Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 225

225―――――

“Sir, you can’t do this here.”

As expected, there was no welcoming crowd.

Most of the kingdom’s citizens were busy preparing to welcome back those who had gone to war, unsure if they would even return alive.

Moreover, the northern barbarian tribes were merely a collection of tribes.

Since they weren’t a nation, there was no official state announcement, and unlike other countries, they didn’t have internal intelligence networks. Even if they sent people to the kingdom, ordinary citizens wouldn’t know.

“It’s truly fascinating, entering the kingdom.

How can they build such high castles? How can they bear to abandon them when the time comes?”

“They don’t abandon them.

Abandoning a castle means either death or surrender.”

“You’re different from us.

Hmm, amazing, amazing. To have so much farmland instead of pasture, and even ordinary citizens own their own homes!”

“···.”

Khan, Zyan Temujin, was chattering non-stop, marveling at everything.

Sion momentarily wondered if the woman beside him was a ghost wearing Zyan’s face, she was so talkative.

Was she called Khan for nothing? Was the kingdom calling her the nightmare of the north for nothing?

The biting winter of the cold, harsh north itself.

She was so impartial, cold to both friend and foe, that some readers were convinced that if she had lived longer, she would have betrayed them in a heartbeat.

‘···And yet, that woman.’

Sion glanced sideways.

There, instead of a fierce winter storm, was a woman marveling at the new scenery and lifestyle in a world that was paradise compared to the desolate northern lands.

He turned his head to look at the other warriors who had followed her south.

They were also quite surprised by the true 모습 [true appearance] of the kingdom, but even more surprised by Zyan’s sudden transformation.

‘Yeah, I understand how you feel.

It’s hard to believe that the Khan is exclaiming ‘Wow!’ like that.

I’d rather see her fold someone in half and exclaim, ‘Oh, folds so well.”

Meanwhile, the knights of Klausen, who had come to greet the northern guests with Sion, wore slightly uncomfortable expressions.

Sion Klausen, the heir to the Klausen margraviate [territory governed by a margrave] and a hero of the kingdom, was welcoming guests without any welcoming crowd.

They didn’t seem to like the fact that he was welcoming those whom the kingdom called barbarians.

“I expected it, but you are truly amazing.”

Zyan, who had been marveling, suddenly spoke.

Sion looked at her as if asking what she meant, and the ‘Khan’ smiled.

“Look at the expressions of those subordinates who worry that this might be the beginning of something bad for their master.

Their eyes are full of loyalty.

Ordinary people can’t buy such devotion.

Doesn’t that prove how great you are?”

“A lot has happened since you left your tent.”

“Hehehe.

I’ve heard.

You wiped out the kingdom’s nobles who dared to deceive us so cleanly.

So quickly and decisively that our warriors couldn’t even complain, as if they didn’t expect it.”

“It’s a loss to hold onto someone who won’t be profitable.”

“You’re right.

But still, you and Sion are the same ‘nobles’ of the kingdom, aren’t you?

I heard that those called that in the kingdom support each other and build bonds.”

Indeed, nobles tended to avoid directly interfering with each other.

The fact that Sion had killed all the northern nobles was not welcome news to the nobles throughout the kingdom for a while.

They had committed clear crimes, and Sion had been granted authority as the king’s representative at the time, but as people, they couldn’t help but feel a little resentful and sulky.

“It was a bit tiring because of that, for sure.”

“Yes, I thought so.”

“But even if I went back to that time, I would have acted the same way.

I’m not a cripple who can’t do what needs to be done because I’m afraid of immediate criticism.

I have no intention of becoming such a cripple.”

“Hmm···.”

“If you want to curse, let them.

Because they can’t do anything other than criticize and curse me anyway.

But that’s all in the past now.”

“I’ve heard some rumors about that.

You wiped out bandits and made contributions again.”

“Pirates, to be exact.”

Zyan tilted her head, asking what the difference was.

Sion realized that Zyan didn’t know what ‘sea’ was.

‘Is it natural? Only desolate land stretches out in the north, and all you can see of water is streams or small lakes.’

