Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Because It's Lansen
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“You’re going to… have a talk?”
Rivera couldn’t quite grasp what that meant.
Was that a roundabout way of saying he was just going to kill Kashmir?
He watched the back of his master, who was accelerating to the point of vanishing from sight.
A talk…? What did that mean?
Sea, who had approached at some point, spoke up.
“He said the same thing before, when they invaded Ilunael. That he was going to have a talk.”
“…But he killed Harun then, didn’t he? So he’s going to kill him after all?”
“No. He did try to talk first that time, too.”
“In what… way?”
“He advised him to surrender.”
Kalserik, who had been listening quietly, let out a sigh.
“He’s a dead man this time, too.”
He shook his head and added.
“Didn’t you say the man saw Harun get brutally murdered right before his eyes? Yet he declared his defiance then. There’s no way he’d surrender now.”
Rivera’s face paled, seemingly in agreement.
“This could end badly… Kashmir is the most respected hero in Gellan City. If we kill a man like that carelessly, there will be a huge backlash.”
Sea nodded as well.
“Perhaps because it’s a border region connected to Gloryland, the people there are said to be unusually loyal and faithful. Not very Roverland-like.”
“That’s exactly my point. We have a message artifact, so we should try to persuade our lord, even now…!”
Rivera was growing anxious, but Sea just shook her head.
“It’s fine. It’s Lansen.”
She judged that this situation was different from Harun’s.
‘If it’s Lansen… he’ll really persuade him this time. He must have chosen a strategy of influence rather than one of discord because that was his intention.’
She couldn’t guess what methods he would use, but she knew one thing for certain.
‘He never acts without thinking.’
She had already passed on all the information she could gather to Lansen.
She had also seen Lansen read her reports and stratagems until they were tattered.
Once Lansen made a decision, he moved more lightly than anyone, but the process of reaching that decision was heavier than anyone’s.
Therefore… Lansen would succeed.
“We just need to do our jobs.”
At that moment, Kalserik and Rivera found their gazes stolen by Sea.
Her indigo hair, braided to one side. Her eyes, as deep as the abyss.
Her voice, emotionless yet firm.
All of it possessed a captivating magic.
Somehow, because she said it would be fine, it truly felt like it would be.
Sea walked past the two of them and called out to a friend of the same age who was slacking off on one side.
“Asha!”
Perhaps because they were the same age?
Unlike when she addressed others, her voice was a little higher when she spoke to Asha Krona.
Asha, the only mage in the family, had been pretending to teach the children, but as soon as Lansen disappeared, she had gone straight to the shade to lounge around.
“Huh…? Sea, what is it?”
The corners of Sea’s lips twitched upward, almost imperceptibly.
“The Soul of Flame. Did you succeed in picturing it in your mind?”
She was talking about the ancient magic that she and Asha had recently been training in.
Modern mages wove mana to design magical power, then brought it forth into the world to manifest magic.
But ancient magic was completely different.
Just as ancient swordsmanship differed from its modern counterpart by using the ‘power of the soul’ called will, so too did ancient magic.
The first step in ancient magic began with imitating and drawing the ‘soul’ that dwelled in all things within one’s own mind.
That was the very first stage of magic.
“No. I haven’t drawn it yet… It’s hard.”
Asha twisted her lips strangely.
She had thought her talent for magic was second to none… but this concept of ‘soul’ just didn’t click.
It was too abstract.
What even was the soul of a flame?
How was she supposed to draw that in her mind?
But then,
“I did.”
*Snap!*
*Fwoosh!*
The moment Sea snapped her fingers, didn’t a faint flame ignite?
The scene was deeply seared into Asha’s eyes.
And then,
A faint smile.
Sea’s rare smile appeared. A slightly twisted, mocking smile.
*Thump!*
Asha, who had been lounging against a tree, shot up to her feet.
“You…! You!”
Her eyes darted between Sea’s face and the faint flame burning at her fingertips.
Although it was just a feeble flame that could barely burn paper… although it was an inferior power incomparable to her own magic…
‘This, this unique ripple of magical power!’
It was unmistakably ancient magic!
“You…!”
Asha’s face scrunched up as she dashed away.
It was obvious where she was headed—her laboratory.
She had left to begin training at once.
