Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 183

“The train will be stopping soon. Please be aware that this station is not a tourist destination, so please refrain from disembarking,” a blue-haired attendant announced as she walked down the train aisle.

“Is it already the next station?”

“I guess so… since it’s a trip.”

“It is a bit boring to be on the train all day.”

The train stopped frequently. Dylan had imagined a transcontinental train that ran all day, as the name suggested, but in reality, it stopped every few hours.

There were many stations, and the distance between them was short. The train ran at dawn and stopped during the day. Upon arriving at a station, passengers enjoyed sightseeing with a tour guide, returning to their train cabins in the evening or a few days later.

It was no wonder the journey took over four months.

“May I sit here?”

Dylan turned his head. An elderly gentleman and a young girl approached Dylan’s couple’s table. It seemed they were late for the meal and couldn’t find a seat. Dylan replied to his polite request.

“Ah, yes. Please, sit down.”

“Thank you.”

The couple, who had been sitting across from each other, moved to sit side by side, and the elderly gentleman and the girl sat across from them, joining the table.

“Even though we’re right next to each other, this is the first time we’ve talked, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

As he said, Dylan’s couple’s sleeping compartment was right next to the elderly gentleman’s, but they had never actually spoken. The reason was Dylan. Whenever he saw the elderly gentleman, a sense of déjà vu crept up, making him feel uneasy and avoid him.

“Are you enjoying your trip?”

“Yes, I am. I wondered what was so different about tourist destinations compared to regular cities, but it’s definitely different. I think it will be a really good memory.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

The elderly gentleman smiled lightly and cut the meat. Then, he put it into the girl’s open mouth. The couple smiled naturally at the sight of the child puffing out her cheeks as she ate.

“What’s your name?”

At Dylan’s question, the child swallowed the meat and replied.

“Mer.”

“Mer? That’s a cute name.”

“Isn’t it?” He looked at his wife, but an awkward smile was returned.

“You don’t have children yet?”

“That’s how it turned out.”

A bitter taste lingered in his mouth.

The reasons why the couple didn’t have children were complicated, starting with an incident shortly after they got married, situations that made it difficult to have children continued.

It took too long to resolve the issues. His wife was over forty. It was an era where difficult births were common. No matter how much he wanted a child, he didn’t want to put his wife in danger.

But how could he explain this in their first conversation?

Dylan shook his head bitterly, and the elderly gentleman nodded.

“I see.”

As if he knew what was on his mind.

“Don’t worry. The things you’re concerned about won’t happen.”

He was about to ask how he knew that, but he stopped. The elderly gentleman’s eyes flickered with a golden light. He hesitated and changed the subject.

“You seem to know a lot, sir.”

“Well, I have no choice but to.”

When the elderly gentleman finished his meal, an employee brought him a wooden bowl. The bowl was filled with peanuts, and the old man picked them up one by one and cracked them open.

“What do you think will happen to the Empire in the future?”

At the sudden question, Dylan blinked.

“I asked the wrong question. What do you think the Empire is doing now?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think it’s a problem for me to consider.”

“The Empire is fighting another battle.”

A battle?

Did that mean there was another enemy besides the Old Gods and the Other Races?

“It’s a battle that started from the moment life was born in this world. The battles with the Old Gods, the Other Races, and them were also battles with this. It’s a battle that will continue forever.”

“That’s…”

“Happiness, I mean.”

The elderly gentleman chuckled as he revealed the answer.

“It’s a battle to win happiness.”

He felt deflated.

He looked at him, feeling absurd, and the elderly gentleman tilted his head back and laughed.

“It’s a funny story, but it’s really important. Didn’t the Emperor say? That there would be no more war. That there were no more enemies to threaten humanity. Where should an empire without external enemies project its capabilities?”

“…”

“The Empire is like an adult body with the mind of a child. It has grown its body for survival, but its inner workings are poor. Think of Ollimorphous [the capital city of the Human Empire]. You know it well, don’t you?”

Dylan recalled the scenery of the capital, Ollimorphous.

It was a city filled with all sorts of factories, so-called the heart of the Empire.

It constantly burned coal, spewing smoke, and was noisy with the sound of hammers day and night.

After the war ended, the living environment improved, but those who visited the city still said it was a brutal sight.

“If the Emperor were an ordinary human, he wouldn’t want change. He would try to suppress internal dissatisfaction and maintain his rule by falsely claiming that there were external enemies. But does the Emperor need to do that?”

Dylan said no.

“Why?”

“Because he is stronger than any god, and he created subordinates as his descendants. No one can defy him, and no one is better than his descendants, so what does it matter if humans express dissatisfaction?”

