Chapter 19

Krevinada Kingdom

“It is ready Madam.” A servant bowed and silently left the room.

Inside the room, a lady in her mid-twenties is sitting in a chair while staring blankly in the sky across the window. She fled the Evergreen town and another half a year has passed since then. She was reading the reports with the help of Adarna. The network they built already encompasses the entirety of Northern human alliance. With how efficient and easy to manage the network is, the amount of information is vast.

Adarna is the key point of this network but Lisa was the one who makes the final decisions on what to do next. Lisa was reading the information regarding the neighboring country Feliciano which was doing some covert operations without the knowledge of Krevinada Kingdom. Lisa was wondering what those spies are doing and how come they have not sent any information for the last two months already.

The Feliciano Kingdom is just a few kilometers from the Krevinada Kingdom. One can basically say that they are sharing a border because their walls are just facing each other within eyesight. Both of Krevinada and Feliciano are small kingdoms compared to the super Empires out there. Their lands only amount about 1/36 of the total land of the empires. Even if their land is small, their population is relatively healthy and their manpower is just enough to make the kingdom running.

The soldiers they sent to the frontlines were all dual specialized. The Krevinada is a land full of hunters that mostly get their supplies in the surrounding forest of their kingdom. The Feliciano kingdom on the other hand is a land full of smiths. The soldiers they sent to the frontlines back then are also smiths and rarely have to take weapons to clash with the enemies. Now that those soldiers are back, their kingdom started to prosper once again. The two countries always do trade and the weird and covet actions of Feliciano kingdom is tainting the good relationship that they have built so far.

“So they are building a flying fortress.” Lisa threw the file after reading it towards the table.

“Just like how the demon lord said. They make weapons to preserve peace. What an Irony.”

Lisa sighed and massaged her brows to ease the stress building in her. She only got to where she is now a month ago and work has piled up like a mountain already. At first, she built a small store where she sold information and somehow the officials of Krevinada took interest and decided to test the information. Of course that information is from the network Adarna has created.

The information range from the hostile kingdoms around Krevinada and some useful resources the kingdom can utilize. When the officials realized that the personal power of the owner of the no name store was also at fourteenth tier, they panicked at first but calmed down when they did not see any malice from Lisa. From then on, they built a good relationship and the royalty welcomed the presence of the mysterious Lisa. They can forcefully take Lisa with their power but they decided not to since they are afraid of who is behind Lisa. The information gathering speed and efficiency of the little store was lightning fast and clear as day which helped on scaring the royalty and the officials.

From then, Lisa was tempted with favors every day and it was not wise to always refuse them. At the end of all the bothersome things, she ended up as a noble of Krevinada kingdom. She was ranked as an Earl but she has so much work at her hand. She was not happy about it but she knows that power alone is not enough. She needs a country backing her up on whatever she needs to do. She needs Krevinada to grow stronger with her help and when the time is right, she can finally implement the plans she and Adarna formulated.

“All for saving humanity.” Lisa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I am doing the right thing.”

Should I send this information towards the king?

Lisa looked at Adarna for a moment. The information needs to be known by the king but it will somehow crack the relationship of both kingdoms. They have lived in peace for so long and with how chaotic the alliance is now, a fortress may inspire fear in the heart of other kingdom around Feliciano. Krevinada is also not immune to that. Lisa was worried if this information will do any good at all.

Feliciano might not be planning on going to war but who knows when they will decide to when they see that they can just overpower other countries around them. Power is a double edged sword after all. It can scare away predators or one can be the predator instead. In the end, there is no simple answer.

“Send it anyway. The king will decide on what he shall do with it. They still have a good relationship and that might help in anyway.” In the end, Lisa decided to send the information.

Lisa changed so much that anyone that knows her in the past will only recognize her face but not her presence. The Lisa as of now is really far compared to the naïve little lady back then. The sheltered vibe around her is now gone. Lisa has progressed not just on her magic and mastery but also on her mentality.

“The kingdoms will also move accordingly. The entire smaller kingdom will soon move.”

There are four other kingdoms near Krevinada. They are also small kingdoms and middle sized which boast a great military power. It is only a matter of time before those kingdoms acts on their interests. The situation is not peaceful like how she imagined in the past. The demon lord acted like a true bind to keep humanity as one. Now that there is no one to keep humanity as one, they all acted for their own benefit. The humanity which tenaciously went forward to meet the demon lord army is now in shambles with no sign of cooperation at all.

