Chapter 474: No, I told you it was a mistake! (1)
Translator: miraclerifle
Editor: Borderline Masochist
- Your highness! There was a large explosion in the desert!
“What?”
Alberu subconsciously jumped up from his seat.
He was not the only one. Everyone in the meeting room could not hide their shock.
The Captain of the Kingdom's Knight Brigade walked up toward Alberu and asked for permission before raising his voice toward the video communication device.
"What do you mean, an explosion in the desert?! No, how did something like that suddenly happen?”
The person being questioned was the diplomat who had gone to deliver Alberu’s letter to crown prince Valentino and was currently at the Caro Kingdom's Dubori territory.
- That! One moment please!
The area around the diplomat holding the video communication device was completely chaotic.
- Move!
- Everybody quickly gather in the meeting room!
- Hurry up! Gather at the castle wall! Get the mages in formation as well!
They could hear people shouting and running around as the diplomat moved to a quieter location.
‘It’s an urgent situation!’
The chief executives of the Roan Kingdom who were watching could tell that things were extremely serious at the Dubori territory right now. The Knight Captain could not handle it anymore and started to speak.
"Just report in first!”
The people here had heard from crown prince Alberu that the White Star might strike the Roan Kingdom after hitting the Caro Kingdom.
That was why they were extremely anxious right now.
- Yes sir, I understand!
The diplomat stopped in place and started to report in.
- The ground suddenly started to shake a moment ago before there was a loud noise that came from the large explosion in the desert!
The Knight Captain peeked toward Alberu at that moment.
He finally recalled something he had forgotten about because of this unexpected news.
Cale Henituse.
He was thinking about the crown prince’s sworn brother. Alberu who didn't show much care for his own family and shown such love and pride for this sworn brother of his.
That person was also the Roan Kingdom's treasure that should shine even brighter in the future.
Wasn’t that person fighting in the desert just now? Furthermore, that desert was covered in dead mana smoke.
The Knight Captain and the other chief executives stiffened up as they observed Alberu. The diplomat continued to report as they did that.
- The dead mana smoke had turned into a large whirlwind, but that whirlwind is slowly disappearing! However, according to the mage who was with young master Cale-nim!
Alberu twitched and started to listen carefully.
The mage the diplomat was talking about right now should be Eruhaben.
The ancient Dragon’s words would be more accurate than anything else.
Alberu waited for what the diplomat would say next as calmly as possible. The diplomat continued at that moment.
- Apparently the foundation near the center of the desert has crumbled! The size was about the size of a mid-sized city, a, and-
The diplomat hesitated without being able to continue.
“Why are you stopping in the middle?! Hurry up and tell us!”
The person in charge of the Roan Kingdom’s diplomacy started to raise his voice. The diplomat finally continued in a shaking voice.
- ...He said that h, he could not feel any living presence in the desert, including the enemy White Star's group.
Silence filled the room for a moment.
- H, however. He said he found some corpses that he couldn't tell whether they were crushed by the crumbling foundation or the dead mana smoke.
“N, no-”
The person who had just raised his voice could not say anything.
Some people were dead.
But they could not confirm who these people were.
That fact alone put a terrible thought on his mind.
‘What if someone from our side has died?’
‘What if young master Cale or one of his group members was injured?’
Nobody could dare to open their mouths. They could only look toward the diplomat who was biting down on his dry lips with concern and anxiety.
It was at that moment.
“Huuuuuu.”
They heard a light sigh.
“Everybody calm down and sit back down.”
Alberu Crossman calmly started to speak and sat back down in his seat. He looked very calm and collected that they wondered if he had even been shocked just now.
“...Your highness-”
"Sit.”
The Knight Captain who was about to speak sat down after hearing Alberu sternly give the order again. He then looked toward Alberu’s face.
The diplomat who watched all this carefully started to speak again.
- Ahem. That, your highness.
“Speak.”
The diplomat gulped after seeing Alberu smile majestically.
‘Yes, his highness has always been like this.
He's able to quickly overcome anything and act as he normally does.’
The diplomat who found that to be both scary but reliable continued in a slightly calmer voice.
-
He said that the dead mana smoke will continue for at least two to three more days. He believes we can only enter the desert after all of the smoke is gone and they are expected to investigate the destroyed area at that time.
“There are people willing to do that?”
The comments Alberu made extremely stoically shocked the diplomat and made him look around.
Thankfully, nobody was there. Of course, Alberu had checked to make sure nobody else was there before saying that.
The diplomat continued in a less confident voice.
- ...Won’t the Caro Kingdom pick the search team?
However, he had no confidence in his words.
‘Fear.’
The soldiers had fallen into a state of panic as soon as they saw the black mana smoke whirlwind. It was obvious why this was the case. Dead mana smoke was something that would make you die a painful death if you even breathed it in.
However, even if this dead mana smoke disappears, the people who saw this as well as the explosion will not easily volunteer for the investigation.
The nobles had already escaped saying they were scared.
‘...If you think about it cold heartedly, the people inside the desert are not the Caro Kingdom's citizens.’Visit no(v)eLb(i)n.com for the best novel reading experience
They were still foreigners even if they had come to save the Caro Kingdom. The chances that they would not investigate thoroughly even though they were thankful were high because the potentially dead people were the Roan Kingdom’s citizens.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Alberu tapped on the armrest instead of responding.
“...Your highness.”
