Chapter 72
Chapter 72
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Things That Happened on the Coronation Day.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As the sun rose in the morning, I woke up to some inexplicable bustle.
Outside the door, I could hear the constant sound of footsteps and the chatter of maids. Even pulling the blanket over my head didn't block out the noise.
My long-awaited rest was being ruined.
But I couldn't scold them to keep it down. Today was the day of Padillah's coronation. The Tohu Palace was in a frenzy preparing for it, too busy to even catch their breath.
Unable to stand it any longer, I threw on some clothes and stepped outside. Looked like I'd have to head out for breakfast.
"Huh?"
When I stepped into the corridor, I spotted Najir and Bayan passing by while bickering with each other. They still seemed on bad terms, but they were always stuck together like that.
The moment they saw me, Najir and Bayan rushed over with their capes billowing and greeted me.
"Master. You're up?"
"Yeah. Where are you two headed?"
"To inspect the troops. We're set to depart for Jores Island the day after tomorrow."
They were still working hard. I nodded approvingly.
"Do well out there. Contact me if anything tough comes up."
"Yes, sir."
"And make sure to get double pay. No portal tower on Jores Island yet, so it'll be a long haul."
Najir and Bayan laughed heartily.
"Got it."
"Alright, off you go."
"Yes, sir. We'll come see you before we leave."
"Sure. Come by."
I glanced at Najir and Bayan as they departed. For their role in this war, they'd earn a fifth-class tohu title—equivalent to a baron on the continent.
It was a low rank for the heroes of victory, but considering they'd once been on the brink of falling to commoner status, it was quite the promotion. Plus, they still had chances for greater feats: developing Jores Island and clearing out the swarming monsters there.
If they succeeded, they could rise to third- or fourth-class tohu.
I scratched my butt as I walked down the corridor.
Just then, an elderly noble approached me with a moved expression, took the hand I'd just been scratching with, and politely kissed the back of it.
"It's an honor to meet the Holy Hero."
I grimaced and pulled my hand away.
"Holy Hero?"
"Yes. Didn't you achieve a great victory under the blessing of the Grand Saintess of Yin-Yang last time?"
"It wasn't quite a blessing."
"This old man was moved by your heroic tale. Truly, the gods are great and holy. It's reaffirmed my faith. Thank you."
The old man was part of the envoy from my homeland, the Yosrahim Empire. A Viscount Taiben, he introduced himself as a devout believer in the Yin-Yang faith.
I scratched my head awkwardly and smiled sheepishly. The name rang a bell, but I couldn't place it.
"Ah, yeah?"
"When you meet the Grand Saintess of Yin-Yang, please ask her to pray for me. I've been at odds with a powerful politician in the empire lately—it's like sitting on pins and needles every day."
"Got it. Off you go."
"Yes. Please, I beg you."
I shook off the bothersome old noble and headed outside.
The spring air had arrived swiftly, and the garden flowers were in full bloom. The sky was clear as always, and a gentle spring breeze blew refreshingly from somewhere.
The one flaw was the cozy couple strolling down the garden path.
A middle-aged man and a blooming beauty in her prime. They made an odd pair, yet they walked so affectionately.
The middle-aged man spotted me and hurried over with his companion.
"Master. Fancy meeting you here."
It was Akham. I'd heard he was marrying the former Braam Tohu's daughter soon—this must be her.
"Oh. Commander Akham. And the lady beside you... is she?"
"Yes. Anisha, say hello. This is my liege."
"It's an honor. I'm Anisha."
Anisha greeted me politely. I looked her over and jabbed Akham in the side.
"Lucky bastard."
"Thank you."
Akham laughed heartily.
I eyed him enviously. Not long ago, I'd advised him to take a promising coastal city plot, but he'd refused and made a terribly uncalculated choice.
"Why'd you go for Braam, though? You'll get cut off from international trade if you stay there too long."
"It's my hometown. And my wife's, too."
"You changed it to Holy Capital Braam, right?"
"Yes. I wanted to keep the name of my homeland. It's also to honor the previous tohu who passed unjustly."
"Doesn't matter. Anyway, work hard. Braam's the front line against the Bastain Kingdom's army, so the central government will support you well."
"Yes, sir."
