Chapter 287

EPISODE 287 – ARGON EMPIRE (2)

“What?! Then we’re at war with the empire?!”

When Kajsa shouted in surprise, everyone was startled and turned to Dahlia.

“W-well… There is no war yet. I think.”

Dahlia said so, but even she herself was unsure about it.

Because of the proven history between the kingdom and the empire.

‘War always broke.’

The termination of the armistice agreement and the blockade of borders.

Up until now, it had always led to a war when something like this happened.

“But we don’t know yet. We don’t know how long it will take until there’s a direct battle. There’s a possibility that it will end up as a mere demonstration of force.”

Lucas said in the calmest tone possible.

It seemed like he was talking to himself rather than others.

The Sälen Kingdom and Argon Empire had been fighting relentlessly since the founding of the kingdom.

In particular, the two had been at war eight times over the last 100 years alone because of the Cilates Plains, the continent’s largest breadbasket.

Obviously, not all of those eight times were huge fights, but there was also a big war that lasted for several years.

‘Jude.’

Cordelia pulled Jude’s sleeve with an anxious face and Jude tried to put on a calm expression.

“It is as Lord Lucas said. There is no war yet.”

Once he said that, Lucas was the first person to sigh in relief.

Jude thought as he felt everyone’s eyes on him.

‘There was no war in the original storyline.’

It was natural that there was no war since the Sälen Kingdom itself ceased to exist back then, but that was not the only reason.

‘Because the entire empire had not been taken over by the demon followers.’

The power of the emperor in the Argon Empire was peculiarly not strong.

Although it was in name only, there were electors in the remote areas who had the power to elect an emperor, and there was also a strong administrative organization centered on the chancellor inside the empire that supported the emperor and kept him in check at the same time.

There was also the possibility that the chancellor had sided with the demon followers as in the case of the Lord Protector and First Sword.

Even in the game when one played as Leon or Maximilian, several confrontation events successively occurred with the imperial chancellor and his fallen subordinates.

But in the original, the demon followers did not fully control the politics of the empire.

Because there was a group within the empire that could never be dominated by demon followers, and at the same time, had a strong influence.

‘The elf mafia.’

To be exact, the elf capitalists.

In his previous life, the Jewish capitalists exerted a strong power not only in the business world but also in the political world.

Unlike the elves of the Sälen Kingdom who lived in the Forest of Eternity, the elves of the Argon Empire had already been living as empire citizens for hundreds of years.

There weren’t that many elves in the empire since elves had a hard time having offspring.

It was no exaggeration to say that the number of elves in the thousands was only a very small number when compared to the humans who numbered in the millions or the dwarves who numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

But the elves had a lot of money.

In particular, one could say that the financial sector was the stronghold of the elves.

‘A long life and eternal youth.’

It was the way the elves made money.

The empire used to be a small country in the past.

The worth of things were bound to rise in the long run, and the empire continued to prosper for hundreds of years without collapsing.

In other words, as an example, the value of land bought a hundred years ago was bound to rise a hundred years later.

If this happened to humans, only their descendants would be happy, but not for the elves.

They were a race that could make long-term investments in terms of 100 or 200 years.

Long-term investments obviously could fail too.

But fortunately, the capitalist Vincenzo Lombardi, who was known as the father of the imperial elves, was an investment genius, so the elves succeeded in amassing vast amounts of capital over the past hundreds of years under his leadership.

So in Legend of Heroes, the elves were also called HODL elves, but anyway, the most important thing was that the HODL elves, or the elf capitalists, had never once partnered with the demon followers.

‘It’s not easy to control them.’

Long life and eternal youth were what the demon followers used the most to attract those in power.

After all, the Lord Protector fell for those two things.

However, the elves were basically born with those two things to begin with.

Then, the next thing they could offer was power, but the imperial elves were already the ruling class. Moreover, only those who had risen to a certain level by elven standards were able to engage in external activities, so whether it was in swordsmanship or magic, they were viewed as experts by humans.

Naturally, one could find people the demon followers could somehow convince if they deeply searched.

Greed existed in creatures regardless of whether they were human or elves.

But since there was only a few of them, it was almost impossible to control the entire elf capitalists.

‘In short, they’re a race that has a strong defense against temptation.’

War was a costly thing, so for elves who had the most money in the empire, it was a field that they were the most influential.

‘The elf capitalists basically don’t want war though.’

Or to be exact, they didn’t want a war they couldn’t win.

Because the past history had proven that there was no huge benefit in waging war with the Sälen Kingdom over the Cilates Plains.

‘We still have time.’

They had time.

Even if there was a butterfly effect, the whole empire would not have fallen into the hands of the demon followers.

‘The most likely one to have fallen is the chancellor.’

His group had a lot of demon followers mixed in even in the original storyline.

It was highly likely that they had tempted the imperial chancellor and attracted him to their side, just like what they did to the Lord Protector.

‘Let’s stop here. These are things we can’t solve right now anyway.’

They had to go to the empire as originally planned.

But Jude couldn’t open his mouth.

Because it was highly risky to proceed with their existing plan.

‘It’s different from before.’

The wild lands, the royal capital, and the southern region.

All of these places were not complete enemy territory.

