CH 277.

Before Diego Velazquez could understand the brief message from Adenburg, another messenger came running in with a report of the border situation.

“Sir, it is reported that some of the vanished eastern forces have joined the fortress of Seville! They’re the heavy and light infantry of the Belgrade Kingdom!”

“How did they get to Seville?!”

The Iberian Grand Duke couldn’t understand it. 

Even if the Belgrade Kingdom’s infantrymen disregarded day and night as they moved quickly, this was too fast.

There were more than a couple of things that needed to be taken into consideration when moving an army. 

It would take more than several days and nights to solve the immediate problems, such as, what they were going to do about the supplies and how they were going to move the army. On top of that, the location the Belgrade Kingdom’s infantrymen were dispatched to was the West, a place they weren’t familiar with.

The Belgrade Kingdom troops couldn’t have reached Iberia’s borders unless they had moved before the incident had even occurred.  

Unconsciously, the Iberian Grand Duke looked at the message from Adenburg in his hand once more.

“Could it be…”

‘Iberia is not alone.’

The Iberian Grand Duke was thrilled when he finally realized the meaning of the message.

“Perhaps Her Imperial Majesty already had this situation in mind?”

He couldn’t look away as he tightly gripped the message that didn’t say anything of much importance. He had goosebumps all over his body. 

Just as the message from Adenburg said, Iberia wasn’t alone. 

The fact that Belgrade Kingdom’s infantry had appeared on the Iberian borders meant that the other troops, who had disappeared as well, were also heading towards Iberia.

“Ha….”

When Adenburg had insisted on sending practical help rather than speaking empty words, the Eastern Kingdom Alliance had dispatched a significant number of troops to the central region. If all of those troops were able to safely join Iberia at the border, then Iberia’s lack of soldiers would no longer be a problem. 

And Iberia’s lack of superhuman forces was solved when the Northern Cavalry joined the ranks. Even if only half the rumors were true, the Northern Cavalry would be more than enough to deal with the superhuman forces of the central kingdoms that had been decimated by the long war. Iberia’s morale problem had been resolved long ago thanks to the refugees who had flocked over to follow the Indomitable Grand Duke and had continuously talked about him. 

“With this…”

Excitement flashed across the Iberian Grand Duke’s face.

“Even if it’s an all-out war, we won’t lose.”

No, even before it got to that, it was questionable whether the Holy Kingdom would have the guts to start an all-out war. 

The Iberian borders were now guarded by the soldiers of the Eastern Kingdom Alliance. To attack them now was a completely different matter from putting pressure on Iberia over the single presence of the Indomitable Grand Duke. 

If the central kingdoms rashly attacked Iberia, then it would be no different to them declaring war on the entire eastern region of the continent. 

Perhaps all this had also been the Empress’ scheme. After all, she was quite skilled in thinking ahead. 

“The Holy Kingdom may continue to wage war on the public opinion since currently, each country’s circumstances isn’t the greatest.” 

The Iberian Grand Duke’s words made sense.

Due to the long war against the Demon King, the central region’s economy was on the verge of bankruptcy, and the accumulated damages on fighting the ferocious demons weren’t negligible either. Not to mention, in the first place, the only reason the central region was still able to endure until right now without collapsing was because of the Eastern Kingdoms Alliance’s support. 

To wage war against the eastern kingdoms in a situation like this was tantamount to saying they were giving up on the existence of their country themselves.

Unless they were insane, there was no way the central region would make a reckless decision like that. However, the world never ran in the expected direction. 

Right now was exactly that moment.

“Sir, we’ve received intelligence that the enemy forces are starting to move!” 

Contrary to expectations, the central kingdoms’ armies began to move.

“The Seville fortress is under attack!”

The first place to be attacked was Iberia’s fortress that was on the frontline, Seville. Fortress Seville was a major stronghold between Iberia and the West.

“Gather the troops and dispatch them to Seville! Whatever it takes, we must protect Seville!”

The central kingdoms’ intentions were very clear.

It was obvious that the Holy Kingdom had given orders that they were either to capture the Seville fortress and block the eastern kingdoms’ troops from joining Iberia, or if that wasn’t possible, to then block the eastern kingdoms’ troops and make them detour and drag things out as much as possible.

Otherwise, why would they risk a diplomatic complication by attacking Seville, where the Belgrade Kingdom’s troops were stationed?

“So they’re saying that they’ll only be satisfied after they turn the entire continent into a battlefield…”

The Iberian Grand Duke sighed.

The embers of war that had barely been extinguished were beginning to burn brightly again because of the Temple’s greed. He was already feeling tired just thinking about how many people would die this time.

The situation was bad enough that he couldn’t stay silent forever. 

Amongst the Eastern Kingdom Alliance’s soldiers, which had made the results of an all-out war optimistic, only the infantry regiments of the Belgrade Kingdom had actually engaged in border defense before and they alone could not make up the inferiority in their numbers. 

Right now, his top priority was to drive out the enemy forces that had advanced near Seville fortress.

Of course, countermeasures were already in place. Even before he considered the Eastern Kingdom Alliance’s army in his plans, he had already had a plan to delay the enemy and create time for the troops to arrive from the mainland. 

