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Chapter 340
The Archduke's Greenhouse
Grand Duke's Greenhouse.
A mysterious space where not a trace of mana remains in the air.
Even on this ground with four distinct seasons, it maintains a constant temperature year-round.
Herbs that require finicky conditions could be easily cultivated to create artificial elixirs.
Grand Duke Golt used it not to heal fatal wounds, but as a means to prevent the aging of nobles.
Еn̈üṁа. і̄ ď
After all, nobles who would even devour their own children are a dime a dozen if it means escaping a miserable death.
Thus he accumulated wealth and power.
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There was a technique no one could imitate—the method of creating a mana-free zone was still a secret.
The one place even the Black Bandana couldn't approach.
'Basement.'
Ferda headed there.
Е̄n ũ mа̌ . i d́
As he went underground, he felt detection magics watching him.
Several layers of security magics that ruthlessly erased the unqualified were laid out.
But since Ferda held the seal, those security magics didn't recognize him.
The underground's end wasn't that deep.
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Roughly 4 meters or so.
Just a long corridor made to spiral round and round like a snail's shell, with uneven steps being the flaw.
Ё ṅu m.а. i̊d̊
The intent to prevent quick movement by any means was visible.
Thus Ferda moved along the path Valdemar had walked, and finally reached the source from which the Empire's power sprang.
He thought gold and silver treasures would spill out at the end of the long dungeon, but an unexpected object sat in the center of the room.
Kuuuuuu—
Kiriririk......
Kiriririk......
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Gear sounds mixed between the sounds of something sucking in.
The object emitting that strange noise was a cylindrical thing the size of a bed, reaching up to Ferda's chest.
'Mana is being sucked inside that.'
Ferda found a familiar groove on the dust-covered shell.
The size and shape matched the seal Valdemar gave him.
Ferda pushed the seal into it.
Ĕ ṅ ũ ṁа̇. id̆
Click!
The sound of a latch releasing from the lid's edge.
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Ferda carefully lifted the lid.
The secret was revealed before Ferda's eyes.
The core that created that mana-free zone lay below.
Inside the cylinder, gears were rotating.
Е̊n ü ḿа̇
They held the mana being sucked inside in the gaps, endlessly supplying it to the mana circuits.
Seeping between the gears and pushing into the circuits, endlessly rolling.
But infinite rotation is impossible just by extracting mana from the air and ground.
At a glance, this thing that looked like a perpetual motion machine had a trick hidden in it.
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It was at the end of this cylinder.
'Wormhole.'
Е_n̊ů m а̀
What reflected inside was the entrance to Hell.
Red embers taking root in cooled lava.
From this place where just looking should make you feel scorching heat, ironically, a sucking sound could be heard.
Like a mouth with endless hunger it gulped mana, but the gears became a filter that sifted magical power, absorbing minute amounts of mana one by one.
That's why there wasn't a shred of mana in the ground, air, or anything.
'This was one of the contracts made with Morax.'
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He thoroughly hid this secret and laid the foundation for Godfrey to become king.
Disgust welled up.
Ferda's eyes shone blue.
Inside, Ferda's black lumps seized the central part.
Crunch!
Crunch crunch!
Ѐňum̃а̂
The mana circuits were erased, and the steel gears shattered without hesitation.
When some of the broken gears fell into the wormhole, the entrance vanished as if it had never existed.
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The cylinder that had been making a racket stopped too.
The thing that had been spinning like mad had now followed its master.
"......Hm?"
Ferda discovered a strange object at the end.
Е n.u m̂ а . іd̄
Something rolled up was visible inside a pipe within the iron mechanism.
Ferda pulled it out to find a long note with writing on it.
The handwriting made it clear who the owner was.
-If you're reading this, I'm dead.
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Or die right now. If I'm still alive the moment I see this, then I'm no longer me.
If not, it means someone has inherited my will, and the meaning that they won't inherit that will.
Е̊ n ǔ ḿа
That's why such a person would be able to hear my innermost thoughts.
He introduced himself with ruthless words toward himself.
-As you know, I am Valdemar, the last successor of the Golt family.
I don't know how long I'll live shamelessly as a bachelor, but I'll surely live until Crown Prince Godfrey ascends the throne and rules for quite a long time.
Godfrey had that ability.
His rhetoric was clean and clear, without the stickiness of agitators or the stench of nobles.
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It felt like seeing my first swordsmanship master.
Fear toward the unknown and respect surged up simultaneously.
I usually looked down on the white-horse-riding superhuman that foolish citizens believe in.
Before I knew it, I had become one of those foolish people.
-I began to follow him as if possessed.
As if proving my intuition right, Godfrey was advancing toward the Crown Prince's position, not a prince who would be pushed away, with each passing day.
Ẁ е̂b́ n ō v̇ ӗ l Е̂ n̊um а̀
-However, the foundation wasn't favorable.
Crown Prince Godfrey was young enough to be barely a year older than the Emperor's son.
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That's why I said it.
If you promise prosperity without using the Empire as a tool of power like the Emperor, I will gladly sacrifice myself.
Ferda intuited.
That this was the contract with Morax.
Ё n̈u̇ m̄ а
-Godfrey made a displeased face inwardly, but explained his method in detail.
He spoke for an hour.
Surprisingly, it was clear enough that I still remember the hour-long story.
I don't know if I've been waiting for this moment.
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Since it was a cautious matter then and now, I wanted to think he explained deeply.
Otherwise, he couldn't have so calmly told me to offer Adriana to the demon.
