Strange Movements

"Darian ..."

Sean knew the name; it was one of Prince Darian's men who received him when he first came to Lorinvik.

At that time, the prince often said that if anyone needed anything, they could come directly to him.

Of course, Sean also knew that behind the prince's enthusiasm was a sense of rejection; the other party seemed to know that he wouldn't be staying there for long.

Therefore, Darian only arranged basic service out of respect, and after their initial few meetings, the two never saw each other again.

Later, Darian was busy with Antir's affairs and it's still unknown whether he's in Lorinvik or not, while Sean himself got in touch with Duke Derrick.

It's fair to say that if Darian hadn't suddenly gone to Antir and stayed for over two months, Darian would have been an unavoidable factor in Sean's attempt to control Lorinvik.

"What I'm looking for is on that Darian. Could this be something I've missed?"

Sean's first realization was that the mages' experience might actually be true, since this newly obtained prophecy conflicted with his first prophecy.

The first prophecy he received concerned his own child, though it wasn't limited to Lorinvik, but in reality Connor's child spent most of his time in Lorinvik.

So even if Connor might have died in Antir, he was merely keeping Derrick on his toes.

But the new prophecy he has now received seems to point to another location: Antir.

Darian is still in Antir, so it's impossible that he doesn't know about this, especially since Connor died in Antir.

In that case, it seems that the thing he might regret for the rest of his life if he missed it is in the Antir Region, not in Lorinvik, and that he looked in the wrong place before.

but...

Sean shook his head, though he didn't think so, because ultimately it was a matter of probability.

Although Connor did end up being involved with Antir, it was only a minor matter concerning Connor, Lorinvik Connor, it was insignificant.

But now he has received a new prophecy, telling him that perhaps what he is looking for lies within Darian. Should he go and find Darian?

Thinking about this, Sean hesitated. He knew that if he did this, he might end up regretting it by some twist of fate.

This is a very difficult the Choice.

but...

Sean glanced again at the mountains of books piled up around him, but if he didn't go, wouldn't he still have to stay here and read these books anyway?

He's already starting to feel weary; even monks don't have endless patience.

But then again, if he were truly patient, would he choose to make another prophecy himself?

Sean stood up from his chair, his arm bumping into a mountain of books, causing several of the top books to fall.

"It's time to go and take a look. Perhaps Antir is the place I'm really looking for?"

Moon Maple City was completely peaceful at the moment. There was no news of an impending attack from Lorinvik, nor any bad news from the Royal Capital.

It was as if we had returned to the peaceful era before Theodore's uprising, a time when ordinary people were worried about having enough to eat, but at least there was no threat of war.

After all, if one is worried about food, as long as the lord doesn't impose extra taxes, there's no bad weather, and one doesn't have a serious illness, it's generally manageable.

But war is a different story. Even on ordinary days, you can't go out to work. Those roaming soldiers would come here from time to time and steal the hard-earned rations.

This is simply unbearable.

But even though people are still saying that wars are still going on in various places, at least in the eyes of ordinary people, it's no different from not fighting at all.

The lords of today do not levy additional taxes or conscript soldiers, so the common people are not under much pressure.

Inside the lord's castle, however, the situation was different. Reed, the lord, looked at the clear weather outside, but his mood did not improve in the slightest.

He looked into the castle, where Darian sat, his fingers tapping on the table as if he were preoccupied.

"How many days has it been since we received the news of the cancellation of the succession to the throne..."

"Twenty days has passed, why has it taken so long...?"

This was a question that lingered in their minds: Where is he?

Who will come to inform them of the impending birth of a new king? Even if that king wants to demand the allegiance of all the lords now, they will surely receive some news.

But as of now, they haven't received any news, at least not from Darian's followers scattered among the surrounding lords.

The messenger they had imagined who would deliver the new king's message did not arrive as scheduled; it was far too slow.

"This doesn't make sense. Does the other party not want to be king anymore?"

