CH 311

Kim Seon-Hyeok quickly looked around the banquet hall.

“I believe this negotiation will benefit everyone.”

“You mean this? I am truly amazed at the mercy the Empire shows 

He saw delegates talking with the Imperial nobles about the Empires’ negotiations over the foreigners. All of them were amongst the most powerful forces indispensable to each country.

“I have heard that Lord Antoine’s castle was beautiful. One day, I hope to have the chance and see it.”

“No, no, I’ve heard that the Borneo estate was the most beautiful on the continent. I’ve even heard that if you don’t see the Borneo Forest before you die, then you lived in vain…”

The young men, who were busy cultivating friendship with each other, were those who each shoulder the future of the Empire and their Grand Duchy.

“Not one of them is unimportant. Stay alert and make sure that nothing unfortunate happens.”

“As you command, Your Grace.”

The Imperial Guard Knights and mages looked intently around, prepared for any unexpected accident, but none of them looked at the strange woman.

Kim Seon-Hyeok was the only one who noticed the existence of the woman in this place where so many superhumans had gathered.

“Edda.”

Before he even finished speaking, the faint flapping of wings could be heard and the Dragon’s characteristic presence began to appear and spread out.

Edda had arrived in the sky right above the Imperial Palace.

Kim Seon-Hyeok’s tense face loosened a bit at the appearance of his most powerful ally.

However, he knew that while Edda was definitely the strongest on the continent, her massive body and destructive powers were not suitable for overcoming the current situation.

If a battle were to break out, only he and Edda would survive.

Kim Seon-Hyeok didn’t take his eyes off her as he slowly moved. He stopped precisely in the middle of her and Ophelia. 

Even in the worst case, he was determined to protect Ophelia and Victorius.

“Ooh! Indomitable Grand Duke! The Iberian Grand Duke was just telling me about your legendary battle in the Central region. The Iberian Grand Duke is such a great storyteller that it felt like I was standing in the middle of the battlefield.”

“But it can’t be more vivid than the story I hear from the person involved, right? How about it? Unless it’s too troublesome, why don’t you tell it to us yourself, Indomitable Grand Duke?”

When he appeared in the middle of the banquet hall, nobles and envoys flocked over to him as if they had been waiting.

“Grand Duke?”

However, Kim Seon-Hyeok was focused on the woman and wasn’t listening to them.

“Where are you looking so intently…”

The people turned their heads to follow his gaze.

“Which House is the young lady from? She must be from a famous family to be here, but I can’t remember at all.”

The nobles all had a wide reach, but they tilted their heads when they saw the woman who didn’t look particularly special.

Meanwhile, the mages of the Imperial Family’s Guard noticed something unusual and stared at her before speaking to Marquis Reinhardt.

“She is not on the list, sir.”

“Are you sure? Wouldn’t it be impossible for an uninvited person to enter the main hall?”

“The number of people does not match, sir.”

Marquis Reinhardt’s expression hardened at the mage’s words.

“Escort the nobles.”

At the brief order, the knights of the Imperial Family Guard moved in unison and blocked Ophelia and the people in the banquet hall.

“Why is the Imperial Guard…?”

Having noticed the unusual atmosphere belatedly, the nobles and envoys murmured but no one gave them clear answers.

“Grand Duke, can you explain this situation?”

Marquis Reinhardt came up and questioned Kim Seon-Hyeok about the woman’s identity. He had a hand on the sword at his waist so that he could draw it at any moment. 

“She is a guest from the north.”

The people’s eyes widened at his answer. They instantly knew who he was talking about when he said it was a person from the north.

Despite the people all turning to look at her, the woman didn’t blink an eye. She opened her mouth.

“There’s no need to stare like that. I’m here today because I have something to tell you.”

They heard the woman’s voice for the first time. It was as harsh as the feral aura around her. The nobles involuntarily trembled at her low and ferocious voice that was like a growling beast.

“So it doesn’t seem like you’re here to simply congratulate us.”

