Chapter 39: Volume 3 - CH 2

Humanfolk’s largest city was known as the Imperial Capital of the Galgan Empire, Luos. Its population was said to be around 500,000 people, but Kyle didn’t know the actual number. Neither did anybody else, it was hard to count it after all. It was basically a fortress city surrounded by triple gigantic walls, quite peculiar in design, as even the area inside the outer wall rivaled the size of a small country. Besides the average district, you even had a slums district, which had taken its age.

Right now, Kyle and his group of four allies were traveling through this large city with a small horse carriage the Empire prepared. As Kirlen and Orgis were emissaries of Zilgus here for diplomatic relations, they received a free pass during the check at the main gate, but since Kyle and his group were simple participants, they had to fill out some paperwork, which is why they temporarily split up. That being said, as they were treated as important people from Zilgus, they got to enjoy some light sightseeing inside the horse carriages, as they were brought to the palace where the Emperor resided.

The main street was filled to the brim with people, not only humans but also elves and dwarves, and even beastmen such as lizardmen, who lived in the southern region, in relatively small numbers.

“I thought that Malad was crowded with people, this is on an entirely different level.”

“Where are they all even coming from…”

As both Lieze and Seran were still relatively used to their small and familiar rural hometown, they were the ones who were the most shocked, their mouths open in disbelief.

“This is my first time coming to Luos as well…but to think it was such a large city.”

Although Urza was somewhat used to traveling like this, even she looked around in admiration. Only Shildonia seemed used to this, focusing instantly on the different food stalls at the corners of the street, her eyes sparkling as always.

“As much as it’s the largest city on the continent, it also is bound to end up the most chaotic once calamity hits.” Kyle couldn’t help but admire it in his own way.

He came to Luos before in his past life, but that was during the ‘Great Invasion’, so he didn’t have the time or leisure to calmly inspect the streets like this. However, reaching that thought, the current state also seemed odd for some reason. The people passing them gave off a certain voltage filled with energy and passion, something that seemed out of the ordinary from what you’d expect, and this enveloped the entire city.

“It’s probably the influence of the festival happening in five days.” Their guide must have felt doubts in Kyle’s group and provided an explanation.

The Empire Foundation Festival—It is a festival celebrating the founding of the Galgan Empire around three hundred years ago when the war against the demons ended. For the next three hundred years after this event, the Empire had continued to grow. With more and more territory being added to the Empire, the festival continued to grow, almost too large, which is why it was now held every two years instead of yearly.

“It really is the world’s largest festival. You’re lucky that you can enjoy the festival here in Luos.” The guide said, sounding quite happy themselves.

Following that, they were shown the large plaza, the triumphal arch celebrating the victory of the war, the large cathedral, and the religious building called the obelisk. It seemed like this was a typical course offered to foreigners, as the guide spoke with confidence and experience.

“I heard from my old hag about this, but the place sure is huge alright.”

“Yeah…I heard stories as well.”

Both Kyle’s mother Seraia and Seran’s foster mother Leyla originally were born in this town, so their children heard various stories from both of them. Especially Leyla, who had been a gladiator here at Luos in the past, known as the undefeated champion. Finally, they saw a circular building in the distance, called the continent’s largest arena, the arena of Luos.

Even at this current point in time, there seemed to be a match going on, as they heard loud cheers even from this distance away. A row of large stone statues with the size of multiple people stacked atop each other was standing in front of the arena, all of them depicting one of the champions of the arena. One of them stood out in particular, belonging to a female swordsman.

“Oh lord…”

The moment Seran saw that statue, he let out a voice like he wanted to go home already.

“That is the individual seen as history’s strongest sword princess, the statue of [Crimson Ogre] Leyla. She reigned supreme in this arena as the undefeated champion, but at the prime of her popularity, she suddenly retired ten years ago, which was a severe hit for the arena and its income.” The guide explained as they looked at the statue of Leyla, striking a dignified pose with a greatsword in hand. “At the Martial Arts Festival, she was the only one who managed to achieve consecutive victories, and her fighting style, as well as matches, had become a legend at this point.” The guide seemed to be a fan of Leyla, as he explained all of that happily.

However, to Kyle, Seran, and Lieze, that was just a statue of a family member, nothing more.

“…Feels weird that it oddly looks like her.” Kyle looked at the statue with a complicated expression.

“It really seems like a perfect replica.” To Lieze, Leyla was a familiar existence.

Since the statue had so much resemblance to the individual in reality, she could only show admiration mixed with exhaustion.

“Hm, so she is Seran’s foster mother, as well as your teacher of the sword? She must have been strong.”

“I’ve never been to Rimarze, but I’d love to meet her sometime.”

Shildonia and Urza both showed great interest.

“Better stop with that thought. You’re not gaining anything from meeting her. Still, to think I’d meet my old hag here. Maybe I should draw some doodles on her statue?”

“That’s right, you probably shouldn’t. Plus, it’ll just bring us misfortune, so drop it, Seran.”

