-The empire lost?-
-How can this be… Duke Barisman has become a prisoner?-
-A pillar of the empire has been lost!-
-It’s the Demon King!-
-Preposterous!-
-They fought and won against a thirty thousand strong army and captured almost all of them!-
-He’s just a boy! How can he be a Demon King?-
-That must be a hoax.-
-The duke has fallen because he deserved it-
News of Duke Barisman’s loss spread quickly through the lands around the Torian Kingdom. It also was exaggerated with each passing moment. The neighboring countries of Toria began to grow wary of the victorious kingdom. Ambassadors visited the royal palace every so often and praised the kingdom’s victory.
“This isn’t good.”
“Yes. We should’ve helped them.”
However, unlike how things were perceived from the outside, the people within the Torian royal palace weren’t happy about the visits. The royals of the kingdom did not go aid the Khalodian army when they were attacked, so they could not respond to any of the ambassador’s requests.
Andre Kerrin, the King of Toria, became concerned.
“I’m happy we won, but this is troubling.”
The king mumbled as the nobles around him nodded. All they did for the war was to send a letter asking aristocrats around Khalodian to help in the war. It was same as refusing to be in the war itself so it was hard for the king to ask for assistance.
“I can’t imagine how rude they will be towards us if we ask for help.”
Marquis Atua frowned as he spoke. He seemed to be very annoyed by the situation.
“We should celebrate their victory and…”
“No, we must not! We can’t celebrate over just one victory against the empire! They have won against a huge force from the empire, but Barisman is still only one of their forces! We might anger the empire if we celebrate in any way. We shall not put our country in danger!”
A man shouted in a thundering voice, scolding all the nobles who sided with the idea to celebrate the victory.
‘I knew he would jump in soon or later.’
The king scowled as he checked the man. He was very skinny with large sunken eyes. He looked eery and gloomy because of his pale face.
“In my humble opinion, I believe we have made a mistake. We should accept that fact and apologize to Count Khalodian and ask for assistance.”
“Count Jayson! You must be insane! Are you saying the king must bow and apologize?”
Someone shouted angrily at Count Jayson’s words. It was Count Chris, the stepbrother of the king. He did not own any land but was considered the King’s right-hand man. The king seemed to be pleased at Count Chris’ angry shout.
“I never said that. It’s the people who argued against sending troops that must apologize.”
Count Jayson turned to the nobles.
“Oh, that’s a good idea!”
Count Chris immediately changed his attitude and clapped at Count Jayson’s idea.
“Well, I guess you all understand the situation. I must ask you to step ahead on behalf of His Majesty and he will be proud of you!”
Count Chris casually spoke to nobles around him. It was a scapegoat for the king. Nobles began looking at each other, hesitant about what to do. Then a handsome looking man stood up.
“Please allow me to be of help to the king.”
Some of the nobles scowled at the man who had just stepped out, but he didn’t seem to be bothered. Then, as if it were a signal, other nobles began volunteering to join in. All of the nobles joined to avoid being blamed for not helping the country in need.
“Hmph! Since we all are going, why don’t we ask for that corn crop? I believe that will help our country’s famine problem.”
“Splendid idea!”
“Yes, we need to put our people out of their hunger! We should start raising corn around the country.”
“But will they give in so easily?”
“What are you talking about! This is for our kingdom! The count must understand the gravity of the situation!”
“Yes! That is correct!”
“We will go and send your message, Your Majesty!”
All nobles from different political sides began working together for the task. They seemed to be motivated to take that famous miracle crop from Khalodian land.
*
“Ugh, this is tiring.”
Joonbum rubbed his eyes as he ranted. There had been merchant visits all day long, all asking for the same thing.
“I know they don’t have any other choice, but…”
Joonbum sighed and began massaging both his eyes. There were merchants from foreign countries that came following the rumors of the everlasting food from the country that defeated the empire. The first thing that greeted them when they arrived was the vast cornfield that stretched farther than their eyes could see. Their first target was to get the seed of the miracle crop, corn. After they acquired the seed, they began seeking food. They were full of questions as they saw a huge steel carriage that moved on its own without any horses. They also seemed to be intrigued by women who were working on expanding the land. They also got a glimpse of the countess, who was being considered a witch in the empire.
-Beautiful!-
All the merchants murmured as they watched the countess in the field. Then, they began investigating the countess’ son, who was nicknamed the Demon King. The last thing they were interested in was the red carriage. They were especially interested in the red carriage because some of the royal families wanted the carriage. The information only earned them a few hundred gold, so they worked hard to gather any possible information.
“Excuse me.”
The wide door was opened and a man walked in.
“Sir.”
“Come in. Want a drink?”
Joonbum glanced out the window at the setting sun and picked up a bottle of whiskey from the table.
“I would like that.”
Hallis grinned. The glass was filled with ice and whiskey. They both picked up their glasses and turned to the window where everything had turned red.
“It’s great.”
“You think so?”
“Yes, sir. This liquor… whiskey? It’s so delicious.”
Joonbum smiled. Most of the people here praised anything from Earth.
“Good then. But how is he?”
“Huh? Oh, that old man? He’s crazy. I think he’s thinking about coming for us again if he returns.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Hmph.”
Joonbum let out a small sigh. Hallis shook his head and continued.
“Oh, and there have been numerous burglary attempts on your carriage.”
“Oh? Again?”
“Yes, but nobody was able to.”
Joonbum grinned. There had been numerous attempts to steal the Marauder already.
“Did you capture all of them alive?”
“Yes, sir.”
“So, who’s behind all this?”
“There are lots, sir.”
“Okay. There will be more coming. Capture all of them alive.”
“Yes, sir,” Hallis answered and Joonbum smiled while looking at him. He felt Hallis changed so much from before.