But, the Iberian Grand Duke canceled all his maneuvers and plans.

It wouldn’t make sense to just endure it when he held a powerful card like the Northern Cavalry in his hands. 

“Inform the Northern Cavalry!”

***

The newly established strategy used the mages and reached the fortress on the border.

“Ho ho, seems like the Iberian Grand Duke is a person who is discerning.”

Upon receiving the call, Darun gave a hearty laugh as he praised the Grand Duke of Iberia and immediately gathered his subordinates under his command.

“What kind of news did you hear that you’re so delighted like a mutt on a snowy day?”

Considering he was speaking to the war chief, the subordinate’s tone was excessively impolite, but none of the Northern Cavalrymen cared about it. Only Darun muttered about where the propriety due to a war chief had disappeared to. 

“After coming out to the outside world, you sure talk a lot. Since when does a man of the plain talk so much?”

When he was criticized even for that, Darun gave up disciplining his cheeky subordinates and got to the main point. 

“The time has finally come where we can show the weak southerners the strength and spirit of the northerners.”

The strutting men’s mood changed. They no longer looked like loafers at a corner of the market.

“Did we get a request to intercept or something?”

Darun shook his head and grinned.

“We’re cleaning house.”

***

Darun and his subordinates didn’t waste a single moment. As if they were afraid that someone would steal delicious food from them, they left the border fortress the instant the sun began to rise. They immediately rode straight northward.

“You’ve truly given them the perfect role.”

When Kim Seon-Hyeok heard the news, he was slightly impressed by the Iberian Grand Duke’s wise decision.

Even in his opinion, the northern men were more suited for running around and disrupting the enemy lines to their hearts’ content than to repeatedly advance and retreat while defending the base.

Unbeknownst to the Iberian Grand Duke, the Northern Cavalry was more than capable of carrying out their duties.

They were so capable that Seon-Hyeok even thought about feeling sympathy for the pitiful enemies who would soon be trampled by them. 

But now wasn’t the time to worry about others. 

Previously, in fear of surveillance, Iberia had only been exchanging minimal contact with the Empire, but once the Belgrade Kingdom joined the ranks, an open channel quickly was established.

“I have no excuses.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok sighed.

This wasn’t the first time. On his last visit to the West, his life had been in danger and he had gone missing. The same thing happened this time as well.

The only difference was that this time, his limbs were intact but his insides were completely destroyed. 

If he could, he would’ve tried to hide his injuries. But he couldn’t.

Iberia had spread rumors in order to counter the character assassination taken on by the Holy Kingdom. Among those rumors were ones about the serious injuries he had suffered while annihilating the Demon King. It was extremely unlikely that Ophelia wouldn’t have heard of that rumor.

And it was exactly as he had expected.

[Just how much must you worry me before you are satisfied?]

Ophelia knew exactly where and how he had been injured, as well as an astonishing amount of detail on his condition. She was tremendously angry.

[Once this is all done, I will never allow you to go outside the Empire.]

In the end, she even brought back out the stay-at-home order(?) that she had withdrawn at the disappearance of the Warrior, Park Joon-Min.

It was a situation where he was embarrassed to look the communication mage in the eyes, but what could he do? It was his fault. Just as she said, every time he went back to the West, he would go missing with severe injuries. 

“I’m sorry.”

Right now, the only thing he could do was meekly beg for forgiveness.

[I have a lot to say, but I’ll say it once your body is fully healed.]

Fortunately for him, she realized that he still wasn’t feeling well and stopped pressing him after a certain point.

[But, you mustn’t think that this is over.]

Of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t angry anymore, but it was true that he was able to escape his current situation.

“How are you feeling?”

When she stopped pressing him, Kim Seon-Hyeok asked her a question he’d been wanting to ask for a while.

[Thousands of people are taking care of me day and night, what could go wrong? Don’t worry about me.]

Although he knew that there were many people who would take care of the first Empress of the Empire should there be something wrong with her body, he didn’t feel right until he heard it with his own ears.

“You’re sure you weren’t feeling any pain or anything wrong?”

[Both the child… and I… are healthy.]

Only after he heard her answer several times did he feel a bit relieved.

[I have sent a medically knowledgeable person as part of the convoy heading towards Iberia, so let them take care of your wounds.]

Although he was truly grateful for Ophelia’s consideration, he carefully rejected it.

[Stop being stubborn.]

“No, that’s not it. I really don’t need it.”

His repeated refusal caused Ophelia’s voice to slowly sharpen. It seemed like she thought he was needlessly being stubborn.

“My injuries are not something that mages or priests can heal.”

However, he wasn’t so strongly refusing her simply because he was being stubborn. 

Since his body had been damaged by the power of his attribute, the only thing that could heal him was his attribute.

And just in time, the being with the special power to heal his wounds was approaching.

And soon, the Dragon Knight’s powerful source of healing, the powerful sea serpent, reached a place not far from Granado’s waters.

“Bluegon!”

Bluegon, the second of his missing dragons who had finished molting, had finally returned.