A north wind blew.
At the place where a fierce battle occurred just a moment ago, a heavy silence fell.
Neither the sounds of metal nor shouts were heard any more.
Most of the knights who followed Prince Reitas Pershion had died during the battle, and few were captured alive.
Reitas, who had fought a decisive duel with Roan, was kneeling down with his eyes closed.
It was a complete defeat.
Reitas, who although may be lacking when compared to Manus but was also famed as a genius, was completely defeated in a duel with Roan.
Although the fault that he had lost his calm was also great, it also meant that Roan’s skills weren’t so trivial.
“P, pl, please let me live!”
The heavy silence broke.
The one who was yelling out aloud was Baron Baite Inges, who acted as Reitas’ close aide.
With his knees on the ground, he shouted with a desperate expression.
“I, I only did as I was ordered! Please let me live! If you just let me live, I’ll devote my entire body and swear my loyalty.”
He howled in a fussy manner.
Manus didn’t even glance at him once and lightly raised his left hand.
Soon, a young commander approached and hit Baite’s neck.
“Kuuk.”
Baite, who noisily clamored, lost his consciousness and fell.
Thanks to that, a heavy silence fell once more.
An unknown amount of time passed.
“How long do you plan to stay like this?”
This time, the one who broke the silence was Reitas.
Although he was kneeling, he didn’t lose his spirit at all and neither was his expression nervous.
Instead, there somehow was composure.
It felt as if a tightly pulled string had been relaxed.
Manus, who was absently standing amongst the people, stepped forwards and approached.
“Older brother Reitas. Everything is now ove……”
The moment he spoke up to that point.
“Kill me.”
Reitas spat out the words with a composed voice.
He slowly opened his eyes that he had closed, and stared at Manus’ face.
“Manus. If I remain alive, the nobles who followed me will seek the next chance. Kill me. That is the way of the victor and the fate of the loser.”
Reitas knew the bastard called authority very well.
But Manus was different.
“I’m different than brother.”
Everyone’s eyes turned towards Manus.
Roan was also amongst them.
‘Did his resolve perhaps weaken after coming this far?’
Although Roan always valued people the most, even he showed a cold-hearted and dispassionate look at least in battle.
Manus and Reitas.
This fight that fought over the throne was a more vicious war than any others.
If his resolve became weak and failed to put an end, he could leave behind a seed of great trouble.
But unlike Roan’s such worry, Manus’ expression was extremely hard and overflowing with strength.
It felt as if he had came to his own decision.
He stared straight into Reitas’ eyes.
“I won’t kill brother. Live, and properly see and feel. The sight of a true monarch.”
That was a kind of declaration.
A declaration greatly overflowing with determination and full of certainty.
“Hahahahahaha!”
Abruptly, Reitas exploded out a laugh.
He laughed for a long while, then shook his head with a cold and frigid face.
“Manus. You don’t know authority. I said it, if I remain alive, the nobles who followed me……”
At that moment.
“I……”
Manus cut off his words.
The light in his eyes ferociously burned.
“Will grant fitting peerage and rank to anyone, even if they are nobles who support brother, as long as they are talented and have excellent character.”
He tightly clenched his two fists.
“Not Manus’ party, not Reitas’ party, but Pershion’s party.”
A strength entered his voice.
“We will become one under the name of Pershion.”
The moment his words finished, Reitas shook his head.
“Idiot.”
An excessive idealism.
The guy who was perfect in everything else was much too ignorant when it came to politics and authority.
Clicking the tip of his tongue, he stared straight into Manus’ eyes.
“Fine. If you truly believe that, then I will stay alive and clearly watch your actions.”
His face was stiff.
“The day you regret will definitely come.”
Manus shook his head and returned the same words.
“The day of regret will definitely come. Not for me, but for older brother.”
The veiled strife was over.
Reitas who obsessed in power was disgraced, and instead, Manus who had no interest came to stand tall as the true power of the kingdom.
It was a completely unexpected event.
Regardless of whatever anyone said, the one who caused the biggest influence for the event to become like this was Roan.
‘I thought that it’ll be good even if he simply stayed alive……’
Roan inwardly made a bitter smile.
He had thought that it’ll be a success if Manus at least stayed alive and took on a role of checking Reitas.
But.
‘He became the sole successor.’
Moreover, Manus basically owed him a big favor.