Sion thought that he should take Zyan to the beach later if he had time.

He wondered what kind of reaction she would show if she saw the endless expanse of water that surrounded the world, when she was already marveling at the kingdom’s castles and the way people lived.

“More than that.”

“Hmm?”

“Why did you come down to the kingdom?”

“Don’t you know?

The reason I came all the way here.”

Sion shook his head at Zyan’s words.

That couldn’t be the only reason, was his reaction, and Zyan stared at him for a moment.

“Are you saying I came to the kingdom with other intentions?”

“If you really just wanted to express your gratitude, you would have just sent your subordinates.

No, if that was really the purpose, it would have been better for Eos to come instead of you, Zyan.

Eos would have thought so too.

She would have thought that it would be better for the tribe and the kingdom if she went instead of sending you.”

“···.”

“Tell me honestly.

What’s your purpose?”

Zyan met Sion’s sharp gaze and voice and stared at him silently for a moment.

After a few minutes, Zyan slowly opened her mouth.

“Because you said so, that’s why I came.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you say that if I got tired of waiting, I could come to the kingdom to see you?

That’s why I came.

That’s why I came to the kingdom as a guest, and I brought the tribes’ letters of gratitude myself, so that your king wouldn’t be disappointed.”

“···.”

“Hasn’t it been more than three months?”

Sion wondered if three months was enough to get tired of waiting.

His standard for ‘getting tired of waiting’ was at least half a year, but it seemed that those three months felt longer than three years to Zyan.

“Honestly, haven’t I been accepted as a guest now?

I’ve been quiet all this time, and I’ve maintained a good relationship with Baron Lepoem, who has newly taken over the north.”

“··· Did you receive the food I sent well?”

“Yes.

Thanks to that, the tribesmen escaped from the urgent situation.

And I heard another piece of good news just before I left home.”

“Good news?”

“Yes.

Monsters have reappeared here and there.

The warriors were excited and went to hunt.”

That’s definitely not good news.

Rather, the pigeons’ mischief is starting again.

Pirates in the south, Nudia in the east, other races in the west, and monsters in the north.

The celestials’ plan was to gnaw at and break Hispania from all sides, causing it to collapse on its own, and then clean everything up, and soon the fairies had a plan.

In particular, the Blade Mountains, full of monsters, are located at the northern end.

Going all the way there and stirring up the mountains was no different from just going to die, but the fairies managed to do it even while losing their comrades.

Monsters suddenly increased, so even the northern barbarian tribes couldn’t withstand it, and the monsters that jumped into the kingdom’s northern territory literally devastated the kingdom’s north.

‘At that time, Zyan and Eos were already dead.

There was not a single reliable card in the barbarian tribe to take on the monsters.’

But this time it’s different.

Zyan and Eos are both alive, and the northern barbarian tribes are resuming trade and recovering their relationship with the kingdom.

Even if monsters flock in, if the barbarian tribes and Baron Lepoem in the north cooperate closely without being defeated individually, they will be able to withstand it.

“How did you know?”

“What.”

“Didn’t you tell us?

That if we waited, the monsters would reappear on their own.

You told us to wait while receiving the food you sent, because we could do the trade we wanted again.”

“Ah, that?”

Sion continued as if he were saying something obvious.

“There is an order in nature.

It recovers whenever humans don’t interfere.

They ran away deep into the mountains, but there must be other monsters living there.

A new water flowed into it, so it overflowed and overflowed inside, and eventually the leftovers flowed out.”

“You’re saying that if we had waited, the monsters would have recovered and reappeared on their own.”

“That’s right.”

“Then were we foolish?

Thinking anxiously and hastily.”

“If everyone knew the order, the world would be a much better place to live.”

Zyan stared at him with strange eyes at Sion’s words.

He is playful and light, but at some point, he becomes a strange man who cannot be treated carelessly.

Zyan was truly curious about which 모습 [aspect] was real, and what kind of person Sion Klausen was.

“But, Zyan.”

“Hmm?”

“Is that all?

“What do you mean?”

“The reason you came to the kingdom, to say thank you and see me.

Besides that.”

