Chapter 251
Chapter 251
Iron Emperor — Chapter 251
Chapter 81: The Visitor
Go Jin-cheon accepted the respectful greeting and looked down at Duke Schung standing before him, his expression openly interested.
"Should I be saying welcome?"
Jin-cheon's tone carried the barb of the last visit, the incident with Priest Palo. Duke Schung, however, merely let a faint smile touch the corner of his lips and bowed his head even lower.
"On the last occasion, our envoy committed a grave error."
"Hoh."
Jin-cheon let out an exclamation, his face a study in amusement.
It is rare to meet someone who can lower himself properly. A person who can truly lower himself is never rash, and when he does move, he almost always moves with certainty.
"Well, in any case, you've come a long way. Enjoy the banquet tonight."
"I offer my deepest gratitude for Your Majesty's grace."
"What, grace is a bit..."
Unlike the previous envoy, Duke Schung had clearly addressed him as "Your Majesty." Jin-cheon rose from the Throne of Yeolje and spoke quietly to Yeon Hwi-garam as Hwi-garam fell in behind him.
"Hwi, see that they are treated with the utmost care."
"Understood."
Hwi-garam answered with a smile.
Following the attendants into his quarters, Duke Schung cast his gaze around the room, his eyes full of admiration.
"It is distinctly different."
If the Holy Empire conveyed splendor, this place conveyed grandeur. The bold-lined architectural and interior decorations subtly reflected Gauri tastes.
Furthermore, the apparently simple decorations were in fact crafted with Dwarven precision; the more one looked, the more their value seemed to shine.
"Well-suited, one might say..."
Duke Schung let out an admiring murmur, and his mind went to Go Jin-cheon. The image of another sovereign, observed with his own eyes.
They were similar yet different, the two of them.
If Emperor Millior radiated an atmosphere that made him unapproachable, Go Jin-cheon projected an air of utter dauntlessness.
Had it been the Emperor of the Holy Empire, he would not have received him so generously. He would likely have drawn his sword first. The Holy Empire had that power, and Emperor Millior possessed the ruthlessness to use it.
"I was informed you are to attend the banquet shortly."
Viscount Skara, who had escorted Duke Schung, spoke up. Even on a guarding assignment, his demeanor was relaxed.
"As expected, even Gauri has no choice but to bow before the might of the Empire. Hahaha!"
At Viscount Skara's laughter, Schung's eyes narrowed.
Duke Schung sensed that the reason for Gauri's warm welcome was not the name of the Holy Empire. Had he not seen Go Jin-cheon with his own eyes, perhaps, but now that he had, such a thought was impossible.
The matter of the previous envoy's discourtesy had been noted with a brief remark and then dismissed as trivial. It was not fear of the Holy Empire.
Duke Schung possessed the eye to see that; Viscount Skara did not.
"Viscount Skara."
"Yes."
"You must on no account behave rashly."
Duke Schung delivered the injunction with a hardened expression. Viscount Skara hesitated a moment before forcing out a reply.
"Understood."
"Take it to heart."
Leaving Viscount Skara behind, Duke Schung approached the window. The sound of muttering prickled low at his ears, but he paid it no mind, simply turning a detached gaze outward.
It was behavior unimaginable from a mere viscount toward a duke, but such was the reality of the Empire.
The Emperor's near-autocratic style of rule had weakened the influence of civil officials like Duke Schung.
'I will have to judge the rest at the banquet.'
Duke Schung closed his eyes and composed himself. It might look like excessive caution, but his reasoning was different.
The Federation Empire and the Maritime Empire were powerful adversaries, but they were known enemies. Their strength had long been assessed.
But Gauri was an unknown foe. No matter how easily the Empire might ordinarily disregard North Roselin, Gauri had subdued them by force that could only be called overwhelming.
What Duke Schung feared was precisely that "unknown" element.
He had determined that caution was warranted until he could ascertain its nature. That was Duke Schung's task—and the task only he could perform.
Viscount Skara was one of the military men who had supported the current emperor since his days as a prince. Duke Schung, by contrast, had largely occupied a position of moderate neutrality—neither one side nor the other. Moderate in name; in the eyes of others, a typical sycophant who did nothing but gauge the prevailing wind.
As things turned out, of course, Duke Schung's conduct had been the right one.
When Emperor Millior assumed the throne, his very first act was to purge the opposing nobles. After that, those who perished one after another were the meritorious retainers who had offered absolute support for his enthronement. He had considered even them potential obstacles to his course.
In the end, the only ones who survived intact were the knights charged with military force and the so-called moderate nobles who had neither stood out nor shown excessive ambition.
Duke Schung was among them. Consequently, it was only natural that the military men saw him as nothing more than a lucky weathervane, and his direct influence remained insignificant.
His one point of discomfort was simply being seated near the emperor. Emperor Millior kept him close but by no means showed him special favor.
"Is His Imperial Majesty not being overly cautious compared to before?"
As he left Duke Schung's room, Viscount Skara's voice carried his discontent with the envoy's entire mission. The knights who followed him out also tilted their heads but answered with resignation.