Considering Manus’ personality, he would never lightly pass this away.
‘We ended up receiving a greater present than we’ve thought’
A support and friendship from the successor to the throne.
There was no present more reassuring than this.
But surprisingly, this wasn’t the end of the present.
Manus was a person with a much bigger heart than Roan had thought.
*****
The Pershion Kingdom’s capital, Althus Castle, was suddenly flipped over.
This was because the news that the First Prince Reitas tried to assassinate the Second Prince Manus and failed had reached them.
While transferring Reitas and Baites as well as the knights who survived, Manus arrested all who were related to the assassinate case.
In this process, the chatterbox flatterer Baite’s role was greatly influential.
To survive, he fully revealed each and every sympathizer and accomplice.
It truly was a sudden event.
As the situation flew critically, the neutral faction’s nobles, who had been eyeing Reitas’ mood, all stepped up and supported Manus.
Like that, Manus came to dominate the entire political stage in an instant.
“Older brother Reitas has been decided to be exiled to Telroy Island.”
Manus bitterly smiled as he shook his head.
Roan slowly nodded.
Telroy Island, located in the north of Pershion Kingdom, was an extremely isolated and small island in the Notunne Sea.
It was greatly far away from the capital, Althus, and was an incredibly hard place to approach.
‘I’m relieved at least.’
Roan inwardly let out a sigh.
He had needlessly worried that Manus may perhaps leave him near the capital and keep watch.
“Thank you very much for saving my life. I will never forget this gratitude.”
Manus lowered his head.
They probably weren’t light words.
He took out an object about the size of a palm wrapped in silk.
“What is this, sir?”
Roan carefully asked, but Manus merely smiled.
Roan carefully untied and opened the silk.
Soon, a metallic medallion engraved with numerous patterns and picture appeared.
“When a prince is born, our Pershion Kingdom create and give him a metallic medallion called Ates. You could call it a type of identification medal. That’s older brother Reitas’ ates.”
“Why would you give me such a precious thing……?”
Roan asked while motionlessly stared at Ates.
Manus faintly smiled as he answered.
“If you request anything with ates, I will give you anything.”
“Ah……”
Roan let out quiet exclamation.
A palm-sized metal medallion, ates.
This was the great gift that Manus was giving to Roan.
“Why would you grant me such a big gift without knowing what I’ll ask?”
Roan asked as he faintly smiled.
With a firm and composed way of speech, Manus answered.
“It’s okay whatever the request is. Since I would already be dead if it wasn’t for Baron Tale.”
A generous decision.
Roan quietly stared at Manus, then gently wrapped the ates with the silk and placed it within his chest pocket.
“Thank you very much.”
When he deeply lowered his head and gave his thanks, Manus shook his hands.
“No. It isn’t sufficient with just this much. Also……”
He blurred the end of his words a bit, then stood up from his seat.
“I still have to thank Harrison, Brian, and Clay for their help. So……”
Manus brightly smiled as he looked at Roan.
“I’ve been contemplating how to repay them, then a good method came up at a good time.”
“That is……?”
Roan followed and stood up a moment late, and asked.
Manus answered as he walked towards the door.
“In the war with the Byron and Istel allied army, our Pershion Kingdom achieved a complete victory. We acquired an incredible number of captives and loot.”
Roan wordlessly nodded as he followed his back.
Kiiig.
The reception room’s door opened.
Harrison, Brian, and Clay, who had been walking about the hallway, quickly lowered their heads.
Manus added on as he looked at that sight.
“Although we returned all the prisoners, we didn’t return the loot. We built a large vault in Althus Castle and stored them all in there.”
He turned his gaze and looked at Roan.
“I will open the vault to Baron Tale, Harrison, Brian, and Clay. Please choose and take what you like.”
“Ah……”
Roan once again leaked out a quiet exclamation.
Just the ates alone was a great and precious gift.
He hadn’t expected at all for him to possibly open the loot vault, and not only to him but also Harrison, Brian, and Clay at that.
Roan slightly lowered his head.
“Truly, thank you very much.”
At those words, Manus made a slightly mischievous look.
“Please don’t be like that. Is the price of my life perhaps not even worth that much?”
“That is……”
Roan made a slightly flustered-looking face.
But he soon brightly smiled and shook his head.
“Of course it isn’t.”
“Then, please receive my presents with happy feelings.”
