Chapter 115. Treaty (7)

How did it come to this?

Chincharina, the curse-user of Indika, clenched her teeth.

The city was burning before her eyes.

Sikri, the capital of Indika, and her hometown.

The ivory walls and golden domes had crumbled under the bombardment of spells she had never seen before.

A hundred thousand slaves, ten thousand commoners, and a thousand nobles were brutally murdered by the ancient soldiers.

Some nobles and soldiers survived and fled, but that was all.

The pot-bellied king died with his royal guard.

She would likely share the same fate.

“Fuck……”

“Such unrefined language. You seem to be the daughter of a noble family.”

Thump…. Thump….

Someone came up to the rooftop of the Blue Jade Palace.

It was a giant statue.

Literally a moving divine statue.

A body carved from stone, as large as the giants of the Ashupireu Mountains.

Armor of a metal whose material was difficult to guess, though it was clearly custom-made.

And magical tool accessories, brimming with powerful spells, hanging all over its body.

This was no simple golem.

Chincharina could see it.

The light of a powerful soul residing within that stone body.

Normally, she would have been delighted to have something new to research, but she couldn't now.

“Heh heh… are you so refined that you killed even children and women?”

Because it was that very fiend.

The commander of the ancient legion that came up from the southern desert.

The leader of the enemy who had brought down Sikri and slaughtered tens of thousands.

At Chincharina’s question, the stone statue tilted its head and answered.

“They were those who did not submit to a ruler worthy of glory. How can it be a flaw to clean up traitors?”

“Hah, you have a really shitty way of talking. Well, whatever.”

Thwack!

Chincharina placed both palms on the floor.

If she had to go, she intended to take him and his legion with her.

The magic circle drawn on the rooftop floor emitted light.

The hearts placed in bowls at each intersection of the magic circle were dyed with an ominous color.

“Chakra. Nirvana. Om. Dharma. Shanti.”

She chants the spell.

She binds together forbidden words that should never be combined.

Her hair, adorned with chains, swayed and scattered in all directions.

The hearts that had been beating in the bowls rapidly shriveled.

A chilling wind swept across the entire rooftop.

Kwaarrrrung!

Thunder crashed.

The sky darkens.

The dark clouds that had rained for days and retreated began to cover the city again as if they had a will of their own.

Did it sense something was amiss?

The stone statue, which had been standing still, also began to move.

Chincharina scoffed.

It was already too late.

What she had activated was the ‘Curse of Nation's Ruin’.

As its name suggests, it is a curse that can destroy the capital of a country.

If she had cast it when this city was whole, at least half of the over one hundred thousand residents would have died from the curse.

Those hundred thousand-plus residents were already dead and gone, but if she could take him and his legion as companions on the road to the underworld….

“Foolishness.”

Kwajangchang-!

The light went out.

The magic circle shattered.

The dark clouds scattered.

The entire spell was dispelled too easily.

“Wh-what is this….”

“Do you dare present a paltry human curse before us, who have overcome a god’s curse for three thousand years?”

Chincharina couldn't believe it.

It was a simple kick.

The kick of the colossus that kicked away the bowls of hearts and trampled the magic circle.

Is this possible?

No matter how great the ancient civilization was, could a curse that the caster even bet their life on be broken so lightly?

“You bewitching wench.”

The colossus reached out its hand.

I’m being captured.

A fleeting moment.

Chincharina made her choice.

“Keoheok…!”

To draw the dagger she always wore at her waist and stab her own chest.

The cursed dagger that had split thousands of hearts finally pierced its owner’s heart.

What the colossus of Lumer, the 4th Legion Commander, held in his hand was only the corpse of a dead spellcaster.

“Suicide rather than become a prisoner. A sense of honor unbecoming of a spellcaster… no, that’s not it.”

The legion commander laughed.

He could see it.

The soul of the curse-user leaving the dead body.

The writhing soul shot out of the city like an arrow released from a bowstring.

“Legion Commander, shall we capture it?”

“Leave it. It wants to wander the nine heavens on its own.”

The 4th Legion Commander stopped the priest.

It is commonly known that dead souls go to the afterlife, and indeed, that is true.

Souls that reject order suffer.

There were no exceptions unless a separate place was prepared for them to settle, like his own colossus.

