Chapter 97: The Beauty of Haldrian, Tiavel

Schwing, schwing.

"Wooow! My lord, your scythemanship is an art!"

'Heh, this is nothing.'

I couldn't fess up that in the past, I dragged a plow like a cow.

'Harvest is all finished now, huh.'

I was standing in the expansive golden fields arrayed around Denfors. There were only scarecrows left on the empty fields.

Three weeks had passed since the attack of the demon beasts and monsters. Fort Ciaris was once again rebuilt with cement, and a formation of wyverns was permanently stationed there. It would pretty much be a crime to neglect the fort even with the knowledge that there were powerful demon beasts around.

"It is all finished, my liege."

I had come out with the soldiers stationed in Denfors to do some civil service. It was a busy time, but I wanted to sweat at least a little alongside the residents who had worked so hard.

"Are the festival preparations going well?"

The Festival of the Goddess of Abundance and Festivities, Sapphire, was only one week away. We didn't have a single priest in the service of Sapphire, but I still decreed the festival in order to celebrate the territory's rebirth.

"Almost done, sir. Once the circus arrives, we will be ready."

"Well done."

"Compared to your hard work, my liege, what I do is nothing."

Life had become much easier for Derval after the arrival of Andraive and Thevedian. But it wasn't because there was less work for him to do. It was probably just because the presence of his reliable friends was bolstering him.

"Is there no word from the merchant group?"

"They said they departed a few days ago. I apologize for worrying you."

"Say nothing of the sort..."

The families left in the empire had to be safe so that Derval and my new knights could be at ease.

"They're arriving today, correct?"

"They are supposed to be arriving tonight."

"Is the salt farm complete?"

"The construction was completed yesterday."

How wonderful it was that we could communicate our thoughts so seamlessly. I only needed to say a few things and Derval would understand and give me the answer I wanted. He was a blessing from the gods, seriously.

'Ya slowpokes, you should have hurried up a bit.'

Chrisia was supposed to arrive this evening in order to settle the trade with the Kesmire Kingdom. Several of our plans were stalled due to inadequate magic crystals, but they were taking their sweet time.

"I'll be heading out to oversee the road construction, so take care of things here."

"Have a safe trip, my liege," said Derval, bowing his head respectfully.

"You did well, everyone."

"Salute!!"

Holding scythes and other farming implements instead of weapons, hundreds of soldiers saluted me.

'Just a little longer, please just give me a little more time.'

The territory was slowly coming to completion.

As long as we were given the time, I was confident I could make Nerman better than any other.

But for that, we needed the generosity of the gods of fate.

* * *

"What in the world are you doing! How could you move the Skyknights as well as the soldiers to the border without the permission of the Royal Family?!"

An emergency Council of Nobles had been convened in the Havis Kingdom. Rosiathe's frosty voice thundered through the council room.

"Why are you so enraged? Does this look like treason to you? The Crown has already sanctioned the expedition, and you did not notify us to withdraw. The nobles and knights raised their righteous swords to recover the Havis Kingdom's injured pride after the end of the harvest, so what authorization do you speak of?!!" roared Hanskane back.

Rosiathe clutched the throne, her body trembling.

'I'm sorry. I cannot hold them any longer...'

Rosiathe sent an apology in her heart to a certain man.

"One week from now! The knights who have raised their righteous swords for the Havis Royal Family and the Kingdom will punish the arrogant Lord of Nerman! Every participating lord and knight is already heading to the border. Also, even the gods have permitted our actions—paladins and priests serving the Goddess of Mercy, Neran-nim, are participating in the punitive force."

"Ah..."

Rosiathe could not suppress a groan at the mention of paladins and priests. If even a temple had lended a hand, there was no stopping the expedition now. From what she heard, both the Laviter Empire and the Bajran Empire, nations with enormous influence in the Havis Kingdom, had given their tacit permission as well.

"If there is nothing more you have to say, then we shall humbly leave. It will be hard to see you again for the time being, so we will have the regular Council of Nobles at another time."

Hanskane rudely informed the Princess of his withdrawal.

Despairing, Rosiathe responded simply by lowering her head.

The Havis Kingdom's important nobles followed Hanskane, leaving the council room with curt farewells.

"Haah..."

Rosiathe let out the breath she'd been holding, venting the suppressed rage throbbing in her heart. Sad tears spilled down her cheeks.

"I will never, ever forgive you bastards..."

Even as a child, ever since she could think for herself, she had felt the cold hostility of the nobles. She was a princess who would inherit the throne, but the nobles were thoroughly disdained by her. Worse, the people of the Royal Family living in the Havis Castle were forced to live carefully, with their heads down.

