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Chapter 194 - Central Powers (8)

Neutrality.

This was a slightly different stance compared to Deucekain, who wanted to become independent.

Deucekain offered an alliance to both sides because they wanted to be included in the fight for supremacy. However, the Sore Empire rejected any alliances because they wanted to stay out of the fight for continental supremacy.

Henry frowned. Neutrality was perhaps the most appropriate stance for the Sore Empire to take.

However, the Aenia Empire controlled sixty percent of the continent, whereas Henry would only have about thirty percent even if he allied with the rest of the nations. Given the circumstances, even if there were only one nation that didn’t join the Allied Powers, Henry would be at a severe disadvantage.

‘As expected of them.’

Henry had initially planned to use his past connection with Chungang, currently the former Taejae, to sway his heart. However, given that Chungang and the first and second Taeja had all died of an epidemic, Henry needed to persuade the left and right ministers, rather than the powerless Hongwol, in order for things to go his way.

Henry looked at the tiger-like left minister and the pig-like right minister. They were both ministers of a small and weak nation, but they were just as knowledgeable as the advisors of the mighty Empire.

“I just can’t understand,” said Henry.

“What?”

“Even if you declare neutrality, there is no way that Arthus is going to agree to that. His heart is already infested by greed. Declaring neutrality might keep you safe during the war, but once the war is over and the continent is under his control, he’ll surely reveal his greedy nature again.”

“When that happens...!”

“When that happens, you won’t be a Central Power anymore, but either be a subordinate empire or just the ruins of a former empire. Are you going to wait for that to happen?”

Henry purposely tried to strike a nerve, because targeting the opponent’s pride, although rude, was a form of diplomatic strategy.

Despite his disrespectful attitude, everything Henry had said was true.

Henry also knew that the left and right ministers were willing to have the Sore Empire become a subordinate empire as long as it continued to exist, which was why he tried to hurt their pride first before they brought up the topic themselves.

At the very least, both Henry and the Sore Empire were currently on equal footing as they were negotiating the terms.

“Um...!”

The left and right ministers were lost for words.

Caught in the middle of this, Hongwol couldn’t do anything but let the adults talk and listen to them.

There was a short moment of silence.

“Okay, then how about this offer...?” proposed Henry.

“What offer?”

“If you trust me and help me form the Allied Powers, I will wholeheartedly support the independence of the Sore Empire after the war comes to an end.”

“What difference does that make? You’ve come up with a plausible offer, but in the end, it’s the same thing, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s quite different, actually.”

“How?”

“My offer implies that the Sore Empire does not have to participate in the war with the Allied Powers. I merely ask that you pretend to side with the Empire.”

“Are you asking us, the Sore Empire, to act as spies?”

“Yes. Even if you act as a spy, all you would have to do is accompany the Taejae to the capital a bunch of times before the war starts, right?”

“I guess so, but...”

“If that happens, the Empire will certainly give you, the Sore Empire, a mission, and you would only need to pretend to carry it out. All the resources needed for that will be provided by the Allied Powers.”

It was a tempting offer. They could take advantage of the Allied Powers while pretending to be on the Empire’s side, and greatest of all, the Sore people wouldn’t have to shed a single drop of blood.

Moreover, in the unlikely event that the Empire won the war, the Sore Empire would get some credit for it and, at the very least, avoid destruction.

‘If we do this, we won’t have to make the Sore Empire into our enemy, and we’ll be able to get information on the Empire’s strategy.’

It was a win-win situation.

The left and right ministers thought about Henry’s offer for a while.

It was certainly an advantageous offer for them, but... It was just that they couldn’t figure out why Henry was being so accommodating. Receiving a favor for free was something to be suspicious of.

After some thought, the left minister said, “Sir Henry.”

“Yes?”

“This may be a rude question, but do you mind if I ask?”

“Of course not. Go ahead.”

“Thank you, I’ll ask with ease. Hmm, the opponent is the great Empire, and I heard that you’re facing the new empire with only your Central Powers and the wizards of the Magical Spire. But with what confidence are you facing the empire?”

“Confidence, you say...”

It was a pretty sharp question. However, Henry didn’t really know the answer either.

After being executed in his previous life, Henry had never been afraid of failure, but this wasn’t just because he was focused on revenge. After all, everything could be accomplished with the sole objective of revenge.

However, Henry had done it.

He never even considered the possibility of failure, and he never mulled over the possible outcomes of his plans. Even if he faced setbacks, he just thought of them as slight detours that would eventually lead him to the same destination, the same end goal. That was how he had gotten to this point. Therefore, he didn’t think that he would lose in the upcoming war.

Henry couldn\'t help smirking as he thought about that.

“To be honest, I’ve never thought about that,” responded Henry.

“Then why...?”

“If I’d ever considered the possibility of failure, I never would’ve been able to get this far. Fear would’ve prevented me from reaching my goals.”

“You do have a point, but...”

Those explanations were more like those of an arrogant child, but the left minister could discern the candor in Henry’s face as he spoke those words, a kind of confidence that made it seem like he was right.

Certainly, Henry could have persuaded the left minister with a logical argument, but he chose not to sway someone who had already made up their mind by sharing a personal story. Sometimes, a sincere gesture was worth more than a long, logical explanation.

“This sounds good to me. What do you think?” asked the left minister to the right minister.

“Sounds good to me as well.”

The two ministers agreed with each other.

Henry looked at the Taejae and asked, “What do you think?”

“I-I agree too!”

“Well, that pretty much wraps up everything.”

Henry knew that the Taejae was going to agree anyway since the two ministers had already determined the answer right in front of her.

Henry got up from his seat and said, “More than half of the Central Powers have already declared to join the Allied Powers, so please keep your word until the end.”

