30 Years Have Passed Since the Prologue - Chapter 164

WeTried Translations x Flame Comics

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 164: Side ep. Shaving the Beard, And (7)

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* * *

Right after final exams ended, Ivan gathered the group again. It was dinner at Isabelle’s, as usual.

“Eugene, any quests?”

“Nothing’s appeared, sir.”

If anything urgent enough to disrupt the political situation had happened, Eugene would have reported it before Ivan even asked.

Ivan nodded gravely and sank into thought.

‘If it isn’t right before an incident occurs, then the quest warning is useless.’

That was a serious problem. He had considered Eugene’s role to be closer to an early-warning system. But what use was an early-warning system if it only sounded the alarm once a crisis had become too urgent to handle?

Being able to view someone’s true name and information was an immense advantage, but that belonged to intelligence work, not early warning.

‘Even if we detect a situation like Tilles’s right before it happens, we can’t respond.’

An event like The Three Counts’ Rebellion had to be stopped before it began if they wanted to end it without casualties.

“I’ll have to go to Kallion during winter break.”

Ivan set his thoughts aside and surveyed the group. Aside from Elphihara, no one looked happy.

It didn’t matter. The number of people he could take was limited anyway.

“Isabelle. Oscar.”

“Yes.”

“Yep!”

First, the Tilles group.

They had to return home to calm the public unrest in Tilles after the civil war. This was when Maximilian’s daughter and Gilles Ver’s son needed to lend their names.

“Help stabilize the situation in Tilles.”

“What difference would it make if I went...?”

“Ugh, I want to go to Kallion too!”

Ignoring their complaints, Ivan turned to Aesidis.

“Your role is important.”

“You want me to teach those big-eared Kallion bastards what real music is, right?!”

“No. Return to your homeland.”

“Huh...?”

Whatever the next major episode was, it would happen in either Kallion or Droan. Ivan could respond on-site in Kallion, but not in Droan.

If something happened in Droan while he was away, they would miss their chance entirely. He had to prevent that.

“Yuri, Eugene. Stay with Aesidis.”

That was why Ivan planned to assign Yuri to her. Yuri possessed the greatest combat power in the current group.

There was a Huscarl among the Knight Department’s first-years. Yet Yuri was still the top student in the first-year practical examinations. The meaning was simple.

That transmigrator had already become stronger than a Huscarl after only two years in this world.

Her growth rate was absurd. If every transmigrator possessed some kind of transmigration bonus, that girl’s would probably be the easiest to understand.

‘Talent.’

Overwhelming, dazzling talent. Enough to make her seem like the protagonist of some growth-type overpowered story.

So Ivan planned to keep her with Aesidis. No matter what happened, Yuri would be able to get Aesidis out alive.

“Wouldn’t it be better if I followed you?”

“It’s dangerous.”

“Well, where hasn’t been dangerous?”

“No. Your mental barrier is too weak.”

Eugene was weak enough that even something as simple as courage enhancement could alter his personality. He was unusually vulnerable to Mind Sorcery.

And Kallion was home to the people most skilled in Mind Sorcery anywhere in the world. Ivan could deal with physical attacks, but he had no means of protecting his companions from mental attacks.

There was more.

“We need people on-site who can respond immediately when a quest appears. I can handle Kallion, but you’ll have to handle Droan.”

Someday in the distant future, Eugene would have to replace him. His talent as an infiltration agent was truly overwhelming.

“Even if I respond... if something like the Tilles situation happens, what could I possibly do...?”

“Contact Patricia through the church and request military support from the Counterintelligence Command. Droan is closer than Tilles.”

Back when Ivan had believed this world was an academy story, Aesidis had been the first member of the Hero Party he contacted.

She had also been the first person to cross the border for enrollment, but Droan’s proximity was another reason he couldn’t overlook.

After hearing him out, Eugene quietly nodded.

Ivan looked over those remaining in the room.

Elphihara, the most necessary person if they were going to Kallion in the first place.

Oswald, the son of a Privy Councilor who was engaged to the daughter of the Privy Council Chairman.

Lucia, a scout who would support him just as Eugene had during the Tilles incident.

