Chapter 103
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: The One Who Carries Magentano (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“The eastern border region swept up in a sea of fire? What on earth are you talking about?”
The king shot him a furrowed glare.
It must sound utterly absurd to her.
But now was not the time to quibble over such things.
Lloyd boldly cast his line.
“It is the truth, Your Majesty.”
“The truth?”
“Indeed.”
“Then let me ask you one thing. As far as I know, the east is currently at peace. No urgent dispatches have arrived, nor has any war broken out. Yet you insist on warning of danger in the east—what am I to make of this?”
“Please receive it as a prophecy of the calamity soon to unfold.”
“A prophecy? A calamity soon to unfold?”
“Indeed.”
The king had taken the bait.
The hook pierced the roof of her mouth.
Now it was time to reel in the line.
“I, Lloyd Frontera, dare to inform Your Majesty that within the next month, the entire Creemo region in the east will be reduced to ashes. Homes will burn, the people will die spilling their blood in vain, and all farmlands will be laid waste.”
“The entire Creemo region? Within a month?”
“Indeed, Your Majesty.”
Lloyd bowed his head.
Of course, what he had just said might not come true.
It might not happen at all.
It was possible that only Frontera Barony would be engulfed in the disaster, while the rest of Creemo remained unscathed.
But right now, he needed to inflate the incident to its maximum severity.
He had to draw the king’s attention, even if by exaggeration.
To secure even a modicum of support.
Had his bold gambit worked?
“Hmm. That seems unlikely.”
The king’s demeanor had grown far more serious than before.
She no longer tilted her head or furrowed her brow.
Instead, with a stern expression, she said,
“Have you perhaps had a nightmare? Oh, know that this is not meant to insult you.”
“I understand, Your Majesty.”
“Very well. But why do you make such an outlandish prophecy?”
“I do not find it outlandish.”
“Why? Creemo in the east is peaceful even today.”
“Not a month from now.”
“Hmm, a month from now. Are you wary of the Sultanate beyond the eastern mountains and wasteland?”
Sultanate?
Lloyd’s ears perked up.
King Alicia continued.
“Yes. Recently, the Sultanate has conducted large-scale military maneuvers along their western border—the one facing ours. I have taken note of it. However, no signs of it posing a threat to us have emerged yet.”
“Could they be preparing an invasion?”
“No.”
The king cut her words sharply.
She went on.
“According to intelligence, their maneuvers were confined within their own borders. Likely just routine large-scale training. Even if they intended a real invasion, the massive logistics buildup for a major expedition would have been spotted by our spies first. But no such movements have been detected. Moreover—”
She looked down at Lloyd.
“There are two major geographical barriers between the eastern Sultanate and our border. You know them well, do you not? The vast wasteland teeming with giant monsters, and the towering, treacherous eastern mountains that make moving armies a nightmare. So, the idea of the Sultanate attacking us through the east is simply absurd. The north, where our borders directly touch, would be another matter.”
She spoke with quiet conviction.
And King Alicia thought,
‘Lloyd Frontera. This time, you’ve misjudged.’
Indeed, Lloyd merely bowed his head.
He offered no rebuttal or counterargument.
Yet despite that, King Alicia gazed at him with a pleased look.
‘A mistake born of youthful vigor.’
He had shown considerable wit and hidden talents thus far.
He was the most desirable talent at present.
But he was young.
Full of hot blood.
That passion had likely overtaken him.
He must have heard some vague rumor somewhere and overinterpreted it before rushing to her.
‘Perhaps I should reassure him a bit.’
It was a mistake blending loyalty, vigor, and enthusiasm.
In such moments, one must embrace and cover the error.
Rather than crushing his drive, guide it toward better ends.
That was the true inclusiveness and leadership a ruler must show.
“Lloyd Frontera, raise your head.”
Lloyd slowly lifted his head.
But his eyes were a bit strange.
His pupils trembled.
He was deep in thought and calculation.
In truth, Lloyd’s mind was racing furiously.
Researching excuses to pull out next?
Or plotting a second cast of the line?
No.
It was because the few pieces of information he’d just heard from the king.
Had already revealed the cause of the impending catastrophe.
‘Crazy. This is it.’
The Sultanate’s large-scale military training in the east.
The wasteland filled with monsters.
The moment he heard those two facts, a certain event from the novel *Iron-Blooded Knight* flashed in his mind.
‘Monster Domino. Initial Strategy Preservation Doctrine.’
It was the innovative military doctrine the eastern Sultanate would unveil.
When?
Two and a half years from now.
Where?
While invading Magentano’s border through the north.
But the timing had been advanced.
The location changed.
To right now.
From north to east.
‘Why? How?’
He wondered at the Sultanate’s intentions.
The reasons for the shift in time and place were a mystery.
But no ready answers came to mind.
For now, though, he felt he needed to inform the king.
“Your Majesty, I have another matter to report.”
“Hmm, you still won’t back down from that claim?”
The king’s face showed embarrassment.
Her eyes said the discussion was over.
But no.
It wasn’t over.
This was just the beginning.
With that thought, Lloyd spoke.
“The large-scale military training of the Sultanate that Your Majesty just mentioned—that is what will bring a blood wind to our eastern Creemo region.”
“……What?”
“It is the truth, Your Majesty.”
“Hmm, the truth, you say. How can you state it so definitively? Their training within their own borders causing a blood wind on our side of the wasteland—how is that possible? I don’t understand.”
“It is entirely possible. It is a novel and unfamiliar military doctrine and strategy.”
“Explain in detail.”
The king’s expression hardened.
Lloyd wet his lips.
“It is a kind of butterfly effect, Your Majesty.”
“Butterfly effect?”
“Yes. It is a metaphor for how a butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the world can, through a chain of causation, spawn a typhoon on the other side of the ocean.”
