novelraw Chapter 657 : Reason for the Wall
Chapter 657 : Reason for the Wall
Chapter 0657 Reason for the Wall
Translator: Jay_Forestieri
Editor: Tseirp
“I apologize for springing this on you without prior consultation.”
Before Ryo, Lord Protector Kabui Somal, bowed his head.
“Oh, please don’t worry about it. I half-expected as much.”
Ryo answered with a smile.
He looked pleased to be of use.
“Long ago, the Bralcow—was it called the Rainshooter when it was built? I pictured the scene where you protected that ship from the Atinjo Grand Duchy’s magic bombardment.”
“Ah, yes. I’m a water-attribute magician, so defending is my specialty.”
“After that, with ice spears you sank all five ships...”
“Yes, yes. That was the
Ryo replied happily to Kabui Somal’s words.
Just then, Captain La Wu of the Tenth Ship arrived.
“Lord Kabui Somal, my apologies for my earlier rudeness. I want you to understand that I did not intend to shame you.”
“Of course. This is a life-and-death campaign. There should be no restraint in speech at such a meeting. Candid opinions are what save our subordinates’ lives.”
Both La Wu and Kabui Somal were men of the sea—originally naval sailors.
They apparently did not fuss over small things.
“When we sail north from Boago, the ports we call at will basically trace the route the port where Princess Shio Fen stopped for her public debut.”
“That’s right. They’re all realistically well-equipped port cities, so including supplies, we should be fine regardless of circumstances.”
La Wu nodded in reply to Kabui Somal’s confirmation.
Since La Wu’s Tenth Ship had been part of Princess Shio Fen’s fleet, they knew all those ports well.
“Will the flagship really be placed on the Lone Dark? I don’t mean to be rude, but the Tenth Ship of the public fleet is one of the hardest Darwei vessels to sink. If we have to face their fleet, there will be many scenes where the flagship leads the front. Even considering the worst case, isn’t it better that it not be the Tenth Ship?”
La Wu asked.
“Yes, I think you’re absolutely right.”
Kabui Somal laughed and nodded.
Then he continued.
“However, the Lone Dark seems to bring luck. Captains and sailors tend to value such things, don’t they?”
“I see. I agree completely.”
Kabui Somal and Captain La Wu laughed and nodded.
They left the room to receive reports from their subordinates.
“Nice, isn’t it? Sailors together—men of the sea, you know?”
“I know what you mean. That sort of thing probably only really connects between specialists of the same trade.”
Ryo and Abel talked about Kabui Somal and Captain La Wu.
“Will Abel become like that someday?”
“Me? A specialist in what?”
“...Governance?”
“Governance? Who would I connect with?”
“...Emperor Rupert of the Empire, or King Roberto Pirlo of the Union?”
“Sorry, I can’t picture that at all.”
“Even I, saying it myself, couldn’t imagine it.”
It seemed unlikely that specialists would immediately connect in that way.
“Maybe it’s more likely between swordsmen?”
“Oh, that makes sense. For example—who?”
“...Mifa?”
“Isn’t that... a bit off?”
“Even I, saying it myself, couldn’t imagine it.”
Master and disciple, it seemed, were something different.
While such meetings were being held in the city of Boago in southern Darwei; further north of Darwei.
In the capital Prin of the Peiyu country, which had fallen to the Choouchi Empire.
At the temporary Phantom King’s residence—
“My lord, His Majesty the Emperor is...”
“I told you no envoy is necessary!”
Cutting him off, a man of luxurious Eastern attire entered the Phantom King’s room.
His features resembled Envoy Berke and the Phantom King, but he appeared to be about sixty years old.
Compared to the two of them, he also gave a notably slender impression...
“Your Majesty, for deigning to visit such a shabby place...”
“No greetings are necessary!”
The slender man cut off the Phantom King’s greeting.
He was Wanshan Ku, Emperor of the Choouchi Empire.
Having now even occupied the Peiyu nation and become, in name and in fact, an ‘empire’ recognized by neighboring states... as the ruler of that country he seemed without ease.
But that was always the case whenever Emperor Wanshan Ku stood before the Phantom King.
He could not help but understand that the Phantom King—who could move all the Phantomkins at will—occupied a stronger position than himself as emperor.
