Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 168

168

I’m back, but what is this?

“…With that, I conclude all reports from the North.”

The next day, Sion entered the royal palace once again and detailed the events in the North before the King.

However, he decided to convey his intentions regarding the marriage alliance and the food supply to Edgar IV personally later, as these matters could potentially stir up the aristocratic world.

“You have worked hard, Lord Sion Claussen.

Who doesn’t know that you are dedicating your body and mind to Hispania?

Heaven knows, Earth knows, and now all the nobles and people will know.

Normally, it would be right to discuss and provide compensation for your efforts immediately, but due to the current situation, I will postpone it for a while.

At the same time, I will revoke your qualification as the King’s representative.”

Sion suddenly thought that Edgar IV’s gaze might be fixed on Special Envoy Lehman far away, and he barely managed to hold back a burst of laughter.

Receiving the qualification of the King’s representative was possible, but how embarrassing would it be to think that it was given to a mere twenty-year-old youngster, not even the head of a prominent noble family?

“All the nobles gathered here are well aware that Lord Sion Claussen has been sacrificing himself for the kingdom without rest in recent times.

I sincerely hope that you will not do anything shameful to yourselves for the sake of this young noble.”

Edgar IV spoke in a subtle tone of warning and then changed the subject to the deployment of the expeditionary force, which was the most important issue at hand.

For the southern part, they had to focus all their efforts on dealing with pirate attacks, so they were naturally excluded.

Nobles relatively close to the northern part of the kingdom were also excluded because they had to temporarily take charge of guarding the now-empty northern border.

‘And the Claussen Frontier Territory must maintain the defense line unless something truly extraordinary happens.’

There is no worse feeling than leaving home to work and returning to find the front door wide open and a thief inside.

The defense of the main base is essential in any situation and under any circumstances, so it was inevitable that the Claussen Frontier Territory was excluded from the expeditionary force list, even though it led quite powerful soldiers.

“Kkeueung···.”

Sion turned his head slightly at the sound of groaning coming from the side.

Marquis Volko of the Redenen family was deeply troubled, stroking his chin as if he had a big problem, and Sion knew the reason well.

‘He must be at a crossroads whether to participate in the expeditionary force or go to the South as an experienced person.’

Marquis Volko was one of those who led the pirate suppression.

He was also not very familiar with naval battles, so he made mistakes and suffered defeats in the beginning, but as expected of someone with thick bones on the battlefield, he immediately realized what was wrong.

‘Quickly identify and absorb the enemy’s strengths and make them their own.

Thus, no longer make the enemy’s strengths strengths, and at the same time, transform them and use them as weaknesses instead.’

That was why Sion recognized him to some extent and evaluated him as a fairly decent nobleman, even though he was not particularly close to Frontier Count Lichten.

‘How on earth did a piece of trash like Ludwig come out from under such a man is a mystery of the century… Ah, damn it.

Come to think of it, this body is even worse.

He was a crazy guy who came out from under Frontier Count Lichten, indulged in inferiority complexes, did stupid things, ruined everything, betrayed the country with patricide, and even used the Celestial Race to finally succeed in his revenge.’

Cursing Ludwig was almost like self-disparagement, so Sion lightly spat out a curse.

At least Ludwig had fought against the Celestial Race, so it was better to say that he was better.

‘Anyway, if it’s Marquis Volko’s personality, he seems to be leaning more towards the expeditionary force.’

The reason he is so troubled is that he is worried that his actions will appear to be very political.

If he expresses his intention to participate in the expeditionary force to Princess Vanessa, who is in charge of the expeditionary force, without helping Prince Erader as an experienced pirate suppressor, it may be seen as a sign that he will support her in the future battle for the throne.

And older nobles know that Prince Erader has a very vindictive personality.

If you get on his bad side, it becomes quite tiring.

‘The Oner Marquis family is not participating this time either, so I guess they’ll be having a funeral soon.’

The head of the family is about to kick the bucket, so Estia will not be able to move either.

Edgar IV seemed to be aware of this and was showing consideration.

‘The Gutchen Marquis family has grown through trade, so they will definitely prioritize stabilizing the South.

Above all, they have had quite a bit of interaction with Prince Erader, so they will judge that it is still too early to distance themselves from him.’

Meanwhile, Edgar IV officially confirmed the decision to participate in the Holy War in front of the nobles.

Special Envoy Lehman bowed politely, expressing his gratitude for ‘Hispania’s right decision,’ reacting as if he was relieved that he had achieved his goal.

Sion thought that if they had said they would not participate, would that guy have expressed concern about the ‘wrong decision’?