Manus lowered his head, then turned to Harrison, Brian, and Clay.
The three people, who didn’t knew what was going on, merely blinked their eyes.
Manus loudly clapped.
Clap!
“Then, should we go?”
At those words, Roan, Harrison, Brian, and Clay rapidly moved their feet and exited the hallway.
When they rode a carriage outside the mansion and headed towards the outskirt of the Althus Castle, an enormous building soon appeared.
“Oh!”
“It’s a first time I’m seeing that big of a building……”
“It truly is amazing.”
Harrison, Brian, and Clay looked out the carriage’s window and exclaimed.
Manus cheerfully smiled and spoke with an energetic voice.
“That is the very loot vault.”
*****
“Isn’t this just way too much?”
Harrison’s expression looked dumbfound.
Seeing the monumental amount of loot piled inside the vault, he clicked his tongue.
Although Manus said to take time to look around and choose anything that they liked, the amount was such that it looked like it would take days just to look around.
Seeing that sight, Manus faintly smiled as he opened his mouth.
“It’s because we’ve gather even miscellaneous things. During categorization process, we’ve separated and gathered the things we think are valuable deeper inside.”
“Ah, is that so, your highness?”
Harrison shyly smiled and scratched his head.
Manus walked ahead of them and headed deep into the vault.
Harrison, Brian, and Clay followed behind.
On the other hand, Roan stood at the center of the space piled full of sundry objects and slowly turned his body in a circle.
‘Most of them are things without much value.’
Right now, he was using the Kalian’s Tears and taking in countless visual information.
Without particularly walking up and checking, he was accurately analyzing the identities of the objects that were randomly organized.
‘As expected, there isn’t anything that particularly stands ou…… hm?’
As he was taking his gaze away and about to walk away, Roan abruptly stopped and looked towards a corner.
‘That is……’
As if possessed by something, he moved his steps.
At a space heaped and piled with big and small, and old and clean books.
Roan picked up a book that stood out amongst them.
< Vasis Mana Technique. >
The very thin book was a book of mana technique compilation.
‘The basic mana technique that represents the Byron Kingdom.’
The Vasis Mana Technique was in fact the most basic mana technique that one learned when attending academy knight school in the Byron Kingdom.
Although in the case of most warrior-nobles, their houses each had unique mana technique and had no reason to learn such a basic mana technique, but in the case of scholar-nobles and sons of powerful families that aren’t nobles, they needed the foundational mana technique that would strengthen their basics.
Consequently, there was the Batelein Mana Technique in the Rinse Kingdom and Datio Mana Technique in the Istel Kingdom.
But it was a mana technique in words only, and grasping the mana hole and moving the mana through the mana road was the all of this basic mana technique.
The most important part, accumulation of mana, wasn’t possible.
Of course, since it was still a mana technique, it was certainly an object that would be hard to come across unless one was a student of an academy or a noble.
‘There’s also Datio Mana Technique.’
Roan also picked up the Istel Kingdom’s basic mana technique compilation that was next to the Vasis Mana Technique.
‘With this, I could let the fief’s soldiers feel just what mana is.’
Currently, one of the Tale Barony’s biggest problem was the lack of a knight order.
No, the knight order wasn’t a problem but that there wasn’t any knight at all.
‘To be specific, there’s only Brian.’
But with just that much, he couldn’t exercise an overwhelming force in times of emergency.
The Vasis Mana Technique and the Datio Mana Technique could act as a breakthrough that could solve this problem.
Of course, there were also problems.
‘Would it be alright to train the soldiers in foreign kingdom’s mana technique?’
But even so, they couldn’t use Rinse Kingdom’s Batelein Mana Technique.
‘Since only the academy’s students and the nobles are allowed to learn the kingdom’s basic mana technique.’
The moment Roan begin to privately teach mana technique to the soldiers, the nobles nearby would all rose up like a swarm of bees.
‘Should I take it for now?’
Although there was no guarantee that he could teach them even if he brought it back, and it was the most basic mana technique that couldn’t even accumulate mana, he judged that, even so, it would be much better than not having it.
‘But is it fine to choose two things?’
Roan awkwardly smiled and moved his feet.
When he walked into the deeper area of the vault, he could see Harrison, Brian, and Clay.
They also seemed to have found things they liked.
Harrison was tightly clenching a bow that, with just a glance, seemed to be strong and have incredible tension.
