Chapter 194

Chapter 194 - Beyond the Ocean (1)

Eugene stayed in the Moving Castle parked between the South and the Center for a while.

The remnants of the Central army who scattered and turned into bandit bands, and the additional landing of Vikings who arrived a step late.

It is to monitor the coming down of bastards who, even if not to a dangerous extent, could be said to be bothersome.

There is also the purpose of receiving visiting envoys in the Moving Castle. Although Haven is also a wonderful city, there would probably be no place like here to overawe guests.

"Hasn't it taken too long to sort out the West? You want me to believe the army was assembled only after I smashed Kruger's army?"

The envoy of the Edward family, the Western administrator, was overwhelmed the moment he stepped foot in the magic castle.

The taxidermies newly exhibited additionally every time Eugene wins projected their ferocity from when they were alive directly to the guests.

Eugene, who has held funerals smashing and tearing all of those, was the most terrifying beast.

"L-Lord Philip hurried as much as possible! That His Excellency Meyer's army is brave to the point of being second to none isn't our fault... isn't..."

The envoy, who spoke as if wronged, had his voice shrink, overpowered by the fighting spirit shining in Eugene's eyes.

Eugene is an existence closer to hell than anyone in the present world. When weak people looked into his eyes, they got goosebumps and yet somehow their ears tickled.

As if the souls of monsters, champions, and demonic beasts killed by him were trapped in his inner hell and screaming.

"It seems I was a bit wicked. I couldn't possibly force my standards onto you. You have to understand."

"O-Of course! Of course sir!"

The envoy nodded his head repeatedly.

Actually, Count Edward's eldest son Philip organized an army right away as soon as he punished the turncoats. Because he was a person who knew grace.

"I rescued Count Edward safely. However, since he was so weakened, I sent him to the Shade Garden. He must have recuperated somewhat so go and meet him."

When Eugene found him, Count Edward was completely in the state of a beggar. Being skin and bones and his face haggard meant he suffered more than usual hardship.

"Lord Philip said he will offer a gift of gratitude as soon as the situation calms down."

"Tell him to send it slowly. Because I know the circumstances on that side are difficult too."

The West wasn't the only one exhibiting a low posture.

"I deliver Count Harvester's gratitude. He said he doesn't know how to possibly praise the greatest monarch. Later when Your Excellency sees a child, by sending them as each other's godchildren to solidify friendship..."

The envoys of the East and Center bowing and scraping was also the same. Even if they are fellow great lords, since the difference in power, wealth, and political debts is stark, it's not a situation to show pride.

During that time, an unexpected guest visited.

"Lord. Count Constantine, the Northern administrator, is waiting in the audience chamber."

"He came directly himself?"

"Yes."

Eugene had just returned from a combined hunt and maneuver training taking tribal youths before their coming-of-age ceremonies.

- I will give the person who produces the most excellent grades an opportunity to ride Might.

Everyone went crazy running amok at that single remark that to the point having trouble controlling them. To that extent, they produced results unbelievable to think youths caught them though.

"Homi. Go first and prepare my formal wear for hosting guests."

"Hold on a minute!"

The moment Homi was about to run ahead first, the Dwarf guard captain hurriedly stopped her.

"T-That, Count Constantine expressed his wish to see the Lord in the exact attire you finished training with. He asked to make absolutely sure to convey this."

"Hmm?"

The guard captain continued his words with an expression saying he thought himself that he was delivering a bizarre message.

"He said he wants to share an honest conversation without political maneuvers. Thus, he asked if it wouldn't be better to face each other as knight to knight rather than as great lord."

Eugene lightly patted the armor he wore.

"Meaning both of us with armor on, right?"

"That is correct."

"I heard he was a unique gentleman, and indeed he is."

The Dwarf guard captain twisted his beard and smiled awkwardly.

In normal cases, if a figure of this position visits, notifying in advance is basic. Whether for appropriate hosting or for safety.

However, since the state of affairs is what it is, it seems he chose to visit secretly bringing only a few close aides.

* * *

"The Southern Administrator, Master of the Moving Castle, His Excellency Count Meyer enters!"

Passing the scribe's shout and the royal guards exhibiting courtesy, Eugene's throne entered his eyes beyond the wide red carpet.

