novelraw Chapter 249 : Floating Territory (3)
Chapter 249 : Floating Territory (3)
“…He is right, Heart.”
The one who interjected, defending Ludwig Allegro’s claim that he hadn’t been pushed aside for the title of ‘Chosen One’ by Isaac Einstein, was none other than Leonardo Louis Button.
“It might be a slightly different route from Ludwig’s… but I was in charge of related duties in the Gateway Zone at the time, so I remember it clearly.”
“……”
“That man did not give up the title of ‘Chosen One’ because he was pushed aside by Isaac Einstein. On the contrary, in the early stages of the Gateway Zone, he showed even greater talent than him.”
It was a shocking story.
This was Isaac Einstein they were talking about, not just anyone.
Even with the caveat that it was during his time in the Gateway Zone, the claim that he possessed a talent greater than the man hailed as a once-in-a-millennium genius was, in itself, hard to believe.
If that were true, all the rumors about ‘Kim Satgat’ known to the Order were wrong.
Separately, a talent of that level was enough to cause a major stir within the Order.
‘A talent greater than Isaac Einstein.’
That in itself was a headline worthy of the front page of any newspaper.
If it were true, it wouldn't be strange for the entire Order to be in an uproar.
Beyond a simple matter of being talented or not, it was akin to discovering ‘another hope’ for the Order’s victory in the War against Demons.
And for that very reason.
Heart could not readily accept Louis’s story.
“…There’s no way. It’s Isaac Einstein we’re talking about, not just anyone. If that’s true, then why until now…”
If it were true, it meant the man before him, clad in rags, was a genius who surpassed Isaac Einstein.
That in itself was a story that made no sense.
If he truly possessed a talent surpassing Isaac Einstein, the Order would have surely made a move long ago, and he would never have remained at the rank of a 1-star Hero, as was commonly known.
Common sense dictated that the Order, which was always short on talent and had to recruit Hero candidates from lower dimensions, would never leave a genius greater than Einstein unattended.
It might have been a different story if he had defected to the Demon King's Army, but here he was, a possessor of such talent, actively working as a Hero within the Order Territory.
It was only logical that they would have shown some movement to give even one extra piece of rice cake to someone with such potential.
However, Heart’s line of thought was dismissed by a short phrase Ludwig added.
“An injury to his mana circuit.”
“……!”
Heart de Garçon’s eyes widened.
“According to the records, he is known to have severely injured his mana circuit while passing the third gate.”
“……”
“Because of the injury he sustained then, he couldn't receive the title of ‘Chosen One,’ and the opportunity went to Isaac Einstein.”
An injury to his mana circuit.
That expression wasn't used for a simple mana circuit overload or a temporary loss of function.
For that, the term ‘abnormality’ was used.
Generally, the term ‘injury’ was used in relation to a mana circuit only when the damage was so severe that natural healing was impossible.
In other words, when it had fallen into a ‘permanent abnormal state.’
Which meant.
“…Well, the rest is obvious. From the Order’s perspective, there was no benefit in revealing every little detail about how a man of great talent injured his mana circuit.”
“……”
“And since it wasn't long before that guy betrayed them and went over to the Demon King's Territory, there was even less reason to reveal the truth.”
“……”
“Instead, they spread rumors like ‘a master of comparable skill still remains in the Order’ to quell the internal turmoil caused by Isaac Einstein at the time, and that's how it's been until now.”
Shrug—
“Well, it seems it was all a lie, though.”
At Ludwig’s brief commentary, Kim Satgat slightly tipped his conical hat and burst into a hearty laugh.
“Hohoho. You've investigated quite thoroughly. I thank you for your interest in me.”
“……”
“Don’t be too angry. In Murim, there’s a saying to hide thirty percent of your strength.”
Shrug—
“As it is, I had quite a hard time because of that friend, Isaac, attracting unnecessary attention.”
“…For someone who says that, you’ve kept it hidden quite well. This strange object, whatever it is.”
“Hohoho. As I said, my role is only to pave the way. As that friend with little hair over there said, it's not something I can hide with my own abilities.”
Shake, shake—
“That is something built up over a long time by my predecessors. I merely placed a spoon on a fully prepared table. And it's not strange at all.”
“……”
His own admission confirmed it.
The rumors the world knew about ‘Kim Satgat’ were literally just ‘rumors.’
The real Kim Satgat had something that even the high-ranking Priests of the Order did not know.
But even as this shocking truth was revealed, Leonardo Louis Button’s gaze was not on Kim Satgat.
Rather.
‘…Just what.’
It was directed at U-jin, who stood silently before him.
The fact that Kim Satgat had hidden his identity even from the Order and had been using ‘1-star Hero’ as a mere calling card was shocking enough.