“Of course. The Sore Empire values words more than any other nation.”

Henry immediately left the Sore Empire as soon as the meeting ended, and headed straight for Zipan.

* * *

Following his ordeal in Salgaera, Terion reappeared in the Deucekain palace.

The Deucekain palace guards, including the imperial soldiers who had been searching for Terion, all gathered around him.

Terion awkwardly smiled as he tried to assuage everyone’s concerns.

“Nothing happened. A foolish wizard tried to assassinate me, but I took care of it, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Given that Terion was the only one who recognized the former Imperial Ten Swords and Henry, everyone nodded to his explanation of what had happened.

Seeing that everyone seemed to believe him, Terion let out a sigh of relief and patted his chest.

‘I’m doing a good job. I’ll continue to do a good job. No, I must do a good job!’

He had succeeded in convincing everyone, and now he had to convince himself.

At the same time, he remembered the watery black ball that Henry had shoved in his mouth. Just thinking about it made him feel nauseous, but when he thought that Henry was watching his every move through that ball, which was stuck in his body, chills ran down his spine, and he broke out in cold sweat.

However, Terion was determined to make it out of this alive, whatever the cost. No matter how loyal he was to Arthus, loyalty ultimately meant nothing in the face of death.

‘That’s right. You can’t be loyal if you’re dead, right? I need to be alive in order to show loyalty.’

Having collected his thoughts once again, Terion met with the head of the Chowan Tribe, who had ruled over Deucekain for over twenty years.

Terion confirmed the initial answer they had given to Henry.

“So, Deucekain is really turning down the empire’s offer, right?”

“Yes, how many times do I have to tell you? We, Deucekain, will never serve anyone again after the fall of Eurasia.

The head of the Chowan Tribe was cocky, but in a way, Terion was thankful for that because he had been worried that the head was going to change his mind during the time Henry had kept him in Salgaera.

Feeling relieved, Terion bowed slightly and said, “Alright, I will tell the emperor so.”

It was good for Terion that the Chowan Tribe were so firm with their decision. This concluded the purpose of his visit to Deucekain, and all that was left was to tell Arthus this piece of news.

Terion was going to tell Arthus what had happened exactly the way Henry had instructed him to, word for word. After all, he had memorized Henry’s instructions in such a short amount of time because his life depended on it.

Once he was out of Mount Mecca, Terion once again sighed in relief and slowly made his way to the Highlander region.

* * *

Following his visit to Killive, Arthus didn’t waste a single second of his time once he returned to the palace.

After giving the order to kill all the wizards, Arthus prepared himself for the conquest of the continent to gain supreme power just like Golden Jackson had.

As a first step, he had sent envoys to the Central Powers, who were now no longer obligated to be allies of the Eurasian Empire.

In addition to the Central Powers, Arthus sent numerous envoys to the free cities and special cities that had lost their status as countries so that he could take full control over them.

‘I’ll have to bring Aubert soon.’

As the number of dispatched envoys grew, Arthus became aware of the lack of people he had. He especially lacked competent and intelligent subjects to work under him to manage the affairs of the Empire.

Arthus thought of Aubert, the strategist.

Alfred was originally supposed to go see Aubert, but Arthus still hadn’t heard back from Alfred since the rebellion. Overall, nobody had heard anything about Alfred.

However, it had only been two days since the founding of the new empire. Thus, instead of waiting for Alfred, whom he hadn’t heard from, Arthus decided to send someone himself to bring Aubert.

‘I’ll make him bring Aubert.’

Having made up his mind, Arthus summoned Balak.

“You called, Your Majesty.”

Having left Killive after decades of managing it, Balak the Onir appeared before Arthus, his new emperor, to receive orders.

“Balak, I have an order for you. You will immediately travel to Salgaera in the north, and bring Aubert Crimson, the former marquis who had been exiled, back to the empire,” said Arthus.

“Aubert Crimson... Isn’t he the criminal who has been banished from the former empire?”

“He had committed those crimes in the former empire. Nevertheless, he was doing what he thought was right at the time to show greater loyalty to me, so his crimes aren’t necessarily all wrong.”

Arthus defended Aubert to see how Balak would react. He had chosen Balak for this job because he wanted to see what the Punishment King would choose between his personal values and his loyalty to Arthus.

Balak stood still, silently thinking about Arthus’ order, but soon knelt down and replied firmly, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I’ll leave it up to you then.”

It was a pleasant result.

To save time, Arthus handed him one of the few teleportation scrolls that we left from the imperial palace. He also tried to offer him some soldiers, but Balak refused, insisting that the scroll would suffice.

After Balak left with the teleportation scroll, Arthus turned to Kington, who was by his side.

“Kington.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Already half of the Imperial Ten Swords are dead.”

“...I, too, am quite saddened by that, Your Majesty.”

“I’m sure you are, which is why I want to replace them as soon as possible.”

“I will look for swordsmen who are worthy of becoming their replacements.”

“No, there’s no need to look. Is there no one around you worthy of filling in the empty positions in Imperial Ten Swords?”

“...!”

Kington was surprised to hear the words ‘around you.’ This meant that Kington could fill in the spots of the Imperial Ten Swords with his own people. If that were to happen, his influence in the new empire would grow even stronger.

Kington replied in a heartbeat, “All of my children are excellent swordsmen. If Your Majesty deems it appropriate, may I dare to recommend them?”

“I don’t care where they’re from. The only requirement is that they must be skilled, whether they’re your own children or not.”

“Absolutely, Your Majesty!”

Kington bowed and covered his grin with his clothes.

‘Perfect!’

Kington had gotten the chance to plant people of his own in every part of the empire. He quickly left the palace with high hopes to gather his children.