Ending Maker - Chapter 313
EPISODE 313 – PROCLAMATION (2)
Marquis Buckingham’s estate was truly vast.
In terms of size, it was equivalent to the entire northern region of the Sälen Kingdom, which was a third of the kingdom.
Naturally, it was the largest territory in the empire, and there were two reasons why Marquis Buckingham occupied such a vast estate.
One was that the land was large, but the usable land was surprisingly small, and the other was the fact that the Marquis Buckingham at that time became a joint heir to several blood-related families, including his mother’s family and relatives, thus inheriting a huge amount of land.
The land was large, but almost half of it was useless.
Therefore, despite the possession of a vast territory, the Imperial Family and the surrounding nobles didn’t seriously keep them in check.
Moreover, since Marquis Buckingham had a lot of children, the prevailing opinion was that it was possible to maintain the vast territory as long as the marquis was alive.
‘Still, the land is big.’
It was true that there were fewer people living compared to the land, but there were also many people because the land was so wide.
‘It’s also rich in underground resources.’
In many ways, one could say that the situation was like Russia, or to be exact, the former Soviet Union.
The Buckingham March actually had several high-quality mines, and it was also the land where most of the dwarves, who were inseparable from mineral sources, lived.
“Marquis Buckingham will meet us.”
The empress dowager had a good expression since they left the Shadow Forest, perhaps because she was visiting her hometown after a long time.
Some preferred coming to a place where they really felt safe, and not in a land where there were few people they could trust, but this was also her first visit to her hometown in nearly a decade, so it would rather be strange if her expression was not good.
“I like this place too.”
After they left the imperial capital, there was always a dark atmosphere in the emperor’s face even when he smiled, but now, he was brightly smiling.
A bright smile that was just right for his age.
“Your Imperial Majesty, that’s the flag of the Buckingham March.”
When Leon spoke and pointed in front, both the emperor and empress dowager who were chatting put their heads out the window and looked into the distance.
“Indeed, it’s the flag of the Buckingham March.”
A coat of arms with a winged lion.
The empress dowager spoke with joy, and the emperor stomped his feet repeatedly in the carriage. The empress dowager always nagged about the emperor’s behavior, but she let it pass this time to let the emperor and his younger siblings rejoice to their heart’s content.
Two days after they left the Shadow Forest.
The group met Marquis Buckingham who was also known as the Crouching Lion of the North.
***
While Jude, Cordelia, and the others were meeting with Marquis Buckingham, another group began to march in the northern part of the kingdom, in Bailon.
It was a kind of coalition army led by Count Bayer and Count Chase.
The two counts had already been summoned once due to the empire’s border blockade, but since the empire had been quite quiet then, they had only been preparing for battle in Bailon but not moving out.
But as of yesterday, an order from the royal capital to go to war came.
Count Bayer led the knights and soldiers while Count Chase joined Count Bayer’s group with the wizards of the Red Dawn Tower.
And a day passed again.
Count Bayer and Count Chase, who were each riding on a black horse and white horse, exchanged words in small voices.
“This is quite a problem.”
They had a letter from the southern region’s Marquis Ophand.
The content itself was simple after all the aristocratic rhetoric was excluded, which was about taking responsibility.
“Is this our fault though?”
“He’s insisting that it’s our fault.”
About the matter of Kajsa Ophand running away.
She had gone to attend a wedding in the north, but ran away afterwards with the ‘runaway pros.’
Although Kajsa used to hunt pirates and played wildly, she had never ran away from home.
Marquis Ophand insisted that this was all because of Jude and Cordelia, and Count Bayer found it difficult to deny that.
Because it was a fact known to the entire kingdom that Jude and Cordelia ran away the most in the kingdom, so they were runaway pros.
“In that case, Count Hræsvelgr…”
“We got a letter from him too. It was in a much calmer tone though.”
Lucas Hræsvelgr.
A young man who was called the Girin of the North until Jude came into prominence.
Lucas also attended the wedding of Gaël and Adelia, running away afterwards, so Count Hræsvelgr couldn’t help but blame Count Bayer and Count Chase.
“Moreover… if you read the main points, it seems like Marquis Ophand is in a really difficult situation because of Lady Kajsa.”
“What do you mean?”
Count Bayer had a bitter smile at Count Chase’s question.
