"Hahaha!"
Ghislain burst into laughter as he exhaled deeply, standing atop the hot air balloon.
It had been a while since he had been in such a tense situation. Even in his past life, there were only a handful of times he had run with such intensity.
Moreover, pulling one over both the duchy and the royal army was immensely satisfying.
As Ghislain relished his excitement, Belinda shook her head.
"Seriously, you're so reckless."
One wrong move, and they would have been captured and killed. Even Belinda had felt her heart grow cold when she saw the enemies closing in.
Yet, Ghislain kept laughing, as if something was incredibly amusing.
Belinda scolded him with a reproachful tone.
"Are you really that happy?"
"Of course, it's the best feeling when I manage to pull off something like this."
"Who could possibly stop you with that personality, young master? By the way, did you secure the item?"
At her words, Ghislain pulled an item from his coat. Protecting it from breaking during their escape had been no small feat.
All eyes focused on the item Ghislain revealed. Everyone was curious about what had caused such a ruckus.
When Ghislain pulled out what Berhem had called the "Orb of Life," everyone frowned. Just looking at it, they could feel an ominous energy radiating, reminiscent of the magic circle from the rift.
In contrast, when he revealed the goblet and necklace, everyone gasped in admiration. Among them, Parniel and Piote were particularly astonished.
"What incredible holy power."
"Wow! My lord, is that also a holy relic?"
Ghislain shrugged.
"I'm not sure. They seemed to call it a holy relic, but I don't really know what it's for. I'll have to figure it out."
When Ghislain removed the necklace from the goblet, the radiant holy power dissipated. Everyone continued to marvel at the necklace.
Everyone except for Erenes.
'Why... why is that here?!'
Her expression hardened.
Erenes recognized the item well. She didn't know why it emanated holy power, but it was undoubtedly an item she was familiar with.
The necklace had once belonged to a companion who had fought alongside her against a calamity that had engulfed the world. The goblet was the same.
Although centuries had passed, how could she possibly forget?
'Why are these in the hands of the Lutania royal family and the Salvation Church…?'
Everyone noticed Erenes' distant expression and found it peculiar that she was reacting differently from the rest.
Realizing the awkward atmosphere, Erenes quickly masked her expression.
Narrowing his eyes, Ghislain asked.
"What is it? Do you know what this is?"
Erenes shook her head.
"No, I don't."
"You seem like you do."
"I said, I don't."
"Hmmm..."
Not only Ghislain but others also cast suspicious glances her way.
The awkwardness was palpable. Her acting was terribly unconvincing.
Sighing deeply, Erenes spoke stiffly.
"It just resembles an item an old companion of mine used to carry. It only brought back memories for a moment. But it's not the same. My companion's item didn't have any holy power. It was just an ordinary necklace."
Ghislain chuckled and nodded.
"Alright, I thought it might give us some clues, but that's disappointing. Well, we'll find out eventually. In the meantime, I guess I'll just wear it."
'It's definitely the same!'
Erenes, who had been fighting the Salvation Church for a very long time, undoubtedly knew something. However, she didn't seem ready to talk about it yet, so Ghislain decided to let it slide for now.
He could investigate gradually and coax the truth out of her later. A dignified elf grand chieftain wouldn't easily bend under pressure.
Everyone else seemed to share Ghislain's sentiment and feigned ignorance. After all, who in the world didn't carry their share of secrets?
Belinda deliberately frowned to shift the topic.
"Young master, what are you going to do with that unsettling orb?"
"Hmm."
Ghislain fell into a brief contemplation. While he could absorb the power contained within the orb, it didn't seem like it would have any positive effects.
Normally, he would use anything that could enhance his power, but this orb felt revolting and disturbing.
Wasn't it created by extracting the life force of countless people in a horribly painful way?
As Ghislain deliberated, Parniel spoke up.
"The orb contains nothing but malice. It would be best to destroy it and release the grudges trapped within."
"Grudges?"
"Yes. The life force of those who died unwillingly must have left fragments of their grudges within. The priests of the Salvation Church seem to amplify their power using the rage of these unjustly killed souls."
Piote chimed in, nodding.
"Y-yes! We must bless those poor souls and send them off!"
"I see."
