Chapter 49: Exchange (3)
After Seros accepted the position of Castellan of Chaplin Castle, the study fell into silence.
Kyle turned his head, gazed at the Monster Mountain Range outside the window, and opened his mouth.
“An agreent was reached with the Ork Tribe.”
“Then does that an we must provide a place where the Ork Tribe, who have no combat capability, can stay?”
“Yes. About two hundred warriors from the Ork Tribe will guard them.”
“I will prepare a space in a sparsely populated area. Expecting harmony with the castle’s residents from the very beginning would be difficult.”
As Seros suggested, they had to first give them a remote area and slowly allow interaction with the castle’s residents.
To the people of Ragnar, Orks were ultimately no different from monsters.
Judging by their appearance, they were unmistakably Orks.
“We must interact slowly so that no sense of alienation arises. Of course, it will be difficult.”
“But it is also sothing necessary for Ragnar.”
“Seros.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“The Ork Lord made one suggestion.”
“What kind of suggestion?”
“He wanted the knights to take the Trial of the Warrior. It seems he wants warriors and knights to interact while fighting.”
“Hm…… it’s not a bad suggestion. If interaction arises between the knights and Ork warriors, it will greatly help improve their skills.”
“It was a good suggestion, but I told him it would be difficult right now.”
Given Ragnar’s current situation, it could not be carried out imdiately.
Kyle turned his gaze away and finally unfolded the letter he had received from Seros. As if he had expected it, he nodded.
“My lord, who sent that letter?”
“It is a letter sent to Steward Raina by Lyman, the Branch Head of the Rapid rchant Guild who remained in the Royal Capital.”
“Are you referring to the one who provided us with food and lodging in the Royal Capital back then?”
“Yes. He says he has also left the Royal Capital.”
The current Royal Family’s determination to preemptively block the activities of the Rapid rchant Guild stood out.
With a bitter expression, Kyle rose from his seat and walked to the window.
As he flung open the tightly shut window, a bone-chillingly cold wind rushed into the study.
Watching Kyle’s back, Seros spoke quietly.
“This will be the beginning.”
“It hasn’t even begun yet. King Clover is a madman.”
“……My lord.”
“If left as is, he is the kind of man who would destroy the Daon Kingdom entirely. That’s why I did not hesitate to tear up the Pact Docunt. He was a lunatic who would never have left Ragnar alone.”
Because he was such a dangerous ruler, Kyle wanted even more to avoid being entangled with him.
Since he beca king, the Daon Kingdom had effectively beco a place unable to escape the whirlpool of war.
King Clover was soone destined to walk the path of a blood-crazed tyrant.
‘My lord is not soone who reaches conclusions about people easily. For him to speak this firmly…….’
Even soone with talent would eventually break when so incident occurred.
Even so, Kyle always refrained from forming certainty about a person, considering variability and unforeseen variables.
He had always been cautious, saying that the mont one did so, one could only view that person with prejudice.
But the mont he beca certain, the outco Kyle envisioned returned as reality.
“Did you believe that Ragnar could only survive if the royal family changed?”
“Yes. As long as Ragnar belongs to the Daon Kingdom, it has no choice but to share the nation’s fate.”
“It will beco complicated.”
“It could be complicated, or it could be simple.”
“……I don’t understand what you an.”
“Given the inescapably blocked reality, the king will inevitably make reckless moves. And those reckless moves will eventually create a way for Ragnar and Pramo to survive.”
Kyle gazed at the snow-covered mountain range and ford a strange smile.
Even as he recalled the reason the Ragnar Family had no choice but to remain in a lull.
But Seros, who had no way of knowing his inner thoughts, continued to speak only about the Royal Family.
“If he is that dangerous, assassination might not be a bad option.”
“Now is not the ti to focus on the Royal Family.”
“……Then what are you preparing for?”
“A massive cold wave will soon sweep through the north. Depending on whether we endure that wind or not, the fate of the north will also change.”
“A massive cold wave……?”
“A Monster Wave will occur soon. At the very least, within a year.”
It might even happen as soon as tomorrow.