“··· Do there have to be other reasons?

That seems enough.”

“Is that so?

If I knew you, I would have thought that you would find another reason there and come all the way to this distant place, and to this land that wouldn’t particularly welcome you.”

Sion said so casually, fleetingly, and passed by Zyan.

Thanks to that, she could only flinch and tremble for a very short time.

‘There’s no way that a woman named Zyan, that woman who was called Khan, would come all the way to this distant place just to see her fiancé.

There’s definitely something else.

I’m sure she’s trying to do something for the people of the north, for herself, and for me, but I don’t know what it is.’

Sion muttered inwardly and got off his horse.

He proved his identity and the identities of his guests to the defense forces guarding the outside of the royal castle and was about to enter the royal castle when a commotion was heard from somewhere.

“What’s going on?”

When he asked the leader of the defense forces in charge of the outskirts, he opened his mouth as if he didn’t know.

“The princess arrived in front of the royal castle just now.

She must have passed through the royal castle by now and is probably heading to the royal palace.”

“··· Is that so?

You came two days earlier than I thought.”

Is it good or bad?

I couldn’t figure it out.

One is a strong person who will lead the northern tribe in the future, and the other is a monarch who will be responsible for the future of the kingdom.

Trust must be built between these two in order to effectively prevent the ‘monster wave’ that will occur in the north in the future.

However, the worrying point is talking about the relationship between himself and Zyan.

Edgar IV already knows, and Margrave Lichten also knows that fact.

In particular, Margrave Lichten was quite embarrassed and unable to accept the fact that Sion, the heir to Klausen, suddenly formed a marriage alliance with a northern barbarian woman.

Of course, Sion stepped forward and reassured him by saying that it was not yet confirmed, and that marriage alliances could be broken at any time.

‘Margrave Lichten seems to have accepted it for now because it’s his son’s story···.’

The problem is still Princess Vanessa.

He’s not Kim Yu-hyun, and he’s aware of what kind of feelings she has for him.

‘No, princess.

Both you and I are poisoned chalices to each other, poisoned chalices.’

You want to get it, but the moment you have it, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

Princess Vanessa must imprison an excellent vassal in her fence instead of keeping him by her side.

Sion must become just a ‘decoration’ with no real power instead of becoming the king’s consort.

Neither of them wants the future that the two want.

One wants to lead the country’s renaissance with excellent vassals.

The other wants to live enjoying everything he can after successfully completing everything.

So it is more disadvantageous for himself and Princess Vanessa to get close to each other.

It is beneficial to this kingdom and good for each other’s dreams to keep a proper distance and maintain a proper relationship.

“Sion Klausen.”

He thought so and entered the royal castle, but suddenly Zyan grabbed him.

He wondered what else she had to say, so he turned his head and saw that she had wiped away her smile and had the serious face she usually wore, and opened her mouth.

“I want to ask you for a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Yes.

A favor as the woman who will be your partner, and at the same time, a favor as a friend from the north, and a favor to you, a nobleman, as the head of the tribe.

Can you grant it?”

There’s no way Zyan would joke with such a serious expression.

Sion stared at her face silently, meaning he would listen.

“I heard that in the kingdom, one of the prince and princess is being discussed as the next king.

Is that right?”

“··· That’s right for now.”

One of them is already out, and now there’s only one left, but there’s no way Zyan would know that.

Zyan nodded at Sion’s answer and continued.

“Then you must have someone you support.

Prince or princess.

Isn’t that right?”

“I could be neutral?”

“Don’t think of me as a fool.

There’s no way that someone as wise as you would be so foolish as not to think about the lord you will serve in the future.”

“··· Let’s say I have someone in mind.

What are you going to do then?”

“Then I’ll ask you for a favor.

I want to talk to your future lord whom you have chosen.”

··· What?

Wait a minute, what?

Sion blinked and looked at Zyan.

She blushed slightly and tried to avoid his gaze.

“D, don’t ask me why.

This is a very personal··· ah, no.

It’s a story for the future of our tribe and the kingdom!”

―――――――Author’s Note―――――――

Recommendations are always welcome!