Ghislain had felt uneasy about the orb, but he hadn't realized the extent of its malevolence. For Parniel and Piote, who possessed holy power, it must have been even more evident.
Hearing their explanations made him even less inclined to use it. Destroying it would be the most appropriate choice.
"Alright. I'll take care of it properly when we return. By the way, are the preparations complete?"
Gillian nodded in response.
"Yes, we can depart at any time. Perdium has also reported that their preparations are nearly complete."
The northern army had been ready for war for quite some time. They had only been waiting for Perdium to finish their preparations.
After all, crowning a new king wasn't something that could be accomplished simply by winning a war.
Ghislain donned the necklace and spoke.
"Alright. Let's go and take the kingdom."
***
Crash!
"Arrgh! Bring me more! More, I say!"
Berhem screamed, throwing objects around with bloodshot eyes. Those nearby trembled in fear at his outburst.
The king was losing his mind, openly capturing and killing people indiscriminately.
He had no choice. To prevent his body from collapsing, he needed to continuously absorb the life force of others.
"Chamberlain! Why is it taking so long?!"
"Your Majesty, please wait a little longer. More prisoners will arrive tomorrow."
"What about the duchy? Are they also receiving people?"
"Yes, half of the captured individuals are being sent to the south."
Marquis Domont reported with a grim expression.
To recreate the Orb of Life, an enormous amount of life force was needed. In addition to the prisoners used to maintain the king's body, captives had to be sent south.
Maintaining the king's body alone required the lives of at least a hundred thousand people.
But how could they produce such a number of prisoners at once? Procuring enough people was becoming increasingly difficult.
Drooling, Berhem snarled.
"Are you telling me there are no more prisoners in the capital? Then make more!"
"Your Majesty, Cardenia is the heart of the kingdom. Reducing the population further will cause the entire kingdom to collapse."
"Grrr..."
Grinding his teeth, Berhem suppressed his desires.
To continue his reign as king, the kingdom couldn't fall apart. He couldn't turn the capital into a wasteland, so he refrained from large-scale massacres there.
Instead, the population in other regions rapidly declined. Armies under Berhem's orders captured people indiscriminately.
The royal territory was already running out of people. So many had been taken that even production activities were stalling.
The desperate royal court pressured the lords to hand over their residents and prisoners.
The regional lords and nobles were at a loss.
"The king has completely lost his mind."
"It wasn't enough to ally with the Salvation Church and the duchy, now he's slaughtering his own people."
"Asking for our people too is going too far!"
It was no secret that the king was using the Salvation Church's dark arts to sustain himself.
"We can't hand over any more of our residents."
"But what can we do?"
"There's no one to stop the king's madness."
At first, the lords had handed over only prisoners, hoping to appease the king. But his demands had grown excessive.
The problem was that the king held overwhelming military power, thanks to his wartime authority.
Refusing the king's demands was not an option, as his forces would immediately apply pressure.
To make matters worse, the royal court had forged a truce with the duchy. No one could oppose their combined might.
The northern army had already retreated to prepare for a confrontation with the royal court and the duchy's forces. Rumors spread that the allied forces were also withdrawing.
Nobles who had come together to protect the kingdom sighed in despair.
"How did the kingdom come to this?"
"In the end, the royal family will be devoured by the duchy."
"The king is now surrounded only by cruel and ruthless people."
Each day, they suffered under this despair.
The king's madness wasn't the only issue. Those who had previously disliked Marquis Branford and Count Fenris quickly sided with the king.
They ran rampant, taking people at will, imposing exorbitant taxes on the remaining population, and seizing their possessions.
Even the kingdom's finances, carefully managed by Marquis Branford and other nobles, were being plundered.
Everyone was solely focused on filling their own pockets. Within just a few months of the king's reign, the kingdom had fallen into utter chaos.
"This Kingdom is finished."
That was the honest sentiment of the remaining nobles. No, this was no longer a time to worry about the kingdom.
They had drawn their swords against the duchy. At any moment, they could find themselves framed for crimes they didn't commit and crushed underfoot.
Such tension was already pervasive. Rumors swept through the capital that the king, running out of people to consume, would soon seize an entire territory as an example.
To survive, one had to kneel before the king and offer up their people willingly.