It is a troubling item that requires five or six maids clinging to it and even mobilizing a ladder to clean.

Count Constantine was sitting on the stairs leading from the throne waiting.

"It is a pleasure to meet you for the first time. I am Gerard Constantine, who came to take charge of the North following my older brother."

"It's quite a far distance, I didn't know you would come directly without even using an envoy."

"My dream was originally a historian. In Britannia, there is no one with more curiosity about the Moving Castle than me."

Count Constantine looked marvelingly at the glass tubes emitting daylight-colored light from the ceiling.

"Even if the history of the past 1 year flowed differently, it would have been me who visited this place as an envoy. Only the clothes I wore and my status would have been different."

Eugene firmly grasped the hand Count Constantine offered.

"Why did you wait here without comfortably waiting in the guest room for guests?"

"I found this place is a living castle as rumors say. The unidentified creature opening and closing the main gate is like that too, and when I touch the walls I can feel blood circulating. Let's say I can feel not just body heat but a pulsation?"

Count Constantine put his hand to his ear.

"I heard Your Excellency communicates with this living castle and uses it like limbs. I felt greedy wondering if perchance I couldn't also hear something from this magic castle."

"So you were listening closely to the throne?"

"Because I couldn't dare sit on it."

"So did you hear anything?"

"Regrettably, not at all."

Count Constantine smiled as if it was a shame and took out a letter from his chest.

"Would you take a look at this? It is a handwritten letter my older brother wrote while he was alive."

The letter contains the content of becoming in-laws with the Kruger family and has the official seal of Constantine the 1st stamped on it. There were a few blooddrops smeared on it, but recognizing the handwriting was no problem.

"The blood belongs to the envoy. Because there was trouble as I hastily snatched the letter in the middle after belatedly learning of my older brother's hidden intention."

"So you drew your sword to prevent the marriage alliance with King Kruger."

Count Constantine nodded his head.

"My older brother was satisfied with becoming the King of the North, but that was strictly limited to himself. He was looking at a bigger ambition through his children, the next generation."

For King Kruger, there was no reason to decline. If the highlanders of the North, and the mixed-blood warriors and berserkers of the Center band together, what would they fear?

Of course, speaking by the standard of when Eugene hadn't appeared in Britannia.

"I had to stop it for the family, and for the Northerners as well."

"Could you not persuade him peacefully?"

"Naturally, I also wished to do that. But the envoy was not alone. Because the escorting nobles, knights, and soldiers all resisted together... the situation was already a rebellion itself the moment I blocked the letter."

Eugene returned the letter.

"So the reason the Count directly came looking and showed this is?"

"To inform you that the North is innocent. When time passes, talks will come out in any form from those who know of this matter. I wanted Your Excellency to know the truth from my mouth, not through rumors."

"Good. I will trust you."

At Eugene who readily agreed, Count Constantine widened his eyes.

Instead of answering, Eugene lightly tapped the armor he wore. It meant, aren't we both in this place as knights.

Count Constantine, grasping the meaning, also laughed pleasantly.

Even though he had an appearance of about 30 now, there were many wrinkles around his eyes but it was not ugly. Since it looked like traces engraved while admiring the joys of the world, not senility.

"And one more thing."

"Hmm?"

Count Constantine placed his right hand on his chest and bowed his upper body. Although lighter than the courtesy between a lord and vassal of kneeling, it was not the posture fellow great lords would take towards each other.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I would like Your Excellency to formally acknowledge my becoming the Northern administrator."

"Permission or whatever, aren't we equal monarchs? Succession is your right."

"We are not equal. You will one day encompass the entirety of Britannia. There wouldn't be anything bad about getting in your good graces in advance, right."

Count Constantine didn't seem to have thoughts of moving until Eugene acknowledged him. Eugene shrugged his shoulders and did as he wished.

"Thank you. With this, I have achieved all the purposes for which I came here."

Count Constantine sighed with a relieved face. Certainly, it wasn't something to make an envoy do.

"Sir is stronger than the great lords of the West, Center, or East, yet takes a much lower posture, huh?"

"I have much interest in history. I learned how countless nations in all ages and countries rose and fell. Having done so, I can roughly predict how the future of this island nation will roll too."

"I am curious about the views of a renowned historian."

The Count smiled brightly and continued his words.