Lisa can only shook her head in disappointment. She really hopes that humanity can act better than the current situation. Everyone is busy on their own goals while neglecting the bigger picture. The challenge to humanity is not limited in any amount of years but she can’t see any light on her case. The once proud and unified humanity crumbled with a simple disappearance of someone. It made her laugh how a single being can influence all of the things happening in Mirth. She was wondering if she can also become someone like that. One that can call up storms and silence it if she wills.

Lisa can only dream for now but she is trying to reach that goal. The first step is to have sufficient power to not get neglected like her in the past. The next step is to reach a certain position where her words will be taken seriously. When she reaches the two, then she may have a chance to show the demon lord that humanity will also live well without his presence. A presence that only hunger for destruction can never be the one thing that will save humanity.

I’m sure things will change for the better my lady. We are here after all.

Lisa was comforted by Adarna’s words somehow. Adarna has been there when she was down to her lowest and even now he was supporting him with all his might. Just Adarna’s presence is pushing Lisa to try harder. With a big supporter like him, she felt like there is an army behind her.

“I will be sure to keep up with the expectations” Lisa chuckled and finally went up to take the box that was left by the servant earlier.

“Are you sure that you want to bring this thing in this world?” Lisa asked Adarna one more time.

The thing inside the box is the mother of all destruction in many worlds but Adarna told her that the weapon is not at fault but the ones who wield it. Lisa was skeptical about it but if she wants to solidify her presence in Mirth then this is the only way. She can slowly solidify her presence by working her way up but this thing in the box is the huge step on that process.

Lisa was hesitant in taking this thing out of the box. She knows that when this thing goes outside the box, then the world will change forever and she will not be able to stop the development of this monster.

You can choose to not use this thing my lady. The future can be achieve where you can stand on top of the alliance and make your words be the rule. This thing is just here as one of your options.

“I see.” Lisa closed her eyes for a moment.

Once this thing is introduced then her name and influence will take a qualitative leap. She is deliberating if the time she needs to reach that level is worth the danger that comes with this thing.

“I don’t know when Drake will deem that humanity is useless. I can’t hope for him to just keep on watching. He will surely stumble upon unfavorable circumstance that will push him to negative conclusion and that will spell doom for all of us. The time I will save to unite humanity…”

“Let’s take the risk and show him that our human race is not one to head into ruin even without him.”

Year xxxx

A new weapon was introduced into Mirth. The way humanity battle changed significantly due to the new weapon brought by a woman from Krevinada Kingdom. The weapon in not yet widespread but no one dares to mess with the Krevinada Kingdom anymore. The regulation of the weapon is very strict and anyone aside from the army carrying it will be executed on the spot. Anyone who tries to smuggle it will be fed to the dogs outside the street for everyone to see. Some spy braved and bet their life to get a hold of the weapon but miserable failed. The silent watchers kept the entire spy on their watch and sent them all to the execution grounds.

Soon the weapon became the mainstream of the Krevinada kingdom. Knights no longer held sword and shields but long barreled sticks which spout fire.

Lisa Evergreen’s name became the bringer of new age.

Khoten Empire

Klein regained his former glory when his empire is once again rebuilt. The empire which was nearly got destroyed by a single breath of an ancient dragon apparition is now regaining its life. The citizens that ran away when the disaster struck is now slowly going back and the establishments are now under repair. The huge reward the empire got for clashing with the demon lord’s army is now being used like water. There may not be many left when the repairs are done but the attraction for those that lost their homes is enough to compensate.

An empire without its people is no empire. It’s just a uselessly large desolate land. The Khoten Empire used to be the top and the strongest empire there is on the entire northern human alliance but when the sudden breakout of the war tore the empire, it lost most of its power. The lands are scorched and the farmlands evaporated along with the lives that maintain them. The small towns are desolate and only the capital managed to survive the ordeal. Most of the nobles are fine but those that stayed on their territory fell under the breath of the dragon. Some were fortunate that their territory does not alight with the breath but their lands were also scorched.

The magicians of the alliance helped in restoring the lands but they can never bring back the lives that were lost along the way. The plants can be planted, the land can be revitalized but no one was able to bring back the farmers. The empire made plans on how to revitalize their territory and they offered lands towards the wandering tribes nearby. They were granted their own territory in exchange that they will pledge their loyalty towards the empire. The tribes were happy to oblige and soon the empire regained nearly 70% of its former population.