If he had really done that, he could have seen Butler hyung’s [older brother figure] kick again in this place, which was a shame.

“I will now return to my country and deliver this joyful news.”

After Special Envoy Lehman stepped down, the nobles began a meeting to sort out who would participate in the expeditionary force and who would participate in the suppression of pirates in the South.

“First of all, we will inevitably receive support from the Navy…”

“…It will be quite dangerous.

Even in the Holy War hundreds of years ago, more than half of them…”

Sion, who was already confirmed to be heading south, was sitting next to Frontier Count Lichten, who was also confirmed to be defending the main base, and listening to the nobles’ conversation.

Seeing the quite heated debate going on, it seemed that a decision would not be made quickly.

“It’s not easy after all.”

“Isn’t it obvious?

One side has a high risk, and the other side has relatively less.”

“But one side is just simple pirate suppression, and the other side is the Holy War, where you can gain fame in the kingdom, even continentally.

I heard that in the Holy Prussian Empire, there are many people who live as heroes just because they participated in the Holy War.”

That’s a matter of course.

They have to treat them like that so that more and stronger people will jump in when the Holy War breaks out.

Sion muttered, saying that the pigeon bastards are really good at training, and wondered how the situation would proceed in the future.

As Frontier Count Lichten said, pirate suppression in the South is safer compared to the Holy War, but it also doesn’t offer much compared to the Holy War.

Others shed blood and fought to bring light to this continent, protect peace, and set justice right, but they could be criticized for cowardly hiding behind and doing safe things.

“Pirate suppression is also dangerous as it involves pirates who fly and crawl on the sea, and at the same time, it is quite important to protect the maritime trade routes in the southern sea.”

“Still, there are many who believe that the Holy War, which brings peace and stability to the continent, is more important.

There are many who believe in the teachings of light in Hispania, though not as much as in the Holy Prussian Empire.”

That’s the problem, the problem.

They don’t know that those teachings of light or whatever, those messengers of light or whatever, are actually devices and scammers to burn this world to the ground.

Sion sighed inwardly.

In reality, there were quite a few fanatics in Hispania who just squawked, calling it blasphemy without knowing anything.

No, from his point of view, they were fanatics, but from the world’s point of view, they would rather think of them as truly following the teachings of light and regard them favorably.

That’s why Sion was always careful not to show a hostile atmosphere towards the Celestial Race.

Unlike modern times, this world reacts much more sensitively to religious aspects.

Even the Demon Race, a dark force that is clearly visible and clearly recorded in history, certainly exists, so the power of the teachings of light could only have a greater effect.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes?”

Frontier Count Lichten suddenly asked a question that he couldn’t understand at all.

When Sion looked at him, meaning what he was talking about, the Frontier Count shrugged his shoulders lightly and continued.

“Seeing you yesterday, it seemed that Princess Vanessa was subtly fond of you.

She stepped forward ahead of me, her father, and more excitedly, and roughly drove away the special envoy from the Holy Prussian Empire, didn’t she?”

“That’s because that special envoy made remarks insulting the kingdom…”

“Of course, there may be that part, but it didn’t seem like that was all.”

“…”

Sion scratched his cheek, groaning.

Lilith was with him due to a contract, and Luciana and Lia were women whom Sion himself had somehow planned to keep by his side instead of Kim Yu-hyun.

But he had never made any special attempts with Princess Vanessa.

Frankly, the position of princess, and further, the position of the next king, was too great a name value for Sion to possess.

‘It’s all bark and no bite [more trouble than it’s worth].

It’s a mess, being the queen’s spouse.’

There are already four women connected to him.

In addition, there is Trishiana, who is always looking for an opportunity, and Zhan, who openly talked about marriage.

Vanessa is just a political partner, and that’s the best relationship for each other.

‘Vanessa probably knows that well too.

Surely she does…’

Thinking like this, Sion was so anxious that his hands were shaking.

Come to think of it, Vanessa was already a repeat offender, wasn’t she?

She wanted to win Kim Yu-hyun’s heart, so she briefly fell for the temptation of the Celestial Race, and she ended up releasing the defense magic of the royal castle, which Raido and all the magicians of the kingdom had painstakingly created.

She was a much better woman than Prince Erader, but even so, she was unable to overcome the intense desire to be loved by someone she liked.

‘It would have been better if Kim Yu-hyun had at least played hard to get.’

He rejected her so harshly and left only ugly scars on the woman’s heart, so in the end, Vanessa, who was that brilliant woman, made such a foolish decision, didn’t she?

‘Surely she’s not doing that shit again this time?’

