Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Storm of Koral Sahar 1
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The road from Lantarik to Koral Sahar, the capital of the Kora Sar Kingdom, was usually traveled by ship.
That was because Koral Sahar was a beautiful city situated at the delta where the Kora River met the sea, a city that had amassed enormous wealth through maritime trade.
However, due to the ongoing drought, the water levels in the Kora River had dropped, forcing ships to navigate slowly through the river's central channel where the depth was barely maintained. There was no spare capacity to take on passengers.
“We’ll have to go by land. Any help?”
Azadin asked the courier guild at the Lantarik branch.
But they refused to assist him even with something this minor.
“Well, if we openly help you, it might cause problems, right?”
“You’re telling me to fend for myself. It’s a big deal. One of our guys eats up a lot of our supplies.”
Now that they had taken Scott as a companion, Azadin’s group was facing a serious food shortage.
In the past, it wouldn’t have been such a huge issue, but with Salasma’s drought, Lantarik’s war, and skyrocketing food prices amid the unstable situation everywhere, things were dire.
With King’s Radiance losing its power, monsters rampant across the lands, and Nether beings haunting the mortal realm, the courier guild’s stable supply of food and goods was desperately needed.
“Even so, we can’t help. Arael’s brother. At least not on the road to Koral Sahar.”
“Why not?”
“The elders’ faction still holds power in Koral Sahar, and the upper echelons of the courier guild—the five great families, especially the high-ranking members of the Etar bloodline—dominate the Koral Sahar region.”
Their attitude was so unyielding that there was no point expecting anything from them.
‘The organization used to run smoothly before. Who knew it had such an unexpected weakness.’
When the Herald Clan was united, the merchant and herald organizations checked each other while supporting one another and functioning well. But now that factions had split within the clan and conflict erupted, most of the clan’s functions had ground to a halt.
‘Calypso’s wise. In times like these, it’s best to step back and observe. But since I’m blood-related to Arael, she won’t just leave me alone even if I try to sit it out.’
In the current situation, it was better to either wait like Calypso for things to settle or actively join Arael’s tribe or the elders’ council and dive into the political fray, rather than carrying out the emperor’s herald duties.
But as Arael’s brother, Azadin couldn’t slack off and bide his time like Calypso. With no other choice, he made another request.
“Then at least tell me about Arbiter Zekt’s movements so we can stay cautious. There’s something off about that holy knight. He’s using Nether power.”
“Got it. Holy knights are always on our watchlist anyway.”
“Alright then.”
Azadin left the courier guild and returned to his companions. On the way back, Ismail muttered something.
“You must be thrilled that your sister’s made it big.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“She values you highly, doesn’t she? Even when you resisted her, she didn’t try to kill you. Why not just surrender to her?”
“You really hate me, don’t you.”
“What reason do I have to like you?”
“Even a sensible subordinate wouldn’t openly show hostility to their superior, the herald. You’re sorely lacking in survival skills. Though it doesn’t seem like it’s just toward me.”
Azadin recalled how Ismail had fearlessly charged at Arael or the Four Seasons of Fire, Flower, Wind, and Moon.
‘This guy’s probably... that. Poor fellow.’
Azadin had a rough idea of Ismail’s true nature. Considering his identity, it made sense that Ismail snapped at everyone so sharply.
“What’s with that look?”
“Oh, nothing. Just thinking you’ve been through a lot at such a young age.”
“Huh?”
Ismail scowled, annoyed that he’d been snapping and Azadin was taking it seriously.
“Let’s head back and prepare to leave Lantarik. No point sticking around here long.”
Since Arael had appeared at Lantarik Castle, staying too long was dangerous. With that in mind, Azadin immediately began preparations to depart as soon as he returned.
But just as Azadin’s group was about to set off, someone called out to them from behind.
“Hey! Azadin!”
“Calypso?”
“Hold up a second. Don’t go to Koral Sahar! It’s a disaster!”
“Disaster? What happened?”
“I just got the news—Koral Sahar is under attack!”
“By what?”
“That’s...”
*********
The king of Kora Sar was Ansetus IV, a brilliant and talented man in his youth who had outmaneuvered all his rivals to claim the throne. One of those who failed to obtain the crown and stepped aside was Count Kazel of Salasma.
However, after becoming king, he fell into decadence, ignoring the borders and holing up in his detached palace.
Having decisively crushed his formidable rivals and solidified his royal authority, he inexplicably abandoned his vigor, becoming ensnared in luxury and pleasure, a hedonist through and through.
But now Ansetus IV was holding a council of state, seated energetically on his jade throne for the first time in ages. He had no choice, with thunder crashing and storms raging outside the window.
Typhoons hitting Kora Sar in summer weren’t rare. But one that stalled and poured rain for a full week without moving was unusual and causing severe damage.