It would have to wander the boundary between this world and the next, waiting for an exorcist priest to save it.

Or perhaps it would be caught by a wandering, half-assed necromancer and live a second life as a tool, a lowly undead.

It was like walking into a pit of fire on its own.

The legion commander shook his head and asked the priest who was rummaging through the corpse.

“Is the sacred relic there?”

“Yes, it is the sacred relic of light that bewitches souls.”

“Seal it away. We will present it to His Imperial Majesty when our expedition is over.”

“I obey your command.”

“Wait.”

The legion commander stopped the priest.

The state of the sacred relic was somehow strange.

“That sacred relic. Does it originally have seven branches?”

“It has eight. According to the records, and if my memory serves me right, there were definitely eight branches.”

“Then why are there only seven now?”

“…It seems one has been broken.”

“A sacred relic, a fragment of an Outer God, can be broken?”

“……”

The priest did not answer.

The 4th Legion Commander belatedly blamed himself.

Should I have captured the curse-user’s soul?

If he had captured her soul, he could have found out why the sacred relic was in that state, whether through torture or some other means.

Shaaaaa….

“The sacred relic is awakening. Put it away quickly. Seal it completely.”

Of course, it was already too late.

The legion commander ordered the fragment of the Outer God to be sealed before it awakened.

After confirming that the sacred relic was placed in a sturdy jade box, he turned his head.

“Guide, where is the next destination?”

The guide, who had been squatting, raised its head.

It was a sphinx.

A chimera that was a mixture of human, lion, snake, and eagle.

The creature, which had been licking its front paw like a cat, looked north and answered.

“Across the wasteland lies the land of the necromancers.”

“Necromancers? You mean the mongrels who were taught necromancy by the traitor?”

“Yes, we should arrive in three or four months.”

The wasteland north of Indika was vast.

For an ordinary person who was not a local nomad, the very attempt to cross it was no different from suicide.

However, the legion was different.

They could move without eating, drinking, or resting.

“For the eternally shining monarch, His Imperial Majesty.”

The 4th Legion Commander looked down at the city.

The buildings were burning.

The streets had become a mire of blood and flesh from humans, horses, elephants, and camels.

On one side, the death-priests of Lumer were performing a large-scale necromancy ritual, raising the dead.

Any city that stood in the legion's way would meet the same fate.

The city would burn.

All the living would be killed.

And after death, they would be resurrected to serve the eternal emperor.

It was around evening, as he was about to issue the order to march as soon as the priests' ritual was over, that an urgent report arrived.

“What? Rats?”

“Yes, Legion Commander. They burst out from underground, snatched the priests who were performing the ritual, and disappeared.”

Monsters that were a mix of rat and human.

The lowly creatures had attacked the legion.

* * *

What is happiness?

A nice house? A cool car? A beautiful lover? Or time spent with family?

Although happiness cannot be defined in one way, there is a characteristic of happiness that people who have lived so-called ‘successful lives’ have summarized in their own way.

It can be found in the small things of everyday life.

Slurp.

Hehehe.

Yes.

This is happiness.

Leaning back on the soft backrest, I looked up at the sky.

A clear sky with clouds floating gently.

Under the warm sunlight.

A cup of coffee on a terrace overlooking the city center.

‘Kyaa…!’

And an iced americano, no less.

The cold coffee, enough to make me scream internally, goes down my throat and instantly clears my head.

If this isn't happiness, what is?

“…Should I pack some coffee beans for you when you leave?”

“Kihihi, I'd appreciate that.”

Coffee beans from Indika are a hard-to-find item even in the Empire.

Before long, the Princess of Blood placed the beans, packed in a box, on the table.

Oh, for reference, she made this coffee too.

The Princess of Blood, Hebrun von Zarhill, was an excellent barista.

How can she make it taste exactly the same as what I used to get at Starbucks?

Is she a genius?

“Have you thought about opening a cafe?”

“Pardon?”

“I’ll give you a space for half the rent. A prime spot right next to the plaza.”

Hebrun let out a smirk.

“Are you telling me to open a shop in a land ruled by a Paladin Viscount?”

“Kihit, what's the big deal. You came and cooked before.”

“That was because you, no, Your Majesty….”

“Kihit, you can speak comfortably. It's awkward for me too.”

