Extra Chapter. Emptiness (4)

When the Demon King’s magic was activated, and it engulfed Evan, although she couldn’t say this in front of others, Louise thought it was all her fault.

‘Because I didn’t carry out my mission properly.’

Even though the Master had the power to kill the Demon King, he entrusted it to her and her party members to improve Louise’s reputation. Because he believed in her abilities, he decided to watch her from behind. But what was the result? Far from giving the Devil the last blow, she couldn’t even lead the party properly to drive the Devil into a corner. Rather, it was no different from the fact that the Devil stepped up his efforts to cast a curse on Master Evan.

‘And because of that, Master disappeared.’

Others said that it would happen and that Evan knew it anyway, but it didn’t soothe Louise. The only thing that mattered was that she got separated from her Master because of her mistake. She was also left to wait, not knowing when he would come back. How good would it have been if she had been able to take her Master’s place? However, it was only a belated regret. How great would it have been if Master had continued to teach her? But now, there was no teacher by her side.

‘It’s my fault.’

There is no way to make up for what was over, but that was why Louise decided even more that she couldn’t make any more mistakes. That until her Master returned, she must perform perfectly at least one of the remaining missions he had ordered.

‘To revive Merdin.’

He repeatedly emphasized that this was a really important mission. At first, she thought he would have said that just thinking about her, but…in retrospect, his intentions were really clear. Why could she be embraced by Master on the day she got Merdin back? What Master asked her to do…what did she really receive from him that day?

…Here, for a moment, she turned her thoughts in a different direction. Yes, to Sherden, where he was born.

‘Master is the second son of the Sherden family. He could take possession of the province with his abilities, but he gave it to his older brother.’

It was, in fact, extremely unusual, even considering the deep friendship between the two brothers. Evan was a well-established person who miraculously accomplished everything. If he just said, “I want to become the Marquis,” anyone, even his older brother Eric, would be convinced and willingly give him the position. But why didn’t he do that? To maintain the position of Astray Knight-Commander? That’s stupid. If you had the ability, you could ignore customs and have more than one job. Or, it was a good idea to hand over the job to someone he can trust. He even got the princess from the Silk Line Kingdom. If so, did he give up his post as the Marquis to succeed the Silk Line Kingdom?

It seemed that it wasn’t that, either. He rather consistently showed that he didn’t want to be entangled with the king. Had it not been for his fiancée, Princess Serena, he wouldn’t have even visited the palace. He didn’t care for Sherden’s lordship, and he wasn’t interested in the Silk Line throne. Why?

Here, the topic finally returned to Merdin. Right. Master wanted to settle in Merdin! Not satisfied with either Sherden or Silk Line, he must be trying to establish a new home of his own, centering on the dungeon city of Merdin! Why, that day, had Master emphasized his own origin to her? Why did he frown at her words that he wouldn’t be able to see it for years? At first, she just thought she wanted to cherish his affection even at the risk of farewell. Still, when she thought about it carefully later, it was nothing more than the master’s expression of his intention.

‘The reason he emphasized that he was Sherden’s man, that he confirmed with me if it were worth abandoning the castle…and that he looked disappointed at my words that we wouldn’t be able to meet for years…’

Of course, at the time, Evan didn’t make any such expressions at all, but Louise was despairing that he couldn’t meet her, so she replaced it in her brain that he would have made that face. And it came to the point where she gave her own meaning to the scene she created on her own.

‘It’s because it took too long!’

Louise barely got her own answer. Now that she was temporarily unable to meet with Master, she realized how she could achieve his affection. She would rebuild Merdin until he returned. She would kill the bandits who dared to step into Merdin, and she would even prevent them from stepping back here again. She knew how to achieve both at the same time, and she had the confidence to do it on her own. The last power she had obtained from the dungeon would make it possible.

‘I’ll prepare…Merdin for him!’

After making up her mind, Louise finally climbed onto the wall. As they saw the dragon leaving her there alone, the soldiers in Beifeka were slowly closing the siege.

“It’s the survivor of Merdin!”

“The descendant of Merdin has come upon the wall! If we kill her now…!”

“You fool; have you already forgotten the king’s word that if she’s alive, never to harm her? She is the one who will be the Queen for His Majesty!”

Louise clearly heard the roaring sound of countless soldiers and the sound of the knights scolding the soldiers. Louise’s body shivered slightly. She didn’t like that they were talking as if they could decide if she lived or died at will, but what was more annoying was the fact that they dared to make her a woman of a man other than her Master.

“To say…they will separate me from Master.”

It was so hard to get his affection. It was so hard to get to stand by him…those trash men that can’t even be thrown away.

“But it’s okay.”

It didn’t matter what they were thinking. They wouldn’t be able to think of anything soon. Rather, she was grateful for them, proving that her decision wasn’t wrong.

“Sigh.”

She took a short breath and spread her hands. A colorless and transparent mana thread came out from the ends of her hands and her ten fingers. No one had noticed it yet.

‘Master. Please lend me the strength to do your will…’

But the moment when she remembered her wistful face, of the Master who wasn’t here now, her eyes shimmered like obsidian. At the same time, countless strands of threads sprang from her fingers as well as her body. Her long-grown hair fluttered splendidly in the air, and from each of them, mana threads were elongated. Eventually, they were all dyed with a brilliant purple, and the soldiers who were besieging the walls saw it.

“The body of Merdin’s descendant is shining!”

“She seems to be trying something! As she is known as the conqueror of the dungeon, be vigilant!”