He looked at the restaurant employee. Was she a subordinate [genetically engineered human loyal to the Emperor], or a pure human? He thought there were few pure humans among the staff. The conductor and stationmaster were definitely subordinates.

The Empire was such a nation. It was a nation supported by subordinates.

It had been that way since the Emperor came to the Oroko Plains as a lord. Subordinates possessed knowledge several levels higher than humans. Unlike the villagers who couldn’t even fix a water mill, they built the Empire without trial and error, as if they knew the answer.

The woman who fixed the train that stopped two days ago was also a subordinate. Her face was covered in grime, and she grumbled as she continued the maintenance, but her skills were amazing. Dylan couldn’t even think of following along.

Such beings were subordinates.

Humans also worked, but the core of society was subordinates. It wasn’t because they excluded humans; it was because subordinates did what humans couldn’t. Society couldn’t function without subordinates.

Even without foreign invasions, society would collapse if subordinates disappeared. Subordinates were absolutely loyal to the Emperor, so even without humans, the Emperor and the Empire could exist.

Thinking that far, he had this thought.

‘How does His Majesty regard humans?’

Humans were not indispensable to the Emperor. They were beings that could be absent or present. They were needed during the war to assist the subordinates, but now there was no war.

As anxiety surged, he heard,

“The answer is already out there, isn’t it?”

Dylan looked at the elderly gentleman. The old man smiled. As if he wanted him to question, as if he had read his thoughts, he opened his mouth.

“Yes, the Emperor is different from other rulers. He doesn’t need anything. That’s why he has no reason to flatter you. The Emperor only needs himself and his subordinates.”

But, he added.

“If he does something when there’s no reason to do it? The reason is simple: because he just wants to, because he wants to do it.”

The elderly gentleman tapped on the window.

“There’s not even a reason to build this train. How much do you think it cost? Can you imagine how much it costs to lay and maintain the tracks?”

It must have cost an astronomical amount.

According to what Dylan had seen in the newspaper, this line was built solely for the purpose of travel, so no other trains ran on it. In fact, he had never seen a train coming from the opposite direction.

“The Emperor has already shown it through his actions and results. There’s no need to explain what it’s for. Just accept it. Don’t try to find a reason for his generosity. That’s what I want.”

The train stopped.

“I’ll say it again.”

The attendant entered the dining car.

“This station is not a tourist destination. If you are here for travel, please do not disembark and wait inside the train.”

Some passengers got up from their seats and then sat back down. The attendant checked them and approached the elderly gentleman. Then, she told the elderly gentleman in a small voice.

“Lord Edar. You must get off.”

The moment he heard the name Edar, Dylan’s eyes widened.

“You are…”

The elderly gentleman got up from his seat. Dylan tried to follow suit, but the elderly gentleman pressed him down with his right hand and smiled as he looked at him. The old man’s eyes flickered with a golden light, the same light he had once seen.

This was the identity of the déjà vu. His intuition had recognized the Emperor and called out to him. His wife took his hand. She didn’t tremble. She wasn’t surprised. She already knew.

When she hid deep in her heart, she saw that light and overcame her fear to come out into the bright world. She knew that the Emperor had disguised himself as an old elf and appeared before her.

“Y-Your Majesty…”

Edar said to him, who was trembling.

“Dylan, a friend of Kistler. Be happy. That’s all I want.”

###

“Shall we have the train wait?”

Griff asked.

“No need. It’s a waste of time.”

“That’s a shame. We still have a long way to go.”

“It was easy for you, wasn’t it?”

Pashimea grumbled as she followed behind. She kept lifting her clothes and sniffing.

She had disguised herself as a tourist like Griff, but she had personally inspected the train because she thought the maintenance was inadequate, so the smell had permeated her clothes.

“Why do you go through the trouble of doing things you weren’t asked to do? The maintenance crew will take care of it, so why bother?”

“Because I don’t trust them.”

“Oh, who would trust you?”

Pashimea snorted and turned her head.

“Lord Edar, everyone is here.”

Calliope led the remaining subordinates and joined them.

Most of them had attended to protect me. Led by the Old Man of the Mountain, Nuadille, they had boarded the train disguised as tourists or employees.

For reference, Calliope had also taken on a position that didn’t suit her, as a tour guide. It was quite amusing to see her, who wasn’t good at talking, sweating while trying not to show it.

“I received the guidance well. Sister.”

Guard Raimondo put his clasped hands behind his head and grinned.

“…”

Calliope looked at him silently, and he avoided her gaze.

“You really sent them.”

Griff took a deep breath and slumped his shoulders.

“We can go next time. Why are you so disappointed?”

