Towards an unfinished duty (2)
Although the days were short in the north, there was an office located in the sunniest place.
It was a place specially prepared by Countess Oksana, but now it was so disorganized that the sunlight coming through the window was embarrassing.
“Joseph. “I brought the car.”
“…Leave it and go.”
“How about taking a little break from work?”
Bordan, who brought the warm tea himself, sighed inwardly as he looked at the office littered with miscellaneous things.
‘It’s better than being locked up in depression…’
When he first returned to Sturmá, Josef locked himself in his room and had no intention of coming out.
The accumulated fatigue and deprivation of being eliminated from the competition eventually destroyed his body.
According to rumors, he was so weak that he even vomited blood, so his current passionate appearance may have been a welcome sight.
“I told you to leave it alone.”
However, it was true that even Bordan, who had served Josef for a long time, could not get used to the sparkling eyes he was seeing now.
Josef’s eyes, which were shining like those of an animal, matched his dark eye shadows and created an even more bizarre atmosphere.
“…Oksana asked me to have dinner with you later this evening.”
“I get it.”
Josef, not sure if he really knew or not, just waved his hand and chased Bordan away.
Looking at Josef like that, Bordan had no choice but to go outside with a worried expression on his face.
“…….”
With Bordan gone, the office was now alone again.
A cup of tea that was getting cold was waiting for Josef, but he was frowning as he looked at the map in front of him.
‘Why did they make it this way?’
It was a map large enough to fill a large wall.
However, the large map was full of newly drawn lines and letters, and Josef was now deeply troubled as he looked at them.
‘If you’re simply greedy for power, there’s no need to tear things apart like this, right?’
Although he was eliminated from the head of the family competition, Josef did not give up everything.
There was something called the situation that could be seen by taking a step back, and the appearance of the empire from a distance was truly a mess.
‘…The central region is divided into the Dragon Blood Ball faction and the Court Ball faction and are fighting.’
The territorial battles of the central families, which were still taking place in large and small scales, were ultimately nothing more than proxy wars fought on behalf of the Dragon Blood Dukes and the Court Dukes.
The lords who had lined up to rely on central power were now following their respective factions and continuing an unstoppable war.
‘In the East, dissatisfaction with the elf forest is growing.’
The elf forest shown on the east side of the map. Aushurin.
The arrows pointing towards that place were drawn thickly and densely.
Each and every arrow drawn by Josef started from the eastern territories.
‘It’s not like I don’t understand because I suddenly couldn’t breathe.’
It is said that the lords of the eastern region, whose trade was unilaterally halted by the elves, are now gathering soldiers centered on the Vitskaya count family.
From the East’s point of view, it was necessary to open the gates of Aussurin at all costs to open up trade that had suddenly become blocked.
‘The West has quieted down, but there’s no way it’s stopping here.’
Gaidar suffered a heavy blow in the decisive battle with Bayezid and hid himself beyond the desolate canyon, but he is probably still constantly looking for opportunities to recover and seek revenge.
It was because of concerns about this that Timur the Steelmaker initially installed a gateway fortress blocking the canyon.
The northern part has become independent, but the central part is still in disarray.
The East was preparing an offensive against the Elves, and the West was still preparing its teeth against the North.
I don’t know about the southern part of the country, which does not yet have a proper information network, but it would not have been holding its breath quietly in this chaotic situation.
“…What are you trying to do by tearing the empire apart like this?”
As long as the history of the empire was, there were piles of conflicts that had built up over time.
By race, region, and religion.
And it was Dragulia who ignited the conflict.
In the end, if you follow the arrows on the map in reverse order, you will see that they are all pointing to Dragulia.
“…….”
Only by knowing the opponent’s intentions can you deal with their moves.
However, it was impossible to guess Dragulia’s intentions at all from her behavior, so the shade in Josef’s eyes as he looked at the map only grew darker.
※※※※
The departure time was the same, but the direction we had to go was different.
Some go west, some go south.
The lords who had escaped from the steelworker city of Bastopol now began to turn their heads towards their respective territories.
“Now we are the last.”
At the crossroads where they had to part ways, Vlad looked at Alicia who was holding out her hand to him.
Looking at the pure white hand stretched out inside the carriage, Vlad hurriedly held her hand in case it got cold.
“I will take you to Deremar.”
“are you okay. “Because there are knights I brought with me.”
It may be inferior to Vlad, but as Alicia said, it was not lacking in manpower to move to Deermar.
“I have always been grateful to Lord Vlad. “From my parents’ graves until now.”
Alicia’s eyes fell on the burden Noir was carrying.
The baggage carried by the black horse with a dissatisfied expression contained small gifts that the northern lords gave to Vlad as they left.
They may have been insignificant gifts, but they were all tokens of recognition in their own way.
“…I haven’t been able to fully repay you for that, so I don’t want to get in the way of you moving forward.”
Looking at them, Alicia had no choice but to admit it.
The name Hainal is too small a name to hold Vlad any longer.
