Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 118

118―――――

Northern, Land of the Barbarians

No other words were written anywhere else in the letter.

It was extremely simple content: the North is unsettling, and the barbarian tribes are on the move.

However, Zion roughly understood the person named Helen Heiness.

The lack of detailed information meant that other information was still being verified, and if the content was written and sent in an official letter like this, these two facts would be certain.

“Helen… no, is this all the letters the head of the Heiness Merchant Guild sent separately?”

“Yes.

Ah, and they processed the carcasses of ground monsters that griffins like to eat and made feed for them, which they sent along with the goods to be paid for this time.”

It seemed they had heard the story about griffin breeding and came up with something that might be helpful.

I didn’t specifically ask them to get it for me, but I was secretly thinking that it would be necessary, and they took care of it on their own.

Zion was certain that those with political power lived a truly comfortable life.

“How is the Royal Palace?”

“It’s the same as usual.

The Kashgar County family was completely cleaned up, and all those even slightly related to them were summoned and investigated.

Fortunately, there were no more families involved in treason.”

Of course, that would be the case.

From the beginning, Kashgar had no intention of committing treason.

They were just dragged into playing along with our useful play and forced to leave as actors.

‘Still, the fact that there is a helper inside the Royal Palace doesn’t change.

While the fairies were plotting and working through the Heiness Merchant Guild, there must have been someone who secretly covered it up.

Has Princess Vanessa not yet ferreted out that far?’

To be exact, I couldn’t know the situation.

This young man was just a member of the Heiness Merchant Guild, not a special envoy representing the Royal Palace.

Zion was determined to inform Vanessa about that part if he went to the Royal Palace.

“Ah, and this is just information given for free.”

“Huh?”

At the young man’s words, Zion waited for the next words with an expression asking what it was.

“The Duke’s popularity is great in the noble society within the kingdom.”

“…Me?

Me?”

“Yes.

Looking at your expression, it seems you didn’t expect it, but you wouldn’t say you don’t know the reason, would you?”

I wouldn’t be making an expression of not knowing if I didn’t know, you bastard.

When Zion tilted his head slightly and looked at him with a crooked gaze, the young man waved his hand, saying, ‘Just kidding, just kidding!’ and continued.

“Isn’t it obvious? Immediately, you became a war hero and the main character of the royal party, which is said to be the best in noble society, and there you showed off your splendid eloquence, musical instrument [lute], and singing skills, and the rumors have spread far and wide.”

“…”

Zion’s chest swelled up as he thought about how his adaptation of a certain S.O.B.’s letter and singing a song from the Y.A. [Young Adult] era while strumming the lute were circulating throughout the kingdom.

‘Why are you telling everyone in the neighborhood? It’s really legendary. Shibal [a Korean curse word, similar to “shit”]…’

Zion scratched his cheek at the rising embarrassment, but the man from the Heiness Merchant Guild thought he was feeling good and excitedly opened his mouth again.

“Is that all? Defeating the Chess King of Nudia, and not only finding the slave market on the way back to the territory but also returning all the wealth accumulated through unfair means to the different races. Which noble ladies or knights wouldn’t have their hearts racing after hearing that story?”

“Bullshit.”

Zion spat out those words and waved his hand to mean that was enough.

Even if it looked like a heroic tale to those who didn’t know anything, it was a thrilling survival story and a documentary for him.

“Anyway, all the goods were delivered well, and I also confirmed that the Duke is doing well, so I perfectly carried out the mission given by the head of the merchant guild. If you ever have a chance to visit the Royal Palace, to the headquarters of the Heiness Merchant Guild…”

“I think I’ll be going to the Royal Palace soon anyway.”

“Yes? Ah, well, do you have a schedule at the Royal Palace?”

That’s not it.

Zion shrugged his shoulders to mean that.

It was because he had a feeling that someone would be visiting the Royal Palace soon.

In that way, the millet and barley among the items sent by the Heiness Merchant Guild, and other food items, went into the storage, and the unpleasant feed made from the carcasses of monsters was sent to the griffins.

Zion earnestly hoped that they would grow up well and become a Phantom, a Tomcat, or a Super Hornet [types of fighter jets, implying powerful griffins].

‘Tell the head of the merchant guild. Let’s meet at the Royal Palace soon and talk.’

‘Yes, I understand. Duke.’

After finishing the meeting with the Heiness Merchant Guild and checking the griffin breeding status, Zion faced a messenger who came to deliver the royal order in the afternoon.

The official reason was to commend the hard work of the Count Clausen, who guarded the border even in peaceful times and when war clouds were gathering, and to request some support as they would dispatch an investigation team to the area regarding the recent monster attack.