“It’s because of Carlos’ legacy, Ascalon, that Marquis Ophand was able to lead the 7, no, the 6 southern families. You know that, right?”
“I know.”
“But that Ascalon is gone. To be exact, the real one has disappeared, and only a fake was left behind.”
“Wait a second, don’t tell me…”
“It is what you’re thinking.”
Kajsa Ophand ran away with the real Ascalon.
From the standpoint of the other five families who were uncomfortable because they were suddenly deprived of becoming the leader, this was a truly good opportunity.
The two did not know, but perhaps the families were harassing Marquis Ophand every day.
“But that Kajsa had ran away from home.”
“With our children.”
Count Bayer and Count Chase both sighed deeply.
“But everything will be fine, right?”
“I believe it will be fine. They’ve become a lot stronger after all.”
Both Jude and Cordelia had made remarkable progress.
Or rather, those two had gone beyond that to the point of dazzling flowery language.
In just 1.5 years, Cordelia became an archwizard while Jude who was too weak to freely go outside had now become one of the Ten Great Swordmasters.
Their growth felt unreal.
But the two counts knew better than anyone that their growth was real.
“Anyway… something must be happening this time too.”
Count Chase nodded, though he frowned at Count Bayer’s words.
Because their runaways so far had not been a simple running away because of love.
If one looked at the results, Jude and Cordelia always returned with big accomplishments every time they ran away.
“When they return this time, I think they should just get married right away.”
“I agree. There’s no need to drag out the engagement.”
And in fact, there was an additional thing they were hoping for.
The two counts both looked back at Gaël and Adelia whose horses were right next to each other.
It was a sight that was overflowing with sweetness.
Even though the two were just looking at each other, it seemed like there was a pink aura between them.
“It has gotten worse.”
The two had rarely gone outside since they got married.
Right after their wedding, they stayed in the room for more than 3 days.
“I’m really happy though.”
Count Chase spoke with a proud face, and Count Bayer smiled quietly and nodded.
“We might become grandfathers soon.”
“Yes, grandfathers.”
That was it.
The two men finished their conversation with a smile as they looked at each other. They changed their expressions and began discussing the affairs of the kingdom.
“Was it the crown princess who summoned us?”
“Yes, from what I’ve heard. Moreover… it doesn’t seem to be just a precautionary move.”
Right now, the two counts were leading the elites of their territory.
Even the Northern Jackdaws were preparing to move, so perhaps a major war against the empire was about to happen.
“We’ll know then… when we arrive.”
The order from the royal capital was not to head to the border. It was a command to bring the elite soldiers to the royal capital.
Why though?
What this a kind of plan?
The two counts looked forward again.
They crossed the border between the northern and central regions, and headed towards the royal capital.
***
The night they met Marquis Buckingham.
Since the Buckingham March was so vast, it took about two days to arrive at Grand Penn, a big city that could be called the territory’s capital.
Therefore, the group stayed overnight at the castle of Viscount Lennon, a vassal of Marquis Buckingham.
“A slate of the Solari denomination?”
Jude nodded when Scarlet asked as her eyes blinked.
“Yes, there are four of these slates, and we’ve collected three already. And I know where the last slate is.”
In Jude’s room, Cordelia, Scarlet, Lucas, Kajsa, and Kirara were present.
He had thought of calling Leon and Sarah too, but compared to the previous four, they were not yet close with them.
“Lord Jude, are you saying then that… you’re leaving to look for the fourth remaining slate?”
“Yes, we will be doing so. Now that we’ve met Marquis Buckingham, I think it’s fine to go slowly now.”
Moreover, the fourth slate was hidden in Zainan Gorge, one of the border points between the Buckingham March and the Shadow Forest. So considering their route, it was only right to go there now.
Cordelia also nodded and added.
“They say that if you collect all the slates, you’ll be able to obtain the last treasure left by the Solari denomination. I don’t know what it is, but it will definitely help in our fight against the demon followers. That’s why I think that it’s better to secure it before the war… the civil war begins.”
Solari’s treasure that one could get when all four slates had been collected had never appeared in Legend of Heroes 2, so even Jude and Cordelia did not know what it was.
But still, it was the legacy of Solari, the last treasure left by the denomination.
Even if it was not a combat weapon, it would be helpful in some way because it would have immense divine power.
‘We need to be prepared in the end.’
