Read Novel Full Chapter 428 – Beginning of the End
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Chapter 428 – Beginning of the End
The end comes suddenly.
“No, unfortunately, it’s a natural result, or rather, it’s a reasonable result, isn’t it?”
“That’s true.”
I nodded in agreement with Kirilovich, the diplomat of the Varyag Empire.
This is the royal castle of Merinesburg. The guest room was not in the back living area where Sylphy and I spent our time but in the office area where the castle officials worked and where outside guests were entertained. It was in this guest room that I had arranged a meeting with Kirilovich. I had received some information from Sir Leonard, who was in charge of the Holy Kingdom on the frontline, or rather on the border, and I called him to share it with him.
“In the central part of the Holy Kingdom, there has been a coup by the Holy Knights. At the same time, a major uprising of subhuman slaves broke out in the western part of the Holy Kingdom. There are also signs of a revolt in the east. As a result, a catastrophic civil war broke out between the Knights of the Church of Adol and the Holy Kingdom’s army, and the Holy Knights and the subhuman slaves.”
“We didn’t do anything.”
“Actually, I think we are the main culprits.”
“But the main culprits were the Holy King-sama of the Holy Kingdom and the higher-ups of the Adol religion, weren’t they?”
“You’re right.”
Kirilovich, agreeing with my statement, smiles bitterly and raises a cup of tea to his lips. I brought the finest Dragonis tea from my last trip to the Dragonis Mountain Kingdom. It is delicious, isn’t it? Well, I can’t tell the difference between it and other teas, except that it tastes like green tea to me.
By the way, when I said that the main culprits were the Holy King and the higher-ups of the Adol religion, I meant that this situation was brought about by the invasion of the Merinard Kingdom by the Holy King, the Pope and the Cardinals, and their continued exploitation and oppression of the subhuman population in accordance with their human supremacist doctrines.
“However, I don’t recall any coup by the Holy Knights regarding the revolt of the western subhumans.”
The Varyag Empire may have been responsible for the revolt of the eastern subhumans, but I dare not go into that here.
“The Holy Knights are the first generation, you know. They must have been unhappy with the way their mother, father, and themselves were treated.”
“First generation?”
“Yes. The elves and other subhumans with high magical power who were taken from the Kingdom of Merinard along with the people of the Holy Kingdom.”
Hearing Kirilovich’s words, I am convinced. It has been a little more than 20 years since the defeat of the Kingdom of Merinard. That’s enough time for the children of the subhumans who were taken away from the kingdom, who have a high level of magic power, to cultivate their strength as soldiers and knights.
“But is it really that bad?”
“I am not talking about the level of horror. It is natural to ‘erase’ the characteristics of a subhuman at an early age. If you’re careless, you’ll be like that right from birth.”
Then Kirilovich makes a gesture as if he were stroking his own neck with the tip of his index finger. This is a story that… makes me sick.
“I hear that some of them dare to do this in front of their mothers and fathers and break their hearts.”
“That is a disgusting story… Really? Do you really think they would do that? It’s like an elaborate suicide. Wouldn’t it be more useful in the future if you could win them over?”
“That may be so, but the people of the Holy Kingdom who are able to obtain such ‘spoils of war’ are almost without exception ‘devout’ Adol worshippers.”
“Oh… I see.”
It is against their teaching to even treat them kindly, let alone be gentle with them. According to their teaching, the more you abuse the subhuman, the more virtuous you are. People in my position might think they are crazy, but if they have been taught that this is the way since they can remember, they will think it is normal.
“Of course, then the Holy Knights are marginalized or even despised, right?”
“Well, yes, they are. In fact, they are extremely skilled in battle. However, even though they have the great name of Holy Knights, they seem to be shunned by the frontline commanders. With no history, no prestige, and full of “half-breeds,” the Holy Knights rarely wield power at the front. Because they take the credit.”
“This is not good at all.”
“It’s not good at all.”
It is beyond ridiculous that they destroyed the Merinard Kingdom to obtain subhuman slaves in order to secure powerful soldiers with high magical backgrounds in the first place, but the fruits of their efforts are marginalized and useless at the front, and they have come to get their heads.
“Somehow, it all backfires on them. Even if we had done nothing, they would have lost the war with the Empire in the near future, wouldn’t they?”
“It would have happened sooner or later. The reason why the Holy Kingdom is quickly on its way to ruin is because of the Merinard Kingdom… or rather the presence of His Excellency Kosuke.”
“What is that? You suddenly picked me up. I’m sorry, but no matter how tempting your offer is, I’m not going to the Empire.”
“I am aware of that, and the Empire has no intention of messing with you, Your Excellency.”
“Really?”
I follow Kirilovich, who laughs bitterly. He says that, but he’s a black-hearted, untrustworthy guy. He looks like a fresh, honest, handsome elf, though.
“It’s true. I mean, the Empire basically doesn’t do anything that would upset the Visitors. Unless there is a special reason.”
“Special reasons, huh? You’ve done me harm before.”
I mean the Qubi thing, of course. He kidnapped me to Merinesburg, you know. I could have been executed there if things had gone wrong.
“That was for a very specific reason. It was a necessary action to bring about the outcome of the present.”
“I know it sounds suspicious. Well, maybe it’s normal in this world to have prophecies and omens and such.”
Qubi had pleaded his case before. Some prophet or priestess or saint or whatever it was from the Varyag Empire told him to kidnap me and take me to Merinesburg or something. It’s annoying to me, but I heard that Ellen had a prophecy that she would meet her destiny in Merinesburg, and it seems that the prophecy to the priestess or something in the Varyag Empire and the prophecy to Ellen are somewhat consistent.
As a result, we regained the kingdom of Merinard and reconciled with Ellen and the Adol nostalgic faction, and so the Holy Kingdom began to roll down the road to ruin. I’m not really interested in the theory of fate or anything like that.
“Will the Varyag Empire take advantage of this to launch an offensive against the Holy Kingdom?”
“It’s hard for me to say. It’s the same for you, isn’t it?”
“Well, that’s true.”
However, we don’t have the luxury of carving up the territory of the Holy Kingdom right now. It is not enough to govern the territory of the Merinard Kingdom, and it is an impossible task to take over a land where the inhabitants are rebellious or do not have good feelings toward the Merinard Kingdom and make it our territory. The return would be much greater if we put more effort into domestic affairs.
In fact, there is an abundance of land in the country. In some cases, it may be more efficient to take farmland or mines that are being cultivated or developed through war, but the current Merinard Kingdom has neither the time nor the reason to make such a choice. I can manage the settlements and mines as much as I want.
“Anyway, I gave you the information. You can probably get information about the east side back home, but information about the west side and whatnot would be invaluable, wouldn’t it?”
“That’s true, but I’m afraid of what you might ask for in return.”
“I have no plans to ask for anything right now. Let’s be friends, shall we?”
“That’s what bothers me the most.”
What a terrible thing to say. I gave him the information with the best of intentions. Well, it looks like the Holy Kingdom won’t be coming for a while. It looks like things are finally going to be peaceful. Domestically.