Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 211

211

I’m sorry.

I have a family emergency, so I must leave!

A day passed, and a meeting was held again to conclude the argument from the previous day.

The Holy Prussen strongly wanted to maintain Hispana’s expeditionary force to initiate the Holy War, and Hispana wanted to return home, their understanding seemingly unheeded.

At this point, Nudia’s answer was crucial, but for some reason, Nudia seemed unwilling to express a clear opinion, carefully choosing their words.

Hispana naturally expected Nudia to side with the Holy Prussen and pressure them to stay in the Holy War, but their hesitation made them suspicious.

And the Holy Prussen was frustrated by Nudia’s silence, as they expected Nudia to support them and advocate for the Holy War.

‘What on earth is Aive thinking!’

That was the only thing the people from Hispana and the Holy Prussen agreed on.

“I will make a final request to Princess Vanessa of Hispana.

No, I implore you.

Please do not withdraw Hispana’s forces from the Holy War.

If Hispana withdraws, there will be talk within Nudia that they might be attacked by Hispana, and if that happens, Nudia will eventually consider withdrawing as well.

Only the Holy Prussen will be left, and we cannot face those demons alone.

Although our three nations on the continent have always maintained a relationship of conflict, shouldn’t we unite in these difficult times?”

Prince Carolus’s passionate speech made the people of the Holy Prussen nod enthusiastically.

Some even made the sign of the cross, reaffirming the doctrine of light.

Thanks to this, some of the people from Hispana flinched and avoided eye contact.

Even in Hispana, there were quite a few who believed in the doctrine of light, so they couldn’t help but feel guilty about abandoning their fellow believers and returning home.

“…I have listened well to Prince Carolus’s words.

Hispana also desires peace and light to fill this continent.

However, in the end, we are vassals who must obey His Majesty the King.

You know very well what it means to disobey his orders at this time when we have deployed our troops abroad.”

What more is there to say?

If someone leads troops under the command of their lord and does not turn back the troops according to the lord’s command…

That would be, in all likelihood—no, in all certainty—a sign of harboring treasonous intentions.

“It was said that the judgment of the field commander takes precedence on the battlefield.”

“This is not a battlefield.

So, there is nothing for us to judge.”

“Then why did you come in the first place?

To come all the way here, calling yourselves the expeditionary force of the Holy War, as if to announce it to the continent, and then return without a single battle.”

“Does anyone stay outside when their house is on fire?”

The argument continued without any compromise.

Princess Vanessa and Prince Carolus were fighting, each presenting their own logic, and the people around them were chiming in, expressing that their opinion was more valid.

“…”

And finally, Aive from Nudia was still maintaining silence.

“At this rate, we’ll just keep going around in circles.

Wasting time for no reason.

It’s frustrating.”

Princess Vanessa finally sighed and stood up from her seat.

Her actions caused the Holy Prussen side to rise as well, starting to ask with their expressions and gestures if she was really going to withdraw from the Holy War like this.

The Holy Prussen’s actions caused several warriors from Hispana to harden their expressions and glare at them.

They were not vassals, and they were only returning after coming here of their own free will, but they seemed quite annoyed by their excessively sharp reaction.

“…At this rate, we’ll hear that the expeditionary forces are fighting a war between nations, not a Holy War.

The atmosphere is too fierce.”

As Aive opened her mouth, Princess Vanessa and Prince Carolus each calmed their people.

None of them wanted to see the two nations fighting with swords and spears here.

“Princess Vanessa.”

“Yes, Prince Carolus.”

“I think you are well aware of how much effort our Holy Prussen has put into this Holy War.

Nudia has also made many preparations.

Hispana must have spent quite a bit of grain and fodder just to organize such a large expeditionary force and come all the way here.”

“I am well aware of that.”

“Do you know why nations dislike moving their troops on a large scale?

If you move once and fail to gain anything, it becomes a severe loss; more than that, it causes fatal problems for the nation.”

Princess Vanessa nodded at Prince Carolus’s words, answering as if she understood him.

“Sometimes, a sword that is too sharply sharpened can cut the hand of the person holding it.”

“Returning because of your country’s circumstances, I can understand, but I cannot convince everyone.

I would understand if you had entered the Mortal Lands and been defeated, but to return before even starting, isn’t this a bit much?

Perhaps, are you hurrying back for some other reason?”

At those words, the eyes of Kim Yu-hyun and Rishikida, who were participating in the meeting, sparkled.

They sensed something unusual in the ‘other reason’ that Prince Carolus mentioned.

And Princess Vanessa was also aware of that.

‘They don’t know that something big has happened to my brother.

But the fact that they are asking if we are rushing back for some other reason, not because of my father’s orders, means they definitely know something else.’

Thinking that, Princess Vanessa subtly gestured towards the back.

At the princess’s gesture, Rishikida, who was standing quietly behind, brought an object wrapped in something.

As Rishikida placed the object on the round table, Prince Carolus looked at it for a moment and said.

“What is this?”

“The reason why Hispana is withdrawing from the Holy War.”

Sparkle!