The Knight Captain called out to Alberu and had to make eye contact with him.
Alberu looked like a gentle crown prince when he smiled, but he was extremely hard to approach in front of the chief executives around whom he never smiled.
Alberu who watched all of this from a step away closed his eyes for a moment.
His fists under the table were clenched.
He had a dream.
He dreamt of a world where the Dark Elves could live freely.
He dreamt of finding land for them to live on.
Coincidentally, there happened to be an opportunity.
It was an opportunity for the Roan Kingdom’s citizens to openly step on the Caro Kingdom's Land of Death.
Of course, those Roan Kingdom’s citizens were the Dark Elves.
It was much better in the Roan Kingdom, but the Dark Elves were still despised and scorned by most of the Western continent.
For Alberu who had to live his whole life hiding the fact that the Dark Elf blood flowed through him, he dreamt of a world where people like him did not need to hide a part of their identity anymore.
‘The Underground City will remain a secret forever.’
The Caro Kingdom might provoke them or be greedy for it if they knew.
Alberu was disappointed that they could not openly show off the Underground City.
‘In return, the land above the Underground City... The desert... I will give that to the Dark Elves and the necromancer.’
Shouldn’t they receive rewards for working harder than anybody else for the Roan Kingdom?
Alberu’s eyes that were open once again were sparkling.
‘The chances of the Underground City remaining a secret from the world become higher once the Land of Death becomes the Roan Kingdom's territory.’
Of course, earning that territory will be difficult.
The Caro Kingdom in the west and the Roan Kingdom in the east were quite far from each other. However, it was worth trying.
It would be great if it could be accomplished.
‘The Dark Elves will be able to walk freely above ground and the people of the Underground City can be accepted as the Roan Kingdom’s citizens as well.’
The people who ran away from the Dubori territory and continued their lives in the Underground City.
The people who could never leave the underground may get a chance to roam the Roan Kingdom’s territory above ground as well.
Of course, Alberu was thinking about taking them in as citizens partially because he felt sorry for them, but there was another reason as well.
It was something that came up when he was chatting with Cale about how to smack the White Star from behind at the land of the Whale tribe. Cale had said something to Alberu who had brought Tasha up.
‘Your highness. The education style of the people in the Underground City was really good.’
‘Is that so?’
‘Anybody who wants to learn can learn and anybody can freely test for a government position. There are many topic-specific experts as well. Each of them is talented in their field. Chances to learn are open for everyone.’
Alberu had looked into his mother’s hometown a little more thoroughly after that. He got the chills the more he learned.
It felt as if he had found something he had been looking for.
The image was drawn in his head.
The free city that would soon be created for alchemy and magic.
The Underground City with their own way of life created from the cohabitation of humans and Dark Elves.
Alberu drew the future of the Roan Kingdom through these two places.
New opportunities known as the Alchemy Tower and the Magic Tower would soon appear, and there were a lot of things to learn from the Underground City as well.
He would dedicate his life to mold all of those things together into a wonderful picture.
The White Star.
The Roan Kingdom will be busy even after their war with that bastard.
Each day might be more difficult than fighting against him. He himself might be in pain.
Troubles were bound to come with changes.
However, he needed to move for a more developed and shining Roan Kingdom.
“Your highness.”
He turned his head toward the administrator who was calling for him. The administrator cautiously started to speak.
All of the administrators were looking at him.
“Is it okay not to start the investigation right away? Young master Cale and his group should be okay, right?”
They finally addressed the elephant in the room.
“If-”
“It’s fine.”
The administrator could not say anything even though he was cut off and looked toward Alberu.
Smirk.
The corners of Alberu’s lips twisted up.
He had jumped up in shock after hearing the news.
He had quickly calmed down after that.
‘Eruhaben-nim is staying at the castle.’
The diplomat did not say that Cale’s mage had left.
Eruhaben would have left or flipped the desert over if something had happened to Cale.
‘The fact that he didn't do that-’
It was at that moment.
Knock knock knock-
Someone urgently knocked on the door and Alberu had to stop his thought.
“Your highness, your highness!”
He heard an urgent voice from the other side of the door and a few shocked administrators got up and tried to head to the door.”
“It’s fine. I’ll go.”
Alberu had them sit down and headed to the door himself.
Click.
He opened the door and saw a shocked and urgent look on the servant's face.
“Your highness, right now-!”
Alberu cut the servant off and gave him an order.
“Lead the way.”
Alberu leisurely started to walk. He checked his appearance and had the servant bring a basket of cookies as well.
He then opened the door into his bedroom.
Slam!
The door slammed open and Alberu started to speak with a majestic smile on his face.
“People might think this is your house and not my bedroom.”
Cale Henituse who was lying on the couch sat up and kind of bowed.
- Sorry, crown prince! This is your house and not our house! I had to set the coordinates quickly so I accidentally set it for here instead of the royal garden!
Alberu’s smile became even brighter after hearing the great and mighty but cute Dragon’s words in his mind.
He put the cookie basket on the table and leisurely looked toward Cale.
“You look more relaxed than last time, your highness.”
“Of course. My dear dongsaeng, your hyung is not someone who is easily shocked.”
Alberu who was gently responding to Cale could hear Cale’s response.
“That, it looks like the White Star will soon invade the Roan Kingdom.”
“...Damn it.”
Alberu instantly started to frown.
“You're driving me nuts.”
Cale who heard Alberu’s mumbling smiled awkwardly.