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As Vlad walked down the hallway, leaving behind the seven lords of the North, he looked bigger and freer than ever.
“go. “I heard you have to go to Sturmah.”
“…….”
As Vlad looked at Alicia, who was smiling while telling him to go, he unconsciously remembered Gemina in Shoara.
This was because the expression on Alicia’s face when she said that she did not want to be disturbed by you at the crossroads where we had to part ways was exactly like Gemina’s from before.
“But I definitely have to go see you at least once….”
“I will definitely come and see you.”
What did you do back then?
What I said to appease Jemina, who was sad about the breakup.
“yes?”
“I don’t know when that will be. “I will definitely stop by Dere Mar.”
I may be leaving now, but I will definitely come back to see you.
I think I said this and Jemina laughed.
“look. “Now I keep it separate.”
Vlad took out a small cloth pouch from his arms and waved it in front of Alicia.
When I opened it, what I saw was a neatly folded handkerchief.
Looking at her handkerchief, which she had now stored away so that it would not be mixed with other ladies’, Alicia stopped laughing even though she was depressed.
When the nest gets smaller, the bird will leave, but the only place it will return to is the nest.
Seeing not only the smile of the rose, but also Vlad, whom Deermar also considered her nest, Alicia was able not to regret the separation even at the crossroads where they had to part ways.
※※※※
There was no wind, but the waves coming into the harbor were rough.
It was a wave created by a huge gesture approaching from far away.
Devius, the head deacon of the Dragon Slayer Knights, raised the collar of his cloak as he saw a large ship approaching from afar.
-What kind of ship is that…
Some soldiers screamed at the top of their lungs as they saw the ship approaching the port.
Even if you raise your eyes, it is a size that is difficult to handle.
This is because the shadow of the ship, which was growing higher as it approached the ground, was looming over them.
– Drop anchor!
-Get off the crossing plank!
A ship arrived at the port amidst the muffled screams of soldiers.
As the red sail, which seemed recognizable from afar, folded, a long crossing board began to fall from the ship towards the ground.
“haha! “I didn’t know this would come out in person!”
A man coming down to the port with a big smile.
The man’s grumpy demeanor was that of a typical sailor, but the clothes he was wearing were made of expensive silk.
“You look a lot better than the last time I saw you on my land!”
“welcome. Duke Barbossa.”
The board was wide enough for two people to climb down, but his physique was strong enough to occupy the entire gap.
And even the southern red hair.
The man’s boisterous smile contained the power and dignity that only a man in his prime could have.
“Thank you for your hard work on the long journey.”
“What trouble? “I wander these streets every day.”
Devious bowed his head politely towards Duke Barbossa, who patted his shoulder without hesitation.
The salty smell of the sea wafted from the man who approached me with a friendly smile.
“It’s been a while since I stepped on the ground, so I’m getting motion sickness.”
The man called Duke Barbossa took out a bottle of alcohol from his pocket, saying that it was times like these when one should drink alcohol.
“It’s late, but Duke Dragullia said he congratulates you on your conquest of the Southern Archipelago.”
“Well, you just have to go to the imperial capital and hear the story for yourself.”
Duke Barbossa answered as if nothing had happened, but his accomplishments were truly remarkable.
This is because, unlike other regions where there was already a firm order system with existing strong powers, such as Ravnoma or Baranov, the Southern Archipelago was a land that had never been ruled by a single family throughout the history of the empire.
“Anyway, I heard you’ve been having trouble lately?”
“That’s right.”
Devious answered politely, but did not take his eyes off the ship coming down from the ship.
The ship that the sailors were lowering to the ground, whining as if it was heavy, was tightly sealed with a silver chain as it contained very valuable items.
“In the end, the North declared independence. It seems that pressure from the West alone was not enough.”
“hmm. “The country is doing very well.”
Duke Barbossa took a sip from the bottle of liquor he was holding and continued speaking while squinting one eye as if the bitter taste lingering on the tip of his tongue was strong.
“That’s why I said Count Gaidar couldn’t do it.”
Although he was greatly defeated, Count Gaidar can still be said to be the ruler of the West.
However, the man called Barbossa was treating him poorly as if nothing had happened.
“I told the Dragon Blood Lord that big things should be done with big people.”
Duke Barbossa carelessly threw away the bottle of alcohol he had just finished drinking.
Jet-black waves were approaching from behind his back as he took off his captain’s hat.
Coming from the blue sea in the distance, they were the private fleet that Duke Barbossa was proud of.
“So you won’t fail this time with me.”
The duke’s winking eyes looked playful, but the waves he brought were not at all as light.
Because he was Duke Barbossa, the Golden Duke, the only duke of the South.
There are only four noble dukes in the empire.
Steelworker of the North (鋼鐵公).
Dragon Blood Gong (龍血公) in the center.
A palace duke of the imperial family.
And now to the Golden Duke of the South.
Now, in an empire where only an obscure emperor remains, four monarchs were facing each other.
They were all people who could build a country just with the value of their name.
