Chapter 260
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 260
Chapter Title: The Fallen King's Grisly End
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Bata's capital was abuzz with festive clamor, but not everyone could simply revel in it.
They were the ones tasked with trying the nobles and royals of Coral who had been taken prisoner in this war.
A great many, including the King of Coral himself, were currently locked away in this underground dungeon.
The King of Coral, slumped powerlessly with his hair in disarray, slowly raised his head at the sound of footsteps echoing through the quiet silence.
Even Radon, his last glimmer of hope, had shown no response.
Before the total mobilization order could even be issued, the walls had been shattered by some colossal entity and collapsed entirely.
How could such a thing be possible?
That thought alone filled his mind.
His kingdom had fallen overnight.
Objectively speaking, or even subjectively, there had been no reason for Coral to lose the war against Bata.
Least of all in such a short span of time.
It was all because of that damned wildcard.
Leon Cascadia.
If only that bastard hadn't existed, they wouldn't have ended up in such a pathetic state.
Thud… thud…
At the faint sound of footsteps reaching his ears, his gaze shifted.
"You…"
The King of Coral's eyes widened at the unexpected visitor.
"Ah… aah! You've come to rescue me!"
It was a being so exalted that even this arrogant king mixed in honorifics.
At its appearance, he scrambled on all fours toward the bars.
And in that moment, as he awaited its words…
The black hand of the figure standing before him began to move slowly.
At the Bata princess's request, I headed to the underground dungeon, only to grimace at the horrific stench enveloping the entire prison.
It smelled like blood, but not ordinary blood—more like blood that had been thoroughly corrupted.
"No intruders were detected. But when the guards entered for the shift change, the scene was already like this."
Having been raised delicately, she wasn't used to sights like this.
Yet the once frail princess stood her ground without flinching, her eyes wide open.
Experience changes a person, and this must be what they mean.
I gazed at the grotesque lump of meat inside the cell, behind bars that had melted away completely.
There wasn't a spot in the cell untouched by blood, and the flesh that should have contained it had lost all form, mashed into a pitiful mess.
I had to wonder just how one could reduce a human body to such a state.
No, this went beyond mere beating or slashing.
The positions of the facial features have been altered. This is closer to form deformation than external impact or severing.
The blood splattered around wasn't ordinary blood, but something hideously tainted.
Someone—or rather, something extremely dangerous—had been here.
"What do you make of it?"
"No human did this. It's impossible to warp a person like this with aura or mana."
"The investigators reported the same. Sigh, this complicates matters. Even if he's the king of an enemy nation…"
Of course, the King of Coral's fate was sealed—execution after trial was all but certain. But this outcome wasn't ideal.
The King of Coral.
Once an absolute ruler who exalted himself as the blood of the gods, now reduced to a pitiful lump of meat.
In the end, we'd learn nothing from him.
"I'll see what other information I can gather."
"Very well. I trust the Guardian's insight."
Unable to bear the foul smell any longer, the princess left first.
Afterward, I turned to the corpse that had become a lump of meat and called out.
"Librarian."
[Confirmed.]
"Niala?"
The Librarian fell silent for a moment at my question.
Then it displayed text.
[100% certain.]
"What a pain in the ass."
The text held no emotion, but for some reason, it felt laced with intense hostility.
This thing was now extending its tendrils into the mortal realm here and there?
Not good at all.
"Looks like I need to meet those cultists."
No more putting it off.
This wasn't just the risk of Niala showing up or one of the outer god's minions stirring.
Niala. Not quite on the level of an outer god, but still a major threat. If it could roam freely, we had to stamp it out before it got worse.
If possible, I should also arrange a meeting with Diablo—the faithful demon in the Holy Kingdom, Dibl.
"Congratulations, Family Head!"
"Congratulations!!"
The numerous retainers of House Cascadia knelt on one knee in unison, paying their respects to Melissa.
Once a count's family from the Border Count lineage, House Cascadia had now risen to become a ducal house overseeing vast territories.
Social rank doesn't climb that easily, as a rule.
Even those with monumental achievements often stall at baron or viscount. Marquisates and above are typically reserved for founding nobles of the nation, with influence to match.
Ducal or marquess houses naturally governed equally expansive lands.
"Ugh! Enough! Everyone, stand up!"
Though it was post-victory, Melissa clearly wasn't comfortable with the situation.
Hardly surprising.
She hadn't even gone to the front lines; she'd merely lent a hand in the war and kept in touch with me. Yet overnight, she'd gained enormous territories and a ducal title.
"Ah… aah! To think I'd live to see House Cascadia stand so tall… The late Family Head must be overjoyed in the afterlife! Family Head!"
"Steward… I told you not to say that."
"How could he not be thrilled! To see his daughter grown into such a splendid lady!"
"Aaaah!"
Melissa shuddered in horror.
At this point, I figured I should chime in.
"Wow. Now that statue in the central plaza will finally earn its keep."
