Storm Warning in the Plains
A change of assignment was ordered due to a security breach. The trip destination has been altered.
“A really nasty storm, huh.”
That was the call from Head Prosecutor Frida.
“So you’re saying I can’t even make the trip because of a weather anomaly?”
I found it hard to believe.
The reason was one thing, but more importantly, it clashed completely with Head Prosecutor Frida’s usual investigative philosophy.
Her usual philosophy was always “make it work when you can’t, and make it work even better when you can.”
“I’ve got a report from the border defense unit that a strange lifeform was spotted in the storm.”
The same report that Sub-Manager Piaget Dmitri had received.
And that in the storm, the sound of a temple bell could be heard.
Anyone who heard that bell was said to have gone mad and rushed into the plain like it was calling them.
To verify the truth of these rumors, a special boundary command had been issued to the 1st Prince, who oversees that area.
“…Is it a monster?”
How obvious could it be?
Actually, I didn’t even need to ask.
Identifying the exact identity of something in a storm with limited visibility was impossible. Whether it was a monster or some unidentified weird creature.
“The reports from the border defense unit have been pretty poor lately…”
Head Prosecutor Frida muttered with a sigh.
At this point, it was obvious that someone was interfering with me.
“So what’s the real reason?”
I asked bluntly.
Only then did Frida sigh and speak.
“It seems the 1st Prince is the one who doesn’t want it.”
Prince Frederick Gillorian.
The eldest prince of the Gilorian Empire.
One of the three pillars supporting the Gilorian Empire.
The three pillars were the 1st Prince, the 2nd Prince, and the 3rd Prince.
The 1st Prince guarded the southern end of the Gilorian Empire—the Hermitia Plain.
The 2nd Prince was defending the north—the Hertz Mountains—against monster invasions.
And the 3rd Prince oversaw the capital, Clovan City.
These men were tirelessly guarding the borders so monsters could not invade the empire’s interior, all in the fervent support of the empire’s citizens.
Despite abandoning the lavish life a prince could enjoy.
What the empire’s citizens didn’t know was that the 1st Prince and the 3rd Prince had a poor relationship.
By the way, my affiliated Capital Defense Command was a direct agency of the 3rd Prince.
“I’m with the Capital Defense Command, so that makes sense.”
“……”
Head Prosecutor Frida fell silent.
Her silent acknowledgment that my guess was correct.
Well, there was no need to get entangled in the subtle power struggles.
If I carelessly plunged into the subtle relationships among the empire’s real powers, I could get branded. And that brand would become a threat to my survival.
But I couldn’t stop the investigation just because of a feud between the princes.
Above all, I had something I needed to find.
And I had a feeling it was somewhere in the Hermitia Plain.
I thought about it for a moment.
The saying was that the hardest stone gets polished by constant friction.
In such a complicated power structure, the best move was to avoid drawing anyone’s attention.
“I’ll make the visit for academic purposes.”
“What?”
Head Prosecutor Frida’s voice rose in disbelief.
“I’ll have the imperial magic tower joint research project document ready for you by today.”
“Wait… cough. Wait a sec. Cough.”
The sound of her coughing erupted.
Beyond the sound of her hastily setting down her cup came the sound of her catching her breath.
“Right now, the 1st Prince has issued a boundary command, and you want to drag the imperial magic tower into this?”
“……”
Head Prosecutor Frida let out a scoff that seemed unbelievable.
Noticing that my silence was no joke, she asked in a low voice.
“…You’re serious?”
“Yes. I’ll have it ready and delivered by today.”
In my mind, I recalled Dean Balzac.
* * *
The discussion with Dean Balzac went smoothly.
Of course, I used his sore thumb, Nora. By temporarily releasing her under the pretext of a weight negotiation, I secured the research project at the imperial magic tower.
Of course, the project would be carried out. It seemed Nora, his sore thumb, would handle it instead.
“Are there any other abnormalities in your body?”
The man with the severe-looking glasses asked me while staring at me.
I was standing in front of the Capital Defense Command’s special portal. Before using the portal, I was undergoing a brief physical examination.
