84 – Interlude

“With this… It seems that the East and West ends. Good job. Orcus.”

“Yes. Father.”

sunny room.

A man with a warm face was talking to a boy who looked just like him.

On the man’s desk, traces of the intense work of the past days that have not yet been erased remain. Obviously, the room is full of warmth permeated by sunlight, but the place where the man is sitting is just cold.

The neatly arranged piles of papers were piled high enough to block the sunlight shining on the desk, so it could be called a mountain of papers.

Given the condition of the room, it was needless to say the complexion of the man sitting in the center.

On the outside, his warm smile and powerful eyes were shining, but if you look closely at his face, you can see bloodshot eyes and drooping eyes from fatigue.

No matter how much the bureaucrats in the castle said they had filtered it out once, how could their bodies remain intact when they were handling the work that came from all over the Imperial Territory by themselves? Fortunately, a boy with abilities equal to him continued to assist him, so he was able to finish his work before collapsing from exhaustion.

This was the bare face of the only emperor in the empire who sat on a golden throne decorated with gold and wielded unparalleled power with a face that transcended the human world.

Who dares to wear the crown, bare its weight.

As the saying goes, this was the weight of his power.

The reason why Aslan Estelia, who built one of the most powerful imperial powers in the history of the empire, is called a wise king, not a tyrant, is because he made all the decisions of the imperial family with his own hands, but his work was so perfect that there were no flaws.

He was a person who had the ability to capture the political situation of the empire in his head, so he took absolute power by stabilizing the political situation alone without sparing his abilities. Of course, this naturally increased the amount of work, but it was tolerable enough for him, who was in the ranks of superhumans who had surpassed humans from birth.

The body and mind of the royal family with divine blood are clearly beyond those of ordinary humans.

If it was a simple task, it was not at all unbearable for those with strong royal blood.

Apart from that, the reason why Aslan has become like that now is that a lot of mental strength was consumed. The most powerful person in the world was also the father after all. The fact that his son almost died because of his choice was eating away at his mind.

“Certainly, everyone seems to have become complacent after the victory in the Holy War. Every time they rob it, quite a few people come in as if they were harvesting in the fall. I wonder how they survived in the last Crusade without being purged.”

“It’s my negligence. I should have killed them even if I had to send out the imperial troops. I guessed to some extent, but I didn’t know that so many parasites would remain in the empire.”

Aslan said as if he was self-deprecating at Orcus’ words.

“If that was the case, the imperial capital might have fallen, so it was the right choice.”

When Orcus defended himself, Aslan nodded in agreement with his son’s words, then smiled.

It hadn’t been long since he had escaped from the danger of death, but he was proud of his son who was silently helping him by his side, but he felt sorry.

Aslan looked at Orcus with a melancholy face for a moment, then took a short breath and opened his mouth.

“They say that the sword saint broke his retirement and reappeared with this incident. It seems that he was directly related to them, so he couldn’t just watch it. The important thing is that the Sword Saint has reappeared in the world.”

“The swordsman has long since resigned from the position of head of the family, so it’s better to call him to the imperial palace and let him guard this place. If he’s really the same as the swordsman I’ve heard about, he won’t disobey the emperor’s order.”

“You’re right. Whatever it is, their ultimate goal will be us. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to strengthen the defense of the imperial capital at this time. I have already sent a letter to the Duke of Kromel.”

Aslan’s eyes, looking at Orcus, had changed from his father’s eyes to those of the emperor. The eyes that glowed blue were like a skylight without a single cloud. As if he was looking down from the sky, Aslan began to explain to Orcus why the sword castle came out.

“Actually, there’s no particular reason why the swordsman came out that way. This time, his major was concentrated on Krause, so he came out because he didn’t like it.”

“I heard that they belong to the same three great martial arts families, but Krauss and Kromel don’t seem to be on good terms.”

“To be precise, the two of them have a bad relationship with the Sword Master and Earl Kraus. I have a good relationship with the Sword Master’s son, the Duke of Kromel. Maybe it’s because they are both masters of the same sword. The two of them clashed often. Now that I think about it, sword mastery doesn’t seem to be a problem. Since they’ve been bickering before Arthur became a master, it just doesn’t seem like the two of them get along.”

Aslan’s eyes were filled with longing, as if he was recalling old memories.

He laughed lightly and continued.

“Do you know who are the talents of the samurai family, who are currently rising among the rich?”

“As far as I know, there is the eldest daughter of Viscount Graham in the south, who holds the second-in-command and chief of the knight faculty, and the son of the knight commander who is an alumnus of her.

“That’s right. But two more were added because of this incident.”

“Noel and Damian.”

“yes.”

At Aslan’s words, Orcus said with a puzzled face that he realized something.

“no way?”

“Until now, the name of Krauss was not included among the sons of the three great samurai families. However, through this incident, the name of the child became known to people. That is, as a talented person who killed a pagan cardinal at a young age.”

Talented people who have consistently proven their skills at the academy, and the grand duke who, at a young age, together with the adults of his family, defeated the aliens invading the empire and made his name known.

