Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 305

305―――――

I Shall Give Up on You

The Hispania Army’s return schedule, which originally had a generous deadline, was halved.

Thanks to this, the soldiers had to prepare twice as fast as before, and naturally, complaints and dissatisfaction were slowly emerging.

Unlike those who knew the circumstances, the soldiers were told they had four days, but suddenly, after one day, they had to pack all their belongings by tomorrow, so it was inevitable.

“I can only feel sorry for the soldiers’ suffering.”

“They will understand if they hear the news.”

“I can only hope so.”

“More importantly, when are you planning to announce the news of the late king?”

“I plan to announce it as soon as we leave Nudia. It’s not good to deliver such news here.”

Marquis Volkov watched the soldiers packing busily and answered Zion’s question.

It was bound to be cautious to directly deliver the news of one’s own country’s late king in another country, especially for Marquis Volkov to announce the death of Edgar IV.

He had a very thoughtful expression, unlike his usual self, and the expression looked so serious that not only the other nobles but even Zion couldn’t ask the reason.

After a day passed, just as the Hispania Army was busily packing their gear and about to return, a delegation from the Royal Palace of Nudia was sent right on time to travel with the Hispania Army.

According to the original plan, they intended to further solidify internal stability and then engage in full-scale discussions with Hispania, but they seemed to have judged that it would be better to discuss the future between the two countries along with a delegation expressing condolences at this time of the late king’s death.

Certainly, this time of Edgar IV’s death might be a stroke of luck for them.

‘There has never been a precedent where Nudia or Hispania sent a delegation so quickly to offer condolences when a member of the royal family died.

The world has certainly changed.’

Marquis Volkov thought so and looked at Zion, who was encouraging the soldiers.

And he sighed, thinking of his son, Ludwig, who would be preparing to move in line with the movement of the main force far away.

‘Now our era is completely coming to an end.’

Beside the late King Edgar IV were Marquis Volkov Redenen, Marquis Joaquin Gutchen, Marquis Oner, and Margrave Lichten.

Among them, the head of the Oner family passed away first, followed by Edgar IV.

Although Marquis Volkov, Marquis Joaquin, and Margrave Lichten are still healthy, they are flowers that will eventually wither.

Afterward, those new fellows will have to take responsibility for and lead the kingdom’s future.

‘I’m not worried.

Of course not.

However···.’

However, when those new fellows create a new world, will he still be around then?

Will he be able to smile, seeing that the hard work was not in vain, while witnessing that scene?

He had such ridiculous yet very realistic concerns.

He wanted to see more, to capture more in his eyes, so that he could tell the late king more interesting stories when he met him later.

Marquis Volkov slowly shook his head, indulging in such weak thoughts that his adjutants would be horrified if they knew.

“···Tsk, how foolish.”

He is still healthy.

And he can still go to the battlefield and wield his sword.

He is not being treated as a useless old man, so there is no time to indulge in such foolish sentiments.

What he must do now is to bring these soldiers, who triumphantly won the war against Nudia and freely set foot on that land, safely back to their homeland and tell the departing person to see these proud people off on the late king’s final journey.

“Marquis.”

While he was lost in thought, Zion approached him and spoke.

“Preparations for the return are complete.”

“What about the Nudia delegation that will travel with us?”

“They say they are also ready to move.”

“···Okay.

Let’s go back now.

It’s time to go home, which has been empty for a long time.”

With the commander’s words, the order to move the Hispania Army was given.

The unprecedented event in Hispania’s history, advancing closest to the Royal Palace of Nudia, thus came to an end.

Since the war was officially over, there was no burden of combat readiness, and the speed was faster than usual.

Of course, scouts were always deployed in preparation for any unforeseen circumstances, but no unusual movements were detected.

The marching speed of skilled soldiers is much faster than expected.

Ordinary people think that the speed will be slow because they are carrying weapons and gear, but it is not difficult for those who have been trained and hardened for this situation.

“···.”

Zion is officially Marquis Volkov’s aide and the second-in-command of the Hispania Army.