Only then did Sea let the corners of her lips, which she had forced up, fall.
“This should make her work harder.”
That was just the kind of person her friend, Asha, was. She needed a catalyst, something to ignite her passion, to finally utilize 120% of her talent.
Sea watched Asha’s receding back for a moment before turning on her heel.
“I should get to my own work.”
Now that she had finished her lessons, it was time to go to her office and devise new strategies.
The Three-Pronged Strategy was progressing at a speed that far exceeded her expectations, so she had to constantly revise her plans to match it.
‘I thought the conquest of Ailun would take at least three years…’
But he had accomplished it in just a few months.
Thanks to that, the political situation in Norverge, no, perhaps all of Roverland, was in turmoil. Just as a giant’s single step sends ripples far and wide.
‘The next move, the move after that, and the move after that one. I have to predict and prepare for them all.’
A new variable had appeared, so she had to redesign her plans incorporating that variable.
The variable to be added this time was…
‘Based on the premise that Lansen will persuade Kashmir and take Gellan.’
That Kashmir Gulak would kneel to Lansen without a single drop of blood being shed.
Sea’s faith was that absolute.
***
I am going to have a talk with Kashmir Gulak.
The journey was smooth.
Riding one of Harun’s prized horses, I passed through Loen and Egira, reaching Gellan in less than a day.
There was the peculiar matter of an uncanny increase in magical beasts in the border region, but that was something I had already received reports on.
I carved through the hordes of beasts that blocked my path with Aura Threads and rode straight to Gellan.
After arriving in Gellan City, I tied my horse in a suitable place and secretly scaled the walls.
I had truly come to talk, so I wanted to avoid conflict as much as possible.
I went straight to the lord’s castle… but in front of it, the warriors of Gellan had set up tents and established a defensive line.
“Lansen…?”
Sharp eyes.
The warriors spotted me as I walked casually among the people.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
*Rumble-!*
The emergency bell rang, and in an instant, warriors poured out.
A sharply honed fighting spirit and killing intent surrounded me.
*Wooooong-*
The aura emanating from the warriors’ bodies formed a wall before me.
‘Not bad.’
The Red Warrior Corps, once the pride of Kushan City.
Isn’t this spirit superior to theirs?
And there are over a hundred such warriors…
So these are the warriors who have defended the entrance to Roverland, clashing head-on with the Empire.
‘Like a pack of wolves.’
That was my first impression of them.
A wild fighting spirit. An unyielding pride.
Come to think of it, Kashmir Gulak, who currently ruled Gellan, had a similar feel.
A proud, loyal, and fierce wolf.
A man who had pointed his sword at me to the very end, even after watching Harun die in a single blow.
‘He was impressive.’
He could have pretended to bow his head, then simply returned to Gellan and defied me.
But this man had deliberately drawn his sword in my presence.
Knowing he would die.
He truly wasn’t like most people from Roverland.
I liked that about him.
Therefore,
“Lansen! You’ve finally come!”
“We’ve been waiting.”
“You might be able to kill us all. But you will never make us back down…!”
This time, I truly intend to ‘talk.’
Of course, I had felt the same way with Harun, but this time, I really, truly mean it.
So I won’t kill anyone.
Because I quite liked these warriors, too, baring their fangs to protect their alpha wolf.
“Is that so? You won’t back down?”
You are certainly strong, but this isn’t enough. Far from it.
The experience I’ve accumulated traveling back and forth to the ancient past of 10,000 years ago far transcends the common sense of this era.
*Step-*
I take a step and ask them.
“Then by all means, try to move.”
*Step-*
I walk.
Becoming a single sword myself.
“…”
“…”
A strange silence descended upon the scene, which had been seething with fighting spirit.
*Step- Step-*
I just walked.
As if the warriors blocking my path were invisible.
I passed by gleaming blades and raised axes without a care in the world.
*Drip-*
*Drip-*
No one could move.
They could only let beads of sweat fall endlessly from their cold, sweat-drenched faces.
In fact, being as wild as wolves, they were even more incapable of moving.
The one and only will my soul currently held was simple.
‘Cut.’
Sword-Self Unity.
A will that has achieved union with the sword.
When that pure will met the aura of a Sword Master at his peak, it created an incredible synergistic effect.
