Two moons hung in the sky.
Beneath them, the camp stretched out across the wide open land.
The retired soldiers being dragged off to the remote north were steadily losing energy, but they knew well how to survive outdoors.
Though they looked rough at first glance, the wagons had been arranged in a double wall, with guards posted on top.
They took turns standing night watch without being told, but the number on duty was kept small.
It was going to be a long journey, and forcing too many people onto guard duty would drain their stamina.
There was also the fact that they were still not far from the capital, where security was relatively stable.
Sir Chester Filtein, who had once been one of the previous generation’s Masters, drank cheap rum and lamented his situation.
“So I really am headed north in the end.”
His once-prosperous family had been wiped out.
He himself had become little better than discarded refuse, serving as a low-ranking knight, and when retirement finally approached, he had naturally been purged.
Perhaps this had always been the ending waiting for him.
Sir Chester had given up on life.
He thought there was nothing left but to drink himself into the grave.
“Do you really think that much alcohol is enough to kill a man?”
“I greet Your Highness.”
The Third Prince appeared and set down a whole barrel of liquor.
Sir Chester had no particular loyalty to the imperial family, so he merely dipped his head.
“That man! Your Highness! You should cut down this washed-up fool who does not even know basic courtesy and make an example of him!”
Sir Mitchell, the Third Prince’s adjutant, flew into a rage.
Sir Chester gave a faint snort.
If anything, that might have been better.
His family was already gone. Rather than suffering in the freezing north for no reason, losing his head here might be easier.
Thump.
But the Third Prince’s reaction exceeded all expectations.
He dropped down onto the ground like a mercenary and started scooping liquor into a bowl.
“What are you doing? Not drinking? You look like your greatest wish is to drown in alcohol.”
“Ha ha ha. If I am going to die, what better death could there be than drinking liquor bestowed by Your Highness first?”
The Third Prince dismissed the noisy knights.
Kaon von Myers.
The Empire’s Third Prince, infamous as a reckless wastrel.
Until the Crown Prince collapsed, Kaon had caused trouble everywhere he went, but then he suddenly awakened, achieved a tremendous military victory, and was promoted to Northern Commander.
Chester had long since given up on life, but even he still felt a little curiosity.
‘The Third Prince has lived a pitiful life too. The Crown Prince collapsed only a year before he came of age. It seems he intended to live quietly in some rural corner, only for his life to become tangled for no reason.’
With the rightful heir incapacitated, the emperor had no choice but to test the abilities of the two remaining princes and decide who would become the next emperor.
But would that be easy?
The Third Prince had never intended to become emperor and therefore had never built a faction.
Now that was proving fatal.
That was why he had been pushed aside in the political struggle and sent to a remote region.
“The reason you ended up like this was Marquis Gales. You fell into a carefully prepared trap and were implicated in treason. Your family was destroyed, and you lost your mana. Later, it was revealed to be a misunderstanding and your status was restored, but by then, you had already lost your reason to live. Revenge? You need strength for that too.”
“……Are you mocking me?”
Murderous intent flashed in Chester’s eyes.
His life was already ruined, so he no longer cared what happened.
The Third Prince gave a faint laugh at his reaction.
“Do you really think I brought that up just to mock you? Do I look that idle?”
Chester fell silent.
He could not understand what the Third Prince was aiming for.
“About fifteen years ago, rumors spread that Marquis Einsid, a neutral noble, intended to rebel. You were close to the marquis, and your life was devastated as a result. Marquis Gales, who led the whole affair, was promoted and became deputy commander. Even after it was revealed that everything had been a misunderstanding, he never gave up the position he gained from it. You can look at that and still sleep at night?”
“Then what exactly am I supposed to do!? I even considered assassinating him in secret, but I was surrounded by watchers. I gave up on everything and drowned myself in alcohol because I was simply waiting for the day I died.”
Chester spoke with genuine anger.
The Third Prince listened to his rambling in silence, then spoke calmly.
“I will give you your revenge. One of the Second Prince and me will have to die eventually. When the time comes, I will purge the Second Prince’s faction as well. I will use you as the blade that destroys Marquis Gales and his house.”
“……!”
Chester’s gaze shook.
Right now, the Third Prince’s words sounded absurd.
A man with no faction to speak of, driven out to the north, was talking about imperial power?
Anyone would call it impossible.
‘But those eyes do not belong to a reckless wastrel.’
Chester could sense an intense desire within the Third Prince.
Whatever else might be uncertain, his determination to take the throne was genuine.
Chester’s attitude became slightly more respectful.
“Even so, I have no strength.”
“Then regain it.”
“My Mana Hole was destroyed. Restoration is impossible—”
“What if it is possible?”
“Pardon?”
“There is a secret art that no one knows. Of course, the materials are difficult to obtain, and the process is extremely complicated. But one thing is certain. Restoring a Mana Hole is not impossible. Everything depends on your will.”
There was a way for him to take revenge?
A way to regain his former level?
Naturally, it felt like he was being deceived.
“The choice is yours. You have nothing left to lose anyway.”
‘If I think about it differently, why would someone as important as the Third Prince bother lying to a broken man like me? I only become useful if I regain my former strength. I heard Her Highness the Princess has spent all her time immersed in alchemy. Could the answer lie with her?’
The Third Prince said he would gather the necessary materials in the north.
He also warned that the process would be extremely difficult.
There were still many suspicious points, and Chester would be trusting a thread-thin possibility.
But until now, he had not even possessed that much hope.
‘Right. I have nothing to lose.’
