Banreung Expedition (2)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠Azadine established Zebec and Scott within the organization under his command, received reports on the projects in his territory that had taken place while he was away, and handled matters large and small.

Even while he was gone, construction had steadily progressed, and the road extending to Banreung had now been built well enough for caravans to come and go.

The installation of a huge reduction gear had been completed, allowing large amounts of goods to be easily lowered from high places as much as needed.

A mountain path that had once been difficult for even one person to pass through had now been transformed into a road that large merchant groups could travel.

That was not all. The work of organizing the territories of each estate and hunting bandits, monsters, and wild beasts had also gone well, greatly increasing the effective farmland of the territory.

Originally, cultivating land and turning it into fields required a great deal of labor. That problem could be solved through Selim’s livestock and the help of Sedrin, the druid. Her help, in particular, was extremely effective.

‘What? It needs to be made into a field, but tree roots are deeply embedded? There are a lot of stones? Hey. Walk.’

When Sedrin commanded the trees, the tree roots rose up, gathered up the nearby stones, and, using their outstretched legs, moved into the forest and disappeared.

Treewalking. Sedrin could casually wield this powerful primordial green magic used by high-ranking druids.

By involving herself in Azadine’s development project, the wasteland was cultivated in an instant and became excellent fields.

The werewolf Rijen and the dwarf warrior Kallan led soldiers and subjugated monsters in various places to secure the roads, and the number of goblins they defeated amounted to three digits.

Training while defeating goblins was indeed the way of Cell Sword, but even the novice soldiers had come to look quite like veterans. It was clear that Rijen and Kallan had trained the soldiers with sincerity.

As lands that could not be used because monsters and wild beasts had appeared there became effective farmland, the productivity of the entire territory nearly doubled.

In addition, Sir Sok, the leader of the Fimbulhorde, had quietly dispatched troops to help with road construction, so the road network and drainage channels were quickly organized as well.

Niselda had taken charge of arranging all this work into paperwork, and the documents were detailed yet easy to read.

“Everyone worked hard while I was gone. Impressive.”

Azadine honestly praised the achievements of his comrades and subordinates, who had produced results beyond his expectations. It would not have been strange if they had slacked off while he was gone, but even without Azadine there, they had shown as much productivity and passion as when he was present.

“Hahaha. We have to work hard before Fimbulbert comes. And it feels a bit odd to say this with my own mouth, but once I gave up on making hippogriffs, the ranch’s productivity improved.”

“…….”

Watching Selim laugh heartily, Azadine did not know what kind of expression he should make.

In the end, was what Selim said not a confession that because of his own obsession and stubbornness, he had been gnawing away at the productivity of his own territory, the ranches near the reservoir?

Sedrin, the Wild Druid, spoke indifferently.

“Originally, turning an entire forest into fields goes against druidic law, but if Fimbulbert is approaching, that is a different story. I only cooperated because there was no choice, so it would be a great mistake to think I will continue cooperating like this even after Fimbulbert ends.”

Those who had been called the Chadra Five Ogres were presenting opinions on equal footing with Azadine.

On the other hand, Rijen and Kallan seemed to want to hear Azadine’s praise as his subordinates.

“We worked hard, Boss. Now, you may kiss me here.”

“Do not say foolish things, Rijen. In any case, Sir Azadine, we really did work hard. If you are going to reward us, please give us money so we can drink beer.”

In truth, these were people who had lived however they liked before Azadine arrived.

Kallan and Rijen had effectively been villains no different from robbers, thugs who had collected unauthorized tolls from those passing near Vermilion Fortress.

However, now that Elemental Wailing patients were increasing and the prophecy of Fimbulbert seemed to be coming true, they could not simply live like idlers.

“It is not exactly a reward, but I brought gifts.”

Azadine handed out the gifts he had bought in Saint Mallory.

When he took out sugar confections, fine southern silk, and gift cigarettes and distributed them to the commanders, everyone was surprised.

“No, you did not have to bring things like this.”

“Our boss really is thoughtful.”

“Thank you all for following the command of me, a member of the Messenger Clan, so well. It will not end with gifts. I will give bonuses.”

“Haha. Gifts and bonuses too? May you live long, Boss.”

Kallan inhaled the scent of the gifted cigarette through his nose without even lighting it. He was in such a good mood that he wished Azadine a long life.

But at that moment, a messenger rushed in, flustered.

“T-this is serious. Boss!”

“What is it?!”

“The caravan we sent has been captured by those Dwarven Arrow bastards!”

“What?”

It seemed the merchant group they had sent toward Banreung had been hit by the dwarven mafia.

“That is not all. Chashan has escaped.”

“Ah, that bastard. He is exhausting.”

Chashan, who had been detained, had somehow used some trick and escaped with his dwarf sorcerer brothers. Azadine clicked his tongue when he heard that.

“This actually worked out well. I needed to raid Banreung Academy anyway.”

Among Azadine’s subordinates, Giacomo and Bernard had bad blood with Banreung Academy.