Ẃ e b ǹ оv̀è l Ѐnů m̀а̌
And I willingly moved for that greater good.
'Damn it.......'
Ferda didn't want to admit it.
There wasn't a shred of falsehood in Godfrey's cunning words.
He didn't scheme to kill him—he told him everything and let him choose for himself.
'No, he didn't choose.'
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Ferda corrects his conclusion.
Godfrey psychologically manipulated Valdemar.
Demon magic, Nightmare Walking.
No one could imagine it would be possible because he walked toward infinite possibilities.
Ferda continued reading.
-I decided to offer Adriana, but I hesitated.
Е̌n ù m ӑ . їd̈
I will regret it.
I will surely regret it.
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Killing Adriana, my pillar, with my own hands.
Unable to erase my last remaining conscience with whiskey, I embraced her.
I confessed to her, weeping, for the last time.
She said this.
Е n û m̀ â
That everything would be alright.
Even though I said you must die, she answered like that.
Only then did I realize.
That I am trash not worthy of loving this woman.
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That I am trash who should not be loved by anyone.
Adriana.
Wе̂bn о v̈е_l̇ Èń um̊а̄
I don't want to live without her.
Despite promising to grow old together, I don't want to live holding another woman, having another woman's child.
Dark ink stains and a bit of blank space.
Probably the next day after the alcohol wore off, he continued writing the note.
-I begged Godfrey.
To never let me be tied to anyone for life.
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If I die, let me die the most miserably possible.
Godfrey reluctantly accepted that plea.
That demon-like boy will surely pull it off.
Now I go to kill the woman I loved most.
Sacrifice one for the one.
Sacrifice one for tens of millions.
Еn̊_uma
Another brief blank space.
The handwriting was crooked, without the calm feeling from before.
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As if the previous Valdemar Golt was disappearing.
-I ask the one who sees this note.
Does the current Empire have value?
Is this Empire, obtained by offering my youth, blood, and alter ego, a land worthy of prospering under the blessing of the golden sun?
Е̃ n ú m̆ а̌ . i̇d́
The note ended with that question.
Knowing it was a path to misery, he walked solely for the one.
The fact that he couldn't erase his doubts even on the day he offered his love is proof that he, too, was merely human.
Ferda had already finished his answer.
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The mighty Grand Duke's power would collapse and vanish into a handful of dust.
Ferda completely smashed the demon's machine, leaving not even a trace, and left the spot.
Ẇ е̂ b n̈ о vе̄ l̊ En ūm̆.а̇
Yet as if it were an unsatisfactory answer, that question still lingers in his head.
As the question of whether one can sacrifice tens of millions for the one.
Ferda passed through the long corridor, and Ferda came up to the surface.
Court mages assigned as guides were waiting in front of Ferda.
"Urgent report. Regent Ferda."
He said.
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"Monsters are swarming from beyond the Demon's Land. You must return immediately and respond."
* * *
Ferda returned to Valdrova Castle through the spatial transfer the court mages opened.
In the office, Isabella was already looking east with an anxious expression.
"How much time is left?"
Isabella answered.
W̌ӗ b ǹ ôv̊ё l Ë ñ ū m а́
"They'll cross the border within 5 hours."
Fortunately, there was still time to squeeze out.
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Ferda looked in the direction Isabella was looking.
The blackened zone that had lost its light. Masses of lumps wriggling and crawling from there.
The existences that torment humans are monstrous beasts and monsters.
Goblins, ogres, or beings awakened by excessively receiving nature's power are called monstrous beasts; beings hideously distorted by exposure to corrupted mana, mimicking those creatures, are called monsters.
W̊ ӗ b́n̄ о̄ v ē l Е̃ n u m̈â
Usually monsters and monstrous beasts are lumped together, but there was a decisive difference.
Monstrous beasts have fighting spirit, but monsters have none.
Even war elephants made solely for war hesitate before overwhelming killing intent, but it's useless against monsters.
That is to say, control is impossible.
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Such monsters were continuously falling from beyond the Far East.
The ones Gokma's spirit had controlled now move according to their nature.
Е̂nu m̃_а
What would that nature be?
'Instinct of destruction.'
They'll bite and kill each other to destroy, trying to fight endlessly.
They are beings that cause chaos.
They'll suddenly find order in the hell where only bloodshed exists.
Just like Hell did.
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There's no need to stay and fight an unwinnable battle against such huge existences.
You can just target what you can destroy with your own power.
Searching for something destroyable like that, they discovered colorful lands beyond the plains.
Those pushed out by the herd's power struggle are now heading for the Far East.
They're called weak, but each individual was a tribe hard to deal with.
Becoming a black wave, they surge in, and it's already overwhelming.
Е ň_ům̈а́.ĭ d
'We must stop them.'
At Hestia?
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'Then the future disappears.'
Hestia is the heart.
If the heart is endangered, this land's future disappears.
We must stop them as close to the border as possible for there to be a future.
Ë nuṁ а .і d_
While searching for a way, Ferda saw a ray of light.
Near the Demon's Land and the border, there was land under construction.
'Bernel's Mansion.'
Bernel Marquis.
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He decided to build his house at the Far East's edge for independence and maintenance of the capital's purification filter.
Saying a mere engineer would stay adjacent to the monsters' land, they prioritized safety and were constructing the wall first.
Ѐ ṅ um_а..i̊d
Its form was suitable for use as a fortress right now.
"We'll make that place a fortress."
Once the location was set, the rest proceeded smoothly.
"Deliver an emergency request to the adventurers, and summon all forces to the Bernel Mansion construction site."
A desperate defensive battle began.