At that moment, Kim Yu-hyun did not miss the flash of strange light in the eyes of someone next to Prince Carolus.

It was as if the moment they had been wanting and waiting for had finally arrived, like a hunter trying to act nonchalant while waiting for their opponent to unknowingly step into a trap.

‘…Yes, as if they knew everything that was inside.

As if they were so excited about what was about to happen that they were going crazy.’

The man, who had been sparkling for a moment, immediately bit his lip, fearing that someone might have seen him, and put on an expression as if he didn’t know what was going on, just like Prince Carolus.

He probably thought he was putting on a perfect act, but Kim Yu-hyun had already figured him out.

‘There’s definitely something going on.’

If that man had laid a trap in advance, as Princess Vanessa had worried about yesterday, and was someone who knew about it in advance, they might have been in a lot of trouble in a little while.

Kim Yu-hyun thought so and watched Prince Carolus slowly remove the cloth.

“What on earth is this….”

The decisive object that would explain the real reason why Hispana was trying to withdraw from the Holy Prussen and Nudia as soon as they faced them, brought by himself and Rishikida, and presented confidently by Princess Vanessa at this meeting, was….

“This is?”

Finally, Prince Carolus finished unwrapping the cloth and checked the object inside.

He blinked his eyes for a moment, showing an unbelievable reaction, then shuddered and looked at Princess Vanessa.

The other people from Hispana and the people from Nudia looked at the prince with curious expressions, wondering what it was.

In response, Princess Vanessa raised her hand slightly, as if telling him to take it out so that everyone else could see it.

Swish—.

What Prince Carolus took out was.

“…A fan?”

That’s right.

What he took out was a rather elaborately made fan.

It wasn’t overly flashy like the ones used by noble ladies, but it exuded a unique charm and nobility, making it clear that it was no ordinary object.

Most notably, there was a pure white feather attached to the handle of the fan.

“…What is that?”

“Why a fan all of a sudden….”

While many people from Hispana and Nudia were whispering, only Prince Carolus and a few people from the Holy Prussen were staring intently at the fan with their mouths shut.

As if they knew exactly what it meant.

Princess Vanessa gave everyone gathered enough time to see the fan with the white feather, then opened her mouth with a very relaxed expression.

“I think some of you here are aware that pirates have recently reappeared in southern Hispana.”

At her words, Prince Carolus, Aive, and influential nobles from the two nations slowly nodded, indicating that they roughly knew about the matter.

Since there were many who benefited from trade not only in Hispana but also in the Holy Prussen and Nudia, which was also used as a stopover point, the shaking of Hispana’s maritime trade routes was the same as threatening one of their sources of income.

“Before our Hispana’s Holy War expeditionary force was formed, my brother, Prince Erader Ragon of Hispana, was dispatched as commander and fought.

And he confiscated several pirate ships, and this was confiscated from one of the captains, and it was passed to me through the royal palace.

However, some of those who traded with the Holy Prussen said that this was an object from the Holy Prussen.

They also added that it was a very precious gift.”

“….”

“They said they wondered why this was in the hands of pirates and asked me to ask the Holy Prussen for the reason.”

Prince Carolus seemed to be listening to Princess Vanessa’s words, but he slightly lifted the fan and looked for the inscriptions written on each rib.

Princess Vanessa and the people of Hispana who sent this did not know that far, and they only knew that this was treated as a precious gift in the Holy Prussen, but in fact, it was a method used to secretly convey messages, and only the direct line of the royal family and their subordinates knew about it.

Usually, such sentences were short and concise, and thanks to that, the Holy Prussen’s method was to write them with a certain pattern on each rib.

—To the Lord of Sardinia—

The moment he saw the inscription, Prince Carolus felt his head spin.

This is definitely a method secretly used by the royal family of the Holy Prussen.

It is being treated as top secret, so no one in Hispana would know this fact.

That meant that this fan was a real object from the Holy Prussen, and above all, the feather attached to the handle was clearly a legacy of the Celestial Race that the royal family cherished very much.

Furthermore, the bigger problem was the inscription on the fan.

‘To the Lord of Sardinia, huh?’

Sardinia is, to be exact, a port city, not a territory.

So, the Holy Prussen would not have sent this to any aristocrat in Hispana.

Rather, he said that this was on a pirate captain, so wouldn’t that mean that he was acknowledging and treating him as the new owner of the port of Sardinia?

The port of Sardinia, which is rightfully the territory of Hispana.

If you interpret this situation a little exaggeratedly, it would be the same as the Holy Prussen inciting the pirates to attack Hispana and encouraging them to occupy the port of Sardinia.

“…What’s wrong with this?”

Someone who didn’t know exactly what this fan meant asked a question.

In response, Princess Vanessa hesitated for a moment and opened her mouth.

“Hispana knows that this is a kind of gift that the Holy Prussen gives to precious guests.

Since this came from the hands of pirates, we thought that the ones we are dealing with might not be just pirates, but a larger force.”

“You’re going too far!

Are you suspecting us, who follow the doctrine of light?”

The Holy Prussen side naturally protested.