“But, General isn’t she the one who lost and returned from the battle with the Demon King, anyway! She’s weakened, and we have to slay her now!”

The unpleasant harmony of noises seemed to stain Louise’s ears. She concealed her unpleasant feelings and poured the power of her whole body into her threads.

“Something not worth thinking about, something not worth talking about…put it all down.”

“Just follow me.”

Her last murmur didn’t come out as a sound, but Beifeka’s soldiers somehow heard her words clearly. The sky was full of purple threads as if it were raining purple.

“Ah…!”

“Rain is pouring down…”

“Block, no.”

“I can’t stop it…”

That was the last thing they remembered.

* * *

It wasn’t until a week after Evan’s disappearance that the rumors of Beifeka came to Sherden. If Maybell had been in Sherden, she would have been able to gather things happening worldwide in real-time with the power of her intelligence organization. Still, now she had disappeared with Evan, and instead of her, the organization in Astray was centered on Belois and Arisha. Someday, sooner or later, all could be normalized, but it wasn’t the case right now. Moreover, they put more effort into normalizing commerce rather than reorganizing the information gathering, so the information was barely relayed to Astray only a few days after the incident.

“What is this…Beifeka was overturned?”

“That’s right. It is precisely the replacement of the kingship. All the royal family members were beheaded.”

“It was also five days ago? Does it make sense that that fact has been hidden so far?”

To Arisha’s trembling voice, the informant replied, quietly bowing his head.

“It was so fast that the spread of information was suppressed. Moreover, a member of the organization who had been dispatched to the site was also hit, and only when the regular contact was cut off were we able to detect the abnormality and collect additional information to reach that conclusion.”

“Then other countries…?”

“Not yet, but soon they will find out about this situation in other countries as well.”

That’s right. The kingship was replaced. And it wasn’t in a small country, but the kingship of Beifeka, a commercial powerhouse that dominated half the world’s commerce! The fact that the king’s blood relatives didn’t usurp the throne and that new blood took over didn’t happen often in the history of the continent. Rather, it was surprising why the information wasn’t spreading so far.

“That’s…because there is no change other than that the country’s owner has changed.”

“Explain more about that part.”

“No one knows the details of the before and after the process. The information selected objectively…first, the Beifeka Kingdom Army, who went out on the expedition, invaded the Royal Road. Second, it confronted the Royal Road National Guard, but the damage wasn’t great on either side. Third, the royal family gave up their own throne and gave their lives.”

“So, the people recognized the usurper as the new king…?”

“There must have been a sense of rejection, but surprisingly, everyone took it naturally. And…it’s not a king.”

Arisha sighed and touched her forehead, looking at the member hesitating.

“I was expecting…you want to say that it’s not a king but a queen.”

“That’s right. It is said that Louise Merdin, the descendant of Merdin, took over the kingship of Beifeka and changed the name of the country to Merdin.”

‘Ah, really.’

Arisha sighed. No wonder that child looked ominous! But she didn’t know she would swallow Beifeka whole!

“Dominating a country isn’t something that will be so simple, no matter how great an individual’s power is…”

Even Evan, who transcended the human realm, wouldn’t be able to dominate a country so neatly. What means did Louise use? Belois said quietly next to her, seeing Arisha sitting in the chair.

“What will you do, my lady? Are you going to stop her?”

“You’re telling me to make that decision?”

“I would like to ask you rather than that idiot Shine.”

“And what do you think of that?”

“I …”

Belois, her eyes like rubies, blinked and then replied with a gentle smile.

“I don’t care what happens to anyone except the Master.”

With a smile that was so beautiful that even a woman would fall into delusion, Arisha closed her eyes and turned her gaze. This one was also scary.

“I shouldn’t have asked.”

“So, what will you do?”

“…Let’s just watch for now.”

Were Arisha’s words surprising, even though Belois said everyone didn’t matter except for Evan? Belois tilted her head.

“I thought you would stop her.”

“Because I fully understand Louise’s feelings. Imagine. That Evan disappeared the day after you first made love to him.”

“…”

“It’s scary, so stop imagining it.”

Arisha became pale and quickly stopped her.

“I don’t know how she did it, but I have to praise her as being proud of taking over Beifeka. Beifeka wasn’t very friendly to both the Silk Line and Mana Road because they were arrogant from the beginning. They were hostile even to Evan, so I’d be grateful if they disappeared.”

“You’re unexpectedly relentless, too.”

“Evan is the most important thing to me, too, alright? I’m just looking at the reality a bit more than you guys.”

Arisha replied, pouting her lips, and, with a small sigh, she continued.

“The only concern is that the change of royal authority will confuse the country, which will adversely affect the continental world…I don’t know how she really did it, but I think she’s holding on well.”

Rather, it would be even more confusing if Astray came out and stopped her. So, it was better to leave it. Arisha’s conclusions seemed reasonable, and Belois was convinced.

“I hope Master doesn’t get too surprised when he comes back.”

“I think he will…”

However, the two were unaware that the real situation hadn’t even begun. The next day, Louise Merdin, Queen of the New Merdin Kingdom, proclaimed all over her continent.

[At the order of my Master, I will make Merdin the most prosperous empire on earth.]

Indeed, it was the moment when a country that dared to be called an empire appeared in hundreds of years. The day after the proclamation, a witch and a man left Sherden and joined the Merdin Kingdom. Still, the Astray members, who had so many other things to do, didn’t care about them.