And the Messenger Clan, the four members of Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon, had also warned Azadine about Elemental Wailing, and the place where research on that Elemental Wailing was most active was none other than Banreung Academy.

The area near the Southeast Rock Wall had long flourished by using the smuggling route between the Chadra Plateau and the Banreung Kingdom.

Luxury goods needed in the place of exile were obtained through the Banreung Kingdom, and in exchange, drugs were produced on the Chadra Plateau and distributed to the world through the Banreung Kingdom, causing enormous amounts of gold to change hands.

In such a place, saying that the route would be changed into an ordinary merchant route instead of a drug route was, in truth, Azadine’s absurd stubbornness.

The ordinary merchants, dwarf merchants, and residents on this route, without exception, had all been drawn in by the dwarven criminal organization Dwarven Arrow.

They had helped Chashan and his group, who had been confined, escape through bribes and brainwashing magic. And instead, they had captured Azadine’s subordinates and were picking a fight with Azadine.

A fight picked with him had to be paid back.

But there was one problem.

Until now, when he fought Chashan’s gang, he could fight within the knight order’s territory.

But now the fight would take place outside the knight order’s territory, within the domain of the Banreung Kingdom.

A pass, as well as a solution to the political problems that would arise from it, were needed.

“Hmm. So you are asking me to write you a pass permitting you to cross into the Banreung Kingdom?”

Prince Kalintz was flustered as he looked at Azadine, who was asking him to write a pass.

Going to and from Saint Mallory, which was knight order territory, and crossing into the Banreung Kingdom were matters of different gravity.

Of course, Prince Kalintz, the Chapter Master of Fireglyph, did have the authority to permit that passage. Moreover, the justification Azadine presented was clear.

“The criminal Chashan has escaped, so I intend to set out on an investigation to arrest him and suppress the forces connected to those behind him. Would that not be sufficient justification?”

“But Sir Azadine. A message just came by carrier pigeon, and the Wisdom Order is trying to summon you.”

“Summon?”

“Yes. They say they want to hold an inquisition.”

From the Wisdom Order’s perspective, Azadine must have been an unbearably hateful fellow.

How could they endure and simply let him beat them and return to the Chadra Plateau unharmed? It seemed they intended to hold an inquisition in order to latch onto anything and find fault.

“They should not have the mental room for that. What about the Celestial Fire Knights?”

“Ah, the Courage Order and the Benevolence Order have decided to dispatch supervisors. From the looks of it, using the secret of the Celestials you uncovered as leverage, the other orders seem to have gained control authority over Celestial Fire.”

They would create a committee to supervise the Celestial Fire Knights from above so that they could not move as they pleased, and the three orders would manage this committee together.

It meant they intended to turn the Celestial Fire Knights, which had been a subordinate organization of the Wisdom Order, into a subordinate organization of everyone. Unless the Wisdom Order had been threatened, there would be no reason for them to accept such a proposal.

“The traffic control was settled rather quickly.”

Azadine gave a bitter smile.

In the end, it seemed the Courage Order also had not been able to announce the truth of the Celestials and their weakness to the whole world. Well, when internal factions were fighting each other, there was no need to deliberately reveal the Celestials’ weakness, the blasphemous crime of grinding down angel statues, to the whole world.

Ultimately, what each faction of the Rescue Knights Order wanted was control over the Celestial Fire Knights, not to smear the reputation of the entire Rescue Knights Order.

Because Azadine had wanted that as well, he had handed the scroll not to Sir Ject, but to the Courage Order.

“Seeing as they want to hold an inquisition, it does not seem to be confirmed yet. They are feeling things out, right?”

“Yes. They told me to watch and monitor whether you reveal it to outsiders of the order, then submit materials to the inquisition. In other words, it is a request for cooperation asking me to submit materials to crush you at the inquisition.”

“Hmm. From the looks of it, is it only the Wisdom Order doing that?”

The other two orders did not seem to want Azadine referred to an inquisition.

No matter how far the Orders of Virtue were from their own virtues, the Wisdom Order would not be stupid, and they could not push it through without a clear charge.

But what if they charged him with stealing the secret of the Celestials?

Would that not be the same as confessing to the whole world that the secret of the Celestials existed? Moreover, it would be an admission that the Wisdom Order, of all orders, had had its own heart robbed by a single person, so their face would be utterly ruined.

But if not that, then with what charge would they bind Azadine, who was in the Chadra Plateau, an exile land they had usually shoved aside without interest?

“Since they are divided into the three orders of Courage, Benevolence, and Wisdom, this kind of aspect is good. They are busy keeping one another in check, so even the Wisdom Order should not be able to punish me arbitrarily. Though it does not seem like the other orders are fond of me either.”

“So the Wisdom Order is subtly asking me to create something they can use to bind you. They want me to disarm you as much as possible so you cannot resist at all, and tear your subordinates apart piece by piece so you lose real power.”

“Will you do it?”

“No. I am not part of the Wisdom Order. Why would I?”