Commending the hard work was a common occurrence, and dispatching an investigation team was a natural thing to do since the monster attack was a very important matter.

However, the messenger delivering the royal order handed Zion a letter in an extremely secret place where Count Lichten and Zion were.

A clear royal letter with the royal family’s seal stamped on it.

The messenger delivered it without saying anything and stepped back as if he had done his job.

“…What is that?”

Count Lichten made a questionable expression.

If there was something to tell Clausen from the royal family, they could have conveyed it through the letter informing them of the commendation for their hard work and the dispatch of the investigation team a little while ago, but he was reacting with doubt as to why they had bothered to make two letters.

“I think I’ll have to see it directly, but.”

“But?”

“I think it might be a letter sent separately by Princess Vanessa without Prince Erader knowing.”

Of course, that would be the case.

Although Prince Erader was considered promising, Princess Vanessa was also a promising woman with the right to succeed to the throne, ranking second only to King Edgar IV.

If such a princess suddenly sent a letter to Clausen, it was obvious that Prince Erader and his forces would look at her with uneasy eyes.

‘She wants to avoid unnecessary suspicion, is that it? Anyway, she’s a really wise princess.’

Of course, there was a part of me that wanted her to openly compete with Prince Erader.

We had to eliminate Prince Erader in advance from now on so that we wouldn’t have to see the guy who would take the lead in claiming to have contributed to the Great Continental War and advance into the lands of the demons in the future.

‘He even took all the kingdom’s elite soldiers and famous knights and only gained glory with scars. Anyway, he’s not helpful. He’s a landmine, a landmine. That guy.’

He was a prince who had a track record of suddenly asking for a song to be sung even in the Royal Palace.

Thanks to that, he had completely turned himself, who could have been an ally, into an enemy.

However, Zion had not been paying attention to that point because he thought that getting involved in the royal family’s affairs would only make things go wrong or make himself tired, but if it continued like this, he was also considering throwing out bait.

Anyway, Zion opened the letter and carefully read the contents written inside.

‘I wonder if it’s similar to what Helen sent.’

I thought it would only have simple content written on it, but the first content written in the letter made even Count Lichten, not to mention Zion, say ‘Huh?’ and be embarrassed.

―I was surprised to hear that you were attacked on the way back, and when I heard the news that you went out and stopped the monsters’ attacks yourself, I felt like my heart was falling.

―

“…?”

Zion tilted his head.

The report that he had been attacked must have been heard through the royal knights who were dispatched to the Conan Territory because of the slave market incident.

But how does she know that he stepped up himself during this monster attack…

“Father?”

“Isn’t that the truth? I only extracted the facts that I was here as a Count and reported them to the royal family.”

“…”

“But I didn’t know that the princess would scold you like this because of that. It doesn’t seem like there’s still any resentment left. Did something happen at the Royal Palace?”

“Nothing happened to me.”

I don’t want to get involved with Vanessa.

No matter how good power is, you get burned if you get too close to it.

It was best to keep a proper distance, bask in the warm light, brag to those who were shivering in the cold far away, boast, and step aside slightly and bask in the light of power.

―Losing you would not benefit the kingdom at all, so be especially careful. This is a part that even the King is worried about. A great commander must know how to care for his soldiers, but he must also know how to refrain from stepping forward recklessly.

―

I didn’t want to step forward either.

I want to live a long, long time.

However, it’s better for the ‘monsters’ here to see the situation and make a judgment before proceeding with the work.

Zion muttered to himself and focused on the next sentence.

―My personal story has been long. Regarding the North that you mentioned to me before, I have carefully examined them by mobilizing all possible methods. And recently, a fairly reliable report came up. It says that the scattered barbarians in the North are forming two large groups and may invade the kingdom’s border.

―

Two large groups, probably the Aighior led by ‘Daughter of Winter’ and the Kaltar led by ‘Khan’.

It seemed that even the names had not yet been conveyed to Vanessa’s information network, but Zion already knew the names of the two groups.

‘Kaltar are those who are hostile to the kingdom, and Aighior are those who want to promote reconciliation with the kingdom. These two groups started growling at each other from this time and reached out to the nobles who had rebelled in the North, and in the process, they first encountered Kim Yu-hyun, who was suppressing the traitors.’

Kim Yu-hyun was struggling here because of the Daughter of Winter and Khan.

In particular, Khan almost fought Kim Yu-hyun on equal terms at the time, becoming the number one contributor to imprinting a strong impression of the northern barbarians on Kim Yu-hyun as well as the kingdom.

‘So, since the northern rebellion didn’t happen, are they just going to fight each other now? Or are they going to join hands and plunder the northern part of the kingdom? That’s the problem.’

