Empire's endless invasion.
In the end, he made his decision and dropped a meteor right in the middle of the northern part of the Empire.
The moment the meteor completely erased a mountain range in the north...
...a massive monster habitat that had been blocked by it was breached.
As a result, an unprecedented Monster Migration swept across the entire northern part of the Empire.
Due to the Monster Migration, the Empire faced a crisis of total annihilation if they didn't immediately stop the hordes of monsters pouring down from the north.
In the end, the Empire was forced to abandon the Magic Kingdom and retreat.
'After that, the strongest duke at the time was tasked with guarding the north.'
Currently, his son, Illian, as the Grand Duke of the North, was stopping the periodically occurring Monster Migrations.
Anyway.
When the conquest wars ended as the Empire diverted its forces to stop the monster hordes in the north...
...Asterion issued a warning to the entire continent.
"From now on, if any Master or Archmage directly intervenes in a war between nations, I will stake my life on erasing that nation from existence."
It was a statement that truly reminded me of the Mutual Assured Destruction doctrine from my previous life.
After that warning, all wars on the continent were reduced to battles between knights below the Master level and ordinary conscripts.
Those called transcendents—Roxanna of our kingdom, the Imperial Crown Prince, the Grand Duke of the North, and others—cannot recklessly intervene in wars and are tied down in one place, guarding key strategic points.
It was while I was thinking about the Magic Kingdom like this.
Poke, poke.
Feeling a poking sensation on my cheek, I slowly opened my eyes.
The first thing that came into my view was a chest.
No.
It was Elisa's face, quietly looking down at me.
She was looking at me as if she had something to say, her lips moving.
"..."
She seems to be saying something to me earnestly...
'Ah, right. The helmet.'
I sat up and slowly took off the noise-canceling helmet I was wearing.
Immediately, the noise from outside came rushing in like a flood.
BWEEEEEEEEK!!
KIIIYAAAAAAAH!
"Ugh, so loud. Sorry, Elisa. I couldn't hear you with this on. What did you just say?"
"The sun is setting. There is still a considerable distance left to the capital, so it would be best to set up camp here for the day."
At her words, I checked outside the window and saw the sky was tinged with red.
'It'll be night soon.'
No matter how fast the knights and Gorani are, managing our condition is important.
"Alright. If you see a suitable spot, tell Seria to stop and prepare to set up camp."
"Understood."
Saying so, Elisa opened the window of the moving carriage and gave a hand signal.
After confirming she was sending the signal, I pulled my helmet back down snugly over my head.
'Haaah... I can finally breathe.'
Feeling the silence, I looked out the window.
As Elisa raised her hand to send the signal, Seria, who was riding a Gorani at the front, nodded and then extended her arm towards the knight order to convey the signal to slow down.
'...Hand signals alone won't be enough, will they?'
We had established a few hand signals to solve the problem of not being able to hear when wearing the helmets.
But for complex communication, hand signals clearly had their limits.
'And we can't exactly have conversations using only hand signals while camping, either.'
I had thought about using mana to write letters in the air and communicate in writing...
'But doing that in the middle of a fight is a bit...'
It wasn't like I could take off my helmet every time I needed to talk.
'It would be great if I had something like a walkie-talkie or wireless earpiece from my past life.'
'...Can't I make something similar?'
Thinking about it, there was already a connection between me and the knights through the Oath of Mana.
'What if I convert the vibrations created by my voice into mana waves and send them out?'
'This is basically telepathy.'
Realizing the principle was sound, I immediately began testing it.
I opened my mouth and let out a sound.
"Elisa. Seria. Can you hear me? If you can, raise your hand once."
Then, I pulled up my mana and completely converted the vibrations of that voice into mana waves.
And I sent them straight towards their hearts, which were connected through the Oath of Mana.
The converted mana waves traveled along the line of the oath and flew precisely towards them.
And then.
"...!"
Elisa, who was sitting next to me, flinched in surprise and raised her hand.
Seria, who was riding a Gorani outside, also jumped in surprise and looked around before raising one hand high towards the carriage.
'It worked.'
One-way communication was a success.
But for a conversation, I needed not only to send but also a way to receive the other person's voice.
'Receiving should be possible too.'
After explaining the principle to them, I sent out mana waves once more.
[Both of you, try it like I just said.]
[My lord, can you hear my voice?]
[Master, can you hear me?]
'Success.'
However, it was still unstable, so long-distance communication was impossible.
Still, this was enough to convey intentions, so it should be fine.
And so, after two more days of travel, we finally arrived at the capital, Laver.
'Now it's time to crush the nobles.'