THUD!
Chester dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead to the ground.
“From this moment onward, my life belongs to Your Highness.”
“Let us do well together. I will explain the detailed plan when there is time. Starting tomorrow, stop drinking and train your body. You should know better than anyone that mana is useless without a proper body to support it.”
“Then I will begin immediately—”
“Now, now. Not tonight. A day like this calls for drinking.”
***
Rattle. Rattle.
Bright sunlight spilled in, and Kaon opened his eyes.
“Ugh, my head.”
“Drink some water.”
“Thanks.”
Kaon gulped down the water Sharon handed him.
Perhaps because, by Korean age standards, he was only around middle-school age, the nausea settled down after a short while.
“Nothing happened, right?”
“No. We have left the capital region now and entered the Grankan Marquisate.”
“Then we should be fine for about another fifteen days.”
Rustle.
Even now, Sharon was reading a book.
It was related to alchemy.
Before leaving for the north, she had received permission from the emperor and practically raided the imperial library’s advanced collection.
She had brought as many books on alchemy and medicinal herbs as possible without crossing the limit.
Sharon did not seem bored at all during the journey.
Kaon climbed onto the roof of the carriage using the ladder connected to the interior.
The column moved at a moderate pace, neither slow nor fast.
Most of the soldiers were riding in wagons or carts.
Even while keeping watch, they observed the surroundings from the wagon roofs.
Around two hundred cavalrymen were being used to guard the column, though even that was unnecessary while they were still in the capital region.
Sir Chester was visible as well.
Until yesterday, he had done nothing but sit in a wagon and drink.
Now that he had found a reason to live, he had changed overnight.
According to Sharon, he had risen early that morning, exercised lightly, and practiced swordsmanship.
Naturally, the other knights gathered around and trained alongside him.
“A virtuous cycle.”
Sir Chester had been treated as a disposable piece because he had given up on life itself.
His status had been restored, but the reputation of a former Master still remained, so Marquis Gales had probably wanted him gone as soon as possible.
Having Chester around the imperial palace was uncomfortable, and since he was expected to die sooner or later anyway, Gales had simply thrown him north in what amounted to a purge.
Yet after going through all of that, Chester had changed in a single night.
The moment he picked up a sword and began training again, his presence started having a positive effect on the knights around him.
He might have lost his mana, but his swordsmanship had not gone anywhere.
‘I should probably join them every morning and evening too.’
As compensation for the author’s interference, basic swordsmanship had been imprinted into Kaon’s mind.
But if he wanted to move into advanced training, he needed guidance from an expert.
Training with Sir Chester would undoubtedly help.
“Yaaawn.”
Kaon tried to climb down from the carriage, but his body seemed to resist.
Perhaps because the body had been naturally lazy from birth, whenever he tried to act busily, a near-instinctive feeling of disgust rose from within him.
That instinct needed to be corrected.
It was time for a short rest.
They needed to eat lunch, and the horses and mules needed time to recover before moving again.
The column had formed up and settled down when Kaon’s heart suddenly pounded.
Thump!
“Urgh!”
“Your Highness! Are you all right?”
“What is wrong?”
His limbs stiffened as though dense muscle were suddenly filling them.
His body was becoming firmer all at once.
Deep inside him, mana accumulated as though it were about to erupt.
It happened in an instant.
It was not normal.
Even as he felt himself becoming stronger, he could guess the reason.
“Something is coming.”
“Pardon?”
Sir Mitchell looked at Kaon as though he had started spouting nonsense.
The column still had not fully left the capital region.
Security was too stable for a bandit attack or a monster wave to make sense.
If they had already reached the frontier, Mitchell might have believed him.
But not here.
Kaon, however, was certain.
“About an hour. A crisis will come within that time.”
“My lord, even so, that makes no sense—”
Smack!
“Urk!”
Kaon struck Mitchell on the head.
This was not the time to debate whether he was right.
If that bastard author had interfered again, then something was definitely about to happen.
What could threaten Kaon in this empty open land?
At most, the possibilities were limited to bandits or monsters.
Even for the author, making bandits suddenly appear out of nowhere would be difficult.
That made a monster wave far more likely.
“Grab shovels! Dig trenches and rearrange the wagons! Sir Mitchell, send out scouts! Everyone else, start working! A monster wave is coming!”
When Kaon began shouting orders, the knights frowned but obeyed.
The soldiers also wondered what in the world they were doing, but once an imperial prince gave a direct order, they had no choice but to follow it.
With nearly five thousand people digging, a moat-like trench quickly began to form.
In the distance, Sir Mitchell came racing back from reconnaissance.
“My lord! A group of roughly one thousand ogres and trolls is approaching! They should be here in about thirty minutes!”
“……!”
Murmur, murmur!
The soldiers and laborers who had been forced to dig stared in shock and immediately started shoveling even faster.
If not for Kaon, they might all have died here.
Cold sweat ran down Sir Mitchell’s face as he moved beside Kaon.
“M-My lord. We nearly had a disaster. What in the world is going on?”
“I do not know. But one thing is certain.”
“What is?”
“Money is raining from the sky.”
“Money?”
“Heaven is giving us a chance to earn some travel expenses along the way.”
A large monster horde had attacked an imperial prince and Northern Commander near the capital, inside a marquisate.
The marquis could never avoid responsibility.
It was the kind of catastrophe for which Kaon could demand an enormous sum without giving him any room to complain.
Kaon looked up at the sky and grinned.
“You bastard author! I will gladly accept the gift!”