Of course, temporarily released Nora was with me.
Today was the day to head to the Hermitia Plain.
The reason I wanted to process it as official business rather than vacation was to use the Capital Defense Command’s special portal.
From the capital, Clovan City, to the Hermitia Plain was about 4,000 kilometers.
It was an absurdly far distance to walk or take a carriage.
Of course, it wasn’t impossible to move using traditional means.
There was no reason to cross such a distance—over 4 hours by airplane on Earth standards—with primitive means.
This was the Gilorian Empire.
A place ruled by magic.
Here, there existed something enormous called a portal.
Of course, I could open the portal myself. However, there could be stability issues.
Because the portal wasn’t just a simple passageway connecting space to space.
It was an advanced magical engineering technology that forcibly bent the spacetime between two points.
If the magic power vibrations during this process were not perfectly aligned in different phases, microscopic cracks would form inside the portal.
Magical engineers called this the “phase mismatch phenomenon.”
Therefore, if the magic circuits operating at the entrance and exit of the portal did not perfectly match in phase, various side effects would follow.
From motion sickness and headaches to, in serious cases, parts of the body twisting or tearing.
In the worst case, the nervous system could be disrupted, leading to partial paralysis or permanent magical power disabilities.
That was why the empire’s major strongholds used the standardized portal system installed by the Capital Defense Command.
Especially the special portal of the Capital Defense Command had additional correction circuits, providing theoretical perfect stability.
“Phase matching is 99.9 percent.”
The portal manager said after checking a magic measurement device.
“I guess today is the day I finally get to use the special portal of the Capital Defense Command.”
Nora said, biting her lip slightly as if tense.
Since only a small number of limited personnel could use the portal, most civilians never got to see its existence in their lifetime.
But her tension had nothing to do with the special portal.
“Will Adele be there?”
She must have been tense because of her anxiety about finding her husband’s soul.
“Let’s think lightly.”
I didn’t know if the words were directed at her or spoken to myself.
She was looking for her husband’s soul.
And I was looking for my own secret that had fallen in the Gilorian Empire.
Both of us were clinging to the slim possibility, managing a heart heavy with despair and hope.
Then.
“Is the teleportation ready?”
The portal manager who had finished the measurement stood up and asked.
“Yes.”
The manager began operating the crystal control panel in response to my answer.
—Ziiing—
With a sharp vibration sound, the magic circle began to rotate.
The runes on the floor lit up one by one, and soon we were enveloped in a massive vortex of light.
A slight ringing in the ears.
And then the ground beneath us felt like it was sinking softly.
“Teleportation commencing.”
Before the manager’s voice could finish, our vision was already filled with pure white light.
And in just 3 seconds.
—Whoosh—
Suddenly, the world tilted 90 degrees.
“Hah.”
Nora took a startled breath.
This was the signal just before arrival.
“We’re almost there. Stay centered.”
Before the words were even finished, the pure white light receded.
We had arrived.
And when my vision cleared, what lay before me was.
The Hermitia Plain.
Not a monster.
But the sharp tip of a sword pointed at my neck.
* * *
“Don’t move.”
A cold hiss and the sensation of a cool blade touching my nape.
Tap tap tap.
After that, dozens of border soldiers poured in through the rough opening of the portal room door.
In an instant, the narrow portal room was filled with soldiers in black armor.
“Who sent you?”
The man aiming the sword spoke in a low, rough voice. His breath carried a thick beastly stench.
“Prosecutor Zeo Blood of the Capital Defense Command. I have received portal movement approval.”
I said, raising both hands above my shoulders.
A sign that I had no intention of attacking.
“Portal operator!”
Another soldier roared.
Only then did the thin-bodied magician reveal himself from behind the wall.
“Did a portal movement request come today?”
“No, there wasn’t.”
The portal operator answered with a crafty smile.
“The approval code from the Capital Defense Command must have been received.”
I answered in a low voice, and the sword in my nape dug even deeper. Just a little more and the artery would be severed.