And Rundis, someone who could at least hold the front line in their current formation, which severely lacked vanguards.

Those four would form the core party.

Not bad. Almost none of them overlapped with the group that had gone to Tilles, which meant he could spread their growth more evenly.

“Elphihara.”

“Ah, y-yes!”

Elphihara jolted and looked at Ivan, then hastily lowered her head to the table again.

Trying to understand adolescent girls that age was foolish. She probably just disliked his face today, or something equally pointless.

Naturally, such things held no meaning. What mattered was usefulness and how one was used.

“We need to prepare a smuggling vessel bound for Kallion.”

“Pardon...?”

Elphihara blinked blankly. A smuggling vessel? All of a sudden?

“Can’t we just cross to one of Tilles’s three major ports and take the sea route in? If we hurry, we could still get there within ten days.”

“No.”

Krasilov took domestic intelligence seriously, and Tilles was now the most politically unstable land in the Allied Kingdoms.

If they took a train bound for Tilles, they would certainly be caught by the Counterintelligence Command’s information network. Elizaveta would know the instant he boarded.

Then there was a risk that the whole train would be seized before he even crossed half the country.

“Until I have results, this country can’t know where I’m going.”

“...What? What does that... mean...?”

Elphihara fell into confusion.

Ivan gave a slow nod. He didn’t need to say it aloud for that to be answer enough. Elphihara groaned and clutched her forehead.

“This old man is seriously insane. You’re a civil servant... no, a soldier. Isn’t this disobeying orders?”

“It will be if I fail.”

But if he succeeded, it would be an achievement.

“To begin with, the Annihilation Unit wasn’t a branch that acted with authorization from superior command.”

“If I were a superior commander, I think I’d have dealt with you a long time ago...”

“They did.”

“Ah.”

At Ivan’s answer, the group lowered their heads.

The Annihilation Unit had been a rear-area infiltration force. In every case, it was authorized to act first and report afterward. It operated in places where there was no way to disclose an operational outline to headquarters in the first place.

As such, nearly everything about the unit depended on the judgment and loyalty of its field commander.

If they had failed in moderation and been moderately incompetent, they might have been treated as nothing more than a slightly unusual branch. But the Annihilation Unit of those days had been far too sharp a blade.

A sharp blade that wouldn’t obey orders and could turn its edge elsewhere at any time. The purge of the Annihilation Unit had probably been inevitable. Even if Kiril had been in his right mind, the Annihilation Unit would have been purged.

But Elizaveta would never do such a thing. That was because of the trust that had endured since those days. She was a commander who trusted the judgment of those in the field.

So it was fine. This wasn’t insubordination, only a somewhat bold operation.

“No, sir. If the princess hadn’t come to rescue us in Tilles, wouldn’t we all have died there?”

“This time is different.”

“...How?”

“Because Beolgreen is alive.”

The situation differed from Gilles Ver’s, who had almost no real authority and bore nearly all the political burden himself.

Kallion was a country ruled through the Privy Council’s decisions. Its monarchy was so weak as to be barely visible, while its legislature held immense authority.

It was, in other words, perhaps the most political country in the world. And politicians never put all their eggs in one basket.

Power excessively concentrated in a single person was never permitted in parliamentary politics.

Almost none of Kallion’s power relations were known abroad, but one thing was certain.

Beolgreen’s power within Kallion would be limited. Even if he had any, it would be no more than an honorary position.

Which meant Beolgreen’s autonomy would be largely guaranteed.

A Hero Party member free to act was a disaster in itself. Ivan found it difficult even to imagine a way to kill a Beolgreen like that.

If a disaster on that scale was imminent, if there wasn’t even time to intervene, a quest would definitely have appeared.

‘Eugene’s silence alone means we can respond in advance.’

So Krasilov’s aid was unnecessary for this operation. If they could contact Beolgreen, there would be little to worry about.

And if they could take custody of Alexander and return home...

‘At last.’

He would be able to stand tall before the graves of his countless fallen comrades and lay flowers upon them.

Ivan quietly raised his teacup to his lips.

With superhuman patience, he steadied his trembling hand.

The time to finally complete the mourning he had postponed was approaching.