"Alright, carry on."
I left the couple to their date without interrupting. As I neared the main gate, I saw Kasim rushing into the palace grounds.
He yelled the moment he spotted me.
"Master! It hasn't started yet, right?"
"What?"
"The coronation."
"You're just getting here now?"
"Ran into a storm the day after tomorrow on the way. Haha!"
Kasim's attire was luxurious but caked in dust—he looked filthy as usual.
"Relax. Still plenty of time."
"Phew, good."
"Go wash up and change. Can't go to the coronation like that."
"Yes, sir."
As Kasim turned to hurry off, I called him back.
"Hey, Kasim?"
"Yes?"
"Heard you're forming a privateer fleet. For real?"
Privateers were state-sanctioned pirates. Fitting new gig for a former Great Desert bandit chief.
"Hahaha. Yeah."
"A tohu playing pirate? Have some dignity."
"But don't we need privateers to protect sea trade routes?"
"Sure, but it'd run at a loss right now. Won't turn profit for a while."
"No problem. Catching sea monsters pays big these days. Essence prices have skyrocketed. Hahaha."
Essence prices were surging worldwide. Once a mage exclusive, with magic guns and mana shell launchers getting reevaluated, it had become a key military resource.
Continental nations were buying in bulk at state levels, driving prices sky-high.
"For sea monsters, try harpoon guns."
"Harpoon guns?"
"Weak magic guns that fire harpoons. Weapon lab's developing them—pick some up later."
Originally, harpoon guns were used atop walls in the Age of Ruin to drag monster corpses from outside for chaos piece extraction, essence material.
They worked great for sea monsters too.
"Got it."
"Alright, good luck."
"Yep."
I watched Kasim go with a subtle gaze.
The guy's always a riot, with sharp business sense. That's how he led the Great Desert Bandits, and he'd do well as a tohu too.
Never seen a profit-savvy, good-natured guy fail. Even if they slip, their underlings cover it.
'Huh?'
Exiting the gate into the mansion district, I spotted a food cart set up by a manor wall.
It was Old Man Genbe's cart.
Padillah offered him a castle, yet he refused and scraped by like this. Well, hard for an orc to serve a human lord.
Talk about stubborn.
Even on a busy day, opening a cart in a fancy mansion district? Lucky he hadn't been chased off. Probably no surprise—the warriors of Kara wouldn't oust Genbe, and the manor owner likely shrugged it off.
'What's up with that orc crowd?'
Another customer: the newly minted duke, the bald old geezer. He'd led the Bastain Kingdom's envoy to Kara recently and had been thick as thieves with Old Man Genbe.
I approached the cart and sat beside Duke Fabius. Old Man Genbe greeted me.
"Human's here?"
"Yeah. Cart this early?"
"This damn old human won't leave."
Genbe looked exhausted—probably open all night. I scolded Duke Fabius.
"Hey, gramps. Think about your health. Not some twenty-year-old—how'll you pull an all-nighter?"
A bit tipsy, Duke Fabius raised his glass high.
"I ain't dead yet."
"You ain't, but wanna stay that way? Sleep. Coronation later—gonna pass out there?"
"Mm. Dignity of a great nation—I can't."
"Then go sleep."
Duke Fabius pulled a gold coin from his pocket and placed it on the table.
"See ya. Catch you at the evening banquet."
"Yeah. Sleep well."
As Duke Fabius turned to leave, he paused and eyed me slyly.
"By the way. White Mask?"
"Yeah?"
"Captured Count Boris recently. Spouted weird shit."
Count Boris was the pawn I'd used briefly to kill Lobros' king—the only one who knew the full rebellion plot.
I put on my most innocent face.
"What'd he say?"
"Said everyone got fooled by you. That you made the hit list that fell to us, set everything up so we'd have to rebel. What's that about?"
I waved it off.
"Pfft, trying to pin it all on me to save his skin. Desperate men say anything."
"Sure, but even Bastain's king thinks you played him."
"Just his inferiority complex. How's a rough sword-slinger like me pulling that off?"
Old Man Genbe chimed in.
"This punk could do it a hundred times over. I know—I got burned."
"Argh, seriously! Pops!"
Duke Fabius narrowed his eyes at me.
