novelraw Chapter 134
Chapter 134
Ch.134 Hehe… This is My Favorite Tea
The Imperial Capital is now in a state of virtual emergency.
A village had clearly been attacked—but no bodies were found.
The implication was all too obvious.
“The enemy is attacking our citizens! Present a solution at once!”
After all, an army of the dead had formed a raiding detachment and was assaulting nearby villages.
Everyone knew their objective: to bolster their undead forces.
“We must organize a strike force and move troops via the Seine River to repel their attacks.”
“No! Sending a detachment outside the capital now would be throwing our soldiers straight into a death trap!”
“Then are you suggesting we stand by while they slaughter our people?!”
“Even if we concede and form a detachment, once you factor in logistics, any failure would result in catastrophic losses.”
“Do not underestimate the Imperial Army! If we abandon our people, generations to come will curse our names!”
“If we stubbornly persist and incur even greater losses, history will brand us as fools.”
A long, drawn-out debate…
While the Emperor and the Hero Party watched the ministers argue, calmly waiting for it to end…
“But we cannot possibly allow such injustice to happen!”
“Sacrificing the few for the many is sometimes unavoidable! Every single soldier is precious right now—there’s no reason to risk them in a reckless strike force. Didn’t Baron Hans himself say earlier: if the capital falls to the enemy, all living things will perish?”
“Precisely! That’s exactly why we must defend the villages—so they cannot replenish their troops, and we can secure ultimate victory!”
“No. On the contrary, the enemy is attacking civilians precisely because they need to build up their forces. Since they cannot defeat us directly at the moment, they resort to such provocations. Therefore, we must fortify the capital even more.”
Endless back-and-forth among the ministers.
The meeting dragged on for a considerable time, yet no clear decision emerged.
Exhausted by the endless deliberation, the Emperor sighed deeply.
“Huu… So what do you propose we do, then? While we waste time here, the enemy only grows stronger.”
The Emperor’s cold gaze swept across the room.
—We must form a strike force to protect our citizens, Your Majesty!
—We must not form a strike force! Failure is certain, and we would suffer irreparable losses.
Faced with such sharply divided counsel, the Emperor sank into deep thought.
‘Being Emperor is truly impossible…’
Both arguments held merit.
Protecting his people was his sacred duty as Emperor—but if attempting to rescue them led only to pointless military losses?
Naturally, he hesitated.
The Emperor turned his gaze toward Scarlet and her companions.
“Heroes, what are your thoughts on this matter?”
At the Emperor’s question, Scarlet answered without hesitation:
“I believe we must protect the villages.”
After all, Scarlet herself hailed from a rural village—
it was only natural that she’d be the most horrified upon hearing that an army of the dead was turning villagers into undead soldiers.
“And Leah—what do you think?”
“I share Scarlet’s view.”
The Emperor’s eyes then shifted to the Saint.
“And Saint Cecilia—do you feel the same?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I do.”
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, the Emperor fell silent.
Saving them was certainly the right thing to do—
but who could he possibly send?
The size and composition of the enemy detachment raiding the villages remained unknown.
Thus, planning a strike force against an indeterminate threat was difficult—and choosing a capable commander for such a mission was an even greater headache.
The Hero Party possessed the Empire’s strongest fighting power,
but they needed to remain in the capital—no one knew what might happen next.
That left only the Imperial Guard.
Yet losing them would trigger political complications, making it impossible for the Emperor to deploy them.
‘This situation is truly complicated…’
Even if he detached some knights for this mission, finding a qualified leader remained problematic.
It would be ideal if the dragons would help—but those proud creatures dismissed even the Emperor as an ordinary mortal, leaving him frustrated on numerous fronts.
‘Perhaps… I should just order that man to handle it?’
Hans currently enjoyed the full support of the Dragon Lord.
If he could somehow mobilize the dragons…
the entire situation would change dramatically.
Convinced this cunning idea held promise, the Emperor fixed his gaze on Scarlet’s party.
“Hem… Heroes, do you maintain contact with the Adversary?”
“Yes, we regularly communicate with Baron Hans.”
“Then immediately inform him of this crisis and request his counsel. Once we receive his reply, we shall reconvene this council.”
With that, the Emperor adjourned the meeting.
***
Just as I jotted down a note in my notebook—asking Edward to inquire Auros about staying in the Imperial Capital—
“Huh?”
New words began appearing right beneath my writing.
“What’s this?”
Slowly, letters formed into words, and words coalesced into a sentence:
“Those bastards… are raiding villages?”
The army of the dead currently facing off against us in the capital…
Skirmishes had already started breaking out on both sides.
We’d assumed we could hold them off with moderate resistance—but…
“They really did attack the surrounding villages.”
Of course they would—if this weren’t a game, but reality.
“Damn it… what now?”
We absolutely had to stop them from continuously raiding nearby settlements to replenish their ranks.
Getting the dragons’ help would be ideal—but…
that wouldn’t be easy.
The King of the Dead wields Altarion’s Staff.
He keeps teleporting everywhere—if we’re unlucky, one of our dragons might fall and become bound to him.
“Altarion’s Staff is causing all this trouble…”
The conceptual artifact stolen by Selena has twisted everything.
In the original storyline, the King of the Dead would target the Seal Stones,
while his army would focus solely on the capital.
These were two separate events occurring in different locations, allowing players to leave Heroes to defend the capital while chasing the King to destroy the Seal Stones.