But from Leonardo Louis Button’s perspective, U-jin, who listened to this news without batting an eye as if he had known all along, was even more surprising.
There was something, something he couldn't quite put into words.
He felt a strange sense of dissonance.
A feeling that U-jin was of a different grain than anyone else present.
He had already heard that U-jin had received the mission of a proxy from the Saintess and was carrying out her prophecies in her stead.
And after experiencing the series of illogical events during the northern subjugation, he already believed it.
But he felt a subtle ‘detachment’ that couldn't be explained by that alone.
It was as if he were observing everything before his eyes from a step back.
‘…….’
The distance to U-jin, who he thought had gotten quite close recently, seemed to have grown even wider.
Where his indifferent eyes were looking, beyond the immediate situation…
He had no clue at all.
* * *
Objectively speaking, even for me, who had experienced the future, conquering the Orc Mountains with the current forces of the subjugation coalition was impossible.
With the Curtain of the Black Sea unfurled, ‘Holy Magic,’ the original power of the Order, had become unusable.
Accordingly, the Holy Magic units, which constituted a significant portion of the subjugation coalition's strength, had been reduced to a force less effective than common soldiers.
Furthermore, the effect of the Curtain of the Black Sea was not limited to just magic suppression.
It blocked the Allied Territory's celestial net, the ‘Satellite Magic,’ which was the Order’s core supply system and the very thing that allowed the Order coalition to be maintained, making continuous mana supply to the subjugation army impossible.
Because of this, the Heroes were currently like smartphones that couldn't be charged.
Unlike the Order’s Priests, it wasn't impossible for them to use mana due to their mana circuit utilization method.
But the moment their mana ran out, they would become nothing more than useless bricks, unable to function at all.
It went without saying that the soldiers' supplies were also dwindling day by day.
And that wasn't all.
While the ‘debuff’ on the Order itself was at a level they had never experienced before, the challenge they faced in that situation…
The ‘buff’ on the Demon King’s Army was also the greatest in history.
The Orc Mountains, which Commander-in-Chief Kanna Cartier had judged to be a force equivalent to a Count's territory despite their long growth, were now deploying ‘Fortification,’ a winning strategy of the Demon King's Army not seen in over 100 years.
Moreover, the Orcs stationed there were not the kind they had faced on the front lines of the War against Demons before.
They had undergone a strengthening that doubled their combat power due to the ‘Improved Black Olives’ created by Isaac Einstein.
It was no exaggeration to say they had become an entirely different species.
Buffs and debuffs.
Considering everything, the subjugation coalition's situation could be described as the ‘absolute worst.’
Honestly, with the Order’s currently weakened subjugation army, conquering the buffed version of the Orc Mountains, which was already considered an impregnable fortress, was practically impossible no matter who tried.
I, too, thought that a successful conquest was impossible with the given conditions.
Amidst the overlapping misfortunes, they would be lucky not to be annihilated, let alone achieve an easy victory.
Besides.
‘…There’s one more thing.’
Although it hadn't revealed itself yet, the traps Isaac Einstein had left behind didn't end with the enhanced Orcs.
Considering Isaac Einstein’s final trap, hidden deep within the Orc Mountains, blindly pushing for an attack in the current situation was no different from a suicide mission that would lead to total annihilation.
And.
‘…So. You're telling us to go and say some Hero nobody showed up claiming to be the Saintess's mouthpiece and that the Northern Subjugation is a trap.’
‘…….’
‘Everyone at the Order's headquarters, let's just stop.’
Shrug—
‘Is that what you want me to say?’
‘No… we have to proceed with it, the Northern Subjugation.’
…Nevertheless, the reason I didn't try to stop the Northern Subjugation, even to screw over Isaac Einstein, was because I had something else I was counting on.
“…Now that I think about it, I believe I've heard of it. I just never thought it actually existed.”
“……”
“To think the legendary Floating Territory actually exists……”
At Louis Button’s low murmur, the old man in the satgat burst into a hearty laugh.
“Hohoho. It's only natural that you don't know. Say, if just anyone knew about it, would it really be called a legend?”
He nodded as he spoke as if it were obvious, but there was a contradiction in his words.
“……”
The person who had let out the exclamation in front of him was none other than Leonardo Louis Button, who held the highest rank among the High Priests in the Order.
Next to him, with a dumbfounded expression, was the head of the UMC, a secret agency directly under the Order's headquarters.
And behind him, with a look of disbelief, was the Valkyrie, the greatest female Paladin warrior, Kanna Cartier.
If the people gathered here were ‘just anyone,’ it made one wonder who the ‘not just anyone’ could possibly be.
Of course, no one present voiced such a thought.
Such things weren't very important anyway.
What was important here was the true nature of this legendary ‘Floating Territory,’ and why it had appeared at this very moment, at this very time.