At that moment, a massive-built man approached. On his face, deep scars ran from forehead to chin as if torn by monster claws.
“The Capital Defense Command sending someone means you have to accept it?”
He came right up in front of me and thrust his face forward.
There were horrific wounds on his shoulders too.
Sharp scars that looked like they had been forcibly stitched onto a severed arm.
“This is the 1st Prince’s domain. No matter who you are from the Capital Defense Command or anyone else, you can’t take even one step without the prince’s permission.”
He said, glaring at us with sharp eyes.
Beyond the horizon visible through the window far away, dark clouds were swirling.
The storm of the Hermitia Plain was approaching.
* * *
We were dragged into the stone castle while being pressed against each other.
The castle stood tall between endless green fields.
If it weren’t for the black clouds roaring in the sky, it would have been a scene worthy of admiration, like a painting.
This place was Frederick Castle.
Thud thud.
The residents of the domain looked at me being dragged by the soldiers and stared.
The sight was so alien compared to Clovan City. Here, the residents who relied on the lord for everything were the same as those who lived in a medieval castle.
They seemed to be sustaining their livelihood by farming and raising livestock.
Of course, a few blacksmiths making weapons and shops selling manufactured goods caught the eye, but compared to the city, they appeared to heavily depend on farming and animal husbandry.
I couldn’t say it was a friendly environment for survival, but judging by the lack of hunger or rampant disease on their faces, they had managed to live decently.
Their faces were weathered, but the light in their eyes held a will to live.
“O-Oh, a guest has arrived?”
A burly woman with a cheerful face shouted while sorting vegetables on a stall.
She was unusually large even for a Barbarian. She looked about 1.5 times the size of an adult Barbarian.
“Ignore her.”
The soldier answered roughly.
“The damn kid has been in a bad mood since morning?”
“What?”
“Head straight. You can’t even catch a proper monster and only catch strict people.”
Could it be a unique personality of people living in such harsh conditions? Everyone here—soldiers, merchants, farmers—were all rough.
“For real, I’m not backing down even a single word.”
The soldier who had been growling for a while finally gave up. He grabbed the rope roughly as if to vent his anger.
We were dragged while drawing the attention of the domain residents.
“It’s bigger than I thought.”
“Yes, bigger than I thought.”
Nora said while looking around while being held.
As she said, the castle’s scale was larger than expected.
It seemed about the size of a small administrative district in Clovan City.
Roughly the area of Yeouido, maybe.
In comparison, the population density seemed quite high. Inside the walls, tens of thousands of domain residents lived packed together.
Passing countless houses, shops, and wide fields, Frederick Castle rose at the highest point.
The castle was perched on a high plateau, with villages lining up along gentle slopes below it.
And the surrounding castle walls, which seemed to encompass all of it, looked sturdy after recent repairs.
‘They’ve been fighting monsters recently…’
The walls were filled with bricks of different colors, as if patched up with the broken sections.
Now they were arguing, but if monsters invaded, the soldiers of Frederick Castle would defend with spears at the front.
And the domain residents would hide behind them and support the soldiers with supplies until the monster battle ended.
They would be no different from old comrades.
—Creak—
The door of Frederick Castle opened.
The soldiers inside the castle looked at the intruders with wary eyes.
On the surface they seemed indifferent, turning their gazes away, but the fierce aura of those who had fought monsters for years emanated from them.
Countless scars were carved on their faces. Through deep wounds, wild, sharp eyes flashed, and their muscles were all tightly stretched.
“Follow properly.”
A man with a large scar on his face roughly dragged me up to the watchtower.
There, a man in black armor was standing.
He was silently gazing at the stormy horizon.
“We caught an illegal intruder.”
He didn’t turn around.
Like an ancient tree standing tall in the rough wind, he only looked forward.
The hem of his robe over his shoulder fluttered in the wind.
Above it, the faint glow of a gold dragon pattern was visible.
The only family that could use the gold dragon pattern.
In front of me stood the 1st Prince of the Gilorian Empire, Prince Frederick Gillorian.