"While other regions each have more than a few deficiencies, the thing the South lacked was just one. None other than military might."

Count Constantine pointed at Eugene and the Moving Castle.

"Farmland, trade routes, technology, population, the mystery and history represented by the Shade Garden, and power. The South, equipped with everything, will increasingly become the center of Britannia. This gap is something other regions cannot catch up to."

"What about the North? Aren't there many mines and the warriors are tough too, right?"

"Yes. It does seem like we will remain to the end when other regions get subjugated to the South. Although if the master of the South bears great sacrifices later on, we would eventually be subjugated too though."

"Aren't you talking about a future too far away?"

"Even if I don't know when it will be, I am certain it will definitely come. Since it is difficult to predict the future looking at a group, but it is easy to predict the future looking at the land."

Count Constantine exhibited courtesy to Eugene once again.

"Please remember that the North expressed the respect fit for the name of Meyer before anyone else. If so, I would have nothing more to wish for."

The unpleasant talk ended with this. Taking off their armors, the two had a joyful banquet, and Eugene directly guided Count Constantine to various places in the castle.

With this, Eugene finished interactions with all the great lords of Britannia. Now none of them were seeing the shadow of Viscount Winchester in the South.

The flames of war in Britannia ended, and a new order was established.

* * *

Passing the winter, Eugene listened to the external situation. Naturally, Roman's civil war was of utmost interest.

As the war between the Emperor faction and Noble faction prolonged, it is turning into a mud fight at its peak.

Merchant associations that lent money, mercenary corps that were promised other things instead of remuneration, betrayals and switchings caused by grudges or misunderstandings piled up during battle are getting tangled up.

For Eugene, it was close to watching a fire across the sea though.

"Did you know the nobles of the Emperor faction are grateful to the Lord?"

Cassandra, who was having teatime with Eugene, said.

She is receiving trustworthy information through the petty Dark Elf kingdoms established on the continent. So she often shared conversations with Eugene regarding the situation.

"That's unexpected. There shouldn't be a reason to like me."

"Because you cut off the money and time the Emperor was pouring into the Moving Castle. As for the Emperor himself, he goes wild stamping his feet that his treasure was stolen, but the nobles are not. Because concentrating on the war they face takes priority."

"How are the Margraves? Both the Emperor faction and Noble faction should be slowly wanting to pull them in."

True to Roman which possesses the widest territory, there's not just one or two competing nations sharing borders.

Lords who were granted privileges and nurtured powerful military forces for the defense of the national territory existed in multiple. They are higher compatible versions of Eugene's subordinate Baron Lester.

If the Margraves empty their seats, invasions by foreign powers could occur. That's why they are fundamentally professing neutrality in the civil war as well.

"Because countless envoys and bribes are going back and forth, it is an atmosphere of slowly putting one leg in each."

"It'll become even more of a mess."

"For foreigners, it's a golden opportunity to grab money."

Eugene's subordinates were debating daily on how to cut into Roman's civil war and scoop a share.

Haven was the greatest megalopolis they had stayed in so far, and things to enjoy with money overflowed. Eugene's warriors sold their loot and played and ate excitedly over the winter.

Then, perhaps getting bored of playing too, or tasting glory under Eugene, everyone's bodies were itching.

The current Roman is a good pie to tear and eat.

- There are several city-states friendly to the Emperor! If we do a tour performance there and rob them, we'll earn enough money for 3 generations to play and eat!

- If doing so, how about going hired by the Noble faction?

- What, you're telling the Lord to enter under another noble bastard?

- It's a waste to do a good thing for others for free. If doing so, isn't ripping off money from both sides the best?

- Uh, well...

However, Eugene didn't have thoughts of cutting in yet. In his view, more time was needed for the civil war to ripen.

The Emperor's army was still powerful and there was also the situation of variables called Margraves.

Even if Eugene is winning victory after victory, they are opponents he cannot look down on. Since it is an army centered on blood relatives composed of Dark Elves and Dwarves, once they suffer great damage it would be hard to recover.

- Ahaha! Lord! Please look here!

- We made a necklace with flowers. I'll put it on you.

Eugene, whose relationships with each and every one of them had deepened, would also feel heavy in his heart.