“It’s a bow I’ve never seen before, sir. I’m planning on comparing it to the ones I have.”
Roan nodded his head without a word.
Harrison didn’t simply shoot the bow very well.
Analysing and comparing various bows, he was repeating a research after research to build a slightly stronger bow.
‘Another kingdom’s bow…… certainly, it should help in the research.’
Roan turned his gaze and looked at Brian.
He was wearing an incredible heavy armor that looked strenuous just from a glance.
“It’s somehow a bit different than the one I usually wear, my lord. If we take time and analyze it, I think it could become a big help to our fief’s troops.”
At those words, Roan also wordlessly nodded his head.
There was something that Brian always said with a regrettable look.
That the Tale Legion centered around the Amaranth Troop was definitely strong but is only excessively light and fast.
He had greatly desired an establishment of heavy infantry troops that wore heavy armor.
‘The current heavy armors are impossible for regular infantry to wear. If it’s Brian, he should be able to solve that problem well.’
Roan once again turned his gaze and looked at Clay.
Unlike the others, he was holding a large chunk of jewel.
“It seems there wasn’t anything I needed, my lord. I will sell this and have it supplement the fief’s finance.”
It was an extremely Clay-like choice and decision.
Roan quietly nodded his head.
At that moment.
“It seems Baron Tale has also chose something.”
Manus brightly smiled as he approached.
Roan shyly smiled and answered.
“Shamefully, I ended up picking two things.”
“Hmm. Vasis Mana Technique and Datio Mana Technique…… would you be fine with such things?”
Manus instead asked with a worried look.
Even just in the vault, there were multiple books of Vasis Mana Technique and Datio Mana Technique piled up.
They were objects that had little value to that extent.
But there was nothing more valuable than them to Roan.
“I’m fine with just this much.”
“Hmm. Okay. If Baron Tale says so, then it couldn’t be helped. But instead, I’ll give both of them to you.”
“Thank you very much.”
Roan lowered his head.
Manus shook his head.
“I’m glad that it looks like everyone got what they wanted.”
That was his honest feeling.
He was truly glad that he was able to repay them at least like this.
Roan and Manus, Harrison and Brian, and Clay looked at each other for a while and smiled.
Like that, their relationship become slightly tighter and closer.
******
Roan, Harrison, Brian, and Clay, who returned to their residence, sat down at the reception room and chatted.
“My lord. By the way, just why did you choose books of foreign kingdoms’ basic mana technique of all things?”
Brian, who had been drinking a cup of tea, asked with a confused look.
Roan looked at the two volumes of basic mana technique compilation piled up at one side of the table, and faintly smiled.
“I was wondering if I could teach the soldiers of the fief troop.”
“The foreign kingdoms’ mana techniques?”
Brian asked with a slightly shocked expression.
Then, Clay spoke in a calm voice.
“Since only the academy’s students and nobles can learn the Rinse Kingdom’s basic mana technique, it couldn’t be helped.”
He turned his head and looked at Roan.
“But the basic mana technique is only a half-done mana technique that can’t even accumulate mana. And because they’re foreign kingdoms’ mana technique, we cannot study it as we wish.”
“Yes. I know. But I took it just in case. Since a breakthrough may happen if we study the two mana techniques.”
At those words, Harrison and Clay quietly nodded their heads.
At that moment, Brian put down his teacup and cautiously asked.
“Would it be alright if I took a look, sir?”
Roan slowly nodded his head.
Once the permission was given, Brian slowly read the basic mana techniques of the two books.
A moment later, he murmured with a flat expression as if it was nothing.
“This might be usable if we alter it a bit.”
Brian raised his head and looked at Roan.
“Although the two mana techniques look different at a glance, the core of their studies are notably similar because they are really the most basic of basics. If we mix our kingdom’s Batelein Mana Technique here and add the mana accumulation method of a mana technique I know……”
His voice slowly went down and soon became a soliloquy.
Murmuring to himself, he fell deep into analyzing the books.
Because it was Brian, who had chaotically learned all sorts of mana techniques from the young age, he could clearly see the core of the mana techniques.
But most of all.
‘Come to think of it, I had temporarily forgotten.’
Looking at Brian, who was ferociously concentrating, Roan made a hollow smile.
‘Brian Miles. Just how much of an incredible genius you are……’
< Veiled Strife (5) > End.