“…Right, she might curse us.”

Both Seran and Kyle let out a synchronized sigh. To them, she was their teacher, and a symbol of fear their entire youth, so that terror probably would never disappear. The guide was confused about their reactions but continued taking them to the imposing palace.

The palace of the Galgan Empire was built similarly to the royal palace of Zilgus. However, unlike the luxurious palace of Zilgus, the imperial palace of Galgan actually had a much more militaristic look, seeming like it could actually protect itself in the case of an invasion and siege, focusing on usability instead of looks.

In the flashy waiting room where Kyle and the group were brought, Kirlen was already on standby. A bit longer, and the representative of the Empire would arrive. Finally, the door opened, and three individuals entered the room. The first one was a man who seemed like a guard with a cold gaze. The man looked kind at first glance, but he wore different armor and had a different sword than the normal knights. Seeing that, Seran let out a faint ‘Huh’ voice.

The man observed the inside of the room without a single shed of carelessness, and when he confirmed the appearances of Seran and then Kyle, the glimmer in his eyes changed. He probably saw and guessed their strength with a single gaze. He showed a faint smile and then stood guard at the wall.

The next person to enter the room gathered all the attention of the room. He was a tall man with a well-built body, seeming to be in the middle of his thirties. Just from that appearance alone, he gave off the air of deep knowledge in martial arts. What stood out the most was his sharp gaze and the translucent pressure that came from his eyes. In a different way from Princess Milena, he possessed an aura that made him worthy of standing above others.

“Your Highness Eldorand, it has been a while.” Orgis stood up, deeply lowering his head towards the man.

Eldorand Oba Galgan. He became the representative of the current Emperor Benedix, who according to rumors hasn’t been feeling well, and is the first prince of the Empire who is taking care of domestic and foreign affairs. Following him was an elderly and quite small woman. She seemed to be in the latter stages of her life, and she was walking in a slouched position, leaning forwards, but she used a wand larger than her as support, her face giving off a mild and moderate smile.

She may seem like your average old lady, but she is actually one of the three supreme-grade magic users currently existing in the humanfolk, acting as Galgan’s number one court mage—[Great] Beadola. She is one of the individuals whose name will remain in history.

Besides the Emperor, both Eldorand and Beadola are the other two most influential individuals in the Galgan Empire at this point. Seeing those two here, Kyle understood that the Empire was expecting a lot from this meeting. There were what looked like chief vassals behind Eldorand, but none of the three mattered at all.

“Emissaries from the Kingdom of Zilgus, I welcome you. Normally, my father would be meeting you for such an important occasion, but he has not been feeling well, which is why I will participate in this discussion in his stead.” Eldorand spoke with an indifferent, calm tone.

He made it seem like he was welcoming them, but his expression did not change in the slightest.

“Now then, should we start?”

Following that, another type of war—and diplomatic discussion—began.

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“First, in regards to the victims and damages of the Empire, I wish to ask in what way Zilgus would offer their apology, and what you can offer us as a token of compensation.” Eldorand immediately jumped into the main topic.

Evidently, he was acting like the entire responsibility of this incident was on Zilgus’ side.

“Apology and compensation, is it? Quite intriguing, as we have reported that this incident was caused by the work of demons and that even we from Zilgus have suffered casualties.” Kirlen responded with a resolute tone.

As for the intentions of Zilgus, they wanted to avoid mixing fake information in their report to later receive the blame, and instead explain the situation as it happened, pushing all the blame on the demons, saying that even they suffered casualties.

“I cannot hope you believe we would simply stay silent and believe that. If that worked, we could blame everything up to this point on the demons. Adding to that, the involvement of demons, in general, is a questionable tale, and quite frankly hard to believe.”

“Indeed. It is worth mentioning that demons have not been active inside the humanfolk territory for the past 300 years.”

Both Beadola and Eldorand followed up on that comment. Naturally, it was a fact that demons existed, and they were the common enemy of all of humanfolk, but barely any human being alive had felt any recent threat from the demons. To the average person, demons were nothing but a fairy tale.

“To prove this, we have brought a witness with us. He is the one who fought and repelled the demons.”

An immediate entrance, huh—Kyle thought, stepping forward.

“So you’re the one who reported it?” Eldorand’s sharp gaze pierced Kyle.

If he was someone with a weak mind and fragile personality, he would have started shaking from just that, but Kyle was perfectly calm.

“Yes, my name is Kyle Lenard. As previously stated, there were two demons, one of which we managed to defeat, and the other managed to escape.”

More accurately, they let one of them escape, but there was no need to be that honest.

“…Say whatever you want. You may not be directly related to the royalty of Zilgus, but even if you are a citizen, it does not matter, we cannot believe you. Not without any solid proof of the demons’ involvement.”

“Naturally, I expected you to say that. Thus, I have brought proof of me defeating one of the demons right here.” Kyle took out the sheep horn he cut off Ganias’ head during their first encounter.