It was the same reason why they gathered as many allies as possible and increased their fighting power in preparation for the fight against the Lord Protector back then in the royal capital.
As Jude and Cordelia each finished their explanations, Kajsa scratched her chin and said.
“Anyway, is that why you’re going on a treasure hunt?”
“Well… you could say that.”
When Cordelia nodded, Kajsa grinned and hugged the neck of Lucas who was sitting next to her.
“Hehe, I like that. Lucas likes it too, right?”
“Eh? Yeah. M-me too. Noona.”
Lucas was neither used to this skinship nor calling Kajsa ‘noona.’
As he spoke with a blush on his cheeks without realizing it, Kajsa’s face turned red as well. For some reason, she smacked her lips too.
But unfortunately for Kajsa, Scarlet was present.
Scarlet grabbed Kajsa by the back of her collar and pulled her so that the two were no longer touching each other. She then turned to Cordelia and continued her words, ignoring Kajsa’s protests.
“Are we leaving immediately in the morning then?”
If one went further north from here, they would see the winding road to Zainan Gorge.
In response to Scarlet’s question, Cordelia suddenly wiggled her fingers.
“We’re going to leave but… well… It will only be me and Jude going there…”
The way her words trailed in the end was very suspicious.
So Scarlet’s eyes narrowed and she asked again.
“Are you two going alone?”
“Yes. It’s not like it needs a lot of people to go there. And I want the three of you to stay here and focus on strengthening yourselves. Yes, yes, that’s it.
Seeing that she was nodding her head while speaking, it seemed like she was agreeing to whatever she was saying.
Jude and Cordelia will be going to the Zainan Gorge alone.
This isn’t actually strange.
Because these two have traveled alone together before.
But why?
Is this something like a Rogue Master’s intuition?
Somehow, her words sounds different from usual.
“Hmmmmm….”
Scarlet narrowed her eyes even more, and Cordelia’s lips squirmed as she averted her gaze. And Kajsa sniffed it with her beastly intuition that was not inferior to Cordelia’s.
‘I smell something. You too, right?’
At Kajsa’s gaze, Scarlet nodded. It was obvious on what Kajsa was saying with her eyes given the atmosphere and circumstances.
So Scarlet smiled and spoke.
“Then why don’t you take Kirara with you?”
“Kirara?”
Not only Cordelia but also Kirara, who was sitting close to Cordelia, blinked their eyes.
Because her words were quite unexpected.
But Scarlet had her own reasons.
“According to what you said, the fourth slate is located in Zainan Gorge, right? Kirara can help you by talking to the animals there. There must be a lot of monsters there that Kirara can tame.”
Zainan Gorge was notorious for its rugged roads and being the home to large groups of Roc birds.
It was a remote place that was not passed through by people, so only the animals living nearby knew the way there.
“Yes, that’s right. If it’s Miss Kirara, she can ask the animals to find out the way.”
Lucas spoke and clapped his hands, and Scarlet nodded in agreement.
“Isn’t that good? You have to be back soon. Moreover, it’s not a place with much danger.”
Scarlet’s words were both wrong and right.
Zainan Gorge that was swarming with giant monsters was generally considered a dangerous place.
But it was not a dangerous place for the Grand Sword Master Jude and the Archwizard Cordelia.
“Eueueue…”
But if we do that, Jude and I won’t be able to travel alone!
Cordelia wanted to shout that, but she could not. Because she was still lacking in shamelessness.
So she just groaned, but an even more difficult situation happened.
“Wow, am I going with Master then? I like that. I can go together with your, right?”
Kirara hugged Cordelia’s waist and acted cute, so there was no way for Cordelia to refuse.
‘Ueueueue…’
There was no need to hide her thoughts if she and Jude traveled alone.
They did not need to hide it.
But it could not be helped.
She could ignore Scarlet and Kajsa’s evil smiles, but not Lucas whose innocent face seemed to be saying ‘Miss Scarlet is smart!’ and Kirara whose sparkling eyes seemed to be saying that she wanted to go with them.
“O-okay. Yes. L-let’s go together.”
“Really? That’s really nice. I like you very much, my master.”
“Eueueu… me too.”
Kirara rubbed her cheek against Cordelia’s chest in her joy, and Cordelia had an awkward smile.
As for another person.
After watching their conversation, Jude looked out the window and let out a long sigh.
It was a really long sigh.