Now that the war is over, his main task is to take care of the Nudia delegation that will travel with him to the Royal Palace of Hispania.

“Is there anything uncomfortable?”

Zion knows very well that even though they are riding horses, not all of the delegation is on horseback, and sitting on horseback without rest like this is a tremendous ordeal.

So, he approached the head of the Nudia delegation and asked, and the head was startled and exclaimed foolishly, ‘Uh, uh,’ before barely answering.

“Ah, yes.

Young Lord Zion Clausen. We are fine.”

“If there is any problem, please tell us in advance. That way, we can take appropriate measures.”

“No. We are on our way with the royal order to follow the Hispania Army without falling behind. Therefore, the delegation members are composed of experienced people who have been to Hispania or the Holy Prussen [a powerful neighboring kingdom] in the past.”

At those words, Zion could fully predict that Aive was involved to some extent, although it was a royal order externally.

After investigating immediately after the war, it was said that Etelmo Gi Restion was suffering from anger and was recovering, and the new king was a 15-year-old boy.

Of course, 15 years old may not be a young age, but the problem was that the boy had not received royal education, so he could not proactively express his will from the beginning.

The new king had many things to learn, and in the meantime, the wise men of the country naturally had to step forward to organize the divided public opinion and stabilize the chaotic state of the country.

‘Aive must be suffering a lot. She has every right to curse me.’

As he thought, Aive was shouting Zion Clausen!

Zion Clausen!

While suffering from all kinds of tasks pouring in day after day.

Unlike when she was just standing behind and giving advice, now that she has come to the forefront, she is keenly feeling what true ‘work hell’ is.

‘If time flows like this, Nudia’s competitor will eventually be Hispania again.’

Right now, Nudia’s condition is the worst it has been in recent years, so peace with Hispania will be desperate.

However, if time passes and Nudia’s power recovers to some extent, Zion thought that they would return to the previous state, not showing animosity, but only recognizing them as competitors.

Of course, that is only if time flows exactly as it is now.

‘If the Celestials [powerful, possibly divine beings] really move, we will have no choice but to ask Hispania for help, and after that, we must clearly teach them the lesson that without our help, the entire country will completely collapse and never be able to move again.’

If the favor he has shown this time is seen by Aive as merely the generosity of the victor.

The support of Hispania in the upcoming great war will be a good experience for the entire Nudia to think again about the existence of Hispania.

In the war waged under the pretext of the fairies, Hispania has now shown that it is superior to Nudia, and then it shows that even a country that has fought a war can help at any time.

Zion’s big picture was to make it impossible for Nudia to follow Hispania anymore and to make Nudia officials shake their heads at the words of those who incite them to compete.

Therefore, Nudia must not fail and survive.

The reason why Zion did not receive the County of Basura was also for that reason, and the reason why he made the fairies the villains and no longer turned the hostility of the Hispania Army towards Nudia was also for that reason.

“If there are no lips, the teeth will be cold [an idiom meaning that if one’s neighbor is in trouble, one is also in danger].”

“Yes?”

“Ah, no. I was just talking to myself.”

“Ah, yes···.”

Although he answers like that, the head of the delegation is looking at Zion with an expression that says, ‘I’m sure he said something,’ so Zion said in a tone that it was nothing.

“There were opinions that Nudia should be completely destroyed this time. The royal family is in chaos, the power vacuum in the west continues, and there is a high probability of internal strife.”

“···.”

The content was not trivial, so the head of the Nudia delegation had no choice but to harden his face.

It was only natural that he, who was representing Nudia and heading to Hispania, could not calm down when he heard such words.

“But most of the military personnel, including me, opposed it. The more you know about war, the more you feel that you must stop it when you can. If we don’t really put down our swords and spears here, more blood will flow, and more lives will be lost.”

“Perhaps that would have been the case.”

“I can’t guarantee how the affairs of the country will change again. However, I thought that it was right for the two countries to reconcile and show vigilance towards a common enemy rather than fighting.”

“···I also agree.”

It goes without saying that the head of the delegation going to represent Nudia would not have animosity towards Hispania, nor would he be a fool without a brain.