And it was all the more so if that being was his own child.
Moreover, it would be even more so if that child had once been cast out of the court as an object of revulsion...
However, there was something that had to be said.
“Help me take Darwei.”
The tone left no room for refusal.
The Phantom King, however, smiled faintly when told.
An affected smile, as if he were deliberately pondering something.
Then the Phantom King spoke.
“Even without my aid, I suppose one could easily destroy a place like Darwei if Emperor Your Majesty used the full force of your prestige—”
“Silence!”
Emperor Wanshan Ku’s sharp words struck the Phantom King.
But they had no effect at all.
“You know that I hate Darwei, do you not?”
“Because you were once sealed by Darwei’s alchemists, yes.”
“Exactly! For thirty years... I was sealed in the depths of a darkness where I could neither hear nor see. I will never forget that humiliation.”
Emperor Wanshan Ku uttered words that could be called a cry of the soul from the depths of his heart.
It was, in truth, a curse.
A curse against Darwei and a curse upon Emperor Wanshan Ku himself... the Phantom King understood that.
As a curse, it was pointless to reason with or explain.
The only way to be freed from a curse was to have one’s wish fulfilled.
The Phantom King let out a small, truly small, sigh.
“Help me.”
Emperor Wanshan Ku said again, this time gravely.
The Phantom King shrugged slightly and answered.
“There are two conditions.”
“What?”
Emperor Wanshan Ku frowned.
He made no effort to hide his displeasure.
“One: place all the ‘Vessels’ under my command. Your Majesty’s main force can still make full use of the monsters, so that should pose no problem.”
“...And the other condition?”
“Once Darwei’s imperial capital falls, grant Berke the Choouchi Empire’s home territory.”
“What did you say? What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said.”
Emperor Wanshan Ku not only frowned but also tilted his head.
He could not understand the meaning of handing over the Choouchi homeland.
“Your Majesty can take the throne of Darwei. Therefore, give the Choouchi homeland to Berke.”
“Are you saying I cannot have it all?”
“No, you may have it if you obtain it.”
Emperor Wanshan Ku trembled as he questioned, and the Phantom King shook his head slightly in reply.
“Therefore, under the rule of Your Majesty, hand the Choouchi homeland to Berke. If something happens in Darwei’s territories, as long as the homeland is safe, we Phantomkins can try again as many times as needed.”
One minute later.
“Agreed. I will grant command of the ‘Vessels,’ and upon Darwei’s fall, I will entrust the homeland to Berke.”
“Thank you.”
At Emperor Wanshan Ku’s words, the Phantom King bowed.
Several hours later.
“Seven-Star General Marie Cloche, I have come to deliver the item requested by the Leader.”
Marie knelt with formal courtesy and presented her report.
“...Three weeks? Isn’t that taking too long?”
The Phantom King, the Leader, complained with the corner of his mouth raised.
“If we rush and spill it, it would be bad, wouldn’t it? It’s in a jar—the uncoagulated blood of the Darwei Emperor. Transporting something like that over roads that aren’t even paved, full of ruts and bumps, or on beast-paths you couldn’t even call roads, loaded in carts and hauled all this way. Really!”
At first, she had used polite phrasing and knelt with deference, but soon that was cast aside and Marie’s frank tone emerged.
She never openly defied the Phantom King, but the lack of politeness in her manner was as always.
“Well, fine. You didn’t want to take part in the attack on Peiyu anyway, did you?”
“If you already know, don’t ask. I have no taste for tormenting weaklings.”
“And if it’s an order?”
“If it’s an order, I’ll obey. But if I can, I’d rather fight strong opponents.”
Marie said it plainly.
“Was Duke Rondo strong?”
“Yes, he was strong.”
Marie said that, and as if recalling something she looked briefly upwards and continued.
“He wasn’t overwhelmingly so. So if the circumstances had been just a little different, I might have won...
Thinking that makes me really frustrated. Ah, but then again, strength is that ‘little difference’. When I think like that, he really was strong.”
Marie nodded several times.
“He’s different from the vampire you lost to long ago.”
“Obviously. But both...”
Marie looked straight at the Phantom King and said clearly.
“Both of them are monsters.”
Having left the audience chamber, Marie was immediately stopped by a guard.
“The Leader requests your presence in the study.”