"Damn it, I should've smashed that statue myself."
As if she meant that.
"Everyone, rise! Regardless, we have mountains of work ahead! But this is a royal decree! We've repelled Coral, our longtime tormentor, so open the granaries, feast the domain's people, and let them celebrate!"
"As you command, Family Head!"
As the retainers dispersed, Melissa let out a deep sigh.
"Next time, cause a little less trouble. I feel like my lifespan's shrinking because of you."
"Little sister."
"O… crap. Don't, please."
"Since we're at it, let's bump Cascadia up to one of the Thirteen Great Houses."
"Argh, screw that!!"
She recoiled in genuine terror at my teasing suggestion.
Not without reason. We'd heard from our parents since childhood that overreaching invites disaster.
Melissa couldn't help but worry over matters beyond her grasp.
In any case, the domain brimmed with energy following the new duchess Melissa's return.
And now, in Melissa's office.
Luna sat in a chair with Arsha on her lap, feeding her snacks.
Grivi, having stared openly at the scene and apparently inspired, climbed onto my lap.
And in one corner, Melissa sat with a complicated expression, sharing glances with everyone.
"Um… Big Brother."
Arsha spoke up first.
Having stared at Grivi with her bright, sparkling eyes, she cautiously asked me.
"Who's this little one?"
Arsha meeting Grivi for the first time?
Makes sense. I stroked Grivi's head, and she introduced herself.
"Grivi is Daddy's daughter."
"Daddy?"
Arsha tilted her head, and Grivi looked up at me.
"Yeah. Daddy's daughter."
"…Big Brother. When did you marry Sister Luna?"
Luna averted her gaze, cheeks flushing.
"We haven't yet. Arsha, have you not met her before? Grivi's an earth spirit contracted to your big brother."
"A gnome?"
"No. A bit different from those spirits."
Arsha quietly observed Grivi at my words.
Being around the same age, she brimmed with curiosity.
"I'm Arsha! Let's be friends from now on!"
"Yeah."
Arsha hopped down and took Grivi's hand; Grivi nodded eagerly, clearly pleased.
"Come on! I'll show you my treasure!"
I chuckled softly, watching Arsha dash off hand-in-hand with Grivi.
"Alright, down to business. With Callis, Coral's capital, and part of the Balt Plains annexed to Cascadia, we need to manage them. You know that, right?"
"Yeah. But they're so far away, even the royals asked if we were sure about taking them."
Before the Bata princess granted me my reward, she'd called Melissa and me to ask what we wanted.
I'd requested part of Coral's lands. Otherwise, I'd have naturally received a title myself.
"That's how you ended up a duchess."
"Distance makes it tough to manage two territories the usual way. So for now, I'll create permanent gates linking the three locations."
Not the teleport gates magicians activate to open portals.
I planned to fully fuse the spaces between them.
"Like the one at the Imperial Academy?"
The Imperial Academy and Cascadia manor were already connected by a permanent passage.
Melissa was quick on the uptake.
"Similar, but not quite as efficient in every way. This time, I'll make it properly."
The method was simple.
Create two gates each in Callis, the Balt Plains, and Cascadia.
Then link permanent passages between Callis and the Balt Plains, and between those and Cascadia.
In other words, days or weeks of travel between the Balt Plains, Callis, and Cascadia would vanish.
No travel time at all from the distant Balt Plains to Cascadia.
As if it were one vast, seamless territory.
"Considering population and logistics flow, it can't be small-scale. The gates will be sizable."
"Got it. What about materials?"
"Oriharcon would help a lot, but it'll still cost a fortune. For supplies, remember Planetaria Merchant Group and the Mage Association from before?"
"Oh… yeah, the mining thing."
"We have connections there, so I'll source materials through them."
Bergal Mage Association.
I once had ties there with the twin sisters, Raida and Rabena.
If the association was like merchants for mages, they'd handle rare materials.
"Estimated cost?"
"No ordinary size will do. Probably hundreds to thousands of billions of sel."
"Ugh… that's a ton. For that scale, building the gates and managing the territories would eat up most of our funds."
We'd received a huge sum from the Queen's Twilight incident, but it was being paid in installments.
Even the Lavren family couldn't shell out that much at once without issues arising everywhere.
When currency flow dries up, merchants suffer first—the ones circulating continental funds.
Plus, Bata's royals were borrowing heavily from Lavren; yanking their funds would spell trouble all around.
This wasn't my past life. Large-scale movement of the currency sel creates massive ripples.
I had no intention of sparking a depression.
Melissa paled.
Luna rummaged through her subspace.
"Need money?"
"Huh?"
Clatterclatterclatter!!!
A torrent of precious gems poured onto her palm.
"I rich."
At her words, Melissa and I cast pride aside and prostrated ourselves before her.
"The Goddess has spoken."
"Let there be money, and so there is."
As we worshiped in unison, she crossed her legs imperiously.
"Me. Money now get better little by little."