At most, one year.
Within that ti, he was certain the Monster Wave would occur.
If he had not t Yul, if he had not known what was happening inside the mountain range, they would not have been able to prepare even briefly.
However, the fact that the key allowing thorough preparation had co into their hands was proof that the heavens had not abandoned Ragnar.
“May I ask why you are so certain?”
“Because the situation is so.”
“Hm…….”
“First, the number of monsters that revealed themselves in the Iron Mine area far exceeded ten thousand. By now, that number should have multiplied several tis over. Yet when the Ork Lord descended to the entrance of the mountain range, those countless monsters vanished without a trace.”
Before any major event, there were always ons, and the sky was calm before a snowstorm.
This situation was no different.
It was calm.
Even if Yul had revealed himself, the Monster Legion would have fought to protect their habitat.
Yet the monsters vanished as if they had been waiting.
Of course, nearly ten thousand monsters had entered Ragnar’s territory, but considering the scale of the Monster Mountain Range, that was a level that passed quietly.
“A Monster Legion far exceeding ten thousand will begin to move. A number large enough to engulf not just the Ragnar region, but the entire north.”
“Ah…….”
“We must prepare before the Monster Wave begins. If ons are visible and we still do not prepare, that is the sa as deciding to die without doing anything.”
“Is that why you appointed
as Castellan here, to prepare for that?”
“Yes. The mont Chaplin Castle and Casio Castle are breached, a direct path opens straight to the Lord’s Castle of Ragnar. That makes this place an absolutely vital stronghold that must be defended.”
Seros gave a small nod and looked back at Kyle.
“What would you have done if I had insisted and refused?”
“I would have thought of another plan. I had no intention of forcing soone who disliked it into the position of Castellan. In fact, I intended to take charge of Chaplin Castle myself, but Pramo’s opposition was so fierce that I seated you instead.”
With Seros becoming Castellan, Chaplin Castle now t the minimum requirents necessary to be defended at all costs.
Moreover, with the addition of the Ork Tribe’s combat power, it could be sufficiently defended.
“Seros, listen carefully. Ragnar Territory will soon finish hiring miners and move manpower to Chaplin Castle.”
“Aron did say it would be completed within a month.”
“Raise them.”
“Yes……?”
“Miners must be trained so that they can beco soldiers at any ti.”
It was an impossible task.
He wondered how miners could be trained into soldiers.
Moreover, the ti was utterly insufficient to raise their capabilities to the point where they could fulfill their roles as soldiers.
At most, there was only one year.
Seeing Seros’s hardened expression, Kyle spoke calmly.
“You think it’s impossible.”
“…….”
“If it were impossible, I wouldn’t have demanded it in the first place. It’s entirely possible.”
At Kyle’s words filled with conviction, sothing Seros had heard long ago suddenly ca to mind.
― The residents of Ragnar live from childhood either gripping a sword or gripping a bow.
Even if they looked like re country folk, they were people who lived in Ragnar.
Kyle had already said this to Aron in the past.
That those selected as miners should, as much as possible, be chosen from young n.
Realizing it belatedly, Seros widened his eyes, and Kyle continued in a low voice.
“Did you think miners who must enter the Monster Mountain Range to work would be ordinary? It was the sa in my father’s ti. Miners were required to attend soldier training without exception, and when monster attacks occurred, they had to possess force to protect their own lives. Even as ti has passed, that hasn’t changed.”
In other regions and nations, miners entered mines carrying nothing but pickaxes.
But not the miners of Ragnar.
Ragnar was the only place where miners were issued swords.
“That is the way Ragnar lives, and the price for mining minerals in a dangerous region.”
“……I once again realize that Ragnar is different from what I had imagined.”
“Those who live to protect their lives and those who live comfortably are different. That’s why Ragnar is an even more special place to .”
Seeing the eyes gazing faintly smiling at Chaplin Castle, Seros gave a small nod.
“Your Majesty, all Rapid rchant Guild branches existing in the Royal Capital have been shut down.”