As if he finally felt the woman’s unusual spirit, Marquis Reinhardt raised his even more. The woman frowned as the aura around him seemed to turn into swords.

“What terrible treatment of guests.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok responded to the woman’s words

“Uninvited guests are never treated well. Even more so if that uninvited guest didn’t come with good intentions.”

“If I really came here with bad intentions, do you really think those people over there could be babbling?”

The nobles and envoys shouted in fury at the outright threat.

“You, you! There are things you should and should not say! Yet, you do not care!”

“You’re a barbarian! How dare you! Where do you think this is?!”

Her smile grew stronger at the nobles’ words. The envoys and nobles unintentionally took a step backward when they saw that ferocious smile. As she stared at them with shiny yellowish eyes, it seemed like she would bite the nape of their neck at any moment.”

“You have eyes, yet you do not see. Your eyes are useless.”

This time, even the nobles didn’t dare to come forward and criticize her. Although she did not continue, everyone seemed to have an idea of what she meant.

“Why did you come here?”

Kim Seon-Hyeok took a step forward towards her, dissipating the woman’s ferocious momentum.

“I told you. I’m here to talk.”

At her words, he looked back for a moment. He saw Ophelia giving him a slight nod.

“This isn’t a good place to talk, so let’s go out for a while.”

“There’s no need for that. I also have something to say to the human lords.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok frowned at her unexpected words.

“Three months. After three months, I will go west with my followers. Do not block my way.”

The woman didn’t pay attention to his reaction and continued to talk.

“If you don’t block me first, I promise I won’t harm you.”

In other words, if they blocked her way, she would make them pay a corresponding price.

“Why?”

While the nobles were causing a commotion at her sudden announcement, Kim Seon-Hyeok asked her for the reason.

“Because there is a being that is too terrifying to have as a neighbor.”

It was obvious who the terrifying being was.

“Is it because of her?”

He thought she would most definitely agree, but she shook her head.

“No. It’s because of you.”

“What?”

She said the reason wasn’t the powerful Dragon Lord, but the Dragon’s Companion.

“The contractor of the entire dragon clan; I feel more burdened by you than her.”

The Blue Wolf declared the Northern nomads’ Great Migration in front of the continent’s rulers and left. The remaining envoys and the Empire’s nobles heatedly debated over it.

Some argued that the nomads of the North should be punished immediately, while others argued that there was no reason to stop the barbarians when they were saying they would leave for the West on their own.

However, no matter how much they talked about it, the Blue Wolf had already declared a Great Migration. Their only choice was whether they would fight and die, or quietly move out of the way.

“Wait, it’s our land that they’ll immediately pass through, and you’re talking about whether to stop them or allow them?! It’s us who will bleed if we block them, and it’s us who will have to allow them passage!”

In the end, it was the rulers of the Grand Duchys whose lands the nomads would pass through that would decide whether to allow them passage or not. 

To Kim Seon-Hyeok, it seemed like the envoys had already made up their minds to allow the nomads passage.

It wasn’t unreasonable. The Northern Cavalry’s power was well known after several great wars. It would be stranger if the other countries wanted to wage an all-out war with the powerful cavalry that had crushed two Central kingdoms in an instant. 

“What do you think, Grand Duke?”

Ophelia had been staring at the envoys and the Imperial nobles who were ranting and raving, but now, she questioned Kim Seon-Hyeok.

The people shut their mouths as if they had previously made arrangements and all turned to look at him.

“I promised the previous war chief, Darun, that a part of the Western territory would belong to the Northern nomads.”

A couple of the envoys’ faces brightened at Seon-Hyeok’s answer. They were the envoys of the Grand Duchys that were en route for the Great Migration.

They hadn’t wanted to show fear of the barbarians, so Kim Seon-Hyeok’s words were a good excuse for those who wanted to avoid an all-out war with the Northern nomads. 

