Cthulhu Gonfalon

Junero’s departure didn’t have much of an effect on Sui Xiong.

Though this “scholar emperor” hadn’t been emperor of the Orcs for very long, he’d accumulated a great amount of power. On top of that, rather than dying, he’d done the equivalent of ascending to the heavens in broad daylight. Such a feat meant that not only did he not lose relevance after leaving the Mortal Plane, but he actually became more famous than before.

In a situation like this, there was great meaning in the succeeding Orc Emperor—”Iron Teeth” Ilo—strictly adhering to Junero’s policies. As for those ambitious folks hidden throughout the Orc Empire, they behaved for now. None of them wanted to stand out among the crowd.

Everyone knew this state of affairs wouldn’t last long. Emperor Ilo had his own understanding of how to rule a country and would have his own plans in the future. But whatever anyone said, there wasn’t anything wrong with maintaining the status quo for now. Even if you wanted to stir up trouble, it was best to wait and see first, spending a few days in getting a feel for this new emperor’s approach to things.

The surrounding countries virtually all had the same reaction, and they calmed down for the time being.

Everyone knew that the Orcs were a warlike race and that the ascension of a new emperor would necessitate war and victory to establish his strength. The current Orc Empire was like a steel plate covered in sharp thorns; only someone with rocks for brains would foolishly run headlong into that!

Although this world had never lacked in either geniuses or fools, someone who could become ruler of a country most certainly couldn’t be a fool. Even Woods Igor, who Leon had once ridiculed, was at least considered smart enough not to make such a weak-minded mistake as this—and he was a man with mediocre ability. He’d seized the throne with the help of the Church of the God of Aristocracy only to be abandoned by that same church. To his dying day, Wood could never clear up the mystery behind why they’d helped him or why they’d left.

But the borders of the Orc Empire calming down did not necessarily mean that all the countries across the continent of the Main Plane were completely peaceful.

Barely a few days later, the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs began summoning its army. They decreed that they were once more expanding their borders into the Mountain of Broken Cloud to take the fertile, mineral-rich land from the hands of the barbarous dwarves.

This world’s level of civilization was slightly lacking compared to that of Earth. For example, when each country issued decrees, it generally wasn’t as erudite or cunning as when done on Earth. This decree from the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs clearly and plainly said that they would be plundering the dwarves of their silver, gold, and other valuable mineral resources; there wasn’t even the slightest pretense of concealing their intentions.

“Developing our borders is the basis upon which our Kingdom of Thousands of Springs was founded, our fundamental national policy. In the past, we have diligently marched onwards into the forests and mountains, capturing rich and fertile wealth for ourselves, thus allowing our country to ceaselessly expand, and allowing our people to live rich and peaceful lives. Now it is once more the time to march toward the mountains! These next few days, we will be recruiting any and all brave fighters willing to join the expeditionary force and fight to take the Mountain of Broken Cloud; all who join will be given preferential pay!”

Sui Xiong slowly finished reading this announcement, then laughed coldly as he said, “This is much too straightforward; is the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs really that tyrannical?”

“As a powerful and constantly invading country, the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs has always been this way.” Easter sighed. “Regardless of whether it’s the Kingdom of Eagle to the north, with its recently-added Duchy of Griffon, the Kingdom of the Blue Moon to the east, or the elves of the Ancient Forest to the southwest—all are targets for them to invade. The Kingdom of Dwarfs in the Mountain of Broken Cloud is comparatively the weakest of these, so of course, they would choose the Kingdom of Dwarfs to attack.

“You might not believe this, but the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs once even considered using large-scale Transportation portals as a springboard with which to attack the Mifata Federation. This wasn’t just a plan, either—they really did begin deploying them. If the Mifata Federation’s spies hadn’t found out about it and sent the information back home, I’m afraid they really would have gone through those portals and invaded the Federation…”

The high-level members of the Republic of Northwest were all dumbstruck at this, unable to believe what they’d just heard.

“Why don’t I have the slightest recollection of this?” Leon asked curiously. “When did it happen?”

“It was probably not long after the Void Mask Land was built,” Easter said. “At the time, His Majesty constructed Transportation portals all over the world. Remember, it was from this that the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs gained the inspiration to come up with such a plan.”

Leon nodded slightly, saying, “Now that I think of it, this does sound like their style.”

“But how did you know?” asked Gerald. “If you can’t tell us that’s fine, I don’t have any intention of getting to the heart of the matter on this.”

Easter let out a bitter laugh, saying, “In fact, I really can’t explain my sources, as this affair was quite secret. Many high-ranking people within the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs and the Mifata Federation don’t even know about it. The only reason I know about it myself is… a secret.”

Sui Xiong saw how everyone looked incredibly curious, yet too polite to ask further, and he couldn’t help quietly laughing to himself.

Of course, Easter knew about this because the one who had originally sent that information back to the Mifata Federation was Easter himself.

This was the battle that had made Wood famous as an ace spy, as well as the turning point that had destroyed his early life’s career. This affair had given him great honor but had also led his superiors to become extremely jealous of him. Because of this, not long after he recovered from his injuries, he was sent to work long-term as a mole in the Republic of Northwest.

Back then, the Republic of Northwest hadn’t even been established yet.

Easter had probably thought of this as well, as he lost some of his earlier cheer. Although he hid it quite well, someone at the legendary peak like Leon could easily see through it. Leon then quietly signaled to everyone else, leading the following conversation to turn to more cheerful topics in order to bolster his mood a bit.

Sharp as Easter was, he obviously saw what everyone was trying to do. Looking at all these earth-shakingly powerful figures chatting back and forth like a comedy show, he couldn’t help laughing.

It wasn’t until this moment that he finally truly understood that the choice he’d made back then hadn’t been wrong. Compared to the Mifata Federation, the Republic of Northwest was much better suited to be his home.

At the very least, this place had much more human warmth and left him feeling more at ease.

Just as everyone had basically settled into idle chatter, the door to the conference room was suddenly pushed open.

“I could hear the laughter in here from miles away. What sort of happy matters are you all chatting about?”

The mage who came in was wearing magic glasses and a silver-white magic robe. Though his hair was already greying, there wasn’t a single wrinkle on his face. He looked both like a young man in his 20’s and like an older man in his 40’s or 50’s.

Patrol Captain, Nice Parne reacted most quickly to his entrance, immediately jumping up and happily exclaiming, “Teacher!? You’ve come out of seclusion?”

This man was naturally Nice’s teacher, first-generation guild president of the Republic of Northwest’s Mage’s Guild. He was also the head mage of the Church of Void Mask and ex-head of the Mage Corps: Mage Satan.