“A fascinating concept. But you claim such a phenomenon will occur between the Sultanate and our east?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Not a typhoon, but a massive monster assault.”
“Monsters?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Elaborate.”
“As Your Majesty well knows, the eastern wasteland is home to countless monster hordes dwelling in their territories.”
“Indeed.”
“The Sultanate will exploit that. They will provoke and exterminate the monster hordes along their border. Forcing them to shift their habitats westward.”
“And then?”
“No matter how massive or powerful the monsters, they cannot withstand an army’s might. They will eventually relocate westward. That is the start of the Monster Domino.”
“Domino?”
“Yes. The initial monsters moving west. Those will threaten the habitats of other monsters to the west.”
“Like domino blocks toppling the next one, the forced relocation of monsters disrupts neighboring territories, causing a chain reaction westward toward us?”
“Precisely, Your Majesty. Thus, the Sultanate will continue their wasteland operations, steadily pressuring the monsters, and the fallout will engulf our eastern Creemo region.”
Much like the late Roman Empire’s history on Earth.
The Germanic tribes fleeing westward before the Huns.
Their great migration turning Rome’s borders to ruin.
Something similar would happen here in the east.
“Hmm.”
King Alicia’s eyes clouded in thought.
She asked,
“Then what do they gain?”
“Initial force preservation.”
He answered without hesitation.
“While our border lies in ruins from the Monster Domino, they suffer no combat losses and preserve their full strength. They can also gauge our resolve.”
“Gauge our resolve?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. If we fail to properly repel the monster hordes surging like dominoes, they will bare their fangs and invade.”
“And if we do repel them effectively?”
“Then they simply withdraw their forces.”
“Hmm…… I see. We couldn’t even complain. At that point, they wouldn’t have invaded us.”
“Exactly, Your Majesty. Even if we pointed it out, they would offer mere routine expressions of regret. They might even accuse us of interfering in their military training—turning the tables shamelessly.”
“Claiming interference in internal affairs?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“…….”
Alicia fell silent.
What Lloyd had just told her.
Pondering it, she found it logical.
If the Sultanate truly schemed this, the east could suffer severe damage.
Thus, she felt doubt.
“But where did you obtain this information?”
King Alicia’s gaze sharpened.
“What you’ve said is logically plausible. That very plausibility makes me curious. How exactly did you acquire intelligence our own spies couldn’t?”
She was genuinely curious.
And suspicious too.
Even assuming it all true.
It was information Magentano’s royal spies hadn’t uncovered.
Yet here was Lloyd Frontera, calmly reporting it and offering prophecy.
How could suspicion not arise?
But Lloyd’s face remained serene upon hearing her question.
No—his enigmatic eyes answered calmly.
“Friends in the eastern wasteland told me.”
“Friends in the wasteland? You don’t mean……?”
“Your guess is correct.”
“Orcs. The Iron Sand Tribe.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Of course, a blatant lie.
He’d never heard such a story from the Iron Sand Tribe.
But saying, “I know because I read the novel *Iron-Blooded Knight*,” would get him dismissed as a madman.
So he lied all the more calmly.
“As Your Majesty knows well, Frontera Barony has forged a blood alliance with the Iron Sand Tribe, and we maintain frequent exchanges since. Those exchanges include news from across the wasteland.”
“Hmm. So the orcs learned of the Sultanate’s new strategic doctrine and informed you, their blood ally?”
“Yes.”
“And the basis for it executing within a month?”
“My intuition.”
“Intuition?”
“Yes.”
Lloyd raised his head.
He met the king’s eyes directly.
Infusing his gaze with conviction.
“There has recently been an unseemly assassination attempt on Your Majesty. The capital fell into temporary chaos, and some local lords must harbor the slightest doubt about Your Majesty’s authority.”
“……Thus, the Sultanate won’t miss this turbulent moment?”
“Precisely, Your Majesty.”
Lloyd bowed deeply.
“Our long-time enemy. They surely have spies embedded in our royal court. They couldn’t be ignorant of this recent unseemly incident.”
“Hmm. So I should trust your word?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“But it’s mere speculation—no hard evidence. Are you asking me to mobilize forces based solely on a hunch?”
“You must believe, Your Majesty.”
“And if I do? What will you give me in return?”
“I will proclaim far and wide that Your Majesty alone foresaw and prepared for all the threats approaching this time.”
“You’ll cede all credit for this to me?”
“Yes.”
“And if your predicted crisis doesn’t occur?”
“Then punish me severely.”
“Ha.”
Alicia laughed in disbelief.
But her eyes weren’t smiling.
She meticulously calculated Lloyd’s information and its veracity.
The gains and losses of heeding his prophecy.
Lloyd waited, head bowed.
He had cast all his bait now.
Sweet bait the king could hardly refuse.
‘At least, she loses nothing by following my prophecy.’
The regicide attempt.
It would inject fresh wind into the unsettled politics. Quell chaos and unrest in one stroke, while redirecting domestic and foreign attention to the east.
A complete win for the king.
‘And absolutely necessary for me.’
He had to save his territory.
The physical crisis looming after the financial one.
He needed to protect his honey pot from it.
For that, the king’s support was essential.
Better to race back to the barony with her hundreds or thousands of troops than just him and Haviel charging ahead.
That was why.
He hadn’t rushed blindly back to the barony.
He came to the king first.
Opened bold negotiations.
‘Come on, say yes. Your Majesty. Sis. Please!’
Lloyd awaited the king’s decision.
Lips gnawed in fervent prayer.
It was then.
Ding-dong.
[Your earnest wish awakens a specific praise you possess.]
[Praise, [The One Who Carries Magentano], begins exerting strong influence on King Alicia.]