Zion was sure that Aive, the new power in Nudia, was not such a soft woman, so she must have sent a good person.

“Aive was right.”

“What do you mean?”

“Young Lord Zion Clausen would not want further expansion. She said that those who were spearheaded by him would take care of blocking Hispania’s sharp reaction, so we just had to faithfully fulfill our mission.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Saying that, Zion glanced at the land of Nudia, which was gradually moving away.

Right now, it has avoided the ravages of war and is still peaceful, but soon an enormous flame will rush in here, incomparable to any fire so far.

Perhaps some truly innocent people will be caught up in that flame and disappear without a trace, so he felt a little heavy-hearted, but in the end, there was only one conclusion.

Everything was inevitable.

‘His ability is limited to Hispania. Anything more than that is really beyond his capabilities. If he had plenty of time, he might have known, but even if he looks at the novel’s flow, there are only about a month or two left.’

The reason why Zion has been doing all sorts of things up to this point was ultimately to make the Celestials execute their plans without hesitation.

If they really intend to push him as a force that follows evil, even he, who is the hero of the kingdom, will not be able to last long.

He wanted a picture where they would become the clear enemy of all races in this turbulent time, believing that they could complete their task without difficulty even if they did something right now.

To try to save Nudia here is just a futile struggle.

He said that if it doesn’t seem right, backing out is not a sin or a mistake, but a natural choice.

‘Instead, I wonder if I can prevent Nudia from becoming ashes without anything to salvage, like in the novel. If the newly established king and Aive can somehow hold on.’

He really ran around like crazy for nearly a year and faced all sorts of things.

What he focused on there was preventing things from going according to the thoughts of the Celestials and those who followed them, and when the great war really broke out, instead of being messed up and burned to death without being able to resist, he was breaking the heads of those arrogant guys who had been sucking on the sweet stuff and trying to stab them in the back.

‘Come to think of it, the time flow is really similar to the novel.’

Originally, it would have been the time when the perfect picture of the Celestials and radical fairies was drawn.

Nudia would be completely under control, Clausen would have collapsed, there would be pirates in southern Hispania, and refugees from monsters and northern barbarians in the north, and various races would be causing all sorts of chaos in the west, pushing the already chaotic Hispania further into the jaws of hell.

Although he has blocked all of those things, he has not been able to inform everyone on the continent that the Celestials are not really ‘light,’ as much as they are rising up.

Frankly, that part was just wishful thinking, so there was nothing to be disappointed about.

When the existence of the fear of the demons was clearly established in their hearts, all races, including humans, instinctively wanted something strong to rely on, called the Celestials.

It’s just that the Celestials were so smart and knew how to use it, while the demons were so damaged that they had the foolish idea that they wouldn’t make enemies if they stayed quiet.

“Then I’ll go to the front. If there is anything uncomfortable, please tell me.”

“I understand, Young Lord Zion Clausen.”

After distancing himself from the Nudia delegation, Zion approached Lilith, who was still disguised as a magician belonging to the County of Clausen.

“Has anything been conveyed from there?”

“Not yet. We drew such a perfect picture of defeat that they should have gained confidence, but there is still no sign of movement, that crazy bitch told me.”

“···This is a little unsettling.”

Zion’s picture was ultimately a scene where the Celestials just went for it without doing anything unnecessary.

There was no need to frame other forces as demon followers, and there was no need to spread the will of light or doctrines to the continent, and it was enough to just do the job now to achieve their task.

However, if the Celestials hide behind again with their cautious nature and refuse to paint until the underlying picture is perfectly drawn, it would be a very difficult situation for Zion.

The more suspicion rises, the more fun it is when the Celestials do something, but if they don’t really intend to do anything now, it’s very troublesome.

‘I never expected that I would be begging the Celestials to do something quickly, damn it.’

Zion sighed inwardly and hurried back to Hispania with the feeling of being forced to take a vacation during the peak season.

He was glad that he had managed to do one big thing during his vacation.

―――――――Afterword―――――――

Recommendations are always a great help!