"You really pull strings?"
"No way. Honestly, what's in it for me if Lobros falls? I'm a free agent. Took the war gig to eat, sure—but just make Bastain retreat. Why topple their dynasty? No gain for me."
"But Kara got to stably found a kingdom out of it."
"Yeah, hard to argue that. But I'm innocent. Look at these big innocent eyes, this honest face. Look like a schemer?"
"Yup."
"Argh! Seriously, no! That Count Boris is the liar. Sly bastard. No proof, just blabbing."
Duke Fabius nodded slowly.
He still seemed suspicious deep down, but he had no choice but to buy it.
If I'd schemed it, it'd undermine Bastain Kingdom's legitimacy big time. From their view, Boris' words had to be false, true or not.
"Fair enough. I'll head in."
"Yeah. Take care."
Once Duke Fabius left, Old Man Genbe started packing dishes and knives. Looked like closing up.
"You heading out too, Pops?"
"Yeah. Business hours over."
"What about my food?"
"Come next time. Why feed a freeloader past hours?"
I picked up the gold coin on the table.
"What? I got money."
"That's the old man's coin."
"His money's my money, and my money's mine."
Old Man Genbe snatched it from my hand.
"Whatever. Gotta crash before the coronation too."
"Fine. Can't be helped."
I let Old Man Genbe go reluctantly. Looked like he'd be background filler—his haggard face wouldn't look good.
The coronation was grandly held with all the ministers and envoys from various nations in attendance.
As Shura placed the crown on Padillah's head, every attendee offered congratulations, and cheers erupted across Kara's city center from the common folk.
It was the moment Kara, once a mere city-state, was reborn as a kingdom.
Rajal kept wiping tears, overjoyed, while Udin, unable to hide his emotions, slipped away somewhere.
Shura and I, serving as background from the rear, finally got a break and stepped down from the dais for a sip of banquet wine. The long ceremony had left my throat parched.
"Little bro. Went well, right?"
"Guess so."
"Why? Some problem?"
I shrugged.
"Early kingdom days are tough. Rebellions could pop up unexpectedly, and we gotta set diplomatic ties."
"Rebellion? With you here?"
"True, but diplomacy's tricky."
"How?"
"Small nations got no neutrality. Kara's gotta pick a side eventually—and it's a headache. Side with Empire Yosrahim, and neighbor Bastain Kingdom's pissed. Side with Bastain, and we're global outcasts."
"Shura helping won't fix it?"
I nodded.
"Sure, her stepping in reins in Yosrahim. Their conservatives melt at her word. But Padillah's gotta handle her part well too."
"Yeah, she's queen now."
"Yep."
Shura, mobbed by the crowd, excused herself and approached us—using us as an escape, probably.
"Master. Teacher."
"Yeah. Come here. Tough, huh?"
"No."
I glanced at the crowd still fixated on Shura.
"What're the stalker kids saying? Seemed like they were chatting nonstop."
"Blessings, mostly."
"Yeah? Anything else?"
"Oh, got an invite. Prosia's Day soon, right?"
"Oh, yeah."
"They want me at Divinum Temple then."
Armida Sis gasped, clutching her hair and slumping down.
"Right! The report!"
I looked down at her.
"What report?"
"Finding the runaway friend. Gotta report progress at Divinum Temple every Prosia Day."
"Just do it."
"Got nothing to report!"
I clicked my tongue. Armida Sis looked like a kid facing school after blowing off vacation homework. No wonder—with all her playing around.
Shura smirked and eyed me slyly.
"Master. Speaking of, next week marks exactly a year since we met. Right before Prosia Day, yeah?"
Shura remembered everything. Suddenly, my eyes rolled back. An odd unease hit me.
"A year?"
"Yes."
Counting days on my fingers, I paled and slumped beside Armida Sis, tearing at my hair. Yesterday had been exactly one year since reincarnating.
"Fuck! Already a whole year?!"
"Master, what's wrong?"
"Only seven years left!"
Seven years till the Age of Ruin. Hadn't even enjoyed life much, and a year was gone.
Like a kid dreading school tomorrow? If I could see Time, I'd cleave it with Yojjo right now.
[Things That Happened on the Coronation Day.] End