"Roselin may be weak, but it is a fact that an unusual war has persisted there of late. Moreover, the continental situation has begun to turn strangely with Gauri's emergence. That is likely another reason His Majesty has grown more prudent."
"Do you seriously believe that just because Haian—which is desperate to curry favor—and Roselin—which has exhausted its national strength for over ten years—have joined together, they now possess the strength to oppose the Holy Empire? As for the Kingdom of Malin, they've proclaimed neutrality all this time while cowering in silence on the continent..."
At Viscount Skara's slightly raised voice, the knight who had spoken shrunk back a step.
"Viscount Skara, naturally it is not a matter of comparison. But the Federation Empire dogs and the Slegian seafarers have always been the real problem. Have those two empires not constantly joined hands to obstruct our every move?"
It was his adjutant, Baronet Maekben, who interjected to dispel Viscount Skara's irritation. Skara could only nod at the remark.
"True. You're right. Still, this time even those two empires must be feeling uneasy. Malin, which nobody paid much attention to, has now attached itself to Gauri as well. The Slegian seafarers and the Federation dogs are going to have a real headache. If it were just one or two kingdoms, they might extend covert support to trip up our Holy Empire's steps, but now four nations—middling as they are—have banded together."
"But there's something I don't understand."
The knight who had been scolded earlier stepped forward and rejoined the conversation. Baronet Maekben let out a hearty laugh and prompted him.
"And what is it you don't understand?"
"To put it bluntly: Malin, Roselin, Haian—surely they know that no matter how they combine their strength, they would collapse in an instant if the Holy Empire truly set its mind to it. So why have they thrown in their lot with Gauri?"
"..."
It was a simple question, yet it raised a host of suspicions. Haian was the kingdom that had felt the empires' power most directly. In the cases of Malin and Roselin, the causes were different—had the Federal Empire and the Holy Empire not each refrained from annexing them precisely because they feared the other's expansion?
After all, merely absorbing the Northern Region, a part of North Roselin, had already caused an uproar.
"Either the Gauri martial prowess shown in this war has been exaggerated... or there truly is something to Gauri."
At Viscount Skara's suddenly sober reply, silence fell over the group. After all, had the fortress walls they had seen on the way and the drilling of the soldiers not suggested, at the least, a small force of elite warriors?
It was Viscount Skara himself who broke the silence among Baronet Maekben and the knights.
"Hahaha! What are we fretting over! Most likely the former, combined with a performance designed to exploit the tensions among the Three Great Empires. Isn't that right? If we don't like it, we can tear them apart any time. That is the power of the Holy Empire!"
"Ha, haha! You're right. We've been worrying over nothing."
To Baronet Maekben, who laughed awkwardly along, Viscount Skara quietly added one more remark.
"I don't care for it, but Duke Schung will manage on his own. Hasn't he always had a sharp sense for these things?"
"Quite right, hohoho."
The two men's derisive laughter echoed softly.
* * *
As befitted a banquet welcoming an envoy, an array of dishes adorned the great hall. Duke Schung and the rest of the Holy Empire's party, seated in the places prepared for them, gazed at the spread with curious eyes.
"Most of these are things we've never seen before."
"I wonder how they taste..."
They looked like men encountering exotic novelties. Gauri cuisine came from an entirely different cultural sphere—another world, even—unlike anything found here.
But unlike the others, Duke Schung studied the dishes and could not erase the serious expression forming on his face.
'There were intelligence reports that the culture is completely different, and I confirmed some of it with my own eyes...'
Food has origins and lineages. At the moment that common-sense assumption was shattered, Duke Schung's doubts only grew deeper.
"His Majesty enters."
"Mm."
The attendant's voice cut through his musings. Duke Schung wiped the gravity from his face and rose to his feet. Go Jin-cheon entered, with Eulji and Yunias behind him.
"Be seated."
Jin-cheon briefly accepted the respects of the envoys and ministers in attendance, then took his place on the Throne of Yeolje.
"I commend you for the hardships of your long journey."
When Jin-cheon lifted his cup of wine, Duke Schung bowed low with an expression of profound humility.
At this, the military officers escorting the envoy momentarily furrowed their brows in undisguised displeasure. But only for a moment. Once they had washed their hands in the finger bowls and their eyes fell upon the appetizing dishes, their attention turned to the food.
"What are these two little sticks?"
Two small wooden sticks, laid neatly side by side.
The knights who had been reaching for the food eyed the two sticks before them in puzzlement. But that too was brief. They fell silent as they watched the Gauri ministers pick up food with them and eat.
In the end, they used them like weapons, stabbing at the food. It was the sole method available to men unaccustomed to chopsticks.
Yeon Hwi-garam observed their every move, missing nothing.
'I can see why His Majesty told me to pay attention.'
While the rest of the envoy focused on the unfamiliar food itself, Duke Schung alone wore an expression of someone clearly trying to deduce something.
There were indeed Gauri dishes resembling the food of this continent. Hwi-garam, however, had strictly ordered that dishes with cooking methods similar to continental food be avoided.
It was to see how they would react to and perceive this sense of cultural dislocation.
And the result was that Duke Schung alone had grasped what this cuisine signified.
"Pffah!"
"Whoaa!"
From one side, exclamations and laughter burst out.