Klein was busy with the things an emperor needs to do. He might be a Supreme magus but his mind is only that of a single person. The amount of things that he needs to look at is nearly as tall as a mountain and it is making his head really hurt. Klein was almost staying within his study room to approve and edit the proposals the nobles sent him to look at. The revival of the empire is a huge task and all of the nobles are working whole heartedly. The competition between them is still on but they need to revive the empire first before fighting for more power.

Klein was happy to see that but the amount of work he needs to do is nearly inexhaustible. The pile never seems to go down even by a little even though he was working nearly 24/7. He already called for help and there are another twelve nearly lifeless officers at his side furiously flipping the papers and organizing them for the emperor to sign or discard.

While working, Klein kept on thinking about his cousin. He was feeling guilty about sending knights to apprehend his cousin just because of suspicion but he really was afraid that Lisa and the demon might be cahoots. If that really happen, then his empire will really disappear. Despite that, he can’t help but feel guilty about it.

He knows how naive Lisa can be. He was afraid that the demon lord might have used that and got Lisa under his wings. The demon lord is really a hateful fellow. Even without him doing anything, he can cause endless trouble. Because of such event, he lost his cousin and he is a bit sad about it. He felt conflicted losing her cousin but also relieved that there is no more invisible threat in his empire.

Klein did not pursue wherever Lisa went. He did not want to be that ruthless to his own blood in the end. He only searched around his empire for a few months and stopped. He did not even bother posting wanted posters inside his empire and let the people forget Lisa as soon as possible. He was successful in doing so until something shocking happened.

A faraway small kingdom is in possession of a great tool of war. Countless knights lost their life facing this device while the kingdom did not lose a single soldier on their side. The information tells of a weapon that is far superior compared to the magic bows the empires of north are so proud of. The weapon is said to have astonishing penetration power and can do a massive sweep with proper strategy.

If Klein said that he is not interested in having this power then he is a hypocrite. For him, one can’t be too powerful. More power means more option when facing problems. He started gathering information about this small kingdom from the north east and was astonished to discover that this weapon only appeared recently. It was said that a foreign mage brought it to this kingdom and is not widely use. The security of this weapon is so strict that no smuggling can be done. Spies that braved their lives only met death empty handed due to something mysterious foiling their plans. The Kingdom started to appear so mysterious that even Klein started to worry.

The emergence of a new type of power is never welcome. This new power is not in his control and no other major empire holds the reign to this power. That means that there can be no negotiation to be done. They can pressure this kingdom into submission but they are not confident about how much they will lose along the way. The war with the demon lord is done and humanity has lost so much of its forces. Even now, the situation is only stable at the surface but deep down the situation starts to turn sour once again.

Klein put more man power to uncover this mysterious kingdom and finally pinned point the origin of this weapon. A name which he knows very well popped up. Lisa Evergreen is the center of all this. His cousin which disappeared six months ago is now changing the way war is done. With this new weapon on the kingdom’s hand, no other kingdom is able to stand up to its might. One kingdom which tried to force their way only faced a devastating losses and forced to go home with the shadows of defeat painted on their backs.

The worst part is this kingdom’s location is near the seas of north east. That means that no surprise attack can be done to this kingdom and can only be faced head on. With the weapon in hand, even normal civilians can turn into a meat grinder when war is upon then. The magician of this land started to lean towards wind magician which can fly in the sky too and can rely on this weapon to decimate the opposing troops. The power balance between the commoners and magician/knights is starting to crumble.

Klein knows that it is only a matter of time before humanity falls into another war because of the appearance of this new power. Even Klein is afraid of this power which he could not grasp and he is also forced to make arrangement. He can only feel bitter because all this stems from his beloved cousin. He can only remind himself of the image of her naive cousin. If he protected his cousin then he wonders if that power will be in his empire instead.

He shook his head to dismiss the thought. The reality is harsh and he is facing a huge problem because he decided to forsake his family. He can only face it head on and take control of this device. Magic have the upper hand for the present time but if this new weapon further develops then the position of the magician and knights in the world of Mirth might be overthrown. He can only keep smiling bitterly with how things happened.

“Cousin Lisa, are you really a pawn of the demon lord to topple humanity?”

His voice echoed the empty throne room.