Three months remained until winter break ended. A short time, not even a hundred days.

Thirty years had passed since he came to this world. What was three months by comparison? Ivan had been in the Annihilation Unit, and the Annihilation Unit specialized in waiting, lying in ambush, and remaining silent.

A trained agent could remain hidden in one spot without moving for more than ten days. Three months was never a long operation.

If they were lucky, it might take even less time.

Ivan smiled quietly.

“Smuggling vessels are my specialty! You remember, right? Lord Coenwulf entered the country by what was practically smuggling! And she did say she’d be returning home this winter.”

“We’ll take an airship!”

Elphihara shouted with confidence.

* * *

“Your Highness.”

“Mm?”

The trade routes into Tilles were in shambles. After The Three Counts’ Rebellion, there were countless damaged railways and severed trade routes.

Even acquiring essential supplies for winter was difficult. Their stored food would barely keep starvation at bay, but winter would be harsh if they couldn’t stabilize logistics.

Fortunately, the arms industry was booming, so raising funds throughout the Allied Kingdoms, including Tilles, didn’t seem difficult.

Good. The country was steadily stabilizing.

With the First Corps’s submission, her regime was finally complete.

‘Now, if I deal with Alexander for good, I can hold the coronation...’

Absolute royal authority that no one could oppose. At last, from atop this dictatorship that cast every responsibility onto parliament beneath the facade of constitutional monarchy while keeping only the authority...

‘No matter whom I marry, no one will dare stop me.’

It wouldn’t have been an exaggeration to say that she had devoted herself to state affairs solely for this day.

Recently, Elizaveta had become happier than she had ever been in her life. Over the past month, Ivan had stayed quiet and obeyed her, shaved his beard, the First Corps had submitted, and the colonies had expanded!

Those big-eared Kallion pirates wouldn’t dare stage a show of force with air warships against dwarven firearms, either.

‘If we get through winter safely, perhaps I can attempt gunboat diplomacy next spring.’

If Alexander really was in Kallion, she could pressure them by bringing up their insolence in sending Coenwulf to the previous tournament.

Power came from military strength. And once the air-defense fire network was ready, Kallion wouldn’t dare look down on Krasilov.

Once she received Alexander into custody without trouble and displayed his head before Kiril’s throne, she would finally succeed to the throne.

Then, at her coronation, before the blessings of every citizen in the country, proudly...

‘Would March be better? Hmm. Still, I want to wear something sleeveless. April would be better, wouldn’t it? Dresses look prettier the thinner they are. Mm-hm. Perfect.’

Elizaveta organized her papers with a satisfied expression, then looked up.

Come to think of it, Dmitry had requested an audience. Was it a report related to Tilles?

“Yes? What is it?”

“Um, well, ah... Your Highness. It is...”

“Speak quickly. My time is limited.”

“Lord Yermof has disappeared.”

-Crunch.

The fountain pen in her hand crumpled without her realizing it. Dmitry hurriedly dropped to his knees and threw himself facedown on the floor.

“I swear, I truly know nothing about this. Could it be Pavel, perhaps? I have no real authority!”

“Bring Pavel before me.”

“Yes, yes!”

“And spread flyers. No, not flyers. Deploy agents. How many agents are still in Pritchenkaya?”

“A little over one hundred and sixty.”

“Deploy all of them. Put agents on every land route and sea route to Kallion... every possible direction! Bring Pavel before me, and tell him to compile every smuggling route and report it to me! I give him thirty minutes!!”

“Yes, yes!!”

Dmitry fled as if running for his life, shaking all over.

Elizaveta trembled, then picked up an inkwell and hurled it.

“Treason! Treason! Treason!! This is treason... insubordination!!”

Pavel arrived shortly afterward, surveyed the ruined room, then quickly prostrated himself.

“I will do my utmost to escort the criminal back, Your Highness.”

“...When you bind the criminal, make sure to deliver my message.”

“Please give your command.”

“Tell him this. I will sentence him to life imprisonment, so he should return home prepared to spend the rest of his life under house arrest.”

“My advance congratulations on your marriage.”

“Enough flattery! Go!”

“I obey, Your Highness.”