Seeing that, Beadola’s faintly closed eyes shot wide open. She most likely picked up the distinct scent of mana different from humanfolk. With a quivering hand, Beadola accepted the horn, closely inspecting it.

“Indeed, this truly is a demon’s horn overflowing with mana. Not to mention that it hadn’t been preserved for ages, but it surely was cut off just recently. It truly is hard to believe, but now that it is in my hands…” She said with a reluctant tone.

Immediately after, the Galgan side’s individuals went silent. Now that Beadola admitted this to be a demon’s, the Empire was forced to give more credibility to Zilgus’ report.

“…I see, now we understand that demons have been present. However, how can you prove their involvement with the slaughter at our country’s embassy?”

“Then, think about it this way. Half of all employees in the embassy, as well as the entire flying dragon knight corps, even the second-ranking court mage Aluzard, had been killed almost instantly…Who but a demon could have done such a thing?”

“Hm…”

Hearing that, Eldorand could only go silent. Just as Kyle stated, the survivors of that attack have offered testimony that this attack happened with a small group if at all, and that it happened in a very brief moment. As Galgan was confident in its own strength, it would take an enemy of exceptional caliber to pull off something like that.

“Hm, but that means you were strong enough to repel those demons?”

“Yes, that is correct. We are stronger than the demons who defeated the Empire’s knights and even one of your court mages.”

Eldorand threw about this sarcastic comment, but Kyle declared this without a moment of hesitation. Seeing Kyle like that, Eldorand showed a somewhat astonished expression.

“I see…that is quite the confidence…However, I understand that the demons hadn’t been acting in solitude this time. For example, the mass abduction incident of the citizens in Callan…the one who gave the order to that was the mayor of Callan, yes? And as of right now, Callan is under the rule of Zilgus, so how do you explain that?”

With that question, Orgis stepped forward, as if his turn had arrived.

“Regarding that, we have captured the perpetrators who were following the orders, and heard the details. It appears as if Mayor Bucks was forced to assist the demons to a certain degree.”

Hearing that, Kirlen was about to push up her hip with a ‘This is different from what we’ve discussed’ gaze, but Orgis glared at her and made her sit back down. He possessed immense pressure he probably gathered over his long years in service.

“Isn’t that a conclusion you reached out of the convenience for Zilgus? What if that mayor let the demons inside for his own goal?”

“According to the perpetrators, we cannot judge that. Nor can we believe their testimonies…After all, they were former soldiers for the Empire.” Orgis added like it was nothing.

The moment his words passed, tension filled the room.

“…I don’t remember this fact being part of your previous report though?” Eldorand glared at Orgis.

“Oh my, really? That must have been a mistake on our end. My deepest apologies.” Orgis swiftly lowered his head.

Of course, that was all on purpose so they wouldn’t have any way of fighting back.

“However, we already did the background check so that we wouldn’t bother you. Here are the details in that regard.” Orgis dropped the names of the soldiers, their former squad, and even drawings of their faces.

One of the officials left the room in order to confirm this information, but looking at Orgis attitude, Eldorand had to accept this to be the truth. It was a well-known fact that the Empire’s army was strict with their principles and training, which contributed to their strength as one part of it, but there were a lot of soldiers who couldn’t bear with this and ran away. Naturally, they would receive the death penalty, but it was generally hard to trace them to where they were. These deserters were quite troublesome, as they were often given special orders, holding confidential information.

“Personally, we would love to deepen our relationship with the Empire, handing over such dangerous individuals if you were to wish for that…but for that, we would need to arrive at a common ground here.”

In other words, he wouldn’t mind letting them run either, but that would require adequate compensation. At the same time as Orgis stated such, the Empire faction looked at him with disdain in their eyes. He probably kept quiet about this towards Kirlen in order to make this his own achievement. Said Kirlen sent him a gaze of anger as well, but Orgis’ face remained calm.

This discussion continued further after that, but they never reached any common ground. The Kingdom of Zilgus continued to plead their innocence, and that their own country was not to be held responsible as the demons were to blame for everything. At the same time, the Galgan Empire was trying to press the responsibility on Zilgus, but with the involvement of demons and their own deserters, they couldn’t cut past the final line. However, as there were clear victims, in this case, they needed to arrive at some sort of conclusion.

Accusing them of fabricating proof and requesting compensation, or even threatening war was an option, but as these factors came all too abrupt for the Empire, they didn’t have time to prepare. Around the time most participants were ready to close up and continue the discussion the following day, the door swung open, and the entire room turned towards the person who entered. It was a young man slovenly wearing royal clothing, unbefitting of the atmosphere in this crucial meeting between countries. The moment the Empire faction saw this individual, half of them showed a bitter smile, and the others were already shaking their heads.

“Yo, let me bother you for a second, Brother.” The young man flashed an invincible smile, calling out to Eldorand with a light tone.

“Maizar, huh? What do you want?”

The invader’s name was Maizar Leng Galgan, the third prince of the Empire, and the former fianceé of Princess Milena.

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