The aura became sharper,
and the will to ‘cut’ was amplified, blanketing the surroundings.
I was merely walking, yet the very air around me was sliced apart, and the aura flowing between the warriors was severed.
Everyone here must be feeling it now.
That the moment they take even a single step, they will be cut down. That they will die a meaningless death.
Even if that wasn’t literally true,
my will had already laid its blade upon their souls, so to them, it would feel like an established fact.
Therefore,
until I had walked past every single one of them, not a single person could move.
As I entered the lord’s castle, I glanced back.
The warriors were still standing like statues, sweat dripping from their bodies.
Unlike with Harun, not a single hair on their heads was harmed.
‘So if I use Sword-Self Unity well… I don’t even need to cut.’
An exceedingly sharp sword can cut the enemy’s spirit without even being drawn.
“Kuh…!”
“Lansen…”
There were many warriors inside the lord’s castle as well, but it was the same for them. They couldn’t move.
They merely served as my signposts.
If I walked in the direction where the most warriors were standing guard, Kashmir Gulak would be at the end of it.
***
“Are you very surprised?”
Kashmir looked as if he had seen a ghost.
“…This is absurd. Did you get even stronger in that short time?”
“Well, I got more used to it. Anyway, surrender.”
But Kashmir shook his head.
My will was still laying its blade upon his soul, but though he was sweating, he didn’t freeze like the other warriors.
“Just kill me. It will be easier for both of us. In fact, I’m glad you’ve gotten stronger. Since it has come to this, please spare my men. They’re good people.”
Just as I thought.
I like him.
I don’t want to kill him.
“If I kill you, the citizens of Gellan will hate me, won’t they? I hear you’re quite popular.”
“Is there any ruler in Roverland who cares about such things?”
“I do.”
I walked past Kashmir and sat on the sofa in his office.
Kashmir creaked as he turned his body to face me.
It was commendable that he still held his sword drawn, determined to fight to the death.
I leaned back against the sofa cushion and opened my mouth.
“To be honest… there are too many ways.”
The information Sea brought, the stratagems—it’s all in my head.
“I could do as you say, cut off your head right here, and if anyone resists, cut off their heads too, and rule through fear.”
Kashmir’s face hardened.
“Or, I could just cut off the supply of Ailun’s white horses or set up tariff barriers to slowly starve you out. Or I could use an ancient artifact as bait to incite internal conflict.”
Every single one was a viable option.
No matter how popular Kashmir was, if the economy faltered and military power weakened, internal cracks would surely appear.
“But… this is what I’m going to do.”
Now for the main point.
I leaned forward and asked Kashmir.
His most fatal weakness, according to Sea’s report.
I dug into it.
“Your son is 13, was it? They say he’s a genius with the sword, right?”
At my words…
“……You!!!”
Kashmir, who had seemed so detached from life and death, was greatly agitated. *Wooooong-!* So much so that he overcame his fear and unleashed a wine-red aura from the tip of his sword.
To him, who looked ready to fight me to the death at any moment, I made an offer.
“I’ll take him as my disciple.”
“…What?”
Kashmir’s lips parted slightly.
“I’ll make him my direct disciple. Your son will train alongside my siblings. Just as I always protect my siblings, I will protect your son as well, and I will pass on my secret sword techniques and mental disciplines to him.”
It wasn’t a loss for me either.
Kashmir’s son had a widespread reputation as the greatest genius in Norverge.
Judging by the father’s character, I could trust the son. He might even be a talent capable of becoming the second Knight Balseon.
And as for you, Kashmir…
Yes. Your eyes are wavering.
The greatest swordsman you have ever seen will become your son’s master—
How about it? This feels a little different, doesn’t it?
“I have one condition. Stop being stubborn and retire. Hand Gellan City over to me.”
All the warriors who protected you were powerless before me.
Your son is now my hostage.
And you, despite all this, will retire to uphold your loyalty to Harun.
I’ve given you a justification and a practical benefit.
You get it now, don’t you?
That telling you to retire is actually my way of showing consideration.
*Clink…*
The sword that fell from Kashmir’s hand embedded itself in the wooden floor with a *thud!*
It was the moment Gellan City fell into my hands.