“Make sure not even a single grain of food flows into Ragnar. Even if we have to starve them to death, thoroughly block the kingdom’s grain from moving to Ragnar.”
Grit—
King Clover ground his teeth, still frowning even at Duke Zaira’s report.
Recalling the humiliation and disgrace he suffered in the Great Hall, he wanted to mobilize all his forces and attack Ragnar imdiately.
He was seized with the urge to go and tear Kyle Ragnar’s limbs apart.
But that was only his feelings; realistically, it could not be done.
“Have you found the whereabouts of the rcenary King or the Assassin Master?”
“We have found the rcenary King’s whereabouts, but in the case of the Assassin Master, his trail is obscure. He is not soone who moves with an organization, so he is even harder to track.”
“Where is the rcenary King currently?”
“……He was last seen in the Tylers Empire.”
Among those who moved freely without belonging to any faction, the most famous were the rcenary King and the Assassin Master.
In particular, the Assassin Master was known as soone who could assassinate anyone as long as the paynt was certain.
Yet the Assassin Master’s whereabouts were unknown, and the rcenary King was in a hostile nation.
“Of all places, the Tylers Empire…….”
“We do not know why the rcenary King appeared in the Empire, but it is presud to be for participation in Duke Ian Kailers’s funeral.”
Ian Kailers, the strongest sword of the continent.
He was a man who bore the trendous title of Guide of the Sword.
King Clover propped his chin on his hand as he recalled Ian Kailers.
“It’s fortunate that his death reduced the Tylers Empire’s military strength, but on the other hand, it’s regrettable. A man like that should have been born in our own nation.”
“I share the sa thought, Your Majesty.”
“It’s regrettable. Why does the heavens not bestow talented individuals upon our nation…….”
The eyes of King Clover, which had been filled with anger ever since eting Kyle, sank deeply.
If soone like Ian Kailers had been born in the Daon Kingdom, the kingdom’s standing would be very different now.
Thinking that way only brought sighs, yet at last, Masters had appeared in the Daon Kingdom as well.
Not just one, but two.
‘But why must they be Ragnar’s people! Why, of all things!’
Daon and Ragnar.
The two were inseparable, yet at so point they changed from cooperative families into ones wary of each other.
It was true that the Royal Family had been wary of and disliked the Ragnar Family, which possessed power comparable to the Daon Family, but it had not been that way from the beginning.
After the succession of the Frostfire in Ragnar was severed, the Daon Family began to guard against and slight Ragnar as if they had been waiting for it.
King Clover rubbed his throbbing head and let out a sigh.
“Ha…… by the way, how is the situation in the north progressing?”
“It is quiet. However, we have received news that all the lords planted in the north have died. In addition, the territories they held have also been taken.”
“What are you talking about right now!”
“Please calm yourself, Your Majesty. It is enough to bring down the Rapid rchant Guild. Once the food supply is cut off after that, the north will beg Your Majesty to spare them.”
At Duke Zaira’s words, King Clover cald his anger and closed his eyes.
‘It might even be for the best. The Pact Docunt was a leash on Ragnar, but it was also a shackle that imposed many restrictions on the Royal Family.’
Kyle’s tearing up of the pact infuriated him, but perhaps it was not such a great blow.
If Ragnar were brought into submission, the Daon Kingdom would gain military authority stronger than that of neighboring kingdoms.
King Clover clenched his fist tightly and looked down at Duke Zaira.
“What about the movents of the 1st Legion?”
“They are still in a standoff, and it appears they have no intention of moving.”
“Haah, why must it be now of all tis! If I could divert even part of the legions deployed at the border to Ragnar, I could surely subjugate the Ragnar Family as I wish…….”
“Your Majesty, there is no need to erode national power by engaging in battle. Rather, if we block the food flowing into Ragnar as we are doing now, Ragnar will bow its head on its own and enter the Royal Family.”
As Duke Zaira said, it was not a bad situation.
At least, in King Clover’s eyes.
Even if Ragnar had funds, if the routes for transporting food were blocked, there was a very high chance that Ragnar would destroy itself.
But he did not know.
That Kyle would never remain idle.
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