"Argh..."

Inside the completely empty royal council room, Rosiathe gnashed her teeth for the first time in her life.

The nobles who had scorned her and the Royal Family...

She pledged to sell her soul to the devil if they could all be made to disappear.

* * *

Glup glup glup glup.

"Pour it slowly!"

'It's always so amazing to see.'

The organic collaboration of the spirits the elves commanded was awesome to see.

One month had passed since the elves agreed to help us with road construction. Contrary to my expectations, 5 km of road was laid out with cement every day. Shells and sand could be found everywhere along the river, and cement powder was supplied day after day, so the work was progressing swiftly.

'A little longer and we'll have it! A great artery that will allow Nerman to breathe and thrive!'

I gazed down at Nerman's main road from atop Bebeto. The areas where the construction was completed were covered with dirt and thoroughly disguised. The new road was being created quite a distance from the trade passage used by the merchants, and until the construction was finished, the soldiers and slaves were cut off from contact with the outside world.

In truth, most Nerman residents didn't even know that elves had appeared in the territory. Most of the residents were clustered around Denfors, so they didn't have an opportunity to see the elves.

'We can reach the border in around 5 days.'

There were only 30 km left until we reached our final destination. The heavens seemed to help us, with the season turning to fall, there wasn't much rain. However, seeing as the weather was getting colder, winter would be blowing in soon. Nerman had very distinct seasons, and the winter was apparently harsher than one might expect.

Whooooosh.

'Narmias.'

I was gliding atop Bebeto when Narmias appeared by my side. The characteristic of the elven airplate made her helmet look like a mask. I couldn't see her face, but she was definitely making a happy expression as she looked at me.

'The elves are like timid type A's.'

They had decided to venture out into the world, so they might as well have just all come out at once, but only 20 elves went in and out every day, occasionally changing personnel (besides Narmias).

Guoooooo!

With the harpy Narmias was riding so close, Bebeto gave a cry and strengthened his wingbeats.

Swooooooosh.

As expected of a wyvern that was half a size bigger than other wyverns, he pulled ahead with just a few beats of his wings.

Whooooosh.

Not willing to take the loss, Narmias' harpy chased us pretty well, an admirable performance considering it was only a third of Bebeto's size.

'Wanna race?'

I was just too busy lately, so I hadn't had a real chance to chat with Narmias. But we were suddenly thrown into a race for speed, and I didn't intend to lose.

GUOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Feeling challenged by the fact that a smaller being was on his tail, Bebeto flapped his wings with big puffs steaming from his nose.

Kyaaaaaaaaaa!

The harpy screeched, following us doggedly.

Whooooooooosh.

A gust of wind happened to blow in just then from the Rual Mountains. My cloak flapped in the wind as if trying to tear itself from me and fly away.

And so began a brief, honeyed flight, a delightful time with Narmias, a girl who smiled joyfully just because she was by my side.

* * *

'Ara, who's that person?'

It was late at night. I was waiting for Chrisia, the representative of the Kesmire Kingdom, on the covert runway. The arranged time was nearing when two wyverns slowly descended onto the runway. My eyes opened wide at the side of the wyvern landing side by side next to Chrisia's hybrid.

'Another white wyvern! Wow! It's like a real unicorn.'

Besides its black snout and ankles, the rest of the wyvern was pure white. I was completely taken away by the sight of it. Glowing under the light of the covert's magic lamps, the perfectly white wyvern was more than striking enough to draw the eye.

I was staring slack-jawed at the white wyvern when two people jumped down.

'A woman?'

Surprisingly, the person who landed with Chrisia was a woman.

'And who might this older sis be?'

Because it was getting cold at night, the two women were still wearing their helmets. The woman was wearing a white airplate that obviously looked different from Chrisia's familiar one. Unlike airplates made for men, this one was smaller in frame and looked quite cute.

"My liege, she seems to be a Skyknight of the Haldrian Empire," Derval whispered into my ear, looking at the approaching woman.

'Haldrian? The Ice Empire, Haldrian?!!'

The Ice Empire, Haldrian, was located in the northern continent. They had almost no contact with the rest of the continent, so not much was known about them, just that their magic was more developed than expected and that their winter lasted half a year.

'Why? What did she come all the way here for?'

I was suddenly filled with questions. I was totally unacquainted with the Haldrian Empire, so a visit from one of their Skyknights was a real surprise.

Click.

Stopping in front of me, Chrisia removed her helmet, and her blue hair flowed down. "I hope you have been doing well, Count Kyre," she said with a refreshing smile.