“The docks have been destroyed by surging seawater, lowlands and riverbanks flooded by backflow. Seawater is pushing up the river, and those conducting rescues have been working non-stop in three shifts for a week—there’s no one left who can keep going.”
As the typhoon battered Koral Sahar and nearby lowlands began flooding, even the slacking King Ansetus couldn’t sit idle and had to attend to state affairs.
His first move was deploying the navy. Instead of storm-tossed berthed ships, sailors used rowboats to rescue people from flooded lowlands and evacuate them to higher ground.
Things went smoothly up to that point, but the problem was the rain continuing far beyond expectations.
“Landslides have hit the highlands, sweeping away the refugee camps.”
“Rescue the refugees...”
“They’re already completely exhausted.”
“We’ve been driving people non-stop in three shifts for a week... Now they’re dropping from overwork or collapsing into the river current.”
The soldiers were already worn out from the rescues and evacuations.
Worse, they’d believed the rain would stop soon and sent people to the highlands.
With the downpour unrelenting, landslides ravaged the highlands, requiring double the manpower to rescue the landslide victims.
“We’ll have to relocate the other refugees. If we’re short on people, bring in more from other regions.”
“The problem is... the treasury is nearly empty.”
“How much money is left in the treasury?”
“About 2,000 taels of silver.”
A tael was a dwarven unit of weight, and 2,000 taels of silver was an unimaginable fortune to common folk.
But Kora Sar’s peak annual revenue was around 120,000 taels.
Even now, they collected about 60,000 taels a year.
The principle was to save funds in peacetime for wars or famines, so the treasury should have held far more.
Yet with no major incidents, it was depleted.
“I partied too hard after becoming king. Just how many thieves have dipped into the treasury?”
“......”
“The people must be furious with me, right?”
King Ansetus directly questioned his retainers. They wore complicated expressions.
‘He’s an illegitimate king on the throne, so King’s Radiance flickers weakly—bringing drought to Salasma and typhoons to Koral Sahar!’
They couldn’t say it outright.
No matter how negligent he’d been, a king was a king, retainers were retainers. And weren’t these very retainers the ones who looted the treasury when oversight was lax?
“Th-that’s...”
“I won’t hold you accountable, so cough up what you’ve got.”
“......”
“Assuming we secure funds and manpower, can we evacuate the refugees far away to resolve this?”
“There’s another disturbing rumor circulating.”
“What rumor?”
“People say grotesque merfolk come out at night and attack.”
“Nonsense! It’s just rumors. Our royal navy investigated—no casualties from merfolk yet! Mostly accidents or overwork deaths.”
Duke Dixion, admiral of Kora Sar’s navy, spoke up indignantly.
“Use the navy to evacuate victims and procure food from merchants. Avoid landslide-prone areas thoroughly and set up refugee camps only in secure, safe zones.”
In the end, the king could only offer standard platitudes.
*********
Calypso said dramatically.
“Koral Sahar’s completely done for right now. That’s the latest news.”
“...Doesn’t make sense.”
Azadin tilted his head at Calypso’s words.
The Herald Clan didn’t just relay messages by foot; they had the emperor’s voice as an artificial spirit, and even without that, various magics for information transmission.
If a typhoon had raged for two weeks and flooded Koral Sahar, that news should have spread long ago.
Even with the Herald Clan divided into Arael’s tribe and the elders’ faction at war, such critical information not leaking out was...
“They say the typhoon’s magical.”
“A magical typhoon? Who was the herald in charge of Koral Sahar?”
“24th Rank Jenis. Lady Dimia of the Flower’s brother.”
“......”
“So, you still going, Azadin? Why not rest here and reconcile with Lady Arael? While you’re at it, hook me up with a good spot too... Truth is, I’ve admired Lady Arael for a long time. She’s still single, right? No fiancé?”
“Oh, come on. Enough. We’re going!”
Azadin shooed Calypso away like a fly and exited Lantarik through the castle gates.
As Azadin’s group set off for Koral Sahar, sure enough, many weary-eyed people were streaming in from the west—merchants who’d headed to Koral Sahar and come back empty-handed.
They shouted at passersby on the road.
“Don’t go to Koral Sahar!”
“The king’s issued a requisition order!”
“They’re seizing all food and cargo, giving receipts in return!”
“Receipts that wash away in the rain! Where’d they get paper that thin? What ingenuity!”
Normally, in wartime requisitions, sturdy materials like cloth or parchment were used for receipts.
Issuing them on thin paper signaled no intent to repay.
The king’s church demanded absolute loyalty from king and nobles, but its foundation was King’s Radiance protecting the world from calamities and monsters.
In other words, rampant disasters and monster outbreaks meant the current king was illegitimate.