“Hmm.”
Marie entered the study.
“You called?”
Her subordinate’s tone was full of complaint.
As usual, the Phantom King did not scold her.
He produced a sheet of paper from atop the desk.
It was the document Marie had submitted upon arrival.
“I read your letter.”
“Yes.”
“It says you wish to leave the Empire—what do you mean by that?”
“Exactly that. It means exactly what it says.”
Marie shrugged at the Phantom King’s words.
“It doesn’t seem to be about dissatisfaction with treatment or anything like that.”
“No, I’m not particularly discontent about that. I just... want to go out for a while.”
“Because you lost to Duke Rondo?”
“Maybe that’s part of it.”
Marie tilted her head as she answered.
Indeed, that may have been the immediate trigger, but it didn’t feel like the main reason.
“I want to visit the Western Countries and the Dark Continent for a bit.”
“I see, the Western Countries and the Dark Continent.”
At Marie’s words, the Phantom King sank heavily into his chair and replied.
After thinking for a while, the Phantom King spoke.
“You know that in the current state you cannot go to the Western Countries, right?”
“Because the ‘Corridor’ is impassable, isn’t it? You have to open the ‘Wall’, and for that, you needed the Darwei Emperor’s blood. Now that we have it... Leader, you can open it, can’t you? After all, you want to go to the Central Countries in the first place.”
“To be precise, I don’t need to open it.”
“Pardon?”
Marie tilted her head at the Phantom King’s remark.
“It took time, but preparations to open the ‘Wall’ are complete. All that’s left is to pour in the Darwei Emperor’s blood and wait a while, and a ‘key’ will be formed. With that, anyone... any Phantomkin with a certain amount of mana can open it.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Marie didn’t seem very interested.
“I want Marie to use that ‘key’ to open the Wall.”
“Huh?”
Marie gave an incredulous, high, surprised sound.
“What about you, Leader?”
“Oh, I decided to go to Darwei to do some fighting.”
“You want to fight Ryo... Duke Rondo?”
“You could say that.”
“But you lost at Kwebasa, didn’t you?”
“Hey...”
The Phantom King took on a hurt expression at Marie’s words.
He did not often show that sort of expression.
“You should tell people properly. You’re always bragging, so you never properly report these things when the time comes.”
“That’s not something to be blamed for so much, is it?”
“Well, that’s fine. I understand wanting to fight Ryo again in the flesh. But asking me to open the ‘Wall’? I don’t know the location well, nor do I know the shape of the ‘Wall’ or the ‘Corridor’.”
Marie shrugged.
The Phantom King sighed deeply once, then began to speak.
“Do you know why the ‘Wall’ exists and why it separates us from the Central Countries?”
“No, I don’t. It was built while I was away at sea, right? A thousand years ago? Maybe more?”
“It was built to prevent Spellno from coming from the Central Countries.”
“Spellno? Oh—those beings humans call Djinns, right?”
Marie nodded.
That made sense to her.
“Spellno were troublesome back then. Their numbers were still fairly large. If that many had rushed over, the East would have been ruined. But now their numbers are much fewer, right? I see—so that’s why you want to open the ‘Wall’.”
At last, Marie seemed convinced.
“That’s part of it. The ‘Wall’ itself has been decaying for centuries. It was built by the greatest alchemists of the age, but after a thousand years, it’s natural that it opens and closes at intervals.”
“I understand it’s safe to open, but isn’t it unnecessary to deliberately open it?”
“Do you know why Spellno are effectively immortal?”
“No idea.”
“It’s because of the ‘shrines’.”
“Shrines? I see... those in the Central Countries and the Western Countries, right? Connected to ley lines...”
“They serve to replenish the Spellno’s life force.”
“Really? No wonder they’re so strong.”
Marie was learning the meaning of the ‘shrines’ for the first time.
Perhaps more like ‘hidden temples’...
“We Phantomkins will take them.”
“Ah...”
“After all, there are hardly any Spellno left. If we use what they no longer need, it won’t be wrong, will it?”
“So that’s the reason.”
Marie finally understood everything.
“Well?”
“All right. If that’s the case, I’ll cooperate. To go to the Western Countries, I’ll have to pass through the Central Countries anyway. The ‘Wall’ has to be open to get there.”