"Haha, thanks to you, I've been very well. But you came later than I expected. I was waiting with such bated breath that I almost turned as purple as an eggplant."

"Oh my, surely not because you wanted to see me...?"

The fire fox pretended to be surprised, acting coy.

"Hmm, I don't think that's quite it..."

"How disappointing. Even though I've been thinking about Kyre-nim every day..."

'Eh? Every day? Me?'

The fire fox wagged her tail. But I wasn't a fool, and I just grinned, turning my gaze to the woman still wearing her helmet.

'She's cold.'

The pure white airplate was made with some unknown material and looked noble. Giving off the proud aura of an Ice King's cloak, the airplate inspired a sense of awe.

"But may I ask who this person is...?"

Click.

At my query, the woman slowly took off her helmet.

The hair underneath flowed out like a long river.

'!! W-T-F!!!'

To my shock, her hair was entirely white. Like the woman from the movie Bride with the White Hair, the Skyknight's long hair was as white and opaque as snow.

'Waooo! Killer looks!'

To be honest, in my opinion, white hair was pretty hard to pull off. If a mediocre-looking person had a mop of white hair, it was just tacky. But for people with beautiful skin and a cold, intelligent face, white hair was a blessing. And surprisingly, this white-haired woman's blessed face was one in a hundred.

She had a small, egg-shaped face, and her beautifully slanted brows and eyes lent her an air of haughtiness that made her seem unapproachable. The blue eyes under her white brows were like a lake in the winter and gave her a clean impression. On top of that, her lips were like a ripe red cherry in midwinter.

It was my first time seeing a woman who looked like she had been sculpted out of ice.

"My name is Tiavel."

The owner of the cute and charming name greeted me with a slight dip of her head.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am the Lord of Nerman, Kyre."

Naturally, I bowed to greet her. Though she did not tell me her status, it was obvious. Charisma matching her haughtiness was flowing subconsciously from the woman's entire body.

"Let us go inside. Warm tea has been prepared."

Finishing the greetings, I gestured inside to escort the women.

The woman nodded, showing her gratitude towards my hospitality with a slight blink of the eyes.

'Cough cough, you might choke to death living with her.'

Tiavel's aloofness was so overwhelming that even a needle would break trying to pierce it. There was no other way to explain it.

Haughtiness.

That word alone could fully characterize Tiavel.

* * *

'Haah, even the way she holds her teacup is so serious.'

Tiavel could match up to Princess Igis' aura of elegance and refinement. Each and every one of her movements was calculated. She was just sitting across the office table drinking tea, but I somehow ended up straightening my posture too.

"His Majesty the King has also readily agreed to your proposal. He said that if Nerman gives us a stable supply of provisions as well as holy water, we will obtain a far greater profit compared to relying on other places."

"Please relay my gratitude to him for his permission."

Others called the Kesmire pirates, but for me, they were precious people.

"Hoho, I understand. Also, it seemed that you needed many magic crystals, so I brought 2 Grade 2s, 25 Grade 3s, 50 Grade 4s, and 300 Grade 5s."

'!!'

A quick calculation revealed that the value of those magic crystals would easily exceed 10 million Gold, but Chrisia reported them offhandedly, as if she was talking about her dog at home.

"I am grateful for your consideration," I said with sincerity.

As long as we had those magic crystals, the salt field would be completed, we could make the new model of Blessed Spear I had designed, and we could also start the construction of my city-sized castle right away.

"What thanks, an ally should do this much, no?"

Chrisia's eyes creased as she emphasized 'ally.'

'Yeah, alright, let's be allies. You and I are both in lonely circumstances, anyway.'

"I believe 'blood alliance' is a more suitable description than 'ally,' haha."

"Blood alliance? Hohoho, as expected, you're very generous, Kyre-nim."

"Rather than sitting around, shall we have a glass of wine?"

"Wine? Hoho, I wholeheartedly accept."

Following the uplifted mood, I proposed a drink.

"Tiavel-nim, would that be alright with you?"

'Hooh, what exactly is her identity?'

Chrisia was definitely a princess of the Kesmire Kingdom, but she cautiously inquired about Tiavel's opinion.

"Do as you please."

Even her voice was as clear and cold as ice clinking together.

It almost felt like the master here wasn't me, but Tiavel.

* * *

"Two eagles are sitting on a tree when a hunter appears and bullseye's one of them with an arrow. Falling from the tree, the eagle shouts to the hunter, 'Why only me? Catch him, too!' So do you know what the remaining eagle said to the hunter?"