First of all, given the Daughter of Winter’s personality, she would never welcome being at odds with the kingdom.

Although they may be at an advantage in guerrilla warfare, she was a wise woman who knew well that if the kingdom, enraged, brought its regular army and burned down all the villages and forced a full-scale war, they would also have to bear enormous bleeding.

On the other hand, ‘Khan’, who leads Kaltar, argued that the fearsomeness of the northern people should be made known to those weak kingdom people so that they would pay tribute without being pressured.

If anyone heard it, it would be nothing more than bullshit, but if a true strongman with power said that, it would be different again.

‘I need to go to the North quickly.’

North is North, but in the original novel development, things also happen in the South when Kim Yu-hyun is fighting fiercely with the barbarians in the North.

The pirates, who had seemed to have almost disappeared, suddenly appeared and completely seized the sea routes and blocked the sea route of Hispania.

‘It’s obvious who made the peaceful sea route return to the age of great pirates. It was the pointy-eared bastards who did it [a derogatory term for elves].’

The Holy Prussian Kingdom is originally a country for the Celestial Race, so there is nothing to work on.

Nudia has already had surgery and the royal family is on the verge of rotting.

Now, all that’s left is Hispania, and if we make this place fall into chaos and turn that anger to the demons, it would be their desired first picture, a continent without demons.

‘…Everyone has a plausible plan.’

Until they get hit.

―The situation seems to be unusual, so I am sending this letter. If my brother’s people see me and you exchanging letters, they might misunderstand, so I am sending it secretly like this. The King knows. He reacted by saying that he understood my actions. What do you think about this matter? Didn’t you foresee this situation to some extent and tell me to watch the North?

―

“Zion. Is it true that you told Princess Vanessa to watch the North?”

“That’s right, for now.”

“…Did you foresee that the barbarian tribes would be on the move in advance?”

“I just expected it. I thought that the higher up a person is, the more they should assume and prepare for the worst-case scenario rather than the best.”

It might be useless guesswork, meaningless worry.

However, Zion wanted to refuse to be prepared and ready and then get caught off guard and get punched in the face.

―Things don’t seem to be going well. So, I hope you will come to the Royal Palace soon. Even if you have to go back to Clausen again, I hope you will come here and give me a word of advice, face to face. I need your help, Zion Clausen. I hope you will not refuse this body’s request. I will be waiting for the day when I can meet you again and talk.

―

The letter sent by Princess Vanessa was the end there.

I was a little surprised by the fairly long content, but Zion thought it was fortunate for now.

If there hadn’t been a word to come up to the Royal Palace, it might have been difficult to bring up the words that I should go to the Royal Palace, but Vanessa made a reason like this.

“…What are you going to do?”

At Count Lichten’s question, Zion shrugged his shoulders as if it was obvious.

“It’s Princess’s request. I can’t ignore the rudeness I committed before, can I?”

“Yes. That’s right. Don’t worry about the territory, go and come back. I’ll take care of the griffins as much as possible.”

“I understand. Father.”

“Then when are you planning to depart for the Royal Palace? How many people are you planning to take?”

“The sooner the better, since the matter is a matter. If it’s fast, I’m thinking of departing tomorrow afternoon, and if it’s late, I’m thinking of departing the day after tomorrow morning. The number of people is the same as when I returned from the Royal Palace last time, and I’m thinking of taking one of the female squires of Sir Rishikida Amshel, whom I brought in before.”

Count Lichten nodded and added a few more knights and guards there.

The power was already overflowing, but he thought that there should be a minimum show befitting the family of a Count.

After finishing the story, Zion moved his steps to explain the schedule for the trip to the Royal Palace, or a trip that could go further, to the people.

‘Going to meet Khan. This is a little scary in its own way.’

What comes to mind right now was the female version of Kim Yu-hyun that a reader drew as fan art.

A villain who was very similar to Kim Yu-hyun in her actions, skills, way of speaking, and the energy she exuded, one of the leaders of the northern barbarians and a woman who was more often called Khan, Zhan Temujin.

‘I’m going to meet a monster after a monster. Shibal [Korean curse word, similar to “shit”], this is not some mysterious monster dictionary. Even this monster is not a immature younger woman, but a barbarian older sister with a force overflowing!

Ssanganna [Korean slang, meaning “damn it”]!’

Really, it was the best villain life without any time to be bored.

―――――――Author’s Afterword―――――――

8 consecutive chapters completed.

Originally, I was aiming for 10 consecutive chapters, but this reflux esophagitis recurred and made me go crazy.

I’m sorry that my physical condition is not good, but I hope you will be satisfied with 8 consecutive chapters.

If you enjoyed it, please press the recommendation button!

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Please give me a recommendation as if you were saving a dying writer…!