“…I thought the devilish human necromancer had broken his promise.”

Devilish?

That’s harsh.

Then again, it would have been a difficult situation for her if the Duke had woken up but couldn't regain his strength.

It was said that even after Count Calvenia’s death, there were still signs of division within the Archduchy.

Given the nature of the Archduchy, which runs on the logic of power, it would have been difficult to command his vassals like his own limbs without an undead army.

Even if he tried to issue mandatory orders through the bloodline, he would still have needed to recover a certain amount of power.

“Well, even if it was a little late, didn't I tell you the method? You got the legion back too.”

“That’s why we sent a gift too.”

“Those zombies and skeletons?”

“…I thought you’d make good use of them.”

The zombies and skeletons that had invaded my territory were a real gift.

I thought it was a test, but that wasn't it either.

The Duke and Hebrun had apparently assumed that I, or rather Tribus, would have a firm grip on the viscounty’s real power.

Because no matter how much of a civil war hero one is, it's difficult to defeat an 8th-circle high-ranking magician.

“I also didn't know the outer defenses of the viscounty would be so dense. I broke through easily on my own.”

Well, what's the point of blaming the past?

Even without that, the gains from this business trip are not small.

Originally, I had intended to demand two things from the Vampire Duke.

A non-aggression pact.

And a path to the eastern wasteland.

The non-aggression pact was as good as signed the moment he thought I was the Emperor.

To be precise, it seems closer to a vassal contract.

Anyway, they will probably become a breakwater against the real Lumer army that will soon begin its march from the south.

To use the Duke’s expression, it would be the ‘army of traitors.’

I even did some greasing just in case.

‘So, here's the thing, the legion commanders are putting up a fake emperor.’

‘H-how could that be!’

‘It’s not for nothing that I’ve been in seclusion, regaining my strength. Since they created a fake emperor, I couldn't trust anyone.’

‘Ah… what a terrible thing. Do not worry. From now on, I shall assist Your Majesty. I swear it on my blood as a vampire.’

I didn't ask for a vow.

Anyway, thanks to that, the second item on the agenda went smoothly as well.

Originally, I had intended to simply demand a path, but I changed the plan a little.

And why not? I had become an Emperor, after all.

If I couldn't demand what was rightfully mine, that too would be a failure to show the dignity of an Emperor.

‘Are you speaking of territory?’

‘Yes, all the territory east of the city. So it doesn’t get in the way of my subjugation of the orcs.’

‘Why the orcs….’

‘I need to build up strength. To defeat the legion commanders who betrayed me and reclaim my legion.’

‘Ah, you plan to create a new legion with the strong bodies of the orcs! Of course, I will give it to you. I will go and speak to the vassals in that area myself.’

I easily received the territory through a smooth misunderstanding.

That’s right.

I went beyond simply demanding a path and asked for the territory itself.

All the territory of the Vampire Archduchy from the Wolfskrig Viscounty eastward, that is, all the way to the wasteland.

With this, the Wolfskrig Viscounty will more than double its territory in one fell swoop.

‘Hah, really. Master, what kind of scoundrel of an emperor unlawfully seizes the territory of his own subject?’

Then are you, an Outer God, getting your panties in a twist?

Let’s just neatly ignore the opinion of the grumbling Kkumteuli.

In the first place, it's just a small piece of land that amounts to less than a tenth of the entire vast Archduchy.

The Emperor is asking for it for a great cause, so he should give it.

Can he refuse and get away with it?

‘Even though you are my master, if you keep accumulating karma like this, I can't imagine how far you'll go later.’

‘Karma? What did I do?’

‘Fake wandering prophet, impersonator of an inquisitor, a necromancer who performs miracles, a saint who uses necromancy, the savior of a city who stole a church relic, a civil war hero who wears the sacred relic of an Outer God, and now, impersonating a living ancient emperor.’

‘…….’

‘Truly a swindler to be recorded in history. Did I miss anything?’

Well.

Laying it all out like that, it does sound a bit strange.

Still, a swindler?

Isn't that a bit harsh….

[Achievement unlocked! You have gained enormous diplomatic benefits, bordering on fraud!]

[Acquiring a fixed trait.]

[Gained the World with a Silver Tongue]

[You become very, very, really very good at swindling.]

“……”

You guys are too much, seriously.