Although they were worthy of being called the newly emerging divinities in the empire, the fact that they killed the pagan cardinal was what made them able to press their prestige at once.

Those who have been through the holy war know it. How strong were those who received the title of cardinal in paganism? The fact that paganism could survive for a long time despite the fact that the royal family, which directly inherited divinity, was holding on was because there were talented people who could keep it alive. Cardinals were such beings.

Therefore, the fact that three young chicks who had not yet entered the academy caught and killed a cardinal was enough to cause a stir in the world. It was like announcing the emergence of unprecedented geniuses.

“Perhaps the swordsman cares more about the fact that his grandson is being devalued because of Arthur’s son than the major that Krauss established. So I want to ask you, who saw that child in person. Orcus. What kind of boy was Count Krauss’ son? what?”

“Are you talking about personality? Or are you talking about the skills he has?”

“Anything. Anything you can be sure of and answer.”

At Aslan’s words, Orcus thought hard about something and immediately gave an answer.

“This is the guy I made as a friend. Is this the answer?”

“her.”

In response to Orcus, Aslan made a sound of air escaping, then laughed out loud.

“hahahahaha!! That’s right! You can’t make friends carelessly. That’s enough.”

I wonder if it’s because it’s the first time I’ve seen him laugh so loudly even though he usually showed me a low smile. Orcus opened his mouth with a shy face when he saw Aslan smiling as he left the room.

“Honestly, I couldn’t arbitrarily judge the guy’s skills because I’m not good at swordsmanship. But even so, I didn’t seem to fall behind any other knight I’ve seen in the imperial palace. As for personality, I can say I’m not ambitious. He wants to maintain the situation. As long as I don’t cross the line, he won’t cross the line either.”

“It sounds like you are very similar to my father. The first impression of the child named Damian you mentioned is the same as the feeling I had when I saw Count Krause. This generation, Krause will also be the strong sword and shield of the Empire.”

Aslan moved the papers on the desk down one by one and tidied up the place. Then, he took out an old scroll sealed with the seal of the imperial family from a drawer and put it on the table. Orcus’ eyes widened as if he knew what that scroll was.

“This…?!”

“Yes, it is the ‘Oath of Prophecy’. It is a gias written under the name of our main god, Altair. This is an oath written with Count Krause and Duke Edelweiss before you were born. It is written that you must not do anything that threatens the authority of the imperial family by joining forces.”

Profession oath.

In the imperial family, which has all kinds of treasures, it is a precious sacred object with few left. True to its name, it was a treasure that fulfilled the contract under the name of God. Orcus said while looking at Aslan with a face asking why he was showing this now.

“Is this why you put on such a confident face when you first sent me away?”

“Yes. There was already an alternative. As you well know, what is written here can never be violated. At that time, it was simply a random story at a drinking party, but I wrote it down because I thought it would be useful.”

“Then, what if both families had only sons or only daughters? Didn’t they almost waste a precious treasure?”

“I was also drunk at the time. Well, should I say it was a little spontaneous.”

For a drunken person, preparing a written oath right away and taking it out is truly insane readiness. Aslan smiled at Orcus’ eyes as if he was dumbfounded.

“And if it didn’t come true, I thought I’d give birth to both my son and daughter and get them engaged instead.”

“If your mother heard it, it’s a story that she would play the sutra.”

“…I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear what you just said.”

The wind blew through the open window and swept the dust off the desk. The two stopped talking for a moment, looked at each other, and then opened their mouths again when the atmosphere seemed to have been somewhat ventilated. Aslan was the first to speak.

“When I first sent you south, I thought you’d come back and tell me to betroth Noel to Count Kraussaw.”

“Well….”

“You don’t have to make a face like that. You’re very similar to me, so if I were you, I would have thought that too. It’s Noel’s taste. I’ve been hearing about Count So for a long time, so if you made a face like that, then what I thought was right. .”

“Well…that’s right. By the way. Did you think I would say that when you told me to make friends?”

“I won’t deny it. People don’t change in such a short time. In the end, you came back and didn’t say anything to me, so you won. Congratulations.”

“I’m not happy at all.”

Aslan just laughed at the words of Orcus.

“Still, I sincerely wanted you to have a friend. In fact, from the perspective of a person in power, your choice is correct. To connect Noel and Count So to solidify the connection between the imperial family and the province. It cannot be seen as a wrong move. .”

Aslan put the scroll back into the drawer and met Orcus’s eyes again. Seeing Aslan looking at him with deep eyes, Orcus froze and scratched his cheek.

“But the fact that you didn’t recommend it to me means that I can see the world with a little different eyes. This father is happy that his son has a friend.”

“…It looks like the work is over, so this son will go out.”

“Guy. Are you shy?”

“It’s not because I have work to do.”

At Orcus’ answer, Aslan looked at him with a surprised face. Speaking of Orcus’ work, it was because he had just finished his work here with him, so there was no schedule left for him.

At Aslan’s gaze, Orcus paused for a moment, then quickly joined the conversation and went outside.

“… My friend said they had an engagement ceremony, so I’ll have to write a congratulatory letter myself and send it.”

Afterwards, laughter was heard in the room with the door closed.