After sipping the first glass, downing the second, and happily drinking the third, the mood had become merry. I spun one of the classic sparrow folk tales into a Kallian variant for the ladies' enjoyment.

"Oh my, what a naughty eagle. Since he was already shot, he should have died alone, but he asked to have his comrade killed too..." said Chrisia, her healthy-looking skin ruddy from the alcohol.

"What do you think about it, Tiavel-nim?" I asked Tiavel, who had simply listened to my numerous jokes with no expression.

"...I'm not sure."

'Alcohol is mighty, I tell you.'

Carried along by the mood, Tiavel had ended up drinking a few glasses, too. The slight flush of her white skin was seriously adorable.

"Hurry and tell us. What did the living eagle say to the hunter?"

Chrisia looked right into my eyes, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Tiavel also looked at me with bright eyes the color of a winter lake. Her eyes were also gleaming with curiosity.

"The living eagle said this to the hunter: 'That one isn't dead yet. Shoot him again!'"

"W-What?! Hohohohohoho."

"Pft!"

'Oh! The power of a joke is mighty, alright!'

Chrisia burst out in a guffaw that shook the office, and as if her laugh was infectious, Tiavel covered her mouth with slender fingers and gave a light 'pft.'

The mood was really good. I was grateful that I could have the leisure to joke around with ladies like this.

But then, Chrisia's laugh died down, and she met my gaze with a gleam in her eyes. An inscrutable smile appeared on her lips.

I met her smile with my own grin.

It didn't cost money or anything, so I couldn't ignore the smile of a beauty.

* * *

'He's truly charming.'

From the first time they met, she thought he was an unusual man. He didn't put on airs as a noble and though he sometimes joked around, the man named Kyre did his very best at all times. Every time she received a report about the territory, Chrisia even wondered if he was in his right mind.

Besides the Kesmire Kingdom, many others had their sights on Nerman, like the Temir, the Laviter Empire, and the countless monsters, but Kyre made enemies instead of friends without reserve. According to the information, the magic towers, major merchant groups, and even a temple had turned their backs on him. But Kyre wasn't daunted at all and continued to lead his territory well.

'Did you know? That because of you, I almost couldn't leave the kingdom.'

She hadn't said anything, so of course he wouldn't know. The Kesmire Kingdom had invested so much effort into Nerman. But Chrisia was forced to tell her father, the King, and the nobles occupying the island that rather than capturing Nerman, they would have to make an alliance. As soon as she said as much, the nobles nearly berated Chrisia's ear off.

But despite the reprimanding, Chrisia hadn't backed down, constantly asserting the need for an alliance. If not for the backing of her father, the King, she might have even lost her position as the Commander of the 2nd Fleet and been forced to live as a nun in the kingdom.

'Don't disappoint me. The moment you weaken, the nobles of Kesmire will not stand idly by.'

The alliance was created because Kyre was strong. The nobles knew of Kyre's power as well. They knew nothing could be done about him in a short period of time, so they could only accept him as a temporary ally.

'Hmm, Tiavel...'

While Chrisia was looking at Kyre, she noticed that Tiavel, the woman rumored to be aloof even in the Ice Empire, was sneaking glances at Kyre with a ruddy face.

Chrisia shook her head a little. The still-young and playful Lord of Nerman radiated a strange charisma. After experiencing it once, it was hard to pull away. He felt like a considerate older brother and a mischievous little brother all at once, and sometimes even a dignified father; his charm wore many hats. Every time she saw him, it was clear that just looking at him could make you feel happy.

"Sadly, I think it's time for us to go. I will give you the magic crystals immediately. As for the provisions and the holy water we require, I will come to get them in the season of Romero-nim, when the winds of Kazofune become calm."

It was time to leave, so Chrisia bid a regretful farewell.

"Thank you. I will always remember your warm heart, Chrisia-nim."

"Hoho, I'm thankful for your words alone."

A single sentence from Kyre made Chrisia feel like she would fly away with happiness.

Unbeknownst to her, she was already inextricably tied up in the strings of fate.

* * *

"Huhu..."

The night had grown late, so the two women flew off, leaving behind a fragrant memory. The heavy sack of magic crystals in my hand made me giddy.

"I'm not sure if I should be grateful to you guys or curse you."

The lights in the temporary temple of Neran-nim were already off. Having become a bird mother these days, Aramis was sleeping, exhausted from rearing the five wyvern babies, an effort that left her no time to go on a date with me.

Swooooosh.

A cold wind blew in. The autumn wind of Luchekeart was wandering away. The winter wind, Kazofune, quickly took its place, caressing Nerman with its chilling touch.