It was natural since they were openly suspecting them, but unfortunately, with Prince Carolus silent, the atmosphere was completely in Princess Vanessa’s favor.

“When everything is uncertain, you look at the situation and predict it.

Pirates rose up when we accepted the Holy War at the request of the Holy Kingdom, and our Hispana is the one that has moved the farthest distance among the expeditionary forces and is far from our homeland.

Unlike Nudia, which stays in its homeland from the beginning, and the Holy Prussen, which moved a short distance unlike Hispana.”

“That’s!”

“And, just because they are pirates doesn’t mean they don’t believe in the doctrine of light.

There are also many people who harm others while believing in the doctrine of light.”

So, the question was whether you were plotting something under the guise of the Holy War.

It was an undisguised suspicion that you were trying to gain some profit by moving the pirates while Hispana’s main force was away.

“Of course, the pirates may have plundered this fan and held it as spoils of war before being captured by the Hispana navy.

But if that’s not the case, then what happens?”

What if someone in the Holy Prussen really gave this to the pirates as a gift?

How should our Hispana, which is being attacked by those pirates, accept this?”

The people from the Holy Prussen showed an unpleasant reaction to Princess Vanessa’s suspicion and looked at their prince, who was still maintaining silence.

Originally, Prince Carolus should have stepped forward in anger, but strangely, he was looking at the fan that Princess Vanessa had presented, biting his lip.

‘This is definitely a method used in our Holy Prussen.

Only the royal family or archbishops would know about it.

But the fact that someone is using that method to give a fan to the pirates means that they may have even provided support!’

It was natural that the prince could not know that the Holy Prussen did not even know the true intentions of the Celestial Race and that they were trying to cause chaos in Hispana by using the pirates.

From Prince Carolus’s point of view, the current situation was that Hispana had a reason to withdraw from the Holy War and return to their homeland.

And the reason was that they could not trust the Holy Prussen.

“That is the reason why our Hispana is returning to our homeland.”

It’s not our fault for leaving; it’s your fault for trying to do something suspicious.

Even if you didn’t do such a thing, we have no choice but to suspect you, so we are not guilty at all.

This is all your fault, your fault; you are the cause.

‘…His expression is not being managed well.’

Kim Yu-hyun once again confirmed that the man who had been sparkling a moment ago had instantly turned into a rotten face.

He was very embarrassed that things were going in a completely different direction than he had expected.

It seemed that the reason was that what Princess Vanessa had brought was not the wings of the Celestial Race, but something completely unexpected.

‘More than that, how did that man know about this and prepare it in advance and give it to Rishikida?’

Just last night, what came out of the pouch that Rishikida gave was a piece of paper.

The three men and women who read the contents written inside could not help but think that this Zion Clausen might be a sage.

—If they block your way home, use the item I gave you, Rishi.

I’ll cancel the order not to open it, so open the box and use it.

If you attach one of the ‘pigeon’ feathers you caught, the effect will increase.

—Focus on blaming the problems of Hispana not on Hispana’s problems, but on the problems of other guys and their fault, and no one will be able to catch you—

And finally, it was written like this.

—I strongly urge you to unconditionally emphasize that it was not Hispana that ruined the Holy War, but the Holy Prussen, that it was your fault—

After returning to the royal palace, Zion rested at the Clausen’s villa while waiting for the expeditionary force.

‘By now, they should be slowly returning,’ Zion muttered, closing his eyes.

‘I wonder if they opened the pouch?

The Holy Prussen guys will be doing all sorts of things to prevent the expeditionary force from returning.

Because everyone has to go together and fail together.

Because if one guy suddenly drops out, it will collapse one after another due to the unchanging law of group life.

Are you abandoning the team?

Are you abandoning the team?’

Yeah, then of course you have to abandon it.

Why should I dive into hell with those team bastards who are all trolls?

Zion already knew what that fan, which ordinary people only knew as a gift, was being used for.

Therefore, he could predict what they would think when it was placed in front of the heads of the Holy Prussen.

‘The guys who are going to purify the world following the Celestial Race and those pigeons and the Holy Prussen can’t communicate with each other.

They use the same words, but they can’t work as a team.’

It is not the Holy Prussen that is trying to shake Hispana by using the pirates, but the Celestial Race and their servants, the fairies, and some fanatical believers.

Of course, the Holy Prussen, who knows nothing, will wonder what is going on.

They only believe that the Celestial Race is saving the world, but they don’t know the purpose of burning it.

It doesn’t matter whether the fan is real or fake.

What matters is how someone is using and applying the method that only the high-ranking officials of the Holy Prussen know to do this.

Thanks to this, the Holy Prussen must have realized that the more they block Hispana, the more suspicion will be directed at them.

‘I have a family emergency, so I must leave.

But it seems like you guys gave me that emergency.

So, if you don’t want to be suspected for no reason, get out of here and go home, wash your feet, and go to sleep.

That’s it.’

Then what if it turns out that the fan is fake?

Zion was going to answer that it didn’t matter anyway.

Because by that time, they will be getting bombarded with poop from the pigeons covering the sky.