That was the intended story—but Altarion’s Staff ruined it all.
Now, the King can choose at any moment to either target the capital or go after the Seal Stones.
“What should I do…?”
The capital can still hold out for now—but the Seal Stones are also a problem.
The King of the Dead has already destroyed one—
and since we can’t predict when he’ll strike next, any response after his appearance would inevitably be too late.
“Regression is already exhausting enough… and now this…”
Time was working against us.
He could attempt this dozens, even hundreds of times—
but a single failure for us would be catastrophic.
I’d pondered this problem for days, yet found no clear answer.
“Maybe I should clear my head for a bit?”
I decided to take a walk in the garden—time for some long-overdue relaxation.
“Huu…”
I breathed in deeply, savoring the fresh air from the lush grass and trees.
Since arriving here, I couldn’t recall a time when things had gone so poorly.
“Hans?”
“Huh? Mia?”
Does she live here or something?
“What’s wrong? Are things not going well again?”
Mia’s gentle, melodic voice—
I should be used to it by now, but…
the thought of her one day wielding a whip or flaying someone alive in that same soothing tone only made her more terrifying.
“Yeah… it’s not going as smoothly as I’d hoped.”
She stepped lightly toward me.
“What’s not working out?”
“Well… I got word from the capital. The army of the dead is raiding villages near the capital, turning people into undead. I’ve been trying to figure out how to stop them.”
Mia’s expression went blank at my words.
“That’s serious…”
“Right? I can’t just ignore it, but I can’t decide how to respond.”
The simplest solution would be asking Auros for dragon support—but…
if we lost even one dragon, it would gut me.
Given how Auros is already a target…
The other option was assembling a strike force—but without knowing how many enemies are raiding the villages, I can’t even gauge which hero to send.
Should I send Giovanni?
If I combine Giovanni with the capital’s knights into a detachment…
teleporting just a dozen or so troops might be manageable?
Just as I was considering this—
Mia cupped my face in her hands.
“You look really worn out…”
She scrutinized every inch of my face.
“Are you getting enough sleep?”
“Haha… well…”
I’d tried to sleep, but hadn’t really rested.
The weight of regression was just too heavy.
“You should rest properly. Good ideas only come when you’re well-rested and relaxed.”
“It’s just… stress, I guess. I can’t seem to sleep well.”
Only then did Mia’s eyes widen slightly.
“Oh… that’s why. Well, we elves have a special tea that soothes the mind and body. How about a cup?”
“Tea?”
I usually preferred coffee.
Since coffee existed in Destiny too, I’d mostly stuck to that—but…
“Yes. It wouldn’t hurt to try it once, would it?”
Curiosity sparked at her suggestion.
This was tea made by elves—those harmony-seeking, nature-loving vegetarians.
I’d never even heard of such tea in the game, so I nodded.
“Alright, why not?”
“Good. Come to my room.”
We headed to her room—a standard guest chamber.
Several such rooms had been prepared in anticipation of visitors.
Mia soon brought out a steaming teapot and an elegant tea set.
“Do you have a favorite type of tea?”
“Not really… I don’t know much about tea.”
She retrieved something from her travel bag and brought it to the tea table.
Then she placed tea leaves into a teapot and poured hot water over them.
“Hehe… this is my favorite tea.”
She seemed unusually cheerful today.
“So the day has finally come—I get to serve you tea!”
She smiled brightly.
Now that she mentioned it…
We’d talked about having tea together before, but…
“Right. We said we’d have tea sometime, but our schedules never matched.”
For a brief moment, Mia’s eyes turned slightly hazy.
“Probably because you were avoiding the others, right?”
Before the Demon King’s defeat, he’d once visited the Hero Party’s camp to meet them.
Of course, meeting them all at once would’ve exposed his identity, so he’d seen them one by one.
I think that was when it happened—
Mia had invited me for tea.
But to drink tea with her, I’d have had to enter the camp—
and that risked encountering the whole Hero Party…
“Didn’t we agree to have tea after defeating the Demon King, back in the capital?”
“Um… I guess so?”
“Honestly, how ridiculous.”
As she spoke, she poured the tea into a delicate cup and handed it to me.
“You’re surprisingly good at lying—yet somehow still awkwardly clumsy about it.”
Then she poured tea into her own cup.
“But still, getting to share tea like this is already something.”
I lifted the pretty teacup and took a sip—
a refreshing floral fragrance, sweet herbal notes, and a hint of pleasant astringency blended smoothly across my palate.
“Tch… I never imagined someone with the title ‘Sage’ would be such a womanizer. Who could’ve predicted you’d use wisdom as an excuse for philandering?”
Though her lips curled into a gentle smile, her reproachful words made me squirm uncomfortably.
She was right—I had no defense.
So I quickly changed the subject.
“Haha… anyway, this tea really is delicious.”
At that, Mia simply smiled without a word,
then shook her head lightly.
“Since you clearly want to change the subject, I won’t press you further. But from now on, drink this tea more often—it helps you sleep well at night.”
I looked down at the tea—
its color is a blend of green and pale yellow.
“I will, from now on.”
Mia nodded.
“Then I’ll brew it for you.”
“Huh…?”
A sinking feeling hit me—I’d just been played.
Review at
NovelUpdate
One for All200[Get access to 20 premium chapters each for over 30 series.
Check out List at Membership page]Unlock next 20 premium chaptersValid for 30 daysPurchase