There were eastern tribes that had not been corrupted in the wild lands, and there were powerful forces that could be trusted in the royal capital like his father, Count Bayer.

In the south, there were the 7 southern families and the heroes of Paragon led by his master, Landius.

But not in the empire.

Their connection with the Guardians of the Holy Cross which they had believed in was suddenly cut off, and they didn’t know how the demon followers took control of the empire. Many of the high-ranking demonic humans who had fled from the Sälen Kingdom must have joined them, so the current empire was an unknown land of high risk.

‘But we still have to go.’

The problem wouldn’t be solved if they didn’t go.

What they could do in the Sälen Kingdom was too limited.

They wouldn’t be able to stop the war from happening.

‘The Great Tribulation.’

It was what the Great Summons needed.

The real reason why the demon followers wanted the kingdom and the empire to wage war.

The more time passed, the more likely the situation would get worse.

So before the war broke out, they needed to enter the empire and change the situation.

But why?

Why can’t I open my mouth even though I know that it’s necessary?

Jude looked to his side without realizing it. He glanced at Cordelia who was holding on to his sleeve and trying to maintain a calm expression.

Cordelia met eyes with Jude.

Her blue eyes filled with her repressed anxiety blinked a few times, and she fixed her expression at some point. She glanced at Jude before releasing her grip on his sleeve and turned to everyone as she said.

“Let’s go to the empire as planned. It’s most likely a plot of the demon followers. So let’s head to the empire and solve the problem.”

The situation had worsened, but what needed to be done had not changed.

When Cordelia said those words, Lucas and the group nodded vigorously except for Jude, but there was one more exception.

“Miss?! The empire?! Did you say that you’re going to the empire now?”

“Ah, my mistake.”

She hadn’t told Dahlia about it yet.

It was obvious that everyone would stop them if they said that they were going to the empire now, though she wasn’t sure if it would be the same if it was before the situation changed.

“Miss?!”

“That is…”

Cordelia awkwardly smiled and glanced at Jude. He gestured to her to go and do something about Dahlia.

“I will explain everything. Come with me.”

Cordelia grabbed Dahlia’s hand and they left, so the group’s attention shifted to Jude again.

“Oppa?”

Jude nodded at Red Wind’s call. He also repeated what Cordelia had said.

“We’ll proceed as scheduled. So please get ready.”

“I understand.”

“Okay.”

Lucas and Kajsa responded with determined expressions on their faces before leaving the room, and Red Wind and Sun Song also returned to their rooms.

“I will contact you soon.”

Kamael’s crow also left after a few minutes.

Jude went back to his room and sat down at his desk.

Even if this world had magic, the news was likely to arrive later than in his previous life.

So it was highly probable that the empire had declared the termination of the armistice agreement and the blockade of its borders at least one day before.

‘So we have to go now.’

Count Bayer and Count Chase would most likely be summoned due to the emergency situation.

Gaël and Adelia were also newly married, but it was unlikely that they would remain here under this circumstances.

Therefore, Jude opened the stationery.

He had to leave a letter saying that they would be leaving.

But it was at that moment.

[My successor.]

“Yes, Valencia-nim.”

[…No. Let’s talk later. Now is not the time for this.]

“Valencia-nim?”

[Later. But we must talk. This is something really important for you, my successor.]

He wondered what she meant.

But since Valencia wasn’t the kind of person to talk nonsense except when talking about two-timing, Jude nodded first.

“I understand. Let’s do that.”

Jude consciously took a long breath and stared at the stationery again.

Normally, he would have written a letter saying that he was going on a trip with his beloved Cordelia. If the situation hadn’t changed, he would have written it that way, but the content had to be changed this time.

‘We’re going to the empire.’

To prevent the war.

To stop the plot of the demon followers and thereby create a world without a Great Summons.

[Please also write that this will be the last time you’ll run away from home without permission.]

Valencia’s words struck him, so Jude unconsciously smiled.

Because it was as she said.

“I will. If all goes well, this will be the last time.”

No, if I think about it, can we even call it ‘running away from home’ if me and Cordelia are already living separately from our families?

‘Cordelia.’

The conversation they had on Gaël’s wedding day.

The ring he gave her while talking about the next step.

‘The next step.’

A relationship progress that would be a bit more than it was now.

[Are you thinking of something lewd now?]

Valencia’s sharp remark startled Jude who was lost in his thoughts, and he cleared his throat.

She wasn’t exactly wrong.

But it was really not the only thing that he was thinking of.

Of course, Jude was a man, and Cordelia seemed to be hoping for the next part these days, so it was actually a very natural–

[My successor, do you know that you’re seriously obsessed now?]

“Ahem, ahem.”

Jude coughed as Valencia gave sharp remarks, and he organized his thoughts again.

The next part.

Their battle against the demon followers would be over, and they would have stopped the Great Summons.

“For a perfect happy ending.”

After that, the two would live happily ever after.

That completely cliché ending was what they wanted to achieve.

Jude unconsciously recited those words again before finishing the letter. He left the room to find Cordelia.

***

The witch of the west forest woke up amidst the darkness.

She had not figured out everything yet.

Finding the truth was never easy.

But she found a clue. So she was confused.

“It’s a bit different.”

It was not the truth that the witch had thought.

The witch closed her eyes again.

She once again read the records of the world.