“Grand Duke, if it’s exactly as you say, then there’s no reason to stop their migration. Although the promise wasn’t made with the current war chief, the merits they made at that time have not disappeared, and the promise must be fulfilled.”

Ophelia also sided with those who wanted peace.

“But since it is a serious matter that would change the course of the continent, you should all inform the Grand Dukes about this matter in detail so they may answer.”

Of course, her words gave them some leeway, there wasn’t a single envoy or noble who didn’t know what the Empress’ intentions were.

***

“Is she one of the proxies you spoke of, Grand Duke?”

Ophelia asked once the envoys and Imperial nobles left and the two of them were alone. Perhaps because she was usually very intuitive, but she seemed to have an inkling of what the woman’s true identity was.

“She is not a proxy.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok shook his head and immediately revealed the woman’s identity.

“She is the great wolf that appeared on the battlefield.”

It didn’t look like Ophelia had thought that the woman was a Transcendental Being because she had a rare look of surprise on her face. 

“Although she seemed unusual, she certainly looked human.”

He didn’t have any answers to give her. He had also been surprised that Voltecino had appeared in a human shell.

[She is not the only one. Any of the Transcendental Beings could assume the human form at any moment, any time that they desire.]

Fortunately, there was someone nearby who could answer her question. 

“But you never did.”

After asking Ophelia for a moment of understanding, Kim Seon-Hyeok asked Edda.

[Because I never felt the need to do so.]

“Then are you saying that you could turn into a human as many times as you want to?]

[I guarantee that you will never see it in the future.]

While he nodded in response to her firm answer, Ophelia, who had kept her mouth closed, spoke up.

“Amongst the powers that the Transcendentals hold, is one of them to assume the human form?”

Kim Seon-Hyeok nodded his head without thinking.

“Hm?”

But it was strange. For some reason, Ophelia’s expression seemed to have gotten colder than before.

“Then your Dragon could do it as well.”

“Yes.”

Now, Ophelia’s face was ice cold. He tilted his head as he looked at her.

[Her tolerance is because I am a distinctly different species from you. You have dug your own grave with your own hands.]

Kim Seon-Hyeok understood the situation only after listening to Edda, but the gates of hell were already wide open.

Ophelia didn’t get angry or deliberately accuse him, but she didn’t hide her displeasure either.

Even worse was that even in this situation, she still didn’t neglect her duties as an Empress. He was only able to escape after telling her everything he knew.

It was truly a painful and torturous time. It was difficult for even a strong Dragon Knight to talk while facing the cold gaze that he had never seen from his wife before in his life.

“Ugh.”

After pouting for a moment, he fixed his expression and summoned Edda before getting on her.

“Let’s go.”

As he left the Imperial Capital and made his way northward with her, a familiar woman was waiting for him.

It was the Blue Wolf Voltecino. 

“You took longer than I expected. Seems like it was quite difficult to convince the human lords.”

Truthfully, it hadn’t been difficult to convince those who had withdrawn in the face of the Northern Cavalry’s prestige. Instead, a problem came up in a random place. But, Kim Seon-Hyeok had no intention of telling her about the marital feud(?) and immediately brought up the main point.

“Why are you making things troublesome by asking me for a favor?”

“I told you. You’re burdensome. It’s not my wish for my relationship with you to go awry for something random.”

They might be called Grand Duchys, but in the end, they were a part of the Empire, and the Blue Wolf seemed to fear that the Dragon and her contractor might intervene militantly if the Northern nomads were to pass through. 

“Not too long ago, you seemed like you would wage war. I can’t understand why your attitude suddenly changed.”

He couldn’t understand why Voltecino, a being who had led the Northern cavalry south, was so concerned with her relationship with him now.

“Circumstances changed.”

The Blue Wolf grimaced and looked north for a moment before opening her mouth.

“The other Transcendentals have begun to move.”

Her voice, which had gotten even lower, grew unhappier as if dissatisfied with something.

No, to be precise, the puppets they set up have started moving.”