Since she had a previous conviction, he couldn’t help but feel more ominous.

Even this time, it’s not like in the novel where the kingdom feels like it’s about to collapse at any moment, and Sion himself is really working his ass off to make the kingdom run so well that it can’t be compared to the original flow.

In this situation, if the royal castle suddenly flies away, all the hard work he has done so far will just evaporate.

“Sion Claussen.”

“Yes, Father.”

“I’m sorry to the princess, but I don’t think she’s your destiny, no matter how I think about it.”

“…”

Even Frontier Count Lichten, who understood everything even though there was a demon right next to his son, was stopping him, saying that it was not right.

He must have instinctively realized that being connected to Princess Vanessa would be more of a loss than a gain for his son.

“From what I see, you seem to have your own dream that you want.

Yes, to prepare a foothold for this Hispania to move beyond the kingdom and towards the empire.

The things you have done so far have not only simply resolved the parts that could have acted as a shake-up of the kingdom, but have also become a reason for Hispania to grow even bigger.”

Father, whose dream is that empire?

My greatest hope is just to be stuck in the territory and live comfortably.

It seemed that Lichten’s struggle to survive was seen as removing all the dangerous groups that were confusing the kingdom and giving the next heir to the throne the best environment to give Hispania a chance to grow one step further.

“But if you get any closer, it won’t be good for the princess or for you anymore.

This is a concern as the Frontier Count of Claussen and as a father with a son, so I hope you will pay a little attention to it.”

“Of course.

I will think deeply about it, Father.”

No, I really have no intention of being connected to Princess Vanessa.

In the first place, if I mess with the direct line of the royal family, I don’t know what will happen right away, no matter what I’ve built up so far.

Sion muttered inwardly and then opened his mouth as if he had suddenly thought of something.

“How are the griffins doing?”

“Are you talking about those troublemaking siblings?

They’re doing well.

Rather, they’re doing too well these days.”

“That’s a relief.

I was worried at first because they were so aggressive.”

Before Sion left for the North, the scene he saw for about a month while staying in the Claussen territory was that the people who had been carefully selected were appeasing and coaxing the crazy griffins.

He was worried about whether these guys would follow him properly in the shape he had expected, but fortunately, it seemed that they had been properly trained in the meantime while he was away.

“As you said, it’s best to appease and befriend the young ones with food.

Now, they are growing into full-fledged griffin riders.”

“How is their flying skill?

Even though they are griffins, they have never flown with anything on their backs, so they must have had a hard time at first.”

“It’s not like there was no effort to tame flying monsters, so we referred to old data to create saddles and prepare seats for the riders in a way that would minimize discomfort for them.

Since they are not yet adults, it may be a bit difficult for two people to sit on them.”

Seeing the smile on Frontier Count Lichten’s face as he said that, it seemed that he had perfectly absorbed the griffins into his forces.

It was quite pleasant news for Sion as well, so when he smiled along with him, Frontier Count Lichten coughed dryly and casually threw a question.

“But why are you suddenly bringing up the story of the griffins?”

“Ah, it seems that I will need their help soon.”

“For the pirate suppression in the South?”

“That’s right.”

“Pirates are literally thieves of the sea, aren’t they?

No matter how much they are flying monsters, they are guys who lived in the mountains.

It must be very difficult to fly for a long time while facing the sea breeze.”

“You seem to like the griffins very much?”

“Ahem.

I even want to ride them once.”

I understand, isn’t that the romance of a man?

Of course, that’s also why men die early.

“I have my own thoughts.

You don’t have to worry too much about that.”

“Okay.

You have a plan, so there’s no need to worry.”

“Did you name them in order?”

“Yes.

The unruly one that I couldn’t even touch was the first, and the one that was a little gentler than that one was the second.

The one that looks a bit chubby and not very good, but has good strength was the third, the most colorful and wonderful one was the fourth, and the one that was a little younger than the others but the most versatile was the youngest.”

“That’s right.”

It was truly the appearance of the Griffin Five Brothers, or rather, Five Siblings.

In response to Sion’s answer, Frontier Count Lichten replied that he had named them in that order.

“Their names are… yes, Hellcat, Corsair.

And…”

“Phantom, Tomcat, Super Hornet in that order.”

For reference, Kim Yu-hyun was terrible at those kinds of things.

―――――――Author’s Note―――――――

There are opinions that Kim Yu-hyun doesn’t know too much about the Three Kingdoms or other things…

First of all, Kim Yu-hyun is a guy who flew to Murim [martial arts world] in 2006 in the novel!

And originally, if a person is not interested in something, they really don’t know this?

They don’t even know what they’re doing!