"How could that be? Killing Theodore and seizing so much territory, they must be aiming for the king's throne."

"But why haven't we received any news yet?!"

"I have no idea."

Just as the two were arguing, a loud voice came from downstairs.

"My lord, there is news from the lord of Wolf Fang Territory."

Upon hearing that the message came from another lord, both men showed expressions of surprise and delight, though some doubt remained on their faces.

"Wolf Fang Territory? Isn't that several territories away from here? Why is it the lord of Wolf Fang Territory who sent me the message?"

In fact, ten days ago, the two, who had not received any news for far too long, sent messengers to scout out information in the surrounding territories, but these messengers have not brought back any information to this day.

Wolf Fang Territory is far from Moon Maple Territory; the closest distance requires crossing at least two territories. That's why the two were so puzzled as to why the message came from Wolf Fang Territory.

However, they don't really care about that anymore. After all, as long as there's news, they don't have to wait here in agony.

A servant brought in a stamped letter, which Reed took and immediately tore open.

When Reed glanced at the contents, he exclaimed in surprise.

"Wait, this is a letter requesting help."

Reed rubbed his eyes; he hadn't expected it to be a plea for help.

He had mentally prepared himself for the possibility that the person who wanted to become king had sent messengers from the Wolf Fang Territory to deliver the message, or that there simply weren't enough messengers.

He also considered the possibility that the lord of the Wolf Fang Territory had requested an alliance with him. After all, at this stage, the new king had yet to appear, so the other party had no choice but to form an alliance first.

To Reed's great surprise, it turned out to be a letter asking for help.

The above details the current predicament of Wolf Fang Territory.

"I sent messengers to the Royal Capital, but none of them returned. Just yesterday, we heard noises coming from the neighboring territory, and some nobles from the city fled to our side."

"According to the nobles in the city, a strange army has arrived from the direction of the Royal Capital. Their weapons are very peculiar and extremely powerful, and the city walls are simply no match for them."

"I don't know if this was at the behest of the 'new king,' or someone else, or even interference from other countries."

"However, the threat to Wolf Fang Territory has not yet been eliminated. I implore all the lords to send a knight to Wolf Fang Territory for support, since we do not yet know what has happened in the direction of the Royal Capital."

"We are all Antir. If we are enemies, then we should unite; if we are the new king, then we should let him know the unity of us lords."

--Lord of Wolf Fang Territory...

After reading the letter, Reed's doubts were not dispelled at all; on the contrary, they deepened.

He looked at Darian, whose face still showed no sign of dissipation.

To the two of them, this was all absurd!

They had never seen anything so bizarre before; not only that new king, but they hadn't seen a single person since.

Even the situation in Antir has undergone unexpected changes.

Who is occupying Antir's lands? Are they the same kind of people as the new king? And why has the new king chosen to eliminate all these lords?

This is something no one who aspires to be king, or has ever actually been king, would do on such a large scale, as it is simply not worth it.

Even if all these lords are dead, you still need to find people to fill their positions, and that takes a lot of time.

But if it wasn't the new king's doing, then why would he tacitly allow other forces to cause trouble in Antir?

According to their understanding, in any case, if the person who killed Theodore wanted to ascend the throne, the best option was to subdue all the lords; there were no exceptions.

But now...

"What should we do now? Send a knight over?"

Reed asked, but Darian did not answer immediately. He thought for a moment and tapped his hand repeatedly on the table.

"No need to send any. We're too far away. By the time our knights get there, the other lords' knights will probably be long gone."

"One more knight won't make a difference, and one less won't make a difference either."

Then, Darian stood up from the ground, walked to the balcony, and slowly said:

"Since there's no information here, I'll send a few followers to the Royal Capital and the attacked territory... This will take some time."

"Before that, let's make the spice we mentioned last time..."

Darian said helplessly that if possible, he didn't want to talk about smuggling, as it only yielded large profits over a long period. Right now, he just wanted to get in touch with the new king and make a killing.

However, the current situation does not support him doing so.