“Next time is next time, and now is now. There are many things you can’t see if you come later. Look at this pamphlet.”

“Snow Festival, Masquerade, Fair… There’s nothing special.”

“You have to look at the bottom too.”

“The first demonstration of a powered airplane, the last indulgence… sale?”

Pashimea glared at Mercéphonne. Rachel was the head of the Public Church, but she was too well-known, so she stayed in Ollimorphous with Scardi and Gerhard.

Mercéphonne closed her mouth tightly, pretending to be a child, and hid behind me.

“What is that cult up to again?”

“Ah, w-wait a minute!”

Pashimea raised only one corner of her mouth and tore the pamphlet to shreds. Griff screamed and tried to stop her, but the gap between the two was too great, and he fell to the ground.

I smiled bitterly without saying a word.

“Let’s go without regrets.”

We passed through the station, following her as she strode ahead.

We were on our way to visit the graves.

We were on our way to the cemetery where the dragons were buried. It was the place where the remains of Lord Ailetrióné and the body of Tiamar, and their kin, were buried. It was the place that Lord had created and Lundringen had cultivated.

I had never visited after burying them.

Only Tiamar went to visit the graves.

Then one day, she called me.

Step, step…

A gentle breeze blew across the meadow.

It was called a grave, but the marker indicating the grave was simple. It was just a stone slab with nothing written on it, placed on the ground. If someone passed by, they would just think it was a grassy area. They wouldn’t be able to recognize the identity of the stone slab.

“You’re late.”

The human Tiamar stood alone in the overgrown field.

“You didn’t tell me to come quickly.”

Pashimea retorted and approached Tiamar. Tiamar didn’t look back. She lowered her head and looked at the stone slab.

At first glance, she seemed to be lost in sorrow, but she wasn’t sad. She had a deep curiosity.

“What is this?”

The stone slab was overturned.

A sprout was growing from under the stone slab. It was just one sprout, but it was thicker than a person’s thigh. Also, a subtle magic power was felt. All living things possessed magic power, but such a strong magic power was rare.

“World Tree.”

“World Tree…?”

Tiamar moved the stone slab, which had been pushed over by the stem, to the side.

“Maybe it grew because of me or Father.”

“That’s crazy.”

The World Tree had burned to death with the destruction of the elves. It was a tree that had been corrupted by the magic power of the Old Gods, and there was no reason to fix it. It was burned without leaving a single root.

“Is this why you called me?”

“Yeah. What should we do?”

Everyone’s eyes turned to me.

“Hmm.”

I bent my knees and reached out my hand over the sprout. The magic power contained in the World Tree’s sprout reacted to me and emitted its magic power. That magic power was similar to the magic power that Lord and Tiamar, and their kin, possessed.

This must be why Tiamar couldn’t handle it alone. If she used her hands, she would feel like she was killing her kin again.

“Pashimea.”

“Yeah.”

“We need to expand Ollimorphous Square.”

“Are you going to plant it?”

Pashimea laughed.

“Good. Ollimorphous is going to be rebuilt anyway. It’s perfect for clearing up that disgusting smog. The World Tree also has air purification abilities, right?”

“You’re going to use the World Tree for that purpose?”

“Then what? Are you going to make those pointy-eared fruits grow again?”

Tiamar closed her mouth like she had eaten honey.

Swoosh…

The World Tree’s sprout grew slightly and touched my palm.

It looked like it was trying to grab me as it climbed up my palm.

I carefully stroked the sprout.

“All life has a soul. The soul that has lost its body forgets the days it lived, but the soul wanders in search of life again and again until the moment it crumbles.”

“…”

“Also, I don’t think there is such a thing as coincidence, whether it’s the World Tree reappearing or the magic power it contains.”

Or the appearance it shows me now.

“The elves’ World Tree lived for ten thousand years. How long will the humans’ World Tree live? I’m curious, as someone who doesn’t believe in eternity but lives for eternity.”

Tiamar put her hands on my shoulders and whispered.

“I told you. You’re going to be different. You’re different from us, Edar.”

I slowly stood up and looked at each of my subordinates one by one. They conveyed their words to me with thoughts instead of words, and only one person, Calliope, did not emit thoughts.

“Lord Edar.”

My first subordinate, the one who shared the beginning and the end with me.

She turned her cold face warm and smiled brightly.

“I will be by your side forever.”

“Yes. I will be by your side too.”

I replied, not as Lundringen, but as Edar.

In the capital of the Human Empire, in the Imperial Palace of Ollimorphous, as the human Emperor and the human God, I sat on the throne, emitting a light that illuminated the world, and answered with my voice.

“Forever.”