Of course, there is no reason to reject a new expedition itself. In a rugged era, the more combat experience the better, and since Eugene's weight class is growing day by day, he also needed a lot of money.

Eugene happened to have a place he was paying attention to.

"Roman later. These days, my interest is the West."

"Isn't there nothing but the sea there, Lord?"

Unlike her words, Cassandra had a face full of anticipation. Unlike other tribe members who avoid the sea, she always yearned for the sea.

"There will definitely be something."

Eugene spoke as if certain.

* * *

Officially, Britannia is the end of civilization, the country existing furthest west in the world.

However, rumors that another world unfolds across that terrifying ocean were constantly created.

And circumstantial evidence hard to ignore existed quite a bit as well.

"A fisherman on the coast picked it up and offered it a week ago."

"What is this?"

Cassandra wondered looking at the large fruit Eugene handed her. It was similar to an avocado, but the size was almost the size of a human head.

"I don't know."

"Yes?"

"I say nobody knows. The Alchemy Guild knowledgeable in various plants doesn't, nor do the merchants of the Hanja League handling all sorts of crops, at all. Such a thing washed up on the western coast of Britannia."

"Ah!"

What this meant was simple.

"Furthermore, there is an eyewitness too. Saying there is dry land beyond the rough and dangerous western ocean."

"Aren't such stories common? Since sailors' bluffs are more than mercenaries'."

"Because that eyewitness isn't a sailor. It's a mermaid, no less."

"...Oh my."

Monsters or Beastkin are not only on land. They also existed in the sea.

Although the majority of them are hostile to human civilization, there's also cases where minimum communication was possible due to the guidance of fate.

"Even so, to say it's a mermaid is hard to believe."

"I don't completely trust it either. But a sailor saying he saw a new continent, and a sailor telling the story of a mermaid who saw a new continent. If I have to pick between the two, the latter brings a bit more trust."

If it's a mermaid, exploration beyond humans avoiding rainstorms, doldrums, and attacks from marine monsters would be possible.

Furthermore, there was also the testimony of the captain who failed in pioneering the sea route in Sicily.

- In that place is a vast land we cannot even imagine. Countless gold mines are asleep, and milk and honey flows...

A story beyond the ocean mixed with various speculations, legends, and rumors you couldn't be 100% certain of.

However, if they just succeed, they can obtain a land that will guarantee tremendous wealth and prosperity.

"Normally, this kind of long-distance expedition has too many walls to cross. The investment cost is massive, you must distance yourself from family, and even when things don't go well it's hard to order the troops back."

"However, we are exceptions."

Cassandra smiled.

The magic castle they stay in provided a safe journey and retreat to any unknown world.

"What you need is just one painting, then."

Those who already received Eugene's order were going around scouring all the landscape paintings of Britannia.

Meaning paintings containing clues across the sea, or to head there.

* * *

"It is the Land of Snow. Excellency."

A while later, Eugene received a landscape painting covered in pure white snow from an adventurer he hired.

It's a large country in the northwest of Britannia covered entirely in snow and ice. Although that only amounted to a mere 4% of the land. Because people only lived in the green areas at the southernmost tip.

"The Land of Snow runs at the extreme of barrenness. That much, the people there have a great craving for dry and soft land."

"But to the South is Britannia, and to the Southeast is the land of the Vikings. It would have been hard to set foot either way, right?"

There is a perception that those who live in barren lands are strong, but even that has limits. If it's barren to the point it's hard to develop civilization, they just become a painful people.

"Because the masters of the lands already exist. So they pinned their hopes on the West."

"And were there results?"

"Only legends. But those who continuously claimed those legends all said their words were the truth. They also left many paintings as evidence of that."

A large and sturdy ship is not needed, nor a map drawing the sea route, nor an outstanding navigator. A painting drawing an unknown world. Only that is the sole guide Eugene wants.

"The painting Your Excellency is looking for will probably be in the Land of Snow. If it's not there, you wouldn't be able to find it anywhere."

"You worked hard."

When Eugene tossed him a coin pouch, the adventurer backed away feeling awed.

A situation where an adventure different in color from the journeys he had done so far waits. Eugene felt his fingertips tingling.

'I too was born with wanderlust, huh.'

His mother, his master, and even his Blackhand tribe friends. It seems neither Eugene nor the people around him have natures satisfied staying in one place.