Thus, the kingdom began to collapse. Cries of despair echoed endlessly across the land.
"Please, spare me!"
"I have committed no crime!"
"At least, spare my child…!"
The royal army indiscriminately captured men, women, and children. In fact, the younger they were, the more life force they possessed, which pleased the king even more.
Even the royal soldiers who carried out these orders were far from comfortable. They had once fought valiantly to defend the kingdom against the duchy.
But now, most of the commanders were on the king's side. Ordinary soldiers had no choice but to comply.
A young soldier, on the verge of tears as he dragged people away, was grabbed by the collar by a senior soldier.
"I told you not to show your emotions! Do you want to die?"
"But, but…"
"Shut up. Wipe your tears and hold it in. Otherwise, we'll all be dead."
The senior soldier gritted his teeth, struggling to hold back his own tears. Even soldiers who displeased their superiors could be dragged away.
The defenders of the kingdom had now become its executioners.
Both those being dragged away and those doing the dragging were engulfed in despair.
Clank, clank, clank…
The procession of innocent prisoners being transported was shrouded in silence. The only ones who laughed and talked were the commanders favored by the king.
The prisoners, having given up on life, said nothing, and the soldiers, burdened by guilt, dared not speak.
Even those who had not been captured were stripped of all they had and tormented by hunger. Excessive taxes drove many to take their own lives.
They all cried out in unison:
— Goddess has abandoned this kingdom, for the king has allied with the Salvation Church.
A deep gloom blanketed the world. It was a world where no one could laugh or rejoice.
One soldier, walking with his head down along the convoy, noticed a piece of paper on the ground.
"Hm?"
Curious, he picked it up.
"Huh…?"
The paper bore a single message.
[Hold on a little longer. Soon, the wolf of the north will come to rescue you.]
The soldier involuntarily looked up at the sky.
Though it was hard to see, a few birds seemed to be flying overhead. In the distance, pieces of paper fluttered down from the air.
Looking around, he saw several more similar pieces of paper scattered about.
The soldier quickly crumpled the paper and stuffed it into his pocket. His face flushed, and he struggled to calm his trembling heart.
'Could it be…?'
The "wolf of the north" had long been a term used to refer to a certain territory.
A land that had endlessly fought off barbarians at the border. A land mocked for its poverty yet steadfast in fulfilling its duty.
The land that had produced the northern army and Count Fenris, now hailed as the kingdom's strongest force.
'Perdium!'
They were declaring that they would soon come.
As the soldier began to see a glimmer of hope, Perdium itself was preparing for departure.
The entire army exuded a sharp intensity, as if ready to face the barbarians once more. At the forefront was Zwalter, sitting atop his horse with a firmer expression than ever before.
Perdium's head butler, Homerne, wiped the sweat from his brow as he spoke.
"My lord, the preparations are not yet fully complete. And to depart already… We must also prepare for the duchy's army's movements—"
"It's too late."
"Sorry?"
"I said, it's already too late."
"What do you mean by that…?"
Zwalter turned his gaze to the sky and spoke.
"There is no time to wait. All the people of the kingdom are groaning in despair. I can no longer stand idly by."
"My lord…"
The king and the nobles had crossed far too many lines.
It wasn't just the king, who required the Orb of Life to sustain himself. Even the nobles who sided with him were mercilessly exploiting and plundering the people.
Zwalter could no longer tolerate such atrocities.
"I am not raising an army because I covet the throne. I am acting for the sake of this kingdom. If I were to turn a blind eye to their suffering now, what meaning would there be in becoming king?"
"My lord…"
"Even if the preparations are insufficient, even if it costs me my life, I will do what must be done now."
At those words, Homerne and the vassals bowed their heads. They could not bring themselves to object.
It was because Zwalter, who had protected the north for so long with the unwavering respect of all his people, was such a man.
Though he had been living a peaceful life, preparing to retire and pass everything to his son, he now stood as he once had during the days when he ceaselessly fought barbarians.
With boundless responsibility and an unyielding resolve.
Zwalter raised his hand and spoke solemnly.
"All forces…"
His weighty voice resonated with everyone.
"March on Cardenia. We will hold the king accountable for his crimes."
Thud!
With Zwalter's command, the army of Perdium began their march toward the capital.
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